On 15th of January women and children in Ni’lin protested against Israel’s war crimes against the Palestinian people. They were accompanied by international and Israeli human rights activists. The demonstration with approximately 100 participants took place inside the town and was good in expressing the mood of the village.
The demonstration started at the girls school. The girls wore t-shirts they printed themselves displaying the Palestinian nation and the names of Ni’lin and Gaza confirming their solidarity with the plight of the people who are suffering from Israeli brutality. They also carried balloons saying “Stop the wall”, “Stop the killing” and other slogans expressing their outrage.
They shouted slogans as they marched. They went to the graves of the four shaheeds (martyrs) from the village. First they went to the graves of Arafat al Khawadja, 22, and Mohammed al Khawadja , 19, where Arafat’s brother gave a speech. After they continued to the places where Ahmed Moussa, 10, and Yousef Amira, 17 are buried.
Media listened to the speeches and opinions of women and children participating in the demonstration.
This demonstration is a continuation of the struggle of Ni’lin against the construction of the Apartheid Wall since may 2008.
Women from the Nablus Prisoners’ Association took over the main circle in the centre of the city on Saturday 3rd January to protest the Israeli slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.
Carrying mock-corpses of killed Palestinian babies, the women chanted their support for the victims of the continuing Israeli attacks, calling “With soul and blood we stand with Gaza”.
The women called for unity in supporting Gaza:
“This is my Hamas son.
This is my PFLP son.
This is my Fatah son,
This is my son whose blood is Palestinian!”
Placards were waved as the women marched around the circle, highlighting the complicity of Arab states as they fail to manifestly support Palestine throughout the occupation and the attacks on Gaza:
“Arab leaders: Are you not embarrassed?”
Resistance to the ongoing massacre was called for as the women called for a popular intifada.
This is the third demonstration in Nablus in as many days. More than 2000 residents of Nablus took to the streets on Friday, a day which saw mass protests across the West Bank, to protest against the ongoing attacks on Gaza.
Candlelight demonstrations were also held on the night of Thursday 1st December, where Israeli flags and a coffin symbolising the Arab states were burnt.
While the world watches in horror as the death toll in Gaza continues to rise, in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army is taking the opportunity to unleash a level of deadly force, in the knowledge that, under the shadow cast by their war on Gaza, these atrocities will go unseen by the international community.
Palestinian communities in the West Bank have responded to the war on Gaza with daily demonstrations in cities and villages throughout the region. Taking the form of marches, sit-ins and candlelight vigils, as well as stone-throwing by young boys, these demonstrations have met with lethal repression from Israeli soldiers in their role as an occupying army.
In the village of Ni’lin, West of Ramallah, two young men, Arafat Al-Khawaje and Mohammad Al-Khawaje were both brutally murdered in a spray of live ammunition from Israeli soldiers during a demonstration against the war on Gaza. Arafat, aged 22, was killed immediately as a bullet cut through his back, stopping his heart. Mohammad, who was shot in the head, held-on in Ramallah hospital in a critical condition for four days, before dying on the evening of Wednesday 31st December. A third young man, Mohammad Sror, was shot in the leg. International eye-witnesses to the slaughter describe the attack as being “callous and calculated”, with Israeli soldiers feigning an invasion of the village to lure the young men into the olive groves, where they had concealed themselves, before opening fire from a distance of just 15 metres.
The attack took place with full knowledge that there was no ambulance in the village, as Israeli forces had refused to permit it to pass through the checkpoint. Once the shooting occurred, the ambulance was detained for a further five minutes at the checkpoint, before the soldiers allowed it to enter the village.
In the village of Silwad, another young man, 17 year old Mohammad Hamid, was shot by Israeli soldiers from a guard-tower whilst at a demonstration – dying in hospital from three gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen.
On 4th January, in Qalqiliya city, another young man was assassinated by Israeli soldiers for throwing stones over the Apartheid Wall that surrounds the city. Mofed Saleh Walwil, 20 years old, was killed with a single sniper bullet to the forehead, when an Israeli jeep opened fire on the boys.
Two more young men are in a critical condition after also being shot by Israeli soldiers whilst demonstrating against Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead”. Hammam Al-Ashari, 17 years old, from Abu Dis, near Jerusalem, was shot in the head with three rubber-coated steel bullets at close range, while he was walking up a stairwell with friends. For 30 minutes, the soldiers prevented a waiting ambulance from reaching Hammam, significantly worsening his condition.
17 year old Mohammad Jaber is also in a critical condition after Israeli soldiers again opened fire on a Gaza protest in Hebron, on Sunday 28th December, shooting him in the head. In the period of two days from 28th-29th December, Israeli soldiers in Hebron wounded at least 21 demonstrators with live ammunition, according to doctors at Hebron’s al-Ahli hospital. International human rights workers living in the area, describe this as a significant “escalation in the violence used by the Israeli Occupation Forces”.
The number of Palestinian youth shot by Israeli armed forces in the West Bank continues to rise, with at least 3 more young men injured by live fire from Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th December.
Severe repression has also been leveled at Gaza demonstrations in the form of arbitrary mass arrests. In East Jerusalem 90 people were arrested for taking part in a non-violent street march. Protesters were all released upon the condition that they not enter Jerusalem’s old city for ten days, despite the fact that many of the arrestees reside there. Many Palestinians living in East Jerusalem now express fear of taking part in non-violent demonstrations, saying that the consequences for such acts are too high.
