Tag: Iraq Burin - Page 6 - International Solidarity Movement

Spirit of resistance strong in Iraq Burin

International Solidarity Movement

20 April 2010

IMGP1650a — Local demonstrators discuss the finer points of protest.

Local and international activists broadcast a message of protest against settler and military violence in Iraq Burin last Saturday 17 April, marching to the threatened farmlands that lie between the village and the illegal settlement of Bracha. The demonstration showcased the village’s spirit of resistance, refusing to waver in the face of severe military repression.

Iraq Burin, touted by proud locals as the most beautiful village in Palestine (and agreed upon by international solidarity activists present) is situated just south of Nablus city, in the northern region of the West Bank. Local protesters, joined by ISM activists, assembled under a beaming midday sun at the southern edge of the village, facing the contested farmlands that lie between the village and the illegal Israeli settlement of Bracha. It was to these lands that demonstrators would march, and stake their rightful claim to.

IMGP1642a — Demonstrators face off with Israeli occupation forces

At 1pm the march commenced, forging a new route towards the southern peak of the mountain constituting the foundations of Iraq Burin, weaving its way through still-young olive trees, planted by local and international activists in a tree-planting action six months prior. The route was a strategic choice over the path usually taken down the steep valley opposite the village to meet with Israeli forces on the opposite hill, that gives severe disadvantage to those participating in the demonstration and tempting only diehard protesters to forge ahead. A buoyant atmosphere accompanied the lyrical and defiant chants that rung out from the crowd, featuring emotional commemorations of the village’s shahadeen (two martyrs), Ussayed and Mohammad Qaddous, who were shot dead by live ammunition from the Israeli occupation forces one month ago.

The march was obstructed by five Israeli soldiers positioned some 50 meters from the hill’s summit, flanked by two jeeps. As the march drew to a halt, and stretched out across the field to face the soldiers a further three jeeps and 20 soldiers arrived on the scene while protesters continued to chant, raising fists and flags in the air in the face of the Israeli occupation forces. After 30 minutes, the first volleys of tear gas were fired, arching high across a blue sky towards Iraq Burin village. As the village elders and children moved to the rear, and young men rushed forward to defend their lands, soldiers fired off a barrage of tear gas directly at protesters.

IMGP1645a — Israeli soldiers blocking the path of the demonstration

The demonstration ended soon after, both the military and village elders appearing cautious after the violent deaths of Mohammad and Ussayed Qaddous. Demonstrators returned to the village in high spirits however, singing, discussing ideas for next week’s round of direct action, and gulping in breaths of fresh air as the remnants of tear gas were swept off towards on the settlement on a strong southerly breeze.

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.

Israeli Army Kills 16 Year Old Demonstrator Near Nablus

20 March 2010

Mohammed Ibrahim Qaddous, 16, was shot dead with live ammunition when a Border Police force raided his village of Iraq Burin near Nablus to quash a demonstration this afternoon. Another 16 year old was shot in the head and critically injured.

Qaddous was shot at 3pm this afternoon in the aftermath of a demonstration in the village of Iraq Burin protesting restrictions on access to their lands beneath the Jewish-only settlement of Har Brakha. He was shot in the back, indicating he could not have been posing any threat to the soldiers who shot him. At the same time, Ussayed Jamal Abd elNasser, 16, was shot in the head with live ammunition and critically injured. They were both evacuated to a hospital in Nablus where Ussayed is currently being operated on.

The demonstrators set out towards the village’s lands after midday prayer, and were immediately confronted by soldiers who shot bursts of live ammunition in the air. They then continued to shoot tear-gas and rubber bullets towards the villagers in an attempt to prevent them from reaching their lands. Following the unprovoked attack on the villagers, who were accompanied by 15 international activists, intermittent clashes ensued.

After about two hours, the Army retreated towards the settlement and demonstrators went back to the village. Shortly after, armored Border Police jeeps invaded the village, arrested three people and raided houses. A few minutes later, live shots were fired at a small group of young men, some of which were throwing stones. The shots resulted in one fatality and one critical injury to the head.

Israeli military unsuccessfully attempt to invade Iraq Burin: repeat tomorrow?

14th March 2010

Soldiers who are supposed to be protecting villagers from settler attacks occupy a house in Iraq Burin.

The Israeli military sent eight jeep loads of soldiers to Iraq Burin, near Nablus, on Saturday to prevent villagers from accessing their farmland. Violent settler attacks on previous Saturdays leave the villagers and their land threatened. The military’s solution to these attacks has not been to protect the Palestinians, but rather to deny them access to their land.

As the men of Iraq Burin sat peacefully at the edge of their village, watching soldiers and settlers on their terraces and in their olive groves on the opposite hillside, another group of soldiers approached from the hill immediately above the village.

