Tag: Demonstration

Soldiers use ‘sarukh’ against Ni’lin demonstrators

21 August 2009

Around 12:30 on Friday, 140 Ni’lin villagers, together with international and Israeli solidarity activists, gathered after the prayer to demonstrate against the Apartheid Wall. The march went through the fields of Ni’lin and reached the wall site without incident. The Wall was finished in May 2009 as an electric fence with video cameras and a road where the army patrol. Although it seems finished, last Monday Israeli forces began adding 8 meter high blocks of concrete. Right after the demonstrators have reached the wall, several army jeeps started shooting, using the multiple tear gas machine. Israeli soldiers kept shooting tear gas grenades from the road at the demonstrators and eventually they came into the fields through a Wall gate and threatened the protesters with live ammunition guns. All internationals and Israelis left around 5pm, although the demonstration went until 7pm. During the time that there were just Palestinians in the fields, Israeli soldiers used the high velocity tear gas projectile and live ammunition. The high-velocity tear gas canister was not used in Ni’lin since the end of May when Basem Abu Rahme, a Bil’in demonstrator was murdered with one.

Israeli forces commonly use tear-gas canisters, rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition against demonstrators.

To date, Israeli occupation forces have murdered 5 Palestinian residents and critically injured 1 international solidarity activist during unarmed demonstrations in Ni’lin. In total, 19 people have been killed during demonstrations against the Wall.

  • 5 June 2009: Yousef Akil Srour (36) was shot in the chest with 0.22 caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.
  • 13 March 2009: Tristan Anderson (37), an American citizen, was shot in the head with a high velocity tear gas projectile. He is currently at Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv with uncertain prospects for his recovery.
  • 28 December 2008: Mohammed Khawaje (20) was shot in the head with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition. He died in a Ramallah hospital 3 days later on 31 December 2008.
  • 28 December 2008: Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22) was shot in the back with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.
  • 30 July 2008: Yousef Amira (17) was shot in the head with two rubber coated steel bullets. He died in a Ramallah hospital 5 days later on 4 August 2008.
  • 29 July 2008: Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.

In total, 38 people have been shot by Israeli forces with live ammunition in Ni’lin: 9 were shot with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and 29 were shot with 0.22 caliber live ammunition.

Additionally, Israeli arrest and intimidation campaigns on West Bank villages that demonstrate against the Wall, have led to the arrests of over 76 Palestinians in Ni’lin alone as of June 2009.

Since May 2008, residents of Ni’lin have been organizing and participating in unarmed demonstrations against construction of the Apartheid Wall. Despite being deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004, the Occupation continues to build the Wall, further annexing Palestinian land.

Ni’lin will lose approximately 2,500 dunums of agricultural land when construction of the Wall is completed. Israel annexed 40,000 of Ni’lin’s 58,000 dunums in 1948. After the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the illegal settlements and infrastructure of Kiryat Sefer, Mattityahu and Maccabim were built on village lands and Ni’lin lost another 8,000 dunums. Of the remaining 10,000 dunums, the Occupation will confiscate 2,500 for the Wall and 200 for a tunnel to be built under the segregated settler-only road 446. Ni’lin will be left with 7,300 dunums.

The current entrance to the village will be closed and replaced by a tunnel to be built under Road 446. This tunnel will allow for the closure of the road to Palestinian vehicles, turning road 446 into a segregated settler-only road . Ni’lin will be effectively split into 2 parts (upper Ni’lin and lower Ni’lin), as road 446 runs between the village. The tunnel is designed to give Israeli occupation forces control of movement over Ni’lin residents, as it can be blocked with a single military vehicle.

Israeli forces continue to target the leadership of Palestinian non-violent resistance

UPDATE: Mohammad Abu Rahma has been released from Israeli prison on a 5,000 NIS bail.

Abdallah Abu Rahme, coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee, stated, “The ongoing arrests are meant to create pressure for us to stop our non-violent resistance. The Israeli authorities are putting conditions on our leaders and forcing us to pay thousands of sheckels. But we cannot and will not stop protesting against the theft of our land.”

