23 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
To some soldiers of the Israeli army, staying alone, being quiet, and carrying a flag is a crime. To them, people who act in that way should be arrested. At least we can come to that conclusion when we think about the arrest of Ashraf Abu Rahmah, from Bil’in village, who was arrested on Friday, October 21.
The demonstration had not yet finished when the Israeli soldiers, in four jeeps, went into the village. It was a surprise to everyone, but not an unexpected act, because Israeli incursions into Palestinian villages is something regular. The surprise comes because people were going home, far from the place of the demonstration. Ashraf was arrested just on his way home.
He was charged with throwing stones, but he did not throw anything not at the time he was arrested, nor during demonstration itself. He just stood with his Palestinian flag, talking to friends, looking at the bombs that were thrown, running away from the gas, sometimes coming close to the barbed wire which rolls through Palestinian land.
The ISM volunteers can testify that Ashraf did not throw stones at any moment. But he will be dragged to court tomorrow under that charge. Journalists and friends will take photos with them to prove that he wasn’t throwing stones.
Last Friday’s demonstration was one of the most violent ones in recent times in Bil’in. When the Palestinian, Israeli, and foreigner activists came near the wall, the soldiers began to throw tear gas without pausing. The park which is being built by the villagers on the lands Israel was obligated to give back, lands it had stolen after a decision by the Israeli Supreme Court in 2007, was full of gas and dust for a long time.
Ashraf Abu Rahmah’s last peaceful demonstration – For more images click here
People who were on the top of the hill, far from the valley where the confrontation took place, also suffered from the burning smoke. Some cases of asphyxia were registered because of the gas inhalation, and the flames in brush and olive groves decorated the sky. Some of them became great fires, the trees and other plants.
To the economical life of villagers, it means a great loss, because the economic basis of Bil’in is agricultural, like the majority of Palestine’s villages. And to some, Ashraf being taken away on false charges by an occupying power can in some way be labeled as a loss. Yet the trees and plants and landscape that are Palestine, they can be replanted to grow a new future. That is the nature of Palestine. Ashraf will grow back in Bil’in. In shrub, tree, or voice , peaceful resistance will continue to grow from the root that is Palestine.
Islam Dar Ayyoub, the 14 year-old who incriminated Tamimi after being unlawfully interrogated, will take the stand tomorrow at the Ofer Military Court. Tamimi has been incarcerated for seven months, in which only one witness testified.
Bassem Tamimi in court (PSCC)
The Military Prosecution will resume making its case against West Bank protest organizer from Nabi Saleh, Bassem Tamimi, at the Ofer Military Court tomorrow morning. Fourteen year-old Islam Dar Ayyoub – one of two main witnesses against Tamimi – is scheduled to give evidence to the court tomorrow, despite a motion by the defense to delay it. The defense has requested the postponement, as procedures by the boy’s own defense team to rule his testimony inadmissible, have not yet concluded.
Islam Dar Ayyoub, also from Nabi Saleh, was taken from his bed at gunpoint on the night of January 23rd. In his interrogation the morning after his arrest, Islam alleged that Bassem and Naji Tamimi organized groups of youth into “brigades”, charged with different responsibilities during the demonstrations: some were allegedly in charge of stone-throwing, others of blocking roads, etc.
During a trial-within-a-trial procedure in Islam’s trial, motioning for his testimony to be ruled inadmissible, it was proven that his police interrogation was fundamentally flawed and violated the rights set forth in the Israeli Youth Law in the following ways:
Despite being a minor, he was questioned in the morning following his arrest, having been denied sleep.
He was denied legal counsel, although his lawyer appeared at the police station requesting to see him.
He was denied his right to have a parent present during his questioning.
He was not informed of his right to remain silent, and was even told by his interrogators that he is “expected to tell the truth”.
Only one of four interrogators present was a qualified youth interrogator.
The audio-visual recording of another central witness against Tamimi, 15 year-old Mo’atasem Tamimi, proves that he too was questioned in a similarly unlawful manner.
Tamimi has been behind lock and key for the past seven months, in which only one out of over twenty prosecution witnesses have testified before the court. On September 25th, Major Michelle Dahan, who was commander of the military forces in the area and in charge of suppressing Nabi Saleh demonstrations, admitted to having dispersed demonstrations that were entirely peaceful, and alleged that Tamimi ordered youth to throw stones based on the fact that he saw him on rooftops during demonstrations.
Background
Bassem Tamimi is a veteran Palestinian grassroots activist from the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah. He is married to Nariman Tamimi, with whom he fathers four children – Wa’ed (14), Ahed (10), Mohammed (8) and Salam (5).
