22nd July, 2015 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee | Ramallah, Occupied Palestine New Standards for US Foreign Policy on Israel?
U.S. State Department Urges Israel to refrain from demolishing Palestinian village, Susiya in the West Bank. Fears a deterioration in standard of policy of indigenous displacement.
In a US State Department press briefing, last week, John Kirby specifically referred to Israel’s intent to demolish over half the indigenous Palestinian village, Susiya, in the West Bank. “We strongly urge the Israeli authorities to refrain from carrying out any demolitions in the village.” Kirby said, warning that “Demolition of this Palestinian village or of parts of it, and evictions of Palestinians from their homes, would be harmful and provocative.”
“Our continuous battle to support the struggle of the people of the village of Susiya has been going on for years accompanied with local and international campaigns under the slogan “Save Susiya from Demolition and Eviction.” Says Yasser Saleh of the Popular Struggle Coordination committee (PSCC), “we invite everybody to stand with us in this campaign either by attending the village of Susiya and to resist the demolition with it’s people, who are under the threat of eviction at any given moment,or by protesting at Israeli embassies in your countries and raising awareness about Susiya and Palestine.”
Susiya, which has been fighting a 20-year legal battle of survival with the state of Israel, is not the only Palestinian village under Israeli military control. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that there are Over 11,000 outstanding demolition orders against Palestinian structures in Area C of the West Bank, which covers over 60 percent of the West Bank. The lives of approximately 300,000 indigenous Palestinians are impacted. These orders target the most impoverished and vulnerable populations, who are also exposed to daily attacks by Israeli settlers and the army itself, with very little possibility of redress.
Signalling new US approach to the facts on the ground, Kirby added that “Such actions have an impact beyond those individuals and families who are evicted” and stated that the US State department is “concerned that the demolition of this village may worsen the atmosphere for a peaceful resolution and would set a damaging standard for displacement and land confiscation particularly given settlement-related activity in the area.”
The European Union foreign ministers have added their voice to the growing concern over Israel’s policy in the occupied West Bank, yesterday, in its latest statement on “The Middle East Peace Process”, stating that “ The EU will continue to closely monitor developments on the ground and their broader implications”, specifically calling for a “halt [to] plans for forced transfer of population and demolition of Palestinian housing and infrastructure in the Susiya and Abu Nwar communities.”
Saleh welcomes the US State Department and EU statements, but maintains that words are not enough and hopes to see action being taken. “The PSCC appreciates the statements made by the US state department and the European Union. We invite them to take concrete steps to put pressure on the occupying regime to prevent applying it’s policies and procedures against the Palestinians in general, and against the eviction and demolition of the village of Susiya in particular.”
For more information:
pscc.media@gmail.com
052- 5339054
21st July 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Team | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
During the 2012 Zionist massacre in Gaza, named by the occupation as Operation Pillar of Defense, many buildings near Mohamed’s home were bombed. Less than a year after the aggression, while playing with him, Mohamed’s mother found a lump in his neck. At this time he was eight years old.
Mohamed and his mother.
They went to Shifa hospital, where he was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer. There he underwent the first surgery, but the operation was not successful.
After that he was allowed to travel to the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948, in order to be treated in the Hospital of Haifa. Where he underwent a second surgery and received radiotherapy, unavailable in Gaza.
Mohamed with visible scars on his neck.
The Palestinian Authority pays the treatment to the Israeli hospital. For this reason, according to Mohamed’s family, the Palestinian Authority tries to prevent every journey of Mohamed from Gaza to Haifa’s hospital.
As Mohamed’s mother says, the Israeli doctors told them that this kind of cancer is due to the bombings near their home. They also told her that in 2016 the cancer rates in Gaza will rise 70% more, and that for the following 4 years it will keep growing.
Since the 2012 aggression Mohamed’s father has developed asthma as well.
The land bombed next to Mohamed’s home.
In 2014 Mohamed’s home was attacked by Zionist warships. Luckily they weren’t at home in this moment.
Mohamed’s family referred ISM to Fatimah, a 50 years old woman, mother of six children, who lives near them.
During the 2008 massacre, a mosque, a government building and a home were bombed next to her house. Four years ago she was diagnosed as well with thyroid cancer.
The home next to Fatima’s that was bombed.
The two oncologists interviewed by ISM in Shifa Hospital and Rantisi Children Hospital, in Gaza, agreed that these kinds of cancer are due to the Zionist bombs, and explained that they were very rare before the massive aggressions against the Gaza Strip.
