Tag: Demonstration

Israeli forces begin construction of new cement wall on Ni’lin’s land

For Immediate Release:

Friday, 21 August 2009 at 12:30pm: A demonstration will be held against the new cement construction of the Wall in the West Bank village of Ni’lin.

Israeli forces have begun placing 8 meter high cement blocks, in place of a fence that was built before.

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 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.

Nablus-area residents to protest home demolition orders

This coming Thursday (20/08/09) the families and friends of those affected by the demolition orders detailed below, will hold a protest outside the courts in Beit El. They will be joined by residents of nearby villages and international solidarity activists. The rally will start between 9 and 10am outside the court.

House demolition orders in Yetma:

In the village Yetma south of Nablus in the West Bank, around 17 houses was given demolition orders from the Israeli Government, issued the 27th of July 2009. All houses were built after the Oslo process, and are located in the only part of the village that is considered to be area C according to the Accords. By the Israeli government, therefor, these houses are considered as having been built without a permit. This is their official reason for issuing the orders. However, the area is located no further than aproximetely 2 km from the border of the Israeli settlement Rahel. Neither the Palestinian Authority nor the Israeli Government will give the house owners licenses saying that they own the land on which the houses are built.

The 6th of August, however, after having issued an official complaint about the demolition orders, 3 of the houses had their court case. The decision became that the legal process would be postponed until the 13th of August when a new court case will be held.

According to the demolition orders issued to 9 of the other houses, the final date on which the Israeli Government can come to evict the houses is dated the 20th of August. The house owners of these houses too, made an official complaint about the decision, but their court case will be held as late 9 o clock the 20th of August, which makes it possible for Israel to fulfill the evictions before the legal procedure takes place.

The Red Crescent will provide the families with food and tents after the demolitions.

Demolition orders for 13 houses in Dahia village east of Nablus

The village of Dahia is a very quiet area, in the mountains east of Nablus. Since the time of the Ottoman Empire, the area has belonged to the city of Kafr Qalil.

During the Oslo agreement, the land was classified under Area C, land that falls under full Israeli administrative control. Dahia has over 200 houses and new homes are under current construction. These are located near the top of the mountain where there is a fence preventing people to enter a military road which leads to a military observation point. From this point the military can overlook the whole area with its various villages and also Balata Camp. During the second Intifada the military also used to shoot people from there in Balata Camp. On the other side of the fence there is a village with Arabic Jews who live there for many years who have good relations to the people from Dahia. But to reach them you have to travel a long way round.

Most of the families moving to Dahia are people from Balata Camp who try to fulfill their dream of a secure home outside the camp. The money to build those palaces (in comparison to the conditions under which they have to live in Balata Camp) they moostly borrowed from friends, their family and the bank. Mostly it’s about the money you earn when you work 40 years. Now thirteen of the families got house demolishing orders which they received on the 21st of July. The court case will take place on the 13th of August. The houses are randomly chosen by the Israeli army. They consider them to be a security risk. Some of the houses are located close to the fence some are far away, not even built – others are directly next to the fence and can stay for the moment.

Again the conflict is as in several areas: People legally bought the land and even received deeds of ownerships for it from the responsible government (here: Kafr Qalil) which refer to the deeds from the Ottoman Empire. Afterwards they got the building license and water and energy supply.

Now as already mentioned they are considered to be a security risk. In the area of Dahia only three houses got a building license also from the Israeli government.

The inhabitants are afraid that if the 13 cases will be lost in front of the judge other house demolishing orders will follow.

Azzun:
Since some time there exists the order to build a road which shall connect the settlements of Alfei Menashe and Kamei Shomron. It’s going to be 10 km long with a buffer zone of 300 meters on each side and will cost around 180 000 000 NIS. This will change the usual root for people from Azzun on their way to Nablus. Because it will be a settlers’ only road Palestinian will have to make a detour via Jayyus.

Activists expect the plans for this road to be the reason why that many owners get demolishing orders for their houses. In 1993 2500 Dunums of Izbat at Tabib got the order to be confiscated in order to be replaced by an industrial area. This decision was postponed in 2001. Nowadays half of the 45 houses of the village have demolishing orders and settlers accompanied by IOF show up in the village and stay there for some hours. Strangely people from another village where they got house demolishing orders additional to this got the order to move to Izbat al Tabib against what the inhabitants of Izbat al Tabib got to say: They shall move to Azzun where new possibilities of housing are promised to them.

Bil’in’s children demonstrate against ongoing Israeli night raids

19 August 2009

Today, the first nonviolent demonstration for the children of Bil’in took place to protest against the night raids and the many arrests of young boys in the village. They carried banners and chanted slogans like “We want to sleep,” “No more night raids,” “Let us live,” “We want Peace,” and so on. The children lead the demonstration toward the Apartheid Wall with villagers and Palestinian and international activists following them. At the Wall they were met by two soldiers who were on regular duty at the Wall.

