19th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine
Today, around fifty Palestinians together with Israeli and international activists marched from the centre of Nabi Saleh down the main road towards the stolen spring.
Protesters made barricades of burning tyres to prevent Israeli forces from raiding the village.
Soon after that, several Israeli border police officers appeared behind a house on the right side of the main road and started shooting rubber coated steel bullets at protesters.
More Israeli border police then arrived at the bottom of the main road, running towards protesters and shooting more rubber coated steel bullets.
An Israeli woman activist was shot in her upper thigh with a rubber coated steel bullet from close range and had to be taken to hospital in Tel Aviv. She underwent a very minor surgery to get the bullet removed and will remain in hospital until Sunday.
Israeli forces continued shooting rubber coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters from various locations inside the village.
According to a resident of Nabi Saleh, yesterday night at around 3am, an Israeli bulldozer was working in the spring. Settlers from Halamish also went to the spring to talk to the soldiers. Palestinian youths went to the hilltop in front of this area to see what was happening and verbal confrontations between settlers and them erupted. Israeli forces, defending the settlers as usual, shot several tear gas canisters at Palestinians.
Previously this week, on Tuesday, clashes between residents of Nabi Saleh and Israeli forces erupted in the same spot where Rushdi Tamimi was shot last November. Israeli forces shot rubber coated steel bullets and injured Mohammed Tamimi (10) in the leg. Mahmoud Tamimi (22) was then shot with live ammunition also in the leg. Read the full report here.
15 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On the evening of July 26, social media lit up with messages from residents of the village Nabi Saleh.
“Four army jeeps and around 20 soldiers standing at the entrance” tweeted Manal Tamimi, and later, “for the third day (in a [row]) the army invading the village before eftar.”
Nabi Saleh resident Manal Tamimi – click to see more photos
Since late 2010, Nabi Saleh has been raided regularly by Israeli forces, and the religious month of Ramadan is no exception. The long awaited eftar meal brings relief to the fasting people. In the little village, only a 15 minute drive northwest of Ramallah, eftar often arrives with uninvited guests.
The reasons for these punitive raids must be found in late 2009 when people from Nabi Saleh and nearby villages organized to protest the occupation and the illegal settlements.
In July 2008, Inhabitants of the illegal Israeli settlement of Halamish, some 700 metres from Nabi Saleh, began using Al-qaws spring for recreational purposes. For Palestinians in the area, the spring was a vital factor in farming the dry land, as well as for cultural and recreational purposes. When settlers began renovating the site of the spring, damaging trees and property, the Palestinian owner filed several complaints to the police but was ignored.
In January 2010, Israeli authorities deemed the spring an archaeological site. Subsequently, Palestinians were prohibited access while the illegal settlers were given free access. They continued to illegally renovate the site against a civil administration order to halt construction. Two attempts by Palestinian villages in the area to go to the Israeli High Court of Justice proved to be in vain. The only outcome was letting Palestinians return to the spring. This is hardly regarded as a victory when they are still unable to use the water that their village has relied on for so long. As well, Palestinians are still often prevented from accessing the spring, especially in groups, while settlers enjoy free access.
With health, freedom, and even life on the line, the Nabi Saleh popular protests show the Israeli authorities’ disregard for international law and human rights.
Every Friday since December 2009, a procession has been making its way from Nabi Saleh’s center square towards the stolen spring. The protest is notorious for its persistence. Confronting a powerful Israeli military force, and enduring the consequential raids and arrests is a sacrifice that many in the village are willing to take.
Bilal Tamimi, a descendent and lifelong inhabitant of Nabi Saleh and father of 4, has been participating and documenting the popular protests from the beginning.
Nabi Saleh resident Bilal Tamimi – click to see more photos
According to Bilal Tamimi, Nabi Saleh is not only protesting to return the annexed water spring, but against Israeli occupation as a whole. Since Halamish was illegally established in 1977, it has not stopped growing and encroaching onto Palestinian lands. The land theft is either approved or ignored by Israeli authorities, denying the Palestinian population the right to their land, and contravening international law. The nonviolent resistance is one of the most dangerous tendencies from an occupiers point of view. It is persistent and disturbs the normalized occupation, but it cannot be stopped without damaging Israel’s democratic smokescreen.
The united participation of all demographics of Palestinian society (i.e. men, women, children) as well as international and Israeli activists is an important factor in the popular protest.
Bilal’s wife, Manal Tamimi, who is herself an active protester, says there is a particular impact on Israeli soldiers when they are faced by women and children. Women make up half of the protests in Nabi Saleh, and many take leadership roles, contradicting the prejudices still haunting mainstream discourse.
