Category: Reports

Israeli Army surrounds Asira demonstrators. shoots one villager

On the road to Asira

by Sarita Ahooja

Over 250 villagers of Asira, Nablus district, gathered at 10AM this morning to begin the demonstration for free movement and against the military closures that have effected their community since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada.

Israeli Armed Personnel Vehicles, deployed since dawn, surrounded the villagers before they could take Sabaatash road, which leads to Nablus, and reach the roadblock. The army confiscated the accompanying village cars, ambulance and keys, cameras and film, and immediately blocked the entry to several local Arab and International journalists. An officer told Khannan Aljamen, a community leader, that the demonstration was illegal and that he would shoot straight to the head if anyone tried to continue on.

Without warning, a soldier shot a young man in the hip to prove his point. Medical volunteers have reported that the injury is not critical.

Khannan, with some knowledge of Hebrew, also overheard a soldier point out 2 other young men on top of a car. He said ” Make sure you hit them.”

Khannan placed himslef in front of the guns and yelled that they stop the shooting. The soldiers spat on him.

A high ranking officer reiterated, “I promise you, if anyone moves, we will put a bullet through his head!”

During this time, the Israeli army detained and arrested the 10 Israeli peace activists before they could reach the demonstrators. Nine internationals from Canada (including myself), Sweden, USA, and one Palestinian resident of Balata
refugee camp, were detained by soldiers at the Sabaatash roadblock as we headed towards Asira from Nablus to join the demonstration. They claimed that we were playing games with them and demanded to see our passports. They refused to allow us to pass under the pretext that it was a closed military zone.

The villagers were left alone to deal with the violent repression of their protest against the roadblock.

When Khannan asked the officer “why do you allow the settlers to freely move on these lands, and not the Palestinians? What about those sheep over there…are they allowed to move?” They officer replied, “I would like to keep it closed forever, you have no right to move. The sheep can move, they are animals.”

After an hour and half, the army left the village and returned to their military base. The Joursem military base is considered the second largest after the Syrian-Jordanian border military base.

When the internationals finally arrived 2 hours later from another route, soldiers were still roaming among the trees in the surrounding hills. The Israeli acrtivists were released one hour after there detention and returned to Isreal.

Khannan informed us that army jeeps had entered the village the night before and shot gunfire in the air to intimidate the villgers – routine.

We stayed to speak to some villagers that were not attending the Friday prayer before returning to Nablus. The plans for the Thursday July 28th demonstration to open Nablus are now being worked out to ensure international and media presence.

Israel denies access to a caravan for justice in Palestine

by George Rishmawi
International Middle East Media Center

Israel denied access to a group of 130 international human rights and peace activists of the Caravan for Justice in Palestine, who tried to access the country, coming from Jordan, Palestinian sources reported on Friday.

The activists were interrogated for nine hours, according to the source, before they were forced to return to Jordan.

The Israeli embassy to Amman claimed the activists want “to go to Israel to hold provocative activities,” and that “every Israel denied access to a group of 130 international human rights and peace activists of the Caravan for Justice in Palestine, who tried to access the country, coming from Jordan, Palestinian sources reported on Friday.

The activists were interrogated for nine hours, according to the source, before they were forced to return to Jordan.

The Israeli embassy to Amman claimed the activists want “to go to Israel to hold provocative activities,” and that “every country has the right to decide who enters its territories.”

The delegation included members from 18 countries including France, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, Mexico and Germany. Three of the 130 strong delgation were children.

According to Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, the soldiers prevented the activists from entering Israel, stamped their passports with a mark that will prohibit them from entering Israel or the Palestinian Territories for the rest of their lives and forcefully dragged them onto busses, which then sent them back to Jordan. Soldiers beat, dragged, and pushed many of the Caravaners and confiscated one of their cameras while they were forcing them onto the buses. Israel brought extra security forces onto the scene to carry out the forced evacuation.

The Caravaners have been on the road for over two weeks on the way from Strasbourg, France, to their destination in Jerusalem to show solidarity with the Palestinian people and to demand that Israel comply with international law, UN resolutions and the International Court of Justice decision last summer that declared the Apartheid Wall unlawful and ruled that all states party to the Fourth Geneva Convention do everything in their power to see that Israel complies with the ruling, tears down the Wall and compensates all victims. According to the organizers, the Caravan for Justice in Palestine is a group of over 150 activists who have made a caravan trip from France through Geneva, Bologna, Trieste, Patras, Athens, Istanbul, Ankara, Damascus, Amman, and many other big cities to reach Palestine.

Along its way, the delegation met with UN and government representatives to plead the case for international law in solving the Israel/Palestine conflicts.

The Caravan members, according to organizers, believe that the application of international law is the key to resolving the conflict, and have decided to produce a strong and united civil society showing in support of it.

Israel has become more active in preventing peace activists from entering the country because of mounting nonviolent anti-occupation activities organized by the International Solidarity Movement and other peace groups that function in the area.

Protesters blocked the path of the Annexation Barrier

For photos of the action see:
freckle.blogs.com/photos/strength_in_unity

Bil’in- 6:00 AM Today
Protestors blocked the path of the Israeli bulldozers working to build the Apartheid Wall in Bil’in. They were chained together in a cylinder six meters long which allowed only their heads and legs to be visible.

The seven protestors include Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals. They were cut out of the cylinder by Israeli soldiers who hit them with batons, prodded them with wire cutters and then arrested them.

The seven include, Bili’in resident Tamer Al Khatib, Co- founder of the ISM Huwaida Arraf, Alison from the US, Nina and Pel’e from Denmark and Israelis Avi Mugrabhi and Moshe Berger. They are currently being held at Givaat Zeev police station.

