21 October 2010 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee
Adeeb Abu Rahmah sentenced to 18 months
Adeeb Abu Rahmah, a protest leader from Bil’in, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment by the Military Court of Appeals, for his involvement in organizing demonstrations. The decision dramatically aggravates the one-year sentence originally imposed in the first instance.
Judge Lieutenant Colonel Benisho of the Military Court of Appeals accepted the Military prosecution’s appeal in Adeeb Abu Rahmah’s case today, which demanded to harshen the already heavy-handed one-year sentence imposed on him by the prior instance back in July. The court sentenced Abu Rahmah 18 months of imprisonment with bail of 6,000 NIS and suspended sentence of 1 year. An appeal filed by the defense both on the severity of the punishment and on the conviction itself was denied.
Adeeb Abu Rahmah’s sentence is the first to be handed by the Military Court of Appeals in a series of recent trials against high-profile Palestinian anti-Wall grassroots organizers. The harsh and imbalanced decision is likely to affect other cases, most notably that of Abdallah Abu Rahmah – the Bil’in organizer declared human rights defender by the EU – who was too recently sentenced to a year in jail by the first instance of the military court.
Adeeb Abu Rahmah’s case relied heavily on the forced confessions of four minors arrested in nighttime raids by Israeli soldiers. The four attested in court to having been coerced into incriminating Abu Rahmah and other organizers during the course of their police investigations. They were also questioned unlawfully, denied consol and without their parents being presents and, in some cases, late at night.
The ruling in the appeal concludes 15 months of unfair legal procedures, held amidst a massive Israeli arrest campaign, which ended with an upheld conviction of incitement, activity against the public order and entering a closed military zone.
This precedent-setting decision is the first time in recorded history of the Israeli Military Court of Appeals in which a Palestinian is convicted with a charge of incitement. Even the original one year sentence dramatically exceeds precedents set by the Israeli Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals’ even harsher sentence highlights the lack of equality before the law between Israelis and Palestinians, who are tried before two different legal systems. For instance, in a case of a Jewish settler convicted of incitement to murder, the court only imposed an eight months suspended sentence.
Attorney Gaby Lasky (Defense): “Today the court of appeals has shown that it is serving as one more instance of political repression not as an actual court where justice is served. The court admitted what we all knew – that the entire system is trying to make an example of Adeeb in order to silence the entire Popular Struggle movement against Israel’s occupation.”
Background
Having served his original one-year prison term in full, Adeeb Abu Rahmah should have been released immediately after hearing the sentence. The military prosecution, which hoped for an even harsher sentence as part of its ongoing efforts to use legal persecution to suppress the Palestinian popular struggle, petitioned the Military Court of Appeals, asking that Abu Rahmah remains incarcerated despite having served his sentence.
In a clearly politically motivated decision, Judge Lieutenant Colonel Benisho of the Military Court of Appeals decided to remand Abu Rahmah until a decision in the appeal, saying that “This is an appeal filed to set the proper punishment in a unique case regarding which a general punishment level has not yet been set.” The judge chose to completely ignore the punishment level set forth by the supreme court in similar and even harsher cases. Benisho also ignored a supreme court precedent instructing the courts to only extend the remand of convicts past the time they were sentenced to in very extreme situations.
Bil’in protest organizer Abdallah Abu Rahmah was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment today, for his involvement in his village’s unarmed struggle against the wall.
Abdallah Abu Rahmah was sentenced today to 12 months in prison, plus 6 months suspended sentence for 3 years and a fine of 5,000 NIS. In the sentencing, the judge cited the non-implementation of an Israeli High Court ruling which declared the current route of the wall on Bil’in’s land illegal as a mitigating factor.
The military prosecution is likely to appeal this sentencing – as they did in the case of Adeeb Abu Rahmah, who was also sentenced for 12 months on similar charges but is still in prison after 15 months, pending the decision about the prosecution’s appeal. The defense attorney, adv. Gaby Lasky, is considering an appeal against Abu Rahma’s conviction.
Today’s sentencing hearing was attended by diplomats from the United Kingdom, the European Union, Belgium, Germany along with representatives of UNSCO and Human Rights Watch.
