20th August 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | al-Walja, Occupied Palestine
At 10am on the 18th of August in al-Walja, north of Bethlehem, the Israeli army demolished the residence of a Palestinian man. The man was alone on his land when the solders arrived with a bulldozer. The soldiers stated that they had a court decision to demolish the area but refused to show it to the man.
Approximately 15 Palestinians from Aida refugee camp and a group of ISM volunteers set out on the morning of the 19th of August to clean up the area. Before the demolition, the area consisted of a patio, a small home where the man slept, a kitchen and a toilet. Most of the structures were completely destroyed and the owners belongings were scattered around the broken bricks and stones.
Palestinians and ISM’ers cleaned up the area and gathered what was left of the man’s belongings. After a few hours of work, most of the debris from the demolition had been cleaned. It was possible to reuse broken bricks to create a new stone patio. The Palestinians also built a tent to create some shelter from the hot sun.
11th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement | Al Walaja, Occupied Palestine
By Team Khalil
Red Crescent medics treat people attacked with pepper spray
On Friday 10th May, Palestinians from the village of Al Walaja protested against a new road block, placed by the Israeli army in one of the two roads giving them access to Bethlehem. The iron barrier that was placed earlier this week, is part of a plan to annex land that belongs to Al Walaja and expand the illegal Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo.
After the Friday prayer at the mosque, Palestinians marched to the barrier with the intent to cross it and reach on foot their land that is now being cut off by the road. They were prevented by the Israeli army, who violently pushed protesters away. Soon after Palestinians had reached the barrier the Israeli army started throwing sound bombs and tear gas amid the crowd which included children.
Soldiers attempting to arrest young man trying to access his land
Israeli soldiers also used pepper spray on protesters, two of whom had to be removed by medics and transferred to the yard of a neighboring house to receive medical care. The Israeli army followed them to the entrance of the house and threw a sound bomb in their direction. The army also tried to arrest a minor who managed to get away by the intervention of many of the protesters who ran to his aid.
Al Walaja is located between the Green line and the Israeli annexation wall, which effectively surrounds its land. Palestinians of Al Walaja were already displaced during the Nakba in 1948 and the annexation of Jerusalem and many of them are still living in refugee camps in the Bethlehem region. Of those that returned to rebuilt Al Walaja where it stands today, many have faced house demolitions.
8 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Sherinne Alaraj of the local Popular Committee stands at the site of the tunnel
Some Palestinians and Internationals gathered in the village of Al Walajeh on International Women’s Day to show solidarity to Omar and his family, especially his wife ,whose health has suffered from Israeli occupation in the small village.
Sherinne Alaraj of the local Popular Committee explained to internationals the circumstances of the family. Over a dozen individuals toured with her, learning of the family’s forced separation from their village.
The Apartheid Wall under construction in the village will leave the home of Omar and his family on the “wrong” side and separate it from the rest of the village. The Israeli military has thus constructed a “private” tunnel for the family to use in order to access their home from the village. This tunnel is being dug up at the moment, and due to the heavy rains of last week, the family home was severely flooded.
The house sits behind the dirt dug to extend the segregation barrier
This is the price the family has to pay for having refused to leave their house. When the wall is finished, they will be surrounded by 4 electric fences.
The constant harassment from the occupation forces and the construction of the wall seriously affected the health of a woman residing in the house. She had a nervous breakdown, and the stress made her lose her sight for 3 months. When asked what her biggest fear was, she responded, “The kind of men my children will grow up to be in these circumstances.”
Occupation forces and police were present, telling us we were not allowed to assemble at the home. As Al Walajeh is officially part of Jerusalem, military law does not apply here. The situation of the village is quite special, as the land was annexed to Jerusalem, but not the people, who are therefore considered as “present absentees”, staying illegally in their own houses.
Two weeks ago, 14 demolition orders were handed out, and the village counts at least 100 in total.
Ramon Garcia is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
by Alistair George 13 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Three Palestinians were arrested and others were detained, beaten and pepper sprayed by the Israeli military in Al-Walajeh yesterday, as villagers attempted to prevent the detonation of explosives used to widen the route for the separation wall on the village’s land.