As a veteran activist, Tamimi has been arrested by the Israeli army 11 times to date, though he was never convicted of any offense. Tamimi spent roughly three years in administrative detention, with no charges brought against him. Furthermore, his attorney and he were denied access to “secret evidence” brought against him.
In 1993, Tamimi was falsely arrested on suspicion of having murdered an Israeli settler in Beit El – an allegation of which he was cleared of entirely. During his weeks-long interrogation, he was severely tortured by the Israeli Shin Bet in order to draw a coerced confession from him. During his interrogation, and as a result of the torture he underwent, Tamimi collapsed and had to be evacuated to a hospital, where he laid unconscious for seven days. As a result of the wounds caused by torture, Tamimi was partially paralyzed for several months after his release from the hospital.
At the opening of his trial on June 5th, Tamimi pleaded “not guilty” to all charges against him, but proudly owned up to organizing protest in the village. In a defiant speech before the court he said, “I organized these peaceful demonstrations to defend our land and our people.” Tamimi also challenged the legitimacy of the very system which trys him, saying that “Despite claiming to be the only democracy in the Middle East you are trying me under military laws […] that are enacted by authorities which I haven’t elected and do not represent me.” (See here for Tamimi’s full statement).
The indictment against Tamimi is based on questionable and coerced confessions of youth from the village. He is charged with’ incitement’, ‘organizing and participating in unauthorized processions’,’ solicitation to stone-throwing’, ‘failure to attend legal summons’, and a scandalous charge of ‘disruption of legal proceedings’, for allegedly giving youth advice on how to act during police interrogation in the event that they are arrested.
The transcript of Tamimi’s police interrogation further demonstrates the police and Military Prosecution’s political motivation and disregard for suspects’ rights. During his questioning, Tamimi was accused by his interrogator of “consulting lawyers and foreigners to prepare for his interrogation”, an act that is clearly protected under the right to seek legal counsel.
As one of the organizers of the Nabi Saleh protests and coordinator of the village’s popular committee, Tamimi has been the target of harsh treatment by the Israeli army. Since demonstrations began in the village, his house has been raided and ransacked numerous times, his wife was twice arrested and two of his sons were injured; Wa’ed, 14, was hospitalized for five days when a rubber-coated bullet penetrated his leg and Mohammed, 8, was injured by a tear-gas projectile that was shot directly at him and hit him in the shoulder. Shortly after demonstrations in the village began, the Israeli Civil Administration served ten demolition orders to structures located in Area C, Tamimi’s house was one of them, despite the fact that part of the house was built in 1965 and the rest in 2005.
Legal background
On March 24th, 2011, a massive contingent of Israeli Soldiers raided the Tamimi home at around noon, only minutes after he entered the house to prepare for a meeting with a European diplomat. He was arrested and subsequently charged.
The main evidence in Tamimi’s case is the testimony of 14 year-old Islam Dar Ayyoub, also from Nabi Saleh, who was taken from his bed at gunpoint on the night of January 23rd. In his interrogation the morning after his arrest, Islam alleged that Bassem and Naji Tamimi organized groups of youth into “brigades”, charged with different responsibilities during the demonstrations: some were allegedly in charge of stone-throwing, others of blocking roads, etc.
During a trial-within-a-trial procedure in Islam’s trial, motioning for his testimony to be ruled inadmissible, it was proven that his interrogation was fundamentally flawed and violated the rights set forth in the Israeli Youth Law in the following ways:
Despite being a minor, he was questioned in the morning following his arrest, having been denied sleep.
He was denied legal counsel, although his lawyer appeared at the police station requesting to see him.
He was denied his right to have a parent present during his questioning.
He was not informed of his right to remain silent, and was even told by his interrogators that he is “expected to tell the truth”.
Only one of four interrogators present was a qualified youth interrogator.
The audio-visual recording of another central witness against Tamimi, 15 year-old Mo’atasem Tamimi, proves that he too was questioned in a similarly unlawful manner.
Since the beginning of the village’s struggle against settler takeover of their lands in December of 2009, the army has conducted 80 protest related arrests. As the entire village numbers just over 500 residents, the number constitutes approximately 10% of its population.
Tamimi’s arrest corresponds to the systematic arrest of civil protest leaders all around the West Bank, as in the case of the villages Bil’in and Ni’ilin.
Only recently the Military Court of Appeals has aggravated the sentence of Abdallah Abu Rahmah from the village of Bilin, sending him to 16 months imprisonment on charges of incitement and organizing illegal demonstrations. Abu Rahmah was released on March 2011.
