B’tselem: Means of Expulsion

Violence, Harassment and Lawlessness Toward Palestinians in the Southern Hebron Hills
Written by B’tselem.
July 2005, Summary
www.btselem.org/English/Publications/Summaries/
200507_South_Hebron.asp

In the southernmost West Bank , some one thousand Palestinians have maintained the way of life of their ancestors: living in caves and earning a living from farming and livestock. In the 1970s, the Israeli military commander declared the area a “closed military area,” and for the past five years, Israel has been trying to expel them from the area.

In November 1999, soldiers and Civil Administration officials expelled the cave residents and confiscated their meager belongings. The army sealed caves, destroyed wells and outhouses, and prohibited the residents from returning to the area. The cave residents petitioned the High Court of Justice, and in March 2000, the Court issued a temporary injunction, returning the residents to the area and preventing the state from expelling them until the court reaches a final decision in the matter. Since then, the residents live with the threat of expulsion hovering over their heads.

Israel contends that expulsion of the cave residents is justified because they are not permanent residents of the area, and that the expulsion is an “imperative military need.” B’Tselem’s report demonstrates that these contentions are baseless, and shows that Israel has continually sought to annex the area and expand the nearby settlements.

In addition to the threat of expulsion, the cave residents are victims of violence and property damage from the residents of nearby settlements. Due the intensity of this violence, the residents of two villages to abandon their villages in 2000. In a survey conducted by B’Tselem, some 88% of the Palestinians in the closed military area were victims of settler violence or witnessed such violence against a member of their immediate family. The abuse reported in the survey can be divided into four patterns: blocking of roads and preventing access to fields (51 percent of the cases), property damage, including destruction of crops and theft of sheep and goats in particular (21 percent), intimidation (17 percent), and physical violence (11 percent).

The police do little to enforce the law against the settlers, and the army does even less. In some cases, soldiers have even assisted settlers in carrying out their violent acts. On a few occasions, the army at its own initiative destroyed the residents’ farmland by driving tanks and other armored vehicles onto the fields. In addition, the Civil Administration prohibits the residents from building in their villages, contending that the area is designated for agricultural use. The prohibition also covers construction to ensure proper water supply and to meet other basic needs.

The report documents Israel ‘s attempts over the past five years to expel the cave residents through legal proceedings, and describes the lives of the residents under the intimidation of settlers, the military, and the Civil Administration.

The bleak picture of Israel ‘s treatment of the cave residents, as described in the report, raises the concern that Israel is attempting to gradually wear down the residents to get them to leave the area , an achievement they have not yet been able to attain in court. B’Tselem protests the attempted expulsion and Israel ‘s current policy toward the residents, which severely infringe their human rights and flagrantly breach international law. For these reasons, B’Tselem urges the government of Israel to:

  • revoke the order declaring the caves area in South Mt. Hebron a closed military area and cancel the eviction orders currently pending against the cave residents;
  • instruct the army and police to protect the cave residents and to seriously enforce the law against violent settlers;
  • recognize the right of the cave residents to live in their villages and to build and develop them to meet their needs;
  • compensate Palestinians whose land and personal property were damaged by settlers, the army, or the Civil Administration.

Another child shot in Balata

ISM Nablus
2am, 7th July 2005

Israeli armed vehicles arrived at the camp late in the evening. Despite the presence of two large groups of civilians, including two internationals, the soldiers began firing live rounds directly into the camp. We had not heard any Palestinian gunfire. When medics arrived on the scene minutes later we learned that a child in the other group, 50 meters away, had been shot in the head. We don’t know if he is dead or in critical condition. The jeeps continued to fire and entered the camp smashing market stalls and preventing us from reaching the scene of killing to take the number of the jeep responsible.

Residents called for assistance after their home was occupied by the Israeli army. The soldiers have prevented medical teams from returning to the area, declaring it a closed military zone. At two am there are several jeeps in the camp. We have been forced to take cover inside a house. We hear army dogs and announcements from nearby jeeps. The shooting continues and there have been several explosions. Nablus has suffered nightly incursions for the last week.

Transcript of Abdallah’s Interrogation

Abdallah waited until 2pm to be lead into the interrogation, accompanied by an international and an attorney. They were not present during the interview. Captain Rizik did not participate in the interrogation but typed into the computer, whilst the other man present (S) spoke with Abdallah.

S: Are you a man? Why did you bring those two sluts with you? [Referring to the women who were with Abdullah]

A: She is my lawyer. I know that this is a state that works according to law.

S: No. there is no law in Israel.

A: There is.

S: The Mukhabrat [Intelligence/Secret Service] has no law. Your lawyer says the paper we gave you is not official, so why did you come? It is not a problem if you don’t come, we will just write it on the computer and then come and take you from your house. What is your job?

A: I am a teacher.

S: In Bil’in?

A: No, Bir Zeit

S: What are you doing in Bil’in? You are doing something wrong. You don’t get called to the Mukhabrat unless you have done something very wrong. Where were you last week?

A: In jail.

S: Why were you in jail?

A: I was taken from a peaceful demonstration.

S: How long were you there?

A: Five days.

S: And then what happened?

A: The judge said that I was arrested by mistake and that I should be released.

S: All of you are arrested by mistake. You know now there are no demonstrations in Biddu?

A: There are demonstrations there.

S: Do you know what happened in Biddu?

A: Yes. They moved the fence further away.

S: Yes, but what’s the price?

A: Five martyrs.

S: No. Five people killed. The people that used to speak on the microphone and organise the demonstrations, do you know where they are? They are sitting in their homes, they are not demonstrating now. Five people were killed and then they stopped demonstrating.

