Tag: Adeeb Abu Rahma

Demonstrators call for the end of settlement expansion and arrest campaign on Bil’in residents

20 November 2009

Residents of Bil’in gathered in a demonstration today, commemorating the 21st anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and condemning the ongoing expansion of illegal Israeli settlements.

After the Friday midday prayers, about 150 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists raised dozens of Palestinian flags and posters with the picture of the late Yasser Arafat and chanted slogans calling for the national leadership to keep fighting for the national principles. In a reaction to recent announcements from the Israeli government regarding plans to continue with the construction of 900 new housing units in the settlement of Gilo, they protested against the expansion of illegal settlements in East Jerusalem and the threat this expansion poses for the future Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The demonstrators marched to the Wall built on Bil’in’s land, where the Israeli army, based on the other side of the fence, responded to their presence by throwing tear gas bombs and shooting tear gas canisters. Dozens suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation.

In addition, residents of Bil’in were calling today for the end of the ongoing arrest campaign, which escalated the day before, when a group of undercover Israeli soldiers invaded the village and arrested a local youth, Mohammad Yassin (19), who was targeted for his participation in the weekly demonstrations. They entered the village in a civilian Isuzu pick-up, dressed like Palestinians, and went directly to the workshop where Mohammad works. Before he was arrested, he was beaten by the soldiers, as were his brother and mother. In addition to Yassin, another 27 Bil’in residents were arrested for their involvement in the demonstrations since the 23 June 2009. Among them is Adeeb Abu Rahma, who has been held in detention for more than four months under a charge of ‘incitement’ – organizing demonstrations.

Bil’in: Undercovers arrest Palestinian youth at his workplace

Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

19 November 2009

In an escalation of the recent arrest campaign conducted by the Israeli military in attempt to crush the popular struggle against the Wall in the village, an undercover army unit invaded Bil’in this morning and arrested a local youth, 19 year old Mohammad Yassin.

In the morning hours of Thursday, 19 November 2009, a civilian Isuzu pickup with undercover soldiers dressed as Palestinians, drove into the village of Bil’in, searching for residents suspected of organizing and participating in the village’s weekly demonstrations. At around 9am, the soldiers arrived at the garage where Yassin works and arrested him. The arrest involved the beating of Yassin himself, as well as of his brother and his mother, who assumed that the disguised soldiers were just random by-passers attacking their kin.

The use of the undercover army units to capture ‘wanted’ people that are suspected of nothing else than participating in and planning of grassroots demonstrations, represent an escalation of the arrest campaign the army is conducting against the residents of the village. In addition to Yassin, another 27 Bil’in residents were arrested for their involvement in the demonstrations since the 23 June 2009. Among them is Adeeb Abu Rahma, who has been held in detention for more than four months under a charge of ‘incitement’ – a euphemism for organizing demonstrations.

Recently, attorney Gaby Lasky, who represents Bil’in’s detainees, was informed by the military prosecution that the army intends to put an end to the demonstrations through use legal procedures against demonstrators. Lasky stated today that “This is a blatant example of political persecution using legal means, because the charges and the arrests are being carried out not for legal purposes but with political motivations. It is important to remember that it is the state that is in contempt of a High Court of Justice ruling, which affirmed two years ago that it is the demonstrators who have justice on their side, and instructed to move the route of the Wall in the area – something that has not been done yet.”

The secretary of the village council and member of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, Mohammed Khatib, stated that “the Army is determined to crush the popular resistance but we will continue to demand our rights even if we are all forced to do so from inside military prison cells. Even the Israeli court ruled that the Wall on our land is not legal and has to be dismantled. Despite this, not only has the Wall not moved even an inch, but the Army comes to imprison us for struggling for our land, while it itself is breaking the law – its own law.

Bil’in demonstrates in solidarity with jailed activist: ‘We are all Adeeb Abu Rahmah’

Bil’in Popular Committee

30 October 2009

Adeeb Abu Rahmah was arrested on 10 July this year, and is still held in custody for taking part in organizing the village’s demonstrations. Demonstrators wore masks of his face and called for his release.

Two protestors were injured today, while several suffered from tear gas inhalation during the weekly Friday demonstration in Bil’in.

The demonstration was called by the Popular Committee Against the Wall and began after the Friday prayers. Bil’in citizens were joined by a group of international and Israeli solidarity activists and together they raised Palestinian flags and banners condemning the occupation, racist policy of building the Wall and settlements, land confiscation, road closures and detention and killing of innocent people.

