Israeli forces shoot Ni’lin demonstrator in the head with tear-gas projectile

22 May 2009

Residents of Ni’lin gathered in the olive groves near the village to hold the weekly prayer before the start of the demonstration at 12:30. Several speeches were made to commemorate the 1 year anniversary since Ni’lin’s resistance against the Apartheid Wall began. Israeli soldiers positioned themselves around the people praying. Several soldiers occupied a nearby under-construction house.

As soon as the prayer ended, soldiers began to throw and fire tear-gas canisters. Residents, along with international and Israeli solidarity activists, ran away from the tear-gas on to the main road. Several young men responded to the military violence by throwing stones.

The Israeli army continued to shoot tear-gas canisters directly at demonstrators as they were in the village. Two soldiers positioned themselves on the main road and shot a Palestinian man with 0.22 caliber live ammunition in his leg. Another group of soldiers went further into the village and arrested a Palestinian man. The soldiers then shot tear-gas and 0.22 calibre live ammunition into a small road at demonstrators.

Demonstrators marched towards the olive field, but were prevented from entering because of 2 Israeli jeeps positioned near the outskirts. Soldiers began to shoot tear-gas canisters directly at individuals.

Israeli forces shot a 20 year old Palestinian in the head with a tear gas projectile
Israeli forces shot a 20 year old Palestinian in the head with a tear gas projectile

At 2:30, one Palestinian youth, aged 20, was shot in the head with a tear-gas canister from around 10 meters as he was standing near a home on the outskirts of the village. He was bleeding profusely from his head and had to be taken to Ramallah hospital. The tear-gas canister shattered part of his skull and he had to undergo surgery.

Demonstrators remained on the outskirts of the village as soldiers continued to fire tear-gas canisters. Another Palestinian man was shot in the arm with a 0.22 live caliber bullet and a third was shot in the fingers.

Around 4:30 the soldiers began to leave the outskirts of the olive groves. Demonstrators proceeded to their field and soldiers shot more tear-gas and 0.22 caliber live ammunition. The protest ended around 5:30pm. Three Palestinian demonstrators were shot with 0.22 caliber live ammunition and one was shot in the head with a tear-gas canister.

The 20 year old Palestinian who was shot with a tear-gas canister remains in Ramallah hospital for treatment for his head wound.

Israeli occupation forces have murdered four Ni’lin residents during demonstrations against the confiscation of their land and critically injured one international solidarity activist.

Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with live ammunition on 29 July 2008. The following day, Yousef Amira (17) was shot twice with rubber-coated steel bullets, leaving him brain dead. He died a week later on 4 August 2008. Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22), was the third Ni’lin resident to be killed by Israeli forces. He was shot in the back with live ammunition on 28 December 2008. That same day, Mohammed Khawaje (20), was shot in the head with live ammunition, leaving him brain dead. He died three days in a Ramallah hospital. Tristan Anderson (37), an American citizen, was shot with a high velocity tear gas projectile on 13 March 2009 and is currently in critical condition. In total, 30 persons have been shot by Israeli forces with live ammunition.

Since May 2008, residents of Ni’lin village have been demonstrating against construction of the Apartheid Wall. Despite being deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004, the occupation continues to build a Wall, further annexing Palestinian land.

Ni’lin will lose approximately 2500 dunums of agricultural land when the construction of the Wall is completed. Ni’lin consisted of 57,000 dunums in 1948, reduced to 33,000 dunums in 1967, currently is 10,000 dunums and will be 7,500 dunums after construction of the Wall.

Israel destroying Gaza’s farmlands

Eva Bartlett | Electronic Intifada

22 May 2009

A farmer holds crops destroyed by Israeli troops
A farmer holds crops destroyed by Israeli troops

On the morning of 4 May 2009, Israeli troops set fire to Palestinian crops along Gaza’s eastern border with Israel. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) reported that 200,000 square meters of crops were destroyed, including wheat and barley ready for harvest, as well as vegetables, olive and pomegranate trees.

Local farmers report that the blaze carried over a four-kilometer stretch on the Palestinian side of the eastern border land. Ibrahim Hassan Safadi, 49, from one of the farming families whose crops were destroyed by the blaze, said that the fires were smoldering until early evening, despite efforts by the fire brigades to extinguish them.

Safadi says he was present when Israeli soldiers fired small bombs into his field, which soon after caught ablaze. He explained that “The Israeli soldiers fired from their jeeps, causing a fire to break out on the land. They burned the wheat, burned the pomegranate trees … The fire spread across the valley. We called the fire brigades. They came to the area and put out the fire. But in some places the fire started again.” According to Safadi, he lost 30,000 square meters to the blaze, including 300 pomegranate trees, 150 olive trees, and wheat.

