Tag: An Nabi Saleh - Page 2 - International Solidarity Movement

Demonstration in Nabi Saleh attacked by settlers and Army

3^rd March 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Nabi Saleh, occupied Palestine

Today on the 3^rd March 2017 the popular resistance in Nabi Saleh village held a demonstration against the nearby illegal settlement which has stolen large amounts of the village lands, the road closures affecting their village and the occupation of Palestine. The demonstration started with a group of people going to a local spring which has been stolen by the illegal settlement. Here local settlers arrived with guns and began to assault the peaceful Palestinian protesters who were supported by Israelis and other internationals. After the settlers assaulted many people there, including members of the press, the army arrived and also started attacking the demonstrators and letting off multiple sound grenades. The demonstration moved back up the hill towards the village with settlers throwing stones, the Israeli forces firing tear gas, sound grenades, rubber bullets, and live ammunition at the demonstrators – this aggression was met with stones from the demonstration. Eventually the clashes moved into the village lasting a number of hours with the Israeli forces closing off the main entrance to the village.

*Settler attacking people – photograph by ISM/Charlie Donnelly*

Initially the demonstration walked down a hill to a local spring which belongs to Nabi Saleh but was stolen by the illegal settlement, upon arriving there banners were held and people were chanting. After around 10 minutes heavily armed settlers from the nearby illegal settlements arrived and began to assault people there, including small children and elderly people present at the demonstration. During this confrontation the Israeli army arrived and instead of keeping the settlers back, began to help them assault the demonstration. In this time at least one press photographer had his camera broken by a settler and multiple people received punches and kicks. The Israeli army started to let off sound grenades in the midst to demonstrators who began to move to the hill towards the village.

*Army helping settlers – photograph by ISM/Charlie Donnelly*

Whilst on the hill some people began to throw stones at the Army below. This was met by large amounts of tear gas, rubber coated metal bullets and live ammunition. The Army allowed the settlers to chase the demonstration attacking people with stones, assisting them by firing at the crowd. This attack was held off by the people of the demonstration with stones.

The clashes continued with the Israeli army more frequently using live ammunition and firing rubber coated metal bullets at head height towards the demonstration.

The Israeli army then invaded the town, they were met with strong resistance from the local people, eventually fleeing in their vehicles under heavy amounts of stones being thrown. But not before firing multiple times with live ammunition, rubber coated metal bullets and tear gas.

*The soldiers fleeing the town – photograph by ISM/Charlie Donnelly*

During this time a checkpoint was set up at the main entrance to the town – a form of collective punishment to the villagers for their act of resistance. Afterwards the soldiers proceeded to invade the town multiple times sparking further clashes.

The residents of Nabi Saleh were holding weekly demonstrations since 2009 in protest of the zionist regimes illegal occupation of the village’s land along with the takeover of the village’s spring located near the illegal Israeli settlement of Halamish. However after a large amount of repression the weekly demonstrations stopped last year, with now occasional demonstrations.

Excessive use of force and collective punishment at demonstrations in remembrance of Palestinian political prisoners

17th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Kafr Qaddum, Nabi Saleh & Ofer, occupied Palestine

On 15^th April, weekly demonstrations against the Israeli occupation were held throughout the occupied West Bank commemorating ‘Prisoner’s Day’.

Kafr Qaddum village has been separated from their main access road to the Palestinian city of Nablus for 13 years. They hold weekly demonstrations against the closure of this road, which was initially closed in order to allow free movement for settlers from the nearby illegal Qedumim settlement. This Friday Israeli forces inundated the demonstrators and part of the village with tear gas, resulting in dozens of people receiving emergency medical treatment for excessive tear gas inhalation. In an all too common act of collective punishment, Israeli forces did not only target the demonstrators with tear gas and rubber coated metal bullets, but also sprayed civilian homes in the village with foul smelling ‘skunk water’. Early in the morning, before the start of the demonstration, Israeli forces closed the village entrance, arbitrarily (and illegally) declaring it a ‘closed military zone’ in order to prevent international and Israeli activists from participating in the demonstration.

Israeli forces ready to shoot at demonstration in Kafr Qaddum

In the village of Nabi Saleh, villagers, international solidarity activists and journalists demonstrating the Israeli occupation and theft of land, were attacked not only by the Israeli forces, but additionally by settlers from the illegal settlement of Halamish. Israeli forces inundated the protest with tear gas, causing several cases of excessive tear gas inhalation.

