Village near Bethlehem protests against the Wall by Alice Grey, IMEMC, 11 May 2007
Prayers held at the land slated for annexation in Wadi Neiss (Photo: Alice Grey)
Approximately 50 protesters gathered in Wadi Niis on Friday to continue the weekly non-violent demonstrations against the construction of the Wall that have been happening in the area over the last few months. The wall, which is allegedly being built for the security of the nearby Efrat Settlement, will annex over 70% of the land belonging to the nearby village of Um Salamoneh.
This weeks action is part of the “Stop the Bleeding of Bethlehem” campaign launched few in April to nonviolently resist the wall in Bethlehem area. Several nonviolent actions have been organzied in Bethlehem area through the campaign since launched.
This week the protest had a dual theme, as speakers called for the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who is being held by an Islamist group in Gaza called the Army of Islam since March 12. Speakers stressed that the group is representing Palestine to the world, and that they should therefore conform to the non-violent ideology of those they claim to represent; and that all Palestinian groups should join hands in struggling against the Israeli Occupation, and that Mr Johnston, who has nothing to do with the Occupation and has in fact been a friend of the Palestinians, should be released without delay.
As usual, prayers were held on the land that is to be annexed. This week, the meeting took place on a field of vine trees that will soon be lost behind the wall; watched over by approximately 30 Israeli soldiers. After prayers, protesters moved to walk along the route the wall will take across the land but were prevented by the soldiers. Despite provocation by the soldiers who pushed and hit protesters, the non-violent character of the demonstration was maintained at all times. As soldiers tried to push the demonstrators back, they sat down on the road, calling “Where is the peace, where is the justice?” A sit-in was maintained for a short time before the demonstration peacefully dispersed.
Action in al Khas and al-Numan villages dazes Israeli forces by ISM Beit Ummar, 5 May 2007
Demonstrators reach the wall in al-Numan
Residents of Al-Nu’man and Al-Khas villages today took part in a non-violent demonstration at the Israeli Apartheid Wall, which divides families and relatives between the two villages. The two villages were practically one before the building of this fence. In fact, the municipal offices were centered only in Al-Khas, as was the mosque and the school.
Al-Nu’man is a small village situated southeast of Jerusalem and northeast of Bethlehem, a few hundred meters north of Beit Sahour. In 1967, Israel illegally de facto annexed East Jerusalem and surrounding areas, including the land of al-Nu’man village. However, the inhabitants of the village were recorded as West Bank residents and given West Bank IDs, rather than the Jerusalem IDs received by most Palestinians in the illegally annexed areas. As West Bank ID holders, these residents are considered by Israel to be illegally residing in Jerusalem simply by being in their homes.
A petition submitted by residents of Al-Nu’man village, supported by the Al-Haq and Defence for Children International- Palestine Section humanitarian agencies will be heard by Jerusalem High Court of Justice at 9:00am on Sunday 13 May 2007.
Today’s demonstration comes as part of the “Stop the Bleeding of Bethlehem” campaign, which aims to mobilize residents of the Bethlehem area to non-violently resist all forms of the Israeli occupation, including the wall, military checkpoints and land confiscation.
At around 11am, some 80 protestors, including Israeli and foreign peace and solidarity activists, converged on either side of the fence, which has besieged both villages. Activists from Tayyush came from the Israeli side with posters against the occupation, calling for peace. On the other side, people from the Christian Peacemakers’ Team, the International Solidarity Movement and the Alternative Information Center, held posters and banners about the occupation in Bethlehem, and both groups started their march to the Wall.
The Israeli group attempted to arrive at the checkpoint, walking along the main street from the village of An Numan, but were met by Israeli troops. The soldiers were prepared in advance and blocked the street, just a few meters from the outskirts of the village. At that point, the demonstrators started to run down the hill and managed to arrive at the fence, despite the presence of the Israeli military.
At the same time, on the other side of the fence, activists armed only with Palestinian flags started their march to the fence through the village’s agricultural lands. Upon arrival at the razor wire barrier, just five meters in front of the fence, they trampled the barbed spikes, crossing the temporary barricade to arrive exactly in the shadow of the fence.