With no apparent provocation or reason, soldiers fired volleys of tear gas and percussion grenades at the assembled villagers, then seized houses at the edge of the village to fire rubber bullets and more tear gas into the street. Despite this barrage of weaponry, villagers refused to run and hide, and the soldiers ultimately retreated at dusk.

Several Palestinians and one international were hit with rubber bullets and tear gas canisters, though no serious injuries were reported.

Israeli forces fire on Iraq Burin villagers

International Solidarity Movement

24 January 2010

Israeli forces opened fire on Iraq Burin villagers Saturday, following a settler attack that has become almost a weekly routine in the Palestinian village near Nablus. One villager was injured and treated at the hospital after being struck in the thigh by a tear gas canister.

An expectant atmosphere hangs over the village each Saturday now. The peaceful silence, punctuated only by donkey brays or the sound of children playing, offers a strange prelude to what each resident knows is coming. ISM activists have been maintaining a presence in Iraq Burin over the Saturday period – the Jewish religious holiday of Shabbat – but better known in the Occupied Territories for the territorial violence waged on this day by Israeli settlers on the rural Palestinian population.

Israeli military were sighted positioning themselves on the hill to the south from approximately 12pm, drawing onlookers from the village. A group of 15 settlers appeared on the hillside, where a long stand off took place between the village’s youth and the settlers from across the valley.

The settlers made frequent and provocative incursions half-way down the hill, returning to top only to coordinate with the Israeli soldiers. The soldiers fired one tear gas canister at two men sitting at the bottom of the hill and then seemed to retreat.

After an hour-long lull, the settlers appeared about one kilometer to east at the crest of the hill. This time they were brandishing slings and began to launch their projectiles at some shabab holding their ground 50 meters down the hill. The Israeli soldiers seemed to enjoy this spectacle, as they loafed 200 meters directly to the east, watching the scene for nearly half an hour. The soldiers then began to launch tear gas into the group of Palestinians on the hill who were already being bombarded with rocks slung by the handful of settlers up hill.

The soldiers shot two canisters of tear gas across the small valley and into the crowd of spectators which was comprised of young children, old men and internationals. There was a lull in the violence as the Israeli soldiers escorted the settlers up the hill and back to their settlements. The sharp twang of ammunition bouncing off the tin walls of the barn behind the villagers initiated a hasty retreat of all those present on or near that hillside.

The reason for such urgency in flight is lost to an outsider, but for the locals it is familiar dance. Three Humvees quickly barreled through the entire village and rapid successions of tear gas, sound grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets could be heard rocketing towards the hillside everyone had just vacated.

Once the soldiers realized that everyone had left the hillside, they began to spread terror throughout the village upon their exodus. Volley after volley of tear gas grenades flew into the village, bouncing off homes and threatening to spray families seeking shelter with broken glass. These volleys were punctuated with two to three sound grenades exploding in rapid succession and the firing of rubber-coated steel. Their retreat was made difficult by the lines of boulders that happened to find themselves in the middle of the road every 50 meters.

As they left the village, the soldiers shot tear gas blindly through the black, billowing smoke of a flaming tire. Jubilant shouts arose as they disappeared over the hillside, the villagers’ eyes still streaming from the tear gas.

Israeli army use live ammunition during invasion of Iraq Burin

7 November 2009

On Saturday 7 November the residents of Iraq Burin, a small village outside Nablus, once again had their weekend disrupted by settlers and the Israeli army. During the day settlers from the nearby illegal settlement came down close to the village in a provocative act. The scenario that followed was the same as the previous two Saturdays – settler attack followed by an army invasion. During the invasion that lasted about one hour, the army shot teargas and live ammunition inside the village.

Because of similar events of settler and army violence in the last two weekends, the Palestinians have called for international activists to be present in the village on Saturday morning. At around 2.30pm, five settlers from the illegal settlement Bracha appeared close to the village, scaring and provoking the villagers. Three young men from the village approached the settlers in an attempt to make them leave the land. After the settlers refused to leave, the two groups started throwing stones at each other. At this point, nine Israeli soldiers who were posted nearby intervened. While the Palestinians returned to the village as soon as the army appeared, instead of making the settlers leave or just keeping watch from a distance, which would have lead to less violence, the army chose to invade the village. Young men from the village responded with stones, after which the army started shooting teargas canisters and live ammunition, moving further and further inside the village.

At one point some of the soldiers went up to a house inside the village and violently smashed a window when the owners did not open the door. The frightened family, including three young children, then opened and were forced to evacuate from the house and stand on the street while the soldiers stayed in the house.