Tag: Iraq Burin - Page 5 - International Solidarity Movement

Weekend demonstrations commemorate Flotilla massacre

International Solidarity Movement

8 June 2010

Bil’in

On Friday June 4th, the village of Bilín’s own Freedom Flotilla ship was attacked by soldiers from the Israel military, after it had been driven to the site of the Apartheid Fence which separates the village from much of its lands. The ship had been accompanied by large numbers of Palestinian and international supporters, including a delegation of 12 from Brazil, who were forced to retreat hastily when the military, out in force and spoiling for a fight, fired repeated salvoes of tear gas canisters into the crowd. The sight of youth attempting to fasten a Palestinian flag and an Israeli flag adorned with a piracy symbol to the fence proved too much of an incitement for the brave troops, who added stun grenades and plastic-coated steel bullets to the rain of terror.

Fadi Jayyousi, a cameraman for Palestine TV was seriously injured and had his camera equipment destroyed. A Norweigan journalist, Karina Lapua, appeared to have suffocated by teargas inhalation but was, fortunately, revived. Several people were struck by teargas cannisters and many others were gassed but soon recovered their equanimity.

Three activists were arrested, including Huwaida Araf, a co-founder of ISM, who had just been released from detention in Israel following her participation in the most recent Gaza freedom flotilla, and a 72 year old Israeli activist, Ilan Shelef, who managed briefly to break free from his captors and legged it away down the hillside with soldiers in hot pursuit. After a good chase the septuagenarian was finally captured and taken back into custody.

The brave spectacle of Mr Shelef, and the attendance at the demo of Dr Mustafa Barghouti (highly appreciated by the swarms of press) buoyed the morale of the villagers of Bil’in, whose resolve and resistance after five years of repression has not waned.

An Nabi Saleh

Roughly sixty Palestinians gathered with Israeli and international activists for the village’s weekly Friday march towards confiscated village land. Flags were displayed from a diverse group of nations, commemorating the Gaza Freedom Fleet. Soldiers met the demonstrators on the main road, and immediately arrested an Israeli activist.

Tear gas was then fired straight at the heads of demonstrators, in direct violation of international law, which dictates that tear gas must be fired in high arcs. The purpose of gas canisters is to release an unpleasant gas which forces demonstrators to move away. It is not designed, nor is it legal, for tear gas to be fired directly at people. This use disregards the original purpose of tear gas, instead using the cans as extremely dangerous projectiles. Monday 31 May, ISM activist Emily Henochowicz was struck in the face by a gas canister fired in such a manner. The blow claimed her left eye and fractured cheek and jawbones.
In An Nabi Saleh, soldiers continued firing in such a manner for an extended period, causing grave danger to villagers who had begun by marching peacefully against the extreme violence against international activists earlier this week. The demonstration ended when participants chose to conclude, although soldiers continued to block the village’s intersection for the next five hours.

Hebron

In commemoration of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Saturday, demonstrators in Hebron carried a boat with flags from countries represented on the flotilla as well as a coffin draped with a Turkish flag, bearing the names of the Turkish activists killed on Monday. The demonstration was contained to the entrance of Shuhada Street where protesters gather weekly, as police and soldiers blocked the procession from its normal route, threatening to shoot anyone who attempted to go further into the old city. Israeli soldiers destroyed the flag-draped coffin as demonstrators attempted to carry it past them.

Iraq Burin

This past Saturday, the village of Iraq Burin demonstrated against Israeli soldiers. Marching out to annexed farmland in recognition of the Israeli inflicted massacre of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, men, boys and International Solidarity Movement activists continue local resistance despite recent settler caused property damage.

The demonstration ended within two hours, A success: no injuries, no arrests. While the Israeli soldiers retreated to their jeeps, locals feasted on unripe plums picked prematurely in celebration. Locals paid homage to those whom died in the flotilla massacre by showing increased vigilance in the face of the oppression. Men and boys stood their ground despite tear gas canisters raining down and the imminent threat of arrests. This past week, however, marked the first time in several months that local settlers have invaded the village and caused property damage. A disgruntled local farmer showed me where settlers had entered and burned viable farmland, this solidifying the need for persistence, resistance, and justice.

Beit Jala

Sunday morning, fifty Palestinians, internationals and Israeli activists demonstrated in the village of Beit Jala against the “Freedom Flotilla” massacre and the construction of the Apartheid wall.

The demonstrators, who were waving flags of the countries whose citizens were on board the boats, tried to reach the village when they were stopped by the Israeli military. After chanting some songs and unsuccessfully trying to move forward, demonstrators moved to the area where bulldozers were working. Soldiers began firing tear gas canisters directly at demonstrators’ heads, again, in direct violation of international law. When the crowd was dispersed, soldiers chased all nonviolent demonstrators and pushed them violently to the main road. One Israeli activist was arrested and taken to the police station.
When all demonstrators were in the main road soldiers threw more sound bombs and pushed them out of the area. After fifteen minutes internationals, Israelis and Palestinians left the village.

