Tag: Arrests - Page 70 - International Solidarity Movement

Palestinian man still under arrest after demonstration in Beit Ommar on Saturday

29 June 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Two international activists are released following their arrest and court hearing in Jerusalem, while a Palestinian man is still under custody following a peaceful demonstration in Beit Ommar that occurred on June 25th.

The two international activists and a 22 year old Palestinian were brutally arrested during a peaceful demonstration in Beit Ommar, in the southern region of the West Bank. The non-violent demonstration took place there and was nearing its end when approximately ten Israeli soldiers and border police arrested the 22 year old Palestinian man with force. The man’s t-shirt was ripped into pieces as he was being arrested. He was restrained to the ground and kneed in the chest. A soldier later twisted his handcuffs aggressively, contorting the man’s wrists, cutting the man on both wrists. When trying to reach the Palestinian man and assist him, an international activist was violently thrown to the ground by a border police. The activist, from Sweden, landed on her back and a soldier pinned her to the ground, laying heavily on top of her and making it hard for her to breathe. Another activist, also from Sweden, identified him as the captain in charge of the soldiers that day. A sound bomb was thrown next to the activist, after which she was handcuffed and arrested. In the tumult occurring after the sound bomb, another international activist was grabbed and arrested while trying to help the other from the ground

Both activists were blindfolded for three hours at a military base, and then taken to a police station. One of the activists was released after 12 hours, and the other was released after 24 hours, after being taken to jail and court in Jerusalem. They were both released without charges. The Palestinian man, however, is still under custody awaiting his trial in court, which has been postponed until Thursday, June 30th.

Beit Ommar is located to the south of Hebron, with a significant amount of village land usurped by the “security fence” of the neighboring illegal settlement Karmei Tzur, built about five years ago.

Israeli forces arrest three in Beit Ommar demonstration

25 June 2011 | Palestine Solidarity Project

On Saturday June 25, about 50 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists gathered in Beit Ommar to demonstrate against the Israeli Karmei Tsur settlement, which has annexed hundreds of dunams of Palestinian land. As demonstrators attempted to enter land belonging to Beit Ommar farmers, Israeli soldiers announced that the area was a closed military zone and said they would not allow anyone to pass. Several Palestinians and internationals then attempted to circumvent the military blockade. At this point, at least 6 soldiers assaulted Mohammed G., a 22 year old Palestinian man from Surif. During attempts to rescue him from the attacks, two international activists were also arrested. A sound grenade was thrown by the soldiers into the midst of the demonstrators attempting to rush to his aid. When the smoke and dust cleared from the scene, Mohammed laid motionless on his back surrounded by soldiers, his shirt torn to shreds. He was arrested and taken to a police station in Kiryat Arba. He remains in custody as of 5 pm the next day.

Karmei Tsur is an Israeli settlement built in the 1990s, primarily on land privately owned by residents of Beit Ommar. A secondary fence was recently constructed around the already existing primary fence of the settlement, confiscating an additional several hundred meter circumference of Palestinian farmland in Beit Ommar.

Action Alert: Demand the release of Nabi Saleh popular leaders

Trial of Bassem Tamimi to resume on 27 June 2011.

Non-violent protesters are rising up to challenge the Israeli occupation, from the chambers of Congress to the shores of the Mediterranean. And while other action have received global media coverage, a small West Bank village named Nabi Saleh has been struggling without the attention it deserves.

Its residents have been organizing a campaign to challenge the illegal theft of their land by the settlement of Halamish since January 2010. Dozens of men and women have been gathering every Friday to voice their opposition to the injustice they face, using creative actions and non-violent demonstrations. The weekly protests are also joined by international and Israeli solidarity activists.

In an attempt to silence their dissent, the Israeli army has utilized banned high-velocity tear-gas projectiles, rubber-coated steel bullets and at times, even live ammunition at demonstrations. Additionally, the Army is conducting an ongoing arrest campaign against men, women and children in the village. Between January 2010 and April 2011, the Army carried out 73 protest-related arrests. One of the arrested is Bassem Tamimi, a main organizer and member of the local Popular Committee.

Netanyahu retorted to an interruption by a pro-Palestinian protestor in Congress, that only in democratic nations are such protests allowed. But the violent attack she faced from nearby AIPAC delegates in the Congressional Gallery and the jailing of non-violent organizers across the Palestinian Territories suggests otherwise. Tamimi, a father of four and a respected member of his community, is sitting in jail for the crime of non-violent organizing.

