Tag: Beit Ummar - Page 7 - International Solidarity Movement

Beit Ommar harvests despite Israeli threats

15 June 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

On June 14th 2011 a Beit Ommar farmer reported that he was “ordered” to leave his farm land by an armed security guard from the adjacent Karmei Tzur settlement. The guard apparently used a dog to drive the farmer and his family from the land. Settlers had also recently set fire to the wheat harvest on the same farmland. The farmland borders a large separation fence, behind which there is further farmland and the settlement.

On June 18th the farmer, his family, some villagers, Israelis, and internationals returned to the land to farm and harvest grape leaves. The armed guard arrived and called the army who came in three trucks with an additional police truck. Approximately 15 soldiers entered the farmer’s land from the settlement through a gate in the fence. The soldiers told the farmer he could not farm his land, claiming it was a closed military zone. Following interaction with the Israeli protesters, the commander then changed his order so that the farmer and the villagers were permitted to farm, so long as the Israeli and internationals remained 150m away. The villagers completed their farming, while the Isrealis and internationals waited. They all returned to the village after harvesting. The farmer will continue to farm his land.

Beit Ommar is located to the south of Hebron. The “security fence” was built around the settlement about five years ago. The fence encircles the Karmei Tzur settlement , but also encompasses a significant amount of village land. This farm is outside the settlement fence but has experienced problems from the settlers in recent months.

Israeli soldier to activists who were detained near Beit Ommar: “I could kill you.”

11 June 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

On Saturday June 11 three International Solidarity Movement activists were stopped by the Israeli army when trying to enter the village of Beit Ommar in the southern West Bank. The activists were going to participate in a non-violent demonstration against the illegal settlements in the area.

As the activists tried to enter the village Israeli soldiers stopped them and claimed that the area had been declared a closed military zone. When questioned about not being able to show the official paper needed to prove this, one soldier pointed at a sign which stated that the area is under Palestinian Authority and that no Israelis were allowed to enter the area. The soldier used this as justification for not allowing the internationals to enter. He went on to complain that Israelis were not able to enter the village, despite it being, as he put it, a part of “Israel”.

The activists then attempted to leave the village when the soldiers apparently changed their mind and dragged them from the bus they had boarded. No explanation was given when the activists asked why they were being detained. One of the soldiers had a more aggressive approach than the others, and was interested in discussing politics with the activists. He called them “leftist shits”, and told them “I could kill you”, before spitting at them and cursing them in Hebrew. He also told the activists that Palestinians were terrorists and that Beit Ommar was a dangerous village.

The soldiers lied and told the activists that they would be free to go if they showed them their passports, however they took this back after one of the activists showed her passport. One activist managed to escape detention and left the area, however the other two were asked to step into a military jeep when it arrived. When refusing to do this, since no reason had been given, the soldiers dragged the two activists into the jeep with force, despite them telling the soldiers that they need a female police officer to arrest them. They were taken to the commander of the force who amongst other things accused the activists of being terrorists and Syrian spies, spying on the Israeli military. After being taken to the police station in Kiryat Arba, an illegal settlement in the outskirts of Hebron, the activists were released after a few minutes without charge.

The demonstration in Beit Ommar went ahead as planned and protesters managed to successfully reach and work on the land belonging to the farmers of Beit Ommar.

Activists demonstrate and work land, despite Israeli military harrasment

24 April 2011 | Palestine Solidarity Project

On Saturday, April 23, eight Israeli activists and 24 international volunteers joined residents of Beit Ommar for an action near Karmei Tsur organized by the Beit Ommar National Committee Against the Wall and Settlements. The international contingent included volunteers from the Palestine Solidarity Project and International Solidarity Movement, as well as the Belgian group Checkpoint Singers. The demonstrators gathered in the lands near Karmei Tsur, and marched towards the settlement carrying flags and signs and chanting against the occupation.

As the protest neared the settlement, soldiers from the Israeli Defense Forces lined the path. The protest continued beside the military for several hundred feet, before the soldiers stepped out and blocked the road. The IDF refused to let the demonstration pass.

