ISM Gaza Strip: Sowing lentils, reaping bullets, in Khouza’a, Gaza Strip

Khouza’a, Gaza Strip, Palestine, 6th November 2008:

By Donna Wallach

A number of Palestinian farmers went to their fields yesterday (6th November) to sow seeds for crops of wheat, lentils and rye to be harvested in the spring. Some internationals, volunteering with ISM Gaza, accompanied the farmers as they worked – the first time in five years for most, if not all of these, farmers.

The Palestinian farmers brought buckets filled with seeds, and the ISM volunteers walked with them up and down and across the land, sowing the seeds. Once the first plot of land had been sown a farmer with a tractor came and plowed the seeds into the land. Of course it wasn’t the way they would plant their crops if they could have the best circumstances. The land was full of weeds and thorns and not really prepared for sowing seeds – however, considering that the farmers are shot at whenever they go to their land, they need to plant their crops in the quickest way possible.

Soon after the farmers started sowing their seeds, two Israeli occupation force jeeps drove to the fence and across from the field that was being worked soldiers got out of the jeeps and lay down on the ground aiming their guns. The Palestinian farmers saw the jeeps and the soldiers and continued to work their land. After these farmers finished sowing seeds another farmer came with his tractor and started plowing the field. It wasn’t long before the Israeli occupation force soldiers started shooting. At first their shots were in the air, but very quickly the soldiers were shooting directly at the Palestinian farmers and at the ISM volunteers. The farmers quickly left the field. The ISM volunteers remained with their arms raised and yelled to the soldiers to stop shooting – bullets were landing within two to three feet where the volunteers were standing and some heard bullets
whistling past their ears.

Another larger jeep type vehicle arrived and at least 10 more Israeli occupation force soldiers got out. Four of them walked towards the border fence and positioned themselves close to it, clearly a sign that they knew there was no danger to them from the Palestinian side. The gunfire continued off and on and the ISM volunteers continued shouting to the soldiers “Stop! Stop shooting!”. The volunteers were also making phone calls to the ISM West Bank media office, journalists, their friends and their consulates. They were also receiving phone calls, one volunteer was called by friend who had heard on the radio that Palestinian farmers and ISM volunteers were being shot at in Khouza’a. Finally, after a few hours had passed, the soldiers got into the jeeps and they left. The ISM volunteers remained in the field for at least ten minutes and then took a short break.

During this entire time, since the morning, Israeli farmers had been farming their land, one was driving his tractor right up against the fence – it was crystal clear there was no danger to the Israeli occupation force soldiers or to the farmers. In fact, the Israeli farmers remained working their land the entire day, even while bullets were flying over the heads of the non-violent ISM activists.

During the first break from the onslaught of Israeli gunfire, other Palestinian farmers came to the field and started sowing seeds in another plot of land in the same field. A farmer brought his tractor and started plowing the seeds into the field. By this time Israeli occupation force soldiers returned in a jeep and again they shot at the Palestinian farmers and the accompanying ISM volunteers. The Palestinian farmers left the fields and the ISM volunteers remained. This time when there was calm, more farmers came to the field and started sowing their seeds in their plots of land and a second tractor came and was plowing. At around 1:40pm the Palestinian farmers had finished working this area of land – 15 dunams had been sown and plowed. All the farmers and ISM Gaza Strip volunteers left the fields satisfied of the work accomplished and the volunteers were invited back the following day to work 45 dunams of land in another field with other farmers. It was a good day of solidarity work.

FGM: “The people of Gaza have plenty of food. They don’t need to go fishing”

To view the Free Gaza Movement website click here

Larnaca. When members of the Free Gaza Movement sailed to Gaza in August, several accompanied fishermen aboard their small boats. Israeli gunboats regularly confine these boats inside a 6-mile Israeli-imposed limit. Although international law allows every Mediterranean sea territory fishing rights 12-20 miles offshore, Israel ignores those laws and has killed at least 14 fishermen over the past few years.

“All we ever wanted to do was fish,” said one as he fixed his nets. “We can’t feed our families or make money doing what our ancestors have done for thousands of years.”

Over the next two months, internationals reported and video taped several incidents of machine-gun fire and water-cannon attacks. Around 8:00 am, on October 31, ten internationals joined the fishermen as witnesses. By 8:30, the two lead boats had passed the Israeli limit. “The second boat was about 100 yards away from us when it was attacked for 30 minutes by a high-pressure water cannon from an Israeli warship. The spray was so powerful you couldn’t even see the boat,” said David Schermerhorn.

