International Solidarity Movement - Page 370 - Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.

Arrested at Nabi Saleh, Rana Nazzal speaks out for Palestinian political prisoners

4th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Ramallah, Occupied Palestine

On the 28th of June 2013 two Palestinian activists were arrested in the village of Nabi Saleh during the village’s Friday demonstration. Both are currently released on bail and have been charged with entering a close military zone. The prosecutor is asking for house arrest and they are awaiting the judge’s decision. Nariman Tamimi is a prominent activist from the village of Nabi Saleh and Rana Nazzal is a Palestinian Canadian activist. The International Solidarity Movement had a chance to speak to Rana about her experiences during the arrest, the time following imprisonment and the situation for political prisoners in Palestine.

International Solidarity Movement: You, together with Nariman Tamimi, were arrested last Friday during a protest against the Israel occupation in Nabi Saleh, can you tell us in which specific context you were arrested and where did they take you afterwards?

Rana Nazzal: We attempted to reach Nabi Saleh’s water spring, which has been annexed by the nearby illegal Israeli settlement. A line of Israeli soldiers blocked our way and threatened to arrest us so we turned around and began climbing the hill back to the village. As we retreated, a different group of soldiers ran towards us and began arresting us. When I asked why we were being arrested, the soldier replied, “because I feel like it”.

Myself, Nariman, and a Spanish man were taken together. We were kept handcuffed and blindfolded for nine hours, most of the time isolated from each other. Within this time we were not told the reason of our arrest, received no food, and were transported to two military bases before we were finally taken to the police station.

There, Nariman and I were taken in a police car, handcuffed, and driven around with two male soldiers for over 7 hours before reaching Hasharon prison at 7.30 am.

ISM: There are sixteen Palestinian women currently imprisoned by Israel, all of whom are held in Hasharon – how was the encounter with these women prisoners? How did you spend your time in jail?

R.N: They didn’t keep us in the same prison ward as the sixteen other women, but we saw them in passing moments. On Saturday, we saw them while the longest term prisoner, Lina Jarboni, was giving Hebrew lessons. Lina told us that Sireen Khudiri, the recent 21 year-old who was arrested on charges of ‘internet activism’, also gives the women English lessons. On Sunday night Lina cooked the Palestinian stew mloukhieh and sent a huge platter to our room, along with changes of clothes so we could finally change. The women were generous and strong spirited.

We spent most of our time talking or sleeping, as we weren’t allowed books, paper, radio, or any form of entertainment.

On Monday we were woken at 2am and taken on a grueling trip to the Ofer military courts, along with Tahrir Mansour who also had a trial. Tahrir and I were locked in a compartment on a bus that could hardly fit the two of us sitting upright, with our ankles and hands cuffed.

After spending the day in a cell at Ofer and attending a trial in the afternoon, Nariman and I were finally released after 10 pm.

ISM: After the military court decided that you should be released, you had to pay 2000NIS in bail and were charged with entering a “close military zone”, can you tell us more about the on-going process? What is the prosecutor asking for?

R.N: The trial is still going on, we have been to court three times so far this week. The prosecutor asked for jail time or a very high bail (at one point asking judge for 10,000 NIS!), they also asked the judge to make me postpone my travel time (as I am going to Canada soon for university). All these requests were turned down, but on Tuesday the judge asked for 750NIS bail and house arrest for one week. Our lawyer appealed the house arrest, and the prosecution appealed the bail (wanting a higher amount). The decision of Wednesday’s appeal trial has not been told to us yet.

ISM: Is this the first time you have been arrested and imprisoned? If not, can you tell us about your previous experiences?

R.N: Last year I had a similar imprisonment. It was much more difficult because it was my first time and I was alone and mostly kept in isolation for a period of five days. I had been beaten by soldiers during the arrest, with bruises and cuts all over my body. I was also facing more serious charges. I was charged, among other minor things, with assaulting a soldier, but thankfully we had video evidence that proved that it was not the case. Nonetheless, the court demanded I pay a similar bail last year.

ISM: Why do you attend these demonstrations and why do you think it is important as a Palestinian and a woman to participate in those protests?

R.N: The people of Nabi Saleh protest out of a direct necessity to protect what is left of their land and reclaim what has been illegally stolen from them. I, as a Palestinian, can’t separate myself from their struggle, so whenever I have the chance to, I am happy to join them. I especially like Nabi Saleh because the women play a role in the leadership.

ISM: Do you think it is important to have international presence at those demonstrations? If so, why?

R.N: I think an international observer presence can be helpful, in particular for publishing news in English in cases where that is not already happening. I think it is important for the popular struggle to not be reliant on internationals, however, as their legal status in the country is very weak (for example, they can be deported easily if they participate directly in protests) and their presence is transient. Visible internationals may lessen the violence that is used against protesters, but Palestinian women, and large numbers of protesters in general, have a similar effect. I think it would be better in the long term if we were encouraging Palestinians to come from the nearby cities, and especially women.

ISM: Do you want to add anything else?

