NYC Activists Take Message Against Caterpillar to “Business and Sustainability” Conference at Waldorf

One Arrested Later at CAT Presentation

For photos, visit
http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/152583/index.php

NEW YORK – NYC activists on behalf of Palestinian rights brought their message to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel this morning, where an executive from Caterpillar was scheduled to appear on a panel about social responsibility and sustainability. The spirited rally excited police attention but no arrests. Later, while the CAT executive’s talk was underway, an activist was arrested attempting to make a presentation to the same audience on CAT’s role in Israel’s ongoing campaign to destroy Palestinian homes, while another activist leafleted the conference attendees.

In Israel/Palestine, CAT has clearly overwhelmingly chosen business value over social responsibility. The D9 and D10 bulldozers that CAT sells to the Israeli government are designed specifically to destroy Palestinian land, roads, water supplies, and sewer systems and to uproot hundreds of thousands of fruit and olive trees – the main livelihood for many Palestinians.

In recent weeks the Israeli government has announced plans to demolish 88 more Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem using Caterpillar bulldozers, as Israel continues to bulldoze Palestinian homes throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories. According to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (www.icahd.org), “Since 1967 Israel has demolished almost 12,000 Palestinian homes, leaving some 70,000 without shelter and traumatized.” CAT bulldozers have helped to facilitate Israel’s policy of sustained destruction of the Palestinian economy and communities.

Latest information is that the arrested activist was taken to Manhattan North precinct, to be charged by the hotel with trespass. The protest earlier this morning was endorsed by the International Solidarity Movement – NYC, NYU Students for Justice in Palestine, Queer Resistance for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Women of a Certain Age, Jews Against the Occupation NYC, and the BootCAT Campaign. The conference itself was organized by the New York-based Conference Board, whose senior vice president, Gail Fosler, also serves on CAT’s Board of Directors.

At-Tuwani: communion tea

By Diane Janzen

running quickly over the hills
to approach settlers harvesting Palestinian wheat fields
a confusion of angry words, sickles, and wheat churn in the air
police and soldiers use threats of arrest to clear the area
as we walk away i breathe with the images of the last hours in my
mind and on the tape in the video camera slung over my shoulder
the family, who is trying to prove ownership of this land, says
‘come, come to our house and drink tea’

in broken Arabic we ask, ‘where are the soldiers, the house?’
‘just down from that hill over there’
heavy feet as we approach the family sitting next to the rubble of
their house that a bulldozer and bagger demolished in fifteen short minutes
‘sit, sit on a mat that we managed to take from the house, and drink tea’

another dash through the hills to document
settlers harvesting more Palestinian wheat fields
this time with a combine that is allowed to leave the field
with the harvested wheat inside
police tell the Palestinian family to make a complaint at the police station in Hebron
something that takes time, and often feels pointless
‘come to our house. eat.’
‘drink another glass of tea after you finish eating – it’s good for you’

a visit to the village of Mufakara to see how things are the conversation moves to the devastating event of two months ago when settlers poisoned Palestinian grazing land
‘Ali, how many sheep have you lost from the poisoning?’
‘three large sheep and two small sheep’
we talk about the loss of other families in the village
‘Mahmoud has lost twenty-five adult sheep and twelve lambs’
for all a loss that so far has not had any compensation
i finish my first glass of tea
Ali tells his daughter, ‘quick, pour her more tea’

these are the times when drinking tea feels like taking communion
a symbol of brokenness, pain and confusion
why?
drink, and remember what you see
drink, and remember how you feel

Children of Bil’in to Protest at Supreme court Tuesday

Tomorrow, Tuesday, a request will be submitted to the Israeli Supreme Court that Bil’in lands will be included in the appeal by the neighboring village of Harbata against the confiscation of the villages’ lands for the separation wall.

As Bil’in residents above the age of 14 are not allowed to enter Israel, even in order to attend a court session so crucial for them, the children of Bil’in will go to Jerusalem alone – to demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court when the request is being made. Internationals and Israelis will attend the court session in support of Bil’in’s children. The deliberation will start at 9:00 am and the demonstration will start at 8:30 in front of the court.

Following this Friday’s morning prayer, residents of Bil’in, internationals, and Israelis will once again protest the building of the annexation barrier.

Despite indications of reviving the `road map’ which requires a freeze on Israeli settlement growth, the route of the Wall near Bil’in hasbeen specifically designed to incorporate future expansion of Modiin elit.

In 1991, 1,300 dunam of agricultural land used for regional crops were confiscated by the state of Israel for the construction of Kiryat Sefer settlement, but 200 dunam of olive trees remained in Palestinian hands. The basis for the confiscation of Bil’in’s agricultural land was based on an Ottoman-era land law, still being used in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which states that land unused for over a certain period of time can be confiscated by the state. Bil’in residents claim the photos of the land which were presented to the court when the confiscation was approved were taken in the summer.

