Tag: Ariadna Jove Marti

Palestine: Israeli crackdown exposes its aims

Bridget Chappell | GreenLeft

27 May 2010

Israel has exposed the extent of its crackdown on resistance to its occupation in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on April 29. It claimed the Israeli Shin Bet intelligence agency has been conducting surveillance on myself, a non-violent activist and Australian citizen, in Area A of the West Bank.

The affidavit claimed my arrest on February 7 and the ongoing surveillance of my activities was justified on account of various Israeli military orders. This highlights the Israel’s overall authority in the implementation of apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories and its total disregard for the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority and the Oslo peace accords.

On May 2, the Israeli state submitted a response to our appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court regarding my illegal abduction from the West Bank, including a statement from the Shin Bet Israeli intelligence agency claiming that I had broken the conditions placed on me by the Israeli courts since my arrest.

A Shin Bet agent said: “The facts detailed are known to me due to my examination. From information in our possession, it appears that Ms. Chappell is at this time in Nablus.”

The question of what the Shin Bet was doing in Area A of the West Bank (under full Palestinian civilian and military control, as stipulated by the 1993 Oslo accords) is not even addressed: it is as though their presence in an area of Palestinian Authority control has simply been accepted and the Oslo Accords are simply as obsolete as they were following Israel’s re-occupation of the entire West Bank during the second intifada (uprising) that broke out in 2000.

Is it really possible that a 22-year old Australian activist working with a non-violent movement in the occupied West Bank could constitute such a threat to the Israeli state as to warrant such investigation?

Such draconian practices as military raids and undercover surveillance is behavior generally associated with states recognised and condemned for their intolerance of dissent, such as Iran. Israel’s media machine, however, continues to present itself as the region’s only democratic state.

In fact, my arrest from Ramallah and the Shin Bet’s new claim that I am under surveillance serves to further abolish the myth of Palestinian control in the West Bank.

It’s clear that Israel’s matrix of control in the occupied territories extends not only to the entire Palestinian population, but international activists involved in the popular resistance.

The extent of Israeli attempts to crack down on international participation in the struggle, however, only serves to focus the eyes of the world on what Israel has hoped to execute stealthily: the bantustanisation (division into separate ghettoes) of Palestine.

Israel’s brutal system of dealing with resistance, whatever form it takes, is the same. I recall a cultural celebration I took part in that resulted in the violent arrest of seven Palestinians and one international activist.

Their crime was simply engaging in what should have been a joyful assertion of Palestinian culture and history in a city, Al Quds (Jerusalem), which lies at the center of Israel’s current campaign of ethnic cleansing.

I witnessed the same brutal force employed against Palestinians during the olive harvest last year, when international and Israeli activists join forces with Palestinian farmers to reach their lands for the annual harvest — in the face of severe military repression.

Meanwhile, Israel has heightened its use of live ammunition as a crowd dispersal technique against the growing wave of non-violent demonstrations taking place across Gaza and the West Bank. This has resulted in the death of three Palestinian protesters in the last two months.

Israel’s intolerance of resistance is shown by the imprisonment of Palestinian activists, which has recently included several prominent figures in the resurgence of popular resistance, such as Nablus activist Wa’el Al-Faqeeh.

Wa’el and I coordinated non-violent actions in the Nablus region against the occupation, responding to settler violence and demonstrations against land annexation.

Wa’el was arrested in a military raid on his home on 9 December 2009 — yet while ISM activists were involved in the same activities, he remains imprisoned by Israel to this day, still without charge.

The veiled system of martial law in the West Bank that has enabled the arrest and imprisonment of more than 650,000 Palestinian political prisoners since 1967 now appears to have broadened its targets to include international activists as well.

In my legal council’s two latest appeals to the district and supreme courts, the state has argued on the grounds of my alleged violation of a 1970 military order prohibiting “infiltrators” from remaining in the occupied territories for longer than 48 hours without written permission from the military commander of the region.

The law appears to be a precursor to Military Order 1650, implemented one month ago, which denotes the military’s ability to deport civilians from the West Bank without documentation proving their residence or permission to be there, at their own expense.