From the Israeli side, demonstrators were met by three military vehicles and two jeeps of border police, full of Israeli soldiers and policemen. The Israeli forces shot tear gas and sound grenades at the unarmed protesters in an attempt to disperse them. Two unarmed demonstrators were injured when tear gas canisters were shot into their legs. Each suffered minor cuts and light burns.
After a few minutes of confusion, the situation calmed down and on both sides, demonstrators started throwing colored ribbons and strings from one side to the other, while relatives from each village shook hands through the fence and spoke of their lives since their enforced separation.
The demonstrators started singing in Hebrew and Arabic, but soldiers and police officers drowned out their songs by screaming at the peaceful activists “to go far from the fence”, threatening to shoot those who did not comply. The demonstrators managed to remain in place for half an hour, while arguing with soldiers and policeman, but no further clashes were reported.
The Israeli soldiers then started pushing people away from the fence from the An Numan side, while a military Hummer and a jeep entered Al Khas village to meet those demonstrators who were withdrawing. The troops argued with the protesters for almost twenty minutes, trying to prevent them from taking pictures, before giving up and leaving the scene.
Photo by Polly Bangoriad
Behind them, the fence was covered with colored ribbons, alongside posters calling for peace and the end of the occupation. From both sides, dazed soldiers struggled to understand how to remove the ribbons from the fence and were left looking at each other in confusion.
The demonstration ended peacefully, and no arrests were reported.
Anti-Wall protest in Bethlehem by Palestinian workers in honor of Labor Day by Geroge Rishmawi, 4 May 2007
Photo, George Rishmawi
Some two hundred peaceful demonstrators in Bethlehem protested on Friday against the construction of the annexation wall in the village of Wadi Al-Neiss. The demonstration included mostly Palestinian workers in addition to international peace activists and observers to commemorate Labor day on May 1.
A large number of Israeli soldiers stopped the demonstrators who carried signs demanding an end to the construction of the wall which is annexing a very wide agricultural area to Israel. Troops prevented the demonstrators from reaching the construction site and attempted to arrest one of the protesters, however, other demonstrators managed to release him, before he was taken by the soldiers.
The protest started with the Friday prayers being held in the village close to the confiscated land. Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, Minister of Information and a number of Parliament Members in addition to the governor of Bethlehem Mr. Salah Al-Taamari joined the action. Dr. Barghouthi spoke to the crowed quoting the Minister of Interior of South Africa who was visiting Bethlehem before the action, that “the apartheid system Israel is making will fall as it fell in South Africa”.
Several other local leaders spoke, including Shaher Sa’ed, head of the Union of Palestinian Workers, who emphasized that the construction of the wall is not for security, but to increase poverty in Palestine, by separating Palestinians from their main source of income.
Samer Jaber, one of the organizers of the event, said this nonviolent action in Wadi Al-Neiss is part of the Stop the Bleeding of Bethlehem campaign which was launched two weeks ago with the goal of mobilizing the people of Bethlehem to resist the various forms of the Israeli occupation, including the wall, settlements, military checkpoints and roadblocks.
Israeli settlers attack Palestinian farmers and Israeli policemen by the ISM Media Crew, 4 May 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4th, 2007
Two weeks ago, villagers from al Khader tore down razor wire surrounding an abandoned Palestinian-owned building near their village. The building which has been standing since before 1948 is for use by the residents of al Khader.
On May 2nd, settlers from the Hanael settlement came into al Khader and beat up villagers as retaliation for the cutting of the razor wire the previous week. The settlers have been trying to gain control of the abandoned Palestinian building.
Today approximately 200 settlers trespassed on the village farmland and beat up two Palestinian farmers from al Khader who were demonstrating against the recent violence and lack of access to their land. Two Palestinians were detained and later released by the army. Soldiers were also assaulted by the settlers. The army did not respond to settler violence against the Palestinians, citing the fact that they were on a holiday as the reason they were unable intervene.
The settlement Hanael gets its name from Hanan, a settler who was given permission to serve 2 years out of an 8 year prison sentence for armed robbery of a bank in Israel on the actual settlement itself. The settlement has been ruled illegal by the Israeli court.