“The Israeli army, which served as prosecutor, judge and jury in this case, is try to use Abu Rahmah to set an example that will deter people from protesting. They have even said so themselves”, said Mohammed Khatib of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee. “Their message falls on deaf ears, as we have no choice but to continue struggling for our lands, our freedom and our dignity”, he added.
Background
Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was arrested last year by soldiers who raided his home at the middle of the night and was subsequently indicted before an Israeli military court on unsubstantiated charges that included stone-throwing and arms possession. Abu Rahmah was cleared of both the stone-throwing and arms possession charges, but convicted of organizing illegal demonstrations and incitement.
An exemplary case of mal-use of the Israeli military legal system in the West Bank for the purpose of silencing legitimate political dissent, Abu Rahmah’s conviction was subject to harsh international criticism. The EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, expressed her deep concern “that the possible imprisonment of Mr Abu Rahma is intended to prevent him and other Palestinians from exercising their legitimate right to protest[…]”, after EU diplomats attended all hearings in Abu Rahmah’s case. Ashton’s statement was followed by one from the Spanish Parliament.
Renowned South African human right activist, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, called on Israel to overturn Abu Rahmah’s conviction on behalf of the Elders, a group of international public figures noted as elder statesmen, peace activists, and human rights advocates, brought together by Nelson Mandela. Members of the Elders, including Tutu, have met with Abu Rahmah on their visit to Bil’in prior to his arrest.
International human rights organizations Amnesty International condemned Abu Rahmah’s conviction as an assault on the right to freedom of expression. Human Rights Watch denounced the conviction, pronouncing the whole process “an unfair trial”.
Legal Background
Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was acquitted of two out of the four charges brought against him in the indictment – stone-throwing and a ridiculous and vindictive arms possession charge. According to the indictment, Abu Rahmah collected used tear-gas projectiles and bullet cases shot at demonstrators, with the intention of exhibiting them to show the violence used against demonstrators. This absurd charge is a clear example of how eager the military prosecution is to use legal procedures as a tool to silence and smear unarmed dissent.
The court did, however, find Abu Rahmah guilty of two of the most draconian anti-free speech articles in military legislation: incitement, and organizing and participating in illegal demonstrations. It did so based only on testimonies of minors who were arrested in the middle of the night and denied their right to legal counsel, and despite acknowledging significant ills in their questioning.
The court was also undeterred by the fact that the prosecution failed to provide any concrete evidence implicating Abu Rahmah in any way, despite the fact that all demonstrations in Bil’in are systematically filmed by the army.
Under military law, incitement is defined as “The attempt, verbally or otherwise, to influence public opinion in the Area in a way that may disturb the public peace or public order” (section 7(a) of the Order Concerning Prohibition of Activities of Incitement and Hostile Propaganda (no.101), 1967), and carries a 10 years maximal sentence.
Seized in the night. Tortured. Held without trial, then tried in a military court where you have no rights; convicted on the coerced confessions of minors, you are facing a sentence of years in prison. All for organizing peaceful protests against the theft of your land and asserting your democratic rights.
Most of us who believe in human rights and democracy can never imagine being treated in such a way. Yet that is exactly what befell Abdallah Abu Rahmah, a democracy advocate from Bil’in in the Occupied West Bank. His town is known around the world for the determination of its residents – joined by Israelis and internationals in solidarity – to protest weekly against the theft of their land by Israeli authorities.
In Abdallah’s case, the charges were as bogus as the consequences were grave. He had collected spent tear gas canisters (see picture) to represent the harshness of the Israeli soldiers’ continuing violent response to unarmed demonstrators, and which had caused the death of Bassem Abu Rahme, Mr. Abu Rahmah’s cousin.
Israel charged, that Abdallah intended to use the no longer viable canisters as weapons. They arrested him, charging him as a security risk! This illustrates that the Israeli Defense Forces are far more afraid of unarmed protest than of armed resistance, and showing that they view Palestinians asserting their democratic rights as a crime. He was convicted on the ridiculous charges of “organizing illegal marches” and “incitement” after a unfair trial, and is now facing years in prison.
