A picture of Ahmad Burnat from the movie Interrupted Stream
Dear friend,
At 1:30 in the morning on July 19th armed Israeli soldiers drove into our village, Bil’in, under the cover of the pitch black night, and raided the house of my friend and well known activist Wajeeh Burnat, who was featured in the documentary Bil’in Habibti. This time, the raid was conducted to take Ahmad, his 17 year-old son.
It is not often that we ask for such help, but we turn to you today asking for a donation, large or small, to help in securing his release.
Last Sunday, a military judge ruled Ahmad could be released, but only on the condition that a sum of 10,000 NIS (2,600 USD) be deposited as bail.
Ahmad’s family has lost most of its land to the construction of the Wall, and have paid dearly for their role in the struggle – Ahmad’s eldest brother, Rani, is paralyzed from the neck down after being shot in the neck by a sniper during a demonstration in the year 2000. Following the injury, Israel also revoked Ahmad’s father’s work permit. Another of Ahmad’s brothers, Ibrahim Burnat, was also arrested six months ago and has been in jail since.
Ahmad’s family cannot afford the money to pay Ahmad’s bail. Unless we are able to raise that sum, he will remain languishing at the Ofer Military Prison for the duration of his trial, which could last one year.
Raids such as the one Ahmad was arrested in are not exceptional in Bil’in, or in any of the other villages in which grassroots protest against the occupation takes place on a regular basis. In Bil’in alone, ninety people have been arrested in connection to demonstrations in the village.
The West Bank village of Bil’in, among numerous other villages, has been targeted by Israeli authorities for their commitment to grassroots organizing. Hundreds more have been arrested in the past two years in Ni’ilin, Nabi Saleh, Budrus, Jayyous, alMa’asara and the other villages who take part in the popular struggle against the occupation.
Every such arrest is a threat to our ability to sustain this new vital wave of grassroots resistance. Lawyers fees, bails and prisoner support are an obstacle that we will be able to overcome, but to do so, we need your support today more than we have ever needed it before.
Please click here to make a donation and encourage the work being done in these villages. Your contributions can help us stand up for a true justice in Palestine.
Additional information about a settler attack in Boere last night has been added to the end of this post, along with new photos, one of which shows a bite mark inflicted on a female demonstrator by a soldier.
Soldiers threaten a demonstrator during a violently repressed protest
The recent escalation of settler violence in Al-Khalil (Hebron) was matched by unwarranted military violence and the arbitrary arrest of peaceful protestors at the latest protest against the closure of Shuhada Street and illegal presence of Israeli settlers on Saturday 24 July 2010.
Cynical military violence
Israeli soldiers were brutal with an overwhelmingly peaceful group of demonstrators and made six arrests, apparently at random. Soldiers used great violence to arrest three French men, an Israeli activist, a Swedish man – and later that day a Palestinian. Protestors were kicked, punched, stamped on, dragged by the hair and two even reported being bitten by soldiers whilst they held on to fellow activists to prevent their arrest.
A peaceful tone for the protest was set by the local popular committee who had arranged for a visiting dance troupe from Syria to perform a traditional ‘dabka’ dance. Spirited chanting ensued and protestors linked arms to walk towards the market. However soldiers with M-16 rifles blocked their path and physically shoved them back.
A peaceful Swedish demonstrator was violently arrested by soldiers and detained for several hours
At one point a single protestor used a plastic flag pole to poke a soldier, after extreme and unnecessary force had already been employd by soldiers. Following this the army set upon the demonstrators, and started to beat any and all of those present. Arrests were made in an extremely vicious way, with young men being grabbed by their necks and put in headlocks. Several people were successfully de-arrested by fellow activists but the large military contingent made five arrests, handcuffing innocent people on the spot and dragging them away.
The protest calmed down somewhat when demonstrators sat on the floor to continue chanting peacefully. However the soldiers refused to allow even this. They drove people away from the closed off entrance to Shuhada Street and as they slowly backed off one soldier hurled a sound grenade into the retreating crowd – a rare occurrence in Hebron and a sign of the harsh manner in which the protest was repressed this week.
