Seven people injured in Bil’in weekly protest – European parliament members brutalized by Israeli soldiers

Report from Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Apartheid Wall and Settlements

To visit the Bil’in village website click here


Video courtesy of Emad Bornat

Friday 31 October 2008

For the past four years, the village of Bil’in has been protesting against the wall and settlement building. Today, another protest marched after the Friday prayer, joined by international and Israeli activists. The protest marked the 52nd anniversary of the massacre of Kifr Qasem and 91st of the Balfour Agreement. The protesters condemned these events and the Israeli occupation police. They also held the world, especially the US and Britain, accountable for the conditions that Palestinians live in and for their support of Israel in their colonialist plans in Palestine. The protesters raised the Palestinian flag and banners calling to end the Israeli occupation, stop settlement building, bombing civilian areas and assaulting Palestinian detainees.

The vice president of the European Parliament, Luisa Morgantini, joined the protest with one other parliamentarian, Chris Davis. The delegation showed solidarity with the residents of Bil’in in particular and the Palestinian people in general with their right to struggle against the Apartheid Wall and have freedom. The soldiers came through the gate, pushed Luisa Morgantini and Chris Davis who fell down to the ground.

When the protest reached the wall, the Israeli army closed the gate to stop the protesters from going through. The army fired sound grenades, tear gas canisters and rubber coated steel bullets at the protesters while they were trying to open the gate. Dozens suffered tear gas inhalation and seven were injured, two from France, Ponal and José, who was already injured the last time he participated. The other injured people are Mai-soon Azam from El-Arabyia Canal TV, Iyad Burnat, Adib Aburahma, Camel El-Khatib and ABdallah Aburahma.

A French delegation of the International Civil Campaign for the Protection of the Palestinian People (CCIPPP), another group from Belgium, Enseignants pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient (EPJPO), as well as a group from Nanterre, France, joined the protest today and also listened to a presentation by the Bil’in committee about the village’s struggle against the wall.

A music band from the USA, called Olive Trees Circus, played guitar, accordion, and sung for peace in the middle of the action.

The Popular Committee of Bil’in expressed their solidarity with the people of Gaza, and the appreciation of the efforts of the crew of the ship of hope in their attempt to break the siege.

Settlers attack elderly woman’s home in Hebron

Hebron, Ban Islam

At approximately 4:30pm on the 30th October, the house of Sureia Algremari a 95 year old woman who lives closed to the Kharsina settlement was attacked by 4-5 settlers. They threw many stones, breaking windows and entered the house. The neighbours called the police, but they failed to show up and inspect her house. Later on the settlers attacked several times, throwing stones at the Palestinians who live in the area of Ban Islam.

The Israeli army and border police evacuated an outpost known as Federman’s Farm from the Kharsina settlement early Sunday morning. This appears to be the motivation for the settler attack.

The settlers have, since the evacuation, destroyed the fence that separates the settlement from the Palestinian neighbourhood leaving them with free access to harass the Palestinian inhabitants.

Israeli forces prevent residents of Al Mazra’a ash Sharqiya from removing road-block thats denies them access to Road 60

October 29, 2008

At 11.00, around 30 residents of Al Mazra’a ash Sharqiya accompanied by 10 international and Israeli activists marched towards two roadblocks aiming to remove them. Waiting for the demonstrators when they arrived, were 4 Israeli military jeeps: 2 troops of border police and 2 troops of Israeli soldiers. The demonstrators expressed their desire to remove the blockades, but were stopped by the soldiers. The army threatened to arrest the Israeli activists, using an illegal, unsigned military order as the reason. Despite their admittance to the activists they threatened to arrest that they could only illegally detain them as the military order was invalid, they expressed their determination to force the group to leave. Several members of the popular committee in Al Mazra’a argued their right to free the road, but the presence of at least 20 soldiers deterred physical action to remove the piles of rocks. As the demonstrators were beginning to walk away, the Israeli soldiers began to push the group.

An under-publicized repression against Palestinians, roadblocks affect freedom of movement as much as checkpoints and the Apartheid Wall. The system of Israeli-only roads, roadblocks and gates determines a severely limited network of routes Palestinians can use in the Occupied Territories. Most major roads in the West Bank are either illegal for Palestinians (14 roads), require difficult to acquire permission from the Israeli government (10 roads), or can become illegal for Palestinians at any Israeli commanders’ discretion. In addition to confiscating Palestinian roads and renovating them for Israeli-only use, the Israeli government orders the construction of gates and the creation of roadblocks. The significance of reclaiming the left-over roads has inspired several villages to organize actions around roadblocks. In the West Bank village of Al Mazra’a ash Sharqiya, the Israeli government has enforced several barriers on an access road from the village to Route 60. The residents of Al Mazra’a and several villages nearby will continue their work to reclaim this road, in an effort to continue their resistance to the occupation.