For Immediate Release

Abu Nizar at a demonstration in Canada
Abu Nizar at a demonstration in Canada

20 August 2009: Once again the night in Bil’in was disrupted by a raid ending with the arrest of one the members of the Village’s Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements. This occurred the night after the childrens demonstration where the children had chanted slogans like “We want to sleep,” “Stop the night raids”.

The house of Bil’in Popular Committee member and vice president of the Bil’in village council, Mohammad Abu Rahma, (age 50), known by his friends as Abu Nizar, was raided shortly before 2am on Thursday morning. About 25 soldiers with their faces painted in black had come to the village on foot.

The soldiers broke into Abu Nizar’s home and forcefully took him from his bed where he and his wife were sleeping. They then beat and dragged him to the Annexation Wall where jeeps were waiting to pick them up. During the arrest, the soldiers where confronted by international solidarity activists who live in the village and Haitham Khatib the village’s camera man. As Haithem was filming the arrest, one soldier hit him, broke his camera and hit two of the activists.

Abu Nizar’s son Nashmi Mohammed Ibrahim Abu Rahma (age 14) had been arrested 5 days ago. To date, Israeli forces have arrested 28 people (most of which are under 18). Nineteen residents of Bil’in remain in Israeli detention. Through Israel’s interrogation and intimidation tactics, some of arrested youth have ‘confessed’ that the Bil’in Popular Committee urges the demonstrators to throw stones. With such ‘confessions’, Israeli forces then proceed to arrest leaders of the non violent struggle in the community.

Magda abu Rahme , 17 , sister to Nashmi and daughter to Mohammad who are both currently in Israeli military prison stated; “These crimes, these armed invasions, breaking into homes where women sleep, these will only make us stronger and more steadfast. We remain samideen – steadfast – and will not back down. The strategy is to fragment our families and community and create distrust, and this will fail, we remain strong and we are immovable.”

What you can do?

Attempts to criminalize the leadership of non-violent protests where curbed in the past with the help of an outpouring of support from people committed to justice from all over the world.

1. The Popular committee of Bil’in is in desperate need for legal funds in order to pay legal fees and Bail. Please donate to the Bil’in legal fund by paypal click http://tinyurl.com/lcr6rg . If you would like to make a tax deductible donation in the US or Canada contact: bilinlegal@gmail.com.

2. Please Protest by contacting your political representatives, as well as you consuls and ambassadors to Israel to demand that Israel stops targeting non violent popular resistance and release Mohammad Abu Rahme (Abu Nizar,) Adib Abu Rahme and all Bil’in prisoners.

The Bil’in Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements

Background

The Palestinian village of Bil’in has become an international symbol of the Palestinian popular struggle. For almost 5 years, its residents have been continuously struggling against the de facto annexation of more than 50% of their farmlands via the construction of the Apartheid Wall.

In a celebrated decision, the Israeli Supreme court ruled on the 4 September 2007 that the current route of the wall in Bil’in was illegal and needs to be dismantled; the ruling however has not been implemented. The struggle of the village to liberate its lands and stop the illegal settlements has been internationally recognized and has earned the popular committee in Bil’in the Carl von Ossietzky Meda. http://tinyurl.com/nfmsvm

Another leading Bil’in non-violent activist, Adeeb Abu Rahme, remains in detention since his arrest during a non-violent demonstration on July 10th (see report & video: https://palsolidarity.org/2009/07/7652).

Adib Abu Rahme as well as Bil’in’s popular committee Member Mohammad Khatib have been charged with “incitement to damage the security of the area.” , was recently released on bail after his lawyer proved that a picture the military prosecution claimed was of him throwing stones that was accompanied by a confession form one of the arrested youth recognizing Mohammad, was taken while Mohammad was out of the country.

A mass demonstration will be held outside Ofer prison in the West Bank

For Immediate Release:

Monday, 24 August 2009 at 9am: A mass demonstration will be held outside Ofer prison in the West Bank.

Palestinians, alongside Israeli and international solidarity activists will gather in front of Ofer (on the Palestinian side) to protest against Israeli arrest and intimidation campaigns of Palestinians.

