Israeli forces shoots Gazan fisherman at shore

27 November 2010 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

Ahmed Mahmoud Jarboh

At 12:30 pm, Ahmed Mahmoud Jarboh, aged 26, was shot in the back of the left knee by the Israeli Offensive Forces while fishing at the shore of Beit Lahya, in the north of the Gaza Strip. He is currently hospitalized in Kamal Udwan, in the neighboring town Jabalya, where his condition is being monitored.

Beit Lahya borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west and the 1949 Armistice Line with Israel to the north. The village’s economical resources are crippled by Israeli policies that restrict the fishing zone to three nautical miles and impose a 300 meter buffer zone on Palestinian land.

For over a year Ahmed has daily frequented the same area to fish with a small cast net. Today he and two of his colleagues were fishing from the shore at approximately 350 meters from the border fence. This incident again exemplifies a recent UN report conclusion that the danger zone does not halt at 300 meters: it can reach up to 1.5 kilometers.

“For over a year I have come here daily to fish. The soldiers in the watchtower see me every day: they know I am only a fisher! There was no reason for them to be suspicious as this is a normal, daily scene. Nothing special was going on.”

Even though the IOF soldiers should be familiar with Ahmed’s face, he was shot without warning:

“The only shot that was fired was the one that hit my leg”, he states.

When they heard the bullet being fired, the two other fishermen ran away to find shelter. As soon as they considered the situation “safe” again, they realized what had happened. They went to pick up Ahmed from the water and brought him to the hospital. The wound is stitched now, but probably surgery will not be necessary. It is still uncertain how long Ahmed will have to remain in the hospital and how long it will take for him to fully recover from this injury.

“I’m a father of two and I am the sole provider for my family. We have nothing else than what I gain from fishing.”

The 3 nautical mile restriction has resulted in a depletion of revenues which pushes people into the dangerous buffer zone. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, there have been nine people injured this month while working in the buffer zone. Ahmed Mahmoud Jarboh marks the tenth victim of IOF buffer zone aggression in four weeks.

Israeli forces assault 7 year old Palestinian in Silwan

26 November 2010 | Wadi Hilweh Information Center

Israeli forces assaulted 7 year old Adam Mansour Rishq during tense scenes in Silwan today. The child was beaten by Israeli troops who accused him of throwing stones at a military vehicle, who then attempted to arrest the youth but were stopped by residents who flocked to the scene. One resident told soldiers that “if you want to arrest him you can send an order to his father, summoning him to the police station.”

An Israeli policewoman was witnessed shouting at the mother of Rishq as she arrived on the scene, accusing her and other residents of covering up their children’s faults. The mother, fearful of the police officer, fled in to the house. Her son was brought in to the house over an hour later, when he was found hiding in a nearby tree out of fear of a repeat attack by soldiers. Rishq, clearly suffering from severe shock, was taken to Sharat Zedek hospital in West Jerusalem where he was treated for trauma and hallucination. Despite receiving treatment for 4 hours, the hospital refused to issue any papers to Rishq’s family to prove the necessity of medical attention following the assault.

Adam’s mother stated that “events such as this make our fears to great as to even send our child to school, lest he be subjected to another attack.” The family’s neighbor who had been present at the time said that “my children have been arrested by the Israelis and sentenced to house arrest, outside their own home of Silwan, in Beit Hanina. The police said they were arrested for participating in an “illegal” gathering on the streets. We do not understand what they mean by “illegal gathering” – my children were returning from school when they were taken by Israeli forces to the police station.”

Israeli bulldozers: demolishing homes, ruining livelihoods

26 November 2010 | Stella, International Solidarity Movement

Palestinian mother sitting with her kids on the rubble of her home
How can a kid understand Israeli demolitions if neither adults can?
A tent with view on the ruins of a 200 metres house

In the last few days, with a wave of demolitions, Israeli bulldozers have spread destruction and despair in the villages across the West Bank: in Qarawat Bani Hassan near Salfeet, in al-Jiftlik in the Jordan Valley, in Hizma, near Jerusalem, in Khirbet Yarza, east of Tubas, and in the South Hebron Hills.

Yesterday I went to the village of al-Rifayaia, east of Yatta in South Hebron, where at 8:15 AM Israeli forces had demolished a house that had been home to two families of twenty people (16 of them minors).

I arrived there around 1 PM, to at least show the ISM’s support and to document what had happened.

