APPEAL: Help South Hebron Villagers Stay on their Land

On Wednesday 14th February Israeli Occupation Forces demolished a large number of houses and agricultural structures in four different villages in the South Hebron Hills – Qwawis, M’nezel, Um-Elhe’r and the Abu-Kbeita family near Yatir settlement. The villagers in this area struggle to stay on their land despite ongoing home demolitions, violent attacks and constant settler and military harassment. Please donate what you can to help them remain on the land they have farmed for generations.

Illegal Israeli settlements and outposts (illegal even according to Israeli law) whose residents have stolen most of the area’s agricultural land, have tried for years to drive the local Palestinian
villagers off their land. Unlike the homes of Palestinians, the illegal outposts are not demolished. Instead, they receive electricity and water supplies, paved roads and subsidies for their agricultural enterprises. The Palestinians rely on water from wells, a few hours of electricity a day from a generator, and an ever decreasing patch of land on which to grow crops and graze their livestock. Despite these hardships the indigenous people refuse to surrender to the state-sponsored land grab, aware that they otherwise face eviction into walled ghettos.

With your help, ISM, and Israeli peace groups, Ta’ayush,Gush Shalom, The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Women’s Coalition for a Just Peace,Ta’ayush, ISM, Rabbis for Human Rights, The Israeli Committee against house demolitions, Gush-Shalom ,Coalition of Women for Peace, Machsom Watch, Yesh-Gvul, and Rabbis for Human Rights, are working to rebuild the houses and structures as soon as possible. Rebuilding will start over two days in March. Villagers have requested that internationals maintain a permanent presence in the area after the rebuilding to offer protection from settler violence.

It is estimated that around $36,000 will be needed to rebuild all these houses and structures. The costs below are for the materials and transportation of them to the different locations. The costs include: cement, blocks, stone, sand, concrete and roofs.

Um al Kheir 1 concrete house – NIS 37,000
5 other houses – NIS 62,000
Qawawis 7 houses and 1 agricultural structure – NIS 14,800
Imneizil 1 house and 1 agricultural structure – NIS 9,800
Abu Kbeita Family 2 houses and a tent – NIS 6,700
Lawyer’s fees NIS 21,000
Total NIS 151,300 ($36024)

For more details on the recent demolitions click here

For more on the Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing in the South Hebron Hills click here

Checks of any amount may be made out to “ISM-USA” and sent to:
ISM-USA
PO Box 5073
Berkeley, CA 94705

If you wish to make a tax-deductible donation, please make your checks of $50 or more payable to ISM-USA’s fiscal sponsor: A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, (with “ISM-USA” on the memo line of the check), and send to the same address above. You may also use your credit or debit card and use our PayPal account. Donations sent through PayPal are not tax-deductible. To pay by PayPal please click here

After making a donation please send an e-mail detailing the amount and the date of payment to:
info@palsolidarity.org

Nablus Old City siege by IOF: Turkish bath invaded, human shield updates, hospital restriction, man in coma from tear gas

by IWPS, February 27th

1. Invasion of Turkish Bath, February 25

Israeli forces broke into the Turkish Bath in the Old City of Nablus at 11:00pm and used it as a military base for two days. The soldiers broke the door to the entrance of the baths and searched through everything. Soldiers left one room of the baths in ruins, with broken tiles, open lockers, soap, towels, and sheets thrown on the ground, and light fixtures ripped out of the wall. The stained glass on the ceiling was damaged, the water pipes were taken apart, the wooden ceiling was ripped apart, and the mirror was cracked.

The Turkish bath is 400 years old and holds great economic and cultural significance for the people of Nablus. Many people use the baths everyday and several families depend on it economically.

2. Human Shield Update, February 25 and 26

On February 25, at 3 am in the Old City of Nablus, Israeli soldiers invaded the home of a local vegetable vendor from the Yasmin quarter. The soldiers took him out of his home to accompany them while walking around the Old City. The soldiers forced him walk in front of them as a human shield.

On February 26, soldiers returned to the same man’s house and interrogated him about his children. The soldiers ordered the man to help negotiate their way to the location where another local man was recently killed. They took him to another building and interrogated him about two families. The soldiers exploded a bomb in the wall next to him, separating two rooms. Soldiers also used the same man’s home as a base and consumed his food.

3. Hospital Blockade and Restriction, February 25 and 26

On February 25 at 3:30am, Israeli forces invaded Al-Watani Hospital in Nablus. The director arrived at 7am and met the army commander and more than 10 soldiers with their jeeps parked inside the hospital area. The director stated to the army that their presence was illegal according to international law. Soldiers remained at the hospital for two days, checking IDs of all patients, doctors, visitors, and staff in addition to searching every car, handbag, and package. The hospital services remained open, but many patients and staff were afraid to go near the building.

On February 26, soldiers threw tear gas near the hospital, which entered the building.

4. Man in Coma From Tear Gas, February 26

A 47-year-old tailor and father of seven is in critical condition at the Nablus Hospital after going into cardiac arrest. The man inhaled tear gas in his home, which thrown by Israeli soldiers after a confrontation with Palestinian youth. According to a family member, the man told his wife he could not breathe and the family immediately called for medical help. Israeli soldiers prevented an ambulance from reaching the man for one hour. At the same time, IOF forces were detaining twenty-five UPMRC emergency medical volunteers so they could not respond to the call. By the time the man reached the hospital, his condition was severe. According to his doctor, he has no chance of recovery.


a window of the Yasmin hotel

Hebron settler spokesman attacks Italian film crew

by ISM Hebron, February 27th

UPDATE 6.30PM – Raed has now been released on NIS 1500 bail

Hebron settler spokesman, David Wilder, today attacked an Italian film crew making a documentary film about schools in Israel and Palestine. The RAI Cinema TV crew was in the Tel Rumeida district of Hebron filming the Qurtuba school, having already visited schools in Israel.

