Israeli navy spray chemical substance at Gazan fishermen

The Israeli navy continuously attacked Palestinian fishing boats in Gaza throughout yesterday (4th November), using live ammunition and a high-powered water cannon containing a noxious chemical substance.

International Human Rights Observers (HROs) accompanying several fishing boats off the coast of Gaza approximately 8 nautical miles from shore reported that the Israeli navy constantly shot live ammunition extremely close to the boats, damaging many of the fishing nets in the process.

The international HROs also reported the use of a high-powered water cannon that was continuously used against the boats. Not only does this water cannon regularly damages the fishing boats themselves, the HROs have reported that recently the water has contained a foul smelling chemical substance. It is assumed that this substance is the same that has been frequently used by Israeli forces against the non- violent protests against the construction of the annexation barrier in the West Bank villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin. The substance have however been taken for separate chemical analysis.

With the boats fishing 8 nautical miles from shore, this is well within the fishing limit detailed in the Oslo Accords of 1994. With regular claims that from the Israeli government that it has ‘disengaged’ from Gaza, these patrols and attacks from the Israeli navy, regularly occuring from as little as 3 miles from shore, represent a clear signal of the continuation of occupation of Gazan territory as well as regular breaches of the current cease-fire.

The use of chemical substances by the Israeli navy on Gazan fishermen outside of internationally recognised Israeli territorial waters, such as that occurred today, also directly contradicts the Chemical Weapons Convention that took force in 1997 and that is ratified by 149 countries. Within the convention it is detailed that “Each state party undertakes not to use riot control agents as a method of warfare.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), while citing the Chemical Weapons Convention, has made repeated statements on the use of chemical weapons, whether deemed ‘lethal’ or ‘non-lethal’, notably, “It should be emphasized that in situations of armed conflict this absolute prohibition applies to all biological and chemical agents, whether labeled “lethal” or “non-lethal”

Israel cannot claim that it has ‘disengaged’ from the Gaza Strip and not be in clear and direct contravention of these statements.

The violent attacks on Gazan fishermen by the Israeli navy appears to have escalated in recent weeks. International HROs have reported that
live ammunition is being fired continuously closer to the boats, while the damage to fishing boats has also increased.

On the 5th of October Mohammed Musleh was severely injured while fishing off the the coast of the Gaza Strip. He was shot with a 50mm bullet in the leg. He was recently transferred to Jerusalem, after much delay at the Erez, crossing in efforts to save his leg.

Over 40,000 people in Gaza make a living from the fishing industry, yet this community has been decimated by Israeli restrictions on fishing rights and the prevention of fuel from reaching the Gaza Strip.

According to the Fishing Syndicate in Gaza, fishermen need 40,000 litres of fuel and 40,000 litres of natural gas each day to operate throughout the high fishing season.

Starting in April each year, there is a migration of fish from the Nile Delta to Turkish waters which Palestinian fishermen have traditionally relied upon. Yet Israel limits fishing 6 miles from the Gaza shore and regularly attacks those who venture further than 3 miles – over 70 fishermen were arrested last year by the Israeli forces. The large schools that form the migration are usually found 10 miles from shore. The average catch of fish was over 3000 tons a year in the 1990’s, now it is around 500 tons directly due to the Israeli siege of Gaza.

Not only this, but the brutal effects of the siege, the water in which the fishermen of Gaza sail in is now receiving 50 million litres of sewage per day because the people of Gaza have no alternative.

ISM Gaza reports from the Olive Harvest Campaign 2008 in the ‘buffer zone’

This is a compilation of reports of Olive Harvest in Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya, 11th, 13th, 16th & 30th October. Video by Fida Qishta.

ISM Gaza Strip volunteers living in the Gaza Strip have been assisting farmers living in the Buffer Zone areas of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya with their olive harvest during the month of October. In 2005, Israeli Occupation forces declared a 500 meter wide area, deep into the rich agricultural land of Gaza Strip, as a “Buffer Zone”. The entire Eastern border of Gaza Strip has become a desert in the past few years, while once it fed and sustained the 1.5 million residents, most of it is now empty fields of dirt, with maybe a lone tree, reminding all that the land was once full of olive, clementines, lemon, orange, date and many other trees and crops.

