17th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Today volunteers from ISM attended a demonstration in Al-Khalil for Prisoners’ Day. Once the main demonstration had ended in the city a group of young Palestinians invited the volunteers to the Fawwar refugee camp outside the city.
Prisoner’s day demonstration in occupied Hebron
At the camp they were greeted by the Janazreh family, relatives of Sami Janazreh who invited the volunteers into their home for tea so they could tell us his story. Sami’s brother Haitham explained that Sami was detained on the 15th of November 2015 from his home in front of his family. The Israeli military brought no charges against Sami, but he was brought before a military court, with no jury or media present and sentenced to 4 months in a military prison. Once the 4 months were up he was brought before the military court again and sentenced to a further 4 months, without charge.
Three young demonstrators hold images of Sami
On the 3rd of March 2016 Sami was left with no option but to begin a hunger strike in protest at his detention. He is now 46 days into his hunger strike, and for the last 20 days his family has had no contact with him. The last information they received was that his kidneys were failing, his teeth had begun to fall out and he was unable to walk. The family have made concerted efforts to contact the prison to get updates on his condition but to no avail. They have had no contact from the Israeli government and there have been no official reports made.
On April 3rd 2016 two other prisoners, Adeb Mafaga and Fuouad Asse also began a hunger strike in protest at their illegal detention. The three men are striking in the hope that the Israeli government will release them to their families with signed papers to say they will no longer be detained without cause.
Sami’s brother Haytham
Sami’s home is within the Fawwar refugee camp where he live’ with his wife, 3 children, Feras (13), Mahmod Darwesh (7), Marya (4) and other relatives including his brother, Haitham. The family has accepted that their father will die in prison without them having the chance to say goodbye. They asked the human rights defenders from ISM to highlight the plight of these men and raise awareness in the international community to give Sami the strength to continue his protest. As the hunger strike on its own has not been successful, it is now vitally important that we highlight this issue and put worldwide pressure on the Israeli government to release the men and save their lives.
Sami’s children
On this Palestinian Prisoner’s Day we urge you to show support for Sami, Adeb and Fuoud by tweeting #FreeSami and by spreading his story through social media as much as we can.
9th of April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | West Bank, occupied Palestine
Held on the 68th anniversary of the Deir-Yassin massacre, the fifth annual BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanction) Conference took place in Ramallah. The event featured a keynote address from Ahmed Kathrada – an icon of the South African Anti-Apartheid movement and former political prisoner. The conference was taking place in the tenth year of non-violent resistance by the BDS movement.
The day was extremely well attended, in spite of recent statements by Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz, that euphemistically encouraged assassination attempts against BDS Activists by calling for: “civil targeted killings.” This aggressive attitude was demonstrated in Israel’s attempts to deny and/or obstruct travel to the conference for Palestinians living inside the 1948 borders of Israel and from the West Bank in general. This resulted in coaches of attendees from Jerusalem being delayed and some being denied access.
Mr. Kathrada’s keynote address concerned the mirroring of aspects of the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa and the current struggle by Palestinians against the illegal Israeli occupation: “[The Palestinian experience] is similar to the experience of black South Africans under Apartheid. However, in some ways the violence of Israel’s occupation is even worse than that which South Africans had to contend with.”
Mr. Kathrada went on to describe his 26 years and 3 months in prison, 18 years of which were spent on Robben Island. He drew an audible response of sadness and disbelief when comparing his own experience and that of Palestinians, as he observed that he was, “convinced that Palestinian political prisoners under Israel’s Apartheid policies have it worse.”
In addition to the keynote speaker, other speakers at the event were split between between those linking BDS to the “Globalised Nonviolent Struggle for Justice and Rights” and speakers on “Spreading the BDS anti-Normalisation Culture Among Palestinian Communities in the Homeland and Exile”.
Notably at the conference, Dr. Wassel Abu-Yousef, speaking on behalf of the PLO Executive Committee said: “the PLO has taken into consideration the importance of having a relationship with the BDS movement at all levels.” This demonstrates a committment in the wider Palestinian political community to the policy of non-violent resistance as espoused by the BDS movement.
This peaceful commitment stands in contrast, however, to the arguments put forward at the anti-BDS conference in Jerusalem last month, where various pro-Zionist figures put forward their agenda against BDS. That conference included Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan inexplicably linking BDS to jihadism and Islamic terrorism.
Speeches on the day in Ramallah, however, (both live and pre-recorded), far from calling for jihad, were secular, peaceful and informative in their detailing indivdual groups committment to BDS.
