Tag: Hebron

Beit Ummar and Halhul Pray for Justice – Israeli Army Kidnap Villager

by Ernesto in Beit Ummar

Today, Friday July 7th, 2006, at noon, over 300 farmers and residents of the Palestinian villages of Beit Ummar and Halhoul held Friday prayers together on their land that has been ravaged by Israeli bulldozers in the past week. International and Israeli supporters accompanied them in a non-violent march to the land in order to observe the activities of the military and the settlers, and support their struggle against the illegal expansion of the settlement Karme Tzur.

They demonstrators marched around the settlement on the land where trees and grape vines have been uprooted because of the construction of a new wall that will enclose the settlement, illegally annexing Palestinian land to it. The residents, mostly men and children, carried signs that said, “No to the Policy of Damaging Land and Human Beings” and other things. The Israeli soldiers attempted to stop the demonstration but eventually they passed.

The march and prayer were beautiful and non-violent, however armed settlers descended on the group and waved their rifles in the air as they called in reinforcements from the military. More military arrived and they lined the hill above the demonstrators as prayer services ended.

While the majority turned back to the village after prayers, the army prevented those who wanted to stay from being on their land. They were told that they were too close to the settlement.

Young kids threw stones at a light pole and then the soldiers began to shoot rubber bullets at the young kids. Eventually the soldiers shot many rubber bullets and tear gas grenades. One young man named Saqir Sadiq Abu Mariya, 35, was shot by a rubber bulet in the torso and taken away by an ambulance. Many people fled the scene because the gas was becoming unbearable.

At 7pm this evening, three jeeps entered the village shooting tear gas, rubber bullets, and sound grenades at people in the streets for about an hour. Keefeh Kamael Bahar, 20, was taken from his home and arrested during the raid of the village.

Non violent activist and organizer Musa Abu Mariya, 28, is still imprisoned by the Israeli military after being arrested when he lay down in front of an Israeli bulldozer tearing up Beit Omar lands on July 4th. Palestinians can be held without, any charges or access to a lawyer for eight days before being brought in front of a military judge who can prolong the period. According to a report by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), “Each month, hundreds of Palestinians were subjected to one degree or another of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (ill-treatment), at the hands of the GSS (General Security Services) and bodies working on its behalf. ”

Please donate to the ISM legal fund so that we can offer legal support to these Non-Violent activists!

Beit Ummar and Halhul Farmers Will Pray on their Destroyed Land.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tomorrow, Friday July 7th, at noon, the people from the villages of Beit Ummar and Halhul will gather together to pray on the land that has been destroyed by bulldozers in the last few days. They will be joined by internationals who support the people’s recent struggle against the illegal confiscation of their land that is being done in the name of the security of the nearby settlement, Karme Tzur.

In the last few days farmers, people of both villages, and internationals have held demonstrations on the land and tried to stop the bulldozers. The army has protected the bulldozers to allow the settlement to build a wall and annex land without going through legal channels of acquiring the land. A lawyer representing the villages has succeeded in getting a work stoppage order of the bulldozers until the Israeli Supreme Court rules on the lawsuit he has filed against the confiscation.

For more information:
Yousef: 052 245 1256
Bekah: 054 638 7039

Bulldozers Stopped, Palestinian Activist Still Arrested

by Em and Zadie in Beit Ummar

UPDATE, 6th July: As far as we have been able to acsertain, Musa Abu-Marya still remains a captive of the Shabak.

Download video here

Yesterday in Beit Ummar, a village of 15,000 in the Israeli occupied West Bank, non-violent direct action continued in opposition to the illegal Israeli annexation and destruction of Palestinain farm land. Surrounded by cautious Palestinian youth who observed from a safe distance, a group of 2 Palestinians and 9 internationals approached a backhoe and bulldozer uprooting trees in Palestinian orchards. The demolition, begun on Sunday, is to make way for a new Israeli wall encircling the settlement of Kurmei Tsur and will conveniently -and illegaly- steal yet more land from the bordering villages of Beit Ummar and Halul for the Israeli settlement – itself illegal under international law. The prospective wall will be built 300 meters from an existing one, grabbing land without the permission or compensation of Palestinian land-owners.

Upon arriving within thirty meters of the construction equipment the activists were chased and assaulted by approximately 15 members of the Israeli Offensive Force. Activists were strangled, punched, kicked, and struck with the barrels of guns by these soldiers, causing bleeding, numerous bruises, and difficulty swallowing. One activist had hair ripped from his head. Another had a soldier’s finger stuck in his eye in an effort to incapacitate him. Another was kicked in the groin. At one point, a Palestinain activist and journalist asked a soldier “why do you attack civilians? is this what you are trained for?” In response, a seething soldier declared “You are my enemy”, which the Palestinian caught on camera.

Four activists were restrained and put in plasti-cuffs. But three, all internationals, were allowed to leave, while the other detainee, Musa Abu-Mariya, a Palestinian from Beit Ummar, was arrested and taken for indefinite interrogation, highlighting the apartheid nature of the Israeli legal systems. After prior arrests by the Israelis, Musa has reported physical abuse by his captors.

Later in the morning another Palestinian, a 15 year old named Asim, was arrested in a nearby orchard. According to reports from villagers in Beit Ummar he sustained injuries from the IOF.

Advocate Nasser, a lawyer representing the municipality of Beit Ummar and Halhul succeeded in getting a temporary stop work order from an Israeli court. The mayor of Beit Ummar presented the soldiers with the order, forcing a temporary halt in the destruction and theft of about 5000 dunams of farmers’ land. The order says that they must stop all work on building the wall around Karme Tzur settlement until there is a decision in the Isreali Supreme Court on the lawsuit filed by the village of Beit Ummar against the construction.