Ashraf Abu Rahma, brother of Bassem and Jawaher Abu Rahma who were killed by the Israeli army in Bil’in is falsely accused of stone-throwing and was sent to Ofer Prison. Ashraf himself was shot in the leg by the army while cuffed and blindfolded in a scandalous incident in 2008.
The weekly demonstration in Bil’in this week started as usual, as some several dozen residents were joined by Israeli and international activists for a march against the Wall. The protesters, led by the new Libyan flag, marched to the new route of the wall, where the soldiers met them with tear-gas. Since the spot was hard to hit, the soldiers retaliated by shooting canisters into the oak grove downwind behind the protesters, setting fire to some rare and ancient oaks. The demonstrators moved upwind, eastward along the wall, where clashed between local youth and the army persisted for about an hour.
When the demonstrators were heading back, the soldiers decided to cross the gate into the village and attacked the unarmed demonstrators. During their incursion, soldiers jumped and arrested Ashraf Abu Rahmah, brother of Bassem and Jawaher, the two unarmed demonstrators killed by the Israeli army in Bil’in. Ashraf himself shot in the foot by soldiers while bound and blindfolded in the neighboring village of Ni’ilin in 2008.
The soldiers promised to release him if the demonstration was dispersed, which was already the case at the time, but did not fulfil their promise. Two army jeeps then drove through the village and eventually left with Ashraf. He is falsely accused of stone-throwing & sent to Ofer Prison on a 96 hours warrant, in complete disregard of his medical condition.
8 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Israeli military forces fired tear gas canisters directly at protesters and international observers during the weekly demonstration at Nabi Saleh yesterday, 7 October. An international activist sustained a minor wound to the leg after being struck by a tear gas canister fired directly from a distance of around 15 metres by the Israeli military.
Although it is permissible to fire tear gas canisters in an arc to disperse demonstrations, it is forbidden to use them as weapons by firing them directly at protesters. Firing tear gas canisters directly at protesters and at close range turns the canisters into a missile that can maim and endanger life. According to B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights organisation, “Firing of this kind has already resulted in injuries, some grave, to dozens of Palestinians and Israeli and foreign citizens”.
Protests have taken place in Nabi Saleh, a village 20km north-west of Ramallah, every Friday since 2009, when settlers from Halamish, a nearby illegal Israeli settlement, took control of the Ein Al Qaws natural spring belonging to Nabi Saleh and prevented Palestinian access to the spring and the surrounding land.
Yesterday’s demonstration started in Nabi Saleh at 12:30pm as around 50 protesters marched out of the village via the main road. The Israeli army fired several rounds of tear gas canisters in an arc towards the peaceful protesters as soon as they were in sight, deploying a gun mounted on a truck which is able to fire multiple canisters in quick succession. Several people suffered severe gas inhalation, with one female protester carried to a Red Crescent ambulance.
After the initial barrage of tear gas canisters had ceased, many protesters regrouped and attempted to continue the peaceful demonstration, whilst some youths spread out across the hills and threw stones at the military. The Israeli military responded with rubber bullets, tear gas and foul-smelling ‘skunk water.’ At one point, two Israeli jeeps sped towards protesters; soldiers jumped from the vehicles and deployed sound bombs in an apparent attempt to make arrests. However, they made no arrests and were forced to retreat swiftly under a hail of stones.
As the afternoon progressed, the Israeli military gradually pulled back to a watchtower and small military complex near to the intersection of the main road which passes the Israeli settlement and the road leading up to Nabi Saleh. As protesters and international observers neared the watchtower, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters directly into the crowd in an attempt to hit protesters and cause maximum harm. An international activist received a glancing blow and was cut on the leg by a canister. The wound was relatively minor but would have been much graver if the canister had directly hit the activist.
The number of protesters dwindled as dusk fell, with mostly children remaining. Some protesters continued to throw stones, whilst the Israeli military continued to fire rubber bullets and tear gas canisters, which became difficult to see in the fading light. The protest ended around 17:45.
A report published in September 2011 by B’Tselem details how Israeli security forces violate the right to protest at Nabi Saleh as the military prevents demonstrators from reaching their natural spring, a main source of water for locals, and through “declaring the demonstration illegal at the outset, sometimes even before the procession begins.” The report also outlines the harm done by the Israeli military to the inhabitants of Nabi Saleh through the disproportionate handling of the demonstrators which “intimidates hundreds of villagers and forces them to remain in their houses for many hours, making it impossible for them to lead a normal life. The massive amounts of tear gas fired penetrate the houses close to the main intersection in the village and the occupants are unable to escape”.
21 Wednesday 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
A huge rally for Palestinian statehood surged through the streets of Hebron all day Wednesday, mobilizing thousands and culminating in prolonged and sustained Israeli military attacks on Palestinian civilians in the narrow and crowded markets of the Old City.
