Category: Reports

Basque and Bil’in Demonstrators Keep the Beat

by Zadie and Jennie in Bil’in

On July 7th, at 13:00 the people of Bil’in, joined by a Basque Nationalist musical group and International and Israeli activists, started their weekly rally to protest the ongoing construction of the illegal Apartheid wall on their lands. One hundred people started the march, which was launched in front of the mosque and ended at the gate in the wall.

The Basque musical group, in traditional ceremonial attire and formation, kept the beat for the demonstration by marching with large bells that they wore on their lower backs, led by an individual in front who blew on a traditional horn. They were chased away by rubber bullets and sound bombs from the soldiers but returned to perform their art and pass through the line of soldiers that were holding people back. They stated their intent of solidarity with the Palestinians: “we too have been fighting an occupation of our lands for generations”, and wished to express their support for the Palestinian resistance.

The Israeli military became violent as soldiers tried to arrest non-violent protester, Iyad Buranat, a member of the Bil’in committee against the wall and settlements . Other Palestinians and came to his aid to try to prevent his arrest and were caught between the Jeeps and the barbed wire as soldiers beat them. They grabbed the hands of the soldiers to stop the beating and were successful in deescalating the situation so they could talk with the soldiers.

Iyad Buranat was again targeted for arrest and pulled inside the gate, separated by the group by rolls of barbed wire. Several people ran to his aid, despite being blocked by soldiers, and a small group was able to successfully prevent his arrest.

The demonstration ended with five people injured. Ahmed Mohammed Hamad, 55, of Bil’in suffered damage to his right ear from a sound bomb. Mohammed Katib, 33,A member of the Bil’in committee against the wall and settlements, suffered bruises and tears to the skin in his left torso from soldiers roughing him up. Michael, 23, from the US, suffered tears in the skin of his forearms from schrapnel from a sound bomb. His right forearm was damaged when he was thrown by one soldier against another’s shield with extreme force. Ashraf , 22, of Tulkarem, suffered a rubber bullet to his upper left thigh as he was walking by the soldiers. Khaled, 18, of Bil’in, was hit with a rubber bullet in the leg.

This evening the army revoked the order declaring the area a closed military zone. A team of three internationals gained access through the gate which had been denied to them after the demonstration. They have now relieved the lone Palestinian who was manning the outpost, and the area has been declared open for the time being.

Bulldozers Stopped, Palestinian Activist Still Arrested

by Em and Zadie in Beit Ummar

UPDATE, 6th July: As far as we have been able to acsertain, Musa Abu-Marya still remains a captive of the Shabak.

Download video here

Yesterday in Beit Ummar, a village of 15,000 in the Israeli occupied West Bank, non-violent direct action continued in opposition to the illegal Israeli annexation and destruction of Palestinain farm land. Surrounded by cautious Palestinian youth who observed from a safe distance, a group of 2 Palestinians and 9 internationals approached a backhoe and bulldozer uprooting trees in Palestinian orchards. The demolition, begun on Sunday, is to make way for a new Israeli wall encircling the settlement of Kurmei Tsur and will conveniently -and illegaly- steal yet more land from the bordering villages of Beit Ummar and Halul for the Israeli settlement – itself illegal under international law. The prospective wall will be built 300 meters from an existing one, grabbing land without the permission or compensation of Palestinian land-owners.

Upon arriving within thirty meters of the construction equipment the activists were chased and assaulted by approximately 15 members of the Israeli Offensive Force. Activists were strangled, punched, kicked, and struck with the barrels of guns by these soldiers, causing bleeding, numerous bruises, and difficulty swallowing. One activist had hair ripped from his head. Another had a soldier’s finger stuck in his eye in an effort to incapacitate him. Another was kicked in the groin. At one point, a Palestinain activist and journalist asked a soldier “why do you attack civilians? is this what you are trained for?” In response, a seething soldier declared “You are my enemy”, which the Palestinian caught on camera.

Four activists were restrained and put in plasti-cuffs. But three, all internationals, were allowed to leave, while the other detainee, Musa Abu-Mariya, a Palestinian from Beit Ummar, was arrested and taken for indefinite interrogation, highlighting the apartheid nature of the Israeli legal systems. After prior arrests by the Israelis, Musa has reported physical abuse by his captors.

Later in the morning another Palestinian, a 15 year old named Asim, was arrested in a nearby orchard. According to reports from villagers in Beit Ummar he sustained injuries from the IOF.

Advocate Nasser, a lawyer representing the municipality of Beit Ummar and Halhul succeeded in getting a temporary stop work order from an Israeli court. The mayor of Beit Ummar presented the soldiers with the order, forcing a temporary halt in the destruction and theft of about 5000 dunams of farmers’ land. The order says that they must stop all work on building the wall around Karme Tzur settlement until there is a decision in the Isreali Supreme Court on the lawsuit filed by the village of Beit Ummar against the construction.