Previously, large explosions on 3 November2011 in the village had sent large rocks several metres into the air, damaging nearby houses and trees and endangering life. The explosions have damaged the foundations of nearby properties. Yesterday, protesters attempted to peacefully prevent a similar explosion from taking place.
Explosions, violence, and arrests in Al Walajeh – Click here for more images
At around 8am yesterday morning, villagers from Al-Walajeh, near Jerusalem, were working on an UN project to enlarge the village’s graveyard at the Western side end of the village. They discovered that the Israeli military and contractors were laying charges to explode rock and widen the path for the construction of the separation barrier on the village’s land. The barrier will completely encircle Al-Walajeh if completed. Access will be gained via a tunnel and checkpoint, manned by the Israeli military and open for a limited time each day.
A man from Al-Walajeh, who gave his name as ‘Abu Sultan’, explained that he “was the first to arrive at the scene– 10 days ago the officer of the DCO [District Coordination Offices] told us that they were not allowed to make any more explosions, and that if they tried we should stay on the land and prevent it – so the DCO should stand with us.”
Abu Sultan tried to take the dynamite from the ground but was pepper sprayed and detained for over 3 hours before being released. Another villager, Mustafa Odeh, was beaten and arrested by soldiers.
Another man, who did not want to give his name, was also pepper sprayed when he attempted to peacefully prevent the soldiers laying the charges.
“The soldiers told us to leave and they pushed us as if we were sheep. Without warning, they grabbed pepper spray and sprayed my eyes and mouth. I was taken to hospital where they washed my eyes and gave me oxygen. The soldiers prevented the ambulance reaching me, two men had to carry me…It still burns [five hours later] on my face and around my mouth, and it is difficult to breath. I am very upset and angry. I’m an old man and the soldiers are young boys, it is very disrespectful behaviour.”
After the men discovered the military laying charges, villagers gathered to demand that they cease their agenda. By 11:00 AM a crowd of around 30 Palestinians and several international observers and journalists had gathered at the site of the charges. At 11:20 AM approximately 20 Israeli soldiers and contractor security guards began to roughly push and barge the crowd up the hill, away from the site.
Protesters voiced their disapproval but offered no physical resistance; however, the Israeli military became increasingly violent. After attempting to grab and arrest some Palestinian protesters, several people tumbled down a steep verge; one Palestinian, his face streaked orange with pepper spray, was arrested, while another fled the scene. The military deployed pepper spray and began to strike the peaceful demonstrators.
Sheerin Alaraj, a popular resistance activist from Al-Walajeh was pepper sprayed and blood ran from a cut on her face. A 38 year old woman, ‘Nadia’, was pepper sprayed in the face and was also taken to the hospital after losing consciousness.
The Palestinian academic Mazin Qumsiyeh was also on scene filming the protest. He was arrested and dragged to a nearby military vehicle by the Israeli border police. A witness, who did not want to be named, stated that “Mazin was filming with his video camera and the soldiers wanted us to retreat. They could have asked us to retreat but they just singled him out. It was intentional. I was next to him, doing the same thing, and they didn’t want to arrest me.”
An Al-Walajeh resident, who gave her name as “Fadwa,” said that the Israeli soldiers “have to be more human and understand our feelings, they can’t just cause explosions. They said that the explosion today would be small, but you can’t trust them.”
After soldiers had cleared the area, they fired two tear gas canisters across the valley where only some women and small children were visible. At around 12:30 PM they detonated a single charge, sending a cloud of rock and debris high into the air. Bulldozers then began work to clear the shattered rock for the path of the wall.
Residents of Al-Walajeh said that although the explosion today was relatively small, it was still carried out within a few metres of the village’s graveyard and several olive trees. Previous explosions have damaged foundations of nearby houses.
A resident, who lives near to the proposed route of the wall, said that the explosion on 3 November 2011 endangered life in the village as the blast sent large rocks a distance of several hundred metres. Some rocks were around30 cm long, weighing several kilograms;
“Stones fell right beside my uncle’s house. When they make explosions it’s like an earthquake, the house shakes.”
Four explosions had taken part in this area of Al-Walajeh in recent weeks, and there have been explosions to clear debris for the wall in other parts of the village.
A woman from Al-Walaja, who did not wish to be named, said that the explosion on 3 November threw large rocks several metres into the sky.
“Stones fell onto my house; the children were in the house and were very scared. Plants and olive trees were damaged on my land.”