Road 60 is a clear example of the difficulty Palestinians have negotiating roads within the West Bank that have become essentially Israeli-only. In total Israel has imposed on Road 60; 87 earth-mounds placed along the road, with 19 military gates, 15 checkpoints, another 6 partial checkpoints, 13 roadblocks, 15 watchtowers and 11 tunnels. What has been a traditional route through the entire West Bank is now one where Palestinians freedom of movement is extremely limited, denying Palestinians freedom of movement and inherently imposing a situation of segregation where the road is prioritised for Israelis.

Many villages are in the same position so Al-Mazra’a al Sharqiyya and blocked from accessing the road completely.

Palestinians with West Bank IDs are then not permitted to access16.9km of the road is in fact as it runs through the Jerusalem municipality, with Palestinians also prevented from accessing the Road West of the Green Line.

Even the World Bank have been driven to comment on the issue of lack of freedom of movement and the impact that this has on the Palestinian economy and livelihoods.

Settlers burn Palestinian land in Burin

Many acres of land were burnt in the village of Burin on Thursday 30th October, in what appeared to be an arson attack by settlers from nearby Bracha settlement.

The attack came at approximately 2pm, when Palestinian farmers and international activists were harvesting olives nearby. The fire quickly spread along the edge of the road that leads to Bracha settlement – an Israeli-only road. Burin fire-fighters were quick to respond to the fire, but were held up when they were unable to enter the Israeli-only road without permission from Israeli authorities. Upon reaching the scene, firefighters were able to contain the blaze after approximately fifteen minutes, with assistance from farmers. Approximately 20 olive trees were damaged in the blaze, with many more trees saved only by the fact that the land was damp due recent rains.

Farmers suspect the arson was a direct response to their presence on their lands, with some suggesting it might have been an attempted scare-tactic. Several settler youth were visible on the scene as the fire was quenched, but denied any role in the blaze. Instead, Israeli authorities advised farmers that the youths had claimed it was the international activists who were assisting with the olive harvest who had started the fire. Clearly, these allegations were implausible even for Israeli authorities, who were seen afterwards questioning only the settler youth.

The lands around the illegal settlement of Bracha are scarred with black – testament to the countless fires previously torched. This tactic has been employed by settlers not just to deprive Palestinian farmers of their olives, almonds and other fruits – thus injuring them economically; but also to scare farmers from their lands, attempting to break the generational connections with the land, thus rendering the land easier to annex. For this reason many Palestinian farmers in Burin consider it vital to undertake the olive harvest each year; not just to collect whatever olives have not been burnt or stolen by settlers, but to also affirm their ownership of the lands.

This fire is but the most recent in attacks on the village of Burin from both Bracha and Yitzhar settlements. Ali Eid, the mayor of Burin, estimates that at least fifty percent of Burin’s olive trees have been burnt by rancourous settlers, with arson attacks occuring at least once a month.

Free Gaza Movement lands in Gaza

To view the Free Gaza Movement website click here

LARNACA – The Free Gaza Movement is delighted to announce that their third boat, the Dignity, carrying 27 crew and passengers, arrived in Gaza at 8:10 Gaza time, in spite of Israeli threats to stop them. In the pouring rain, the boat pulled into port amid cheers from the people of Gaza and tears from the passengers. David Schermerhorn, a crew member called an hour before the boat entered Gazan waters to say, “There is a rainbow stretching across the Mediterranean from where we are right now.”

Yesterday, the Israeli Navy said they would stop our vessel once it reached Israel’s territorial waters. Apparently to save face, they said they would harm our boat, arrest us and tow us IF we entered Israeli waters. The problem for Israel is that the Dignity had no intention of getting anywhere near those waters.

One of the organizers, Huwaida Arraf, cheered, “Once again we’ve been able to defy an unjust and illegal policy while the rest of the world is too intimidated to do anything. Our small boat is a huge cry to the international community to follow in our footsteps and open a lifeline to the people of Gaza.”

For the second time, the Free Gaza Movement has demonstrated that the might of the Israeli Navy is no match for a small boat of human rights activists determined to call to the attention of the world the occupation of the people of Gaza.

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council added, “Despite the injustice against the Palestinian people, we believe in justice and will keep on trying to break Israel’s siege. The occupation has divided the Palestinians, but our non-violent resistance has united us.”

Osama Qashoo, one of the organizers of the Free Gaza Movement, is overjoyed for the second time in three months, “We are all capable of leading a non-violent and effective movement to end Israeli Apartheid and expose the injustice that has been meted out to the Palestinians. We in the Free Gaza Movement have provided the new dictionary, it’s up to the Palestinians and Israelis and Internationals to add the words.”