The demonstration began at 10:30 AM around the Hebron Municipality area, also called Baladiya Square. After an impassioned speech, a large crowd carried Palestinian flags, pictures of Mahmoud Abbas, and signs saying ‘UN 194’ and ‘No Veto’ through the streets of Hebron. As they neared the Israeli checkpoint at the entrance to Shuhada Street, which blocks off the tiny island of Israeli settlers at the center of town from the rest of Hebron, armed policemen and riot squads from the Palestinian Authority blocked the pathway of the protesters at Beer Al-Saba’ street, imploring them not to continue. The face-off between protesters and PA lasted a few minutes, after which protesters broke through the line of policemen and began to stream down the street towards the checkpoint.
Moments later, Israeli soldiers positioned in front of the checkpoint, fired volleys of tear gas into the crowded downtown Hebron street. Protesters, along with the throngs of civilian bystanders who were simply going about their Wednesday morning, ducked into the shops that lined Beer Al-Saba’ street, or jumped into service taxis to avoid the gas.
Said an international activist, “It was chaotic, nobody knew what to do. There were taxi drivers and businessmen and store employees running around, trying to get away from the tear gas.”
The crowd then dispersed, and made its way back to Baladiya Square and the Hebron municipality, away from the borders of the Israeli-controlled H2 district of Hebron. There, under enormous banners that read ‘UN 194’ and ‘Palestinian state’, thousands of people paraded and danced in the streets, circling the square in huge groups, chanting and cheering. Trucks unloaded free bottles of water throughout the massive crowd, and men and women, boys and girls, young and old rejoiced together sharing a common hope.
“People here are united,” said a senior resident of Hebron at the rally, “because of one common belief, which is shared by all people over the world at all periods of time- that occupation is bad. We are here under the sun because we love freedom, like everyone else in the world, and we want to be a free people. This is a part of the same thing that has happened in Egypt and Tunisia and elsewhere. We want to be ruled by nobody but ourselves.”
As waves of demonstrators began to spill out from Baladiya Square into the surrounding streets, however, the Israeli military was ready with tear gas, riot shields, gas masks and sound bombs, to make sure the crowds stayed far away from the Old City and its marketplace, which the Israeli military determined was too close to the Israeli settlement for comfort.
As the march began to trickle into the crowded Old City market, Israeli soldiers and PA policemen rushed in to block off sections of the market, determined to control and disperse the demonstrators.
From approximately noon to 3 pm, rounds of tear gas cascaded through the streets of the Old City, scattering crowds of frightened Palestinians in a stampede that swept up men, women and children in its frenzy. Shopkeepers scrambled to scoop their merchandise up out of the streets before the onslaught of protesters and policemen; they bolted their doors shut when tear gas threatened to creep into their shop, only to open their doors again and peak outside when the gas had dissipated. By 1 PM, nearly all shops in the Old City were closed, and the streets, which usually bustle with commerce until the evening, were deserted, save for the soldiers and demonstrators, who ran in waves after each other down the corridors of the market.
For nearly 3 hours in the middle of the afternoon, a game of cat-and-mouse ensued between young Palestinian males and Israeli0 soldiers- over and over again, the former threw stones at and ran from the tear gas of the latter, as the Israeli military swept through the Old City, enforcing a complete lockdown of the area and scattering crowds of demonstrators, who repeatedly gathered and marched to show the resilience of the Palestinian people.
“This is crazy,” said a Palestinian bystander after a brutal round of tear gas. “The people here in the market need to buy and sell their things. The Israelis have no right to do this. It is chaos here. This is mad.”
In between the Israeli military and the Palestinian people stood the policemen of the PA, mostly siding with the former as a second arm of oppression against the Palestinian people.
Said a bystander, “the Palestinian Authority should be helping us, not hurting us. I saw one of them hit a man with his stick, and I saw another one throw a stone at a boy. What state will we be if these are our guardians?”
One demonstrator insisted that “our protest is peaceful today. A few shebab [young men] are throwing stones, but we are gathering peacefully to show that we are strong, that we are a strong people and that we deserve a state. Many people do not agree with [Mahmoud Abbas’ proposal at] the UN, but regardless we all gather here to show that we are strong, and that we are together.”
The strength of the people of Hebron, who came out by the thousands in support of Palestinian self-determination, and the brute force of the Israeli military, who, in response to a peaceful demonstration, did not hesitate to bombard a civilian market with tear gas for three hours, clashed today in a volatile eruption that set the scene for what will surely be a tumultuous weekend in the West Bank.
