Haaretz: “Palestinians, leftists evacuated from disputed settlement edifice”

by Dan Keinan, Ha’aretz, 6th July

Border Police forces evacuated left-wing activists and three Palestinian families from the West Bank village of Bil’in who occupied a building Thursday in the Matityahu East neighborhood of the Jewish settlement of Upper Modi’in.

The squatters claim to possess documented proof that the property, which was built by Israeli contractor Heftsiba, and the land on which it is built is rightfully owned by Palestinians.

The High Court of Justice issued an injunction barring potential dwellers from entering the home while the question of rightful ownership is being deliberated in court.


Picture from Israeli Channel 2

Currently, 80 Jewish families live in Matityahu East, the neighborhood which continues to absorb additional Jewish families despite the injunction and with little interference from the authorities, the Palestinians say.

“This property, which is already within the confines of an unauthorized building project, is on private land,” said Mohammed Al-Hatib, one of the Palestinians who took residence in the building. “The state admitted before the High Court that this is private land.”

“After the Supreme Court ruling, it is forbidden to bring in new residents, and they continued doing so anyway,” Al-Hatib said. “Just as it is permissible to defend the interests of settlers in the area, we deserve to have our rights protected.”

“We moved into this place because it’s a beautiful territory and a wonderful area,” he added. “I sold my home in the village and moved here. This isn’t Matityahu East but Bil’in West.”

“[The ultra-Orthodox neighbors] chose to be my neighbors,” Al-Hatib said. “We knew we were coming to an area that is no picnic and I hope it will be quiet. We heard that they were planning a demonstration against us.”


6th July: One of three Palestinian familes moving into the shell of a house being built for Jewish colonists. Three families from Bil’in moved into the home currently under construction in the Modiin Ilit colony, built on their village land. (AFP/Abbas Momani)

In response, the Israel Defense Forces’ civil administration office in the territories said that the entrance of Palestinians into the building “is illegal and unauthorized.”

The documents which the Palestinians presented which are said to prove their ownership of the property is “an appeal which has yet to be accepted in the High Court of Justice.”

“It still does not prove that this is their property,” the civil administration office said. “We transferred the matter on to the army and the police and they are aware that we are talking about an illegal act.”

Prior to the evacuation, security forces were at the scene awaiting a decision by the IDF division commander and the civil administration office as to how to confront the squatters.

Municipal officials in Upper Modi’in say they have no connection to the affair, accusing the would-be inhabitants of attempting to apply pressure on the High Court prior to Sunday’s hearing over construction at the site.

“If the Arabs [in the structure] request that we provide them with services, we’ll have a problem on our hands,” said a source in the Upper Modi’in municipal council.

Over one month ago, Bil’in residents failed to prevent inhabitants from moving into two apartments in Matityahu East. An Israeli court banned would-be residents from moving into the neighborhood due to what it found to be building permits which were issued illegally.

Bil’in residents asked the police to prevent the Jewish families from moving into the apartments. The police replied that they could not act without a court-issued warrant and that the Palestinians either had to produce a warrant on their own or file a complaint.

In response, some residents sat down in front of the entrance to one of the apartments. Police arrived at the scene after attorney Michael Sfarad, who represents the Bil’in residents, issued a request to the IDF’s Binyamin regional commander.

Sfarad let it be known that if the police did not enforce the court’s ruling, he would file a court motion accusing law enforcement of ignoring judiciary authority.

The police were unable to prevent the new Jewish residents of the apartment from unloading their belongings and furniture from a moving truck.

For many more pictures, see the report on Indymedia Israel (Hebrew).

Beit Ummar and Halhul Pray for Justice – Israeli Army Kidnap Villager

by Ernesto in Beit Ummar

Today, Friday July 7th, 2006, at noon, over 300 farmers and residents of the Palestinian villages of Beit Ummar and Halhoul held Friday prayers together on their land that has been ravaged by Israeli bulldozers in the past week. International and Israeli supporters accompanied them in a non-violent march to the land in order to observe the activities of the military and the settlers, and support their struggle against the illegal expansion of the settlement Karme Tzur.

