On Shabbat, Settlers Escalate Attacks on Palestinians and Internationals


large rock thrown at human rights workers

By Joe Skillet

Israeli settlers in the Tel Rumeida section of Al-Khalil (Hebron) celebrated the shabbat yesterday by attacking several Palestinian children and international supporters.

During the attacks, one 15 year old Palestinian was kicked, one 13 year old was punched in the face, and a 7 year old was kicked. This assault occured when the three Palestinian boys were sitting peacefully, chatting with two international human rights workers (HRW), then two passing settler boys, aged about 13 and 11, stopped in front of the group and glowered. After the attack the settler boys ran away.

HRWs provided first aid to Moussa and summoned observers from the international monitoring group TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron), who photographed the boys and wrote up the incident. The HRWs also called the police, who came and took a statement at the scene from the boys.

After the HRWs had left an older settler kicked a seven-year-old Palestinian boy, Hamdan, several times in the back and buttocks. His mother called the police, who again took a report on the incident.

Several hours later two human rights workers were attacked by settlers on Shuhadda Street. The HRWs had been practicing on the street for their weekly circus performance when they were kicked and stoned by a group of settler men.

At 4:30 PM, one of the five settler men, between the ages of 20 and 25, conjured up a mouthful of phlegm and spit it at one of the HRWs as they passed on the street. The HRW’s escorted a Palestinian boy, approximately 10 years old, to his home passed the settlers. The soldier at the post, too, entered the street. The settlers followed behind and, after the boy entered his home safely, one of the settlers kicked a HRW behind his left knee, almost knocking him to the ground.

The other HRW shouted, “Don’t you hit him!” and began to run towards the door. At this point, the same settler kicked the HRW again in the same spot on his back leg as the other settlers hovered around.

The same settler who initiated the violence then picked up a large rock, and threw it at the other HRW. She was hit on her right thigh, causing much pain.

The soldier from the post yelled at the settlers to stop. The two additional HRWs showed up and the police were called. The settlers continued to throw stones, hitting one of the additional HRWs in the leg.

A police car happened to be driving by at this point. The settlers retreated into Beit Hadassah settlement, not to be seen again. The soldier admitted to the policeman that he saw a rock hit the HRW, but denied seeing the settler kick the other twice.

After arriving at the police station to file a report, the HRW with the rock/leg injury began to feel more pain radiating from the injury and began to limp. The policemen were insistent that the HRWs wait there until the Israeli solider-paramedic arrived to assess the situation.

After 25 minutes or so, the medic arrived. He took the blood pressure of the rock-injured HRW and the other HRW took her pulse. He then said he was finished. The HRW still required medical attention from a doctor. Merely taking her vital signs was, as projected, not enough.

After another 15-20 minutes, a police car arrived and drove the HRWs back to their home in H2. Because her pain was increasing, the injured HRW went directly to the hospital and the other HRW went home to tend to his injury. The police report has been put on hold.

“Take your nail and take your house!”

by Hanna

“We have in Arabic a story about Juha’s nail.”

This is how Issa began. Issa, one of my favorite people in Palestine, the person I go to when I’m feeling violent and angry because his presence is so powerfully actively peaceful. One of many nonviolent activists who have been severely affected by occupation, shot and paralyzed by the Israeli army five years ago while he was trying to help children in his village find safety in their homes.

We were discussing the current situation in Gaza and Lebanon, the future of Palestine/Israel, hopes and fears and dreams and solutions.

“We have in Arabic a story about Juha’s nail,” he told our group, and began with one of his many pearls of wisdom I’ve been privy to over the years:

Juha had a house. A man asked if he could buy the house, and Juha said, “Sure, I will sell you the entire house, except for one nail.” The man was a bit perplexed, but agreed. What difference could one nail make?

So the house was sold, Juha moved out, and the man and his family moved in. A few weeks went by, and the man heard a knock on his door. It was Juha, coming to visit his nail. This began to happen more and more, and when the man complained, Juha said, “This nail is mine, and I have the right to see it any time I want.” Juha came during the day, during the night, when the
family was out, and when the man was sleeping with his wife.