Once they arrived at the Wall, the children continued their chanting as the soldiers watched. Two Jeeps arrived with reinforcement. Noticing that the gate, which gives access to the Wall, was open, five soldiers came through the door of the Wall to close it shut while the children chanted into their faces and activists challenged them about arresting children. They asked them whether they were ever thinking about what they were doing. Once the gate was shut, the occupation forces retreated.

The children and the protesters gathered at the Wall for a while placing their posters and flags at the gate. Seeing all the children, the occupation forces refrained from firing any tear gas or ammunition. They simply told everyone to go back. Eventually, everyone returned to the village.

Mohammad Khatib released from Israeli prison

For Immediate Release

Bil'in demonstrates against the Apartheid Wall
Bil'in demonstrates against the Apartheid Wall

Monday, 17 August 2009: Mohammad Khatib, member of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements has been released on the condition that he report to a police station with a monitor every Friday until 5pm for the duration of his trial. He is available for interviews.

According to Mohammad, “The Israeli authorities are worried that the model of popular non-violent resistance is spreading. They are targeting the popular committees to try to crush it but they cannot destroy the spirit of the demonstrations in Bil’in with the arrests of individuals. The whole village is part of the non-violent resistance and the military would have to arrest the entire village to stop us from protesting against the Occupation and the theft of our land. Even then, when we all come out of jail, we would continue our struggle.”

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). The latest wave of arrests and night raids on the West Bank village of Bil’in began on 23 June 2009. Both Adib Abu Rahme and Mohammad Khatib are being charged with “incitement to damage the security of the area.”

To date, Israeli forces have arrested 26 people (most under 18. The last arrest took place on 15.08.09; Nashmi Mohammad Ibrahim Abu Rahma (age 15) was arrested near the Apartheid Wall in Bil’in village. This brings the total of arrested to 19.

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 in the community. In Mohammad Khatib’s case this tactic failed when Khatib’s attorney, Gabi Laski, proved that a picture the prosecution claimed was of Mohammad throwing stones during a demonstration was taken when Mohammad was out of the country. The photograph was accompanied by a “confession” from one of the Bil’in youth that is currently in the military’s custody, claiming that the person in the picture was Mohammad Khatib.

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.

Protests against Sheikh Jarrah evictions continue

15 August 2009

About 70 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists gathered at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem on Saturday, 15th August to demonstrate against the recent evictions in Sheikh Jarrah and Israel’s ongoing policy of ethnically cleansing East Jerusalem of its Palestinian population.

Protesters were carrying balloons in the colours of the Palestinian flag and banners with messages from the children of Sheikh Jarrah. The children from the evicted families and their friends created the signs to tell the world about their experience with the recent evictions and the reality of living in occupied East Jerusalem. Most of them were talking about their lost childhood and that all they want is to stay in their homes, expressing their fear of being thrown out on the street and living in tents.

One of the local children, Rania (11) wrote: When I look out of my window I see my friends sleeping on the street and settlers throwing stones at them. I feel so sad for them. The settlers are in the house where we used to play.

From Damascus Gate, the demonstration proceeded onto marching towards Sheikh Jarrah. Just before reaching the neighbourhood, the march was stopped by police and border police, who held the crowd for about ten minutes while checking IDs. After a short while, the police allowed the march to continue. The demonstrators visited both evicted families and continued shouting slogans calling for Israel to stop demolishing Palestinian houses and evicting families from their homes.

On August 2, 2009, two Palestinian families, 53 people in total, were thrown out of their homes. Armed Israeli policemen smashed the windows, broke in and evicted the residents. After just one hour, Jewish settlers seized the homes and moved in. They are still there now. As for the Palestinian families, they are now sleeping on mattresses on the sidewalk across from their houses.

The families are refugees from 1948 and were given the houses in Sheikh Jarrah by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the government of Jordan which controlled East Jerusalem then. They have been fighting for their right to stay in their houses for 37 years, since the Jewish settlers produced falsified Ottoman-era deeds showing the land the houses were built on belonged to Jews. After endless court hearings, in which the Hannouns tried to present new documents and evidence, their appeal was rejected and they were issued an eviction order in February. They had been waiting for the eviction since 15th March, continuing their non-violent fight, which drew significant attention of the whole world.

These house evictions amount to a systematic elimination and cleansing of a Palestinian presence in the city, particularly in the occupied areas of East Jerusalem by the State of Israel, through legal and regulatory means. The creation of Jewish enclaves and settlements in these areas and removal of the local Palestinian population which have been living here for generations is against international law.

This “judaization” of occupied East Jerusalem is a process that if allowed to continue, will harm all prospects of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, for whom a return to negotiations hinge largely on the sovereignty of the city and of East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.