Farmers from al Khader are planning an upcoming tree planting event on the village farmland and will be seeking volunteers.
For more information, contact
Samer, 0522531172
ISM Media Office, 0599943157
Bil’in, West of Bethlehem, Jafa – the joint struggle continues by Ilan S., AATW, 29 April 2007
Bil’in
It was a “regular” Friday demonstration in Bil’in – the 116th since it started 25 months ago. As usual, we started at noon the march towards the route of the separation fence which is used to rob most of the lands of the village for the building additional district in the settler colonialist town Modi’in Ilit. The marchers – Palestinians from the village and the region, internationals, Israelis of the Anarchists Against The Wall initiative, did not choose the road that leads to the Western lands and blocked by the gate of the fence structure. Instead, we went the other direction, part of it through paths within olive groove. We out smarted the Israeli state force who were expecting us in the main road (about kilometer away) to prevent us from coming near the fence – as they did the two previous Fridays. The last few hundred meters where the far away soldiers could see us we were running.
Till the main force of the soldiers arrived, few of us already passes through the razor wire spools and the metal fence beyond on our side of the route of the fence, and stood along the electronic fence. Most of the others stood along the metal rails at the edge of the route – banging on it with stones. The state force tried to drive the intruders and the rest of us who were near by with tear gas grenades, but after they got few of them thrown back – they stopped. They tried the water canon to drive us away – but in the hot spring day it was mainly refreshing us… They tried to arrest two of the ones that were near the electronic fence – but comrades dearested them and the soldiers yielded.
In this unusual situation, the stone throwers who do not approve our nonviolent demonstration and usually disrupt it, were in position among us, but hesitated due to the “interesting” way the demonstration developed, and did not throw stones till the demonstration was declared finished and the nonviolent demonstrators started to disperse.
When part of us tried to pay a visit to the usual site of the Friday demonstration – near the gate on the road leading to the lands of the village West of the fence, the soldiers resisted us with tear gas mainly, and arrested one of the village comity as a way to press us to return to the village faster – promising to release him when we will be on the way to the village. They shoot tear gas canisters to hasten us, but when we were near the houses of the village they released the comrade.
No one was injured seriously this Friday, but many of us were wet and colored by the turquoise powder added to the water of the water cannon.
——————————– Bethlehem
Today. over a hundred demonstrators from the villages of Beit Fag’ar, Um Salamuna, Wadi An-Nis, Al- Masara, Al-Khadr, and Beit Ommar joind by internationals and Israeli activists made an attempt to block route 60 outside the settlement of Efrrat, the demonstrators carred signs against the building of the apartheid wall in the area south of Bethlehem only a large presence of border police and soldiers who waited in the area managed to keep the demonstrators from blocking the road. Doing this kind of activity in the front door of a big settlement is another step for the struggle in the area .
——————————— Jaffa
Long ago, Jaffa was annexed to the Jewish Tel Aviv municipality and settled with lot of Jewish immigrants which “diluted” the remnants of the original Palestinian residents who where not transfered out during the 1948 Nacba.
Last Friday, a few hundred Jafa residents and supporters marched through the city against a move by the municipality to transfer some 500 Arab-Israeli families out of their homes. The marchers included local government officials, a rainbow of local organizations, residents, and supporters from around the country – including activists of the anarchists against the wall. There were cries of ‘Jews and Arabs Against Home Demolitions’ and ‘This Transfer Will Not Pass’, comparing current events to the Nakba in 1948, but altogether the march was a bit subdued. As usual for Jafa protests there was no police presence in sight, to keep things calm but also in reflection of the relationship between the Arab residents and the police. At the end marchers sat in a basketball court overlooking Jaffa’s reef beach, that after years of neglect and 20 years in the planning, is now being converted into a grand park — just in time for the hundreds of new wealthy residents who are entering Ajame neighborhood. Speakers included representatives of the new popular committee established to combat the situation, residents who’s homes have become part of the struggle, and members of organizations supporting it — all were encouraged by the large turnout and hopeful about the days ahead.
At some point anarchists raised a banner with the anarchist “A” and flag but took it down on request of the organizers.