Throughout the day, as the men continued to fish, boats were hit so severely by high-pressure water cannon that only makeshift shutters and mattresses prevented the wheelhouses from flooding and windows from exploding onto the men. Within minutes, the Israeli water-cannon boat was joined by another gunboat, machine gun mounted in back. The gunner blasted multiple rounds within a meter of the fishing boat. Despite continued machine-gun fire, water cannons and three Israeli gunboats circling like sharks, the fishermen stayed out 10-11 miles for a catch.

When Angela Godfrey-Goldstein called Shlomo Dror, Israeli Ministry of Defense spokesman, to tell the Navy to stop machine gunning barely a meter over the heads of fishermen and internationals, he accused the rights advocates of being provocateurs, terrorists, supporters of Hamas. “The people of Gaza have plenty of food. They don’t need to go fishing,” he snarled.

“When the Ministry of Defense learns that this voyage brings a delegation of European parliamentarians, maybe he will begin to “get it.” Average citizens of the world, even decision makers, are up in arms, non-violently, against the collective punishment, the state terrorism of the Israeli government. And we are restoring dignity to those abandoned human beings, just as we would have wanted to do in the past to others in other ghettoes” said Godfrey-Goldstein.

“I had only heard about these episodes before I came to Gaza. I can’t begin to tell you the horror these men face every day by bullies in the Israeli Navy,” added an outraged Schermerhorn. “What risks they take we don’t even know about. The good news was the fishermen were ecstatic when they pulled up the nets. It was one of the largest catches they had had in years.”

FGM: Free Gaza Movement to set sail

To view the Free Gaza Movement website click here

Larnaca: Tomorrow at 5:00 pm, the DIGNITY leaves for the third time for the shores of Gaza. This time, eleven past and current members of parliaments of Europe are on board, with Al Jazeera International and The Independent journalists.

These dignitaries were among the 53 Parliamentarians denied entrance by Egypt at the Rafah checkpoint. “Egypt did not allow us to enter Gaza via the Rafah terminal, but this will not stop us from visiting the area,” Lord Nazir Ahmad, head of the European delegates stated, “We will sail to Gaza, we are determined to break the siege”.

Ms Clare Short MP emphasized, “The Egyptian refusal to grant us access through Rafah Crossing is insulting to all of us, and Egypt should open the crossing now.”

They will be on a three-day fact finding tour organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the European Campaign to End the Siege as well as several of the organizations in Gaza who have worked with the Free Gaza Movement on the past two voyages.

On the past trips, Israel has threatened to stop the DIGNITY, arrest its passengers and tow the boat to Israel. The government has been silent on its plans this time, perhaps out of respect for the dignitaries on the voyage. Members of the two organizations stress that the DIGNITY has no intention of going anywhere near Israeli waters but will enter Gaza through its own coastal waters.

The port authorities have asked media to come between 3:30 pm and 5:00 pm Friday at Larnaca Port to see the boat leave and to conduct interviews.

The passenger list (see below) and biographies are posted at Free Gaza’s website, www.freegaza.org. Photos are freely downloadable here

Ahmed, Nazir (Lord) (Pakistan/UK), Andrews, Christopher (Ireland), Bartlett, Eva (Canada), Bolos, Nikolas (Ireland), Healey, Denis (UK), Elhag, Sami Moheildin Mohamed (Sudan), Graham, Derek (Ireland), McNeill, Pauline (Scotland), Morena, Fernando (Spain), Nacer, Mohamed (UK), O’Donnell, Hugh (Scotland, UK), ÓSnodaigh, Aengus (Ireland), Rossi, Fernando (Italy), Arraf, Huwaida (US), Sharp, Rob (UK), Schermerhorn, David (USA), Shoukri, Dr. Arafat (Palestine, UK), Short, Clare (UK), Thomas, Rhodri Glyn (Wales, UK), Tonge, Dr. Jenny (Baroness) (UK), White, Sandra (Scotland, UK), Zisyadis, Josef (Switzerland)

FGM: Free Gaza returns the Dignity on Friday Nov. 7 with 13 MPs

To view the Free Gaza Movement website click here

On Friday, November 7, the DIGNITY leaves at 5:00 pm from Larnaca to Gaza. This time, thirteen European Parliamentarians (from England, Ireland, Italy, Turkey, Wales, Switzerland, and Scotland) are on board.

