22nd September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement | Ezaryah, Occupied Palestine
Today at 10:00, approximately 40 Palestinians and internationals marched together on a demonstration in the Ezaryah area east of Jerusalem. The demonstration was called to protest the forceful eviction of Palestinian Bedouin families in the Ras al-Baba area, close to Jerusalem.
Photo by ISM
The civil administration is planning to build a village for the Bedouin community on top of a rubbish site, this plan includes completely clearing the outskirts of Jerusalem, which would mean forcibly removing around 12,500 Bedouins from many areas for illegal settlement expansion.
Israeli border police were pushing the demonstrators and at one point nearly arrested a Palestinian man holding a sign as he attempted to place the Palestinian flag on an Israeli military jeep.
Photo by ISM
The Palestinian activists vowed to return to the area for more non-violent resistance over the coming days. The demonstration lasted around one hour; the civil administration, contractors and Israeli border police were left with no choice but to leave the area whilst demonstrators cheered.
On 24th of June, the Israeli Knesset approved the Prawer-Begin plan, which if implemented will result in the destruction of more than 35 unrecognized villages in Al-Naqab and the forced expulsion and confinement of more than 70,000 Palestinian Bedouins. The Prawer plan is the largest Israeli land-grab since 1948. It epitomizes the nature of Israel’s policy; Israeli-Jewish demographic expansion and Palestinian-Arab demographic containment.
The International community has repeatedly called on Israel to halt the implementation of the Prawer Plan due to its discriminatory nature and the severe infringement it causes on the rights of Palestinian Bedouins in Al-Naqab. The UN committee on the elimination of Racial Discrimination called on Israel to withdraw the proposed legislation of the Prawer Plan. Also, in 2012, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on Israel to stop the Prawer plan and its policies of forced displacement and dispossession.
Injustice, humiliation and forced displacement are a recurring theme in Palestine’s history. This is lesson that we as a group of youth take to the heart. We will oppose, resist and work against the continuous assault that our communities, across Palestine face. Therefore, we launched the “Prawer will not pass” campaign with an eye to preventing this plan to be yet another chapter in Palestine’s long and tragic history.
Opposing the Prawer Plan is to oppose ethnic cleansing, displacement and confinement in the 21st century.
Join us by organizing marches, protests, sending letters to those with positions of influence in your country or community, by doing whatever you can, in order to force Israel to stop the Prawer plan.
Join us on the 30th of November in saying “Prawer shall not Pass”.
22nd August 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Beit Hanina, Occupied Palestine
On the morning of the19th August, two hundred soldiers in thirty-eight jeeps and with two military dogs dismantled several tents housing the Tal ‘Adasa Bedouin community in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina.
Destroyed homes and furniture in front of the Apartheid Wall (photo by ISM)
At around 6am, Israeli soldiers surrounded the Bedouins tents, pointing guns at the fifty-three residents, which includes twenty-eight children. The family members were separated into three groups, always under the threat of guns, and were not allow to move for three hours. Children were not permitted to go to the bathroom nor to have anything to drink or eat.
At 9am, two armored bulldozers invaded the camp, destroying all the tents, animal facilities and furniture. The two military-trained dogs attacked the sheep and goats of the Bedouin, causing them to scatter all around. The Bedouins, worried about losing their flocks, ignored the soldiers orders and ran after them, managing to bring them back.
Three hours later, the soldiers left the area but before fining the community with 70,000 NIS for use of the bulldozers and – according to Israeli authorities – for illegally occupying the land. One of the eldest men of the community was told by Israeli soldiers that they have to clear the area within the next ten days, otherwise they will be arrested.
Destroyed Bedouin homes (photo by ISM)
The Red Cross and Palestine Red Crescent personnel visited the community after the demolitions and provided the Bedouins with nine tents. However, when international activists visited the community, there were only twenty-eight people left. Most of the children were moved to Jericho where they won’t be able to continue their schooling as they are already registered in the schools located in Beit Hanina area.
Surrounded by mountains of rubble and damaged furniture piled up around the area Abo Hosean Kaabna stated; “We have been living in Beit Hanina for over 60 years, since 1948 after being forcibly displaced from Al Khalil during the Nakba in 1948”. “I have been taking care of that olive tree for 16 years”, continued with deep sorrow on his face and tears in his eyes, pointing out a large tree in front of him.
If the threats of the Israeli authorities are carried out, next Wednesday, the soldiers will go back and arrest the remaining Bedouins, as the community has no intention of leaving the area.
“Please, don’t forget us. This is not finished yet, we will have to face other problems later. Our community will have to look for another place to live but we don’t know where we could go and families will be forced to be separate again”, said Abu Hosean Kaabna.
This Bedouin community received a demolition order last June and since that time they have been expecting the order to be enforced, without knowing the exact date that their homes would be destroyed.
The Tal ‘Adasa Bedouin community has been living in Beit Hanina for over 50 years after being displaced from Hebron and Beer Seba areas during the 1948 Nakba. Despite living within the Jerusalem boundaries, residents of this community only hold West Bank IDs. In 2006, the Annexation Wall was constructed to the east and west of the community, isolating it from the rest of the West Bank. Israeli authorities rarely issue them permits to cross Qalandiya checkpoint and access the West Bank, cutting them off from villages such as Bir Nabala and Ram, where they have family relatives.
