11th June 2013 | Ni’lin Sons | Ni’lin, Occupied Palestine
A wave of night time invasions and arrests by the Israeli military continues in the village of Ni’lin. At 3am on the 10th of June Ahmad Daood, 26 years old, was arrested in his home. Six military jeeps and more than thirty soldiers invaded the village in the night and tore down the gate to the Daood house. Ahmad was awakened from his sleep and brutally dragged out of bed. He was handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten in front of his family before being taken away in one of the jeeps.
Ahmad Daood (Photo by Ni’lin Sons)
Ahmed was taken to Ofer Military Prison but it is still unclear whether or not he has received any medical treatment for the wounds that he sustained during the arrest. Witnesses stated he was bleeding as he was taken away by the soldiers.
Nighttime incursions in Ni’lin are still a very common occurrence and on the night of Ahmad Daood’s arrest the village was invaded twice; the first time around 1:30 am where no arrests were made. As the villagers just settled back to bed, thinking that the soldiers had left for the night, Ni’lin was invaded yet again.
On an average week the village is targeted for nightly invasions two or three times and since last month 29 people have been arrested during these incursions. Most of those arrested are likely to face sentences of more than a year in prison for their participation in peaceful demonstrations against the annexation wall separating Ni’lin farmers from their land. Many of the arrested have previously spent time in prison and therefore can expect harsher sentences, sometimes even double, as the Army prosecutors claim that they have violated the conditions of their release.
We ask ourselves how probation conditions could regulate basic human rights such as taking part in peaceful demonstrations against the occupation of one’s land. Once again the makeshift order of the Apartheid Israeli justice system only serves to facilitate the colonization of Palestine.
8th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Human rights activist Jawad Abu Eysheh, 39, was arrested Friday 7th June following a complaint he made four months ago about a settler attack.
At 4:20 pm on 7th June, Israeli Police arrived at the house of the Hebron organisation Youth Against Settlements and demanded to see the ID’s of Jawad and three other men present. The police then told Jawad that they wanted to take him away ‘for investigation’, and called the Israeli military to escort Jawad away in handcuffs.
Jawad Abu Eysheh being handcuffed and arrested (Photo by Youth Against Settlements)
Jawad was then paraded through the adjacent illegal Tel Rumeida settlement and taken to the nearby checkpoint 56, before being transferred to the police station in the settlement of Givat Ha’avot outside the city centre.
Despite being a victim of that violent assault in February, it was Jawad who was subjected to arrest today, not the perpetrators. During his detention, Jawad was also forced to submit a DNA sample against his will, and to sign conditions that he will not speak with Baruch Marzel for the next 30 days. Jawad stated he is happy to comply with this stipulation at least. Jawad was released at around 9pm.As well as today’s arrest, Jawad has faced other harassment recently, including not being allowed to walk on the street where his factory space and uncle’s house are located.
The Israeli army and police in Hebron have a long history of harassing human rights defenders such as Jawad and his colleague Issa Amro, and of following the wishes of extremist settlers when deciding who to harass.
7th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine
SECOND UPDATE: The two boys, Tamim & Mo’men have now been released.
UPDATE: Tamim (19) and Mo’men (16) Tamimi are currently under interrogation and will remain in prison until at least Sunday.
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Today’s weekly protest in Nabi Saleh was met with skunk water and rubber coated steel bullets. In addition, two people, one of them a child, were arrested.
After midday prayer, around sixty Palestinians, together with Israeli and international activists, marched as usual from the centre of the village towards the stolen spring across the main road.
Demonstrators marching along the road towards the spring (Photo by ISM)
As protesters were building stone barricades along the road to prevent Israeli forces from invading the village, a skunk water truck and two jeeps appeared at the scene. The truck ran over the barricades and drove along the road spraying demonstrators with foul smelling water. Israeli soldiers and border police officers shot several rounds of rubber coated steel bullets injuring one protesters in the right side of the abdomen. After a while, Israeli forces and the truck retreated and protesters took over the road again. As confrontations between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces continued, three jeeps and the skunk water truck chased the protesters up the road spraying the houses and people.
At around 2:30pm, the bulk of the protesters left the area except for a few Palestinian youths who were still on the hilltop throwing stones. Suddenly, when people were resting at the petrol station, four army and border police jeeps joined by the skunk water truck, invaded the village once again and sprayed everything in their way. One adult and one child from the nearby village of Deir Netham, Tamim (19) and Mo’men (16) Tamimi were arrested and taken into the jeeps. See video of the arrest here.