This potentially includes thousands of West Bank residents with Gazan, Jerusalem or Jordanian addresses on their ID cards, as well as international activists.

If the PA held any sovereignty over the West Bank, my return to the area would not only have been of no relevance to the Israeli authorities, but a realization of their demand for me to leave their borders.

The reality is that my court case only serves to further highlight the true nature of Israeli control over every inch of historic Palestine, be it within Israel proper or any area of the occupied territories.

Australian activist Bridget Chappell was arrested by Israeli security forces in February along with Spanish activist Ariadna Marti, in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank. Chappell and Marti were working for the International Solidarity Movement supporting peaceful Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation. Below, Chappell details the increased repression by Israel against all forms of resistance in the occupied territories.

Urgent call for equipment

ISM is hard at work in the West Bank and Gaza, and needs your help!

The ISM media office was raided two times in the span of four nights in February, when Bridget Chappell and Ariadna Jove Marti were arrested. In the raids, the Israeli military stole all of our computers (three laptops, one desktop) as well as several video cameras. Just a few weeks ago, the Hebron office was broken into while activists were away. We believe the military is also to blame because neighbors reported soldiers coming to look through the windows multiple times when the apartment was empty, and in the raid two laptops, multiple cameras, photo memory cards and USB memory devices were stolen, while other valuables were left in plain sight.

ISM needs to replace this equipment in order to continue the important work we’re doing. Documenting ongoing settler violence and harassment in Tel Rumeida (Hebron) and Sheikh Jarrah (East Jerusalem) are two of our most important activities. The residents of these communities demonstrate remarkable resilience by refusing to be deterred by settler violence. In order for the communities to have a chance of telling their story to the global community (one of ISM’s primary roles), and to prove the innocence of our Palestinian friends when they are falsely accused (a frequent occurrence), we need to capture high-quality footage.

We need: at least two small hand-held video cameras (roughly $150-200 each).

ISM Gaza activists risk extreme danger to document some of the worst human rights violations in the world. One primary activity is documenting use of live fire in the “buffer zone” towards farmers and non-violent demonstrators. Israel’s use of live fire has killed 14 and injured over 50 thus far in 2010. Bianca Zammit, a Maltese activist, was shot in the leg April 23 while filming a demonstration, proving that such documentation is viewed as a threat by the Israeli military.

We need: a Mac laptop computer for video editing ($1000)
A camera with good ‘optical’ zoom, such as a Canon Powershot S51S ($150-300)

The strategic theft of our media equipment, combined with Bianca’s shooting, serve as a reminder that we pose a real threat in our ability to reach global audiences with information about Israel’s actions. As non-violent activists, cameras are our weapons in exposing the Apartheid. Please, help us to continue this important work by donating here: palsolidarity.org/donate, or by sending equipment to Palestine with an activist.

Israel admits use of Shin Bet to watch international activist

International Solidarity Movement

4 May 2010

For immediate release:

Ramallah, Occupied Palestinian Territories, PM – Israel has exposed the extent of its crackdown on resistance in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on April 29, claiming that the Shin Bet intelligence agency has been conducting surveillance on ISM activist and Australian citizen Bridget Chappell in Area A of the West Bank. The affidavit claims that her arrest and continuing surveillance of her movements is justified on account of various Israeli military orders, highlighting its overall authority in its implementation of apartheid in the Occupied Territories and its total disregard for the sovereignty of the Palestinian Authority and the Oslo Accords.

“My arrest from Ramallah in February and the Shin Bet’s new claim that I am under surveillance in Area A of the West Bank serves to further abolish the myth of Palestinian control in the West Bank,” says Chappell. “It’s clear that Israel is the authority in the Territories and that this is apartheid. Israel’s matrix of control in the occupied territories extends not only to the entire Palestinian population, but international activists involved in the popular resistance here, which is very dangerous grounds for them as their attempts to crack down on our participation in the struggle focuses the eyes of the world on what Israel has hoped to execute as a very stealthy and systematic bantustanization of Palestine.”