For nearly the past twenty years Israeli officials have attemped in several occasions to force them off their land. However, even after the Israeli forces demolished their houses, residents of Tal ‘Asada remain steadfast on the land.
31st July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Huwwara, Occupied Palestine
In Huwwara, 9km south of Nablus there are two Bedouin families who have been living in tents with their animals since the start of June. They are usually camped near Hebron or in the Naqab desert, but for the summer they are based in Huwwara so the animals have room to move. They have had no problems thus far with the Israeli army from the neighbouring Huwwara military base or settlers whom drive up and down the road near their tents.
Bedouin camp near Huwwara (Photo by ISM)
The other Bedouin living close by in Huwwara however were less fortunate – at the beginning of July they were attacked by settlers from the nearby illegal settlements of Itamar and Yitzhar. On Saturday the 6th of July about 50 settlers invaded the Bedouin camps attacking the residents and trying to steal the Bedouin’s sheep. The settlers damaged a tractor and private car and began to destroy plants and trees in the area until the District Coordination Office (liasion between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities) intervened and directed them to leave the area.
These two families, however are denied access to water by Israel. They do not have water to drink, wash or provide to their animals. Thus they are forced to travel over 1km with the tank in tow to go and buy water. According to a UN Humanitarian Factsheet on Area C of the West Bank, July 2011 “communities depending on tankered water pay up to 400% more for every liter than those connected to the water network”. Israel’s national water company, Mekorot holds a monoply over the water supplies providing almost half the water consumed by Palestinian communities effected, making a profit off the water shortages that are a result of the Israeli occupation.
Water tank required to bring water to the Bedouin camps (Photo by ISM)
Over 60 percent of the West Bank is considered Area C, therefore under full Israeli civil and security control, including planning and zoning and preventing any possible construction for water access. An estimated 150,000 Palestinians live in Area C, including 27,500 Bedouin and other herders. The discrepancy in water consumption between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the West Bank is vast. Israelis, including settlers, have access to 300 liters of water per day, according to EWASH, while the West Bank average is around 70 liters, below the World Health Organization’s recommended minimum of 100 liters per day for basic sanitation, hygiene and drinking.
1st July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | ‘Anata, Jerusalem
The Bedouin community of ‘Anata suffers daily from the consequences of living just underneath the Apartheid Wall of East Jerusalem; the community is considered unwanted by the Israelis, and is therefore a victim of attacks and harassment. In addition, their unique location between two major settlements, Almon and Ma’ale Adumim and the Palestinian village of ‘Anata means that the Bedouin people living there are caught in the middle of the weekly clashes between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli occupation forces.
Homes of the Bedouin community of ‘Anata (Photo by ISM)
Yesterday, Sunday 30th June, four internationals guided by a journalist visited the Bedouin community in ‘Anata, located just 4 kilometers northeast of Jerusalem. We saw the poor living conditions of the villagers, who live in shacks or tents. Many of them suffer from asthma, and aren’t allowed access to the hospitals of Jerusalem – instead, they have to drive all the way around the illegal settlements to Ramallah. They told us about the insecurity of living close to the wall, which became apparent by the sight of Israeli rubber bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters lying everywhere in the village. These violations are especially critical because three quarters of the Bedouin villagers are children, who don’t have places to hide, because of the fragile housing conditions. In addition, the animals held by the villagers are suffering from the same conditions as a result of the numerous tear gas attacks. The Israeli occupation forces often enter the village to arrest Bedouins for apparently made up accusations. For example, they have accused the villagers of stealing horses, even though it was obvious that no one in the village held horses. The Bedouin parents expressed concerns about their children getting accused for the actions of the Palestinian shabab (protesting youth).
Especially on Fridays, violent clashes between the Palestinian shabab and the Israeli forces take place in the Bedouin villages, even though the villagers explicitly has declared that they don’t want to take part. Therefore, the items thrown by both parties often hit the villagers: stones from the shabab and tear gas, rubber bullets, etc from the Israeli army.
Apartheid Wall visible behind the community of ‘Anata (Photo by ISM)
The Israeli intimidation attacks seek to evict the Bedouins completely from their land and serve the higher purpose of creating a physical link between the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim and the illegal annexation of East Jerusalem. This is known as the ‘E1 Plan’, and the Bedouins are, from an inhumane Israeli perspective, currently in the way of letting this happen. The Israelis are currently working on the so-called Nuweimeh Plan, which seeks to solve the ‘Bedouin problem’ by relocating the approximately 2300 Bedouins of the E1-zone to a town named Nuweimeh near Jericho. The lands of Nuweimeh, however is unsuitable for the animals to graze, and in addition there is no job opportunities, which is why the Bedouins who already are settled there live almost solely on UN food parcels.
The Bedouin community has therefore received demolition orders and orders to halt construction from the Jerusalem Governorate, even though they pay the Palestinian National Authority NIS 1000 a year to live there. The Israeli attempt to forcefully evict the Bedouins is violating international humanitarian law. In spite of the threats by the Israelis, the Bedouin community refuses to move from their lands.