The Checkpoint Singers began to sing as protesters argued with the soldiers, asking to continue their peaceful demonstration on their land. The lieutenant in command showed papers labeling the area a closed military zone and told the assembled protesters that anyone still in the area in three minutes would be arrested. The demonstrators refused to go.

Three minutes passed, and the soldiers prepared to move in. Then, Ahmed Abu Hashem gestured to his land, a field next to the road. “We are here to work my land,” he said.

“Then where is your tractor? Come back with a tractor, and you can work on your land,” the lieutenant replied.

Abu Hashem explained that a tractor was not needed, as stones needed to be cleared from the field by hand first. The lieutenant said that such an action needed to be coordinated through them first.

“Coordination my ass,” shouted a Beit Ommar resident.

Abu Hashem turned away from the soldiers, looping around the military line and walking onto his land. The rest of the protesters followed, and the soldiers formed a perimeter to attempt to contain the movement. As the choir sang anti-opression songs, Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals began to pull stones from the earth and add them to the rock walls bordering the field. Whenever a they approached the soldiers, the military would retreat, and soon a handful of the faster workers had pushed the IDF three-quarters of the way across the field.

While the demonstrators cleared the field, soldiers called out to them and asked them to stop. Despite the closed military zone and threats of arrest, work went on and on one was detained. The action dispersed on its own terms, and only after a substantial number of stones had been removed.

Army uses disproportionate force against small demonstration in Beit Ommar

02 April 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Today, small peaceful demonstrations in Beit Ommar were met with disproportionate force by the Israeli army. Just after 11 o’clock this morning, a small group of villagers and internationals marched to the entrance of the village where they were met by lines of soldiers preventing them from exiting the village. The soldiers soon declared the area a closed military zone and erected a barricade preventing vehicles from entering and exiting. The army then threw teargas and sound grenades directly at demonstrators to drive the small group back into the village. The march was organised to commemorate Land Day and protest the encroachment of Karmei Tsur settlement on land belonging to local farmers. Karmei Tsur is one of five illegal settlements built on land belonging to Beit Ommar villagers.

Later in the day a group of approximately 25 Israeli activists arrived to protest the closure of the village and were greeted by truckloads of soldiers who violently dragged them away from the village and detained them at the petrol station next to the village. A number of members of the group, who had all come to protest peacefully, were arrested.

Beit Ommar blockaded after settler attacks

29 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

On Monday 28th March the Israeli army blockaded the town of Beit Ommar after arresting 15 young men the previous day. On the evening of March 27th troops entered the town arresting the young men all between the ages of 14 and 19. No reasons were initially given for the arrests of Jameel Ahmad Za’aqeeq (14), Allam Yousif Awad (14), Hasan Majed Solieby (14), Mahamad Yasir Za’aqeek (19), Ahmad Yasir Za’aqeek (19), Ahmad Mohamed Ehklail (16), Ahmad Yousif Sabarnah (18), Mohamad Yousif Sabarnah (16), Mohamad Azzam Za’aqeek (16), Montasir Mohamed Ehklail (16), Ameer Alkam (17), Mohamad Jadallah Solieby (19), Malik Naif Solieby (16), Shareef Fathy Abu Ayyash (18), and Yousef Ayesh Sabarneh (14); however an Israeli military spokesperson later claimed they were taken for ‘security questioning’.

The next morning while workers and students were attempting to leave the town, Israeli forces prevented buses and taxis from collecting passengers. They fired teargas and sound bombs at people who attempted to pass the road blocks that they had set up to block the entrance the previous week. No one was permitted to leave Beit Ommar until after the soldiers departure approximately 90 minutes later. The Israeli army has been closing roads in Beit Ommar since 23rd March and are believed to be planning the construction of a permanent isolation wall around the town.

Sunday’s arrests were made after a settler car was hit by a stone four days previously. This followed an incident on 21st March when a settler driving on the Jerusalem – Hebron road jumped out of his car and using a hand gun opened fire on a funeral procession heading to Beit Ommar cemetery. Muhammad Ali Abu Safiyya (59) was shot in the chest and Bassam Za’aqeek (32) was shot in his right thigh. This is the second armed attack on citizens of Beit Ommar by settlers this year. On January 29th, 17 year old Yousef Fakhri Ikhlayl was shot in the head by a settler, leaving him brain dead.