Israeli forces equipped with tear gas grenades and foam bullets in Nabi Saleh

Israeli forces at the Ofer military prison complex fired stun grenades, tear gas, rubber coated metal bullets as well as live fire at unarmed protestors. They arrested four protestors and, in an act of collective punishment, entered the village of Beitunia arbitrarily shooting tear gas into the streets causing civilians to suffer from excessive tear gas inhalation.

Streets filled with tear gas in the village of Beitunia

Palestinians and supporters world-wide commemorate Prisoner Day on 17th April each year, in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. There are at least 7000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, 750 of whom are held under ‘administrative detention’ without charge or trial. This includes 1400 minors under the age of 18 since October 2015. Under Israeli military law – which is effect throughout the West Bank – Palestinian children as young as 12 years old can be arrested by Israeli forces. In many of these cases the children are denied access to family, lawyers and their most basic human rights. They are often interrogated, intimidated and physically and psychologically threatened without a family member or lawyer present. As a result these children can be forced to sign confessions in Hebrew, a language they do not understand.

Most Palestinian prisoners are transferred to prisons within the Israeli territories. This act is illegal under international law that prohibits the transfer of prisoners from the occupied Palestinian territories into an area where they can only receive family visits after applying and receiving permission from the Israeli government. This is a permission, of course, that is very rarely granted.

Nabi Saleh Protest Ends With Tear Gas

8th of April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | West Bank, occupied Palestine

As on every Friday a group of Palestinians, supported by Israeli Peace Activists, Internationals and with an international media presence, came together in Nabi Saleh after midday prayers to protest the continued illegal occupation of Palestinian land by Israel.

In Nabi Saleh, Israel have taken and continue to deny Palestinian access to a well that lies between the village and the illegal settlement of Halamish. The weekly demonstration is a family-orientated affair involving many women, men and children whose farms and day-to-day lives have been severely affected by the lack of access to the water from the well. The protestors continue to demand an end to this gross abuse of the most basic of human rights.

There are two routes the protest can take but after excessive force and violence used by the Israeli Occupying Force at the previous demonstration, it was agreed by all present to take a potentially less dangerous route heading towards the top of the hill that faces the settlement and to proceed toward the well below it.

Led by the women and young girls the procession reached the top of the hill where the first sighting of the soldiers caused a brief pause. The protest moved carefully and slowly down the hill towards the road that intersects between the village and the settlement, still led by women and children, chanting, clapping and waving flags.

At this point the army fired three rounds of the deadly and extremely dangerous, long range, large, rubber-tipped bullets that separate in flight to release tear gas. This caused the protestors to pause their descent of the hill, however they did not disperse. As a result the army fired three more of the long range bullets, designed to pierce houses, directly at the protestors, although thankfully not hitting anyone. This did send them back to the top of the hill where they stayed back from the tear gas.

Leah, an Israeli activist attending the demonstration, looking down the hill to the soldiers said “I am ashamed of my country.” Having served in the army as a teenager she had seen the daily human rights abuses up close and now attended protests every week against the occupation and the conduct of the occupying forces.

Mohammed, a villager of Nabi Saleh, looking out over the gas stated “this isn’t about Palestine and Israel. Israel is just the face of the colonial and capitalist powers.” He hugged internationals, thanking them for coming and shook Leah’s hand as the protestors finally walked back to the village.

The Israeli Army continue to use the long range tear gas bullets, impossible to see when fired and potentially deadly if making contact with anyone and they continue to use them from inside the legal distance for firing.

For more information on the deadly long range weapons being deployed by the army at protestors see: http://bit.ly/1YiNt6X

And for a detailed report into previous human rights abuses at Nabi Saleh see: http://bit.ly/23oJxVJ

Double standards, one rule for all – except Palestinians

27th September 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Nabi Saleh, occupied Palestine

On the 28th of August, Mahmoud Tamimi was arrested in Nabi Saleh during the weekly non violent demonstration. Every Friday, just after the prayer, the residents demonstrate against the expansion of the illegal settlement of Halamish which has continuously confiscated Palestinian land as well as the only water source of the village: ‘Ain al-Qaws.