Suppression of public dissent seems to be the motivation behind many of the repressive tactics being executed by Israeli Authorities. This is exemplified by the denial of entry to Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s old city on Friday 2nd January for any men under the age of 50 years, under the pretext that the first Friday prayers since the air strikes on Gaza began would foment further protests. Further, Thursday 1st January saw Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak momentarily invoke of curfew across the entire West Bank for Friday 2nd; later downgraded to a closure of all checkpoints between the West Bank and Israel, including East Jerusalem.
In light of the violence and repression being leveled at Palestinians in the West Bank, claims made by Israeli military spokespeople – that they are attacking Gaza in order to put an end to rocket fire – ring hollow. As Israeli authorities protest that their massacre in the Gaza Strip is self-defensive, and that the civilian casualties are an unfortunate by-product of Hamas members “hiding” amongst the civilian population; as they proffer their occupation of the West Bank as an example of their even-handed, democratic restraint in the terrain of Palestinian Authority governance (“There are no rockets fired from the West Bank, so we don’t need to attack them”); the realities on the ground paint a very different picture.
As the Israeli government continues their brutal occupation of the West Bank – killing and injuring youths; firing tear gas in to Palestinian civilian homes (leading to a house fire in the village of Ni’lin on Thursday 1st January); continued invasions of cities and villages, involving curfews, house occupations and arbitrary arrests; the continued imprisonment of some 11000 Palestinian political prisoners – including 327 children; and continuing settlement expansion and settler violence – claims that Israel is not targeting Palestinians as a people are increasingly difficult to believe.
Amidst the barrage of rehearsed Israeli government rhetoric, Palestinian civilians are being killed by Israeli soldiers, in greater or lesser numbers, regardless of where they live, or what their political affiliations. In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian youths will continue to die under the shadow of Gaza, as Israeli forces act with impunity – immune to the international gaze and any potential censure that may accompany it.
At 10am on 6th January 2009, children from Ni’lin village went out to the streets to demonstrate against the Apartheid regime of the State of Israel and showing their support to the one and half million of Palestinians in Gaza suffering because of the Israeli massive attacks during 11 days, that have already killed over 500 people and injured over 2500.
Around 300 children between the ages of 3 and 12 arrived from both girls and boys schools in Ni’lin to the town’s center. The youngest ones were driven first from the kindergarten to the municipality square.
They were holding banners and pictures, showing the world what the state of Israel is doing to Gaza people and children and carrying martyrs’ photographs of those army had been killed last week. The girls gathered at the town’s centre shouting messages in support for Gaza and asking for unity against occupation and massacre of the Palestinians. They gave an example of strength and courage. Once all the children met, they started the march through the village. Five children were in the front wearing white t-shirts painted with red colors as a symbol of the victims in Gaza and Ni’lin. Ni’lin’s martyrs’ younger brothers were there, carrying their brothers’ pictures.
The children marched along the main street keeping their voices loud. They continued the demonstration towards the graveyard where the last four Ni’lin martyrs rest. They first visited Ahmed Moussa, 10 years old, and Yousef Ameera, 17 years old, killed both on 29th and 30th July. They prayed and made some speeches there.
After, they walked behind the clinic, where the graves of Arafat Khawaja, 22, and Mohammed Khawaja, 19, both killed on 28th December while demonstrating in solidarity with Gaza people, are. Arafat’s youngest brother, Basil Khawaja, gave a speech about the suffering of the population in Gaza and the Israeli abuses on the Palestinian people.
A lot of media covered the demonstration. The children could express themselves telling the world, in Arabic and English, what they think, how they suffer and asking for stopping the massacre of Palestine. They finished the demonstration shouting “STOP THE CRIMES IN GAZA”.
At around 9pm on the 31st December, Mohammed Al-Khawaje died as a result of severe brain damage following being shot in the forehead the previous Sunday.
At 10:30, his body was taken from the hospital in Ramallah in a funeral procession to Ni’lin attended by around 2,500 people. During this time, soldiers were shooting tear-gas in the town to welcome the procession.
At 11:30, his body was taken to his family home in Upper Ni’lin in order for the women of the family to pay their last respects. He was then taken out of the ambulance at the army checkpoint at the entrance to Ni’lin to be taken to the mosque in the centre of the town. There were around 50 soldiers and border police waiting for the procession on hills around the checkpoint, and also occupying the roof of a family’s home. They used sound grenades and shot tear gas a few metres from the body hitting a man and breaking his leg. They then took Mohammed’s body to the mosque where the people of Ni’lin prayed for him. He was then buried in front of the medical clinic beside the body of Arafat Al-Khawaja who was killed on the same day as Mohamed was shot.
After speeches from members of the Popular Committee and political parties at around 2pm, 150 people demonstrated on the road close to the checkpoint where the soldiers had closed the town. This continued until 5pm.
The army fired many teargas cannisters at the peaceful demonstrators, setting fire to a family’s home destroying the interior of the living room. The cannister broke through a window and set fire to the sofas. Due to the fast reaction of the towns people, the fire was contained and spared the 10 inhabitants, which included a baby.
New weapons
Today the Israeli army used a new type of tear-gas cannister which contains tear gas and also incendiary material. Although it is about 5 times as heavy as the regular cannister, it has a range of 400m which is around 4 times further than the previous ones. They are rubber coated in order to bounce more. When they are fired there is very little sound and as they only release gas upon impact, they are very difficult to follow.
As witnessed before, Israel are testing new weapons designed to maim rather than disperse, using Palestinians as targets.
