Israeli army assaults Arafat memorial march

12th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

The residents of Kafr Qaddum held their annual anniversary demonstration marking Yasser Arafat’s death, despite strong repression from the Israeli army.

At approximately 2:30 pm, Palestinian demonstrators and international activists assembled in front of the illegal settlement of Qedumim. After about 30 minutes, the Israeli army began shooting a huge amount of tear gas into the fields and on the main road, trying to prevent the demonstrators to exercise their right to protest and express their opinion.

After one hour of sustained tear gas fire, part of the demonstration slowly moved back to the middle of the street as the soldiers were taking position on the top of the hill in order to better target the demonstrators. A few demonstrators stayed on the road, facing the rest of the soldiers. Suddenly, the Israeli army started throwing stones, followed by more stun grenades and tear gas rained down on the Palestinians citizens of Kafr Qaddum.

Despite the continued Israeli assault, the demonstration lasted until 5:00 pm. Two Palestinian citizens were injured, both on the legs. One of them, directly hit by a tear gas canister, has been admitted to Nablus hospital.

A cloud of tear gas in Kafr Qaddum
A cloud of tear gas in Kafr Qaddum

Photos: Gaza’s weekly rally in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners

11th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Families and supporters gather weekly in the Red Cross courtyard. (Photo by Rosa Schiano)
Families and supporters gather weekly in the Red Cross courtyard. (Photo by Rosa Schiano)

On Monday morning, many relatives of Palestinian detainees, political representatives and solidarity activists attended the weekly rally at the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City.

In the first part of the sit-in, families of Fateh prisoners commemorated the ninth anniversary of Yasser Arafat’s death. Some of them held portraits of Arafat, waved Palestinian flags, and chanted slogans in homage to Arafat.

During the second part, women from Hamas rallied outside the Red Cross building.

Women rally for Palestinian detainees and martyrs in Gaza. (Photo by Joe Catron)
Women rally for Palestinian detainees and martyrs in Gaza. (Photo by Joe Catron)

Speakers praised the steadfastness of  prisoners currently held in Israeli prisons and detention facilities and denounced the suffering from torture, medical negligence and human rights violations in Israeli jails. On 5 November, detainee Hasan Abdul-Halim Toraby, 22 years old, died at the Al-‘Affoula Israeli Hospital, after being denied necessary medical treatment. He suffered from leukemia, and was not provided the specialized treatment he urgently needed.

Rawda al-Najjar holds a picture of her detained son, Mohammed Ismail al-Najjar. (Photo by Rosa Schiano)
Rawda al-Najjar. (Photo by Rosa Schiano)

Like every Monday, mothers, wives, sisters, sons and daughters showed the pictures of their relatives, some of whom they hadn’t seen for years.  “Mohammed has been in prison for six years,” said Rawda al-Najjar, mother of Mohammed Ismail al-Najjar, as she held his picture. “I have only seen him twice.”

Despite current negotiations and the recent release of some prisoners, Israeli forces are still kidnapping and arresting Palestinians, included children, and using administrative detention.  On 10 November, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine organized a protest in solidarity with Palestinian academic and administrative detainee Ahmad Qatamesh and all administrative detainees in occupation prisons.

Palestinian families in Gaza will continue demanding the release of all prisoners, especially sick ones and administrative detainees.

South Hebron Hills’ outpost of Havat Ma’on continues to expand. Despite documentation, Israeli officials deny knowledge of expansion

11th November 2013 | Operation Dove | At Tuwani, Occupied Palestine

The Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on (Hill 833) in the West  Bank’s South Hebron Hills is growing at a phenomenal rate since the  beginning of October. On Saturday November 9, the activist group of  Ta’ayush (an Arab and Jewish grassroots nonviolent movement) and  international peace activists entered the outpost in order to document  the illegal works taking place and to ask the Israeli authorities to  stop the expansion.

The activist group videotaped a large construction site, but settlers and  the Israeli police and army prevented them from fully documenting the  expansion of Havat Ma’on. Furthermore two masked settlers attacked the  activists, throwing stones at them. In spite of the presence of the  Israeli police, there were no consequences for the attackers.

Later, two settlers from Havat Ma’on came toward the nearby Palestinian  village of At Tuwani. One settler approacheda Palestinian home and  provoked the residents. A group of Palestinians from the village  gathered near the house and the settler was distanced by the police.

The inhabitants of the nearby Palestinian village of At Tuwani and  international observers have documented the expansion of Havat Ma’on  since October 6, when they photographed a scraper while it was entering  the outpost; they also later heard noises from the construction works.  Several days later, internationals documented an excavator digging the  land. Documentation of the entire construction process was not possible,  however, because of the presence of woods that obstruct the view.

Despite receiving several notices of this expansion, when an Israeli  activist informed the Israeli official responsible for the  infrastructure of Hebron and the South Hebron area from the District  Coordination Office (DCO), the official declared that DCO officers  inspected the area and did not see any construction work.