The state’s affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on April 29 claimed that the arrest of Chappell was based on her violation of a 1970 military order stating that non-residents of the West Bank are prohibited from staying in the area longer than 48 hours without written permission from the military commander of the region. This is in-keeping with what may become Israel’s strategy of removing internationals from the Palestinian territories via the system of martial law enforced in the West Bank since the military occupation in 1967. Attempted implementation of these military laws on internationals in Palestine will spell the exposure of one of Israel’s most veiled weapons – the system of martial law that has enabled the imprisonment of over 650,000 Palestinians since 1967, mass annexation of land and the network of checkpoints and apartheid roads.

Omer Shatz, attorney for Chappell and Marti, states: “We are pleased that the state has finally admitted that it is the authority in Area A, as if the Oslo Accords have disappeared, and that the ‘bantustan’ known as the Palestinian Authority has no significance. This straightforward position will certainly interest the U.S. secretary of state, in light of the start of proximity talks”.

The gathering momentum of non-violent popular resistance has been met with extreme measures by Israeli forces targeting Palestinian, international and Israeli activists. In the cases of Chappell and Ariadna Jove Marti, Eva Novakova, and Ryan Olander, Israeli authorities used the ‘Oz’ Immigration Unit in an attempt to deport foreigners for their political activities. In the case of Chappell and Marti, the Supreme Court ruled that the use of the ‘Oz’ and the Israeli Defense Forces to implement arrests of internationals residing in the West Bank is illegal.

These arrests are part of a wider crackdown on the growing movement of popular struggle in Palestine, that has seen the arrest and imprisonment of many members of the popular committees of Al-Ma’asara, Ni’lin, Bil’in, Nablus and Nabi Salih. The latest codified measures of arrest are a sign that Israel is intensifying its resources against the grassroots Palestinian struggle. Targeting international supporters is just part of a multi-tiered campaign to quash a quickly spreading model of non-violent resistance.

Israel defends right to arrest foreigners in West Bank

Chaim Levinson | Ha’aretz

24 March 2010

The state argued Tuesday that the Israel Defense Forces has as the right to make arrests in Area A on the basis of a 1970 order that does not allow unauthorized persons to stay there for more than 48 hours without permission from the military commander.

The state made the argument in Tel Aviv District Court in defense of the decision to arrest Ariadna Jove Marti and Bridget Chappell, two international activists, in Bir Zeit near Ramallah last month.

Marti, who is from Spain, and Chappell, from Australia, were arrested on February 7 in Area A, which is under full Palestinian control. They were arrested and were immediately to be expelled from Israel but an appeal to the Supreme Court resulted in their release.

In court Tuesday, attorney Omer Shatz and Yiftah Cohen argued in their appeal that the State of Israel has no authority over civilian matters in Area A, and therefore the arrest of the two activists was illegal – and they must be allowed back into Ramallah.

For its part, the state said that Marti and Chappell belong to the International Solidarity Movement, an organization “that supports an ideology that is anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian and universally revolutionary.”

The state maintained: “The organization’s activists are involved in activities against the security forces in areas of friction in Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem.”

The two were “taking advantage of their tourist visas so they could participate in demonstrations in areas of friction,” the state argued.

During deliberations earlier this week before Judge Oded Mudrik, representatives of the Shin Bet asked to present classified information on the two activists. The judge rejected the request and said the material was “irrelevant” to the decision to expel the two, as their activity does not pose a security threat.

At a later stage, the state presented a military order from May 1970 that allows entry into Judea and Samaria but forbids making the area a place of residence, temporary or permanent, or for more than 48 hours “unless the military commander permits this personally.”

The state argued that the two activists were not given such permission.

In its response the state did not answer to the argument that Bir Zeit is in Area A.

Mudrik ordered the expulsion delayed by a further seven days so the two can appeal against the order to the Supreme Court.