* The names have been changed, as Mohamed and Fatimah are afraid of losing the permission to leave the Strip to receive the treatment.
21st July 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Team | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
At 3:00 AM on the 21st of July 2015, Israeli forces once again opened fire on fishermen in the Gaza city area. 20 year old Ahmed Ismail al-Sharafi was shot in the right side of the back. The bullet exited very close to the spine. Two other fishermen were arrested and one of the boats was taken to Ashdod port.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights reports that in May alone, there were a total of 51 incidents of shootings, incursions into the coastal enclave, and arrests. This included 41 shootings, which left nine injured, including one minor.
Despite Israeli promises at the end of the ceasefire to ease restrictions on Palestinian access to both the sea and the border region near the “security buffer zone,” these attacks continue on a very often basis.
Ahmed al-Sharafi after he was attacked.The stomach wound of Ahmed al-Sharafi.More wounds on Ahmed’s body.
Photo credit to https://www.facebook.com/fishermengaza?fref=photo
Please send the following 2 letters (below). One to EU trade officials (addresses below the letter) and one for Israeli embassies (please make sure to change the name according to location).
Pledge your tweet on our Thunderclap campaign https://goo.gl/xqVOjU and join the Twitter storm on July 19, Sunday, 21:00 GMT (00:00 Palestine, 17:00 NYC).
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EMAIL TO EU TRADE OFFICIALS
Dear _________
I am writing to you with an urgent appeal concerning a Palestinian village in the Israeli occupied West Bank. This village is called Susiya and it is had already been displaced once to make room for an Israeli settlement. Now it is under imminent threat of being destroyed again. The Israeli military has just informed the residents of Susiya that they will start demolishing buildings after the end of Ramadan in a few days.
For more on the continued harassment of the people of Susya by Israeli settlers and military see http://rhr.org.il/eng/save-susya/ http://972mag.com/idf-maps-village-of-susya-as-forced-displacement-looms/106584/
1) Do not let Israeli settlements gain from plunder and restrict the sale of all Israeli settlement products in Europe. In particular bar the importation of Carmel Wines to Europe.
2) Contact the Israeli embassy and demand that the Israeli government cancel its plans to destroy Susiya for the second time.
I am writing to you with an urgent appeal concerning a Palestinian village in the West Bank. This village is called Susiya and it is had already been displaced once to make room for an Israeli settlement. Now it is under imminent threat of being destroyed again. The Israeli military has just informed the residents of Susiya that they will start demolishing buildings after the end of Ramadan, in a few days.
To forcefully evict an entire village is a cruel and illegal act that is about to be repeated by the Israeli military. One cannot escape the conclusion that this policy is a form of systematic discrimination directed at the Palestinians living under Israeli military control. Such an act is so offensive that it implicated those who take part in it as well as those who only let it happen. We urge you to not let this happen and stop the planned demolition of Susiya.
Sincerely ______________
—
-Africa
Angola Raphael Singer consular@luanda.mfa.gov.il
Cameroon info@yaounde.mfa.gov.il
Ethiopia Belaynesh Zevadia embassy@addisababa.mfa.gov.il
Nigeria Uriel Palti info@abuja.mfa.gov.il
Sengal Eli Ben Tura info@dakar.mfa.gov.il
Pretoria Arthur Lank consular@pretoria.mfa.gov.il
Kenya Yahel Vilan info@nairobi.mfa.gov.il
Ghana Sharon Bor-li
amb-sec@accra.mfa.gov.il
-Asia
-China
• Beijing Matan Vilnai info@beijing.mfa.gov.il
• Shanghai Jackie Eldan consulgen-assist@shanghai.mfa.gov.il
• Hong Kong Sagi Karni info@hongkong.mfa.gov.il