At around 3pm film director and actress Barbara Cupisti was filming the Palestinian schoolchildren on Shuhada Street when the spokesman for settlers in Hebron, David Wilder, approached her and started taking photos of her. When he persisted Barbara requested that he stop but he continued taking photos of her from a very short distance.

When Palestinian cameraman Raed Alhelo started filming David Wilder, the settler spokesperson grabbed his camera and assaulted him. Hebron police then detained Raed and he currently remains in custody in Kiryat Arba police station.

Barbara Cupisti is most famous outside her native country for her roles in horror films.

IOF attack South Bethlehem farmers, 3 arrested

by the ISM media team, February 27th

UDPATE March 1st – Rashid remains in detention in Etzion military detention centre. Rashid was abducted for assaulting a soldier after being beaten by the IOF.

UPDATE and CORRECTION February 28th – Mahmoud, who is the Village Council Head, was released last night but Rashid, his son, remains in detention.

UPDATE 6.30PM – Mahmoud and Adil Zaqatka have been released but Village Council Head Rashid Zaqatka remains in captivity at Gush Etzion police station.

This morning Israeli military bulldozers started razing the farmland of Umm Salamuna village south of Bethlehem for the route of the Apartheid Wall. The bulldozers uprooted hundreds of grape vines and apricot trees belonging to villagers. When the mostly elderly farmers tried to resist by blocking the bulldozers they were beaten and attacked with concussion grenades and tear gas. Two elderly farmers were injured, one of whom was taken to hospital with a broken arm.

Head of Umm Salamuna Village Council, Rashid Zaqatka, and his son Mahmoud Zaqatka were abducted and taken to an unknown destination. Another family member Adil Zaqatka was later abducted. They all remain in captivity.

After bulldozers withdrew from the area the army detained all the villagers on the land for two hours and searched everyone, claiming they had lost some binoculars. Before leaving the army threatened the villagers not to come to their land again or there would be ‘serious consequences’.

Israel plans to annex 700 dunums and confiscate 270 dunums of agricultural land for the route of the Wall in Umm Salamuna. Although the villagers are challenging the route of the Wall in the Israeli Supreme Court, a Court order freezing work was lifted last week and the bulldozers have recommenced razing the village’s agricultural land.

contact:
Mahmoud Zawahira – 0599586004, 0522591386
Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, Umm Salamuna

Haaretz: “Legitimization of land theft”

Haaretz editorial, February 27th

The theft of private land and lawless construction, with the authorities’ collaboration, have long been routine in the land of the settlers. The scope of these deeds and their seriousness are described extensively in the report on illegal outposts compiled by Talia Sasson, formerly a senior state prosecution attorney. The report was buried almost two years ago.

However, the decision of the Supreme Planning Council (SPC) for Judea and Samaria, which was revealed in Haaretz on Sunday, to legitimize the plan to build the Matityahu East neighborhood in Modi’in Ilit, beyond the Green Line, marks a nadir.

The plan is to legitimize 42 high-rises, which are in various stages of construction, some of them on land allegedly stolen from the villagers of Bil’in. All of the high-rises being built contravene the planning and construction laws. Peace Now and Bil’in’s residents petitioned the High Court of Justice two years ago to have construction stopped. The legal counsel of Modi’in Ilit warned in writing of “construction offenses of such colossal proportions, ignoring the law and planning regulations, that words cannot describe [them].”

Following the petition, with the support of the State Prosecution, the High Court ordered a halt to construction and to the neighborhood’s occupancy more than a year ago. At that time the prosecution instructed the police to open an investigation into those involved in the affair.

The authorities responsible for enforcing the region’s planning and building laws knew what was going on and turned a blind eye. Instead, they recently decided to legitimize it retroactively.

Matityahu East is the latest in a series of such affairs in which the separation barrier, supposedly serving Israel’s security needs, is used to annex West Bank territory to expand the settlements. The defense minister is dragging his feet on everything concerning the evacuation of illegal outposts. At the same time, bodies he is responsible for – led by the civil administration – are colluding in land grabbing and legitimizing illegal construction throughout the West Bank.

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz is not fulfilling his duty by publicly denouncing the anarchy in the territories in everything concerning law enforcement. He must demand that the defense minister halt the implementation of the SPC’s plan until the inquiry into suspicions of land theft is completed.

The scope of the offenses and the advanced stages of building and selling of apartments most not provide shelter for scofflaws. Peace Now is to be commended for its legal aid to Bil’in residents – as are the Israeli and international peace activists who come every week to demonstrate against the fence being built there.

The High Court did not hesitate to halt the construction in Matityahu East until the planning procedures and inquiry into the ownership issue could be completed. If the government does not quash the planning council’s decision to allow construction to continue, the High Court will have no choice but to respond to the recent petition. It will have to abrogate that decision, to protect both the rule of law and the rights of those victimized by its breach.