The DCO (the Israeli body responsible for coordinating administrative activities in the occupied territories, including construction) was unwilling to provide a reaction to yesterday’s incident.
Following the Six Day War in 1967, much of Al-Walaja’s land was given to the nearby Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo, which are considered illegal under international law. A 2011 report by the UNRWA (United Nations Relief Works Agency) revealed that private investors announced plans in 2004 to build an additional settlement called Givat Yael, consisting of 14,000 housing units. This settlement would expropriate around 60% of the territory of the West Bank part of Al Walajeh.
Israel claims that the separation wall is necessary to prevent attacks on its territory. However, in its detailed analysis of the Israeli legal justification of the wall, the International Court of Justice found that the conditions necessary to justify the movement restrictions imposed by the Barrier were not met. Work began on the wall in Al-Walajeh in April 2010 and has progressed at a furious pace, with significant sections of concrete, several metres high, now in place. Residents estimate that, at the current rate of construction, the wall will be completed in 2012. Rather than following the Green Line demarcating the West Bank, the proposed route of the wall in Al-Walajeh cuts deep into the village’s land. According to the UNOCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), between 4-5000 dunums (1 dunum =1000 square metres) of Al-Walajeh’s land lies outside the route of the wall.
If the wall is completed, and the village is entirely encircled in concrete walls and metal fences, the restricted access to the village will drastically curtail normal life in Al-Walajeh as over 2000 inhabitants will be prevented from travelling freely to work or to access essential health and education services.
Alistair George is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
7 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On Tuesday September 6th local Palestinians from the village of Al Walajeh gathered with international activists to protest the building of the illegal separation barrier as well as the destruction of ancient olive trees. The demonstrators succeeded in halting the razing of Palestinian land for approximately one hour before soldiers violently broke up the protest arresting one Palestinian and one Israeli activist.
On September 5th bulldozers protected by dozens of soldiers arrived at 4 AM and uprooted 50 olive trees that date back at least 100 years. The bulldozers also destroyed 18 almond trees, 27 pine trees, and 8 fruit trees. The destruction took place in an area of over 1 square mile and was declared a closed military zone, prohibiting media coverage of the devastating operation.
Mohammed Al-Atrash (Abu Wajih), the elderly farmer who owned the trees, will receive no compensation for his loss.
In the aftermath residents of Al Walajeh called for a presence of media and activists to highlight this illegal destruction carried out by the Israeli government. At approximately 10am on Tuesday several residents from the village, joined by ISM and other activists, walked down to the site of the olive grove, which is now a wasteland. Upon arriving they stood in front of the construction machines and forced them to halt their work.
Soldiers declared the area a closed military zone and disbanded the protest by force within an hour. Yousif Shakawi, a local resident in his 50’s was arrested along with one Israeli activist. The remaining protesters were held at distance so that the work could resume.
The trees were destroyed in preparation for the building of the illegal Israeli apartheid wall which is planned to run several hundred metres inside the 1967 green line, effectively seizing hundreds of dunnums of land from around Al Walajeh. If the Israeli government succeeds in completing the wall along the planned route the village will be surrounded on three sides with the army controlling entrance and exit to the village.
Sheerin Alaraj, who has lived in Al Walajeh all her life, explained to us that construction of the wall was continuing in spite of an on going appeal process in the Israeli high court with a ruling expected September 27th . However Sheerin has little confidence in the process as she explained to us “the court is just an extension of the military arm of Israel.”
In 2004 the International Court of Justice declared that the apartheid wall is illegal and Israel should tear it down immediately and compensate the victims. In spite of this ruling Israel has continued construction of the wall which annexes 8.5% of the entire West Bank territory. Since 2000 Israel has destroyed approximately 330,000 olive trees in the West Bank and Gaza. There is currently a campaign to boycott Caterpillar Inc. for its role in supplying the Israeli government with equipment used to enforce the occupation.
As the time for harvesting olives nears and Israeli military and settlers continue to destroy the main agricultural pillar of Palestinian culture and livelihood, International Solidarity Movement will be actively working throughout the harvesting season to safeguard Palestinians and assist in harvesting despite this and other events that have threatened security and access to Palestinian farmland. For more information on ISMs Olive Harvest Campaign, visit our website.
