Weed pulling threatens armed Israeli soldiers

By Donna Wallach

Al-Faraheen, Abasan Al-Kabeera, Gaza Strip, Palestine, 12th November 2008

On Wednesday 12th November, five international volunteer Human Rights Observers, most of them members of ISM Gaza Strip, went to Al-Faraheen, east of Khan Younis to pull weeds in the radish garden at the farm of Jaber Abu-Rageliyah and Leila Abu-Daga and their five children, and to establish an international presence. They live on a farm just 700 meters from the fence which separates Gaza Strip, Palestine from Israel. It is a very dangerous area for them to live and farm.

On 1st May 2008 Israeli occupation force soldiers invaded Al-Faraheen Abasan Al-Kabeera and destroyed all the trees, crops and chickens on Jaber’s farm – ruining his livelihood and denying him and his family the healthy organically homegrown food they eat. Israeli occupation force soldiers have been destroying farms all along the eastern border of the Gaza Strip, 300 – 500 meters deep, to enforce an arbitrarily declared “Buffer Zone”. Every tree, every crop, every chicken farm, every sheep farm and every hot house within this area bulldozed, demolished destroyed – this agriculturally rich soil made into a desert for hundreds, if not thousands, of Palestinian farmers. They are still denied their right to farm their lands and are often shot at when attempting to. Jaber has been shot at numerous times in the past weeks for weeding his now tiny garden just 100 meters from his farmhouse.

On this warm autumn day, a few volunteers arrived early and met Jaber waiting at the gate outside the temporary house where his wife and daughters spend the night. The windows to the farmhouse have been shot out and it is now too cold for them to sleep there. Jaber and his young son sleep in the farmhouse each night to establish their presence and to protect it from possible demolition.

Leila and the two youngest daughters greeted their guests and in traditional Palestinian hospitality invited them to a delicious breakfast of yogurt, olives, babaganooz, homemade bread, hawayig (a special Palestinian jam) and of course very sweet tea. Finally it was time to go to work, pulling weeds in the radish garden.

As soon as the volunteers began pulling weeds they witnessed at least three jeeps driven by Israeli occupation force soldiers on the road along the border fence. The soldiers often stop their jeeps, get out and lie on the ground and shoot at unarmed Palestinian farmers who have come to their fields to work. All the farmers are struggling to return to their farms to provide a livelihood and sustenance for their families. There are also towers built every 5 kilometers along this fence and armed Israeli occupation force soldiers sit in these towers and shoot at and spy on Palestinians who live in the area.

Very soon more HRO volunteers arrived and joined the weed pullers. After a while amidst the chatter, the newer volunteers wanted to see the banner hung on the destroyed chicken-house, next to the radish garden, it says “International Presence” in big black letters. The banner is hung each time the volunteers come to the farm. This day, as the volunteers stood looking out towards the destroyed fields and the border fence, they noticed that soldiers had gotten out of the jeeps. Almost immediately the soldiers opened fire. One of the volunteers quickly went to get the bright yellow reflective vests that some of them wear when they work in the fields in the “Buffer Zone”. Two volunteers used the bullhorns they had brought and were yelling to the Israeli soldiers: “Stop shooting!” “We are unarmed!” “Palestinian farmers have the right to farm their land!” This time the shooting only lasted a few minutes.

Soon-after the HRO volunteers noticed lots of gunfire and explosions in El-Gerrara, another small farming community to the north of Al-Faraheen. Then they heard and saw two helicopters in the sky. A quick phone call revealed that special forces of the Israeli occupation force army had invaded El-Gerrara and the resistance fighters were battling against the invasion, to protect the people and the land from this illegal incursion. Later on the volunteers learned that four young Palestinian men had lost their lives defending the lives and the land of El-Gerrara – all were deeply loved by their families and friends who are now mourning over this very big loss and sacrifice. All the men were 30 years old and younger and were married with young children at home.

As soon as the shooting and explosions were over, all the volunteers, Jaber, and his friends resumed pulling weeds, but much time had passed and soon the Human Rights Observer volunteers had to leave. Only half of the radish garden had been weeded. There were enough volunteers to have finished the weeding that day, but too much time was wasted during the shooting. Such is the every day existence of the Palestinians, life is always interrupted by the Israeli occupation force soldiers, the occupation and the siege.

Solidarity with the Al-Kurd family

On the 15th of November a music festival was held at the protest tent in Sheikh Jarrah. A Palestinian musician played to a crowd of local residents, international activists and journalists to show support for the evicted Al-Kurd family and at the same time send a message of protest to the Israeli authorities. A crowd of approximately 150 people gathered at the tent where Fawzieh Al Kurd and local residents have been living since the eviction. Film showings and football matches have also taken place at the tent as local residents, along with international activists rally together, in a show of friendship, support and solidarity for the Al Kurd family.

Since the erection of the tent the Israeli authorities have repeatedly tried to intimidate and harass protesters by ordering tents to be taken down, and Palestinian flags and banners to be removed. On Sunday afternoon the Israeli police went a step further by ordering the eviction of the protest tent, despite it being on private land, because it was deemed to be a ‘construction’. The eviction came even though the residents have a permit from the municipality granting permission for the tent. The family and international activists staying at the tent have refused to obey the order.

