Tag: An Nabi Saleh

Protests continue in An Nabi Saleh

14 January 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

On Friday, the weekly demonstration was again held in the village of An Nabi Saleh. The situation in the village is getting worse: from 6 o´clock in the morning soldiers closed the newly installed gate at the checkpoint so that nobody could enter the village. This makes it extremely difficult for international and Israeli activists to join the protest, and for two weeks now the village is considered on Fridays to be a closed military zone, with the Israeli army imposing a curfew on all people in the village.

Israeli soldiers in the village of An Nabi Saleh

So, this Friday, by 11am soldiers were in the village and announced through a megaphone, in Hebrew and English, that the village is closed for all people until the next day. During the midday prayer – when most people were praying in mosque – some soldiers took over a house and even refused to let the people who lived there enter it

At around 12:30 the demonstration started, but within five minutes the Israeli army began to fire large amounts of tear gas towards the protestors, and soon after a riot broke out with the soldiers in the olive fields close to the village. During this one soldier fell, breaking his arm and his leg – compare to this that the previous week two young men suffered from broken legs due to tear gas canisters -and after this the soldiers went crazy. One Israeli activist was injured by a tear gas canister whilst sitting outside drinking tea.

Soldiers were in the middle of the village for the whole day and were shooting everybody who was outside. An empty house was occupied in the centre of the village from which a soldier was firing tear gas and sound bombs towards the people in the big square in An Nabi Salah. A pregnant woman was hospitalized from tear gas inhalation and had to spend the night in the hospital in Ramallah.

The harassment and punishment from the soldiers continued for the whole day, and the shabab of the village continued to clash with the soldiers until sunset. At the end of the day the soldiers fired around 40 teargas canisters into the village for no apparent reason.

The villagers face a big problem with the repeated closure of the village on Fridays and with the curfew: it is becoming increasingly difficult to hold protests and send out a message against the occupation by Israel. Still, the village keeps on fighting.

Collective punishment continues as army raids Nabi Saleh

13 January 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

From the hours of 12:00 until 03:00 last night, soldiers raided eighteen houses in the village of Nabi Saleh. Soldiers, in full combat equipment, raided the houses in order to photograph people, mostly young men, and check ID cards. No arrests were made. However, the intentions of the army are clear.

The pattern has been used many times in the past. The army raids a house in the middle of the night. Soldiers take a photograph of a 15 or 16 child and match the photograph with ID information. Then, some days later, during the weekly nonviolent demonstration, soldiers go from house to house with a picture book of people and arrest them. It does not matter if the suspected person is in the middle of the demonstration or inside the house watching television.

Once soldiers apprehend the suspect, they create a story that the person was throwing stones or ‘rioting”. This story is usually based on zero evidence and it does not have to be in order to be used in an Israeli military court. The only thing necessary is for a soldier to say that he saw the person throwing stones. No photographic or video evidence is needed. Not even another witness.

Last night’s raid was the second time this week for Nabi Saleh. Bassam Tamimi, one of the Popular Committee leaders of Nabi Saleh, said that the army has raided almost every house in the village this week. Every male between the ages of 12 and 22 have been photographed by the army and their ID numbers have been taken..

Nabi Saleh, a small village west of Ramallah, has engaged in an unarmed demonstration against the confiscation of their land by the neighboring Jewish settlement of Halamish for the past year There have been countless injuries, arrests and collective punishment against the village over the past year as the army has tried to crush the protest. This Friday afternoon, Nabi Saleh will once again march to its land and demand an end to the Israeli occupation.

Protester arrested as soldiers occupy Nabi Saleh

9 January 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Border Police officers arresting Ouday Tamimi. Picture credit: Bilal Tamimi

Dozens of soldiers brought the village of Nabi Saleh to a standstill today in yet another attempt to curb demonstrations in the village. One protester was arrested, and two required medical treatment for their injuries.

Dozens of villagers, joined by Israeli and international supporters took part in the weekly demonstration in the village despite the siege laid on the village by the army, and the unusually large number of soldiers who occupied the village’s streets. Many hiked through the mountains the entire area was declared a closed military zone as early as 9 am and a gate that was installed at the entrance to the village earlier this week was shut closed.

Unlike most weeks, this Friday’s midday prayer, which precedes the demonstration, did not take place in the village’s mosque, but rather on the hill opposing the settlement. As people gathered to pray, soldiers and Border Police officers rushed towards them, ordering them to enter their homes for the duration of the closed military zone order. In response, the protesters staged a sit-in and refused to leave the place.

