International Solidarity Movement - Page 242 - Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.

In Gaza the farmers irrigate the land with their blood

18th March 2015 | Valeria Cortés | Khuza’a, Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Tilling the land in Gaza is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. The Zionist Occupation Forces fire on the peasants and their families while they sow or harvest their own land near the infamous Zionist fence which surrounds Gaza. They also burn their fields and routinely ravage their crops with bulldozers, leaving hundreds of families ruined and preventing the Gaza Strip from developing it’s already devastated economy or achieving a minimum of food sovereignty.

Last Sunday a group of peasants from Khuza’a, a village located in the South of the Gaza Strip, called us to ask for our presence as deterrent witnesses during their journey to sow their fields. The days before they had been harassed by Israeli soldiers, who fired their rifles and shot tear gas grenades from where they crouched inside their tanks and military turrets towards the peasants who were just trying to work their land under a hail of Zionist bullets.

Screen Shot 2015-03-18 at 00.28.09 — Azzam taking a rest after a morning of hard work.

Azzam, a humble 40 years old farmer, spoke to us of the tragedy of his life: “During the last attack Israel bombed my home and destroyed it completely; now I’m living with my family in a plastic tent.” He also explained us the shameful differences between a Palestinian farmer and farmer from the Israeli occupation. “They kill us, they shoot the few old tractors that we have, they burn our crops and bomb our homes, while their farmers work escorted by a whole army, one of the most powerful armies in the world.”

We finish our task and have a coffee sitting on the ground whose furrows house the seeds sown at the risk of Palestinian farmers’ lives: seeds of wheat, watermelon, peanut, seeds that may not even have the chance to germinate. Sitting now quietly on the scorched land, on the occupied land, land irrigated with Palestinian blood – too much blood – Azzam fixes his eyes beyond that disgraceful fence. He looks beyond the military vehicles, beyond the armed towers, armed with guns that can fire at the a push of a button from Tel Aviv; there we can see the stolen green fields of Palestine, a land deprived of it’s real name and owner, that place that is now known by the infamous name of Israel.

Statement from the family of Rachel Corrie on the 12th anniversary of Rachel’s stand in Gaza

16th March 2015 |Rachel Corrie Foundation |

Today, the twelfth anniversary of our daughter and sister Rachel’s stand and death in Gaza, we find ourselves back where our journey for accountability in her case began – in Washington DC. We have come for meetings at the Department of State and in Congress and, also, to join our colleagues in pursuit of a just peace in Israel/Palestine at the national meeting of Jewish Voice for Peace.

Rachel was crushed to death March 16, 2003, by an Israeli military, US-funded, Caterpillar D9R bulldozer in Rafah, Gaza, while nonviolently protesting the impending demolition of the home of a Palestinian family. This was one of thousands of homes eventually destroyed in Gaza in clearing demolitions, described in the 2004 Human Rights Watch Report, Razing Rafah.

The U.S. Department of State reported that on March 17, 2003, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised President Bush that the Israeli Government would undertake a “thorough, credible, and transparent” investigation into Rachel’s killing and report the results to the United States. On March 19, 2003, in a U.S. Department of State press briefing, Richard Boucher said in reference to Rachel, “When we have the death of an American citizen, we want to see it fully investigated. That is one of our key responsibilities overseas, is to look after the welfare of American citizens and to find out what happened in situations like these.”

Through tenures of both the Bush and Obama administrations, high level Department of State officials have continued to call for Israeli investigation in Rachel’s case. During our twelve year journey for accountability, we met with Lawrence B. Wilkerson (Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell), William Burns (then Under Secretary of State) and Antony Blinken (then Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to Vice President Biden) – all who have acknowledged lack of an adequate response from the Israeli Government in Rachel’s case.

In a letter to our family in 2008, Michelle Bernier-Toth, U.S. Department of State’s Managing Director of Overseas Citizens Services, wrote, “We have consistently requested that the Government of Israel conduct a full and transparent investigation into Rachel’s death. Our requests have gone unanswered or ignored.”