Israeli forces have conducted arrest and intimidation campaigns on villages that resist Israeli apartheid infrastructure. According to a joint report from Addameer and Stop the Wall, Israeli forces have arrested 176 Palestinians from 5 villages alone in their resistance against construction of the Wall.

The family of Na’el Barghouthi will be in attendance to demand for his release. Barghouthi was taken by Israeli forces on 4 April 1978 and has been behind bars for 31 years.

An estimated 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners are currently being held in Israeli jails.

One arrested during demonstration against settlement expansion

Palestine Solidarity Project

21 August 2009

Construction of a road has begun on Palestinian land right outside the settlement Karmei Tsur, between Beit Omar and Halhoul, about two weeks ago. The construction has happened between the edge of the settlement and a “security fence” that the military built three years ago. This agricultural land still belongs to the Palestinian families of Abu Maria, Soleiby, Awwad, Abu Ayyesh, and Sabarna. However, entry to their land since the building of the fence has required a permit from Israel, which most Palestinian families refuse to apply for, maintaining that the land is rightfully theirs.

Friday, August 21, a group of Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals held a demonstration outside the fence. Palestine Solidarity Project organized the demonstration, in which about 35 people participated. Participants stepped over barbed wire which was lining the fence, and inserted papers with the slogans “we will never leave our land,” “stop illegal building on Palestinian land,” and “expansion of settlements makes peace impossible” into the fence. Some of the owners of the land stolen from them joined the group, displaying their papers of ownership from the Ottoman Empire and shouting, “where is the peace?”

arrest karmei tsurThe group walked along the fence surveying the land that was restricted to the Palestinians and now being built on by the settlement. Elderly farmers spoke about the land that was taken and the documents handed down from their grandparents from the Ottoman Empire, proving ownership, until several Israeli military jeeps arrived and soldiers shouted at the group to leave. The group, standing on Palestinian land, insisted on their right to be there and in fact to enter the fence if they wished to their privately-owned land. There was discussion between the soldiers and the activists, until Settlement security arrived and, after shouting at the activists to “go back to Germany“ and “f**k your mother“ to an activist who identified himself as a Jew, opened the gate in the fence, insisting that the army disperse the activists. The military did just that, chasing the group into the Palestinian fruit groves. On their way back to the village, one international activist from the United States was arrested and accused of destroying security property for taking a piece of wire off of the fence. He was released later the same day.

The aim of the demonstration was to show resistance to illegal building on stolen Palestinian land in addition to bringing attention to the quiet expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank in the midst of strong international pressure to stop exactly that.

Bil’in demonstrates against the Apartheid Wall

Bil’in Popular Committee

21 August 2009

Dozen were suffocated with tear gas by occupation soldiers during their participation in the weekly demonstration that was called by the People’s Committee to resist the wall.

Participants of the demonstration were people of the village, international activists and Israeli peace movement’s members. Demonstrators raised Palestinian flags and banners calling for ending the occupation, stopping wall and settlements constructions, land confiscation, night raids and arrests. Participants, walked in Bil’in streets, chanting slogans and calling for national unity. Demonstrators walked toward the wall and when they get close to the gate, the occupation soldiers started firing tear gas, causing suffocation.

On the other hand, the Israeli army force raided the village of Bil’in today’s morning and arrested Mohammed Ibrahim Abu Rahma (48 years) a member of the People’s Committee Against the Wall – Vice President of the village council – where he was taken to the Ofer prison. Thus this raid is targeting the members of the People’s Committee in order to stop their resistance against the occupation.

Although the occupation forces released yesterday, Basil Naim Bernat, this release was after spending 39 days at the prison and after paying 7,000 NIS as a penalty, and the have released the child Nashmi Mohammed Abu Rahma after paying 5,000 NIS as a penalty, thus he has spent five days at the prison. As well as, they have released before a couple of days Muhammad al-Khatib; member of the Popular committee after spending two weeks at the prison, although he has paid 10,000 NIS as a penalty, in addition to conditions includes not participating at the weekly demonstrations, and to leave Bili’n on Fridays from 12:00 am to 17:00 pm, as he has to be at the nearest Israeli police center in the mentioned period.