One day Juha came to see his nail, and the man and his family stormed out of the house in frustration, saying, “Take your nail and take your house! I don’t want it!”

The story ended, and Issa waited a moment before continuing. “We can’t have a partial solution,” he said. Israel cannot keep offering partial solutions to Palestinians, and in the meantime taking more and more from Palestinians.

The problem, as I see it, is even more insidious than this. The problem is that the “house” was not Israel’s to begin with. The house belonged to another family that was forcefully removed, mostly to the lawns of other houses. Those who remained in certain rooms of their house were beaten and broken so much that they agreed to let the new family keep the majority of the house. The new family agreed in theory but continued to knock down doors and build new ones, forcing the old family into tiny corners of their house. Every few years, the new family generously” offered back one half of one bedroom, and another half another bedroom.

All the hallways and doors will of course always be under the control of the new family, for security reasons. The new family has guns, the old family cannot. Security reasons. The new family eats all the food, uses all the water, and arrests or kills anyone who questions this. Security reasons. The old family members are allowed to leave and not come back. They are not allowed to have visitors or new inhabitants. Security reasons.

It is not surprising that some Palestinians are starting to say to Israel, “Take your nail and take your house!” and storming out. It is not surprising that some choose to stay, remembering the initial takeover of their house and vowing not to disappear altogether. It is not surprising
that some choose to defend themselves by force.

It is not surprising that some Palestinians responded to continuous Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza by kidnapping a soldier. It is not surprising that Israel used this as an excuse to unleash a war against the Palestinian people and government. It is not surprising that the small amount of attention raised about Palestinian political prisoners inspired others to carry out similar actions, that Hizbollah is demanding the release of Lebanese prisoners from Israeli jails the way Hamas is demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. It is not surprising that Israel is destroying the infrastructure of Lebanon and bombing civilians.

It is not surprising that they claim that Hizbollah missiles and rockets are manufactured in small villages and therefore the Lebanese population should carry the responsibility for the death of their people when Israel attacks indiscriminately.

It did surprise me, though it probably shouldn’t have, to hear that Israel dropped thousands of flyers on southern Lebanon warning people to leave their villages, and then fired directly on the trucks as they were fleeing north, killing entire families.

It did not surprise me to hear from a Palestinian friend in Haifa that she had to turn on Lebanese news to see any reports of Lebanese casualties, and that when she turned on CNN they were speaking only about Israel and from an Israeli perspective, ignoring the people of Gaza and Lebanon except when talking about the rockets and missiles that a few of them have responded to Israeli attacks with.

Racism is so entrenched in global policy and consciousness that many people don’t even question attacking an entire country as a response to the actions of a few people. When they try to question, to pass tame resolutions in the UN saying “Maybe Israel shouldn’t respond quite so drastically,” the US vetoes them. People here know this. They know that the United States and
Israel are the pariahs of the world community, and they know why. They know that one day it’s going to come back and bite these countries in the ass. I imagine the whole world knows this, that most people are waiting patiently and others may take active steps toward this eventuality.

I don’t know how to turn this course around, I don’t know if it’s too late to do so. I do know that I will continue this work, continue to support those whose voices are silenced, and trust that if the tables are ever turned, I will be given refuge here in Palestine.

And meanwhile, the US and Israel continue to try to sell the world and Palestinians the houses they stole from them, except for one or two nails.

Greek Human Rights Worker Remains in Detention

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Maria Nikiforou, a Greek human rights worker was detained while attempting to enter Israel on the morning of July 14th, and has been kept in isolation since that evening.

The police have told Maria that she has been placed in isolation as punishment for insulting an officer and refusing to surrender her phone. According to Maria, this “insult” resulting in her isolation was a request to speak with her lawyer. In addition, Maria is being kept without a television, while other prisoners are allowed access. At approximately 19:00, Maria was allowed to charge her phone and can be contacted media inquiries only.

