They are young, and they are fearless. In Gaza, a growing nonviolent movement, led predominantly by youth, is challenging Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands in the so-called “buffer zone” — a unilaterally demarcated and militarily patrolled area that, according to Harvard researcher Sara Roy, now absorb[s] nearly 14 percent of Gaza’s total land and at least 48 percent of total arable land.” The zone officially extends 300 meters into Gaza’s territory, but attacks against civilians take place anywhere up to approximately 1.5 kilometers inside the border fence,” according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. (That’s about a mile into a strip of land that is seven miles at its girth.) In this video, some 300 protesters are shown under fire from Israeli guns, too far to see but no less lethal for it. The protestors’ crime? They were planting citrus trees to replace those destroyed by Israel’s ongoing occupation, which daily deprives Gaza’s more than 1.7 million Palestinians of access to their farmland, to the sea that borders them, to the airspace above them — and, crucially, to their fellow Palestinians. With more than 10 percent of the worldwide Palestinian population living in Gaza, no serious discussion of the conflict or its resolution can exclude them.
International activists have been accompanying Palestinian farmers to their lands near the separation barrier between the territories occupied in 1948 and the Gaza Strip. We have noticed, in recent days, an increase in the presence of the Zionist occupation forces. A few days ago, we felt more drones and F-16, then Jeeps and bulldozers began to move near the barrier more often. On Sunday, 22nd December, two Jeeps were stationed in front of the area where farmers were seeding and tractors plowing. They fired shots into the air and one the the ground. This video shows the last episode.
Olive, orange and lemon trees grew in these fields until the second Intifada. Then bulldozers and tanks of the occupying forces uprooted them. After “Operation Cast Lead,” the no-go zone was established at 300 meters, but aggression towards Palestinians was not limited to that area. According to UN reports, high-risk areas in some places reach two kilometers from the barrier, and included 35% of all arable land in Gaza. Following the truce concluded after the Zionist attack called “Operation Pillar of Defense,” farmers were able to reach their land up to 100 meters. Now, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the situation is very similar to that seen before the last offensive: Zionist aggression reaches up to 1,500 meters from the border. The high-risk areas comprise 35% of arable land, and in the restricted areas, 95% is cultivable. Also according to PCHR data, the last farmer killed by the occupation forces while working, Mustafa Abdul Hakim Mustafa Abu Jarad, was 1,200 meters from the barrier. He was killed by a bullet in the head 14th January 2013, one of four people killed this year in the areas near the separation barrier.
(Photo by Silvia Todeschini)
Not only are Palestinian farmers attacked during their work, but the land they farm is itself destroyed by the passage of bulldozers and tanks. They create deep grooves that make it difficult for a tractor to pass and plow. By doing so, they mix layers, making the land less fertile. In addition, the water tanks which are used for irrigation in this area are all destroyed by Zionist gunfire.
In the separation barrier are installed several instruments of repression. There are turrets with automatic weapons, others on which snipers can stand, tall iron columns with cameras installed and others with radar. There is barbed wire, gates where Zionist military vehicles can enter, balloons equipped with cameras, and more.
The violence of the Zionists towards Palestinian farmers and fishermen are an attack not only on their ability to work, but also on the food sovereignty of all the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.
(Photo by Silvia Todeschini)
The presence of foreign activists sometimes manages to lightly calm the situation, because we are inconvenient witnesses for the Zionist occupation forces. But the heroes are the farmers, who continue to reach their land. Without regular watering, they can grow only wheat, although after it has been cultivated for several years, not much grows anymore. The heroes are the farmers who, generation after generation, continue to say “adha hardy” – “this is my land,” no matter how strong the Zionist repression with all its resources, weapons, armor and surveillance equipment may be.
20th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Gal·la López | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
On 19th November 2012, shortly before the end of Israel’s “Operation Pillar of Defense” military offensive against the Gaza Strip, an Israeli missile struck the Hijazi family’s house as they watched TV.
The father and two his children were killed. Other family members were injured. Their house was destroyed, and their lives will never be the same.
Amna Hijazi, the mother and wife of the victims who was amid the carnage of the attack, recalls the details of the day one year later.
15th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Bir Nabala and Rafat, Occupied Palestine
This morning, November 15, 2013, 25 years after Yasser Arafat declared independence of the Palestinian state, a group of Palestinian activists undertook a direct action against the annexation wall and fence, supported by both Israeli and international activists.
Palestinian activist smashes annexation wall with a sledgehammer (photo by Ingrid Bousquet).
At approximately 6:30 am groups of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists traveled to a section of the annexation wall in Bir Nabala. Sledgehammers and other tools were donated by local popular committees and these were used to begin to smash through the wall.
Palestinian activists gradually begin to break through (photo by Ingrid Bousquet).
The action continued for approximately 20 minutes.
The hole in the apartheid wall grows larger (photo by Ingrid Bousquet).(Photo by Ingrid Bousquet)
Israeli soldiers did not arrive and activists were able to leave the area without confrontation from Israeli forces, moving on to the second action in Rafat.
Palestinian activists began to cut down the annexation fence (photo by Ingrid Bousquet)
Activists used donated wire cutters and bolt cutters to damage the annexation fence north west of Jerusalem.
The fence is torn down by Palestinian activists (photo by ISM).
Again, activists were able to successfully complete the action without intervention from Israeli forces.
Activists leave the Rafat area (photo by Ingrid Bousquet).
The apartheid wall and fence was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004, yet it continues to be used as a mechanism to contain and oppress Palestinians who live within its boundaries. The action today can be seen as a symbol of the resistance within Palestine especially as today marks the anniversary of the Palestinian declaration of independence. Although this statement was written and signed 25-years-ago, Palestine remains under control by Israeli forces, the annexation wall a constant reminder of this occupation.