In 2003, the state claimed that the 200 unconfiscated dunam had been sold to the settlers by Bil’in resident Sami Bornat. The Bornat ownership papers were forged, a fact well known by the Israeli authorities because they had previously recognized the owners of the land in the court case for the confiscation. Despite this, the land was approved for building the settlement.

Now Bil’in will lose an additional 1000 Dunams behind the Wall. The planned route of the Wall comes four meters from the last house in the village.

Collective Punishment in Bil’in

by Allison and Rann

It was 12am on Sunday morning. We were headed to bed in Bil’in when we were alerted that Israeli soldiers had again entered the village. We, along with countless residents of Bil’in standing watch on rooftops, watched the military jeeps driving around the land near the annexation barrier, away from the village itself, for close to an hour before deciding to give up our post and go to sleep.

We were not able to quite lie down before we were called back to the roof — the soldiers had entered someone’s home.

In a pattern that has been repeating itself over the last week or so, the Israeli soldiers, approximately 25 in number, had chosen to harass a new member of the Popular Committee Against the Apartheid Wall in Bil’in, the local Palestinian organizing body. We, the two ISMers along with one resident of Bil’in, drove toward the soldiers, stopped the car, and got out in order to investigate the situation. Immediately we were faced with a group of soldiers directly in front of us, all pointing their M-16s at our faces. They began speaking to us in Hebrew, but then in English they ordered us to back away from the house, return to the car, and drive away. The soldiers stated that they were executing a military operation and that we were interfering with it.

After a few more questions, we decided to follow the orders of the soldiers and drove back to the ISM apartment, where we stayed up waiting for news from the Palestinians whose homes were searched. The ‘military operation’ in question involved no more than casual harassment and intimidation. Try to imagine for a moment that a gang of soldiers entered your home at 1am, pointed guns at your family members, demanded identification and searched the house for no other reason than your involvement in non-violent organizing. Just one more example of Israeli democracy in action.

We found out in the morning that the Israeli soldiers had searched several homes, taken identification cards, and verbally harassed the Palestinians of Bil’in that night. They left several hours later.

What happened early Sunday morning in Bil’in was not an isolated incident. The Israeli army has repeatedly come to harass the people of Bil’in at night, choosing different areas to ‘search’ each night.

Bil’in is also not the only village in the West Bank that is being intimidated, stripped of its privacy and peace of mind. Boudrus has also experienced similar harassment by Israeli soldiers in the middle of the night. The pattern seems to be similar every time: the jeeps come to Boudrus, spend some time harassing the villagers, then drive over to nearby Bil’in and do the same again. Incidents like these are well-documented and have been ongoing for many years.

Why is this happening? According to Lieutenant Colonel Tzachi Segev, commander of the 25th Battalion of the Armored Corps, which is operating in the Bil’in area: “The stronger the activity against the fence, the stronger our operations will be. We reserve the right to enter the village at any hour … Sometimes there is no escaping collective punishment, even if it has a negative impact. Collective punishment is closure, prohibiting people from entering a certain village, blocking the Bilin-Safa road [referring to the neighboring village] as a lever of pressure if the village does not behave properly.” (Meron Rappaport – Gandhi Redux)

Collective punishment is forbidden by the fourth Geneva Convention. It is illegal to punish entire segments of civilian population for the actions of a few individuals, whatever those actions may be. In this case, groups of civilians are being punished for organizing peaceful demonstrations. The right to organize and peacefully demonstrate is protected by the universal declaration of human rights and by Israeli law. In violating these rights, Israeli soldiers are committing war crimes

Update on Yonatan Pollak

Yonatan Pollak, an activist from “Anarchists Against Walls”, was brought in front of a judge Saturday 11 of June night after being in detention since Thursday. The judge confirmed Yonatan’s 3 months ban from the West Bank. Under the advice of his attorney Yonatan signed, and is now filing an appeal to the district court in Tel Aviv. A date for the hearing is still unknown.

Yonatan was arrested while participating in a demonstration against the construction of the Separation Fence on the lands of the town of Salfit. The Barrier, at this place, will penetrate 23km east of the Green Line.

Unlike other protesters, who were released after committing themselves to stay out of the Samaria region” for 14 days, Yonatan was not offered such a deal, but was held over night at Ariel Police Station. He was brought in front of a judge the next day (Friday 10th), and charged with illegal assembly and using the 1945 British Emergency Regulations charged with being in a closed military zone. Judge Nava Bechor ordered for him to stay out of the entire Occupied Palestinian Territories for a period of 3 months. Yonatan refused to agree and sign his disproportionately hard ruling, and was taken back to prison, only to have another judge confirms Bachor’s verdict.