Many people were gathering around the rubble to support the two families that had lost their houses. The many kids around had disoriented expressions while they were playing on the ruins of what used to be a nice 200 square meter house.

The women, even if they still had their eyes wet and red, did not forget hospitality and I was immediately offered a cup of sweet tea. Everybody encouraged me to take many pictures as if they wanted to show to the world all the details of their unjust distress.

A young man explained that his two brothers, with their families, were living in the house that was demolished. One of them was sitting not too far from us with a somber, worried expression. He won’t be able to rebuild a new house for his family. In fact, he has no permit to go and work in Israel and his economic situation is very bad.

The Israeli bulldozers didn’t even let them remove their belongings before demolishing the house.

The Red Cross visited them just before me and brought a couple of big tents, some plastic chairs, two camp stoves and a few boxes of humanitarian aid. Not enough to help them now that the cold winter is coming. I was asked if I could help them in any way, but unfortunately I could only assure them that the news about what had happened to them would be spread so that more people in the world would know how the Palestinian people are forced to live.

After a while Hamed Qawasmeh arrived. He works for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). He explained to me that there are not many organizations that help to rebuild houses that Israel demolishes, and that the UN can only provide some services to mitigate the harsh situation of the two homeless families.

While I talk with the UN representative, not too far from the ruins of the house the men of the family put up the two tents that the Red Cross had donated. At least these two homeless families, during the next cold winter months, will be surrounded by the warm support of their relatives and their community.

Wave of demolitions in Jerusalem, Jordan Valley and South Hebron

25 November 2010 | ICHAD & Al Jazeera
Following the demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley yesterday, this morning the Civil Administration accompanied by large Army and Border Police forces demolished a mosque in the Jordan Valley and several structures in the South Hebron Hills.

Yesterday the Ministry of Interior demolished a Palestinian home in A Thuri, East Jerusalem, displacing a family of 7 including 4 children. The family had been living in their 60m/sq home for more than 8 years and were unsuccessful in years of court battles to resist the demolition. Settlers moved into another Palestinian home close-by on the Mount of Olives after a Palestinian family lost court battles to remain in their home and were evicted from the premises 3 years ago. A new court ruling this week gave the green-light to the settler take-over.

Today Civil Administration representatives along with armed border police forces destroyed a mosque in the East Tubas Bedouin village in the Jordan Valley, following the demolition of 4 structures displacing a family of 12 yesterday in the neighbouring village of Abu Al Ajaj. The recent escalation in the Jordan Valley comes after a spate of settler aggression over the last month amid attempts by the Massu’a settlement to annex adjacent lands from the Abu Al Ajaj community, in the Al Jiftlik area.

Jordan Valley Solidarity have requested volunteer assistance both with recovery and salvage from the recent demolitions, as well as to provide accompaniment for local communities at risk of settler violence. For further details visit Jordan Valley Solidarity.

Earlier this week a Palestinian family was forcibly evicted from their home by settlers in Jabal Mukabber, East Jerusalem, and the Bedouin village of Al Arakib in the Negev was demolished for the seventh time.

Mousa, Yousef Abu Maria arrested from their homes as harassment continues in Beit Ommar

25 November 2010 | Palestine Solidarity Project

Early Thursday morning, at approximately 2:00am, Israeli forces from the Gush Etzion military base came to the homes of brothers and National Committee members Yousef and Mousa Abu Maria. Both are also co-founders of the Palestine Solidarity Project.

Mousa, whose wife and baby girl–both Israeli citizens–were visiting family, was forced outside while his home was searched. 3 computers belonging to the Palestine Solidarity Project were taken. Yousef, father of 10 year-old Reem, 4 year-old Obay, and 1 month-old Della’, was also taken from his home in the middle of the night.

Both were held outside in freezing temperatures in Gush Etzion military base for over 5 hours; neither were allowed to put on proper shoes or clothing and repeated requests to be put inside were denied.

The soldiers, who have been harassing the committee of Beit Ommar for months now, including a previous late-night home invasion last month, accused both brothers of organizing the demonstrations in Beit Ommar, held every Saturday against the illegal settlements surrounding Beit Ommar, particularly Karmei Tsur. They were also “accused” of “bringing internationals” to Beit Ommar.

The brothers were also threatened if they did not stop the PSP program of reclaiming land in Saffa, this just days after settlers from nearby Bat ‘Ayn settlement set fire to Saffa land. In addition to Mousa and Yousef, two youth from Saffa were also arrested and released the next day.