Tag: Demonstration

Three injured and dozens suffered teargas inhalation in Bil’in

Bil’in Popular Committee

22 May 2009

Residents of Bil’in marched today after the Friday prayer in a protest joined by international and Israelis activists. Protesters carried Palestinian flags and posters of the martyr, Bassem Abu Rahmah and metal shields to protect them from rubber bullets and bombs, labeled with a picture of the martyr Abu Rahma and also raised slogans condemning the Zionist occupation, chanting slogans demanding the expulsion of the occupation of the territory of their village and return the land seized from them.

The Israeli army had gathered in big numbers behind cement blocks and used razor wire to prevent the crowd from going through the gate. The army fired tear gas canisters to disturb the crowd, causing dozens to suffer gas inhalation and nine were shot with rubber coated steel bullets. The injured: Adeeb Aburahma Omar Hisham Nasser, and the mercy of the boy Ahmad Aburahma (15).

On the other hand, the demonstrators gave the soldiers balloons filled dung of animals in response to the military’s use of poison gas.

In the Bil’in weekly action today, there was a participation of 16 delegates from Quebec, Canada representing 14 civil society and political organizations.The delegation was organized by the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (CJPP) and included delegates from unions (CUPW, CUPE, FNEEQ), civil society organizations (FFQ, Artists for Peace, Alternatives) and Quebec Solidaire (political party) among others.

The delegation listened to a presentation from the Popular Committee against the Wall (Bil’in) about the history and developments of their just struggle against the Wall and later participated with 300 local, national, and international actives.Ehab Lotayef, a member of the delegation, said “we are shocked by the violence the IDF soldiers faced the demonstration with despite that it clearly did not threaten them or the wall in any way.” “Only when Israel will accept the humanity of the Palestinian people and their right to live in security and dignity will there ever be peace in this region”, he added.

While hailing the People’s Committee to resist the wall in Bil’in, the political support, material and moral by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, for the movement of peaceful resistance and to support the steadfastness of the citizens they are confident that the new government, headed by Dr. Salam Fayyad, will continue this approach and working to achieve, on this occasion, they demanded the ministries concerned with issues of territorial defense, especially the ministries of agriculture, public works and affairs of Jerusalem and all the other ministries to develop resilience and to support the cause of defending the land at the head of confirmation of the strategic priorities of the Palestinian Authority, as the face of the settlement is the highest priority.

On the other hand, called the Popular Committee for wall resistance and settlements in Bil’in the citizens to participate in the memorial service on behalf of the martyr Bassem Abu Rahma (elephant) on next Tuesday at five thirty in the evening, corresponding to 26/5/2009, in the courtyard of the school of Bil’in.

Palestinians protest annexation of East Jerusalem

21 May 2009

On Thursday 21st of May, a group Israeli and International activists staged a protest contesting the celebration of Jerusalem day, which marks Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967.

Activists held placards showing support for the persecuted Palestinian population of occupied East Jerusalem as right-wing Israelis marched by on their route from the West to the East of the city. The protest caused anger amongst the marchers and they repeatedly attempted to take the banners and rip them. The police arrived and forced the protest back, and away from the march, by physically pushing the activists.

The protest continued through Jaffa St and Ben Yehuda Street, where it was met with another baying crowd of right-wing Israelis who chanted “Death to all Arabs” and attempted to intimidate the activists by pursuing them through the streets.

A demonstration earlier in the day was held outside Damascus Gate, involving local Palestinians. Speeches were made and chants of “End the occupation” were shouted by the crowd, with the event passing peacefully.

Jerusalem day is an Israeli national holiday celebrating the supposed unification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the old city in June 1967. Israeli’s sovereignty of East Jerusalem is not recognized by the international community and it’s regarded as illegally occupied land.

Palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem have long suffered discrimination and violence since it’s annexation in the ’67 war. Recently the number of house demolition orders in East Jerusalem has increased dramatically, a result of Israel’s continued policy of attempting to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians from the land.

Interview with Mahmud Zwahre, head of the al-Ma’sara Popular Committee

The Alternative Information Center

19 May 2009

The al-Ma’sara Committee against the Wall and Settlements has been organizing demonstrations against the confiscation of their land for the past two and a half years. During the demonstration on 1 May 2009, the Israeli army arrested Hasan Bergia, Mohammad Bergia, Mahmoud Zwahre (members of the popular committee), Mustafa Fuara, Azmi Ash-Shyukhi, Haggai Matar (Israeli activist) and Tom Stocker (British volunteer). The last two were released the same day on 1,500 NIS bail with conditions of not entering the West Bank for two weeks. Azmi Ash-Shyukhi, Mustafa Fuara and Mahmoud Zwahre were released on bail (50,000 NIS all together) on 13 May, after being held in military prison for almost two weeks.

Hassan Bergia and Mohammad Bergia are still being held.

Interview with MAHMOUD ZWAHRE, the Mayor of Ma’sara, member of the al-Ma’sara Popular Committee, and director of the joint council of nine villages South of Bethlehem.