In the border areas it has long since become nearly impossible to work on the land due to almost daily shooting from the Israeli soldiers. The crops that were burned on 4 May were dried and ready to harvest, meaning that they were extremely flammable.

“It took only three minutes for the fire to destroy 65,000 square meters,” said Nahed Jaber Abu Said, whose farmland lies a few kilometers down the road from Safadi. He added that “It was nearly 9am. I was here when the Israeli jeeps came. An Israeli soldier at the fence shot an explosive into our field of wheat. It went up in flames immediately.”

Safadi said that the arson attack was the third major time his farm has suffered from an Israeli attack. In previous attacks over the last decade, he explained, Israeli soldiers bulldozed his land, razing his lemon, olive and clementine trees as well as demolishing greenhouses.

“We’ve suffered great losses. The Israeli soldiers have destroyed so much of our land, trees and equipment. They’ve cost us a lot of money,” he said, citing cumulative losses of $330,000 since 2000 when the heightened invasions began. In the last attack, Safadi said that $130,000 worth of crops, trees and irrigation piping was destroyed.

A wheat field destroyed by fire.
A wheat field destroyed by fire.

On top of the destruction, Safadi complains of not being able to replace destroyed items like the plastic hosing used to irrigate his fields. These, along with fertilizers and machinery replacement parts, are banned from entering Gaza due to the Israeli-led and internationally-backed whole-scale siege of the territory.

Abu Said reports losses of $2,000 on one patch of his land alone. “This isn’t including the land closest to the border fence,” he said. “I’m so sad now, what can I do?”

His experiences also extend beyond the 4 May attacks, and beyond the loss of land. In 2008, Israeli soldiers shot and killed 11 of his sheep and seriously injured a 15-year-old cousin, Jaber, by shooting him in the mouth.

Attacks by Israeli soldiers occur on a near-daily basis along Gaza’s borders with Israel. Nearly a decade ago, Israel unilaterally imposed a “buffer” or “no-go” zone solely on the Gaza side of their shared borders. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee, the initial 100-meter “off-limits” area has now extended to one kilometer across much of Gaza’s eastern border and two kilometers along the Strip’s northern border. FAO further reports that roughly one-third of Gaza’s agricultural land lies within the confines of the “buffer zone.”

Since the 18 January ceasefire, three Palestinian civilians, including one child, have been killed in the “buffer zone” area from shooting and shelling by Israeli forces. Another 12 Palestinians have been injured, including three children and two women, due to Israeli fire along the border.

In addition to the physical threat and the destruction of agricultural land and equipment, Gaza’s farming sector is further devastated by the destruction of what is believed to be hundreds of wells and sources of water and the contamination of farmland due to Israel’s invasion of Gaza at the beginning of the year. As reported by the Guardian newspaper in February 2009, these attacks have left nearly 60 percent of Gaza’s agricultural land useless.

The consequences of the active destruction of Gaza’s farming sector are amplified within the context of Israel’s siege and the stagnant state of rebuilding efforts since the ceasefire. With only a trickle of aid entering Gaza and poverty and malnutrition rates soaring, the ability to produce food is all the more vital to Palestinians in Gaza.

All images by Eva Bartlett.

Eva Bartlett is a Canadian human rights advocate and freelancer who arrived in Gaza in November 2008 on the third Free Gaza Movement boat. She has been volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement and documenting Israel’s ongoing attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. During Israel’s recent assault on Gaza, she and other ISM volunteers accompanied ambulances and documenting the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Armed soldiers, police, attempt to shut down Palestine Festival of Literature opening night

Ma’an News Agency

23 May 2009

Israeli police and armed border officials shut down the Palestinian National Theater in East Jerusalem on Saturday, in an effort to quash the Palestine Festival of Literature and prevent international writer and poets from addressing Palestinians.

The weeklong festival, sponsored in part by the British Council and UNESCO, was scheduled to begin at 6:30 with two panel discussions by authors from Canada, Britain, South Africa and Australia. The second annual festival will travel around Palestine and decided to begin and end events in Jerusalem in honor of Al-Quds Capital of Culture 2009.

In a last minute effort to let the show go on, organizers moved the event to the French Cultural Center also in East Jerusalem. Audience members crowded on the lawn outside the building as book readings and discussions on the theme of displacement in world literature were interrupted by power cuts and police sirens.

The spectators and litterateurs were greeted at the new event by five Israeli police vehicles stationed outside the garden wall.

