Tag: Bil’in

A message of non-violent resistance from within Israeli prison

Majida Abu Rahmah | The Huffington Post

9 January 2010

On Tuesday, January 5, I attended the trial of my husband Abdallah Abu Rahmah in an Israeli military detention camp. Ofer Military Base is a dark and dehumanizing place, but I was happy to go there because it meant that I would finally see my husband.

I joined my friend Fatima, wife of Adib Abu Rahmah in the crowd of families waiting outside the gates of the base hoping to be admitted. Fatima’s husband is another committed nonviolent activist from Bil’in who, like my husband, is being accused of incitement, that is, of encouraging demonstrations against the Wall. Adib and Fatima have nine children. He has been in detention for over six months now.

Diplomats from the US, Germany, Sweden and Spain who know Abdallah also came to support him.

Just one month ago these diplomats had visited Abdullah in Bil’in and had seen for themselves how Israeli settlements and the Apartheid Wall have stolen over 50% of our village’s land. They promised then that they would do what they could to help our popular struggle and here they were, true to their word. The Spanish consul who represents the new president of the European union tried to shake Abdullah’s hand but the soldiers wouldn’t let him.

We spent most of the day waiting. Finally, When we where allowed into the room they call a “military court” my husband was brought in by the soldiers shackled with chains on his arms and legs. We were not allowed to speak to each other, but he told me everything I needed to know just by looking at me. When I came home I slept well, without bolting awake in terror, for the first time since my husband was taken from our home on December 10th. Abdullah has visibly lost weight but his eyes still smiled when he looked at me.

Abdullah is a school teacher and a farmer from Bilin, our village in the occupied West Bank. He is also the coordinator of our village’s popular committee against the wall and settlements.

This letter was conveyed from my husband’s prison cell by his lawyers:

January 1, 2010

To all our friends,

I mark the beginning of the new decade imprisoned in a military detention camp. Nevertheless, from within the Occupation′s holding cell I greet the New Year with determination and hope.

I know that Israel’s military campaign to imprison the leadership of the Palestinian popular struggle shows that our non-violent struggle is effective. The occupation is threatened by our growing movement and is therefore trying to shut us down. What Israel’s leaders do not understand is that popular struggle cannot be stopped by our imprisonment.

Whether we are confined in the open-air prison that Gaza has been transformed into, in military prisons in the West Bank, or in our own villages surrounded by the Apartheid Wall, arrests and persecution do not weaken us. They only strengthen our commitment to turning 2010 into a year of liberation through unarmed grassroots resistance to the Occupation.

The price I and many others pay in freedom does not deter us. I wish that my two young daughters and baby son would not have to pay this price together with me. But for my son and daughters, for their future, we must continue our struggle for freedom.

This year, the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee will expand on the achievements of 2009, a year in which you amplified our popular demonstrations in Palestine with international boycott campaigns and international legal actions under universal jurisdiction.

In my village, Bil’in, Israeli tycoon, Lev Leviev and Africa-Israel, the corporation he controls, are implicated in illegal construction of settlements on our stolen land, as well as the lands of many other Palestinian villages and cities. Adalah-NY is leading an international campaign to show Leviev that war crimes have their price.

Our village has sued two Canadian companies for their role in the construction and marketing of new settlement units on village land cut off by Israel’s Apartheid Wall. The legal proceedings in this precedent-setting case began in the Canadian courts last summer and are ongoing.

Bil’in has become the graveyard of Israeli real estate empires. One after another, these companies are approaching bankruptcy as the costs of building on stolen Palestinian land are driven higher than the profits.

Unlike Israel, we have no nuclear weapons or army, but we do not need them. The justness of our cause earns us your support. No army, no prison and no wall can stop us.

Yours,

Abdallah Abu Rahmah

From the Ofer Military Detention Camp

To send my husband a letter of support click.
Jewish Voices for Peace have initiated a letter writing campaign Tell President Obama to demand that Israel free Abdallah. To write President Obama click.

Three injuries at weekly demonstration in Bil’in

8 January 2010

Three residents were injured today in Bil’in along with dozens who suffered gas inhalation in a protest against the Wall and settlement building.

The demonstration was called by the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’in and was joined by residents of Bil’in, and international and Israeli activists. The protesters carried posters and banners calling to end the occupation, stop settlement building, stop detention and end the siege on Gaza.

The protest marched toward the Wall, where an Israeli military unit was located behind blocks of cement. The army had earlier closed the gate in the Wall with razor wire. When the protesters attempted to reach the land confiscated behind the Wall, the army fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Journalist Abbas Al-Momani and Rateb Abu Rahmah, a member of the Popular Committee, were each hit with tear gas canisters in their heads. Edo Medix, an Israeli activist, was also injured.