Israeli forces invade the village of Jayyous to block demonstrators from protesting the re-routing of the Apartheid Wall


Video courtesy of Israel Putermam

On Sunday 16th November, approximately 100 Palestinians, Israeli and international activists in the village of Jayyous were stopped in their attempt to demonstrate against the new plans to re-route the Apartheid Wall by Israeli army forces who invaded the village and blocked the streets. Israeli military Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) were patrolling the streets of the village throughout the morning, with soldiers harassing pedestrians, claiming the village was a closed military zone.


Photos courtesy of Activestills

Approximately 40 Israeli soldiers then formed roadblocks to prevent demonstrators from marching to their farmlands – the majority of which are already divided from the village by the existing apartheid wall. Many of the demonstrators were able to push through the lines of soldiers, but were blocked again further down the road, with Israeli soldiers then declaring the area near the Wall to be a closed military zone. “You can protest here in the village”, advised the commander of the units, “but you are not coming anywhere near the Wall”, despite the fact that the protest was clearly non-violent.

The roadblocks effectively created a curfew in the area, as residents were unable to return to their homes in the area. School children returning home from school were reduced to tears as they attempted to make their way through the rows of soldiers.

The villagers’ demonstration continued for over two hours, with protesters continually attempting to push through the soldiers to get to their lands. Women from the village took up the position as the front line, eventually staging a sit-in in their refusal to give up their fight to get to their lands.

The recent Israeli High Court decision to re-route the wall has been met with a revival of the struggle fought by the villagers of Jayyous when building of the Apartheid Wall first started in the village in 2002. While initially the re-routing, which moves the Wall 2km back towards the green line, may seem like a positive result for the village, the move will in fact destroy a further 200 olive trees, and permanently isolate Jayyous villagers from approximately 6000 dounums of their land, with a further 2000 dounums to be destroyed to make the path of the Wall. Currently, villagers are able to access their lands through a permit system that, theoretically, allows farmers to access their lands through the gates in the Wall. The new Wall has no planned gates. The Jayyous village land that remains on the West of the Wall, as such, will be annexed to Israel forever.

Villagers, with the support of the Jayyous municipality and other organisations, have vowed to fight this construction, declaring Sunday’s protests the first in a series of weekly demonstrations against the re-routing of the Wall.

Maan: Israeli authorities order evacuation of house eviction protesters

To view original article, published by Maan News Agency on the 16th November, click here

Israeli authorities on Sunday afternoon ordered evacuation of a protest tent near the house of a Palestinian Jerusalemite family that was evicted from their home.

Tension is building in the area as Israeli police and military forces massed near the tent.

International activists have camped out near the Al-Kurd family house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Eight of the international demonstrators were arrested one week ago when Israeli police first forced the family out of their home.

Official and grassroots delegations have been visiting the house in order to show solidarity with the family, drawing concern from Israeli authorities that the international visitors will draw more attention to the eviction.

Um Kamil Al-Kurd, one of the residents who was thrown out of the house last Sunday, has refused to obey the eviction order, and is also staying in the tent.

The house has become emblematic of the plight of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. In July, the United States government lodged an official complaint about the eviction order. The US questioned the legality of terms on which an Israeli Jewish settler group claims to have purchased the land.

Israeli army attack Palestinian march to evacuated settlement of Homesh

Over 100 Palestinians and international activists were attacked by Israeli soldiers with tear gas and sound bombs as they attempted to march to the evacuated Israeli settlement Homesh from the village of Burqa, near Nablus, on Friday 14th November.

The villagers and internationals intended to enter the settlement, which was evacuated by Israeli authorities in August 2005 as part of the so-called Israeli “disengagement plan”, in order to plant trees inside the grounds of the former settlements – lands which legally belong to Palestinian villagers. The tree-planting was to symbolise a reclamation of the land, which, though evacuated, has not been returned to its legal owners, and remains under Israeli military control.

Demonstrators carried placards that read: “We will not allow the nightmare of Homesh back again!”, referring the high-levels of violence enacted by settlers before Homesh was evacuated, and is continued by settlers who visit and attempt to re-occupy the land. This is exemplified by the recent burning of more than 500 olive trees by Israeli settlers at the beginning of this year’s olive harvest; as well as by attacks on shepherds and their livestock which continue despite the settlement’s evacuation.

The demonstration was prevented from reaching the evacuated settlement, however, by Israeli military and police, who immediately threw sound bombs and tear gas into the non-violent crowd, burning two people. After initially fleeing, the villagers returned to stand their ground, refusing to be further intimidated, despite constant threats from Israeli soldiers. Instead, they chanted: “They steal our water and we are thirsty” and “Settlements are the death of our land”, demanding an end to the settlements and the occupation which enables Israeli settlers to steal Palestinian land. Villagers were also demanding the removal of the military checkpoint near the entrance of the settlement, which denies Palestinians freedom of movement.

After speeches from representatives from a number of the surrounding villages who were participating in the demonstration, as well as the Nablus governorate office and various supporting organisations, the crowd began to disperse, at which point the Israeli soldiers again started to fire tear gas into the crowd.

Villagers were not deterred from their struggle by this use of violence by the Israeli army. One local youth remarked “We don’t have guns to fight the army, but we have big hearts for our land”.

Other villagers noted that it was particularly ironic that they were not allowed to enter the evacuated settlement, as it was alleged that an Israeli settler had entered the settlement the night before and erected a tent in which he had slept the night. Villagers claim he was still inside whilst the demonstration took place. Many Palestinian villagers from the region are concerned that the lands will be permanently re-occupied by settlers.

The villagers, however, are determined to continue their struggle, committing to regular demonstrations against the military occupation of their lands.