In March 2005, at the suggestion of the Department of State and to preserve our legal options, our family initiated a civil lawsuit against the State of Israel and Ministry of Defense. After a lengthy Israeli court process, in February of this year, the Israeli Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that said Rachel was killed in a “war activity” for which the state bears no liability under Israeli law. In response, Human Rights Watch wrote,

“The ruling flies in the face of the laws of armed conflict…The ruling grants immunity in civil law to Israeli forces for harming civilians based merely on the determination that the forces were engaged in ‘wartime activity,’ without assessing whether that activity violated the laws of armed conflict, which require parties to the conflict at all times to take all feasible precautions to spare civilian life.”

Our family’s legal options in Israel are nearly exhausted, but our search for justice for Rachel goes forward. Back in Washington DC, we have come full circle. We ask again that U.S. officials address their responsibility to U.S. citizens and to all civilians whose lives are impacted and cut short by military actions supported with U.S. taxpayer funding. We ask that they determine what to do when a promise from a key ally’s head of state to our own goes unfulfilled. March 16, 2003, was the very worst day of our lives. Our family deserves a clear and truthful explanation for how what happened to Rachel that day could occur, and to know there is some consequence to those responsible. Rachel deserves this.

She wrote, “This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop. I don’t think it’s an extremist thing to do anymore. I still really want to dance around to Pat Benatar and have boyfriends and make comics for my coworkers. But I also want this to stop.”

The failure of the Israeli court system to hold its soldiers, officers, and government accountable does not represent a failure on our part. Rachel, herself, went to Rafah looking for justice – a forward looking justice in which all people in the region would enjoy the freedoms, rights, opportunities, and obligations that we each demand for ourselves. The facts uncovered in our legal effort in Israel, and the clear evidence of the Israeli court’s complicity in the occupation revealed in the outcome, lay important legal groundwork for the future. As we look back at Selma fifty years ago and Ferguson today, we realize that our own civil rights struggle is not won in a single march or court case. It is ongoing. As our family continues our journey for justice, we thank those across the U.S., the world, and in Palestine and Israel who travel with us.

Together, we will find justice for Rachel – both the justice she deserves and the justice for which she stood.

The Corrie Family

Palestinian protesters honor Tristan Anderson on 6th anniversary of his shooting

16th March 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Ni’lin, Occupied Palestine

During last week’s Friday demonstration in Ni’lin the inhabitants of the village commemorated the anniversary of US activist Tristan Anderson’s shooting during a protest in the village six years ago. At the demonstration Israeli forces fired several hundred tear gas grenades and canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets, and two rounds of live ammunition at protesters.

nilin5 — Soldiers aimed tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition at demonstrators in Ni’lin

The demonstration began from the village mosque after noon prayers, as villagers accompanied by international and Israeli activists marched down a road leading towards the Apartheid Wall. Palestinians from Ni’lin carried posters calling for justice for Tristan Anderson.

Tristan, who was volunteering with ISM at the time, was shot in the head with a high-velocity tear gas grenade by Israeli border police on March 13, 2009 after that week’s Friday demonstration in Ni’lin. The injury left him with permanent severe brain damage. He now suffers chronic pain, is blind on his right eye, paralyzed and requires 24-hour care. Tristan’s family is currently pursuing a civil lawsuit in court demanding that the Israeli government pay for the extensive care Tristan will need for the rest of his life.

As the protesters were walking towards the wall, which Israel illegally built on Ni’lin’s lands, Israeli forces fired several dozen rounds of tear gas to disperse the protestors. The Apartheid Wall annexed hundreds of dunums of Ni’lin’s land, which the village’s farmers can now no longer access.

After the initial military assault demonstrators spread out into the fields and Palestinian youth began throwing stones toward the army. The clashes went on for several hours, during which Israeli forces fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Toward the end of the demonstration, as Israeli forces retreated back behind the apartheid wall, they increased the amount of tear gas fired and threw several stun grenades. Finally as some of the youths followed the soldiers a hill overlooking the village, Israeli forces fired two rounds of live ammunition, though no one was hit or injured by the bullets. The protest ended when the Israeli occupation forces went back behind the Apartheid Wall and shot a few final rounds of tear gas.

nilin3 — Israeli forces blanketed Ni’lin’s olive groves with tear gas

Ongoing harassment and restrictions on farmers around Nablus

12th March 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Burin, Salim, and Awarta, Occupied Palestine

Early spring marks an important time of the year for farmers around Nablus, where critical work must be done to ensure a quality olive harvest in October. In high tension regions, where farmers risk settler attacks while accessing their land, District Coordination Offices have negotiated to ensure specific days when Palestinians can access their land under the “supervision” of Israeli forces.