After two successful voyages, one in August and one last week, members of the Free Gaza Movement are pleased to bring yet another delegation to Gaza to see for themselves the devastation Israel has meted out to 1.5 million Palestinians.

“Our dream two years ago was to bring people to Gaza to witness what Israel is doing. This time, we are honored to have Parliamentarians from the world community coming with us,” said Mary Hughes-Thompson, one of the original Free Gaza Movement organizers.

The Free Gaza Movement and the European Campaign to End the Siege have organized this voyage as Egypt refused to allow entry to 53 international Parliamentarians who were holding a conference in Gaza on November 8–11. Now, several of them are going to meet with their counterparts and assess the humanitarian situation there.

“Egypt did not allow us to enter Gaza via the Rafah terminal, but this will not stop us from visiting the area,” Lord Nazir Ahmad, head of the European delegation stated. “We will sail to Gaza, we are determined to break the siege.” UK MP Ms Clare Short emphasized, “The Egyptian refusal to grant us access through Rafah Crossing is insulting to all of us, and Egypt should open the crossing now.”

The parliamentarians will visit hospitals and deliver a ton of medical supplies brought by the DIGNITY. Hopefully they will be able to meet with many of the 700 students who have been denied the right to leave Gaza and study at universities that have already admitted them.

Dr. Arafat Shoukri of the European Campaign to End the Siege added, “We intend to deliver the medical supplies to the most vulnerable of the stricken population in the territory”.

“This journey will send a strong message to the world and is a direct challenge to the Israeli siege on Gaza. We hope this trip of Parliamentarians will be one of many to follow,” said Osama Qashoo, another Free Gaza Movement organizer.

The Independent: Britain to crack down on exports from Israeli settlements

By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem

To view original article, published on the 3rd November, click here

Britain is taking the lead in pressing the EU to curb imports from Israeli producers in the occupied West Bank as a practical step towards halting the steady increase in the construction of Jewish settlements.

An internal EU note circulated by the UK expresses concern that goods produced from the settlements may be entering Britain after being illegally exempted from tariffs in violation of an Israel-EU trade agreement.

And the note, seen by The Independent, calls for the EU separately to consider afresh much more stringent labelling rules for settlement-produced goods in British stores to prevent them being designated as being from the “West Bank” in a way that could falsely imply that they have a Palestinian origin.

The initiative is the strongest sign yet of deepening official frustration in Whitehall at Israel’s persistent flouting of international exhortations to halt the construction of settlements – which are seen by Britain and most other countries as illegal. Moderate Palestinian leaders say continued settlement building is a major problem.

The Government proposes that other member states should follow its own example in conducting a “targeted” examination of goods imported from Israel to establish whether they were in fact produced inside the 1967 “green line”. Results from the Customs and Excise Study, to identify “potential settlement goods incorrectly described as being of Israeli origin”, have not yet been published.

The note complains that, at last year’s international Middle East summit in Annapolis, Israel committed to its Road Map obligations to “freeze all settlement activity”. It says that, instead, “there has been an acceleration in settlement construction activity since Annapolis”.

It also discloses that importers have been alerted to the need to check packaging to confirm that goods have indeed been produced inside Israel. The moves follow concern from NGOs and others that farmers and manufacturers in settlements may be being exempted from tariffs. EU customs staff are given postcodes meant to determine the origin of goods.

The note says Gordon Brown has proposed a No 10 “round table” with non-government organisations and retailers to discuss calls for consumers to have clearer information on whether goods were settlement-produced. Mike Bailey of Oxfam said yesterday: “It’s wrong for goods to be stocked in British shops where consumers do not know the conditions or legality under which they were produced.”

Several retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury, Waitrose and Somerfield, say they import food – such as organic herbs – grown on settlements, but add that, by designating the goods as “West Bank”, they are complying with EU requirements to denote the area of origin. Marks & Spencer recently disclosed it had stopped stocking goods made in the West Bank.

The Israeli foreign ministry said it knew of the note and was holding “a dialogue” with the UK about it.

*An official at an Israeli cabinet briefing said yesterday that Yuval Diskin, head of the Shin Bet security agency, had warned that Jewish settlers will use “warm weaponry” against Israeli security forces if there is a push to evacuate established settlements. His assessment comes amid stepped-up violence by settlers in Hebron in response to the army’s evacuation of a settler outpost.