The morning starts off with lots of vibrant singing of Palestinian folk songs and as the day progresses, there is less singing and more chatting back and forth between the olive harvesters. There is always a strong spirit and of course the very welcoming tradition of offering Arabic coffee and tea throughout the day. If the harvest lasts through the lunch time, food is prepared and brought to the field, plastic is spread out on the ground and everyone sits as delicious Palestinian food is served.

Presently it is still dangerous for the Palestinian farmers to go to their land, even just to stand there, the Israeli occupation force soldiers are still based at the borders and they still shoot at farmers seen in the fields. The idea of planting crops to harvest is a dream for the future to many farmers. Yet some farmers have succeeded to replant their olive trees for the third or forth time, and a few very fortunate farmers still have their older olive trees to harvest. It is these farmers the ISM Gaza Strip volunteers have been harvesting olives with, those farmers who have been steadfast in nonviolently resisting the Israeli Occupation and the Siege by continuing to farm under the imminent threat of having all their crops and irrigation systems destroyed yet again.

Some of the groves have been small, maybe half a dozen or so trees and the trees have been young, just a few years old – replanted for the third or forth time. Two groves have been large, with the lucky older trees that have somehow succeeded to survive the death blows of the Israeli bulldozers and tanks and Israeli occupation force soldiers. Three times the ISM volunteers have traveled from Gaza City to Beit Hanoun (11th, 13th, & 30th) and once to Beit Lahiya (16th October), to join the Local Initiative Group to pick the olives, a vital and locally produced food source for the Palestinian people. Olives, olive oil and olive oil soap are traditions of Palestinian livelihood that go back decades. If the Israeli soldiers are not prevented from continuing the destruction of the olive trees, this tradition could be gone forever.

Activist puts himself on the (front) line of Gaza’s fishing war

By Ben Lynfield

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

Friday was a typical day at sea for Scottish pro-Palestinian activist Andrew Muncie, with Israeli machine gunfire raking the waters around the boat carrying him and the Palestinian fishermen whose cause he has embraced..

Mr. Muncie, 34, from Glasgow, Scotland is a non-violent participant in the little known battle off Gaza’s coast between the state of the art ships of the Middle East’s most powerful military and the rickety motor boats of Gaza’s fishing fleet.

On Friday, “there were three or four bursts in the general direction of our boat,” said Mr. Muncie, who makes his living as an online poker player. “In such a situation when we have cameras we start filming.”

“Two hours later, at around 1:00 pm, a large Israeli navy ship fired its water cannon against the boat for three or four minutes precisely when the fisherman were pulling in their nets.” Mr.Muncie added

Mr. Muncie said that the first incident occurred about 9 miles off the Gaza coast but that other boats he has been on have been stopped with Israeli machine gun fire as little as two or three miles off the coast. In response to a question for this article, Israeli army officials declined to specify what the fishing limit is.

The Israeli military says it takes action against the Gaza boats in order to thwart attempts to smuggle weapons and explosives into the Strip “Unfortunately, Gaza is turning more and more into a barrel of explosives, smuggled through the sea and through tunnels from Egypt,” says Israeli army spokeswoman Maj. Avital Leibovitch.

But Mr. Muncie and Israeli human rights groups say that Israel is harming fishermen who are simply trying to make a living. “Israel has the right to protect its population from threats but these measures have an impact on a greater population instead of those involved in attacks,” says Sarit Michaeli, spokeswoman of Israel’s B’tselem human rights group. “The impact of this, like other Israeli measures is to harm the economy. Fishermen can hardly leave shallow water before they are harassed.”

Maj. Leibovitch, the army spokeswoman, counters:“We have no intention to harm and do not act in a way to harm innocent people trying to make a living. The problem is with people smuggling explosives.”

Mr. Muncie is one of six volunteers affiliated with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement who escort fishermen. He arrived in Gaza in August from Cyprus on a boat that successfully—to his surprise—challenged the Israeli blockade of the Strip.He plans to stay in Gaza for another two months, he said.

One fisherman Mohammed Musleh, who was without foreign escort was seriously wounded in the leg by Israeli gunfire last month. “The Israeli soldiers and higher commanders are quite well aware they can shoot Palestinian civilians without any recourse and even without negative publicity,” Mr. Muncie says. “They are aware that the same doesn’t apply to foreigners like myself.”

“You see the soldiers on the boat with large machine guns opening fire. The feeling is they are firing at you and your heart jumps. But in retrospect I don’t believe they were trying to hit me because if they wanted to they would have done so.”