Last Thursday, a delegation from the US consulate in Jerusalem visited Bil’in and was welcomed by the Popular Committee Against the Wall. The delegation listened to a presentation about the experience that the residents have had in resisting the occupation, the building of the Wall and enduring late-night raids by the army. The delegation also visited the memorial statue for Basem Abu Rahmah.

In other news, Abedallah Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall, is still detained in the Israeli prison after his hearing last Thursday at Ofer military court. The Israeli court accused Abu Rahmah of incitement, holding weapons and throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. The Israeli court also charged Abu Rahmah with a violation they call “Participating in a protest against the wall”. Finally, Abu Rahmah was charged with “avoiding the Israeli justice” by avoiding Israeli checkpoints seven times and not being home when the Israeli army broke into his home three times. Abu Rahmah was arrested from his home on October 10, 2009 during a raid by the Israeli army.

The defense attorney responded to the accusations and the charge of holding weapons by stating that collecting empty tear gas canisters, fired rubber bullets and used sound grenades from Israeli soldiers to use them in local and international galleries is not a crime.

The Israeli court ruled on Thursday, January 7 to continue the detention of Abedallah Abu Rahmah and kept his charges open until his next court hearing. This decision was made in the absence of the defense attorney.

The Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in condemned this decision and the detention of another Bil’in activist, Adeeb Abu Rahmah, for more than 5 months for his participation in demonstrations.

Abdallah Abu Rahmah: No army, no prison and no wall can stop us

Free Abdallah Abu Rahmah

January 6, 2010

To all our friends,

I mark the beginning of the new decade imprisoned in a military detention camp. Nevertheless, from within the occupation′s holding cell I meet the New Year with determination and hope.

I know that Israel’s military campaign to imprison the leadership of the Palestinian popular struggle shows that our non-violent struggle is effective. The occupation is threatened by our growing movement and is therefore trying to shut us down. What Israel′s leaders do not understand is that popular struggle cannot be stopped by our imprisonment.

Whether we are confined in the open-air prison that Gaza has been transformed into, in military prisons in the West Bank, or in our own villages surrounded by the Apartheid Wall, arrests and persecution do not weaken us. They only strengthen our commitment to turning 2010 into a year of liberation through unarmed grassroots resistance to the occupation.

The price I and many others pay in freedom does not deter us. I wish that my two young daughters and baby son would not have to pay this price together with me. But for my son and daughters, for their future, we must continue our struggle for freedom.

This year, the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee will expand on the achievements of 2009, a year in which you amplified our popular demonstrations in Palestine with international boycott campaigns and international legal actions under universal jurisdiction.

In my village, Bil’in, Israeli tycoon, Lev Leviev and Africa-Israel, the corporation he controls, are implicated in illegal construction of settlements on our stolen land, as well as the lands of many other Palestinian villages and cities. Adalah-NY is leading an international campaign to show Leviev that war crimes have their price.

Our village has sued two Canadian companies for their role in the construction and marketing of new settlement units on village land cut off by Israel’s Apartheid Wall. The legal proceedings in this precedent-setting case began in the Canadian courts last summer and are ongoing.

Bil’in has become the graveyard of Israeli real estate empires. One after another, these companies are approaching bankruptcy as the costs of building on stolen Palestinian land are driven higher than the profits.

Unlike Israel, we have no nuclear weapons or army, but we do not need them. The justness of our cause earns us your support. No army, no prison and no wall can stop us.

Yours,

Abdallah Abu Rahmah
From the Ofer Military Detention Camp

This letter from Bil′in′s Abdallah Abu Rahmah was conveyed from his prison cell by his lawyers. Please circulate widely.

My Husband: Jailed for Protesting Israel’s Wall

Majida Abu Rahmah | Huffington Post

4 January 2010

On International Human Rights Day in last year, my husband Abdallah Abu Rahmah was in Berlin receiving a medal from the World Association for Human Rights. This year on the same day, December 10th, Abdallah was taken away at 2am by Israeli soldiers who broke into our West Bank home. Abdallah was arrested for the same reasons he received the prize – his nonviolent struggle for justice, equality and peace in Israel/Palestine.

My husband is a school teacher and farmer from the Palestinian village of Bil’in. When Israel built its apartheid wall here, it separated Bil’in from more than half of its land, in order to facilitate the expansion of the illegal settlement Mattityahu East. In response, Abdallah and fellow villagers began a campaign of nonviolent resistance. Every Friday for the past five years, we’ve marched, with Israeli and international supporters, to protest the theft of our land and livelihoods.

In September, 2007 Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the route of the wall in Bil’in was illegal and should be changed. Two years later, the wall remains, unmoved. Many were discouraged, but Abdallah told them that the pressure of our campaign and international support could bring down the wall.