One of the Palestinians arrested yesterday was released last night, fifteen year-old Asam Abu Mariya. Non-violent activist, Musa Abu Mariya, 28, is still being held at an unknown location and has had no contact with any lawyer.

For the past three days Palestinians and internationals have had some success at stopping the destruction of the land by sitting down in front of the bulldozers and demonstrating on the land. However, hundreds of trees and grape vines have been already been uprooted. The Israeli army has used force to stop the protestors and enforce the confiscation of land while bypassing all legal channels. There are various lawyers working on enforcing the rights of the landowners and protecting the land from confiscation.

“Shebab and Jeish” – A New ISMer’s Journal From Beit Ummar

by Ernesto

July 4th: We got into the West Bank with no hitches.

Unfortunately, I did not get to visit the old city of Al-Quds or Jerusalem, like I promised folks back home I would. I will when I get the opportunity. Around a dozen of us, internationals – from the U.S., Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Denmark – along with Palestinians who live outside of the West Bank, crossed into the West Bank and were trained to integrate into ISM, the International Solidarity Movement.

Although the Israeli press recently announced that the army would close the West Bank to internationals, there are a surprising number from various countries working in different organizations. ISM’s purpose is to support communities that are resisting the Israeli occupation using non-violent direct action. There are many ways to resist an occupation, many strategies, many tactics, and it is up to Palestinians to decide which one’s are acceptible and most effective for their own liberation.

Palestinians have invited internationals to support non-violent direct action through ISM and that seems to make the most sense for us as allies. It is quite a challenge and it very humbling to learn about how Palestinians use non-violent tactics in the face of such virulent aggression from settlers and the Israeli Occupation Forces. You need to participate in it to understand it.

A few blocks from us in Ramallah, there is a memorial for a shaheed, a martyr, who used armed struggle to fight for the liberation of Palestine. He was shot dead on a corner [on the 22nd of June]. The Israeli Special Forces who killed him let him bleed to death from his wounds. He could easily have been captured and given the proper medical care but instead he was killed like a dog in the street. The images of this patriot are posted throughout the neighborhood and on the corner he was killed there is a solemn place for remembrance. Being there I thought of Filiberto Ojeda Rios, commander of the Ejercito Popular Boricua – Los Macheteros. Fliberto, a grandfather and Puerto Rican patriot, was gunned down in the doorwary of his home, where he lived with his wife, violently ending 15 years in clandestinity. Seeing the posters and memorial of this Palestinian martyr helped me recognize that although I have not visited Puerto Rico since Filiberto’s death, I am not far removed from those who die for freedom, they are all around us.

Filastine has many Filibertos.

Before our training was over, we received calls that there was need for internationals to come out and support farmers and activists fighting for their land. We immediately responded to the call and headed to the community as allies. Others went to Bil’in, a community that has built an outpost defying the apartheid wall and are helping plan the weekly protest action.

On Monday July 3rd, in Beit Ummar, a farming town near Hebron, Palestinian farmers and landowners have been laying down in front of bulldozers tearing up their land in order to expand settlements. This project is part of Israel’s land grab policy in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. We learned that an elder’s leg was broken by Israeli Occupation Forces and that Musa, a local activist, had risked his life by laying under a bulldozer in order to stop it. Three international activists were detained for hours and released in the middle of the night.

That evening a group of us received them, we met with Musa and the popular committee, and decided to confront the bulldozers the next morning and attempt to halt the uprooting of trees and tearing up of farmland.

Today we headed out to the site of the struggle and were greated by children (shebab) on the street, on bicycles, standing in stoops, staring curiously, and far less curious adults. Musa led us into the orchards and over a ridge where we were confronted by two pieces of machinery, a bulldozer and a backhoe, and about 15 soldiers (Jeish). We wanted to stop the destruction of Palestinian farmland, the machines wanted to destroy Palestine, and the soldiers wanted to stop us. These young Jeish began to yell, push, and beat us. They directed the majority of their wrath towards Musa because he is Palestinian so we attempted to protect him using our bodies. They grabbed him and hit him causing him to fall and we hugged him and tried to aid him and tell the soldiers he was hurt and there was no reason for such violence. We are aware that there is a rich history of Jeish killing Palestinians, but they need to be a hell of a lot more careful with internationals. They pulled us off Musa and beat us but the worse thing was they detained him. He is now in the hands of Shebak or Shin Beit, the Israeli secret police, according to the Israeli military.

Please read the ISM website for more details and ways to help: www.palsolidarity.org

Shukran, I am fine, and will write more when I get the opportunity. There is so much to tell and so much to do, it is difficult to strike a balance.

Friends, please read these words and share them and find ways to do something concrete to change the conditions here… Salam.

Protests Against Expansion of the Kurmei Tsur Settlement Continue Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Palestinian landowners have been laying down in front of bulldozers that are building a fence surrounding the Kermi Tsur settlement on land belonging to Hallhul and Beit Ummar farmers every day since work started Sunday.

Tuesday morning Palestinian and International peace activists were beaten and detained by the soldiers. But only the Palestinian non-violent activist, Musa Abu Meria, who was beaten severally, is still dentained. He is currently being “held by the Shabak” (or Shin Beit, the Israeli secret service), according to Military sources. According to a report by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel (PCATI), published two years after a High Court of Justice ruling against the legalised use of torture by the state, “every month, dozens of Palestinians undergoing interrogation by the GSS [General Security Service, or Shabak] are subjected, in some way, to torture and ill treatment”.

Israeli Soldiers broke the leg of one of the land owners, Awardalla Sabarna, while arresting him and fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the villagers during the protest Monday.

Three American peace activists, were also arrested yesterday were released late last night from the Kiryat Arba settlement police station.

For more information:
Musa : 054-583 8925 (Arabic)
Jeff : 054 431 2492 (English)