We who draw inspiration from his actions cannot let this happen. Now is the time to raise our voices and ensure Abdallah Abu Rahmah is free to organize and advocate for the rights of his community. We stand with Abdallah.
Israel needs to realize that leaders like Abdallah offer the best hope for a just peace for Israelis and Palestinains alike. We need to tell our governments to use their influence with Israel to free Abdallah Abu Rahmah.
Brutal suppression of the Palestinian popular struggle continues: A Palestinian man was shot in the leg with live ammunition in Bil`in, while live rounds were also fired in Ni`lin and An-Nabi Saleh, where rubber-coated steel bullets were fired at children. In Beit Ummar a Palestinian man was beaten unconscious by Israeli forces yet only an innocent French peace activist was arrested for assault. Demonstrators marched around the Old City in Hebron, and burned settlement goods in Al-Ma`sara, showing their support and solidarity to the people of Silwan where a Palestinian man was killed by a private settler guard on Wednesday.
Friday demonstrations
Palestinian and international demonstrators carry Ashraf after he is shot in the leg
Bil`in
On Friday, Bil`in resident Ashraf Al-Khatib was shot in the leg with a 0.22” caliber live bullet at the weekly demonstration against the illegal apartheid wall. An international nonviolent activist was also hit in the shoulder with a low-flying tear gas canister, and the hundreds of other participants were attacked with huge quantities of tear gas.
The weekly protest is against land theft by the illegal apartheid wall and the Israeli occupation in general. This week, the marchers also expressed solidarity with Palestinians in East Jerusalem (al-Quds) where a Silwan resident was shot dead by an Israeli settler security guard on Wednesday morning.
Two hundred Palestinians accompanied by around thirty international and Israeli activists assembled at the village’s Mosque after noon and marched towards the apartheid wall, chanting “no, no, to the wall” and “Free! Free! Palestine.” Around forty Israeli soldiers ran out of the gate to the settlement as they saw the march approaching, blockading the road.
Protesters marched up to the soldiers and confronted them, demanding to be allowed to walk on the village’s land, which even the Israeli High Court conceded was Palestinian in 2007. The soldiers did not allow anyone through, using their shields to aggressively push back the peaceful demonstrators. One Palestinian activist tried to fasten a poster to a soldier’s shield saying “Free Adeeb Abu Rahma,” referring to one of Bil`in’s four political prisoners held by Israel for organizing the weekly protests. The commander was seen indicating to his soldiers that he wants them to target Ashraf Al-Khatib.
A Palestinian demonstrator holds a poster against a soldier’s shield.
The group remonstrated with the soldiers for thirty minutes until a youth threw a stone and the soldiers responded by firing huge quantities of tear gas at the peaceful crowd, many of whom proceeded to suffer breathing difficulties. One international activist was hit in the shoulder with a low-flying tear gas canister. A group of youths began throwing stones towards the soldiers, and three photographers stood next to the soldiers were hit.
Ashraf Al-Khatib, a Bil`in resident aged 31, was shot with 0.22” caliber live bullet which hit him in the lower leg. No warning shots were heard beforehand. Unable to stand, he was hurriedly carried by Palestinian and international demonstrators towards the village as he bled heavily from his calf. When Al-Khatib first fell, all of the soldiers ran forwards in an attempt to arrest him, but the demonstrators were able to successfully load him into a car before the soldiers caught them. As the car drove away the soldiers retreated, and the demonstrators walked back to the village, the demonstration lasting around one hour in total.
Upon Al-Khatib’s arrival at hospital, it was found the 0.22” caliber round had smashed the bone in his leg.
An-Nabi Saleh
An-Nabi Saleh’s weekly demonstration was yet again met with violent repression from the Israeli armed forces. The protestors numbered around 100, including internationals and Israeli activists.
The demonstration began slightly earlier this week – directly after noon prayers – and as such the Israeli military had not arrived by the time the protestors began to march. Due to this, the majority of the villagers managed to reach much further down the main road of their village than would normally be permitted. Some protestors managed to reach the spot which is the aim of the demonstration – the village’s natural spring, which has been confiscated by the nearby illegal Halamish settlement.
