27 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
A peaceful protest against the construction of the apartheid wall in the village of Al Walajah was brought to a violent end by the Israeli army this morning with five arrests.
At 09:00 AM a group of Palestinians, Israelis and international activists walked through the village’s threatened olive groves to where the Israeli diggers were destroying a road, which was funded by the EU to facilitate the villagers’ access to their land.
The protesters attempted to block the digger from reaching the olive groves but were met by fifteen Israeli soldiers, who proceeded to arrest an Israeli activist. The protest continued peacefully for fifteen minutes before the assault and arrest of a Palestinian villager and another Israeli protester. An international activist, David White, who witnessed the arrest said “the Israeli soldiers used disproportionate force to arrest the man, he was screaming – they seemed to be causing him a lot of pain, it was horrible to see.”
The soldiers used sound bombs to disperse the protesters and forced them from the area. As the protesters made their way back through the village the soldiers surounded and arrested Sheerin Alaraj, a member of the village’s Popular Committee. International protesters attempting to leave the village were then harrased at a flying checkpoint.
Al Walajah is already surrounded by the apartheid wall on three sides; if planned construction on a fourth side continues the village will retain only 1800 dunams of their original 13000. A map of the area reveals the extent of the separation barrier surrounding the village. A legal challenge has been mounted by the local Popular Committee but the Israeli Supreme Court has so far refused to rule. An appeal will be heard in 14 days but meanwhile construction work continues.
The Israeli Security Commission claims the wall is necessary for security purposes, but the Popular Committee has stated its belief that “the wall is a structural displacement tool, which aims to deprive the local population of their freedom of movement and natural growth area.”
At 11 AM on al-Nakba remembrance day, 500 residents from the West Bank village of al-Wallajeh and international supporters marched towards the Israeli Apartheid Wall. The Wall was built to separate the villagers from their original land from which they were expelled in 1948. The demonstration was violently attacked by the Israeli military with rubber coated steal bullets, tear gas and protesters were beaten
with batons and rifles. One youth was hospitalized after being injured by a rubber coated steal bullet .
Eight Palestinians including twins aged 11 and 6 internationals (American, Dutch, German and Canadian nationals) were arrested. The army proceeded to raid the village and invade each house, searching for people who had participated in the demonstrations. The raids as well as confrontations between the army and the village youth are ongoing.
The Arrested Palestinans are:
Mazen Qumsiyah
Basel Al Araj
Ahmed Al Araj
Mohammad Al Araj
Allah And Mohammed Abu Tin 11 year old twins
Tarek Abu Tin
Adel Abu Tin
Al-Walaja is an agrarian village of about 2,000 people, located south of Jerusalem and West of Bethlehem. Following the 1967 Occupation of the West Bank and the redrawing of the Jerusalem municipal boundaries, roughly half the village was annexed by Israel and included in the Jerusalem municipal area. The village’s residents, however did not receive Israeli residency or citizenship, and are considered illegal in their own homes.
Once completed, the path of the Wall is designed to encircle the village’s built-up area entirely, separating the residents from Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and almost all their lands – roughly 5,000 dunams. Previously, Israeli authorities have already confiscated approximately half of the village’s lands for the building of the Har Gilo and Gilo settlements, and closed off areas to the south and west of it. The town’s inhabitants have also experienced the cutting down of fruit orchards and house demolition due to the absence of building permits in Area C.
According to a military confiscation order handed to the villagers, the path of the Wall will stretch over 4890 meters between Beit Jala and al-Walaja, affecting 35 families, whose homes may be slated for demolition.
Please join the people of Al-Walaja for their weekly demonstration this Friday morning: December 24, 2010 at 9 a.m.
A resident of al-Walaja is attacked with pepper spray for confronting Israeli bulldozers.
Despite an ongoing trial in the Israeli high court over the legality of the placement of the Separation wall in al-Walaja, a small village just outside of Jerusalem, Israel doubled construction efforts this afternoon. Around 2pm bulldozers accompanied by armed guards started clearing trees, rocks, and shrubs. Three days ago, Israeli authorities marked the wall route with orange plastic straps which including a route which will swallow a natural spring and a Palestinian grave yard. Last August, a group of villagers, members of the Israeli nature preservation society and even settlers brought a case before the Israeli high court demanding that the route of the wall be changed. The court said that it would take time to deliberate the case and deliver a final verdict in January. The court, however, did not issue a stop work order on construction of the wall. Israeli authorities are now taking advantage of this loophole by doubling work on the construction of the wall in order to create facts on the ground.