As the grassroots struggle grows here, the efforts to end our actions have intensified. The army has been instructed to use weapons against the protesters and arrest participants. Our beloved friend, Bassem Abu Rahmah, was murdered by Israeli soldiers as he tried to talk with them, while participating in a demonstration. Seventy-seven others have been arrested in violent night raids.

Among the other arrestees is Abdallah’s cousin Adeeb Abu Rahmah, who, like Abdallah, never missed a demonstration and was never violent. Adeeb, a father of nine, has been in prison for five months, with no end in sight. Since the first time our home was invaded, our seven year-old daughter Luma has been waking up screaming, and five year-old Layan wetting her bed. Only our nine month-old son Laith still smiles and giggles, but I cry when he calls for his father.

Leaders like former President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, one of the leaders of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle, have visited our village. They stood with Abdallah at Bassem’s grave last August. Mr. Tutu told us, “Just as a simple man named Gandhi led the successful nonviolent struggle in India and simple people such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King led the struggle for civil rights in the United States, simple people here in Bil’in are leading a nonviolent struggle that will bring them their freedom.”

The afternoon before his arrest, Abdallah prepared a speech to be read on his behalf to the World Association for Human Rights since Israel would not allow him to travel to Germany for the ceremony. Abdallah wrote:

“I wish I could be with you to share in the joy of our colleagues receiving this year’s prize and to celebrate with you the 20th anniversary of the removal of the Berlin Wall. But the occupation not only robs us of statehood, land, and so often of our lives, it also deprives us of many beautiful moments.”

“My mother passed away in a hospital in occupied East Jerusalem, our historic capital, in August but the Israeli occupation refused me a permit to be with her. An Israeli friend held a mobile phone to my mother’s ear so that I could say good bye to her and thank her for all the love she has given me. In the darkness of all these difficulties the occupation imposes on us, the solidarity of justice-seeking people like you all over the world gives us strength.”

“Unlike Israel, we have no nuclear weapons, and no army, but we do not want or need those things. With your support and the justice of our cause, we will bring down Israel’s apartheid wall.”

Twelve hours after Abdallah was taken to a military jail from our home, I listened as President Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize and spoke of “the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten in the pursuit of justice.” I thought of Bassem, Adeeb and my husband, and wondered if President Obama will take action to support our struggle for freedom.

Two young men from Bil’in arrested in order to testify against Popular Committee member still held by Israeli military

3 January 2010

For immediate release:

Hamouda Imad Yassin (16) and Ibrahim Khalil Yassin (16), two young men from Bil’in, who were arrested on 29 December 2009 during a night raid on the West Bank village, are still being held by the Israeli military.

The boys were arrested at 2am on Tuesday, 29 December 2009, when the Israeli army, composed of a number of military jeeps and approximately 50 soldiers on foot, invaded the village and raided their houses. They are still being held by the military, while their relatives are being kept in the dark as of when they will be released and the legal reasons for their detention.

The only explanation given by the Israeli authorities was that they detained Hamouda and Khalil in order to ensure their presence as witnesses at a hearing with Mohammad Khatib, member of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, that was scheduled to take place later that day, 29 December 2009 at the Ofer military prison. He is charged with stone throwing, incitement and providing service to an unpermitted group. In a previous court hearing, the judge found the evidence presented to support the stone throwing charge to be falsified as it emerged that photographs shown of Mohammad Khatib allegedly throwing stones were taken on a day when he was abroad.

Mohammad Khatib commented on their arrest and continued detention:
“The fact that the Israeli military not only feels the need to present falsified evidence, but also resorts to invading the village in order to arrest children to testify against members of the Popular Committee shows their determination to crush the popular struggle through fabricated military trials. Luckily the military and occupation authorities have no understanding of the meaning of popular struggle. They would have to put all residents of the village in jail to stop the popular resistance and even then we would come out eventually, stronger and continue to struggle for our land and our freedom.”

His hearing, however, has been postponed due to a strike of Palestinian lawyers protesting the closure of the Beituniya checkpoint, the only route providing access for relatives and lawyers of Palestinian prisoners held at Ofer. Instead of releasing the two boys upon realizing the hearing has been cancelled, the Israeli military chose to keep them in detention, for an unknown period of time.

Their detention is just a part of an ongoing campaign through which the Israeli military seeks to ensure the end of Palestinian grassroots struggle against the Occupation and the Apartheid Wall. In Bil’in alone, 33 residents have been arrested since the beginning of a series of night raids conducted by the army. Almost a half still remain in detention, including Abdallah Abu Rahmah, arrested on 10 December 2009 and charged with incitement, stone throwing and arms possession, an accusation which has been brought against him merely for collecting and displaying spent tear-gas canisters, used against the Bil’in demonstrators by the Israeli army.