The judge has given the state 48 additional hours to respond to the appeal filed on Maria’s behalf.

For more information:
ISM media office
02 297 1824

Musa Abu Mariya Released from Prison

After nine days of imprisonment, on July 12, 2006 Musa Abu Mariya, a peace activist from Beit Ummar, was released from prison after a “military court for petitions in Judea and Sumaria regions” ruled that he should be released.

Musa was arrested on July 4th when he and international volunteers were walking on Palestinian land that was being bulldozed to build a wall around the settlement of Karme Tzur. He committed no crime other than a commitment to non-violent resistance against the wall and settlement expansion.

Although he was released and the prosecution provided no evidence, the judge banned him from protests on Palestinian land near the wall being built and allowed the prosecution to continue to interrogate him. The judge agreed to release him on bail of 3000 shekels with conditions. He must go to the police station in Gush Etzion each week for more questioning. He must live more than 3km from the construction site of the wall and not be closer than 1km from the wall, preventing him from going to other demonstrations.

He was charged with “participating in an illegal demonstration against the separation fence in which he broke the order of a closed military zone and brought other people with him to that demonstration who broke that order. And he attacked IDF soldiers when they tried to arrest him.”

The judge acquitted him of all these charges because a video tape provided by his defense that shows “that Musa did not use any kind of violence with IDF soldiers” and “the prosecution does not have any proof that he violated any laws”.

Musa was interrogated by the Israeli security, Shin Bet, for three days in the Gush Etzion prison, then transferred to Orfer prison near Ramallah for the remaining 5 days. Eight days is the maximum legal number of days that Palestinians can be held in prison without being charged or without due process. On the eighth day he was allowed to see his lawyer, Gabi Laski, for the first time, and on the nineth day he was released.

Campaign for Solidarity with Palestine launched in Stockholm


from Campaign for Solidarity with Palestine website

100 Activists Shut Down Swedish Foreign Ministry

On Friday July 14th, the Stockholm-based Campaign for Solidarity with Palestine launched its first action by blocking the entrance to the Foreign Ministry building in the Swedish capital. 100 activists formed a human chain at the front gate for 2 hours, and delivered a letter of protest to a representative of the Ministry. Police tried to break them up by means of violent pushes, pepper spray and dogs. One activist was lightly injured by spray to his eyes and another one arrested.

After two hours of blocking and chanting, with considerable media attention, the Swedish Foreign Minister himself, Mr. Jan Eliasson, came out and spoke with Shora Esmailian, media spokesperson for the Campaign. Mr Eliasson addressed the crowd, but was met by hoots and chants, and retreated to the building.

The Campaign for Solidarity with Palestine is made up of numerous activist groups in Stockholm including International Solidarity Movement, Anti-Fascist Action and the Swedish section of the Fourth International. The Campaign demands an immediate reversal of hypocritical Swedish policies that support the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine, and calls for an end to all military and diplomatic relations with the state of Israel until its wars of aggression in Gaza and Lebanon cease.

Israeli checkpoint comes to Stockholm’s central square

On Saturday, July 15, 2006: As bombs fell on Beirut and Gaza, an Israeli checkpoint was set up in Stockholm on the Mynttorget, a central square facing the Parliament. This was one in the series of direct actions constituting the Campaign for Solidarity with Palestine. In the middle of the Saturday afternoon crowd, Swedish activists used political theater to raise awareness about illegal checkpoints and about the Israeli occupation in general. 20 activists acting as Palestinians were “shot” and lay on the ground covered in fake blood. At the same time the Israeli soldiers that were in control of the checkpoint threatened the Palestinians who were still alive. All the bypassers that looked Israeli were allowed to pass through the checkpoint (they were told why), but the ones with an Arab appearance had to go through ID-control, humiliation and abuse from the soldiers. One of the Israeli soldiers was walking around with a megaphone shouting what he thought of the Palestinians.