The village of Nabi Saleh has been demonstrating against the theft of the natural spring and the occupation since December 2009. Israeli forces violently suppress the weekly Friday protests by shooting tear gas canisters, skunk water, sound bombs, rubber coated steel bullets and even live ammunition at protesters. Two people have been killed, Mustafa and Rushdi Tamimi, and many others severely injured. Bassem Tamimi, from Nabi Saleh, has spent 17 months in Israeli jails, merely for being a prominent activist at the protests. After more than three year and despite the repression, Nabi Saleh continues to fight against the injustices of a brutal military Israeli occupation.
Injured protester being treated on the spot by Red Crescent personnel (Photo by ISM)Israeli border police officer grabbing the arrested boys (Photo by TPTamimi Press)
3rd June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
A 58 year-old Palestinian man and his 28 year-old son were arrested and his wife hospitalised after Israeli soldiers invaded their home, smashing furniture and breaking electronic goods over a three hour period. Four more houses within the same building were also ransacked.
Yesterday at around 2.30pm, at least ten soldiers invaded the home of Mohammed Fathi Jabari (58) on the Western Prayer Road in the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron. During the incident, the soldiers forced the residents all into one room and compelled them to give up their phones. Mohammed Fathi Jabari and his son were then arrested in their home. Despite numerous police and army personnel remaining in the area, the family was given no information regarding the whereabouts of their father and son or the reason for their arrest. Mohammed was released hours later but his son is still being held. Mahera Jabari (49), Mohammed’s wife, who already had heart problems, was hospitalized due to the stress of the situation.
During the raid the soldiers kicked down the door to the building and ransacked the rooms of the five homes within. In the first home the soldiers invaded, they kicked down a door and threw a young boy of 10 years old against a wall, causing bruising to his shoulder. International observers interviewed family members from all the homes, who showed them the mayhem created: a broken laptop, a huge chest with the top torn clean off, rooms completely ransacked including one where six children slept, and many broken doors. Contents of drawers, wardrobes and cupboards were strewn across the floor, including clothes, bedding and children’s toys.
Five soldiers escort Jabari to the police van (Photo by ISM)Broken furniture and clothes strewn across the floor by soldiers (Photo by ISM)
28th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Team | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
Mahmoud Mohammed Zayed, 25, and his brother Khaled, 24, are two young fishermen of Gaza. At about 9pm on Sunday, May 19th 2013, they were fishing on their small rowing boat in the waters north of the Gaza Strip, in front of the beach of Beit Lahiya. They were arrested after Israeli naval forces attacked fishermen with gunfire, and were taken to the port of Ashdod in Israel. Israeli soldiers confiscated their boat and nets, and released the two fishermen in the morning of the following day, on Monday, May 20th.
We met Khaled Mahmoud and his brother in the office of UAWC (The Union of Agricultural Work Committees), which deals with projects and initiatives to support farmers and fishermen in Gaza and the Occupied Territories. Mahmoud’s face was familiar to me.
As I tried to remember where we had met, he told me he had seen me in an UNRWA school during the military offensive in November 2012, when the Israeli air force launched thousands of leaflets ordering people to leave their homes. Hundreds of families living in the north of the Gaza Strip had been forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in UNRWA schools in Gaza City. Gathered on the floor on mattresses and blankets, they were united in fear. The house of Mahmoud went on to be damaged by bombing.
Yet I remembered seeing Mahmoud on another occasion. Here, in February, 2012, I met another member of his family, Ahmed Zayed, who was also arrested by the Israeli navy while fishing in Northern Gaza waters.
Mahmoud and Khaled (Photo by Rosa Schiano)
And when I think of the fishermen of Beit Lahiya, I cannot forget the face of Abu FahmyRyash, 23 year old fisherman killed on 28th September by an Israeli soldier while he was fishing on the beaches. Killed by expanding dumdum bullets his internal organs had been destroyed. I asked Mahmoud if he had known him. Mahmoud told me that they had often fished together.
And so here are the mixed memories, common experiences that unite us in a deep feeling – a brotherly bond.
So I think of the lives of these people, marked by mourning, from wounds, from everyday resistance, the quest for freedom, the struggle for the right to life.
