Tag: Arrests - Page 103 - International Solidarity Movement

Interview: Living under constant fear of arrest

5 November 2009

Mohammed Ahmed Issa Yassen, 20, lives in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin, where he works in his family’s car garage business as a mechanic. He is also a student at the al-Quds Open University, but since he has joined the Israeli intelligence’s “wanted” list from the village, studying has been difficult. The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre interviewed Mohammed about living under the constant threat of arrest:

Jody McIntyre: How many times have the Israeli army been to your house?

Mohammed Ahmed Issa Yassen: During the most recent wave of arrests in the village [which has been over the last four months], the army have been to my house eight times. The first time they came was 3 July; I was not at home, so they started trashing our house and destroying the furniture. My mother, who is 52 years old, was at home at the time, and they told her to bring her son to prison. Each time they came, they were more and more aggressive towards my mother. Nowadays, she can’t sleep at night.

They also went to the house of my older brother, Mazen, and gave him an invitation demanding that he hand me in at Ofer military complex, so that they could arrest me. They didn’t say why they wanted to arrest me.

JM: How have the night raids affected your life?

MY: I can’t live a normal life. I can’t sleep at home during the night, because I fear that the army will come to arrest me, and during the day I must work; my father passed away in January of this year, so I must earn money for the family. We don’t live a luxurious lifestyle, not by any means, but we need to have food on the table.

My young nieces and nephews used to come over to my house to stay with [their] grandmother, but on one occasion the army invaded while they were here, and now they’re too afraid to sleep over again. It’s not just my family though, it’s a problem for the whole village — no one can sleep at night anymore.

JM: What about your studies and relationships with friends?

MY: It was difficult to continue my studies before the night raids, because of the expense of traveling to university and paying the semester fees, but now it is pretty much impossible. The night raids have ruined my education.

Some of my friends are afraid to hang out with me now, because they fear that they might also be arrested. I don’t want to go to stay at my friends’ houses anymore, or to have them over to stay, because I don’t want to drag them into my problems.

JM: Has anyone else from your family been arrested in the past?

MY: At the beginning of the nonviolent resistance in Bilin, towards the start of 2006, they were using a similar tactic as recently, invading the village at night and arresting the participants of the demonstrations. They arrested my oldest brother Bassem, and kept him in jail for four months.

At around the same time, they arrested my younger brother Abdullah. He was just 14 years old at the time. I was 16, and it was the first time I had seen the soldiers at such a close range … the first time I’d had a chance to look them in the eyes. I was terrified.

During the second or third of the most recent raids in my house, they arrested Abdullah, now aged 18, again. He’s been in jail for the last two months, and won’t be released for another four and a half. I miss Abdullah so much … before he was arrested, we would spend the whole day working together in our family’s garage, and then playing around afterwards. I would give him some money from the business’ takings, without telling our mother … sometimes we didn’t have enough money to go around, so I would give him some from my own pocket, just to make him feel like he was living a normal childhood. Since our father died, I’ve felt like a father to Abdullah.

JM: Why do you think the Israeli army want to arrest you?

MY: I don’t know why they have made me into this big criminal … I have to work all day to make sure my family has bread, so I don’t even have time to go to the demonstrations! Young boys from the village, under intense interrogation, supposedly “confessed” that I had thrown stones in the past — this isn’t true, but even if I had, what difference does this make to the fourth largest army in the world? After all, they are the ones stealing our land!

It seems that every couple of years, the army in Bilin, perhaps under different leaderships, try a new tactic to stop our nonviolent demonstrations. Sometimes they arrest people from the village, like they are doing now, sometimes they impose curfews, and sometimes they kill people … like my friend Bassem Abu Rahme.

They think they can stop the demonstrations in Bilin, but they can’t, so they punish us instead.

JM: What is your message to the Israeli government who want to put you in jail?

MY: Leave me alone so that I can go back to my studies, to play football with my friends, and to continue with my normal life. And release my brother Abdullah so I can see him again.

