Bil’in Peacefully Breaches Fence

by ISM media team, October 20th

At midday yesterday the villagers of Bil’in again marched in solidarity with Emad Bornat, who was attacked and taken from Bil’in by the Israeli occupation forces on 6th October. Nearly forty people, twenty Palestinians along with twenty internationals and Israelis, participated in the demonstration, aiming to reach the apartheid wall.

As the demonstration reached the outskirts of the village they were met by seven soldiers with the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF). Their attempts to prevent the demonstration from reaching the wall, by forming a blockade, were unsuccessful. While the demonstration marched towards the barrier, IOF soldiers fired tear gas and concussion grenades at Palestinian demonstrators, most of whom were children.

Demonstrators first entered through part of the apartheid barrier, where a hole had been cut in the fence and razor wire. They proceeded to march up to, and through the gate and onto the settler-only road, when they were confronted by at least forty IOF soldiers and border police. In reaction to IOF soldiers and police trying to force the demonstration off the road, demonstrators sat down, chanting “NO to the wall”, and singing in resistance. A message to the occupation forces was spelt out in stones on the settler road in both English and Hebrew. “NO TO THE WALL!”

After sitting on the road for about half an hour, the demonstrators called off the action, and returned to the village escorted by IOF soldiers. The soldiers followed until the demonstrators had left the area where the barrier has been established.

On returning to the village, demonstrators came across two soldiers who had become separated from their unit. As their unit returned for them, the unprovoked soldiers fired concussion grenades and tear gas, at dangerously close distances.

After reaching the village, IOF soldiers and police started shooting tear gas, concussion grenades and rubber bullets. Soldiers then began aiming their rifles (minus the rubber-bullet attachment) at children. Some of the international demonstrators decided to stand in their way, in order to prevent them from firing. This forced the soldiers to question their actions, which eventually got them to step back. At this time IOF soldiers and police were aiming their rifles directly at demonstrators and several internationals were nearly hit by tear gas and concussion grenades. One grenade exploded just an inch from the leg of one person causing burn injuries. One soldier threatened an international, pushing and hitting her with a baton. A short while later, a military jeep entered the outskirts of the village, shooting rubber bullets at Palestinian demonstrators. Two villagers were hit with the rubber bullets.

The demonstration today was a great success in support for the freedom of Emad Bornat, resistance against the settlements and the apartheid wall. The weekly protests will continue.

injuries:
Khalid Khatib – rubber bullet
Sameh Burnat – rubber bullet

Bil’in Cameraman Still in Detention

Bil’in cameraman Emad Bornat remains in detention despite a military judge’s decision to release him today. The judge agreed to release Emad on 15,000 NIS ($3,500) bail and under house arrest to a neighbouring village to Bil’in. The judge, however, also gave the Israeli military until Sunday to appeal the decision. This is now the second time a military judge has decided to release the Reuters cameraman but given the army the chance to appeal. Emad was seized after a demonstration on October 6th and has been charged with throwing stones and assaulting a police officer, although he was filming at the time.

Whilst in the border police van Emad sustained severe head injuries needing hospital treatment and stitches. A judge ordered an investigation into the origin of these injuries, finding inadequate the border police’s explanation that communication equipment fell on him.

The villagers of Bil’in and supporters will be demonstrating in solidarity with Emad tomorrow. The demonstration will begin at the village mosque after prayers around 12 midday, and will march to the site of the wall, which has stolen over 50% of Bil’in’s agricultural land.

For more information:

Mohammed Khatib, Bil’in Anti-wall Popular Committee: 054 557 3285
Attorney Gaby Laski: 054 441 8988
Israeli video-journalist Shai Polack: 054 533 3364
ISM Media office: 02 297 1824

Israeli Soldiers Harass Palestinian Civilians in Tel Rumeida

by Tel Rumeida Project and ISM Hebron, 18th October 2006

At approximately 12.40pm an Israeli border police van stopped and asked two international Human Rights Workers (HRWs) on Shuhada Street whether they spoke English. When they replied that they did, one of the border police said, “I no speak English” and the policemen drove away. This happened a couple of times, until the border police stopped again and asked one of the HRWs if they could see the film on her camera. One of the policemen then looked through the pictures on the HRW’s digital camera, apparently looking for photos of soldiers, of which there were none. The policemen were all unusually friendly during all these exchanges. A short while later, the van pulled up at a nearby checkpoint and a few of the border police jumped out of the back of the van and chased each other a short way up the street, trying to hit each other. Later, the border police van stopped again, and the driver of the police van blew kisses to both the male HRW and the female HRW on Shuhada Street. He then made hand gestures to a young Palestinian child, who had been talking to the HRWs, to approach him. Once the child had approached, he then made hand gestures for him to go away and repeated this sequence several times. The border policemen’s behaviour during all these incidents was very unusual and the HRWs wondered at its cause, although they saw no signs of alcohol use or any other such substance during these incidents.