This afternoon, villagers and international supporters walked towards the active bulldozers and tried to stop their work non-violently. They were prevented from reaching the bulldozers by armed Israeli soldiers, border police, and riot police. Despite the violent show of force, villagers argued that Israel had no right to destroy their land and cited the ongoing High Court legal case. At one point, an IDF commander recognized Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh from an earlier demonstration which took place in the summer. Qumsiyeh was standing in a group of people when he was suddenly arrested without the slightest warning or provocation. The army then started to violently push the crowd into the village, causing several villagers to fall on the rocky, uneven ground and sustain minor injuries. As the outnumbered villagers were being pushed further and further away from the construction zone, a commander suddenly ran into the crowd and randomly detained several Palestinians who – at that point – had their backs turned to the soldiers and were facing towards the village.
In total, eight Palestinians – one woman and seven men including teenagers and an elderly men, were detained. Three were handcuffed; five were bound with plastic zip ties which resulted in minor injuries due to the tightness of the plastic. Three of those detained continued to take abuse from the soldiers even after their arrest.
Background
Al-Walaja is an agrarian village of about 2,000 people, located south of Jerusalem and West of Bethlehem. Following the 1967 Occupation of the West Bank and the redrawing of the Jerusalem municipal boundaries, roughly half the village was annexed by Israel and included in the Jerusalem municipal area. The village’s residents, however did not receive Israeli residency or citizenship, and are considered illegal in their own homes.
Once completed, the path of the Wall is designed to encircle the village’s built-up area entirely, separating the residents from both Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and almost all their lands – roughly 5,000 dunams. Previously, Israeli authorities have already confiscated approximately half of the village’s lands for the building of the Har Gilo and Gilo settlements, and closed off areas to the south and west of it. The town’s inhabitants have also experienced the cutting down of fruit orchards and house demolition due to the absence of building permits in Area C.
According to a military confiscation order handed to the villagers, the path of the Wall will stretch over 4890 meters between Beit Jala and al-Wallaja, affecting 35 families, whose homes may be slated for demolition.
Beit Jala is a predominantly Christian town located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem. Once completed, the Wall will Isolate 3,200 Dunams of the town’s lands, including almost 3,000 Dunams of olive groves and the only recreational forest in the area, the Cremisan monastery and the Cremisan Cellars winery.
14 November 2010 | International Solidarity Movement
Al Nabi Saleh demonstrators assaulted with high velocity tear gas canisters and rubber bullets
High-velocity tear gas canister used in an Nabi SalehThe weekly demonstration at Al Nabih Saleh took place again this Friday, one day after the six year anniversary of Yasser Arafat’s death.
One young boy was shot in the hand with a rubber bullet, and tear gas canisters were shot throughout the whole demonstration to prevent demonstrators from reaching the village spring near the illegal settlement Halamish. Some canisters were shot directly at demonstrators. High velocity tear gas canisters were used despite their illegality for the danger they pose: high velocity tear gas canisters have killed and seriously injured many demonstrators in the past.
The demonstration was supposed to be preceded by a large celebration commemorating the legacy of Yasser Arafat. However, the military closed off all entrances to the village two hours before the demonstration, making it very hard for outside guests to make it to the event. Some people, including ISM volunteers, had to take a 30 minute detour through the olive groves, around the soldiers in order to enter the village. Other visitors were tear gassed when they attempted to enter the village through this alternative route.
Even with all these complications the celebration had about 200 people in attendance, and it was attended by all including internationals and Israelis. Children also marched, and chanted pro-Arafat chants. Right after the celebration, the demonstration started, at around 1 pm and continued until after sundown.
Bil’in marks the 6th anniversary of Arafat’s death Photos by Hamde Abu Rahma
Bil'in on 6th anniversary of Arafat's deathToday’s demonstration in Bil’in was joined by a large number of Palestinians, Israelis and internationals. Members of the Fatah party were also present. The demonstration followed a week of constant night-raids by Israeli soldiers searching for the anti-wall village activist, Ashraf Khatib.
The protesters walked together towards the Apartheid Wall, carrying posters of Yasser Arafat, in commemoration of the Fatah leader who passed away six years ago. Speeches were held by members of the Fatah movement, while Israeli soldiers in the background prepared to attack the peaceful demonstrators.
The speakers were Sultan Abu Al Enanan from the Fatah movement, Kays Abu Leyla from the Executive Committee of PLO and the political office of the Democratic Front and Basel Monsur from the Popular Committee in Bil’in. They all promised to stay strong as Arafat would have wanted them to be, and to fight the occupation together.
Bil'in flooded with teargasEven before the majority of the protesters moved forward, soldiers began firing tear gas from their position on the road leading to the village. Immediately the area was covered with tear gas, with canisters flying into the crowd from different directions. In response a few youngsters threw stones to the Israeli soldiers, in symbolic resistance to their violence. The soldiers moved into the field and continued to fire rounds of gas, chasing people back into the village. At one point live ammunition was fired, causing fear and the retreat of any protesters remaining in the area.