Bushfires ravage Iraq Burin amidst weekly demonstration

International Solidarity Movement

23 May 2010

The northern West Bank village of Iraq Burin demonstrated against the Israeli annexation of their farmlands today, resulting in the injury of one local protester by a tear gas projectile. Tear gas canisters landing on dry grass sparked bushfires in the hot climate, causing further damage to the contested farmland that villagers struggle to reach.

Local and international activists marched through the valley to the mountain adjacent to Iraq Burin village where, facing a force of 20 Israeli soldiers they sung chants of protest in assertion of their right to access their land. Soldiers waited almost no time before firing tear gas at demonstrators, hitting 17-year old Fahed Qaddous in the arm and causing considerable loss of blood. Qaddous was helped back to the village by protesters, where he was transported to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus by ambulance.

Demonstrators stood their ground on the rocky terrain as soldiers continued to fire volleys of gas, the canisters’ heat setting the grass alight. As strong winds carried the fire across the field, activists were forced to halt the demonstration in order to prevent the blaze from spreading to the olive groves. Without access to water on the mountain, demonstrators’ only option was to tear thick branches from the very olive trees they sought to protect in order to beat the fires out.

Despite the damage caused to village lands by IOF aggression protesters returned to the village in high spirits, the weekly demonstration marking the all too rare occasion that villagers can maintain some contact with their land.

It was last year that the people of Iraq Burin began gathering to defend their village each Saturday due to the violent attacks instigated by settlers of Bracha each week, during the Jewish holiday of Shabbat. Now, with the village’s pro-active – and non-violent – resistance to the aggression, no settlers have been sighted on the land of Iraq Burin for over five Saturdays now. The result is clear evidence of popular resistance in action, and what successes it can achieve in Palestinian communities living under occupation.

Victory for Iraq Burin as demonstrators commemorate the Nakba

Today fifty demonstrators from Iraq Burin, together with international activists, marched in commemoration of the Nakba’s 62nd anniversary, and to protest to the illegal Israeli occupation of the village’s lands. Israeli occupation forces enacted their policy of violent “crowd dispersal” techniques in an effort to thwart the protest, proving no match for the village’s spirit of resistance.

The demonstration commenced at Iraq Burin’s southern tip, the assembled Palestinian and international protesters holding 62 black balloons to the sky in memory of the 62 years of Israeli occupation that has passed since al-Nakba (“the catastrophe”) that saw the ethnic cleansing of over 500 Palestinian villages and the founding of the Israeli state in 1948. Facing the illegal Israeli settlement of Bracha, whose residents have executed countless attacks on the residents of Iraq Burin, the demonstration set off.

Weaving a haphazard route through the valley that carves a line between Iraq Burin village and her farmland, the demonstration began its ascent of the mountain deemed off-limits by the Israeli military. For local protesters, reaching these lands represented far more than the sum of its parts – the assertion of the right to exist on their land, and the right to defend those same lands from the usurping forces of a foreign state. Further up the mountain the demonstrators forged, at each moment expecting to be met with the dull thud of sound grenades and the smoke of gas canisters propelled from the end of a soldier’s M-16 – yet pushing ahead nonetheless.

The victory of reaching the mountain’s summit – a first for the demonstration, and many of its individuals – was significant. The crowd drew to a halt 20 meters from where some 15 Israeli occupation forces were waiting and, continuing to chant and wave flags, protesters stood their ground on the soil that is rightfully theirs, but has become all but impossible to access. The first rounds of tear gas were soon fired by soldiers, causing the demonstration to spread out across the mountain. Residents observing from their vantage points in the village served as the protesters’ eyes and ears amidst the confusion, calling across the valley to alert demonstrators to the soldiers’ movements.

An additional force of soldiers soon descended to the valley, aiming to encircle and isolate the protesters on the slopes of the mountain. Most protesters managed to reach the other side of the valley before the occupation forces began firing off rounds of gas in to the village. As the young men of Iraq Burin rushed forward once again to defend their lands, the soldiers were driven back, to the calls of victory of the protesters that echoed out through the hills.

Locals cheering on the exit of Israeli soldiers from their land

It was last year that the people of Iraq Burin began gathering to defend their village each Saturday due to the violent attacks instigated by settlers of Bracha each week, during the Jewish holiday of Shabbat. Now, with the village’s pro-active – and non-violent – resistance to the aggression, no settlers have been sighted on the land of Iraq Burin for over four Saturdays now. The result is clear evidence of popular resistance in action, and what successes it can achieve in Palestinian communities living under occupation.