In his recent court, Tamimi stated, “I organized these peaceful demonstrations to defend our land and our people.” Tamimi also challenged the legitimacy of the very system which tries him, saying that “Despite claiming to be the only democracy in the Middle East you are trying me under military laws […] that are enacted by authorities which I haven’t elected and do not represent me (See Tamimi’s full statement).”

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, Ambassador András Dékány stated, “The rights of Israeli and Palestinian Human Rights Defenders protesting peacefully against settlements and the separation barrier are severely curtailed. While the EU welcomed before this Council in March the release of Abdallah Abu Rahma, the EU is concerned that other human rights defenders continue to be detained for their non violent protests. The EU is observing the trial, which opened on 5 June before an Israeli military court, of Bassem Tamimi, an activist of the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh affected by the illegal settlement expansion. The EU is also concerned by reports that journalists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are exposed to severe harassment as this affects negatively the right to freedom of expression. Impunity for such acts is unacceptable (see EU’s full statement).”

Tamimi’s next hearing will take place on the June 27th at the Ofer Military Court , when testimonies will be heard in this case for the first time.

Will you tell you government to act?

Join us in calling for release of Bassem Tamimi and Naji Tamimi.

Presence with a splash of tea is recipe for detainment

19 June 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

On Sunday June 19th, six International Solidarity Movement activists from the United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, Germany, and Sweden were illegally arrested by the Israeli military after attending a demonstration against the construction on confiscated land belonging to the Palestinian village, Deir Qaddis.

Apart from numerous Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists, many children and elderly villagers participated. The demonstrators marched through the village waving flags and chanting slogans. Some of the demonstrators formed a road blockade with rocks on the confiscated land.

The Israeli military arrived shortly after and responded with volleys of tear gas, aimed directly at demonstrators. The tear gas canisters set alight the grass around them, causing a fire which spread for hundreds of meters throughout the hills.

After the Israeli military had left the area, the demonstrators returned to the village. The military subsequently invaded the village following the demonstrations. The internationals were resting in a Palestinian home drinking tea. Upon noticing army infringement upon the village, the international volunteers walked onto the road to see where the army was, hoping that their presence as internationals would deter the soldiers from attacking the village. Yet the commanding officer ran down the hill, with about 15 soldiers behind him, pointed his gun directly at the volunteers, and said violently, “If you move, I will shoot.”

While under arrest the soldiers proceeded to teargas the village below, and as they did so, the wind carried the teargas across to the international volunteers. As they tried to treat themselves with onions and alcohol wipes, items commonly used to deter the affects of tear gas, the soldiers shouted that tear gas was “part of the Israeli experience.”

Then the soldiers forced them to walk in convoy formation.

“We walked with a soldier in front of us, behind, and one on either side with guns, shouting at us and using intimidation techniques, forcing us to walk like prisoners,” said one volunteer.

She continued to describe her experience as they were taken away from the village. “We walked for approximately 15 minutes in the heat and sun along the road until we were outside the illegal Israeli settlement of Nil’ in. When we repeatedly stated that we did not believe our presence in the village was illegal, or that the arrest was legal, the soldiers responded with the same aggressive responses that we ‘should know the law of the country that we are in, meaning Israel. They then made us get into an armoured jeep, where we were forced to sit in silence before blindfolding us, for the acclaimed reason that we were ‘not allowed to see the settlement’ through which we were passing,” she said.

During the first six hours of detention, the activists were kept in an armored military truck, being blindfolded for approximately one hour. After more than ten hours in detention, the activists were forced to stay awake and were given one piece of bread and water. The arresting officer was the Hebrew/English translator during each activist’s interrogation, having testified against them just hours before. He talked over the activists as they gave their testimony, accused the activists of lying and cut one activist off before she could finish her testimony. They were released 17 hours later, after signing a condition stating they will not participate in demonstrations in Deir Qaddis, Bi’lin and Ni’lin.

The activists were charged with participating in an illegal demonstration despite the fact that the demonstration took place on Palestinian land and therefore can not be declared illegal under both Israeli and international law.

Teenage boy targeted as part of Israeli campaign against local family

18 June 2011 | Wadi Hilweh Information Center

A 14-year old boy was abducted by Israeli undercover forces from Bir Ayyub this morning. Ahmed Siyam was taken by an undercover unit from outside his uncle’s shop in Bir Ayyub and transferred to Salah al-Din police station. Police claimed that the boy “constitutes a danger to society.”

Siyam was targeted for arrest by Israeli forces only yesterday, after attending the weekly prayer in the Al-Bustan protest tent. A relative of Siyam told Silwanic that it is likely he was targeted as part of a campaign against the Siyam family, after his father made statements to the press recently regarding the murder of local resident Milad Ayyash several weeks previously.