Representatives of a wide variety of groups spoke, demonstrating their community’s links to the BDS movement. These included speakers from BDS in Jerusalem and Gaza (the latter prevented from travelling by Israeli blockade and delivering a report via pre-recorded message); those representing Palestinian women’s groups – Women’s Campaign for Boycotting Israeli Products and the General Union of Palestinian Women – political prisoners, media, schools, trade unions and refugees. As well as local campaigners, international groups provided updates on their BDS campaigns from the USA (specifically in relation to progressive American Jews) South America, Egypt and the EU.
The conference concluded with an address by Omar Barghouti – co-founder of BDS – and a conference-wide discussion on the future of the movement.
For more information on BDS and to learn how you can get involved visit: https://bdsmovement.net
5th of March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | East Jerusalem, occupied Palestine
In the early hours of Tuesday, 5th April, around 3am, an armed group of Israeli soldiers stormed the campus of Al Quds university in the area of Abu Dis, part of East Jerusalem. The soldiers terrorised security guards on duty and forcefully entered four rooms belonging to student political parties and confiscated equipment while completely destroying the rest of the rooms.
Destroyed items from the Tuesday morning raid gathered outside the rooms
During the early hours of the morning the only people present at the university campus were the campus security, they were rounded up and locked together in a room, they were given no reason from the soldiers as to why they were being locked in a room nor as to why the soldiers were entering the campus grounds. The soldiers proceeded to forcefully enter four rooms belonging to various political parties run by students of the university, cutting the locks and smashing their way in, completely destroying the doors. This is the fourth time in 2016 alone that soldiers have entered the campus, destroying and confiscating material while giving no reason for their actions.
One of the computers amongst other items destroyed in the raid
The rooms entered belong to varying student bodies who’s students work within the university and the local community. Among the varied groups they advocate student rights, create activities within the campus and surrounding neighbourhoods, hold discussions on the state of the middle east, volunteer within the community, offer services for students, hold workshops and meetings about young prisoners and host an array of solidarity activities for the Palestinian community.
Students cleaning up debris from Tuesday’s raid
During the raid the army took personal computers, laptops and cameras belonging to the Islamic party. Around one hundred and seventy flags were confiscated from the union party room and all of their stationary equipment for creative activities. Whatever was not taken was destroyed during the raid by the occupying forces.
Damaged items from the raid
The activities room for the ladies Islamic movement which works mainly with disadvantaged youths and students had the majority of their belongings destroyed, posters ripped from walls and electronic equipment confiscated.
The activities room for the ladies Islamic movement
The area of Abu Dis were the university is located was around thirty thousand hectares prior to 2002 and is now around four thousand hectares with 75% of the area now falling under area C and 25% under area B. This malicious land grab by the Israeli government has left students facing huge difficulties with their education. Many students within the faculty of medicine can’t reach Jerusalem where the main hospital for training is located and have been forced to go elsewhere for their practical while the media faculty faces new difficulties also. Since the beginning of what most would call the third intifada, checkpoints leading into the city of Ramallah, where the media students must go to complete their practical work have become extremely tightened and students are often denied access to the area or face long waits to enter.
The annexation wall surrounding the university
On the 2nd November, 2015, Israeli forces entered the campus around 4pm and began firing on students using tear gas, rubber coated steel bullets and even using live ammunition. Over two hundred students were injured and required medical care while two students were seriously injured, with access to Jerusalem hospital unavailable the students were forced to travel over an hour to the city of Ramallah for treatment.
One of the destroyed rooms
With the student elections to take place on April 19th, this attack falls into Israel’s wider policy of targeting political activity within student campuses and bodies as a means of repressing resistance to the occupation.
Four students of the university have been killed by Israeli forces since November, 2015.
3rd of March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Gaza Strip, occupied Palestine
At around 9am on Thursday, the 31st March, four Israeli bulldozers entered the Gaza Strip at El Fakhuri. They came in order to destroy agricultural lands located near the border, once again violating the indefinite truce that ended the 2014 Israeli aggression against Gaza.
Meanwhile more than thirty tanks were located along the fence line, pointing at the Palestinian farmers who kept working on their lands despite the great risk that they face doing so.
In less than a month the wheat harvest season will start. The families who own land near the border don’t know what will happen then, as no one seems to do anything to stop the systematic aggression. The wheat harvest is vital for the families ability to feed their children.