R.N: No matter how much I had read or written about the prisoners’ struggle before my first imprisonment, I did not fully realize its significance. Every second in solitary confinement, every minute of exhaustion and boredom, and every day away from one’s family is significant to the prisoners. We on the outside should begin to feel every second as they do and begin pushing their cause with the urgency it deserves. I call for the freedom of all Palestinian political prisoners.

UPDATED: Three arrests at Nabi Saleh demonstration against occupation

28th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine

Update 10th July: The military judge decided on house arrest for Nariman Tamimi. She will have to stay at home every Friday until the next court hearing in September. Rana is not allowed to go to Nabi Saleh at least until her next hearing next week. Both are charged with entering a closed military zone. Rana is also accused of interfering with a soldier.

Update 8th July: The judge’s decision was partial house arrest for last Friday only. Tomorrow they are having the final hearing before the case is closed.

Update 3rd July: Rana and Nariman are still waiting for the judge decision on the appeal. They had to paid 750NIS more for bail.

Update 2nd July: The military judge decided on house arrest for Nariman and Rana. The defense has appealed and is still waiting for a decision.

Update 1st July: Both Palestinian activists have been released on bail (2000NIS each) from Ofer military prison. They are being charged with entering a “close military zone” and have a trial on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Update 30th June 3:30pm: Both Palestinian activists were released by the court; however the Israeli Police appealed the decision which means they are to be held another night, this time in Ofer Prison.

Update 29th June 2:15pm: Both Palestinian activists have a court date set in Ofer military court tomorrow.

Update 29th June 1:00pm: The two Palestinian activists are now currently being held at HaSharon Prison.

Update 29th June 09:00am: The two Palestinian activists are currently being held at Jalameh prison. They may or may not have court on Sunday but will not be released before then.

Update 29th June 2am: The international activist arrested at the protest was released last night.

Update 29th June 00.45am: The two Palestinian activists are currently being interrogated at Giva Binyamin police station.

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During the June 28th demonstration in Nabi Salih, after Friday prayer had finished, the Palestinians once again began their resistance against the illegal Israeli occupation. As usual, their demonstration was met with high levels of violence; disproportionate teargas was fired and foul smelling skunk water was shot onto homes. Two Palestinians and one international were arrested. They are currently being held in Binyamin police station.

At around 1:30 pm demonstrators began marching towards the stolen water spring of Nabi Salih, currently occupied by Israeli settlers from the nearby illegal settlement of Halamish. As soon as the demonstrators began to descend the mountain, two military jeeps began using their tempest tear gas attachments, firing excessive tear gas canisters directly at unarmed marchers. The military jeeps then began to aim directly at those who chose to stay on the road, shooting canisters at head height and disregarding the flammable nature of the local petrol station. The skunk truck and two jeeps then invaded the centre of the village, including the olive groves [as seen in video] which then allowed the skunk truck to maneuver freely, shooting at all homes and demonstrators in its wake.

Palestinian activist Neriman Tamimi today being arrested (Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills)

After this, those demonstrators that had reached the bottom of the mountain close to the spring were faced with a large group of soldiers. Demonstrators confronted the soldiers; however as the video shows, the soldiers disregarded the rights the Palestinians have to their land and proceeded to aim their weaponry at demonstrators. Two Palestinian women, including prominent Nabi Saleh activist Nariman Tamimi, and one international man, believed to be from Spain, were arrested for no reason other than resisting the occupation. It is currently understood that these three have been transferred to Giva Binyamin police station, where they are still currently being held.

The village of Nabi Salih has been demonstrating against the theft of the natural spring and the occupation since December 2009. Israeli forces violently suppress the weekly Friday protests by shooting tear gas canisters, skunk water, sound bombs, rubber coated steel bullets and even live ammunition at protesters. Two people have been killed, Mustafa and Rushdi Tamimi, and many others severely injured. Resident Bassem Tamimi, has spent 17 months in Israeli jails, merely for being a prominent activist at the protests. After more than three years and despite the repression, Nabi Saleh continues to fight against the injustices of a brutal military Israeli occupation.

20 dunums of land and 200 olive trees set on fire by settlers in Sarra

3rd July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Sarra, Occupied Palestine

On the morning of the 30^th of June, settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Gilad rallied 100 settlers from the nearby illegal settlement of Qedumim to attack the land of the Palestinian village of Sarra.

Late in the morning, settlers went to the land located between Sarra and the illegal Israeli outpost and set fire to the land, resulting in twenty dunums of land burnt and two hundred olive trees destroyed. The Palestinian fire brigade arrived at the scene to put out the fire, but was prevented from reaching the land by the Israeli military. The fifteen Palestinian farmers who own this land have not been able to access it for years – they have been denied access because of its proximity to the illegal outpost.

The village of Sarra, located southwest of Nablus city, has seen 2000 dunums of their land annexed bythe illegal Israeli outpost of Havat Gilad. This outpost was erected in 2002 and is considered illegal under both international and Israeli law. The Israeli government dismantled some structures of the outpost in 2011 which led to ‘price-tag’ attacks in retribution against Palestinian communities nearby. The structures were soon rebuilt by the settlers and have since then been protected by the Israeli military.

