Tag: Demonstration

An Nabi Saleh continues to defy military repression

International Solidarity Movement

27 March 2010

Demonstrators in An Nabi Saleh protest the theft of their agricultural land and the ongoing Occupation
Demonstrators in An Nabi Saleh protest the theft of their agricultural land and the ongoing Occupation
In recent weeks there has been an escalation of Israeli military violence against the weekly demonstration in the village of An Nabi Saleh, which last week led to 25 injuries, as well as attacks on 12 homes and 3 cars. Despite this, approximately 100 villagers joined the demonstration on Friday and attempted to reach their land, much of which has been stolen by the nearby illegal settlement of Halamish. The Israeli army prevented the demonstration from leaving the village by surrounding it on all sides, and firing large amounts of tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets directly at the demonstrators.

The demonstration was preceded by a press conference in which representatives of the village spoke of the land they have lost, and the importance they attach to continued resistance against the occupation, as manifested in the nearby settlement and the attacks from the Israeli military. Following these speeches, the demonstration began, but quickly came up against a barrage of tear gas from Israeli jeeps which had moved into the village.

Soldiers illegally fired a number of tear gas canisters directly at the demonstration, aiming at the head or chest height of most participants. They also invaded a Palestinian home, and fired down into the central square of the village, where people were gathered near the mosque.

No serious injuries were reported, though a number of villagers suffered respiratory problems due to tear gas inhalation.

The hilltop village of An Nabi Saleh has a population of approximately 500 residents and is located 30 kilometers northeast of Ramallah along highway 465. The demonstrations protest the illegal seizure of valuable agricultural land and the uprooting in January 2010 of hundreds of the village resident’s olive trees by the Hallamish (Neve Zuf) settlement located opposite An Nabi Saleh. Conflict between the settlement and villagers reawakened in the past month due to the settlers’ attempt to re-annex An Nabi Saleh land despite an Israeli court decision in December 2009 that awarded the property rights of the land to the An Nabi Saleh residents. The confiscated land of An Nabi Saleh is located on the Hallamish side of Highway 465 and is just one of many expansions of the illegal settlement since it’s establishment in 1977.

Palestinian organizer tortured in Israeli jail

Popular Struggle Coordination Committee
23 March 2010

Lacerations on the back of a Palestinian organizer who was tortured in Israeli jail before being released with no charges.
Lacerations on the back of a Palestinian organizer who was tortured in Israeli jail before being released with no charges.
Omar Alaaeddin from the village of alMa’asara was nabbed from the Container Checkpoint on Sunday the 14th. He was released yesterday with no charges pressed against him. Alaaeddin reports having been tortured in the Israeli Russian Compound Jail in Jerusalem.

Omar Alaaeddin, who is involved in organizing demonstrations in the village of alMa’asra south of Bethlehem, was arrested a week ago on Sunday at the Container Checkpoint, as he was making his way back home from Ramallah, with a group of students and university professors. The groups was in Ramallah to see a theater play. Alaaeddin was beaten repeatedly, both by the soldiers who detained him, and later, in the Israeli Russian Compound jail in Jerusalem. He reports to have been kicked, punched and even electroshocked with a taser by the soldiers and his jailers.


Alaaeddin, who suffered an injury to his leg from the beating, was questioned over an unsubstantiated suspicions of participating in demonstrations and assaulting the soldier who arrested him. Dozens of eyewitnesses who were at the checkpoint at the time of his arrest can attest to the fact that it was, in fact, Alaaeddin who was assaulted. He was finally brought in front of a judge for the first time last Sunday, which was also his first opportunity to see a lawyer and inform him of his torture.

Following a short hearing, the judge harshly criticized the prosecution and police, saying there is no evidence connecting Alaaeddin to any violence and ordered his unconditioned release on bail. Despite having been injured and repeatedly having asked to see a physician, Alaaeddin did not receive any medical care throughout his detention.

This is the second time this month that an organizers from alMa’asara are detained and assaulted at the container checkpoint after Border Police officers recognized them from demonstrations. On March 2nd, the mayor of alMa’asara, Mahmoud Zwahre was detained and beaten on his way to a meeting in Ramallah.

Alaaeddin and his lawyers are now considering the option of filing both criminal and civil suites in an attempt to challenge the impunity and inaccountability of members of the Israeli armed forces.

Demonstration in front of United Nations HQ Gaza

ISM-Gaza
22 March 2010

gaza
Gazans Demand Clean and Plentiful Water

To mark the International Water Day, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) organised a demonstration in front of United Nations Head Quarters in the Gaza Strip. Approximately 100 farmers and representatives of various civil society organisations gathered together to send a clear message to the United Nations and the International Community that the current water situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is dangerous and cannot be overlooked. After a number of speeches, the organizers of the demonstration presented a letter to Ban Ki Moon asking for the Palestinians’ right to water to be protected.