If Israelis want to meet me then we can go to the playground and have a game of football, not in a military prison!

JM: Do you think there will ever be a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

MY:I just want to see a peaceful solution in my house and in my village. For now, it is difficult for me to think about the bigger picture.

Madama shepherd beaten and detained by the Israeli army

2 November 2009

On Monday 2 November, Ma’mon Amen Fayis Nassar, a 35 year old man from Madama, near Nablus, was beaten and subsequently detained for 5 hours by Israeli soldiers with no reasoning given. In the morning, he had gone out to his family’s land some 3 km from the illegal settlement of Yitzhar and was clearing the lands of weeds while his sheep were feeding, when he was approached by three Israeli soldiers.

The soldiers promptly attacked him, striking his forehead with a riffle and kicked him while he was lying down. They shouted at him that he was a terrorist and when he grabbed a stone to defend himself with, still on the ground, they pointed their guns at him and told him that they would kill him if he didn’t drop it. He did as ordered and the soldiers handcuffed him with plastic strips, still punching him in the stomach and chest.

He was then forced into a jeep and taken to Huwwara prison, having the strip repeatedly tightened around his hands (a very painful procedure) and still being punched while he was defenseless and at the mercy of the soldiers. After this ordeal, he was put into the prison for 5 hours without any charges.

While awful, this story in itself would surprise few Palestinians. They are used to being at the mercy of the army and they know how brutal and vicious it often is. What makes this story somewhat special is that Ma’mon is mentally disabled, suffering from bouts of epilepsy and difficulty speaking and thinking after he suffered a traumatic head injury in 2004.

Yet, neither Ma’mon nor the rest of his family are unaccustomed to punishment by the Israeli army. The family told us that while their village used to be a peaceful area, there had been attacks on them every year since 2002. They recall at least 20 attacks on Ma’mon alone. Being a shepherd, Ma’mon is among the most vulnerable Palestinians, as he often has to spend a lot of time alone in the fields without other people to witness was happens to him. In 2006, he and his brother were attacked in the field and their house was soon raided by the army, killing one cow and a large number of sheep and chickens. During this ‘military operation’, all of the family was rounded up and handcuffed outside the house.

Ma’mon was put in a coma by the beatings of the army, to the extent that the army had no choice but to send him to Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem. When they considered him well enough to leave the hospital, he was then imprisoned in Ofer prison, where he was subjected to torture by having a dog on a leash try to attack him, which it did succeed in several times. When he was finally released, he had to spend 3 days in a hospital before he could rejoin the family. At the hospital he had to undergo surgery due to a kidney injury caused by the treatment from the Israeli army. Still today he suffers from chest pain and heavy coughing caused by the multiple attacks.

Aside from the attacks, the Nassar family faces the constant threat of their land being attacked or even stolen by the settlers from the illegal settlements of Yitzhar and Bracha. As the Israeli legal system is an odd mixture of laws from the Ottoman period, the British Mandate and modern Israel, it is jumbled and always used for the benefit of the illegal settlers and against the local Palestinians living under occupation. One such Ottoman law states that if land is not cultivated for 3 years, other people may legally begin to work it and it will officially become theirs after a period. Therefore, the Nassar family is prevented by the army from working around 40 dunams (4 hectares) of their land around Yitzhar and the settlers are just waiting to move in and take it over.

This recent attack illustrates how the army makes it dangerous for farmers all over Palestine to work even the land that is quite far away from the settlement, a deliberate tactic to force them to leave more and more farmland unattended out of fear.

Israeli forces raid Al-Ein refugee camp, arrest thirteen

1 November 2009

Family holding photographs of their two sons, Yassar (20) and Ahmad (17), arrested during military night raid on El-Ein refugee camp on 27 October — Family holding photographs of their two sons, Yassar and Ahmad, arrested during a night raid on El-Ein refugee camp on 27 October

Thirteen Palestinian boys were arrested in a raid on Al-Ein refugee camp outside Nablus, Wednesday 27 October. With the exception of one, all boys were aged 17, in their final year of school, and had no previous convictions. Amongst the arrested were two brothers – Yassar, 20 and Ahmad, 17. ISM activists visited the family’s home in the camp.

