Tag: An Nabi Saleh - Page 20 - International Solidarity Movement

Nabi Saleh protest organizer, Bassem Tamimi, to remain under arrest

31 March 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Tamimi’s arrest was extended by an Israeli military judge after the prosecution filed a grievous indictment. The hearing took place in front of a courtroom packed with Tamimi’s family, supporters, European diplomats and Israeli intellectuals.

Bassem Tamimi, 44, a protest organizer from Nabi Saleh and the coordinator of the village’s popular committee, was indicted at the Ofer Military Court today. Tamimi is charged with incitement, organizing unpermitted marches, solicitation to throw stones, disobeying the duty to report to questioning, and a scandalous obstruction of justice charge, for allegedly giving youth advice on how to act under interrogation by the police in the event that they are arrested.

Seven days after his arrest, today was the first time Tamimi was brought in front of a judge. In attendance at the hearing were diplomats from Spain, France and the EU, Tamimi’s wife, many of his supporters and notable Israeli intellectuals, among them acclaimed Israeli novelist, Yoram Kanyuk.

Tamimi’s arrest was extended by eleven days to allow his lawyer, Adv. Labib Habib to study the case file and argue against the extension of the arrest until the end of legal procedures. His next hearing will take place on April 10th, 2011.

Tamimi is one of the prominent figures of the Palestinian popular struggle in the West Bank and considered by many as the engine behind Nabi Saleh’s grassroots mobilization against the occupation and for the protection of the village’s lands from settler take over.

The main evidence in Tamimi’s case is the testimony of 14 year-old Islam Dar Ayyoub, also from Nabi Saleh, who was arrested from his bed at gunpoint on the night of January 23rd. In his interrogation the morning after his arrest, Islam alleged that Bassem and Naji Tamimi organized groups of youth into “brigades”, each with its own responsibility during the demonstrations: some are allegedly in charge of stone-throwing, some of blocking roads, etc.

During a trial-within-a-trial procedure in Islam’s trial, motioning for his testimony to be ruled inadmissible, it was proven that his interrogation was fundamentally flawed and violated the rights set forth in the Israeli Youth Law in the following:

1. Despite being a minor, he was questioned in the morning following his arrest, without being allowed any sleep.
2. He was denied legal consul even while his lawyer was present at the police station.
3. He was denied his right to have a parent present during his questioning.
4. He was not informed of his right to remain silent, and even told that he is “expected to tell the truth” by his interrogators.
5. It was acknowledged by the interrogators that only one of the four interrogators was qualified as a youth interrogator.

While the trial-within-a-trial procedure has not yet reached conclusion, the evidence already revealed has brought the military court to revise its remand decision and order Islam’s release to house arrest. The military prosecution appealed this decision, and a ruling by the Military Court of Appeals is expected any day now.

Over the past two months, the army has arrested 19 of Nabi Saleh’s residents on protest related suspicions. Half of those arrested are minors, the youngest of whom are merely eleven.

Ever since the beginning of the village’s struggle against settler takeover of their lands in December of 2009, the army has conducted 64 arrests related to protest in the village. As the entire village numbers just over 500 residents, the number constitutes a gross 10% of its population.

Tamimi’s arrest last night corresponds to the systematic arrest of protest leaders all around the West Bank, as in the case of the villages of Bil’in and Ni’ilin.

Only recently the Military Court of Appeals has aggravated the sentence of Abdallah Abu Rahmah from the village of Bilin, sending him to 16 months imprisonment on charges of incitement and organizing illegal demonstrations. Abu Rahmah was released last week.

The arrest and trial of Abu Rahmah has been widely condemned by the international community, most notably by Britain and EU foreign minister, Catherin Ashton. Harsh criticism of the arrest has also been offered by leading human rights organizations in Israel and around the world, among them B’tselem, ACRI, as well as Human Rights Watch, which declared Abu Rahmah’s trial unfair, and Amnesty International, which declared Abu Rahmah a prisoner of conscience.

For more details: Jonathan Pollak +972-54-632-7736

Israeli forces arrest activists in Nabi Saleh

25 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

This afternoon nine people were arrested at a demonstration in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh. Among the arrested were two ISM activists along with one Danish, one Palestinian and five Israeli protesters. Both ISM activists report being beaten by the Israeli military whilst non-violently demonstrating. The Swedish activist was pepper-sprayed in the face before having his hands tied behind his back and being dragged around a corner and hit in the face several times causing his glasses to break. The other ISM activist, a woman from the United States was hit in her chest whilst being arrested. The third international from Denmark also had his hands tied before being dragged two metres by his hood and then beaten. Both men were left with their hands tied for over two hours.

The weekly demonstration had been going only a matter of minutes when the army began firing teargas and sound grenades into the crowd, and later entered Palestinian houses to look for activist to arrest. Nabi Saleh has a population of approximately 500 residents and is located 30 kilometers northeast of Ramallah along highway 465. Every Friday around 100 un-armed demonstrators leave the village center in an attempt to reach a spring which borders land confiscated by Israeli settlers. The District Coordination Office has confirmed the spring is on Palestinian land, but nearly a kilometer before reaching the spring, the demonstration is routinely met with dozens of soldiers armed with M16 assault rifles, tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and percussion grenades.

The demonstrations protest Israel’s apartheid, which has manifested itself in Nabi Saleh through land confiscation. The illegal Halamish (Neve Zuf) settlement, located opposite Nabi Saleh, has illegally seized nearly of half of the village’s valuable agricultural land. In January 2010, hundreds of the village residents’ olive trees were uprooted by settlers. Conflict between the settlement and villagers reawakened due to the settlers’ attempt to re-annex Nabi Saleh land despite an Israeli court decision in December 2009 that awarded the property rights of the land to Nabi Saleh residents. The confiscated land of Nabi Saleh is located on the Hallamish side of Highway 465 and is just one of many expansions of the illegal settlement since its establishment in 1977.

