Tag: Jerusalem - Page 55 - International Solidarity Movement

Freedom Summer 2009: Defend the Land and Jerusalem

The International Solidarity Movement is issuing a call-out for internationals to volunteer as field activists and office workers in the West Bank, Gaza, and occupied East Jerusalem this summer.

Whether you can come for only few weeks or several months, your presence is needed to support Palestinian communities who are nonviolently resisting the Israeli occupation. Freedom Summer 2009, which will run from June 6th until August 15th, aims to challenge the continued theft of Palestinian land for the rapid expansion of illegal Israeli settlements and their infrastructure in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Volunteer training sessions will be held every week on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Visit our “Join Us in Palestine” section to read more information about volunteering.

Below are some of the actions ISM volunteers can anticipate this summer:

ISM volunteers will stand in solidarity with the Palestinian families of occupied East Jerusalem who face dispossession.
International activists will join families in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan, Shu’fat, and other neighborhoods whose residences are threatened, in resisting evictions and demolitions with non-violent, direct actions methods. ISM volunteers will also participate in demonstrations against discriminatory Israeli policies and support ongoing organization of Palestinian heritage and cultural events.
In the West Bank, volunteers will join Palestinian villagers in nonviolent demonstrations against the Wall, and other apartheid infrastructure of the occupation such as checkpoint, settlements, and Israeli-only roads. Activists will be working in communities such as Ni’lin, Bil’in, Jayyous, Husan and Tulkarem to support direct actions under Palestinian popular leadership. Recently Israeli military violence during nonviolent demonstrations has escalated, making it more important that international solidarity activists are present to help deter and document the repression from Israeli forces. Additionally, volunteers will accompany farmers and shepherds to deter violence from the Israeli military and settlers. In the South Hebron hills, the army’s designation of large areas as military closed zones will be challenged.
The ISM volunteers in the Gaza Strip will continue to accompany Palestinian farmers who frequently face live fire from the army as they work their land in the buffer zone. Volunteers will stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza against the crippling siege and sporadic attacks on the region. Several ISM activists will be joining the Free Gaza Movement’s Hope Fleet that will sail into Gaza’s port at the end of May. International activists will mass on the Egyptian border with Gaza between the 22nd of May and the 14th of June, in an attempt to challenging the ongoing closure and isolation of the people of Gaza. Individuals interested in volunteering with ISM Gaza must have previous experience with ISM in the West Bank.

Come to Palestine to support the Palestinian people in their struggle against occupation. Become an eyewitness to the Palestinian struggle for freedom! ISM volunteers have become better advocates for the freedom and self-determination of the Palestinian people in their home communities.

This summer, support and participate in the Palestinian non-violent resistance to the Occupation by using direct action methods to defend the land of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Diary: East Jerusalem evictions

Rami Hannoun | Al Jazeera

Rami Hannoun keeps watch overnight in case the Israeli authorities come to evict the families

22 April 2009

The Hannouns are one of three families who have had been ordered by an Israeli court to leave their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in East Jerusalem.

The families, refugees who lost their original houses when they were occupied in 1948, say they were allowed to build new houses on land allocated by the United Nations under Jordanian administration.

A Jewish organisation, the Committee for Sephardic Jews which operated during the British mandate in Palestine, claims ownership of the land it says it lost during riots before 1948.

The Israeli foreign ministry, the prime minister’s office and the Jerusalem municipality all declined to comment on the case, saying the dispute was a “private matter” between citizens argued out in court.

East Jerusalem is, under international law, an occupied territory and Israel has no authority to change its composition.

The Hannouns are keeping watch for the Israeli police in shifts, with 21-year-old Rami, the eldest son of Maher and Nadia Hannoun, taking the night shift.

Rami has lived in the house all his life, along with his two sisters, 17-year-old Jana and 12-year-old Diala.

He will post regular video and text diaries on this page as both families anxiously await eviction.