Adeeb Abu Rahmah, a leading activist and organizer from the West Bank village of Bil’in has been held in detention since his arrest during a demonstration on 10 July 2009 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqaO8lFYuM0).

Bil’in’s weekly demonstration against the Wall and settlements was devoted to calling for the release of Abu Rahmah, as well as to protesting the ongoing attempts to eliminate the village’s resistance. Protesters marched on Friday wearing masks of Adeeb, declaring “We are all Adeeb Abu Rahmah”.

Abu Rahmah, who has been detained for over three months, is not suspected of committing any violence, but was indicted with a blanket charge of “incitement to violence”, which was very liberally interpreted in this case to include the organizing of grassroots demonstrations. A judge had initially ruled that Abu Rahmah is released with restrictive conditions, but an appeal filed by the military prosecution had the decision overturned, and he was remanded until the end of legal proceedings. Since the arrest, the defense has appealed this decision four times. Trials often last up to a year and Abu Rahmah is the sole provider for a family of eleven.

Abu Rahmah’s arrest came amidst an Israeli arrest and intimidation campaign that began concurrently with preliminary hearings in a Bil’in lawsuit against two Canadian companies responsible for the construction in the settlement of Modiin Illit. In almost five years of protest, 75 Bil’in residents were arrested in connection to demonstrations against the Wall. Of them, 27 have been arrested in the recent, ongoing arrest campaign. Israeli forces have been regularly invading homes and forcefully searching for demonstration participants, targeting the leaders of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, as well as teenage boys accused of stone throwing. Sixteen currently remain in detention, nine of which are minors.

On 23 June 2009, the Canadian court heard the preliminary arguments for a suit brought by Bil’in against two companies registered in Canada (Green Park International & Green Mount International). The village is seeking justice against the construction of settlements on its lands under the 2000 Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Statute, which incorporates international humanitarian law into Canadian federal law. Some of the people arrested in the latest wave of arrests have reported being questioned in regards to this suit during their interrogation.

Palestine’s peaceful struggle

Mohammed Khatib | The Nation

11 September 2009

A few weeks ago, in the dead of night, dozens of Israeli soldiers with painted faces burst violently into my home. If only they had knocked, I would have opened the door. They arrested me. My wife, Lamia, was left alone with our four children. My youngest, 3-year-old Khaled, woke up to the image of Israeli soldiers with painted faces who were taking his father away. He has not stopped crying since. A few nights ago he woke up in terror, sobbing: “Daddy, why did you let the soldiers take me?” That’s the way our children sleep–in a constant state of fear.

Many Americans know that the Obama administration has been pushing the Israeli government to accept a freeze on settlement construction. What is not commonly known is that even as Israel negotiates with the United States, it has been taking steps, including my arrest, to crush the growing Palestinian nonviolent movement opposing Israel’s construction of settlements and the wall on Palestinian land in the West Bank.

For over five years the residents of Bil’in and other villages have been protesting against Israel’s separation wall, which cuts off our village’s land for the sake of Israeli settlement expansion. We have even taken the struggle to the courts. The International Court of Justice at The Hague ruled in July 2004 that the wall, where it has been built inside the West Bank, is illegal under international law, as are all Israeli settlements. In September 2007, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the wall in Bil’in, which separates us from 50 percent of our land, is illegal according to Israeli law. The wall has yet to have moved.

The Israeli army is using more-lethal weapons and greater violence against protesters, and arresting many people, including many protest organizers. In Bil’in alone, twenty-nine residents have been arrested in the past three months. Twelve of them are children. Almost all were arrested during military raids in the middle of the night. Their detention has been extended repeatedly.

But the charges against them are baseless. As one example, I have been charged with stone throwing. I was released on bail with draconian terms only after my lawyers showed the court passport stamps proving that I was abroad at the time of the alleged offense. My friend, Adeeb Abu-Rahme, 37 years old and the father of nine, has been imprisoned for more than six weeks, though the charges against him are just as absurd.

Every Friday in Bil’in, we march to the wall in peaceful protest, along with our Israeli and international partners. Once a year we hold an international conference about the popular nonviolent struggle. Together we learn and gain inspiration. We struggle together to bring down the many walls between people that the occupation is creating. We’ve repeatedly addressed the Israeli soldiers here, telling them we are not against them as people, but that we oppose their actions as an occupying military force.