Bilal points out the importance of post-demonstration media work from international and Israeli activists who join the weekly protest. Activists from various countries across the world sharing reports, pictures, and stories from Nabi Saleh has a huge impact on the fate of the village.
The Israeli army has changed its tactics in Nabi Saleh throughout the past 2 years. The brutal invasions of the village during the Friday protest drew negative attention from international media present at the demonstration. While the 10-hour Friday raids were made less brutal, there has been a considerable increase in raids on other days as well as during nights. Thus there has been an increased pressure on the residents’ lives, although most of it occurs behind the scenes and away from media.
Manal and Bilal Tamimi have experienced Israeli military violence since their childhood. Arbitrary arrests, including that of children, night raids, military violence, and systematic discrimination are only a part of what they have experienced. The last weeks are no exception.
Rather than showing the heavy military response to civilian demonstrations, most photos emerging into mainstream news from the West Bank focus on masked youths throwing stones.
Bilal Tamimi knows that stones will not change the course of history in a direct way.
“But what would you do if someone had been stealing from you the last 60 years, with absolutely no consequences except generous western support,” asks Bilal rhetorically.
At 3 a.m. on January 23 of 2011, 14-year old Islam Tamimi was seized from his bed by Israeli soldiers. The next 12 hours, he was interrogated and kept awake. Without being informed about his rights to remain silent or to demand the presence of a parent, the terrified boy may have began making up stories to satisfy the police. His unlawfully gained testimony is later used to convict members of the Nabi Saleh popular committee, Bassem and Naji Tamimi. Both face charges made by a 14-year old boy under torture-like conditions.
This incident is one of many concerning minors from Nabi Saleh. Currently, 4 boys are serving time for throwing stones.
Manal Tamimi herself was arrested in December 2009. Her son Samer Tamimi, who was 3 years old at the time, saw her beaten and dragged away by Israeli soldiers.
Bilal and Manal Tamimi’s youngest son, Samer – click to see more photos
Many of the village residents would send their kids away each Friday during protest hours, but as it became apparent that the situation would not change, Bilal and Manal amongst others, began to bring their children to the protests.
While this decision is difficult, Manal explains how psychologists and specialists were called to the village to treat the tormented kids. Fear of the Israeli army was the primary problem.
“We had to break this wall of fear in our kids to be able to continue the struggle in the future,” she states.
“The resistance,” Bilal says, “is for our kids’ future, so they can grow up and follow their dreams, and their kids will be able to as well”
His son Osama, 16, was accepted into a school in Jerusalem, but denied entry to the city by Israeli authorities on reasons of security. An education in Ramallah was found but Bilal clearly sees the disappointment and the extinguished enthusiasm in his son’s eyes.
“This is the way to defeat a population. Stealing their dreams is far worse than breaking their bones and this we have to fight and teach our children how to fight,” says Manal.
Her youngest son Samer, 6, is also known as ‘Spider Man’ for the costume he wears to the popular protests. Samer has managed to overcome a great amount of his fears. During a night raid on the Tamimi home about 1 month ago, Samer woke up, recognized the angry men in green, and casually returned to sleep as they ransacked his house. A clear indication that the next generation will not give in to the pressure.
Nabi Saleh is a village of only 600 people. This means a great sense of unity.
“We cry together, smile together, celebrate together, suffer together, and die together,” says Manal.
When Mustafa Tamimi was shot dead by the Israeli military last December, the funeral turned into a massive outcry for justice. The 2000 some members of the funeral were tear-gassed by the same grenades which killed Mustafa just two days earlier. Several Palestinian women were beaten by soldiers and arrests were made.
The Israeli occupation is omnipresent across Palestine, entering the private lives of all Palestinians. The last person to be killed has not yet been killed. The last illegal settlement has not yet been built. Nabi Saleh’s fresh water spring has become a memory and a dream.
Yet facing armies, still ‘Spider Man’ smiles at one of his toughest quests.
Markus Fitzgerald is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
28 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Last Friday, April 27, around 100 Palestinians and their supporters gathered in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh to protest the nearby illegal Israeli settlement and the unjust conditions of life under occupation. The protest comes just a day after Israeli ‘independence day’ celebrations. This week’s demonstration painted a stark picture of the harsh reality still faced by Palestinians 64 years after what they know as the Catastrophe, or Nakba.
Following the midday prayer on Friday, demonstrators assembled in the center of the small village of Nabi Saleh and marched down the main road towards the neighbouring Israeli settlement of Halamish. The non-violent procession of residents, solidarity activists, volunteer medics, and journalists were only halfway down the hillside when they were met by the waiting Israeli army, who had blocked the road at the village’s entrance.