Mahmoud started to tell us what happened on Sunday: “We went fishing around 5:30pm, with our small rowing boat. We were about half a mile away from the beach of Beit Lahiya, along with other boats. At 9pm two speedboats started attacking us and the other fishermen with shots fired. The attack lasted almost an hour. Then the soldiers came close to our boat, started to turn around us to create waves and they shouted to stop the boat. We replied that we would be back at home. There were 5 men on each boat.We fell into the water, then we got back on board. Khaled was feeling ill. Then two soldiers arrested us.”
Mahmoud explained that usually fishermen are asked to undress, to jump into the water and swim to the Israeli ship. This time the two fishermen were arrested directly from their boat. Once taken to the Israeli ship, the two fishermen were blindfolded, handcuffed, stripped and were given a yellow shirt and blue pants.
“The strange thing – he told Mahmoud – is that the soldiers have asked me why my brother Khaled was with me on the boat. Khaled usually fishes on another boat. But when he finished his work he came with me to help me.” The actions of soldiers help us to understand how they maintain control of the people of Gaza and what excuses they use to arrest fishermen. Soldiers then asked them their name, identity card, the number of boat.
The two fishermen were then taken to the port of Ashdod in Israel. Here the two fishermen were brought inside a room where they were asked for their identification and phone number. A doctor checked the state of their health and visited Khaled who was ill, for whom they gave an injection. “I asked them to remove the handcuffs because I was hurt”, he told Mahmoud, “but they refused.” The two then spent the night in jail, handcuffed.
The next morning, the two fishermen, in handcuffs, had their names put on their shirts and were photographed. Subsequently Mahmoud was questioned. Soldiers showed him a map of Gaza, and asked for information indicating some points on the map, especially in the area of Soudania. Then they asked from what point of Gaza the boats sets sail from, then the soldiers pointed out a police station and a hydraulic pump. Mahmoud asked about his boat, but the soldiers said that to get his boat they should contact a lawyer. Soldiers know very well that the fishermen do not have the money to afford a lawyer and even the costs for standing trial. After interrogation, that lasted 30-40 minutes, Mahmoud was blindfolded again. After another 15 minutes, the soldiers shackled the legs of the fishermen, took them to a police car and had them transported to Erez, where the two fishermen were released with only what they stood up in. The fishermen had just 100 shekels between them, money they had earned in the sale of fish the previous day.
We asked two fishermen what they thought of the new limit of 6 nautical miles imposed by Israel. They explained that it is a good step, but in economic terms there is no change, except for the period of sardine fishery. About eight miles out there is a rocky barrier preventing the entrance of the bigger fish, so anglers need go beyond 8 nautical miles to significantly increase their catch.
Israeli soldiers confiscated the boat of two fishermen and even the nets, which were new. “This boat was the main source of income for us,” said Mahmoud. Both have moved out of their homes and both have a son. They live together with their parents and the rest of the family, which has around 13 members. Their whole family depends on the fishing. Now only his father and his brother can fish with another boat.
We asked Mahmoud if he wants to leave a message to our countries. “We would like to again with our boat. We would like the Israeli navy attacks to cease. We ask the people of countries around the world to force the Israeli government to open up the sea, to let us fish.”
It should be noted that the attack occurred within the 3 nautical miles from the coast. Israel has progressively imposed restrictions on Palestinian fishermen’s access to the sea. The 20 nautical miles established under the agreements of Jericho in 1994 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), have been reduced to 12 miles below the Bertini Agreement in 2002. In 2006, the area consented to the fishing has been reduced to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Following the Israeli military offensive “Cast Lead” (2008-2009) Israel has imposed a limit of 3 nautical miles from the coast, preventing the Palestinians from access to 85% of the water to which they are entitled according to the Jericho agreements of 1994.
Under the agreements reached between Israel and the Palestinian resistance after the Israeli military offensive in November 2012, “Pillar of Defense,” they consented that Gazan fishermen can again fish to 6 nautical miles from the coast. Despite these agreements, the Israeli navy has not stopped attacks on Gaza fishermen, even within this limit. In March 2013, Israel imposed once again a limit of 3 nautical miles from the coast, saying that the decision had been taken following the sending of some Palestinian rockets towards Israel. On Wednesday 22nd May, the Israeli military authorities announced through some media outlets the decision to extend the limit again to 6 nautical miles from the coast.
We join the call of the fishermen and ask our governments to press Israel to stop attacking and arresting Palestinian fishermen and to allow them to fish freely.