At shortly before 5pm, three Israeli army vans pulled up at the checkpoint and two HRWs noticed that some of the soldiers had gone into the entrance of a Palestinian house next to the checkpoint. They seemed to be interfering with the ground-floor door to a Palestinian dwelling but when questioned by a HRW as to what they were doing, the soldiers refused to answer. A Palestinian lady and child left the building shortly afterwards and seemed to be saying that the army had not entered their house. Shortly after this, approximately 12 soldiers suddenly rushed through checkpoint 56 into H1 (under the 1997 Hebron Protocol, the H1 area of the city that is supposed to be controlled by the Palestinian Authority). They linked up with a further 10 to 12 soldiers and marched around the Old City for approximately 10-15 minutes. They then split into two groups – one of about fourteen, the other of approximately six. After a couple more minutes, the larger group entered a military base. On walking back through the Old City four soldiers were seen standing outside a children’s toyshop. On closer inspection another two soldiers were seen standing inside talking with the shop’s owner. After a few minutes they left. The shop owner indicated that the soldiers had been looking at toy guns and showed the HRW an empty box from which a gun had been taken. Whether the soldiers paid for the toy gun could not be determined. Just before the checkpoint to re-enter Tel Rumeida, the soldiers stopped a taxi, made the owner get out and examined his boot, before letting him go. A HRW on the H2 (Israeli controlled side under the Hebron Protocol) side of checkpoint 56 saw the soldiers returning from the patrol and carrying the toy gun. The soldiers were obviously very excited by this toy and pretended to fire at each other with it.

Gaza in Crisis: Interview With Mona El-Farra

Listen to show segment. Download MP3 of entire show. Watch 128k stream. Watch 256k stream. from Democracy Now, October 18th

Israel has ratcheted up threats of a massive ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. We go to Gaza to speak with physician and community activist Dr. Mona El-Farra.

Israel has ratcheted up threats of a massive ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. Israeli troops backed by tanks, helicopters and drones have already staged ground operations in parts of Gaza in yet another escalation in the ongoing assault on the Occupied Territories.

For the past four months, the Israeli military has led a wave of intense operations along the length of the Gaza Strip. It began after the capture of an Israeli soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, by Palestinian militants on June 25th. The Israeli military said its operations were intended to free Corporal Shalit and to halt Qassam rocket fire. Early on the Israelis bombed Gaza’s only power plant and they have kept Gaza’s crossing points to Israel and Egypt closed for most of the time.

Since the start of the operation – codenamed Summer Rain – more than 250 Palestinians have been killed. One in five were children. According to The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, which has investigated each case, the vast majority of the casualties are civilian.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian economy has ground to a halt. Unemployment levels stand at close to fifty percent and around eighty percent of households in Gaza are living in poverty. The crisis comes at a time when the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, are deadlocked in their efforts to form a national unity government.

Dr. Mona El-Farra is a physician and community activist living in northern Gaza. She runs a blog called From Gaza, with Love. She joins us on the line from Gaza.

—

RUSH TRANSCRIPT

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Mona El-Farra is a physician and community activist who lives in northern Gaza. She runs a blog called “From Gaza, With Love.” She joins us on the phone from Gaza. Welcome to Democracy Now!

DR. MONA EL-FARRA: Hello, Amy, and hello to everybody. And thank you for interviewing me.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us. Can you start off by describing the situation today in Gaza?

DR. MONA EL-FARRA: Okay. The situation, the Israeli plane jetfighters are flying over Gaza since early hours of the morning, and it’s shame that the operation of re-incursion into Gaza is coming soon. The general mood of people are very, very low. People are feeling there’s no hope, there’s no vision for the future, especially that the political negotiation between Fatah and Hamas is deadlock. And the general situation is not promising. So people are very frustrated, feeling very low.