Upon sight of the chanting marchers, the military deployed the infamous “skunk truck.” Protesters were sent in a panicked sprint back in the direction they had come to avoid being drenched by the long-reaching streams of foul-smelling skunk water. After finding safety behind makeshift roadblocks of rocks strewn across the road, the Palestinian youth, or shabab, equipped only with homemade slings, countered with stones and paint balloons.
The crowd let out a cheer when a boy landed one such balloon on the skunk truck, splattering white paint across the windshield. Celebration of the small victory was cut short when soldiers responded by unleashing a barrage of tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets that sent the unarmed demonstrators running for cover.
From this point on, the young Palestinian stone throwers and Israel’s modern army engaged in a familiar call and response that lasted for hours.
The march for an independent and free Palestine - Click here for more photos
During a moment of relative calm, one Israeli activist narrowly avoided being struck by a surprise tear gas canister, but did not escape the terrible effects of the noxious fumes that billowed around her. Other canisters started small fires in the dry grass of the hillside, and some were hurled back in the direction of the army.
Friday’s demonstration comes one week after the release of Bassem Tamimi, a prominent community organizer and resident of Nabi Saleh who spent a year in prison on charges of “incitement” of such protests. Despite the fact that Israel’s settlements in occupied Palestine are a violation of international law, and resisting the occupation is widely considered to be a moral and legal right of the occupied, Palestinians who exercise these rights face constant arrests, house raids, and violence at the hands of the Israeli forces. Tamimi, who Amnesty International has named a prisoner of conscience, was unable to attend the day’s demonstration as he remains under house arrest in Ramallah until further notice.
The weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh began in 2009 when the encroaching Israeli settlement of Halamish illegally annexed additional Palestinian land, including the village’s fresh water springs. Since then, the Israeli army has regularly denied the town its right to demonstrate and suppressed the protests with excessive force. In December, protester Mustafa Tamimi was killed at a demonstration when he was shot in the head with a tear gas canister at short range.
Despite the real dangers that come with resisting the occupation, the residents of Nabi Saleh show no sign of giving up. The growing Halamish settlement is a daily sight and reminder of what has been taken from them. So while the settlers hoist the Star of David in celebration of the independence of the “Jewish State,” the residents of Nabi Saleh continue to struggle because for them, the creation of Israel has been nothing short of a castastrophe.
Sam is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
15 year-old Ez Tamimi minutes after being shot in the face. Picture credit: ActiveStills
The bullet shot from a short distance hit the boy in the face penetrating his right cheek and piercing it.
Israeli Border Police officers shot a rubber-coated bullet at 15 year-old Ezz Tamimi’s face from a distance of about 20 meters, during the weekly demonstration in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh today. The bullet, which hit the boy’s cheek, went through it, gouging a large hole in it. The Israeli army’s own open-fire regulations forbid the use of rubber-coated bullets against minors.
The incident took place at the center of the village ,hundreds of meters away from where a demonstration was taking place, when Border Police officers invaded the village.
For the first time in months, protesters managed to reach the vicinity of the contested water spring, which sparked village demonstrations over two years ago when taken over by settlers. The protesters, mainly women from the village, managed to confound the soldiers by advancing towards the spring from an unexpected direction. The protesters who were held back by the soldiers meters away from the fountain proceeded to block the road leading to the adjacent Jewish-only settlement of Halamish for some 20 minutes.
The previous night, the Israeli army staged another nighttime raid on the village, an what has become an almost nightly practice in the past three weeks.
2 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
One Palestinian journalist from the Associated Press was arrested while the Occupation Forces invaded the village of An Nabi Saleh.
Before the beginning of Friday’s traditional protest in An Nabi Saleh, the Occupation Forces placed soldiers at the entrance gate to the village and began searching all cars entering the village, registrating the names of the passengers. Two protesters were hunted for several hundred meters by the Occupation Forces when trying to avoid this checkpoint, escaping a potential arrest.
An Nabi Saleh marches despite Israeli harassment – Click here for more images
The protest began after the traditional, Muslim noon prayer. While chanting the demonstrators went to the hill in front of the illegal Halamish (Neve Zuf) settlement, located opposite of An Nabi Saleh, which has illegally seized nearly one half of the village’s valuable agricultural land. There they were met by the Occupation Forces who first withdrew but then called for several military jeeps to come bringing papers claiming the area a closed military zone. One Palestinian journalist from AP was arrested by a commanding officer from the border police.
The protesters were targeted by tear gas canisters and rubber coated steel bullets shot directly at them. In the last hours of the protest the Occupation Forces used the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), created by the American Technology Corporation, which has been popularly referred to as “The Scream” by Palestinians and international activists. The loud sound device has been used in earlier protests of An Nabi Saleh, and is capable of causing disorientation and even blacking out. This is the first appearance it has made since a few months ago when the illegal settlers of Halamish themselves complained of its noise.
Aida Gerard is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