“All forms of non-violent resistance involve some calculated risk, what we do is a non-violent reaction to violent oppression and one has to accept these risks. The fishermen accept that they must face risks to just go about their jobs and feed their families. If they were to take no risks whatsoever they wouldn’t be able to fish at all, the Israelis would just push them further and further back to shore”

Mr. Muncie first became interested in the Palestinian issue in 2002 when a television report prompted him to find out more about the conflict and he “became aware there was a military occupation of several decades violating human rights and that it wasn’t two equal sides, it wasn’t a conventional military conflict.” He previously volunteered with ISM in the West Bank flashpoint of Hebron.

Maj. Leibovitch, the military spokeswoman, said that any explosives smuggled into Gaza would end up being used against Israeli civilians. “Unfortunately, our long and sad experience shows us there is no specific criteria for the average terrorist. It could be a fisherman, it could be a grandmother, it could be an educated scholar, it could be a woman who has a family. That’s why we suspect different angles of the population.”

Five people injured as Ni’lin maintains its resistance to the construction of the apartheid wall

November 2, 2008

On the 2nd November, a demonstration against the Apartheid Wall began in Ni’lin at 1.30 in the afternoon. 50 Palestinians gathered with 6 internationals by the municipality and marched towards the construction site in hopes of intervening with the construction work on the wall.

When the demonstrators were stopped by the presence of the Israeli army, they began to chant against the occupation and the wall. Within 5 minutes, the soldiers began to shoot tear gas canisters directly at the crowd. One person was hit by the tear gas canister because the widespread Israeli tactic of shooting directly at rather than above the demonstrators.

The protesters withdrew into the olive groves and the soldiers began to shoot rubber-coated steel bullets in addition to the gas. The soldiers fired rubber-coated steel bullets aiming at the demonstrators from a very close distance.

Until 17.30, the people of Ni’lin displayed their strong resistance to the construction of an illegal wall which if built will annex much of their land. A total of 5 people were injured: 2 were with tear gas canisters and 3 were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets. Ni’lin will continue their actions against the Apartheid Wall during the week and will hold their weekly prayer demonstration this Friday.

Settlers attack again in Hebron following eviction from illegal outpost

Report by Brighton-Tubas Friendship and Solidarity Group

Members of the Brighton-Tubas Friendship and Solidarity Group and International Solidarity Movement (ISM) are joining local Palestinians in Hebron who are defending a house under attack by Israeli settlers from Kharsema settlement.

They are sleeping at the house of a Palestinian family who live close to the ruins of the Federman Farms settlement outpost that was evacuated last week by the Israeli army. Settler violence and harassment of Palestinian residents has increased this week after settlers clashed with Israeli police over the eviction and reoccupied several Palestinian homes.

Last week armed Israeli settlers came to the house and tried to set fire to it, and since then the Palestinian family have been subjected to threats, intimidation and stone throwing.

Last night, three members of BTFSG slept in the house. This morning 15 settlers, carrying guns, came to the house. First the settlers attacked a 65 year old Palestinian woman, who was walking with the aid of a zimmer frame. The settlers pushed her over and kicked her with the result that she had to be taken to hospital. They then turned on the internationals. The international who was filming the attack on the woman, a 23 year old man from Brighton, was pushed to the ground and kicked in the head. His glasses and the camera were smashed. He has gone to a Palestinian hospital for medical attention. An Israeli woman from Rabbis for Human Rights, a group campaigning against settler violence, was assaulted and her face so badly cut that she was taken to hospital. Other members of BTFSG were pushed, punched and kicked.

To justify their attacks, the settlers have fabricated a story that the Palestinians stole 3 of their mules and have threatened to return.

There are at the moment 8 internationals in the house ready to film the threatened attack, and about 10 Palestinians.

The Israeli police have refused to attend the scene unless there is an attack, so the Palestinians have been left with no protection. The Israeli army, who have a large presence in the area, likewise is not protecting the Palestinians from attack.

Hebron has been the scene of escalating settler violence over the last few days. On Friday a group of settlers attacked a Palestinian house. On Sunday afternoon a peaceful demonstration by Palestinian residents of Hebron asking for more access to their city was attacked by settlers who burned Palestinian flags and protesters banners.On Sunday evening settlers pelted a Palestinian house with stones. The increased violence is linked to the attempted eviction.