Shortly after soldiers blocked the remaining protesters’ path, many of the younger children began throwing stones at the military’s armoured jeeps in a symbolic act of resistance against the Israeli army’s continuous invasion of their village and their increasing violence towards its residents.
The soldiers from the five or six jeeps which had entered the village at this point then began to shoot tear gas projectiles and percussion grenades directly at the children, and also fired several rounds of rubber-coated steel bullets both as warning shots and directly at the children. Many of those involved in the demonstration also report that the soldiers fired 0.22” calibre live ammunition at this point, again both as a warning and straight at the children, many of whom were under 13 years old.
The demonstration was then suspended for some time as the jeeps retreated, but returned after roughly half an hour, when the soldiers positioned themselves at the three main entrances to the village, and resumed shooting the aforementioned weapons at any visible children upon the slightest sight of a stone.
This continued for several hours, and the demonstration ended at approximately 6pm, when the military finally retreated from the village. One Israeli activist was detained at around 2pm, but was released before the end of the demonstration. None obtained serious injuries, although many children were badly bruised due to the military’s use of the weapons noted above, and countless protestors suffered severe tear gas inhalation.
The weekly demonstrations in An-Nabi Saleh have been taking place since 2009 in protest against Halamish settlement’s annexation of large amounts of the village’s land. Despite the violence used by the Israeli armed forces in order to repress these protests, Friday’s demonstration will be followed by an additional action on Saturday. The villagers, along with Israeli and international activists, will all attempt to reach the spring which was stolen from the village. Upon reaching the spring, they plan to reclaim it and rename it ‘Emily’s Spring’. This is in honour of Emily Henochowicz, the ISM volunteer who lost an eye after being shot in the face by an Israeli soldier with a tear gas projectile aimed directly at her. This occurred at a peaceful protest at Qalandiya checkpoint, held in response to the Israeli ‘Defense’ Force’s murder of nine civilians aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in May. Many of those who helped Emily after she was hit were villagers from An-Nabi Saleh, and thus the action will be made in solidarity with an activist who lost an eye through standing in solidarity with Palestinians.
Ni`lin
Ni`lin protestors face live ammunition and heavy tear gas from the Israeli Army.
An international activist shields himself from tear gas canisters in Ni`lin
Following the Friday midday prayers about 50 protestors including international and Israeli activists marched to the apartheid wall where it penetrates the village on Ni`lin as part of a weekly demonstration against the building of the Wall and the annexation of Palestinian land for illegal settlement building. In addition to this the protestors were also condemning the killing of a 32 year old Palestinian man by a settler security guard in the Silwan neighbourhood in East Jerusalem two days before.
The protestors marched to the Apartheid Wall chanting Palestinian slogans and waving Palestinian flags. As the protestors arrived at the Wall they chanted through the loudspeakers and some of the Palestinian youth started symbolically throwing stones and banging on the apartheid wall. This was abruptly met by teargas from the Israeli army within the first ten minutes of the demonstration. As the tear gas was heavily fired in all directions from the other side of the wall the soldiers soon began chasing the demonstrators who then started to retreat towards the village across the rocky and tricky terrain. Amidst the chase a number of the protestors suffered from heavy tear gas inhalation and required assistance from the Red Crescent which was accompanying the protestors. The quantity of tear gas fired was so great it even affected the soldiers themselves.
Although the protestors were already retreating there were reports of live ammunition being fired at the non-violent protestors by the Israeli army in complete violation of international law. There were no reports of injuries or casualties. This would not be the first time live ammunition has been used against peaceful demonstrators in Ni’lin: Four Ni`lin residents have been murdered by the Israeli occupation forces, including a ten-year-old boy, and around 70 more people have been shot non-fatally with live ammunition. since the demonstrations began in 2004.
The village of Ni’lin continues to suffer daily from the disproportionate use of violence by the Israeli Army and the catastrophic economic situation following the building of the Apartheid Wall.
