13th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Ni’lin, Occupied Palestine
On Friday, 13 July, around 30 people gathered for the Friday demonstration in the outskirts of Ni’lin village. After finishing prayers Palestinians marched towards the Apartheid Wall that has annexed the land of the village, along with internationals. From the beginning of the protest, tear-gas canisters and stun grenades were fired by the Israeli army and after about an hour 30 soldiers broke out from behind the wall intending to arrest the demonstrators who pulled back into the nearby olive grove.
After leading a chase for about 50 meters into the fields that lasted approximately for one and a half hours the soldiers retreated back behind the wall and the protest continued. More teargas canisters were shot by the soldiers beyond the wall and at this point also rubber coated steel bullets were shot towards the demonstrators.
The protest lasted approximately two hours, no arrests were made but one international was injured while running from Israeli soldiers who were arbitrarily shooting teargas and steel bullets and chasing after people.
Protesters say the demonstration this week was shorter than usual because of the Ramadan, however it has been no less intense as soldiers have been crossing the wall intending to make arrests for the last three weeks’ demonstrations. Ni’lin has experienced a wave of harassment since the spring and soldiers have been continuously invading the village arresting people. Many of these arrests occurred during night raids during which soldiers invade Palestinian homes.
Ni’lin village has lost more that 50,000 dunums of its land to the occupation and the apartheid wall that was build in 2008. Since then the people of Ni’lin have been protesting against the wall and the occupation. These protests have been suppressed with extreme violence by the Israeli army, resulting in the killing of five people, including a ten year old boy.
Protesters facing teargas in front of the annexation wall (Photo by ISM)Tear gas cloud spreading through the fields of Ni’lin (Photo by ISM)Soldiers invading the fields of Ni’lin, trying to arrest protesters (Photo by ISM)
Parents of US Activist Critically Wounded Following West Bank Protest Appeal to High Court of Israel: The Police Investigation was Shockingly Negligent – Demand a Serious, Professional Investigation into the Shooting of their Son.
Tristan Anderson (41, of Oakland, CA) was severely wounded after having been shot in the head with a high velocity tear gas grenade* (made in the USA) fired by Israeli Border Police following a protest in the West Bank Village of Ni’lin, resulting in severe permanent brain damage and paralysis to half his body.
Tristan Anderson with his parents
Attorneys for Anderson’s family, along with Israeli NGO Yesh Din, will appear before the Israeli High Court of Justice on Wednesday, JULY 10. The petition challenges the investigation that they claim was blatantly inadequate, with the identity of the shooter still being actively withheld to this day.
“Tristan will live the rest of his life with serious mental and physical limitations and chronic pain. This has devastated his life and profoundly affected our family forever,” said Nancy Anderson, Tristan’s mother.
No criminal charges have been brought against any police or military personnel involved in the 2009 shooting of their son. Video evidence uncovered during the course of an ongoing civil lawsuit (trial begins November 10, 2013 in Jerusalem for the civil suit) raises further questions on the credibility of State witnesses, who in contradiction to sworn testimony, are clearly seen shooting tear gas directly at protesters from close range in the video, which was taken earlier that day. The video also raises serious questions relating to the true locations of the various squads of Border Police present at the time of the shooting, with investigators opting only to question those squads that were on the other side of the town at the time the shooting occurred, while failing to question the squad that was stationed on the nearby hill where activist witnesses say the shots came from. As well, investigators failed to visit the scene of the shooting and made no attempts to collect physical evidence.
See “Aftermath of the shooting of Tristan Anderson Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 for further video.
Michael Sfard and Emily Schaeffer, attorneys for the Anderson family commented:
“The astonishing negligence of this investigation and of the prosecutorial team that monitored its outcome is unacceptable, but it epitomizes Israel’s culture of impunity. Tristan’s case is actually not rare; it represents hundreds of other cases of Palestinian victims whose investigations have also failed.”
Tristan joined the ranks of scores of other protesters who have been seriously injured or killed during demonstrations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in recent years. On March 13, 2009 he was in Ni’alin demonstrating against the annexation of village lands to build the controversial “Separation Wall” when he was shot. Witnesses insist there was no stone throwing in his immediate surroundings at the time when he was shot, and that the shooting was “unexpected and unprovoked”.
“Tristan’s shooting is part of a pattern of deadly violence being used against protesters in the Occupied Territories, who are not recognized as having a fundamental right to political self-determination,” said Gabrielle Silverman, Tristan’s girlfriend, and a witness to his shooting. “We need real accountability and a high standard of human rights, but instead what we get is the military running cover for their soldiers.”
The family of Tristan Anderson is calling the investigation “a cover up and a sham”.
*Tristan Anderson was shot with a High Velocity Tear Gas grenade- sometimes also called “Extended Range Tear Gas”- which is manufactured by Combined Systems Inc in Jamestown, Pennsylvania.
7th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine
The weekly protest in the village of Nabi Saleh was, as usual, met with extreme violence by Israeli forces. Tear gas canisters, rubbers coated steel bullets and skunk water were shot at unarmed protesters.
