Five boys from Marda village held by army, still not released

By IWPS

MARDA VILLAGE, WEST BANK On the afternoon of Monday, July 4, several Israeli army jeeps entered the village of Marda and Israeli soldiers ambushed Palestinian youths as they were descending from the hill above the village, after they had attempted to stop work on the separation fence.

Marda village, home to 2,000 residents, is 22 km to the East of the Green Line, underneath the Israeli settlement of Ariel, population 20,000. Construction of the fence on land belonging to the village began in early June and already over 1,000 trees belonging to village families have been uprooted.

There have been five major nonviolent demonstrations of village residents since work began, and several days out of every week a coordinated group of Marda youth ascends the hill to attempt to stop the work and are frequently met with tear gas and sound bombs from the Israeli army.

On July 4 the army rounded up seven boys and young men ranging in age from 13-22. The residents were detained at the Western entrance of the village in the sun for over an hour before being taken away. One Palestinian boy was reportedly hit in the head and leg with glass by one of the Israeli soldiers. The boys were first taken to Ariel police station and later to Qedumim military prison.

On July 5, two of the boys were released after questioning. One was told he would be fined 3,000 NIS if he didn’t appear for a court date. The remaining five, including a 21 year old who is in remission from cancer and needs medication, are still in custody at Qedumim.

Qawawis

End of June, 2005
By M.

Settlers brought their sheep to graze on land belonging to Qawawis. The villagers called the police who did not seem interested. After about 40 minutes a jeep with 5 soldiers showed up. Some men in the village started to talk with them but the soldiers refused to speak with them. They then asked me to speak with them. I asked them why they had come and what they were doing there. They were not happy to speak with me. They pretended not to know English but two of them did.

They first just answered stupid answers like “we are here because it is nice to be in the sun”. Then they said things like “this is Israel, our country, we are here to protect the settlers” and they even said that the people of the village were terrorists.

I’ve got the feeling that they wanted to show their power to do what they want and their contempt for the villagers. They seemed to enjoy seeing the people of the village worried.

After about 40 minutes two settlers came by car. They had a video camera, and were filming the people and the village the whole time.

I went into the house and took some pictures of the soldiers and settlers from there.

The soldiers left a few minutes after they had arrived, and they said they would come back later, but did not say any reason.

IMEMC: Demonstration against the wall in Azzun

Dozens of residents from Azun Village together with Israeli and international peace activists protestors chanted slogans against the Wall, settlements and Israeli polices of land grab and annexation, and demanded Israeli to implement the international resolutions and the decisions of the International High Court of Justice during a demonstration in Qalqilia district.

Saturday evening, a medical source in Qalqilia reported that protestors suffocated after inhaling gas fired by the army, The WAFA news agency reported that soldiers fired gas bombs, and rubber coated bullets while the protestors were attempting to reach a gate installed between the villages of Azzoun and Kafer Thuluth, east of Qalqilia.

At least five residents were badly bruised after the soldiers attacked and clubbed them, and were transferred to local clinic in Azzoun.

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