How did al-Ma’sara nonviolent movement start?

We started in June 2006 to build a nonviolent resistance movement against the settlement and the Wall: we held meetings with farmers, with associations in the nearby villages and with the local councils. At that time, Israel started to confiscate land in the village of Umm Salomona. When we witnessed what was happening to our neighbors, we formed a committee of 13 persons coming from nine different villages (9.000 people) South of Bethlehem, which was later able to gather 100 persons.

Why does Al-Ma’sara play a key role in the movement?

Actually al-Ma’sara (1,000 persons) is the village less affected by the Wall, but it counts the highest percentage of educated population of the area, therefore the most active people of the committee come from there. Even if we have not been directly affected by the Wall and the settlements, we understand the importance of raising our voices against the violence and injustices Palestinians are suffering. Unluckily now, the villagers from al-Ma’sara are the only ones attending the demonstrations, but even if we are few, we stand firmly and we believe in the importance of keeping protesting.

Why don’t people from other villages join your action?

People do not attend protests and sometimes even complain about them because they are afraid: they fear that they can get arrested, injured or even killed, like what happened in Bil’in. Nevertheless, the attendance at protests is further compromised by some influential collaborators who keep discouraging people from attending protests in order to maintain their “special relationship” with the Israeli authorities. Despite these opponents, in 2006, Muhammad Bergia and I won the nine-village local council elections, but our victory made our position even worse. We exposed ourselves, and the result was that we got arrested on the last 1 May, during the weekly nonviolent demonstration.

Why do you think the Israeli military is becoming more aggressive against nonviolent movements?

The Israeli military is now working hard to stop nonviolent resistance movements because our protests clearly show that Palestinians are trying to fight for their rights through peaceful means, which are not only accepted, but even encouraged by the international community. Through nonviolent demonstrations, we prevent Israeli government from portraying Palestinians as violent terrorists who threaten Israel’s security and safety. We put Israel in the uncomfortable position of not being able any longer to put a mask on its armed attacks against unarmed civilians. They are trying to repress our peaceful struggle against their illegal acts. This is the reason why they are mainly targeting people who lead these resistance movements and this is the reason why they arrested us.

Tell us about the day of your arrest

At the May 1st demonstration, a speech concerning the effects of the Wall on workers’ life was held. After that the protesters stood in front of the soldiers and Muhammad Bergia was in the frontline. Suddenly they caught him and dragged him away. Hasan Bergia, Mustafa Fuara, Azmi Ash-Shyukhi, an Israeli solidarity activist and Tom Stocker, a British volunteer, tried to release him, but got arrested as well. Then the launch of tear gas began in order to break up the crowd. I later decided to go and talk to the soldiers, trying to discuss the release of my comrades, but I got arrested too.

The soldiers took us, hands tied, to the detention center in the Gush Etzion settlement and threatened us, saying: “now we’ll see how you will be able to protect yourselves without journalists and cameras.” Then the police border officer started to beat Muhammad right in front of us and tried to choke him. We have pictures of this officer and we will denounce him with the support of B’Tselem. After signing a document with our names and IDs numbers, we went to the doctor, but despite our health problems, he refused to give us the proper medical treatments. Then the soldiers released the Israeli and the British and took us to the jail, also in Gush Etzion. Before entering the prison, the police officers registered Muhammad with the wrong name and this mistake made by the police officer was later used in the process as evidence against him, accusing him of giving wrong information. Then they made us wear prison uniforms, forced us to kneel down with tied hands and ankles, and prevented us from walking while holding our heads high. That was to humiliate us. The next morning they came into the cell to count us, but to do that we were forced to kneel down and look at the floor while saying our names and we had to remain in that position for half an hour. Then a breakfast of one tomato and one yogurt came for me and the other eight persons. I decided to talk to the jail director, asking him “Why are you treating us in this way? Above all, we are human beings and there are international laws protecting prisoners that you are not respecting.” He just answered: “for security reasons!” When we asked for a lighter to smoke, we were told: “Shalit is not allowed to smoke!,” so we couldn’t. I remained in this jail for 12 days.

How about the process?

The first trial was after three days of detention, on 4 May. The DVD of the demonstration was shown to the judge, who decided that there was no reason for detaining us because we did nothing illegal that could represent a danger for the State security, so he asked for our release with a bail of 5,000 NIS. But the military replied that it needed more time to complete the investigation and obtained a first appeal, postponing the process until 7 May. The military appealed a second time, stating the investigation was not yet completed and we still could represent a potential danger for the security of the state. Then the judge doubled the bail to 10,000 NIS. However, they did not release us because the military was given three further days to find evidence against us. On 10 May, the military appealed once again and the process was fixed on 11 May. On Monday the 11th, our lawyer, who was provided by Anarchists against the Wall and the Bil’in Committee, pointed out there had been a different behavior towards Palestinians from one side and Israelis and foreigners from the other, but “it was Shabbat and the police couldn’t detain too many people,” was the excuse.