Israeli Soldiers Arrest Bassem Tamimi, Coordinator of Nabi Saleh Popular Committee

24 March 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Bassem Tamimi, coordinator of the Nabi Saleh popular committee, was arrested when dozens of soldiers raided his house at noon today beating his wife and daughter in the process. Only yesterday the military court had ordered the indefinite remand of Naji Tamimi, another member of the Nabi Saleh population committee.

Minutes after Bassem Tamimi entered his home to prepare for a meeting with foreign diplomats, dozens of Israeli soldiers stormed his house at the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh and arrested him. The soldiers tried to prevent Tamimi’s wife, Nariman Tamimi, from filming the arrest, hitting her and trying to grab the camera from her. When she passed the camera to her 10 year-old daughter, the soldiers grabbed it from her using violence and threw it outside in the mud.

Just yesterday, another leading protest organizer from Nabi Saleh, Naji Tamimi, was indicted on charges of incitement and organizing illegal demonstrations. The court extended his arrest until the end of legal proceedings. Bassem Tamimi is expected to face the same charges.

Over the past two months, the army has arrested eighteen of Nabi Saleh’s residents on protests related suspicions. Half of those arrested are minors, the youngest of whom merely eleven.

The majority of recent Nabi Saleh arrested are made based on incriminations extracted from a fourteen year-old boy from the village, recently arrested at gun-point during a military night raid. The boy was then subjected to verbal and emotional pressure during his interrogation, denied his fundamental right to legal consul and interrogated in absence of his parents, albeit obliged by law. The interrogators have also never bothered informing the boy of his right to remain silent.

Ever since the beginning of the village’s struggle against settler takeover of their lands, in December of 2009, the army has conducted 64 arrests related to protest in the village. As the entire village numbers just over 500 residents, the number constitutes a gross 10% of its population.

Tamimi’s arrest last night corresponds to the systematic arrest of protest leaders all around the West Bank, as in the case of the villages of Bil’in and Ni’ilin.

Army arrests local protest leader in Nabi Saleh last night

6 March 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Naji Tamimi, member of the Nabi Saleh popular committee and one of the leading figures in the struggle against the annexation of village lands by the nearby settlement of Halamish, was arrested last night during an army night raid on the village. The military also searched the home of another popular committee member, Bassem Tamimi, absent at the time. These last few weeks saw the army waging an extensive arrest campaign against village residents, specifically targeting minors.

At around 1:30 AM last night, dozens of soldiers swarmed the village of Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah, arresting 47 year old Naji Tamimi. Tamimi, who was sleeping in his home at the time, was taken out blindfolded and handcuffed. Tamimi is one of the village’s leading figures in its struggle against the occupation and for the protection of village lands from a Halamish settler take over.

Simultaneously, another group of soldiers raided the home of Bassem Tamimi, another prominent activist with the village’s popular committee who was absent at the time. Tamimi’s wife, Nariman, was woken up by the violent pounding and opened the door holding a video camera and filming. The soldiers ordered her to stop filming, and when she refused, violently confiscated the camera. After conducting a meticulous, hour long search of the premises, the soldiers left the house.

Over the last five weeks the army has arrested sixteen of Nabi Saleh’s residents on suspicion of participation in protests in the village. Half of the arrestees were minors, the youngest of whom merely eleven. The arrests were conducted based on incriminations extracted from a fourteen year-old boy from the village, recently arrested and subjected to verbal and emotional pressure during his interrogation. Prevented from consulting an attorney, he was interrogated in absence of his parents, albeit obliged by law. The interrogators have also never bothered informing the boy of his right to remain silent.

Ever since the beginning of the village’s struggle against settler takeover of their lands, in December of 2009, the army has conducted 63 arrests related to protest in the village. As the entire village numbers just over 500 residents, the number constitutes a gross 10% of its population.

Tamimi’s arrest last night corresponds to the systematic arrest of protest leaders all around the West Bank, as in the case of the villages of Bil’in and Ni’ilin. Only recently the Military Court of Appeals has aggravated the sentence of Abdallah Abu Rahmah from the village of Bilin, sending him to 16 months imprisonment. The arrest and trial of Abu Rahmah has been widely condemned by the international community, most notably by Britain and EU foreign minister, Catherin Ashton. Harsh criticism of the arrest has also been offered by leading human rights organizations in Israel and around the world, among them B’tselem, ACRI, as well as Human Rights Watch, which declared Abu Rahmah’s trial unfair, and Amnesty International, which declared Abu Rahmah a prisoner of conscience.

Seven arrested in An Nabi Saleh

19 February 2011 | Bethlehem Solidarity

Seven people were arrested yesterday in An Nabi Saleh during the weekly demonstration against the occupation and settlements. After the Israeli army invaded the village two Palestinians, four Israelis and one international were arrested. They are still held by Israeli forces, and we are told that the two Palestinians were separated from the rest during their ride to Binyamin police station. This does not bode well for them and could mean that they are being sent to Ofer on the account of the soldiers’ false testimonies.

The weekly march through the village of Nabi Saleh was slowed down by army threats to open fire. Soon enough they shot tear gas canisters at the protesters, invaded the village, made some arrests and attempted many more.

Close to the end of the day the youth of An Nabi Saleh came to reclaim their village. The army responded with an immediate tear gas attack. Later on, the army used massive amounts of tear gas on the entire village and brought the “skunk” water tank to spray the center of the village with foul-smelling water. This “skunk” water leaves any place it is fired at unfit for living for about a week and still smelly for many weeks after. The soldiers and their vehicles were warded off by a “rain” of stones, and the clashes finally ended at sundown.