After midday prayers, over fifty Palestinians together with international and Israeli activists met in the centre of the village to march down the main road. As demonstrators walked passed the gas station, several Border police officers approached them from the hill located to the right of the road and shot several rounds of rubber coated steel bullets. When the march dispersed, the skunk water truck drove forward spraying people and homes.
The protest continued for an hour and a half during which Israeli border police were shooting demonstrators with tear gas canisters, rubber coated steel bullets and skunk water at close range.
Unlike every other Friday, Nariman Tamimi, a prominent activist from Nabi Saleh, was not able to attend the demonstration as she was in a partial house arrest. Nariman and Rana Nazzal were arrested at last week’s protest and spent three days in jail. They are accused of entering a closed military zone and had to pay 2750NIS each on bail in order to be released. The prosecution is asking for one week under house arrest. They are currently awaiting the judge’s decision.
5th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine
On the 4th of July 2013, the village of Kafr Qaddum defiantly celebrated two years of Friday demonstrations, which began in July 2011. The celebration, which included speeches and performances by village youth, was followed the next day by a further demonstration, the first of their third year, in which the Israeli military invaded the village before the demonstrators even gathered, attempting to make arrests.
The celebration on Thursday succeeded in showing the steadfastness and spirit of the people of Kafr Qaddum as they listened to speakers denouncing the occupation, danced to Palestinian music played by a live band and watched a theatrical dubke (Palestinian dance) performance showing the Palestinian shabab (youth) of the village vanquishing the invading Israeli army.
Kafr Qaddum celebrating two years of resistance (Photo by ISM)
The demonstration which followed the next day was yet more evidence of this spirit of resistance, with hundreds of demonstrators from Kafr Qaddum and further afield marching towards the roadblock hindering their access to the nearest city of Nablus, chanting, dancing and clapping. The Israeli army had invaded the village before the demonstration even began, chasing and attempting to arrest people who were walking to and from Friday prayers. During the demonstration this campaign of attempted arrests continued, with the army surrounding the village from all sides and invading down side streets in attempts to grab peaceful demonstrators. Tear gas and sound grenades were fired regularly by the Israeli military, who tried unsuccessfully to quash the protest.
The village of Kafr Qaddum has been directly affected by the occupation, both through settlement land annexation and the closure of the main access road to Nablus. However, the protesters maintain that their focus is not just local, they are looking at the wider issues of occupation. Protester Murad Shtiawi said on Thursday; “The popular resistance is not related to achieving only a very simple aim or target. It is not only the road – we know the road will open one day. We feel that the real resistance is related to the occupation, so if the occupation is still on our lands, our struggle will continue until we fulfil our rights.” They also insist that the resistance cannot be limited to Friday demonstrations – “Our struggle will extend to other days in the week, because the occupation is still occupation on Thursday and Saturday. We will continue our struggle every day.”
Around 4,000 dunums of Kafr Qaddum land has been appropriated by the illegal settlement of Qedumim and the demonstrations started as it was threatened that this amount would increase as the settlement expanded. Kafr Qaddum’s main road was closed in 2002, making access to their neighbouring villages of Jit, Sarra and the city of Nablus impossible without a 14 kilometre detour on badly paved roads through olive groves. This roadblock sparked the use in Kafr Qaddum of the Arabic chant, translated in English as “out, out the occupation, the open road is the solution.”
Demonstrators set fire to tyres on the main blocked road to Nablus, Qedumim illegal settlement visible in the background (Photo by ISM)
More than 120 Kafr Qaddum villagers have been arrested since the demonstrations began, spending from around four to ten months in prison. This in turn has led to payments of over 120,000 shekels to the Israeli courts for their release. Around 200 people have been shot with teargas canisters, six of whom were shot directly in the head. One of these injuries resulted in a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and a loss of speech for the injured demonstrator.
The children of Kafr Qaddum have been targeted, most recently with threats of arrest by the Israeli military, who stuck up pictures of four children around the village, accompanied with the message “we will arrest you if we see you, or we will come to your homes.” Children as young as six months have suffered from the serious effects of teargas inhalation as teargas has been fired into homes in the village.
But despite this suffering, the village’s commitment to resisting the occupation continues, as Murad once again reinforced on Thursday, with a message to the world:
“The real resistance is related to the occupation, so if the occupation is still on our lands, our struggle will continue – until we fulfil our rights. This includes letting the people of Kafr Qaddum and all of Palestine live free in an independent state on the 1967 borders, without settlements; releasing all of the prisoners from prison; and letting all the refugees from all over the world come back to their homeland in Palestine. Our message to the world is that we will continue to struggle until we fulfil our rights.”