ISM activists to face first hearing, Supreme Court rules arrests illegal

19 March 2010

International Solidarity Movement

For immediate release:

The Israeli Supreme Court handed down its verdict last week regarding the arrest of International Solidarity Movement activists Bridget Chappell and Ariadna Jove Marti from Ramallah on February 7. The decision ruled that the arrests were illegal, but refrained from further comment on which Israeli department was responsible. Chappell and Marti’s first hearing in the Tel Aviv District Court regarding their deportation orders will take place at 3pm this coming Monday, March 22. The illegality of their arrests will be pursued in this case.

A panel of three judges’ decision issued last week declared that the arrest of Australian and Spanish nationals Chappell and Marti in Area A of the Palestinian Authority (under full Palestinian civilian and military control under the 1994 Oslo Accords) was illegal, but did not specify whether it was the military’s invasion of the ISM’s media office in Ramallah or the activists’ subsequent transferral to Oz Immigration Unit custody at Ofer military camp (still in the Occupied Territories, where immigration police hold no jurisdiction) was the condemnable issue. The judges stated that the case, opened on February 8, which saw the release of Chappell and Marti on bail, had now been exhausted in the Supreme Court and all remaining issues were to be pursued in Tel Aviv’s District Court.

Chappell and Marti’s lawyers Omer Shatz and Iftah Cohen filed an appeal in the District Court against the deportation orders that still apply to the activists, who are currently permitted to remain in Israeli until the end of legal proceedings.

“We will continue to press the issue of their arrest in the District Court, as we feel it was not sufficiently resolved in the Supreme Court case,” said Omer Shatz. “In addition to the appeal against the deportation orders and the bail conditions of their release, in the hopes that they can return to the West Bank.”

The activists were ordered to pay 3000NIS each for their release, in addition to the condition that they may not return to the West Bank thereafter. The condition, though not uncommon, highlights severe ironies in the Israeli authorities’ and court’s handling of the case in their removal from the Palestinian Authority to Israel, on charges of outstaying their Israeli visas and the subsequent order to remain in a country for which they hold no visa. The Palestinian Authority, under the Oslo Accords, has the jurisdiction to issue visas and handle issues of immigration within its own territory, but so far has never exercised this authority.

The first hearing of Chappell and Marti’s case in Tel Aviv’s District Court will be heard on March 22 at 3pm. The original date set for April was moved forward at the request of the prosecution, indicating a desire on the state’s part to remove the activists from the country as quickly as possible, considering the media attention they have gained since their release and the re-commencement of their solidarity work on the Israeli side of the Apartheid Wall. When asked if the activists may face deportation after this hearing, Shatz commented that “it’s unlikely, but there is a small chance the case may be thrown out after this hearing and Chappell and Marti’s deportation orders will be applicable to them immediately thereafter. It’s obvious that the state is keen to have them out of the country. We have the success of the Supreme Court verdict on our side, however.”

The activists regard the Supreme Court verdict as a victory and an important, if symbolic, step in the fight against Israel’s violation of national and international laws in its attempts to silence or remove those active against the occupation. “We must demonstrate to Israel that we will resist the crackdown on the popular resistance, and that we cannot be taken down so easily,” says Chappell. “On the ground, we have continued our work with Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem such as Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. I’m steadfast in my resolution to remain here as long as I can, for the political ramifications of our case and to continue my role as an international activist in Palestine’s popular struggle.”

A force of 20 armed Israeli soldiers invaded the ISM’s Ramallah office on February 7 in a night raid operation, arresting Chappell and Marti, who were then subjected to interrogation and detention in Givon deportation prison. Almost one month before, ISM media co-ordinator Eva Novakova was kidnapped from her Ramallah apartment in a similar raid and deported to the Czech Republic. Novakova’s lawyers have since successfully obtained a verdict from the Israeli courts that this operation was illegal. Israeli attempts to deport foreigners involved with Palestinian solidarity work are part of a recent campaign to end Palestinian grassroots demonstrations, which involves mass arrests of Palestinian protesters and organizers.

Those wishing to attend Chappell and Marti’s trial on Monday March 22 should be present at the Tel Aviv District Court before 3pm.