A: If you take a balloon and you step on it what will happen?

S: It will burst.

A: That’s what you are doing to Bil’in. Bil’in used to be called the village of peace. You are strangling it. We are left with no land. Where is my son going to live? The wall in Bil’in will be moved back, but it will happen by peaceful means. We have decided that we are going to resist peacefully.

S: You throw stones. What about the soldier who lost his eye?

A: At the demonstrations stones are not thrown, but when the army enters the village and starts firing between the houses people throw stones at them.

S: We know everything you do.

A: I know you know everything I do and I have done everything according to the law. I haven’t thrown stones.

S: You do something worse than throwing stones. You tell the people to go out on demonstrations. We have reports about you. We know you make problems. Go home, sit quietly in your house, enjoy your life, don’t make problems. We are watching you very, very closely.”

Harassment of Palestinian Ghandi continues

Bil’in, 3.20 am

Israeli Occupation Forces bang on the door of Abdallah Abu-Rahma, prominent member of the Popular Committee Against the Wall, demanding that he attends an interrogation session at Ofer Military Base at 12 o’clock midday with “Rizik”, or else “there will be trouble”. The notice was served on a handwritten piece of paper from a note book and did not identify which branch of the Occupation Forces “Rizik” works with. Abdallah, however, is only too aware that “Rizik” is the head of Shabbak in the region.

Bil’in village will loose 2,300 dunams, over half of its land, behind the Annexation Wall, which will facilitate a huge expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the area. Bil’in has been at the front line of Palestinian resistance to the Wall, with regular demonstrations and creative direct action that utilise the non-violent methods of Muhatma Ghandi. Abdallah Abu-Rahma has been a driving force behind Bil’in’s struggle.

On 17th June Abdallah, along with his brother Rateb, was arrested at a demonstration in Bil’in and charged with throwing stones. Video evidence of the demonstration shows that no stone throwing took place and that the army opened fire on the non-violent protestors with potentially lethal crowd dispersal weapons without provocation. This was acknowledged by the judge at Rateb’s bail hearing, who said that the reality of what had happened was “strangely different, to put it mildly, from the testimony of the prosecution witnesses”, a border policeman. Nevertheless, Abdallah awaits trial on the 28th of September and Rateb has a trial pending.

Meanwhile, the harassment of non-violent protesters continues. When Abdallah arrived for interrogation today what he received was more of a warning. He was told that what he is doing in organizing demonstrations is worse than throwing stones. He was reminded of Biddu, where five people were killed by the Israeli military during demonstrations against the wall. He was told that he is being watched closely, that they know everything he does and that. He was warned against making trouble.

A transcript of the interrogation follows (see Transcript of Abdallah’s Interrogation)

On Friday, 8th July there will be another demonstration against the Wall in Bil’in at 11am.

Tulkarem choked by Israel’s illegal chemical fumes

Today’s Freedom Summer action was focused on the presence of a toxic chemical factory at the edge of Tulkarem. The Israeli-owned factory was originally located near residences in Israel, but was deemed to be polluting beyond acceptable legal levels. Following a court case in Israel, it was moved to the West Bank city of Tulkarem in the mid-eighties. The complex of factories has been expanding ever since, spreading like the cancer that the output from the factory induces.

This issue represents a particularly dangerous dimension of the occupation for the Palestinian people. As I stood looking up at the chimney and IOF watchtower inside the factory compound, it occurred to me that this was a large, ugly weapon, slowly but surely attacking the people around it.

Tulkarem has the highest cancer rates in Palestine. Residents living near the factory also suffer disproportionately from respiratory tract diseases and other health problems. The land around the factories has been labeled unsuitable for agricultural production, and farmers have faced extreme difficulties getting to it. One farmer has been shot at a number of times by the owner of the chemical factory. He has decided to convert his farm to organic production a decision which reflects the strength and resilience of the Palestinian people. No attempts have been made to clean the surrounding environment or dispose of the chemical waste safely – it is being repeatedly dumped on nearby Palestinian land.

The protest began with a march from the centre of Tulkarem towards the factory. We wore blue surgical masks to highlight the danger of inhaling the factory fumes, but as we approached the factory and began to smell the foul stench in the air I was genuinely glad to be wearing it.

Our group of Palestinian, Israeli, and ISM Activists, proceeded from the centre of Tulkarem to the factory located at the city’s edge. We walked carrying gravestone shaped signs in Arabic and English proclaiming the death of the environment, justice, freedom, and human rights, in addition to the disregard of organisations such as the World Health Organisation and the International Court of Justice.

Arriving at the factory, which is in close proximity to the Apartheid Wall around Tulkarem, the demonstrators placed the “gravestones” outside the main gate and began to chant. Messages were sprayed on the wall and we banged on the gate with stones, but nobody responded and the military did not turn up.

I only hope that they do not punish the farmers involved in the protest later, when we have left the city.

Photos can be viewed at: freckle.blogs.com/photos/no_more_poison/

The factories in Tulkarem are one of many sites throughout the West Bank where Israeli industrial complexes are situated. The companies are free to operate outside of Israeli laws regarding health and safety, the environment and the treatment of workers. The Palestinian workers come from a pool of very cheap labour; they have no rights and, following the economic strangulation of Palestine over the last five years, are desperate to work, even if this means going to a settlement and working in unhealthy or dangerous conditions. The factories are built on stolen land and disfigure the beauty of the West Bank, causing environmental problems and flattening agricultural land with concrete.