Tag: Demonstration

Protests spread to every city for hunger striking prisoners

22 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Occupied West Bank, Palestine

Palestinians demanding the release of all political prisoners and especially hunger-striking prisoners confront the Israeli army through out the West Bank and east Jerusalem on Friday.

kufr4The Huwwara checkpoint near Nablus saw around 300 people protesting, in solidarity with the hunger strikers. There were many tear gas related injuries, rubber coated steel bullets were fired and at least one activist was hospitalised as confrontations continued into the evening. Similarly violent episodes were also reported in Tulkarm, Jenin, Bethlehem and of course Ofer which has seen protests almost everyday this week.

Following Friday prayers worshipers at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem confronted Israeli Occupation Forces. Israeli forces then stormed the area surrounding the mosque and used undercover police to make arrests.

Statistics from Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association show that as of 1 January 2013, there were 4,743 Palestinians political prisoners being held in Israeli jails. Addameer claim, as of the 22nd February, the length of time the following prisoners have been on hunger strike is:

Samer Issawi – 206 days

Ayman Sharawana – over 200 days

Jafar Azzidine – 87 days

Tarek Qa’adan – 87 days

The four men are struggling not only for themselves but for the freedom of all Palestinians who are living under occupation. Issawi wrote …

“My battle is not only for individual freedom. The battle waged by me and by my heroic colleagues, Tariq, Ayman and Ja’affar, is everyone’s battle, the battle of the Palestinian people against the occupation and its prisons. Our goal is to be free and sovereign in our liberated state and in our blessed Jerusalem”

Elsewhere there were also weekly protests in Kufr Qaddoum, Nabi Salah, Bilin, Nilin, Jayyous as well as the annual Open Shuhada Street protest in Hebron.

 

Al-Manatir three, have been released

14 February 2013| International Solidarity Movement, Burin, Occupied Palestine

Waheeb, Ashraf and Diaa were released on the 14th of February 2013 after spending 12 days in an Israeli prison following the al-Manatir protest village in Burin.

During the al-Manatir action, the 3 Palestinian activists were detained by the Israeli military and then arrested by the border police. The 3 of them were pepper sprayed and Waheeb was severely beaten and kicked by the Israeli military as shown in the video evidence below:

The reason for arrest given was that they participated in an illegitimate protest as well as allegedly throwing stones. 2 of the 3 men, Waheeb Qadoos and Ashraf Abu Rahma, were also potentially facing an extra charge of assaulting the soldiers. The trials for the 3 were delayed twice and they were finally released, having their charges dropped after their lawyer adel Samara submitted video footage of the proving that it was the settlers and soldiers who attacked the demonstrators. A welcome party was held in the village of Burin, where residents, Palestinian and International activists welcomed the released detainees.

Al-Manatir protest village was established by Palestinian activists, with the support of International activists, in a hilltop located in the northern village of Burin, which has been inaccessible for residents of Burin for the past few years due to the surrounding illegal settlements of: Adei Ad, Bracha, Yitzhar, and Mitzpe  which encircle the Palestinian village.

The protest village was simultaneously being dismantled by the Israeli military and border police at the same time it was being established. There was an excessive use of tear gas canisters and stun grenades fired upon the residents and activists, causing many to vacate the area. Illegal Settlers from the nearby Bracha and Yitzhar settlements showed up at the scene and proceeded to steal the metal huts from the protest village and attacked Palestinian houses injuring 17 year old Zackariah Yasir Nijar, on the outskirts of Burin.

Clashes between Palestinian youth and the Israeli military and border police continued until sunset, ending when the Israeli forces retreated from the village.

 

 

 

 

Clashes in Huwarra after demonstration against Israeli administrative detention

By Team Nablus

18 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwarra, Occupied Palestine

Four people , including one eleven year old boy, were arrested today during clashes between Israeli Soldiers and Palestinian Youth (Shebab). At least one person was taken away from the scene in an ambulance. The Israeli Army used tear gas and sound bombs against a crowd of roughly 100 Palestinians who had gathered to protest the ongoing detention of hundreds of Palestinians without charge , particularly Samer Issawi who is on his 210th of hunger strike. Jafar Izzedin, Ayman Sharawneh and Tariq Qadan are also on hunger strike in Israeli Jails.

Clashes at Huwarra

Paramedic rushes man to ambulance after tear gas exposure

Violent clashes in Kufr Qaddum

16 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Kufr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Approximately 200 Palestinians, joined by a handful of International activists, kufr3participated in yesterdays weekly demonstration in Kufr Qaddum.

At around 12 am, after midday prayers, protesters marched from the center of the village up the main road leading to Qedumim settlement. Clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli soldiers had already erupted when the Israeli military began bulldozing pre-made barricades. The clashes continued as Palestinians resisted by throwing stones and the Israeli army shot tear gas canisters directly at people. The demonstration lasted for over two hours during which protesters went back and forward along the main road.

kufr2One journalist was hit with a tear gas canister on his foot and collapsed; he was carried away to be treated by the ambulance crew. An elderly woman from the village had to be stretchered away from her house as a result of overexposure to tear gas. At least three protesters, Odeh Abd Alfattah (20), Rani Ali (30) and Mohammad Salih (25) were also reported to be hit by tear gas canisters, without any of them resulting in serious injury.

Kufr Qaddum, a small town of 3,500 inhabitants, is situated in the northern West Bank, between Nablus and Qalqiliya. Kufr Qaddum’s total land area used to consist of nearly 19,000 dunams, of which 11,000 are now under total Israeli control. Village lands have been repeatedly confiscated to build and expand the settlement of Qedumim. The expansion of one the settlement’s neighborhoods, Mitzpe Yishai, became relatively well-known when even the Israeli Civil Administration described land takeover as theft.  Furthermore, the village has been effectively besieged since the beginning of the Second Intifada, when the main and only entrance to the village was blocked by the army.  The main road has been, since then, closed, forcing residents to travel around an extra 15 km to get to Nablus. 

Since 2011, residents of Kufr Qaddum have been resisting the land grab and the road closure by holding weekly demonstrations. The Israeli army often violently suppresses the protests shooting tear gas canisters, stun grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets.

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