Saad Zyaad, Project Manager within the UAWC addressed the special water issues Occupied Palestine faces. The main source of water in Gaza is groundwater coming from Hebron. The quantity and quality of this groundwater has had adverse effects from the Israeli settlements and their projects to build dams in order to prevent groundwater from reaching Palestinian villages. There are currently more than 50 wells built behind the Gaza Strip fence with the aim of stopping groundwater from reaching Gaza.

Each cubic metre of water that decreases from Gaza’s groundwater is replaced with sea water. This process is resulting in 70 cubic metres of groundwater being polluted. Most of the drinking wells in Gaza have proportions of chloride and nitrate which are twice the figure recommended by the World Health Organization. In addition, a 2008 study conducted by the Ministry of Health found that 14.5% of the water is contaminated with chloroform. Chloroform is a pollutant which causes adverse health conditions.

Groundwater is not sufficient for Gaza’s 1.5 million population. This is leading to a depletion of groundwater with a rate of 80 cubic metres per year. According to the World Health Organisation each person requires 100 litres of water per day. According to UAWC statistics for Gaza, every person does not even have half of this amount. Whilst in Israel on average people have four times the same amount.

“The Israeli occupation is not only of Palestinian land but also Palestinian water. The Yarmuk, Jordan River, and South Lebanon are Palestine’s richest water sources and they have all been occupied and are now in Israel’s control. Israeli settlements are built on the most water-rich land”, Zyaad commented.

The siege has caused an already serious problem to become a fully fledged crisis. The siege has prevented water treatment and purification tools from entering Gaza preventing water quality from improving. Lack of machinery also means that other viable water sources such as desalination plants cannot be created. The siege has also prevented the exchange of technical expertise with regards to water resources development between Gaza and other countries.

For further information please write to uawc@mtcgaza.com

Second youth from Iraq Burin dies overnight

Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

21 March 2010

Ussayed Qaddous, 19, who struck in the head with live ammunition and critically injured passed away in the Rafidya hospital in Nablus this morning. Qaddous was shot during a military incursion to his village as the Army attempted to suppress a demonstration.

Ussayed Jamal Abd elNasser Qaddous passed away at 4:30am this morning despite doctors’ efforts to save his life. According to eye witnesses Qaddous was shot with live ammunition as soldiers invaded his village after residents demonstrated to protest settler harassment and restrictions of access to their lands. Mohammed Qaddous, 16, was killed in the same incident yesterday, after soldiers shot him in the chest.

Despite the Israeli military’s claims that live ammunition was not used during the incident yesterday, the version given by numerous civilian eye witnesses of unjust use of live ammunition is corroborated by medical findings.

An Xray of Ussayed’s skull taken at the Rafidya hospital in Nublus shows what is clearly a live bullet lodged in his skull. In addition, Mohammed Qaddous’s body had an entry wound in the chest and an exit wound in the back. Such an injury could not have possibly been cause by anything but live ammunition. Less-lethal ammunition, rubber-coated bullets included, can, under no circumstances, cause such injuries, even if shot from point blank.

For more details:
Jonathan Pollak +972.546.327.736

Background
The demonstrators set out yesterday towards the village’s lands after midday prayer, and were immediately confronted by soldiers who shot bursts of live ammunition in the air. The Army then continued to shoot tear-gas and rubber bullets towards the villagers in an attempt to prevent them from reaching their lands. Following the unprovoked attack on the villagers, who were accompanied by 15 international activists, intermittent clashes ensued.

Roughly two hours later, the Army retreated towards the settlement and demonstrators went back to the village. Shortly after, armored military jeeps invaded the village, arrested three people and raided houses. A few minutes later, live shots were fired at a small group of young men, some of which were throwing stones. The shots resulted in one fatality and one critical injury to the head.

Israeli Army Kills 16 Year Old Demonstrator Near Nablus

Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

20 March 2010

Mohammed Ibrahim Qaddous, 16, was shot dead with live ammunition when a Border Police force raided his village of Iraq Burin near Nablus to quash a demonstration this afternoon. Another 16 year old was shot in the head and critically injured.

Qaddous was shot at 3pm this afternoon in the aftermath of a demonstration in the village of Iraq Burin protesting restrictions on access to their lands beneath the Jewish-only settlement of Har Brakha. He was shot in the back, indicating he could not have been posing any threat to the soldiers who shot him. At the same time, Ussayed Jamal Abd elNasser, 16, was shot in the head with live ammunition and critically injured. They were both evacuated to a hospital in Nablus where Ussayed is currently being operated on.

The demonstrators set out towards the village’s lands after midday prayer, and were immediately confronted by soldiers who shot bursts of live ammunition in the air. They then continued to shoot tear-gas and rubber bullets towards the villagers in an attempt to prevent them from reaching their lands. Following the unprovoked attack on the villagers, who were accompanied by 15 international activists, intermittent clashes ensued.

After about two hours, the Army retreated towards the settlement and demonstrators went back to the village. Shortly after, armored Border Police jeeps invaded the village, arrested three people and raided houses. A few minutes later, live shots were fired at a small group of young men, some of which were throwing stones. The shots resulted in one fatality and one critical injury to the head.