During the Friday march towards the expropriated lands the residents were stopped by Israeli forces using excessive brutality, shooting tear gas, rubber coated steel bullets, live ammunition and sound grenades against civilians. Additionally, demonstrators are often arrested and beaten up.

On the 28th of August, in the course of the demonstration I, as a foreigner, was arrested by Israeli forces together with the 19-year old Palestinian Mahmoud Tamimi.

Both of us have been brutally beaten by the soldiers with punches, kicks and the butts of their guns. Both of us were arrested and secluded for 6 hours, kept blindfolded and handcuffed in a small room in a military base.

Afterwards, we were taken to the police station based in the illegal settlement of Ben Yamin and, at that point, our paths were divided: he was brought to the military prison of Ofer and I was brought to “Ramle” near Tel Aviv.

Within a few days, my predicament was positively solved: I was acquitted from the charges of throwing stones and other objects, and returned to be a free citizen. Regarding Mahmoud, although the charges were exactly the same, because he’s Palestinian, the situation is completely different: in fact Mahmoud is still under arrest in Ofer military prison and is waiting to attend his first hearing, to be held on the 28th of October, that is 60 days after his arrest. In my case, the first hearing took place the day after my arrest.

Mahmoud is now under threat of a penalty of a minimum of 7 months which, under the practice of military law and consequently administrative detention used on the Palestinians of the West Bank, this sentence can be arbitrarily renewed for additional 6 month periods of imprisonment.

The absolute asymmetry of treatment endured by me and Mahmoud is a blatant demonstration of the discriminatory laws applied by Israel for over 40 years towards the Palestinians. According to the International law, the application of military laws in occupied territories is completely illegitimate.

Israeli soldiers arresting Mahmoud in Nabi Saleh — Israeli soldiers use brutal force on Mahmoud

Mahmoud will be accused by military personnel covering the role of persecutors and will be judged by some other military personnel covering also the role of judges. He doesn’t have the right to be tried in front of a civilian court, although Mahmoud is a civilian – and not a soldier. All of this because he’s a Palestinian.

Even if the evidence does not indicate his guilt, just the fact that he’s in a military court with both the prosecutor and the judge from the military, will most likely result in a guilty verdict. The procedures in military court are not about establishing the truth, the possibility of establishing a defense is extremely slim, justice simply isn’t done in a military court. It’s about punishment, punishment to weaken the Palestinian resistance to an illegal occupation, even if this resistance is non-violent.

Within this system, it must be said, settlers from illegal settlements in the West Bank are judged in front of civilian courts, not military courts – just because they have a different status: they are not Palestinians.

In my case, hard evidence would be required to bring charges against me, for Mahmoud in contrast, as a Palestinian, no evidence is required at all. All the trial is only based on the statement of 18-year old soldiers.

Of course, when an international is unjustly beaten and arrested the media reacts with utter disapproval attracting the medias’ attention and causing the civil society’s indignation. When it’s a Palestinian receiving the exact same treatment, however, the reaction is quite different. Mahmoud‘s case seems to be totally forgotten. Currently he is still rotting in a prison cell in Ofer military prison, while being entirely ignored by the media and the international community.

Mahmoud Tamimi is only 19 years old, he has 2 brothers and a sister. His uncle is Rushdie Tamimi, one of Nabi Saleh’s martyrs killed by the Israeli forces 3 years ago on the 19th of November. He died following an intense shooting during which he was inured in the thigh and the stomach. Rushdie is already the second martyr in a village which counts only 500 inhabitants. Considering the dimension of the village, they are indeed suffering from significant losses. However, we must keep in mind that in the Occupied Palestinian Territories the violence and the killings are daily and are perceived by the so called civilized world as casualties of a 60 year old conflict.

Let’s take a stand and spread Mahmoud’s story, let’s not forget him. We should show the world that the treatment a Palestinian youth receives – and thus the live of a Palestinian – is not less worth reporting about in the media and has to receive as much attention and result in an outcry as that of an Italian citizen. Let this not be about the rare case of an international being maltreated by Israeli forces, but about the every-day harassment, violence, illegal detentions and arrests of Palestinians.

Tamimi family thanks you for your support

The Tamimi family of Nabi Saleh and the international community thank all of those who provided financial solidarity after Israeli forces arrested and imprisoned four members of the family who have dedicated themselves to non-violent resistance to the occupation of their land
The four family members are free and the urgent call for assistance has been answered! Thank You.