On 9 June the final court will be held, but in order to be released on 11 May, Hazmi and I had to pay 20,000 NIS each bail and Mustafa 10,000 NIS. We were also prevented from taking part in any demonstration until the court case will be resolved. We were able to pay the bail money thanks to the help of some friends, the Bil’in Committee, Israeli associations and activists. Unluckily, the situation is more complicated and difficult for Muhammad and Hassan, who are still in jail.

What will be your next actions?

We have to keep demonstrating. We don’t have to give up even if things are getting worse and harder. We need the help of Israeli activists and internationals, we need them to join our struggle and help us in spreading what is happening here. But above all, we have to raise awareness among Palestinians, who are the ones meant to be active on the frontline against what they are suffering.

Live from the West Bank, Israel’s repression of Ni’lin

Max Blumenthal

16 May 2009

I have been in the West Bank of Palestine all week filming a video series on the Occupation that I will release in a few days. Yesterday, I traveled to Ni’lin, a town in the West Bank that has been the site of weekly demonstrations against the construction of a portion of the Israeli separation wall that would effectively and deliberately annex farmland from the villagers for a nearby Jewish settlement. Each week the Israeli Army puts down Ni’lin’s demonstrations in a draconian manner, escalating from the firing of teargas from surrounding hillsides to rubber bullets and live fire when they invade the town center.

Yesterday, true to form, the army set up positions in the hills above the village and began firing teargas volleys towards a cluster of about 30 demonstrators seeking to block the path of the wall’s construction. I stood behind the demonstrators and filmed. Within minutes we were blanketed by teargas as canisters exploded all around us. My eyes burned until I couldn’t see; I struggled to breathe as I ran down a narrow street, seeking cover behind walls. This happened over and over throughout the day. At one point the army cornered journalists and a group of demonstrators in a parking lot then appeared to pursue us until we leapt over a series of backyard walls and scattered. Afterwards the Shabab assembled at various points and began slinging rocks towards the Israeli positions.

By 3 pm I was exhausted. My head was searing with pain and my clothes were immersed in teargas residue. Most of the journalists and many of the international demonstrators had left, so I followed them out of Ni’lin, passing on my way out through an Israeli flying checkpoint that had sealed off the town’s main entrance. With the media and international presence gone, Israeli forces transitioned from tear gas to live bullets.

At approximately 4:30 pm, a 12-year-old girl named Summer Amira was struck in the arm by a .22 caliber bullet from an Israeli rifle as she passed by the window of her home. She was taken to the hospital fifteen minutes later and released (luckily) with superficial wounds but in a state of shock. This is nothing new for the residents of Ni’lin. The town of only 5000 residents has lost four young people to Israeli gunfire since May, including an 11-year-old boy. An American activist named Tristan Anderson lies comatose in a Tel Aviv hospital, the victim of a direct cranial hit from an Israeli teargas canister. This is the price Ni’lin pays for daring to resist the impending destruction of its farmland and the irrevocable rupturing of its community. Next week the town’s residents will try again to stop the wall.

I will post hopefully later today on a series of actions against settler violence against Palestinian farmers in the Hebron hills. The ISM’s account of Summer Amira’s shooting is here.

Nakba demonstration held in Aneen village

15 May 2009

Jenin residents demonstrate against the Apartheid Wall
Jenin residents demonstrate against the Apartheid Wall

In commemoration of the 61st year of al Nakba, residents from all over the Jenin area went to Aneen to demonstrate against the Apartheid Wall built on Palestinian land. About 300 woman, children, and men marched together in a peaceful protest towards a gate in the Wall, chanting in Arabic and English.

When the crowd reached the gate, the chanting increased and people fixed posters and Palestinian flags on the razor wire. Several speeches were held at the scene; amongst the speakers was the founder of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The non-violent demonstration went on for an hour. Then everyone walked back to the village without incident. Three military jeeps were parked by the gate even before the demonstration had started, and about a dozen soldiers were standing on the other side of the gate with their weapons pointed at the crowd initially.

Aneen is a village northwest of Jenin, with a population of 12,000 inhabitants. The Wall was built on Palestinian land in 2002 during the massacre at the Jenin refugee camp.

11,000 dunums of Aneen’s land were appropriated for construction of the Apartheid Wall Wall. Even more land is unreachable for the farmers, because it is situated on the other side of the wall. The Palestinians need permits to enter the gate to go to their land.

For the olive harvest last year, 1,600 farmers received permits. This year, only 30 farmers where granted a permit to go to their land, mainly elderly and often sick farmers who are not able to work their land themselves. Last year, two of the permits that were handed out to the villagers were in the name of individuals who had already died more than two years ago.

Even those who receive a permit are not sure that they will be able to pass the gate. The people who want to pass have to stand in line from 4 o clock in the morning to have a chance of passing since the gate is only open until 7 am. After that, they are closed until the afternoon.

The Israeli army only lets one person at a time pass the gate. There are four doors to be passed, the third door has electrical sensors so it alerts the Army if someone tries to pass the gate unattended.