Tear gas canisters set fires on the ground in several places, which were put out by some protesters before they spread. The demonstration lasted for about two hours.
The Popular Committee and the people of Bil’in thanks their international and Israeli supporters for standing side by side with them in their struggle against Israel’s occupation.
New anti-wall demonstration in Al Walaja
Demonstrators march to the wall in Al-WalajaFor Friday, 11 November 2010, the local committee in Al-Walaja (a little village half an hour from Bethlehem) organized a peaceful protest to draw attention to the illegal building of a new Israeli settlement. The village is surrounded by settlements, so the Israeli government has decided to build a wall around the village with only one entrance.
The villagers won´t accept this without resistance. Last week this issue was in the supreme court but nothing was decided. The government has continued to build, so on Friday the inhabitants of Al Wlaja held a demonstration.
Friday’s demonstration passed along the wall and the people demanded the freedom to live without the wall or occupation. On the place where the wall would stand in the future, a villager held a speech about the circumstances of living in Qualqilya. Soon the Israeli Army came with 4 jeeps and soldiers walked with the people but there were no clashes. The people only stood in front of the soldiers and shouted their contentions to them. The demonstration ended after one hour.
The new settlement affects Al-Walaja in several ways: Not only does it encroach directly on existing Palestinian homes, but it towers over the village, and when the wall is completed it will isolate the village from agricultural areas and other parts of the community. A final tragic outcome of the wall and the new settlement is that if they’re completed Al-Walaja will be reduced in size from the 20,000 durhams of 1967 to a mere 2,000 durhams. Developers building the new settlement have not obtained permission to build, whereas the Palestinians have been denied for more than a year permission to complete homes nearby.
On Monday the 8th of November, after a two hour charade in the Supreme Court of Israel, the decision over the path of the wall in Al-Walaja (near Bethlehem), was adjourned for another 45 days. Their indecisiveness was mainly with respect to the fact that the path on which the wall is already being built is entirely private property belonging to Palestinian villagers. The court needs to wait for the Palestinian’s land to be officially confiscated before they can make a decision, but for now has ruled that bulldozers can continue excavating along their preferred path for the wall while construction is temporarily frozen.
This impermanent decision was made after judges referred to the ‘professional’ agricultural opinion of a representative from the Israeli Army any effects on the land of continuing excavation for the wall. They asked him if he thought the wall could be easily moved somewhere else and the land rehabilitated if the final decision is to build the wall somewhere else. He said, of course, that there would be no problem. There was present an expert from an environmental organization who was far more knowledgeable on the matter, but judges decided not to question her as she had already stated the best option for the agriculture is to only put a fence there.
The villagers left the court room obviously shocked that the bulldozers will continue devastating their land. One woman from Al-Walaja was arrested just for addressing a member of the army, saying she hoped he would sleep well since he obviously doesn’t have any idea about what it’s like to live in ghetto. She was later released with no charges after three hours.
We witnessed the supreme court purportedly taking evidence from both sides regarding the building of the wall around the illegal settlements Har Gilo and Gilo adjacent to Al-Walaja. The only issue discussed was the proximity of the wall in relation to the Palestinian village. The Israeli barrister’s argument presented the settlers as having carefully researched the position, height and necessity for the wall, as well as having carefully examined a number of alternatives both by themselves and by skilled outsiders.A portion of the wall that has already been built in Al-Walaja, seen from the settlers' perspective
The land is being used illegally by Israeli settlers, and the Israeli barrister justified this illegal appropriation by quoting a law that says that in an emergency land can be taken immediately and the legality discussed later. The issue of land confiscation — or the theft of Palestinian land — goes to the heart of the issue for the Palestinians, but the focus of this hearing was only on the proximity of the wall.
As internationals observing this hearing we saw the court proceedings as a screen veiling Israel’s maltreatment of the Palestinians through the continual erosion of their land and rights. Palestinians deserve the rights to security, dignity and respect, and acknowledgment of not only their property but their existence as a people who belong to the land of Palestine. The wall is not only an affront to human dignity, but a symbol of Zionist apartheid isolating Palestinians into Bantustans. Such a trial focusing only on the proximity of the wall deflects attention away from the real issue of land theft.
The protesters attempted to block the digger from reaching the olive groves but were met by fifteen Israeli soldiers, who proceeded to arrest an Israeli activist. The protest continued peacefully for fifteen minutes before the assault and arrest of a Palestinian villager and another Israeli protester. An international activist, David White, who witnessed the arrest said “the Israeli soldiers used disproportionate force to arrest the man, he was screaming – they seemed to be causing him a lot of pain, it was horrible to see.”