This is a regular tactic of Israeli settlers to create ‘facts on the ground’ by establishing illegal outposts, which are then protected by the Israeli military and eventually designated as neighbourhoods of exisiting settlements. There are currently around 121 settlements in the West Bank, along with around 100 illegal outposts.

The illegal outpost of Havat Gilad on the right and the burnt land on the left (Photo by ISM)

House demolitions leave four families unsheltered in Khirbet ‘Atuf

2nd July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Khirbet ‘Atuf, Occupied Palestine

On Thursday 27th June, beginning at 9 AM, Israeli military bulldozers demolished the homes and structures of four families in the village of Khirbet ‘Atuf, a shepherding village east of Tammun in Tubas Governorate. One man was taken to the hospital in Nablus after being physically beaten while attempting to protect his family from Israeli soldiers. Another man had his vehicle confiscated by Israeli authorities, and the total cost of his lost property totals $13,000 USD, not a small sum for a shepherding family. While Israeli authorities usually provide demolition notices to the families whose homes they are destroying, these families were given none. Other villagers fear that the demolitions of their own homes may come without notice at any moment.

Demolished makeshift houses (Photo by ISM)

The village, which is located in Area C and therefore under complete Israeli military and civil control, is no stranger to home demolitions. All four families whose homes were demolished on Thursday have had their homes demolished at least two previous times, and international aid agencies have provided temporary tents for the families to sleep in. The people are facing health problems from excessive heat exposure, and in some cases their sheep also no longer have protection from the sun – their shelters having also been destroyed.

The landscape of the village offers one of the most chilling images of Israeli apartheid. The villagers who has been prevented from farming their land by the Israeli military is dry, brown, mostly barren of vegetation and repeatedly subject to home demolitions; while Beqa’ot, the illegal Israeli colony directly adjacent to the village, is green, well-off, and receives the perpetual support, funding, and protection of the Israeli state and military.

Weekly military training exercises occur in the village, and the residents are forced to leave their homes during the duration of these exercises by the military. Unexploded ordnance (UXO), which the Israeli military is infamous for leaving behind during its 2006 war with Lebanon and the US military during its imperialist war in Vietnam, Laos, and, Cambodia, has been left behind in the village as a result of these military exercises. When these bombs are disturbed incidentally, they explode, and have caused thirty villagers to lose their limbs. Since 1970, fourteen villagers have died as a result of these exercises.

When asked what they will do next, the families whose homes have been destroyed said that they are seeking outside financial assistance to rebuild their homes.

Family furniture left without shelter (Photo by ISM)

Three men arrested in a night raid in Kfar Qalil

2nd July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qalil, Occupied Palestine

On the 26^th of June, at 1:30am, dozens of soldiers on foot and in military jeeps invaded the village of Kfar Qalil, southeast of Nablus, raided three shops, ransacked a house and arrested three men.

Window broken by Israeli soldiers (Photo by ISM)

Last Tuesday night, soldiers broke into one store, an automobile parts shop and a pharmacy located on the main road to Nablus. They forced the doors of the three establishments and, according to workers, soldiers then stole three car parts and cash from the pharmacy. Several cars in the car park nearby were also damaged by soldiers.

A house located in the upper part of the village was also raided and ransacked. Israeli military jeeps and foot soldiers arrived when Thabet Mansour, a neighbour, was parking his car at the entrance of his house. They violently arrested him without giving any reason. His family, who were asleep, woke up because of the noise and saw the soldiers beating Thabeb with the butts of their guns. Soon after that, some of the soldiers invaded the house and arrested two other family members.

Zahi, father of four and a worker at the automobile repair shop was next to be arrested. Then, his brother, Nihad, a policeman and father of seven, was also taken from the same house in his sleeping clothes. He wasn’t allowed to change his clothes and when he said to his wife “take care of the children” the soldiers grabbed him around the neck and forcibly covered his mouth. His wife, Iman, told how his children were crying and shouting “I want my dad”.

The soldiers searched and ransacked the house taking nine mobile phones, the keys of two cars that the family can no longer use and official papers of land and house ownership. None of the men arrested or family members were given any reason for the arrests and house search.

All three men were arrested for the first time and have been transferred to different prisons in Israel. Nihad in Beer Sheva, Zahi in Ashkelon and Thabet in Hadarim. Nihad and Zahi’s sister, who lives in Israel, tried to visit them in the prisons but was not allowed by Israeli authorities. Their court was dated for Wednesday, the day after they were arrested but has been postponed. None of their family members will be allowed to attend.

Israeli soldiers broke several window cars and took the keys (Photo by ISM) — Israeli soldiers broke several window cars and took the keys (Photo by: ISM)

Israeli forces repeatedly invade Kafr Qalil at night, raiding houses and arresting people. In the past two month, three other people have been arrested and are still in prison. Last Wednesday, a day after the invasion, Israeli authorities handed out a land confiscation order which will take 370 dunums from farmers to give it to Tel a-Ras military outpost next to Bracha illegal settlement.