They demonstrators marched around the settlement on the land where trees and grape vines have been uprooted because of the construction of a new wall that will enclose the settlement, illegally annexing Palestinian land to it. The residents, mostly men and children, carried signs that said, “No to the Policy of Damaging Land and Human Beings” and other things. The Israeli soldiers attempted to stop the demonstration but eventually they passed.

The march and prayer were beautiful and non-violent, however armed settlers descended on the group and waved their rifles in the air as they called in reinforcements from the military. More military arrived and they lined the hill above the demonstrators as prayer services ended.

While the majority turned back to the village after prayers, the army prevented those who wanted to stay from being on their land. They were told that they were too close to the settlement.

Young kids threw stones at a light pole and then the soldiers began to shoot rubber bullets at the young kids. Eventually the soldiers shot many rubber bullets and tear gas grenades. One young man named Saqir Sadiq Abu Mariya, 35, was shot by a rubber bulet in the torso and taken away by an ambulance. Many people fled the scene because the gas was becoming unbearable.

At 7pm this evening, three jeeps entered the village shooting tear gas, rubber bullets, and sound grenades at people in the streets for about an hour. Keefeh Kamael Bahar, 20, was taken from his home and arrested during the raid of the village.

Non violent activist and organizer Musa Abu Mariya, 28, is still imprisoned by the Israeli military after being arrested when he lay down in front of an Israeli bulldozer tearing up Beit Omar lands on July 4th. Palestinians can be held without, any charges or access to a lawyer for eight days before being brought in front of a military judge who can prolong the period. According to a report by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), “Each month, hundreds of Palestinians were subjected to one degree or another of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (ill-treatment), at the hands of the GSS (General Security Services) and bodies working on its behalf. ”

Please donate to the ISM legal fund so that we can offer legal support to these Non-Violent activists!

Basque and Bil’in Demonstrators Keep the Beat

by Zadie and Jennie in Bil’in

On July 7th, at 13:00 the people of Bil’in, joined by a Basque Nationalist musical group and International and Israeli activists, started their weekly rally to protest the ongoing construction of the illegal Apartheid wall on their lands. One hundred people started the march, which was launched in front of the mosque and ended at the gate in the wall.

The Basque musical group, in traditional ceremonial attire and formation, kept the beat for the demonstration by marching with large bells that they wore on their lower backs, led by an individual in front who blew on a traditional horn. They were chased away by rubber bullets and sound bombs from the soldiers but returned to perform their art and pass through the line of soldiers that were holding people back. They stated their intent of solidarity with the Palestinians: “we too have been fighting an occupation of our lands for generations”, and wished to express their support for the Palestinian resistance.

The Israeli military became violent as soldiers tried to arrest non-violent protester, Iyad Buranat, a member of the Bil’in committee against the wall and settlements . Other Palestinians and came to his aid to try to prevent his arrest and were caught between the Jeeps and the barbed wire as soldiers beat them. They grabbed the hands of the soldiers to stop the beating and were successful in deescalating the situation so they could talk with the soldiers.

Iyad Buranat was again targeted for arrest and pulled inside the gate, separated by the group by rolls of barbed wire. Several people ran to his aid, despite being blocked by soldiers, and a small group was able to successfully prevent his arrest.

The demonstration ended with five people injured. Ahmed Mohammed Hamad, 55, of Bil’in suffered damage to his right ear from a sound bomb. Mohammed Katib, 33,A member of the Bil’in committee against the wall and settlements, suffered bruises and tears to the skin in his left torso from soldiers roughing him up. Michael, 23, from the US, suffered tears in the skin of his forearms from schrapnel from a sound bomb. His right forearm was damaged when he was thrown by one soldier against another’s shield with extreme force. Ashraf , 22, of Tulkarem, suffered a rubber bullet to his upper left thigh as he was walking by the soldiers. Khaled, 18, of Bil’in, was hit with a rubber bullet in the leg.

This evening the army revoked the order declaring the area a closed military zone. A team of three internationals gained access through the gate which had been denied to them after the demonstration. They have now relieved the lone Palestinian who was manning the outpost, and the area has been declared open for the time being.