Then, some good news that we have heard, it might be news or rumors about the [inaudible] is coming in the next 48 hours. Even this good news doesn’t make us feel happy, because feeling this while the airplanes are flying over our heads and we are sitting every minute by the incursion and going back to what we experienced also the last three months. So the general mood of the population is not very good. And our Ramadan month is finishing and the heat is coming. The streets are nearly deserted. It is not — as these people are approaching the month — the feast, and it has a lot to do with the economical crisis that we are going through. This is in brief.

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Mona El-Farra, there were reports from Italian television station RAI that the Israeli military is facing accusations it’s used experimental weapons during recent attacks in Gaza. They’re reporting the weapons have led to abnormally serious physical injuries, including amputated limbs and severe burns. This is a report by the same journalist who reported on the use of phosphorus as an offensive weapon in Fallujah, the weapon believed to be similar to the U.S.-made Dense Inert Metal Explosive, or DIME. In addition to inflicting major shrapnel wounds, the weapon is believed to be highly carcinogenic and harmful to the environment. Do you have any information on this?

DR. MONA EL-FARRA: Actually, as physicians here in Gaza and our police in the ER rooms, because I am just a master surgeon, but what we have noticed in the general hospital in Gaza that the sort of weapon that has been used this time is different with what has been used two years ago during the incursion of Jabalia refugee camp, for example, and different parts of Gaza. So there’s difference in the sort of injuries. The injuries [inaudible] very lethal, destructive, destructive. It is very, very specific. And it seems to kill and hurt, to make handicapped. So that’s what we have noticed.

But to have tools, we don’t have the facilities to investigate what’s going on. We are isolated in Gaza. We don’t have the real facilities to say that it is such kind of weapons and it is — or it is international [inaudible] or whatever. So I can’t give you concrete information about this, but from our remarks, our notice that the increased number, increasing number of casualties and number of injured and the sort of [inaudible] of the injured is different from what we have noticed in the previous years.

AMY GOODMAN: UNICEF just came out with a report that says the number of Palestinian children killed this year is nearly double those killed in 2005. Suhaib Kadiah, a 13-year-old girl in Gaza became the 92nd Palestinian child to be killed when she was shot during an Israeli attack on Gaza. Overall, I think they’re saying Israel has killed more than 800 Palestinian children since the beginning of the Second Palestinian Intifada six years ago. What kind of information do you see on the ground in Gaza?

DR. MONA EL-FARRA: On the ground, more than 400 were killed in the last three months, and the number of children, more than 80 were killed. Not only children. I can say two-thirds of the people who died were civilians, entirely civilians who were just caught during the operation and have nothing to do with the goal of the Israeli occupying army. So the number of civilians that have been killed is increasing. And this is alarming. This is dangerous, too. That was what we have noticed. Entire families have been killed and vanished during these attacks to Gaza Strip.

AMY GOODMAN: You head the Rachel Corrie Center for Children, the children center in Gaza. In a few minutes, we’re going to talk with Rachel’s sister and father, who will join us here in the studio in New York. Can you talk about this center and why you’ve named it for Rachel Corrie?

DR. MONA EL-FARRA: The Union of Health Work Committees, this is the mother organization that founded this children’s center in Rafah refugee camp — the simple idea of the center was to give a place for the children of Rafah during the incursion and during those very hardship times they are facing, because [inaudible] this place to distract their attention from the war and what’s going around them. So by the time the center was finished, Rachel Corrie passed away and gave her life, sacrificing her life to defend the children of Rafah down in the south of Gaza Strip. So the Union of Health Work Committee, both directors of administration decided to call the center — to name it after Rachel Corrie to keep her memory alive, because she sacrificed her life, she lost her life while defending Rafah children and while standing [inaudible], supporting the position against the injustice that’s inflicting on Palestinian people living under occupation. This is the reason why we named the center this.

Another reason for naming the center, we wanted to be a focal point to keep the international solidarity movement going with Palestinian people through the center. So the children in the center can really — the center itself and the children can receive international solidarity groups, people who are supportive of the Palestinian cause to come to the center and meet and see the children. On another hand, the children can communicate with the world through the facilities in the center, like the internet — computer and internet, I mean — and so the children will not grow up hating the others. We want them to grow up knowing that there are still in the world place for people who respect justice and who are fighting to see the world full of justice, not hate and injustice.