In Burin, farming has been severely restricted by harassment from the surrounding Yizhar and Bracha illegal settlements. Sunday 8th March was the first of only three days in which farmers of Burin were permitted to access their own land. On this day, farmers attempting to reach their olive trees found 75 cut down and the road blocked by large stones, placed by settlers from the nearby illegal settlements. The following day, 3 villagers on tractors were attacked by settlers who threw stones from the hilltops. Israeli forces declared the area a closed military zone and the Palestinians were forced to leave. This restriction remained in place for what would have been their final access day.

Burin road block — Settlers blocked the road to Burin’s farmland with a stone barrier – Photo by Palestinian farmer in Burin

Settler harassment is common in Burin, with tensions running high during this critical period which also coincides with the 40 days of mourning since the death of 19 year old Ahmad Al-Najar.

grafitti Burin — Hebrew graffiti reads “God is King” on a Burin house which has been abandoned due to its proximity to settlements

The story is similar in nearby Salim, where Palestinian farmers found 300 olive trees uprooted by Israeli forces. Furthermore, in nearby Azmut it has been reported that farmers’ bulldozers have been confiscated and 2 men arrested on the grounds that the area is now classified as an Israeli Nature Reserve.

On Tuesday, ISM volunteers accompanied farmers from Awarta village as they plowed the land around their olive groves. Trees in this valley are reported to be from Roman times, along the ancient route to Jordan.

olive tree awarta — Roman-era olive trees in Awarta village

Local residents explained that turning the soil increases crop quality, removing weeds and thus competition for water and nutrients. Military presence had been limited thus far, with little contact with settlers. In previous years, clashes have broken out with residents of the illegal settlement of Itamar, which has recently constructed an access road through the farming land.

Many farmers have only 3 weeks a year in total to access their land; up to a week for plowing and around two weeks for harvesting their entire crop. Access outside of these periods entails high risk of settler attacks and military force. Thus crops are left vulnerable to settlers, with many trees cut down, burnt, poisoned, or used as for grazing livestock, damaging soils and young trees. Restricted access also significantly diminishes the ability to establish new crops as water and nutrient requirements are far greater in this time. As a result, many farmers are choosing to leave their land and find other means of income.

olive trees + settlements Awarta — Olive groves in Awarta overlooked by illegal settlements

Israeli forces raid yet another family’s home in Tel Rumeida

11th March 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday on the 10th of March around 1 AM in occupied Al-Khalil (Hebron), Israeli occupation forces raided the home of human rights activist Imad Abu Shamsiya and his family. The soldiers turned the house upside-down; the family watched as soldiers broke one of their cameras and stole the SD card and a hard drive. Imad Abu Shamsiya is a well known member of the Human Rights Defenders and his family has been frequently targeted by the Israeli army and settlers.

abu shamsiya — The Abu Shamsiyeh family home – Photo by Human Rights Defenders

At least 25 soldiers came to the house. 10 of them went inside and woke up the 7 family members, including children and teenagers between the ages of 11 and 17. The soldiers told the family to gather all in one room, taking photos of everyone and documenting their IDs. After breaking a cupboard, searching through the computer and ransacking the house, they left after approximately 2 hours.

All family members have been attacked by settlers and either detained or arrested during the last 5 months. Yesterday, the day before the raid one of Imad’s sons, Awne, age 15, was detained for 3 hours because he refused to give up the name of one of his friends who the soldiers where looking for.

The raid on the Abu Shamsiya family is only one of the most recent in a series of home invasions Israeli forces have been conducting in Al-Khalil. The following night at 1:00 AM, soldiers raided the Abu Sneneh family’s home in Qeitun neighborhood. Around forty soldiers broke into the house in the night, forcing open every door and ransacking all the rooms, destroying some of the family’s belongings and remaining inside for three hours.