Al-Ma`sara
Demonstrators burn settlement produce in al-Ma`sara
On Friday in al-Ma’asara in the southern West Bank, around fifteen villagers were joined by around fifteen Israeli and international solidarity activists after noon prayers. Together, the demonstrators marched towards the entrance of al-Ma`asara, where their path was blocked by around a dozen Israeli soldiers and border police and three army jeeps. Villagers wore T-shirts reading, “Stop supporting Rami Levi, Stop Supporting Settlements” and carried cardboard boxes representing settlement products.
When the demonstrators moved to set the boxes on fire, Israeli forces threw sound bombs and at least one tear gas canister at the crowd. The sound bombs themselves set the boxes on fire, after which the protesters dispersed back to the village. The demonstration lasted about twenty minutes in total.
Saturday demonstrations
Beit Ummar
The regular weekly demonstration in the town of Beit Ummar near Hebron protests against the Israeli occupation, and against the theft of Beit its land by the illegal Israeli settlement of Karmei Tzur in particular. This Saturday the march also demonstrated against Rami Levy, an Israeli supermarket chain selling settlement produce, and commemorated the twenty-eighth anniversary of the massacre in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut. Activists showed solidarity with the people of Silwan, the East Jerusalem neighbourhood where a man was shot dead by a settler security guard on Wednesday, and with Palestinian political prisoners – in particular 17-year-old Beit Ummar resident Yousef Abu Maria who has a serious medical condition.
The demonstration was attended by around 60 Palestinians accompanied by 15 international and Israeli activists. Setting off at 1 p.m., the march proceeded through the Palestinians’ land in the direction of the illegal settlement, where their path was blocked by Israeli soldiers who put a rope across the path and threatened to arrest anyone who crossed it. Some youths were not deterred and crossed the rope, at which point the soldiers fired tear gas and stun grenades at all of the protesters. Several tear gas canisters were fired directly at the demonstrators, in defiance of the Israeli army’s own regulations.
The protesters burned cardboard boxes representing settlement produce in the path leading towards Karmei Tzur. The soldiers attempted to arrest one Palestinian campaigner but international activists managed successfully to shield him. He was beaten badly enough to lose consciousness. It was at this point that innocent French activist Bruno de Ginestet-Puivert was arrested, and later told he was being held on suspicion of assaulting an officer. Eyewitnesses from the demonstration say this was not true and that de Ginestet-Puivert was targeted arbitrarily. An Associated Press photographer was also detained but released before the demonstration ended.
Hebron
The weekly protest in Hebron against the illegal settlements and the closure of Shuhada street began at 3 p.m. at the entrance to the Old City. This week the protesters were also there to condemn the killing of a 32 year old Palestinian man and the subsequent death of a 14 month old Palestinian child that had taken place in East Jerusalem.
The protest began with the chanting of Palestinian songs and the waving of Palestinian flags and the locals were joined by international and Israeli peace activists. As the demonstrators began to move further on the soldiers in their usual
manner quickly blockaded them and began pushing the non-violent demonstrators back. Many of the younger protesters, some as young as 5 years old, were caught between the armed soldiers and the rest of the protesters. The soldiers made no attempt restrain themselves when pushing back demonstrators much smaller and less strong than themselves. As the soldiers began moving forward the demonstrators sat down steadfastly and chanted ‘Free Free Palestine’ accompanied by drumming from the Israeli activists. The march then continued towards another Shuhada street entrance, making a stop below some of the illegal settlements built on top of the Palestinian buildings. These shops face daily harassment by the settlers living above them, including the throwing of garbage and dirty water on them, and many of these shopkeepers are now barely able to support themselves financially. The settlers began showering the demonstrators with dirty water and despite the determined chanting and drumming the demonstrators were soon met by soldiers pushing them out of the market. They used sound bombs and used excessive physical force against the demonstrators to push them away from the settlements.
The demonstration came to an end as the soldiers blockaded the entrance to the Old City but not without a last word from a few determined Palestinian children who symbolically threw stones towards the heavily armed soldiers.
An international activist from the Christian Peacemaker Team remonstrates with soldiers who’ve blocked a road in Hebron.