AMY GOODMAN: And finally, the infighting between Hamas and Fatah. On Sunday, Hamas accusing Fatah of accepting $40 million in aid from the Bush administration, as part of a U.S. effort to topple the Hamas-led government.

DR. MONA EL-FARRA: This is big problem here for us in Gaza. This is an internal fight between Hamas and Fatah, because this is a — this doesn’t make things improve. And besides the Israeli atrocities against Palestinians, the internal atmosphere is making us really very preoccupied. Everybody is occupied by these internal clashes between Fatah and Hamas and the mutual accusation between both. And after all, in my own opinion, that this is the outcome of occupation. This is outcome of occupation, what’s happening in Gaza. I don’t blame the occupation directly, but indirectly this is the outcome of our life under occupation.

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Mona El-Farra, I want to thank you very much for being with us, speaking to us from northern Gaza. She runs the Rachel Corrie Children’s Center there. When we come back from break, we’ll be joined by Rachel Corrie’s father and sister to talk about a play that has finally come to New York.

Nablus Villagers Face Impediments to Olive Harvest from Israeli Soldiers

by ISM Nablus, 18th October

Qusin is a small picturesque village located in the green rolling hills just west of Nablus city and adjacent to the Israeli colony of Qedumim. Since the height of the Al-Aqsa intifada, the village has been spared overtly violent military incursions, but there are many other problems that prevent the villagers from going about their daily lives as normal.

About three months ago, a several kilometer long coil of razor-wire was put up by the Israeli military in order to prevent university students and workers from the village from reaching Nablus without being forced to suffer an arduous wait at Beit Iba checkpoint. Many of these people, especially the young men, are subjected to daily internment in a special holding-pen at the checkpoint. Claiming to be “checking” their IDs, Israeli soldiers hold them prisoner there for hours every day, sometimes confiscating their mobile phones and refusing them access to water and bathroom facilities. The same people are made to wait day after day even though the soldiers manning the checkpoint know their names and faces very well by now. If they attempt to go around the checkpoint, their taxi drivers are invariably stopped and made to wait for at least two hours as a punishment. In some cases, the military even confiscate or vandalise the cars.

The village council has requested that international solidarity workers accompany farmers to their land during the olive harvest, due to harassment from Israeli military forces. Two days ago, a couple of families with land on the far side of an Israeli bypass road and about 200 meters from Qedumim colony started harvesting their olives. As the electronic school bell rang out from the Israeli colony and the usually unmistakably positive but now so unsettling sound of children playing subsided, landowner Abu Ramsi explained the problems facing the village: “We are not afraid of the settlers. They are good people. But the soldiers always come to chase us off and prevent us from picking our olives.” Soldiers also prevent Palestinians from crossing the Israeli bypass road with their tractors, essential for transporting equipment and the harvested fruit.

The past two days have passed without incident. Military vehicles circled the area and at times stopped to watch the work from afar but did not interfere. Today, Israeli border police were driving back and forth on the settler-military only road for a while, before deciding to stop and assess the situation. One of them swung the jeep door open and looked ready to step out, when he caught sight of international solidarity workers armed with cameras and legal papers. Accompanied by peals of laughter from women of the village, he thought better of it mid-step, closed the door and drove away.

Every last olive on the far side of the bypass road has now been picked and the families continue picking on the near side to the village, where the risks are not so great. Inspired by last weekend’s generous downpour of rain, the slopes of Qusin are dotted with harvesters in colourful dresses and kerchiefs. Olives, chubby and sleek, fall onto tarpaulins and into buckets and pockets – a bumper harvest representing the coming year’s livelihood for thousands of Palestinian farmers all over the West Bank.

This year’s harvest will be far larger than last year’s, in accordance with how olive growth normally fluctuates (every two years there is a large harvest). In dire times like these, with the European boycott strangling what was left of the Palestinian economy, a full harvest is especially important. The importance of the olive harvest this year explains why farmers are expecting unusually high levels of violence, theft and other forms of sabotage from Israeli settlers and soldiers. In light of these circumstances, it is vital that as many international solidarity workers as possible make their way to Palestine to accompany farmers to their land, bear witness to the oppression facing them and make sure that every last olive is picked.

Remember, harvesting is resisting!