Muhhamed Al Khatib, one of the leaders of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, a group that is committed to non-violent resistance of the Annexation Barrier was singled out from the group of non-violent protesters and detained, but was later released.

Abdallah Abu Rahme and Akram Al Khatib, also members of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall have been in detention at Ofer Military Base since their arrest during a non-violent demonstration Friday, July 15, 2005.

The cylinder was decorated with symbols of the Palestinian political factions and a Palestinian flag in the center, and carried the message our unity is our strength.

For more information contact: 054-5892681 or ISM Media Office 02-2971824

IWPS: Killing Salfit

16 year old boy killed in Salfit following assassination of two men by Apache helicopters; 9 people injured by gunshots, rubber bullets, and tear gas inhalation; Army raids hospital and fires tear gas at entrance; ambulances blocked and doctor beaten.

Date of incident: July 15, 2005
Place: Salfit, West Bank
Witness/es: Dr. Naim Sabna, director of Salfit Emergency Medical Hospital, Salfit residents including 12 year old boy who witnessed shooting of Moath

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Friday, July 15 two Apache helicopters fired rockets and opened fire on three men in an olive grove east of the town of Salfit. Two men, Samer Abdulhadi Dawhqa and Mohammad Ahmed Marri, were killed instantly. The third man, Mohammad Yusef A’yash, was gravely injured with multiple injuries to the chest and head. He was taken to the Emergency Medical Hospital in Salfit, where he was given emergency treatment and sent by ambulance to the hospital in Ramallah. On the way to the hospital, the ambulance was stopped by Israeli soldiers. The soldiers took the keys to the ambulance and beat the doctor on his shoulder and foot with the butt of their gun. Mr. A’yash was taken away by an Israeli military ambulance. His location and condition are not known at the time of this writing.

At about 3 p.m. army jeeps entered the town shooting gas and declared a curfew. The people ran inside their houses and closed their shops, but there were some young men and boys on the main street who threw stones at the jeeps. The soldiers fired at them and they ran away, scattering in different directions.

Between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m., a soldier in a jeep shot at two boys who were in an alley near the main street, approximately 15 meters from the jeep. One boy escaped, but the bullet hit Moath Jamal Sulieme, 16 years old, in the forehead above the left eye and exited from the back of his head. A small group of young boys (ages 12-14) saw the soldiers fire at Moath and ran over to help him. The soldiers fired rubber bullets at them so they ran away and called an ambulance.

The ambulance picked up Moath and took him to the Salfit Emergency Hospital, where he was given emergency treatment. Moath was sent by ambulance to the hospital in Nablus. On the way to the hospital, the ambulance was detained by Israeli soldiers at the Zatara checkpoint until an Israeli military ambulance arrived. He was transferred to the Israeli military ambulance and taken to a hospital in Israel. At 10:30 p.m. the hospital informed the DCL that Moath had died.

At approximately 5 p.m. about 20 jeeps and more than 50 soldiers surrounded the Salfit Emergency Hospital and demanded to enter. When the hospital director refused, the soldiers threw tear gas into the courtyard of the hospital which filled the inside of it with gas. The army entered the hospital by force, searching all of the rooms, including the operating room and delivery room. Around 10:00 p.m. the army left the hospital and Salfit.

Injured Persons treated by the Salfit Emergency Hospital:

  • Mohamad Al Masri, 22: bullet injury, right shoulder
  • Anas Fatash, 16: bullet injury, hand
  • Mahmoud Asad Yunis, 16: rubber bullet injury, left thigh
  • Dia Madee, 18: rubber bullet injury, right knee
  • Mahamad Shahir Darweesh: Bullet injury, right loin
  • Jalal Abdall, 30: multiple traumas, right shoulder
  • Jalila Jammal, 49: tear gas inhalation
  • Ahmed Darweesh, 15: rubber bullet injury to the head
  • Said Shtaeh, 30: anxiety attack
  • Ramee Mraita, 18: rubber bullet, right elbow
  • Martha Jlal: anxiety attack

Is the World Blind: Two more families lose their homes in East Jerusalem today

Merijn De Jong, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)
www.icahd.org/eng/news.asp?menu==5&submenu==1&item=$6

Two more families in East-Jerusalem lost their homes today and another two families had their belongings thrown out into the street as a new wave of house demolitions swept through Dahiat Al-Salaam and Silwan.

In Dahiat Al-Salaam in East-Jerusalem, the Hannafiya family’s home was demolished at 9:30 this morning. Eight people were made homeless by the demolition because their house did not have a building permit. The Jerusalem municipality makes it nearly impossible for most Palestinians in East Jerusalem to receive building permits.

As the children of the family gathered their toys from atop the rubble that was once their home, the homeowner spoke of his son who will soon return from the United States to get married: “How do I explain this to him when he gets back, that the house is not there anymore?”

The two Hamdan brothers, who live with their families down the street from the Hannafiya family, had all of their belongings taken from their homes in preparation for demolition. While the family’s attorney, Sami Arshid, was able to stop the demolitions from taking place through a court order, most of the family’s belongings were severely damaged by the workers who removed them from the home. Needless to say, there will be no compensation from the municipality for the damage; and while the demolitions were postponed today, the homes are still at risk for demolition in the future.

The mother of one of the families, whose belongings were thrown into the street, showed us around her home. “Is the world blind?” she asked, as she displayed the now ruined pictures that had been drawn by her son.

After the demolition of the house in Dahiat Al-Salaam, another home was destroyed in Ein Luze, near the El-Bustan area in Silwan. The recently completed home belonged to the Musa Siam family who had yet to move in. When the bulldozers were unable to reach the house, the municipality sent workers to demolish it by hand.