An-Nabi Saleh
In addition to the weekly protest against the theft of the village’s natural spring and surrounding land by the nearby illegally-built settlement Halamish, An-Nabi Saleh held a second demonstration this Saturday. This action was planned in order to reach the aforementioned spring, plant trees there, and rename it ‘Emily’s spring’ in honour of Emily Henochowicz, the ISM volunteer who lost an eye at a protest in May after being shot with a tear gas projectile aimed directly at her.
Despite the entirely peaceful nature of this action, the participants – numbering between 100 and 150 including internationals, Israeli activists and many Palestinian children – were met with a huge (and violent) military presence.
All entrances to the village were blocked by Israeli jeeps and armed soldiers, as were many of the checkpoints further away, in order to prevent the march from taking place. Many of those planning to attend the event were therefore unable to reach the village as a consequence, although some managed by climbing over hills and walking through valleys in order to avoid checkpoints. As a consequence, the events of the day, which were planned to start at 9am, did not begin until after 1pm.
The action began with speeches and Palestinian music, which were held in a giant tent, erected specifically for this occasion. Before the end of the speeches, however, several Israeli activists and a few Palestinians had been detained by the soldiers whilst attempting to take water to a family in the village whose path was blocked by the
military.
After the speeches finished, the group visited An-Nabi Saleh’s cultural centre, in where they viewed photographs taken from previous demonstrations, all of which were met with disproportionate violence by the Israeli armed forces.
The march to the spring began approximately half an hour after later, but the group passed by the demonstrators whose paths had been blocked by soldiers in order to join them on the march. After numerous attempted arrests, the soldiers seized four Israelis and one international without reason or explanation, who were taken to Halamish settlement’s military base in order to be interrogated. The group were held for roughly four hours, and were made to walk to the base over mountainous land for almost an hour despite their hands being tied together with plastic handcuffs. Two of those
arrested had their hands (illegally) tied behind their backs whilst being forced to climb hills. The two were thrown over soldiers’ shoulders and carried down the extremely steep and rocky terrain after requesting that their handcuffs be removed in order for them to be able support themselves should they fall.
In spite of attempts by the military to prevent the event in this way, the remaining marchers continued walking towards the spring, but were once again blocked by the military at the bottom of the main road up to the centre of the village. The group sat on the ground in front of the soldiers, singing and chanting for over an hour before returning back to the tent for traditional Dabka dancing, singing and speeches about the importance of the day’s events and those to come.
The methods used by the soldiers in order to stop this planned march attempted to prevent international support for and solidarity with the villagers of An Nabi Saleh and their protest against the illegal annexation of their land. Despite the demonstrators being unsuccessful in reaching the spring, however, it is clear that the demonstrations, along with international solidarity with the villagers and their cause, will not be crushed. The demonstrations will continue as usual next Friday.
Palestinian youths open the gate in Bil`in. Photo credit: Hamde Abu Rahma
Bil`in
On Friday, 17 September 2010, the people of Bil’in were joined by Israelis and Internationals to protest against the theft of land and the imprisonment by Abdullah and Adeeb Abu Rahma, Ibrahim Burnat and other political prisoners from Bil’in. The demonstration went on for one and a half hours and was met with large amounts of tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. After initially firing tear gas from the military base and road, soldiers came through the gate and chased the protesters back towards the village.
This week’s protest called for the release of prisoners, who have been kept in jail under administrative detention (which is to say, without trial) and also the ones who have been victims of false charges and unjust trials in Israeli military courts. People were carrying masks of Abdallah Abu Rahma, who has been held in Ofer Military Prison since November, and is now in the sentencing phase of his trial after being convicted for “incitement”. Other people were wearing masks showing the faces of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. This is to show that Palestinian political prisoners enduring long sentences in Israeli prisons are peaceful activists, who are leading the non-violent struggle against the illegal Israeli occupation.
The soldiers initially fired tear gas from inside a military base near the illegal apartheid wall. One tear gas canister hit an Israeli protester, Tali Shapiro, in her leg, causing pain and bruising. The protesters retreated from the fence due to the tear gas but returned – a process that repeated several times until the soldiers came through the gate. They continued shooting tear gas and also fired rubber-coated steel bullets – shooting one Palestinian youth in the back.