Yassar and Ahmad’s mother speaks frankly of the sudden, unprovoked attack on their small home in the camp. At 2am, as the family slept, Yassar was awoken by the unmistakable sounds of the Israeli military entering the camp, soldiers knocking on nearby doors and demanding to know the whereabouts of his family. Yassar ran to wake his siblings and parents as he heard a voice at the door saying “this is the house”.

A loud knock came on the door and one of Yassar’s young brothers opened it to face 10 armed Israeli soldiers, faces masked and covered in camouflage paint. The soldiers entered the home, immediately forcing all members to hand over their identity cards. The army remained in the house until 4am, forcing the entire family to stay awake in the small front room as military personnel came and went, checking their IDs, moving through the house but asking few questions. Eventually the ID cards were returned to all the family, except Yassar, who was taken by the soldiers. The family learned soon after that Ahmad, Yassar’s younger brother had been taken from his grandmother’s house nearby, along with six of his friends.

The family is in the dark as to why the two young men were arrested. Yassar had been released 2 months ago after serving 30 months in an Israeli prison, from the age of 17. During his imprisonment his family were not permitted to visit him even once. He served half of his 60 month sentence before being released on parole – now detained again, the family fears that they will not see him for another 3 years or more. Just days before, Yassar had been telling his mother of his plans for the future – to apply for technical college this week to gain certification in a trade, enabling him to leave his employment in a food factory. Now these plans may be put on hold for years to come.

Five months ago Ahmad was briefly detained for questioning by the PA, allegedly because a friend of his had mentioned his name to Israeli soldiers when he was detained at a checkpoint. The PA police subsequently came to Ahmad’s house and told his family that “We can take him now, or the Israelis can come and take him later”. Understandably, Ahmad then surrendered to the PA police. This case illustrates clearly that the Israelis can, and do, give orders to the PA, whose forces then carry out the dirty work within the West Bank for Israel.

Yassar and Ahmad are both being held at Huwwara prison and their mother alone has been granted one visit, on the 1st of November, after being in contact with different legal groups working for the rights of prisoners of the illegal occupation.

There are currently 11,000 Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel, many of them with no access to legal aid, education or their families in Palestine.

Would Israel arrest a Jewish terrorist with only Arab victims?

Avi Issacharoff | Ha’aretz

2 November 2009

It’s reasonable to assume that if Yaakov (Jack) Teitel had focused only on attacking Palestinians, he would have encountered few problems with law-enforcement authorities. His big mistake, it seems, was targeting non-Arabs as well.

Experience – and statistics – show that Israeli law enforcement is remarkably lax when it comes to tackling violence against Palestinians. Twelve years ago, Teitel confessed to killing two Arabs and then took a break from such activity. Sure, he was detained for questioning after the murder of shepherd Issa Mahamra, but he was released due to insufficient evidence. As with many other cases of murder and violence committed against Palestinians, the story of the shepherd from Yatta and the taxi driver from East Jerusalem disappeared into oblivion – until Teitel returned and attempted to harm Jews, bringing the wrath of public opinion, the Shin Bet security service and the Israel Police down on his head.

The (justifiably) prevailing feeling among Palestinians in the West Bank is that their blood is of no consequence. It’s hard to find a Palestinian today who will make an effort to approach the Israeli police about a settler assault, unless Israeli human-rights groups help him. The way Palestinians in the territories see it, Israeli law is enforced only if Jews are harmed, while incidents in which Palestinians are murdered, beaten or otherwise wounded are treated cursorily at best – and more often, are ignored entirely.