Still, nineteen demonstrators have been killed by the Israeli army in these nonviolent demonstrations against the wall. Many have been injured, including Israeli and international activists protesting with us. Here in Bil’in we recently lost our friend Bassem Abu Rahme, who was fatally shot by soldiers in April while he was imploring them to stop shooting at demonstrators.

Several months ago we were warned by Israel’s occupation forces that they intended to crush the popular struggle.

Why has the Israeli government decided now to increase the suppression of demonstrations and to break the spirit of protest leaders? Maybe because they realize that the nonviolent struggle is spreading, that more and more villages have created popular committees that are organizing demonstrations. Perhaps the crackdown is a result of their concern and the growing international movement for the boycott of companies and businessmen such as Lev Leviev who are involved in Israel’s land grab. Or maybe they fear that the new American government could learn through our demonstrations that Israel’s wall is a means to annex land for the growing settlements, and that nonviolent Palestinian protests are being brutally suppressed.

Israel’s actions suggest that it is intimidated by people struggling for their rights in a nonviolent manner. The Israeli government seems to believe that Palestinians who struggle while partnering with Israeli activists endanger Israel’s occupation and that tearing down human walls is a dangerous act. Perhaps what the state of Israel fears most of all is the hope that people can live together based on justice and equality for all.

Bil’in leading demonstrator imprisoned by Israeli forces

For Immediate Release:

Tuesday July 21, Ofer military base, Occupied West Bank: In a new escalation in the military’s campaign targeting the popular protests in Bil’in against the Annexation barrier, a military appeals judge ruled that non-violent Bil’in activist Adeeb Abu Rahme be held until the end of proceedings against him. This could mean months or a year in military prison for Adeeb who was arrested from the demonstration against the annexation barrier that took place in Bil’in village on 10 of July. Adeeb, a leading non-violent activist in Bil’in’s ongoing struggle against the Wall and settlements on their land, is being charged with incitement to violence and rioting.He is the sole provider for his family of 9 children, wife and mother.

Bil’in residents have been holding weekly demonstrations for the last 5 years. In a celebrated decision, the Israeli Supreme court ruled on the 4th of September 2007 that the current route of the wall in Bil’in was illegal and needs to be dismantled; the ruling however has not been implemented. Israeli forces have been conducting night arrest raids on the village since 29 June 2009.

Since the renewed campaign against Bil’in demonstrators, 17 have been arrested. Of the 17 arrested, 13, mostly children are still in detention.

Kamel Alkhatib (16), Khalil Yassen (16), Mohammed Abu Rahmah (23), Motasem Alkhatib (17), Hamwda Yassen (17), Mohsen Alkhatib (17), Suliman Alwalydi (17), Oda Abu Rahmah (20), Mahmud Yassen, Majdi Abu Rahmah, Adeeb Abu Rahmah , Ronnie Barken (Israeli activist), Charlie (American activist), Basel Bornat (20), Mohammad Bornat (19), Emad Bornat and Tamer Alkhatib.

Abdullah Abu Rahme coordinator of the popular committee stated, “Adib has been injured dozens of times over the course the last five years and as all the video footage and thousand and witness can attest he has never responded with violence. The recent arrests of activists against the wall , like all previous attempts to criminalize and intimidate non-violent Palestinian resistance, is doomed to failure. The fact is the Apartheid Wall and the settlements built on Palestinian land are illegal under international law, in the case of our village even the biased Israeli court declared the route illegal. Yet instead of prosecuting the constructors of the Apartheid Wall and settlements Israel is prosecuting us for struggling nonviolently for our freedom.”

A military judge had ruled that Adib Abu Rahme be released with the condition of staying 100 meters from the Wall on Thursday, 16 July. But the military prosecution appealed then at 5:00 am on Sunday, 19 July, Israeli soldiers surrounded the home of journalist and film maker Imad Burnat, 37, pulling him from his home in front of his wife and four children, and pushing him into one of their vehicles. Imad was questioned by the Israeli secret service about his filming of the demonstrations in Bil’in and about Adib who frequently appears in his footage.The footage can be seen on http://www.bilin-village.org/english/videos/3090-Bilin-againts-the-Wall-a-film-by-Emad-Bornat. Clips from this “incriminating” footage was shown to the appeals Military appealls judge later that day. and the decision of the previous military judge was reversed.

In response, the Bil’in popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements is organizing a demonstration on Wednesday, 22 July 2009.