According to some reports the initial decision to close down the performance at the National Theater was made at the request of the Israeli Interior Ministry. The move mirrors efforts to quash celebrations of Jerusalem culture for the 2009 Capital of Culture events.

The French consul, as well as Head of the Palestinian President’s office Rafiq Al-Husseini, attended the event. Al-Husseini, as well as the six authors who spoke in an abbreviated format, condemned the Israeli actions.

Al-Husseini also praised France for stepping up to host the event, viewing it as empowering Palestinian demands for reopening closed offices in the capital.

Three injured and dozens suffered teargas inhalation in Bil’in

Bil’in Popular Committee

22 May 2009

Residents of Bil’in marched today after the Friday prayer in a protest joined by international and Israelis activists. Protesters carried Palestinian flags and posters of the martyr, Bassem Abu Rahmah and metal shields to protect them from rubber bullets and bombs, labeled with a picture of the martyr Abu Rahma and also raised slogans condemning the Zionist occupation, chanting slogans demanding the expulsion of the occupation of the territory of their village and return the land seized from them.

The Israeli army had gathered in big numbers behind cement blocks and used razor wire to prevent the crowd from going through the gate. The army fired tear gas canisters to disturb the crowd, causing dozens to suffer gas inhalation and nine were shot with rubber coated steel bullets. The injured: Adeeb Aburahma Omar Hisham Nasser, and the mercy of the boy Ahmad Aburahma (15).

On the other hand, the demonstrators gave the soldiers balloons filled dung of animals in response to the military’s use of poison gas.

In the Bil’in weekly action today, there was a participation of 16 delegates from Quebec, Canada representing 14 civil society and political organizations.The delegation was organized by the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (CJPP) and included delegates from unions (CUPW, CUPE, FNEEQ), civil society organizations (FFQ, Artists for Peace, Alternatives) and Quebec Solidaire (political party) among others.

The delegation listened to a presentation from the Popular Committee against the Wall (Bil’in) about the history and developments of their just struggle against the Wall and later participated with 300 local, national, and international actives.Ehab Lotayef, a member of the delegation, said “we are shocked by the violence the IDF soldiers faced the demonstration with despite that it clearly did not threaten them or the wall in any way.” “Only when Israel will accept the humanity of the Palestinian people and their right to live in security and dignity will there ever be peace in this region”, he added.

While hailing the People’s Committee to resist the wall in Bil’in, the political support, material and moral by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, for the movement of peaceful resistance and to support the steadfastness of the citizens they are confident that the new government, headed by Dr. Salam Fayyad, will continue this approach and working to achieve, on this occasion, they demanded the ministries concerned with issues of territorial defense, especially the ministries of agriculture, public works and affairs of Jerusalem and all the other ministries to develop resilience and to support the cause of defending the land at the head of confirmation of the strategic priorities of the Palestinian Authority, as the face of the settlement is the highest priority.

On the other hand, called the Popular Committee for wall resistance and settlements in Bil’in the citizens to participate in the memorial service on behalf of the martyr Bassem Abu Rahma (elephant) on next Tuesday at five thirty in the evening, corresponding to 26/5/2009, in the courtyard of the school of Bil’in.

Demolition of Palestinian buildings ordered in Jordan Valley

18 May 2009

On 4 March, 2009, Israeli occupation forces issued a demolition order for 8 farm houses and the Mosque of Twaeel in the Jordan valley. Israel claims the buildings are in Area C and therefore need building permits. The electricity will be cut as well. The eviction date was set to 26 March, 2009.

Before 26 March 2009, the Municipality of Aqraba prepared documents to apply for permits for the farmers and filed the case with the Jerusalem Center for Legal Help. The farmers are still waiting for the verdict. If the Jerusalem Center for Legal Help cannot settle this issue, then the case will be filed with the Israeli High court, according to the mayor of Agraba.

The total population of Twaeel is about 60. Most of the families make their living as farmers; cultivating olive trees, various crops and raising sheep. Their houses are small, simple structures built with rocks or bricks with shelters next to them for their livestock. They are widely dispersed throughout this valley. Palestinian farmers have owned this land since before the Israeli occupation.

According to OCHA, over 400 Palestinian towns or villages (excluding East Jerusalem) have at least part of their land in Area C, which covers approximately 62% of the West Bank territory. Over 94% of applications for building permits in Area C, submitted to the Israeli authorities by Palestinians between January 2000 and September 2007, were denied. During this period 5,000 demolition orders were issued, and over 1,600 Palestinian buildings were demolished.