One of the Palestinians arrested yesterday was released last night, fifteen year-old Asam Abu Mariya. Non-violent activist, Musa Abu Mariya, 28, is still being held at an unknown location and has had no contact with any lawyer.

For the past three days Palestinians and internationals have had some success at stopping the destruction of the land by sitting down in front of the bulldozers and demonstrating on the land. However, hundreds of trees and grape vines have been already been uprooted. The Israeli army has used force to stop the protestors and enforce the confiscation of land while bypassing all legal channels. There are various lawyers working on enforcing the rights of the landowners and protecting the land from confiscation.

Bil’in Protests Israeli Re-occupation

by an ISM activist in Bil’in

Friday 30th June: We walked down the Bil’in road to where the soldiers stood waiting behind two jeeps blocking the gate. The road that runs behind it leads to a settlement built down the other side of the hill. The village has lost many acres of land to these settlements, and to prevent the further theft of land, have built an outpost where international and Israeli supporters of the village take turns staying and keeping watch.

The Popular Committee Against the Wall of Bil’in decides on a weekly theme for the demonstration, to highlight different issues of the Occupation. This week has seen heightened violence toward Palestinians from the Israeli military in the West Bank as well as Gaza, and so the theme for this demonstration was to draw attention to the killings of Palestinians by several activists donning the orange hoods which are worn by those being executed.

There were chants and proclamations of our right to be there and our coming in a spirit of non-violence. Shortly afterward we were asked by the people of Bil’in to move our group up the hill. Soon after, a few boys threw rocks at one of the jeeps. The soldiers responded with a heavy round of sound bombs and rubber bullets. There were two injuries from the shrapnel: Adib Abu Rahme, 54, of Bil’in was hit in his right eye. Brendan, a young man from France, suffered cuts on his lower left arm. Three jeeps entered the village, chasing the people down the road. The remaining group passed through the gate, just on the other side of the fence. At this point, two Israelis were arrested; the soldiers were rough on them. The first was a man: Shai, and then a woman, Oshra.

The gate was pushed open by a couple of boys, and our group standing together blocked the army from coming through. The soldiers pushed through the line of people with jeeps, and used rubber bullets further into the village. As we walked back toward town, tear gas was shot into the air. Two men were injured here – Ahmed, 55, and Amer Hisham, 22, of Bil’in suffered from rubber bullet shots to their backs.

After the demonstration ended, the soldiers continued to occupy the village, shooting rubber bullets and tear gas at locals who stayed behind. The smell of gas lingered in the air almost until the time we left.

South Hebron Villages Persist to Resist


“We call on the international community to intervene and stop settler violence against us.”

by Zadie

Today, June 30th, the people of Qawawis accompanied by people from Tuwanwi and other neighboring villages as well as Israeli and international activists demonstrated against the settlements and the wall. About 50 people gathered and marched to the wall. The Israeli group Rabbis for Human Rights also donated ten bales of hay that will be used to feed the sheep to replace what was burned by the settlers earlier this week.

The settlers have a history of aggression towards people in Qawawis and neighboring villages. They have damaged villagers’ wells and harassed and attacked children and farmers.

One month ago an inner barrier was built along the road that passes Qawawis. This barrier separates farmers from their lands and makes it hard for tractors and sheep to pass.

There were very few army and Border Police present and no journalists representing any of the local or Arab media because of the attention on Gaza. Despite this fact, the people of Qawawis continued to demonstrate their resolve to resist the illegal settlements and the wall.

More Settler Vandalism in Hebron

by Harry, Tel Rumeida Project

June 27th: Settler youth continue to trash a internationally funded project intended to make it safer for Palestinian girls living in the Tel Rumeida section of Al-Khalil (Hebron) to reach their elementary school.

The project, funded by the international monitoring group Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), involves several improvements to a staircase and pathway the girls have to take to reach the Qurtuba School, which is located opposite the Beir Hadassah settlement. Workers have recently bricked in the path and built a low cement-block retaining wall alongside it to protect it from erosion of the hillside above it. Five days ago, on June 22, 2006, settler youth began vandalizing the wall, using bricks and boulders to smash the cement blocks. Israeli Police summoned to the scene refused even to get out of their jeep to assess the damage.

Human rights workers witnessed a second attack on the wall by the settler youth the next day, and there have apparently been at least two (probably more) subsequent attacks. As of today, June 27th, the top row of cement blocks has been completely destroyed along most of the length of the wall, and the bricked-in pathway is littered with fragments of broken cement.

Meanwhile, the workers on the job have not returned to the site since on June 22 when an Israeli military officer ordered them to stop work, on the grounds that they lacked a permit for the construction of the retaining wall. The officer issued this edit a few hours before the first attack by the settler youth. In fact, according to TIPH, the work is completely in line with the permit for the project issued by Israeli authorities.