For instance, at least six shooting attacks against Palestinians in 2001-2002 have remained unsolved. The most shocking incident took place in July 2001, when three members of the Tamaizi family were shot to death by a man in a skullcap, according to relatives. The gunman asked the driver of the vehicle to stop, as it drove from one end of the village of Idna to the other, after a family wedding. When it stopped, he opened fire. But it’s doubtful that Israelis remember that 3-month-old Dai Marwan Tamaizi, born after his parents underwent 14 years of fertility treatments, was killed that day – as were Mohammed Salameh Tamaizi, 27, an only child, and Mohammed Hilmi al-Tamaizi, 24, who was engaged to be married.

One relative recalled last night that to this day, the Israeli authorities have not bothered to update the family on the outcome of their investigation.

Investigations by Palestinian-rights advocacy group Yesh Din has found that 90 percent of police investigations of cases in which Israelis are suspected of committing offenses against Palestinians in the West Bank are left unsolved and are closed. In a 2006 case, four settlers were suspected of beating an elderly Palestinian man with a rifle, leaving him unconscious for three weeks – but police didn’t check the alibis of two of the suspects, and a third wasn’t even questioned.

There are many more such incidents that indicate that the impression of Palestinians in the West Bank is rooted in reality. Maybe it’s Arab terrorists simply interest the law-enforcement authorities more than Jewish terrorists.

Bil’in demonstrates in solidarity with jailed activist: ‘We are all Adeeb Abu Rahmah’

Bil’in Popular Committee

30 October 2009

Adeeb Abu Rahmah was arrested on 10 July this year, and is still held in custody for taking part in organizing the village’s demonstrations. Demonstrators wore masks of his face and called for his release.

Two protestors were injured today, while several suffered from tear gas inhalation during the weekly Friday demonstration in Bil’in.

The demonstration was called by the Popular Committee Against the Wall and began after the Friday prayers. Bil’in citizens were joined by a group of international and Israeli solidarity activists and together they raised Palestinian flags and banners condemning the occupation, racist policy of building the Wall and settlements, land confiscation, road closures and detention and killing of innocent people.

Adeeb Abu Rahmah, a leading activist and organizer from the West Bank village of Bil’in has been held in detention since his arrest during a demonstration on 10 July 2009 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqaO8lFYuM0).

Bil’in’s weekly demonstration against the Wall and settlements was devoted to calling for the release of Abu Rahmah, as well as to protesting the ongoing attempts to eliminate the village’s resistance. Protesters marched on Friday wearing masks of Adeeb, declaring “We are all Adeeb Abu Rahmah”.

Abu Rahmah, who has been detained for over three months, is not suspected of committing any violence, but was indicted with a blanket charge of “incitement to violence”, which was very liberally interpreted in this case to include the organizing of grassroots demonstrations. A judge had initially ruled that Abu Rahmah is released with restrictive conditions, but an appeal filed by the military prosecution had the decision overturned, and he was remanded until the end of legal proceedings. Since the arrest, the defense has appealed this decision four times. Trials often last up to a year and Abu Rahmah is the sole provider for a family of eleven.

Abu Rahmah’s arrest came amidst an Israeli arrest and intimidation campaign that began concurrently with preliminary hearings in a Bil’in lawsuit against two Canadian companies responsible for the construction in the settlement of Modiin Illit. In almost five years of protest, 75 Bil’in residents were arrested in connection to demonstrations against the Wall. Of them, 27 have been arrested in the recent, ongoing arrest campaign. Israeli forces have been regularly invading homes and forcefully searching for demonstration participants, targeting the leaders of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, as well as teenage boys accused of stone throwing. Sixteen currently remain in detention, nine of which are minors.

On 23 June 2009, the Canadian court heard the preliminary arguments for a suit brought by Bil’in against two companies registered in Canada (Green Park International & Green Mount International). The village is seeking justice against the construction of settlements on its lands under the 2000 Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Statute, which incorporates international humanitarian law into Canadian federal law. Some of the people arrested in the latest wave of arrests have reported being questioned in regards to this suit during their interrogation.