3rd April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied West Bank
The Yes Theatre in Al-Khalil works with dedication, for a brighter future for the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank through a diverse set of cultural activities. Roughly eight new productions every year reach an audience of over thirty thousand Palestinians, and on occasion also tour theatres of Germany, France and Tunisia. Additionally, the Yes Theatre continually searches for new ways to share and develop its decade-long artistic practice, by engaging in dialogue with its local community, sharing their stories, hosting workshops, providing youth education, and internships with a job-guarantee. Their projects include Yes 4 Future, Yes 4 Kids, workshops that support women speaking in front of an audience, along with several plays that include female actors – something which is not a standard feature in Palestinian theatre.
ISM had a chat with general manager Mohammad Issa, and some of the artists, after having watched the powerful performance “3 in 1”, written collectively by Ihab Zahdeh, Raed Shiokhi and Muhamed Titi. The different stories of the play were inspired by meetings with the local citizens of Hebron, and depicts the everyday challenges of what Raed Shiokhi (actor) describes as the circles of life for Palestinians.
This play seems to evolve a lot around the occupation, but you also tap into the occupation of your own limitations?
“We like to say all the time that we live inside circles. We have the circle of the family, and then the circle of society. Then the circle of our government and the circle of occupation at the end. So occupation includes everything. So you go smaller and smaller and start with the family. They teach you what to do, and what not to do. Then the society, what is right, what is shameful and what is not. Then the government and the people in power who essentially are in full control, the governor, the mayor, and the religious leaders, who on several occasions in the mosques have mentioned and criticised our work. They corrupt our children and prohibit our cultural development. If we were to listen to their advice, we would have stopped a long time ago. Again and again we come to a point where it appears impossible to continue, but we remind each other of the message we have. As artists we feel stuck in between two fires. The fire of continuing your work of curiosity as an artist, and the fire of society trying to push you back.”
Artists of Yes Theatre in performance
The autobiographical struggle of the 3 artists in the play clearly resonates directly with the personal struggles of the audience, and the different scenarios and situations repeatedly spread overwhelming waves of laughter and uncontrollable giggles. Seeing a Palestinian smile or laugh is a surprisingly common sight, given the extremity of their situation, but this collective release of emotions seemed to connect the spectators in a deep and intimate manner. The Yes Theatre is profoundly interested in this shared space, in which cultural resistance occurs. General manager Mohammad Issa says that for them the resistance will not succeed through the use of physical force or politics, but through intellect, culture and the empowerment of women and the young generation. Sustainability and competence development are key words that go hand in hand as the Yes Theatre engages in social activities, and training programs that employs thirty graduates per year.
The Yes Theatre finds alternative ways of resisting the occupation, but you also protest against internal restraints of Palestine such as gender inequality, socio-hierarchical imbalances and even restraints of religion. Do you envision what future Palestine could look like, or is dialogue the main objective?
“I totally agree that we are resisting, in our own way. We can’t throw the Israelis out of Palestine. This is the reality. They have to live with us, we have to live with them. What the political formula will be, whether we are talking about two states or one state, this is something that could maybe be solved later on, or maybe this dilemma is something that lies in the hands of the young generation. This is part of our national struggle, but at Yes Theatre we don’t have a vision for that, we don’t wish to impose anything. What we get from the local community is the material, and this material is brought back to the community in a creative manner. And the discussions we have around the material, in its context, must also be circulated in the community. We look for input and feedback from different focus groups, even in more traditional productions like “Ali Baba” (currently in production at Yes Theatre). I have my own views on gender equality, but the locals might have its own ways, and we need to take that seriously. That doesn’t mean that we should not advocate, or raise awareness, but we need to reflect the status quo, in order to talk about it, and find the precise questions, which are not ours – they are the questions of the local community.”
Still from the award winning performance “3 in 1”
The artistic efforts that Muhammad Issa describes offer a space for its Palestinian audience, in which everyday terrors can be processed without fear. What might be referred to as “cultural resistance” has an essential significance for the Hebronites, as the daily struggle of facing the occupation, passing checkpoints, being searched, questioned, tear gassed or even shot, continues and worsens. Only in the last 10 days 3 youngsters have been shot dead in Hebron, withheld from medical attention, one of which was brutally executed by a soldier of the Israeli Forces, as has been seen in a viral video recorded Thursday the 24th of March. It might seem near impossible to imagine how Palestinians could truly resist or even end the occupation. The situation that they face daily is not only humiliating and dehumanising, it’s paralysing. Searching for education and togetherness through cultural meetings, if nothing else, might offer an opportunity for unity and common understanding. The Yes Theatre raises a question: How do the people imagine Palestine would look when, or if, occupation somehow, someday ends?