At the same time, clashes broke inside the village between the armed soldiers who took over the village, and local youth. Throughout the day, soldiers shot rubber-coated bullets at the protesting villagers and their supporters, as well as massive quantities of tear-gas. Tear-gas projectiles were often shot directly at the protesters, causing one injury. At some point, a pregnant women was evacuated to the hospital, after soldiers fired a tear-gas projectile directly into her house. Naji Tamimi, a member of the village’s popular committee, was beaten by a group of Border Police officers as he tried to approach the house in order to evacuate her.

During the day, soldiers randomly took over houses and arrested a seventeen year-old from the street. They have also tried to detained a thirteen year-old boy, but after other demonstrators gathered around him to prevent his arrest, the soldiers decided to not peruse his detention.

At nightfall, on the army’s retreat out of the village, a final barrage of tear-gas was volleyed, as 64 projectiles were simultaneously fired into the village.

Santa Claus brings rubber bullets, tear gas, and arrests

25 December 2010 | International Solidarity Movement

While the media’s attention was focused on the Christmas spectacle in Bethlehem and people were celebrating Christmas eve, the village of An Nabi Saleh, located in the Ramallah region and in the direct neighborhood of the illegal settlement Halamish, faced another reality. Yesterday’s demonstration was met by excessive violence on behalf of the Israeli military. Several people were injured; three Israeli activists and one Palestinian member of the community got arrested.

Even before the demonstration began, at about 9:00am, several Israeli jeeps entered the village. A 16 year old Palestinian encountering them alone got shot by 12 rubber coated steel bullets, aimed from close range directly at his chest area. He was brought to the hospital in Ramallah, but did not suffer severe injuries.
The demonstration started after the prayer. The demonstrators, the people of An Nabi Saleh and a group of Israeli and International activists, were joined by Santa Claus as they walked down the main road of the village to the junction, chanting slogans. At the junction they were met by the Israeli military and Border Police, who tried to forcefully put an end to the demonstration by hitting demonstrators and using sound bombs.

The demonstrators retreated back into the village, while the shebab engaged in a confrontation with the army that carried on throughout the whole day. The military used sound bombs, excessive amounts of tear gas, and shot rubber bullets: many of them aimed directly at people.

Two people–-a 60 year old villager and his 50 year old wife–-were hit in the head by rubber bullets shot through the window, while inside their house. They were brought to the hospital. Several more demonstrators suffered from the effects of inhaling massive amounts of tear gas. One elderly man had to be treated by an ambulance after tear gas canisters entered his house.

16-year-old Palestinian shot by 12 rubber coated steel bullets at close range

In the chaos caused by the military, three Israeli activists and one Palestinian were arrested. One of the Israelis was released a few hours after being detained, while the other two were kept first in Halamish and later at the Russian compound in Jerusalem. They have been accused of stone-throwing and might face charges.

The 20 year old Palestinian, Allae Tamimi, was transferred to Ofer Military Prison, where he is going to be investigated. He was released from Prison only a short while ago with the condition that he won’t participate in any demonstrations, for which he would face a sentence of 6 months in prison. This arrest comes three days after the arrest of Bahaa Tamimi, another member of the community of An Nabi Saleh.

When the day came to a close, Santa Claus had brought only more tear gas and rubber bullets for the villagers of An Nabi Saleh. Merry Christmas!

Youth arrest in Nabi Saleh

24 December 2010 | International Solidarity Movement

Three days before the first anniversary of the weekly demonstration held in An Nabi Saleh, on December the 22nd, Israeli forces arrested 23-year-old Bahaa Tamimi, a member of the community. He will face a trial in an Israeli Military court within the following week. The military has been searching for him for the past few weeks, frequently entering the village and asking for him. He was on his way to his work in Ramallah in the morning, when he was stopped by an apparently private car. Police asked for his ID and arrested him.

In December 2009, the village started to hold a weekly demonstration as their answer to the Israeli occupation. One year has passed since that first peaceful demonstration, and the Israeli army still responds with excessive violence. Ever since then, the village has been subject to severe repercussion – night raids, demolition orders and arrests. More than fifty members of the community have been arrested since the beginning of the demonstrations. A big part of the village youth has served some time in jail, convicted on dubious charges and released (often after several weeks or months imprisoned) without any charges held against them.

This latest arrest of Bahaa Tamimi is continuing the Israeli policy of random youth arrests, serving as a tool to intimidate and threaten Palestinian families. Oftentimes their only offense is being young, male, and Palestinian. After the imprisonment of a family member, the whole life of the family revolves around this incident: affording money in order to pay for the court, the long process to be granted a permission to visit, the procedures of going through on such a rare visit. For the youth, future prospects – such as education, the chances to be granted a working permit, visas – are often smashed.