From Havat Ma’on outpost come a lot of violence and threats against the  local Palestinian communities. Just in the lands surrounding the  outpost, Operation Dove volunteers have recorded a total of 43 incidents  since the beginning of the 2013 in which local settlers are involved: 13  cases of Palestinian property damages (primarily olive trees); 13  violent attacks and 17 harassments and threats against Palestinians,  Israelis and internationals.

While the Palestinian and Bedouin villages of Area C, including the  South Hebron Hills, suffer from Israel’s ongoing policy of demolitions  and threats, the nearby outposts and settlements continue to expand.

“Most of Area C has been allocated for the benefit of Israeli  settlements, which receive preferential treatment at the expense of  Palestinian communities, including with regard to access to land and  resources, planning, construction, development of infrastructure, and  law enforcement” declared the United Nations OCHA oPt (Office for the  Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in occupied Palestinian  territories) in the report regarding the Area C, issued on January 2013.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and  the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

 

 

Settlement expansion in Hebron encroaches on Palestinian land

10th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

This is the newest settler house to be constructed on what was previously Palestinian farming land (Photo by ISM)
This is the newest settler house to be constructed on what was previously Palestinian farming land (Photo by ISM).

The attempted expansion of Kiryat Arba, the largest settlement in Khalil (Hebron), threatens to further reassign land boundaries. This would affect the livelihoods of several Palestinian families who have long been subject to harassment and violence.

On Tuesday 5th November, international activists were called to the Tamimi family olive groves in Khaled Abudee, which are located in a valley just north east of Kiryat Arba. Settlers from Havat Gal, the outpost of Kiryat Arba, had entered the land which belongs to three Palestinian families. They had brought with them equipment to cut down olive trees, but fortunately the Tamimi family managed to prevent any damage being done to the trees. The family called upon Israeli soldiers to remove the settlers but they persistently refused, claiming that they had a right to the land.

Israeli authorities arrived on Thursday 7th November in order to mark out the land boundaries, and a high ranked military officer came and confiscated a proportion of the land for governance use, which in practice means that settlers can build there without Israeli government intervention. Fortunately for the settlers, the house they are currently building is located on this piece of land. The families are very upset with this decision made by the Israeli military, and a lawyer from the Israeli NGO Taayush is taking the case to the Israeli court.

The conflict over this piece of land has been relentlessly affecting the families for more than six years. Every year fruit trees have been cut down and poison has also been used to prevent their full harvest. In 2008, eight children were hospitalized after drinking the milk of a goat which had been feeding on these poisoned grounds. Further physical violence has occurred several times, including children being beaten (most recently yesterday) and the use of pepper spray against an elder member of the Tamimi family. Despite the settlers’ aggressive behaviour, the Israeli authorities have only ever arrested Palestinians on the land. Three of the Tamimi sons were arrested last month for filming settlers entering the family grounds. Approximately half a year ago Shakir, Shukri and Shihab Tamimi were interrogated in Ofer Prison for supposedly hitting settler children, but were released after 24 hours when a video of the incident proved that in fact it was the settler children who attacked the Palestinians. The settlers received no repercussions for their offences, which is typical of the protection of these extremist illegal settlers by soldiers and police, even when acting outside of the law. The families now hope for some justice in the Israeli court.

Join Palestinians on November 30th to protest against the Prawer plan

10th November 2013 | Prawer Won’t Pass Campaign | Occupied Palestine

Day of Rage against the Prawer Plan.
Day of Rage against the Prawer Plan.

On 24th of June, the Israeli Knesset approved the Prawer-Begin plan, which if implemented will result in the destruction of more than 35 unrecognized villages in Al-Naqab and the forced expulsion and confinement of more than 70,000 Palestinian Bedouins. The Prawer plan is the largest Israeli land-grab since 1948. It epitomizes the nature of Israel’s policy; Israeli-Jewish demographic expansion and Palestinian-Arab demographic containment.

The International community has repeatedly called on Israel to halt the implementation of the Prawer Plan due to its discriminatory nature and the severe infringement it causes on the rights of Palestinian Bedouins in Al-Naqab. The UN committee on the elimination of Racial Discrimination called on Israel to withdraw the proposed legislation of the Prawer Plan. Also, in 2012, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on Israel to stop the Prawer plan and its policies of forced displacement and dispossession.

Injustice, humiliation and forced displacement are a recurring theme in Palestine’s history. This is lesson that we as a group of youth take to the heart. We will oppose, resist and work against the continuous assault that our communities, across Palestine face. Therefore, we launched the “Prawer will not pass” campaign with an eye to preventing this plan to be yet another chapter in Palestine’s long and tragic history.

Opposing the Prawer Plan is to oppose ethnic cleansing, displacement and confinement in the 21st century.

Join us by organizing marches, protests, sending letters to those with positions of influence in your country or community, by doing whatever you can, in order to force Israel to stop the Prawer plan.

Join us on the 30th of November in saying “Prawer shall not Pass”.

For more information, please contact:
Email: PrawerWontPass@gmail.com