After one and a half hours the demonstration ended and the participants walked back to the village. Abdallah Abu Rahma’s many friends and family are now awaiting the outcome of his sentencing, hoping he will not join the hundreds of political prisoners held in jail many years for taking part in the non violent struggle against the brutal Israeli occupation.
Al-Ma`sara
On Friday, around fifty Palestinians accompanied by thirteen international and Israeli activists assembled in the West Bank village of Al-Ma`sara near Bethlehem. The weekly demonstration is against the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and against the land theft by the nearby Gush Etzion settlement bloc, and this week there was also commemoration of the anniversary of the 1982 massacre in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, Lebanon.
Still within the village and far from the illegal settlement (which is built on Palestinian land anyway), the procession was stopped by the Israeli army. The soldiers showed a paper declaring the area a “closed military zone” and threatened to arrest anyone who had not left in sixty seconds. Immediately they began to throw sound grenades and tear gas canisters directly into the group of demonstrators. The group retreated some metres and then soon returned, repeating this five times. In each instance the soldiers threw many sound grenades and tear gas canisters.
Several Palestinian, Israeli and international activists spoke out at the demonstration for around twenty minutes, condemning the occupation and the apartheid regulations it entails for the Palestinians, before returning to the village.
An-Nabi Saleh
There were approximately 60 Palestinians and 20 international and Israeli activists at this week’s nonviolent protest, which began shortly after the noon prayer in the small village of An-Nabi Saleh. As usual, many children took part in the demonstration, and as usual it was they who bore the brunt of the Israeli military’s violence.
The protestors began by attempting to gain access to the spring which was stolen from the village by settlers from the illegal Halamish (Neve Zuf) settlement. This attempt was blocked by military jeeps and armed soldiers. Despite this difficulty, the demonstrators managed to enter on to the road leading to the spring, but many were prevented from continuing further.
The majority of the women and children then managed to move further down the road, and sat and chanted and sung when they were stopped by the soldiers once again. The rest of the group mirrored this action at the top of the road, and later the two groups united and sat in peaceful protest until they were forcefully removed from the road.
The demonstration then moved back up the hill into the village, at which point some of the children began to throw stones towards the blockade. The military responded by chasing the children up the hill and attempting to make arrests (although many of the children were under the age of 13, and therefore not legally adults in the eyes of the Israeli courts).
Some sound bombs and tear gas canisters were thrown at this point, but the soldiers did not shoot tear gas projectiles until much later on in the demonstration- perhaps due to the presence of media crew from the BBC.
Both soldiers and jeeps then made their way to the centre of the village, where children stood around the soldiers chanting and singing. The soldiers then forcefully entered a house from which they attempted to block access to those protesting, and seized one young female demonstrator who they accused of stone-throwing. She was, however, quickly released when they realised she holds both Palestinian and American citizenship.
The soldiers later chased a teenager (presumably suspected of stone throwing) through the village and attempted to arrest him. Many of the Palestinians and several internationals successfully de-arrested him, but he had already been badly beaten by this point and was taken to hospital after falling unconscious.
Several attempted arrests were made, and one international was violently seized by the soldiers shortly after this, and was detained at Halamish settlement’s military base. The international was kept in a dark room and had his hands tied behind his back at all times, even when bread was thrown on the floor for him to eat. He was given no explanation for this treatment and was released without charge after 6 hours.
The protest continued, whereupon soldiers began firing tear gas projectiles both in an arc (the legal method) and directly at individuals (which is illegal according to both international and Israeli law). Several of the children suffered cuts and heavy bruising as a consequence, and many adults and children suffered extreme tear gas inhalation, although none was severely wounded.
The demonstration stopped for almost an hour when the jeeps and soldiers left the village, but continued when they entered once again and continued to fire both directly at protestors and into the villagers’ gardens, at which point large amounts of tear gas entered numerous houses, including the houses of those who were not taking part in the protest.
The demonstration ended at approximately 6:30pm, when the soldiers finally left the village after continuing in this vein for several hours. By this point there were over 150 participants.