Beit Ummar and Halhul Farmers Will Pray on their Destroyed Land.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tomorrow, Friday July 7th, at noon, the people from the villages of Beit Ummar and Halhul will gather together to pray on the land that has been destroyed by bulldozers in the last few days. They will be joined by internationals who support the people’s recent struggle against the illegal confiscation of their land that is being done in the name of the security of the nearby settlement, Karme Tzur.

In the last few days farmers, people of both villages, and internationals have held demonstrations on the land and tried to stop the bulldozers. The army has protected the bulldozers to allow the settlement to build a wall and annex land without going through legal channels of acquiring the land. A lawyer representing the villages has succeeded in getting a work stoppage order of the bulldozers until the Israeli Supreme Court rules on the lawsuit he has filed against the confiscation.

For more information:
Yousef: 052 245 1256
Bekah: 054 638 7039

Bil’in: Palestinian Villagers Move into Israeli Settlement!


UPDATE, 6 pm: The three Palestinian families have been evicted by the Israeli police and were taken away in Border Police vehicles to the other side of the Apartheid Wall. Mohammed Katib said that they had an order to remove the families. No Palestinians or Israelis were arrested. This evacuation is a stark contrast to the fact that when Israeli authorities claimed that “there was nothing they could do” when they were notified that settlers have moved in illegally to the Mtityahu Mizrah outpost.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This morning at 11am, three families from the village of Bil’in moved into empty apartments built on land the village owns in the Matityahu East settlement, west of Israel’s apartheid barrier. As of 8am this morning, the Israeli military has declared the whole area a closed military zone until the 8th of July. Amongst the first inhabitants of this new neighborhood of Bil’in are the families of Abdullah Abu-Rahme and Mohammed Katib from the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements. The families intend to actually live in the apartments, and more are set to follow. This will make a statement about their rights to the land and act as a direct, non-violent challenge to the apartheid of the Israeli state. Matityahu East was built illegally on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Bil’in. According to Israeli law, anything found on land that you own also belongs to you.

Despite an Israeli Supreme Court injunction forbidding the occupation of structures in the Matityahu East settlement, Israeli settlers have been moving in. This morning’s bold move by Bil’in villagers has put the state of Israel to a test. The Police and Military have done nothing to stop Jewish settlers creating facts on the ground in defiance of the Supreme Court. Yet when Palestinian villagers, legally taking up residence on their own land try to move in, they use military orders in an attempt to prevent them.

On the 24th of May, Ha’aretz newspaper reported that at least two settler families moved into apartments in the settlement. This happened despite Bil’in’s attorney Michael Sfard calling the Police. They arrived after he threatened to file a motion charging them with contempt of court unless they stopped the settlers, but they did nothing to stop them from moving in.

The apartheid barrier under construction runs through Bil’in, and separates the village from substantial parts of its land, including the portion on which Matityahu East was built. Although in public Israel claims that the route of the wall there is purely for security reasons, the route accommodates planned future expansion of the settlement, exactly following the settlement master-plan. As now acknowledged in the Israeli media, Matityahu East was stolen from Bil’in residents through fraudulent land purchases. The affidavit affirming the transfer of ownership was signed by an attorney representing the settlers, instead of by the head of Bil’in, as is required.

On Sunday, July 9th, at 10am, the Israeli High Court will hold a hearing concerning two petitions of Bil’in: one against the illegal building in the Matityahu East settlement; and another in which the Court is asked to annul the declaration made in 1991 that the village land earmarked for the settlement and its expansion are government property. There is a criminal investigation of the civil administration official involved in this transfer. There is also a decision pending in the Israeli court on the route of the wall.

For more information contact:
Abdullah Abu-Rahme: 054 725 8210
Mohammed Katib: 054 5573285
Iyad Burnat: 054 784 7942
Yonatan Pollack: 054 623 7736
ISM Media office: 02 297 1824 or 0599 943 157

For pictures of Israeli settlers moving into the settlement on the 24th of May, while Police help them see the Ha’aretz article, reposted on the ISM website:
https://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/05/24/bilin-rouge-settlers/