Arrests and legal intimidation
At least 25 people went to Kiryat Arba police station in Hebron, to demand the release of those arrested. They chanted and sang songs for three hours demanding they be freed. Later that evening the Swedish man – photos show the bruises on his body from being violently arrested – and the Israeli man were released without even being questioned, suggesting that police were well aware they had committed no crime.
However, the three French people, who had also done nothing wrong and are understood to have been observing the demonstration and not even participating, have been banned from Hebron, Ni’lin and Bil’in – three of the most important sites of nonviolent Palestinian resistance. This may have been because they admitted to being part of a group, called Generation Palestine.
The commander of the unit raises his arm to hit a peaceful protester
Last week a Swedish man, Marcus Regnander, was banned from the entire West Bank for six months after a similar arbitrary arrest and with again no evidence presented against him. His lawyer plans to appeal the case.
A Palestinian man arrested later that day at a checkpoint but was released Monday afternoon. His release may have been because police knew that their was a lot of video evidence of soldiers attacking him – rather than the other way round – so their claim that he attacked soldiers would easily have been exposed as a lie – however he still faces a court case.
Daily settler violence
In the past two weeks, Hebron – where human rights violations occur every day – has been even more troubled than usual.
On July 17, Mohammed, a shopkeeper, was attacked by twelve Israeli settlers near his shop by the Tomb of the Patriarchs. Without provocation, two of the settlers grabbed Mohammed and a third punched him in the face. When the ambulance arrived to take Mohammed to the hospital, the military refused to let it through, though he eventually saw a doctor who warned him he might require surgery on his left eye.
On July 18th an eleven year old Palestinian boy was run over by a settler on a motorbike. A witness, who said the man was driving at 80kph and continued after hitting the boy, said it was clearly no accident and similar incidents have occurred in the past.
Windows of a Palestinian property smashed by Israeli settlers
On July 20th there were problems at the shops near the Tomb of the Patriarchs. A group of settlers had parked their cars in front of the shops preventing people from getting access to them, even preventing one of the shops from opening, since a car had parked just in front of the entrance to the shop. Internationals were able to help resolve the situation peacefully and the cars were moved.
In Boere village activists met with local women who told them that during the last two weeks the settlers have been setting fire to crops near the family house, destroyed the water system in one of the plantations, cut a large number of tomato plants, smashed windows and slashed the tyres of two cars in the village. Locals also suspect that settlers might plan to steal more land in the village, since they also have cleared trees from an area on a hillside opposite the village, owned by a Palestinian family.
UPDATE 27 July 2010:
The bite mark on an activist's arm - inflicted by an Israeli soldier
ISM activists in Hebron report that last night in the village of Boere, about 100 settlers marched the streets proclaiming the area their territory. They are also said to have attacked members of CPT (Christian Peacemakers Team) who were videoing the settlers’ activities.
This photo shows a bite mark on the arm of a female demonstrator. She was one of two women who reported being bitten by a soldier when holding on to a fellow activist in order to de-arrest them.
Correction, 27 July 2010: Marcus’s surname was originally wrongly spelled ‘Rednander’ but has now been corrected.
Bogus charges
As part of Israel’s increased attempt at hindering the work of Palestine solidarity activists, an Israeli court yesterday dealt a further blow.
Marcus Regnander, a 26-year-old activist and nursing student from Sweden, was arrested by Israeli forces on the night of Tues. July 20. He was initially accused of assaulting an Israeli soldier during a demonstration in Hebron earlier this month. Regnander first saw a judge at the Court of Peace in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem on Wed. July 21. Although there was no proof of the accusations against him, Regnander was escorted away in handcuffs and shackles.
At 11:00 yesterday morning, after three nights in prison, Regnander was again brought before a judge in the Court of Peace for a second time, despite there still being no evidence against him – and after he had been told he would be released at noon. According to Regnander, the court did not allow any of the Israeli activists who were attempting to enter the courtroom inside in order to translate for the defendant.
“I did not understand anything,” Regnander said. “Everything was in Hebrew.”
Regnander said that the first Israeli public defendant was replaced by a new one this morning, one that, according to Regnander, “did not care about what was happening to me.”