Fields ablaze in Iraq Burin

International Solidarity Movement

8 May 2010

Villagers resist the invasion of Iraq Burin

Despite the recent unprovoked, fatal shooting of two of its young men by Israeli forces, the village of Iraq Burin, just south of Nablus, turned out in force again this Saturday, 8th May, to protest against the annexation of village lands. Supported by human rights activists from the International Solidarity Movement, the Michigan Peace Teams and the International Women’s Peace Service, the villagers attempted to march towards their stolen lands.

They were soon confronted by a squad of Israeli soldiers who commenced firing tear gas cannisters at the protesters. It was apparent that they wished to cause maximum possible injuries as, rather than lobbing the cannisters, the soldiers fired them at a low trajectory directly into the crowd. One young man soon went down, struck in the leg by a projectile fired at close range. Jihad Qaddoush (20) was immediately rushed to hospital in Nablus for treatment. It is expected that he will make a full recovery from his wound.

With summer approaching, the tinder-dry grass caught fire in many places, adding to the confusion, discomfort and danger caused by the clouds of tear gas. Showing their usual wisdom and tactical expertise, village leaders soon called everyone back to a safer distance and no more injuries were reported. The bravery, persistence and good sense of those taking part was, as usual, a feature of this popular and non-violent protest by the people of Iraq Burin.

Background

Regular Saturday demonstrations in Iraq Burin began in response to the fatal shootings of Mohammad and Ussayed Qaddous, 16 and 19, on March 20th, 2010. The boys were shot while protesting the violent invasion of their village, a frequent Saturday occurrence.

Iraq Burin initially began non-violently protesting the expansion of Israeli settlement Bracha in August 2009, in response to a sharp increase in provocative, and often violent attacks initiated by residents of the settlement. These attacks are frequently aided and abetted by the Israeli military, who in turn invade the village, firing rounds of tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition at Palestinian civilians.

Men and women of Iraq Burin demonstrate against land theft

International Solidarity Movement

25 April 2010

Palestinian men, women and children, along with international activists met with severe military repression on Saturday, April 24 as the village of Iraq Burin staged another successful demonstration against the Israeli occupation of their lands.

Local and international activists gathered under the heat of another beaming midday sun at the southern outskirts of the village, warming up for what has become weekly tradition. Some 80 demonstrators, lead by a shabb (youth) on a magnificent steed, began the march along the steep path to the summit of Iraq Burin’s southern peak toward the fence demarcating the edge of Iraq Burin’s contested farmland, adjacent to the illegal settlement of Bracha.

A force of two dozen Israeli soldiers, having occupied the hill’s summit, blocked the demonstrators’ progress. With flags, raised fists & megaphones as their weapons, protesters established their ground 50 metres from armed Israeli occupation forces, defiantly – yet peacefully – asserting their right to access their land. Lyrical chants rung out from those assembled, of Iraq Burin’s two martyrs Mohammad and Ussayed Qaddous (killed on March 20 by soldiers firing live ammunition during the weekly demonstration) and Palestine’s capital of Al-Quds, 75 km from Iraq Burin, but largely unvisited by 1000 green ID-holding residents of the village. Activists felt a further surge of pride as women from the village appeared within their midst, chanting alongside Iraq Burin’s men and flashing the peace sign at soldiers.

P1000945 — A Palestinian flag billows in the winds in Iraq Burin's demonstration

It didn’t take long for Israeli occupation forces, spread out across the hill’s summit, to open fire on the crowd. As the first volleys of sound bombs and tear gas were let loose on the peaceful demonstration chaos broke loose, gas canisters landing left, right and centre as protesters attempted to escape the fumes whilst holding their ground against advancing Israeli occupation forces. Soldiers became increasingly aggressive, firing gas directly at activists, which came pounding through the air and clearing heads by mere centimeters.

Despite the military’s use of brute force, the village displayed bravery and resilience in the face of violence, continuing to chant rhymes of protest and hold Palestinian flags aloft, resplendent in black, green, red and white through the plumes of smoke. After approximately one hour the village called an end to the demonstration, declaring it another success, with no injuries, no arrests and a clear message sent to the occupation forces – “this is our land, and we will return here each week to remind you of it.”

IMGP1730 — A mother is lead away by her son after she is engulfed in gas

The village of Iraq Burin began non-violently protesting the expansion of Israeli settlement Bracha in August 2009, in response to a sharp increase in provocative, and often violent attacks initiated by residents of the settlement. These attacks are frequently aided and abetted by the Israeli military, who in turn invade the village, firing rounds of tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition upon Palestinian civilians