Since January 2010, peaceful protestors have spent their Fridays attempting to reach the spring, which was confiscated along with almost half of the village’s arable land. Despite confirmation from the District Coordination Office that the spring is on Palestinian land, the villagers continue to be prevented from accessing the area.
An Israeli marksman at the Bil`in demo. Photo credit Hamde Abu Rahma
Ni`lin
On Friday over 100 Palestinians attended noon prayer in the olive groves outside the village of Ni’lin. After the prayer finished at around 12:15, over 70 Palestinians accompanied by ten international and Israeli activists and two journalists marched toward the wall that cuts through the village’s land. As well as being against the illegal apartheid wall, this demonstration was in part a protest against the American pastor Terry Jones who claimed he was going to burn the Qur’an on 11 September. Demonstrators held their copies of the Qur’an towards the sky as they marched and chanted.
Upon reaching the apartheid wall, stones were symbolically thrown at the huge concrete structure by the youths for twenty minutes, before tear gas and sounds bombs were then fired over the wall by the soldiers for about minutes five minutes before they opened the gate and began chasing demonstrators back towards the village, firing tear gas all the way. One man received medical assistance for an injury sustained running to avoid being hit by tear gas canisters.
For some hours most demonstrators and soldiers stood on opposite sides of a small valley. Some youths attempted to sneak back towards the wall while tear gas and sound bombs were fired by the soldiers. Five gunshots were heard and blank cartridges were found which indicate rubber-coated steel bullet use, though no-one was hit. Another group of soldiers came towards the olive groves where the demonstration started, and fired dangerous low-flying tear gas close to the heads of Palestinians and international activists, forbidden even by the army’s own regulations.
Young children symbolically threw stones in the direction of the soldiers who responded with low-flying tear gas until they retreated. The demonstrators ended the demonstration at 3:15 PM. No arrests were made and injuries consisted of two sprained ankles endured running from the potentially lethal tear gas canisters.
Beit Ummar
Around 60 Palestinians were supported by about 15 international activists in the village of Beit Ummar on Saturday in a demonstration against the illegal annexation of land by the neighboring settlement of Karmei Sur. The demonstration took place on the road leading to the fence that surrounds the settlement. Protesters made their way towards the gate in the fence, but were stopped by a group of soldiers who blocked the road, firing and throwing both tear gas and sound grenades.
Three Palestinian demonstrators were detained, including one journalist, along with two internationals. At one point during the protest, soldiers brought the detained journalist back out through the gate and offered to let him go if all of the media would leave the village with him. All parties refused and he was taken back into custody.
One international activist was hit in the back with a tear gas canister as soldiers fired them directly at the group of civilians. Additionally, a Palestinian boy was injured in the same way when soldiers drove an army vehicle through one of the gates onto the village’s farmland, and proceeded to chase the demonstrators through the fields, continuing to fire tear gas at body level. One other international temporarily lost hearing in one ear when a soldier shot a sound grenade directly next to her head, and many suffered from inhaling large quantities of gas.
The demonstration continued for around an hour and a half before protesters were chased back into the village amidst a barrage of tear gas.
The detained international is still being held by Israeli forces 48 hours after his arrest.
Hebron
On Saturday, after stopping for several weeks due to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, the regular Saturday protests against the illegal settlements in Hebron and the closure of Shuhada Street started again.
Palestinians and internationals gathered in Al Zajed in the centre of Hebron at 3 p.m. and made their way to the gate that closes off Shuhada Street by the Beit Romano settlement at the entrance to the old city, but from the very beginning soldiers and police blocked their passage.
The demonstrators chanted against the occupation and the settlements, and many were carrying posters illustrating the crippling difficulties the Hebron residents suffer under Israeli occupation. This week they were also commemorating the anniversary of the massacres in Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982. After nearly an hour the protestors turned their backs on the soldiers and slowly made their way back through the old city, coming to another entrance to Shuhada Street, where once again the Israeli army had closed the way. After twenty minutes of singing and chanting the protestors moved back to the starting point of the demonstration.
Palestinian youth dodge tear gas in Bil`in. Photo credit: Hamde Abu Rahma