• Guangzhou Yaacov Avrahamy info@guangzhou.mfa.gov.il
-India
New Delhi Daniel Carmon consular2@newdelhi.mfa.gov.il
Mumbai David Akov info@mumbai.mfa.gov.il
Tokyo Ruth Kahanoff information@tokyo.mfa.gov.il
Amman cons-sec@amman.mfa.gov.il
Myanmar Daniel Zohar Zonshine info@yangon.mfa.gov.il
Nepal Yaron Mayer info@kathmandu.mfa.gov.il
Philippines Effie Ben Matityau info@manila.mfa.gov.il
Singapore Yael Rubinstein info@singapore.mfa.gov.il
Seoul Uri Gutman info@seoul.mfa.gov.il
Taipei Simona Halperin press@taipei.org.il
Bangkok Simon Roded info@bangkok.mfa.gov.il
Vietnam Meirav Eilon Shahar info@hanoi.mfa.gov.il
-Central America
Costa Rica Abraham Haddad consular1@sanjose.mfa.gov.il
Dominican Republic Bahij Mansour Info@santodomingo.mfa.gov.il
El Salvador Oren Bar El info@sansalvador.mfa.gov.il
Guatemala Moshe Bachar sec-ambassador@guatemala.mfa.gov.il
Mexico Rodica Radian Gordon info@mexico.mfa.gov.il
Panama Alexander Galilee info@panama.mfa.gov.il
-Euro-Asia
Azerbaijan Rafael Harpaz info@baku.mfa.gov.il
Croatia Zina Kalay Kleitman info@zagreb.mfa.gov.il
Georgia Yuval Fuchs press@tbilisi.mfa.gov.il
Kazakhstan Eliyahu Tasman info@astana.mfa.gov.il
-Russia
Moscow Olga Words info@tehila.gov.il
St. Petersberg Michael Lotem info@spb.mfa.gov.il
Serbia Yossef Levy info@belgrade.mfa.gov.il
Ukraine Eliab Byelotserkovski info@kiev.mfa.gov.il
Uzbekistan Carmela Shamir operator@tashkent.mfa.gov.il
-Europe
Mission to UN, Geneva, Eviatar Manor mission-israel@geneva.mfa.gov.il
Mission to European Union, Brussels David Walzer
Austria Zvi Heifetz info-sec@vienna.mfa.gov.il
Bulgaria Shaul Kamisa Raz info@sofia.mfa.gov.il
Cyprus Maria Hadjigeorgiou ambass-sec@nicosia.mfa.gov.il
Prague Gary Koren info@prague.mfa.gov.il
Copenhagen Barukh Binah info@copenhagen.mfa.gov.il
London Daniel Taub info@london.mfa.gov.il
Finland Dan Ashbel info@helsinki.mfa.gov.il
-France
Paris Yossi Gal consul-sec@paris.mfa.gov.il
Marseille Barnea Hassid consulgeneral-sec@marseille.mfa.gov.il
-Germany
Berlin Yakov Hadas-Handelsman botschaft@israel.de
Munich Dan Shaham consul-sec@munich.mfa.gov.il
Greece Irit Ben-Abba pr@athens.mfa.gov.il
Hungary Izrael Allam info@budapest.mfa.gov.il
Ireland Boaz Modai info@dublin.mfa.gov.il
Italy Naor Gilon cons4@roma.mfa.gov.il
Latvia Hagit Ben-Yaakov press@riga.mfa.gov.il
Netherlands Haim Divon consular@hague.mfa.gov.il
Norway Raphael Schutz consular@oslo.mfa.gov.il
Poland, Anna Azari, publicaffairs@warsaw.mfa.gov.il
Portugal Tzipora Rimon israelmb@lisbon.mfa.gov.il
Romania Dan Ben-Eliezer info@bucharest.mfa.gov.il
Slovakia Alexander Ben-Zvi cao-sec@bratislava.mfa.gov.il
Spain Alon Bar info@madrid.mfa.gov.il
Sweden Isaac Bachman info@stockholm.mfa.gov.il
Switzerland Yigal B. Caspi press@bern.mfa.gov.il
Vatican Zion Evrony info@holysee@.mfa.gov.il
-Turkey
Ankara Amira Oron info@ankara.mfa.gov.il
Istanbul Shai Cohen info@istanbul.mfa.gov.il
-North America
-Canada
Ottawa Rafael Barak info@ottawa.mfa.gov.il
Toronto DJ Schneeweiss consular1@toronto.mfa.gov.il
Montreal Ziv Nevo Kulman info@montreal.mfa.gov.il
-USA
Washington D.C. Ron Dermer info@washington.mfa.gov.il
Pacific Northwest San Francisco Andy David Consulardep@SanFrancisco.mfa.gov.il
Los Angeles David Siegel consular-assist@losangeles.mfa.gov.il
Florida and Puerto Rico in Miami Chaim Shacham concal.sec@miami.mfa.gov.il
Atlanta Ofer Aviran info@atlanta.mfa.gov.il
Mid-Atlantic Region Yaron Sideman information@philadelphia.mfa.gov.il
New York Ido Aharoni info@newyork.mfa.gov.il
New England Yehuda Yaakov info@boston.mfa.gov.il
Midwest Roey Gilad contactus@chicago.mfa.gov.il
Houston Eitan Levon concal.sec@houston.mfa.gov.il
-Oceania
Australia Shmuel Ben-Shmuel info@canberra.mfa.gov.i
New Zealand Yosef Livne info@wellington.mfa.gov.il
-South America
Argentina Dorit Shavit info@buenosaires.mfa.gov.il
-Brazil
Sau Paulo Yoel Barnea info@saopaulo.mfa.gov.il
Brasilia Dr. Reda Mansour info@brasilia.mfa.gov.il
Chile Rafael Eldad info@santiago.mfa.gov.il
Colombia Marco Sermoneta info@bogota.mfa.gov.il
Ecuador Eliyahu Yerusalmi info@quito.mfa.gov.il
Peru Ehud Moshe Eitam info@lima.mfa.gov.il