The judge imposed conditions on Regnander. The conditions state that he cannot enter the West Bank for 180 days nor come within 50 meters of Israeli military checkpoints where soldiers are present.
“This is just one example that proves that there is no justice in Israel,” Regnander said. “The ruling was based on fabricated charges by people in positions of power.”
Mistreatment in Prison
Regnander spent three nights and 2.5 days in prison, approx. 60 hours. According to Regnander, he was only given two meals during this time. Furthermore, the Israeli guards continuously woke up Regnander throughout the night by turning on the lights, yelling, and “pushing me in different directions,” according to Regnander.
Appeal planned
Regnander plans to fight the court’s ruling, and lawyers will appeal his case.
For more information, contact:
Marcus Regnander, 0549-113-725
ISM Media Office, 0546-180-056 or 0597-606-276
Member - and former Vice President - of European Parliament, Luisa Morgantini, detained by soldiers in Bil'in
23 July 2010
Israeli soldiers detained the former Vice President of the European Parliament, Luisa Morgantini, in Bil’in this afternoon, injured one Israeli activist., and arrested another.
Sixty nine-year-old Morgantini, an Italian Member of the Euopean Parliament (MEP) has long been an outspoken supporter of Palestinians. She has participated several times in demonstrations in Bil’in and in June 2008 was injured when Israeli soldiers attacked a group of non-violent activists.
Morgantini, who served as Vice President of the European Parliament between 2007 and 2009, today joined the people of the West Bank village in their weekly Friday protest, which began after midday prayers. She was among a group of about 100 internationals supporting the peaceful demonstrators. People were dancing, singing and shouting slogans, among others the flag of the European Union was held aloft by Morgantini’s 50-strong delegation.
Israeli soldiers starting firing tear gas about ten minutes after the demonstration reached the fence that has been built illegally and cuts off villagers from their land. They then chased the protestors and forcefully detained the politician who was held for approximately 30 minutes before being released when her identity became clear to soldiers.
One Israeli activist, Kobi Snitz, was arrested while trying to speak to the army in order to secure Morgantini’s release. British activist Jody McIntyre was also detained temporarily. Another Israeli activist was hit with a tear gas canister suffered a head injury.
International media were present at this week's Bil'in protest
Nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, Morgantini was awarded the 2008 Peacemaker Award by the Rebuilding Alliance, an US non-profit organization committed to promoting respect for human rights and international law. She is a leading member of the Italian peace movement and a champion of the Palestinian cause.
Many people suffered from tear gas inhalation and stun grenades thrown into the field caused a fire among the olive trees.
Today’s protest in Bil’in proves once again that the army is continuing its policy of harshly suppressing demonstrations and arresting non-violent protesters. The demonstration called for the release of prisoners, Adeeb Abu Rahma, Abdullah Abu Rahme, Ibrahim al-Bornat, and Ahmed al-Bornat – all Bil’in residents jailed by Israel for resisting the occupation.
Correction, 27 July 2010: Marcus’s surname was originally wrongly spelled ‘Rednanver’ but has now been corrected.
A Swedish peace activist was arrested in Hebron last night and stood trial today in Jerusalem.
Nursing student Marcus Regnander was accused of assaulting a soldier at a peaceful demonstration in Hebron 10 days ago. Witnesses say the charge is baseless and that he has been targeted by police arbitrarily. The judge ordered that he be detained and questioned for a further two days.
At approximately 11PM last night (20 July 2010) Regnander and another Swedish man were passing a checkpoint near Tel Rumeida when soldiers forcefully detained him, confiscated his passport and called police.
Regnander was not told where he had been taken but believed it was a police station near Hebron.
Officials at the Court of Peace in the Russian Compound, Jerusalem, heard his case at 12.30 this afternoon. Following the judge’s ruling he was led wasy in handcuffs and shackled at the ankles. He told friends who attended the hearing that he had not been fed since he was arrested.
He will be released on Friday 23rd at 12 noon unless the police investigation can produce new evidence.
For more information contact:
ISM Media Office – 0545581494 or 0546180056 palreports@gmail.com