4th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Ramallah, Occupied Palestine
On the 28th of June 2013 two Palestinian activists were arrested in the village of Nabi Saleh during the village’s Friday demonstration. Both are currently released on bail and have been charged with entering a close military zone. The prosecutor is asking for house arrest and they are awaiting the judge’s decision. Nariman Tamimi is a prominent activist from the village of Nabi Saleh and Rana Nazzal is a Palestinian Canadian activist. The International Solidarity Movement had a chance to speak to Rana about her experiences during the arrest, the time following imprisonment and the situation for political prisoners in Palestine.
International Solidarity Movement: You, together with Nariman Tamimi, were arrested last Friday during a protest against the Israel occupation in Nabi Saleh, can you tell us in which specific context you were arrested and where did they take you afterwards?
Rana Nazzal: We attempted to reach Nabi Saleh’s water spring, which has been annexed by the nearby illegal Israeli settlement. A line of Israeli soldiers blocked our way and threatened to arrest us so we turned around and began climbing the hill back to the village. As we retreated, a different group of soldiers ran towards us and began arresting us. When I asked why we were being arrested, the soldier replied, “because I feel like it”.
Myself, Nariman, and a Spanish man were taken together. We were kept handcuffed and blindfolded for nine hours, most of the time isolated from each other. Within this time we were not told the reason of our arrest, received no food, and were transported to two military bases before we were finally taken to the police station.
There, Nariman and I were taken in a police car, handcuffed, and driven around with two male soldiers for over 7 hours before reaching Hasharon prison at 7.30 am.
ISM: There are sixteen Palestinian women currently imprisoned by Israel, all of whom are held in Hasharon – how was the encounter with these women prisoners? How did you spend your time in jail?
R.N: They didn’t keep us in the same prison ward as the sixteen other women, but we saw them in passing moments. On Saturday, we saw them while the longest term prisoner, Lina Jarboni, was giving Hebrew lessons. Lina told us that Sireen Khudiri, the recent 21 year-old who was arrested on charges of ‘internet activism’, also gives the women English lessons. On Sunday night Lina cooked the Palestinian stew mloukhieh and sent a huge platter to our room, along with changes of clothes so we could finally change. The women were generous and strong spirited.
We spent most of our time talking or sleeping, as we weren’t allowed books, paper, radio, or any form of entertainment.
On Monday we were woken at 2am and taken on a grueling trip to the Ofer military courts, along with Tahrir Mansour who also had a trial. Tahrir and I were locked in a compartment on a bus that could hardly fit the two of us sitting upright, with our ankles and hands cuffed.
After spending the day in a cell at Ofer and attending a trial in the afternoon, Nariman and I were finally released after 10 pm.
ISM: After the military court decided that you should be released, you had to pay 2000NIS in bail and were charged with entering a “close military zone”, can you tell us more about the on-going process? What is the prosecutor asking for?
R.N: The trial is still going on, we have been to court three times so far this week. The prosecutor asked for jail time or a very high bail (at one point asking judge for 10,000 NIS!), they also asked the judge to make me postpone my travel time (as I am going to Canada soon for university). All these requests were turned down, but on Tuesday the judge asked for 750NIS bail and house arrest for one week. Our lawyer appealed the house arrest, and the prosecution appealed the bail (wanting a higher amount). The decision of Wednesday’s appeal trial has not been told to us yet.
ISM: Is this the first time you have been arrested and imprisoned? If not, can you tell us about your previous experiences?
R.N: Last year I had a similar imprisonment. It was much more difficult because it was my first time and I was alone and mostly kept in isolation for a period of five days. I had been beaten by soldiers during the arrest, with bruises and cuts all over my body. I was also facing more serious charges. I was charged, among other minor things, with assaulting a soldier, but thankfully we had video evidence that proved that it was not the case. Nonetheless, the court demanded I pay a similar bail last year.
ISM: Why do you attend these demonstrations and why do you think it is important as a Palestinian and a woman to participate in those protests?
R.N: The people of Nabi Saleh protest out of a direct necessity to protect what is left of their land and reclaim what has been illegally stolen from them. I, as a Palestinian, can’t separate myself from their struggle, so whenever I have the chance to, I am happy to join them. I especially like Nabi Saleh because the women play a role in the leadership.
ISM: Do you think it is important to have international presence at those demonstrations? If so, why?
R.N: I think an international observer presence can be helpful, in particular for publishing news in English in cases where that is not already happening. I think it is important for the popular struggle to not be reliant on internationals, however, as their legal status in the country is very weak (for example, they can be deported easily if they participate directly in protests) and their presence is transient. Visible internationals may lessen the violence that is used against protesters, but Palestinian women, and large numbers of protesters in general, have a similar effect. I think it would be better in the long term if we were encouraging Palestinians to come from the nearby cities, and especially women.
ISM: Do you want to add anything else?
R.N: No matter how much I had read or written about the prisoners’ struggle before my first imprisonment, I did not fully realize its significance. Every second in solitary confinement, every minute of exhaustion and boredom, and every day away from one’s family is significant to the prisoners. We on the outside should begin to feel every second as they do and begin pushing their cause with the urgency it deserves. I call for the freedom of all Palestinian political prisoners.