Uruguay Nina Ben-Ami info@montevideo.mfa.gov.il
17th July 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine
Of the two main entrances to the village of Nabi Saleh, one of them – which connects to the villages of Kufr Ayn, Karawa and the town of Salfit – has been permanently closed by the Israeli army since 2001.
Last week, on the main road that connects the village with Ramallah, there was a car accident that killed a four year old child. The villagers blame the accident on congestion caused by the closure of one of these two gates.
On Thursday, July 16th at approximately 5.00 am, young men from the village began trying to open this gate. Since the two gates are next to one another and permanently surveilled by an Israeli watch tower, this led immediately to clashes in which soldiers used tear gas and live ammunition. Within the next hour, four Israeli military vehicles entered the village and began firing rubber bullets, live ammunition, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at random.
Military vehicles in Nabi Saleh.Israeli military vehicles obstructing road in Nabi Saleh.
Largely due to the fact that most inhabitants were still in their homes at this early hour, no one was injured by bullets. However, being unable to take precautions, elderly people and children were particularly affected by tear gas entering through windows.
Clouds of tear gas in Nabi Saleh.
Clashes lasted for three hours, finishing at 8.00 am. As of 7.00 pm, the village’s last remaining entrance to a main road (the one connecting to Ramallah) has been obstructed by a newly established checkpoint. This leaves the villagers with the only alternative of using a backroad entrance leading to a circuitous route which adds up to an hour and a half to journey times.
Young men in the village confronting the Israeli military.
This happened in the eve of the Islamic festival of Eid Al-Fitr, when visiting relatives in other villages and cities is of enormous importance; in addition to the obstruction of access to work, healthcare and education that will inevitably follow for the inhabitants of this small village in days to come.
97% of the land area of Nabi Saleh falls under direct Israeli military control (area C), of which 60% is in the hands of settlers. The village has suffered a long history of human rights violations by Israeli forces. 13 houses are scheduled for demolition, comprising 18% of the housing stock of the village.
Since 2009, when the village initiated regular protests, numerous villagers have been seriously injured or imprisoned. 22 people have been shot with live ammunition, 15 of whom now face chronic disability as a result. Two people have been killed. 190 people have been imprisoned, most of them from Nabi Saleh itself and the remainder from other surrounding villages who joined the Nabi Saleh protests. Of these prisoners, 40% are minors and 15 are women.
Local sources stress that the large number of disabilities caused by live fire incidents should be seen in the context of a new strategy, first seen in last year’s protests against the bombing of Gaza, whereby Israeli snipers appear to aim deliberately with low calibre .22 rounds with the intention to cripple. 90% of protestors shot with .22 rounds have reportedly been injured in the left leg. Often this results in the severing of a nerve, causing irreversible loss of movement in the foot.
One such victim is Neriman Al-Tamimi. A local volunteer for Israeli human rights organisation B’tSelem, Neriman was shot in January in the village’s main road while using a video camera to film soldiers. Despite an operation to fit two metal plates in her leg, she has been unable to walk without crutches since, and will require further surgery. Two months after sustaining the injury, Neriman was again confronted by soldiers as she filmed them firing rubber bullets and tear gas canisters close to her home in the village. The soldiers asked her whether she hadn’t learned her lesson and threatened to shoot her in the other leg.