Wednesday, April 22: ‘Today a group of priests visited our home’

Today I woke up late and I found the house full of our neighbours and my mother told me that a group of Palestinian students visited us who were coming from the [protest] tent in Silwan.

My father, just like always, explained our situation. Then after that a group of priests came by and visited us and we also told them our story.

During the day, some of the neighbours made a speech to all the groups.

Then one of my sisters took the camera with one of the international protesters and went to try and speak to one of the settlers who was going to pray at the cave where all the Jewish people come and pray because they think there is a rabbi is buried there.

My sister tried to take some pictures of him but the settler refused.

Today, I also had training to go to, but I couldn’t go because the house was full and I couldn’t leave my parents while the house was full of people.

Then I did an interview with my mom and she told me the whole story about our house.

After that my mom made us some food for the first time in two weeks because today she finally had some time to make us something to eat.

Tuesday, April 21: ‘My sisters left the house as my father is afraid for them’

“The Israelis are kicking us out of these houses because they say they own this land – that they have owned it since a long time ago.

Actually, they have a fake paper that says they own it since a long time ago, but we also have papers that go back to the Ottomans period which say that we own this land – that a Palestinian man owns this land and that this land was given to us actually by the Jordanian government and the UN built us these houses.

We are actually waiting every moment for them to come and evict us. My sisters had to leave the house because my father is afraid of them, and our house is completely transformed into another house.

It is not the house that we used to live in. It is not the house we grew up in.

We have lots of internationals [anti-eviction protesters] living with us. We are not living as a family any more, but they are supporting us.

Some nights I stay awake with some internationals, we play cards and smoke hubbly bubbly or something. This makes the time go faster so you cannot feel the time.

My father has not been to work in 40 days because he is afraid the police will come any second, and because he also has to receive lots of internationals and explain to them our story.

My sisters can hardly sleep. They sleep at my grandmother’s because we are afraid for them because of the police and soldiers.

They are too young right now and they cannot handle what is going on. And actually, in front of us they are showing us they are strong, but deep inside they are not strong, they cry to their friends.

Today there was an article in the newspaper. It says that the United Nations are asking Israel to stop evicting Palestinians from their houses in Sheikh Jarrah.

It made me just a little bit optimistic because I hope we will not be evicted from our house.”

Sunday, April 19: ‘I stayed up all night with Israelis who support us’

“It’s my 34th day [on nightwatch]. I woke up and I found the house full of people.

There were a group of Palestinian girls who studied at a college who had heard about our story and came to see us, to understand what is the real situation.

My father explained our case to them. After that, our lawyer came and he was searching for a solution for our case.

International campaigners, including anti-eviction Israelis, are camped out at the house
Then I went to my grandmother’s house. She made lunch for me because my mother wasn’t able to make food because the house was full of people and she didn’t want to leave them.

After that, we had a meeting with some of the international [anti-eviction protesters] who are supporting us. We sat together talking and then I stayed the whole night with them and the Israelis who have come to support us.

The whole situation I am passing through is making me stronger and stronger and it won’t make me give up even if I am getting a little bit tired.

I will always defend my house that I grew up in and lived in for all my childhood.

B’Tselem: Security forces demolish house of family of perpetrator of attack in Jerusalem

B’Tselem

On 7 April, security forces demolished the apartment, in Zur Baher, East Jerusalem, of the family of Husam Dwiyat, who carried out a bulldozer attack in the center of Jerusalem in July of last year. The demolition took place after the High Court of Justice denied, on 18 March, the family’s petition opposing the action.

As in previous cases of this kind, the justices (Levy, Grunis, and Na’or) accepted the state’s argument that demolition of the family home will deter others from carrying out similar acts. The justices approved the demolition, even though the state never contended that Dwiyat’s family assisted him or knew of his plans.

From 1967 to 2005, Israel maintained a policy to demolish or seal houses in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as a means to punish the families of Palestinians who had harmed Israelis. The policy was based on the claim that, out of concern for their families, Palestinians would be deterred from carrying out attacks. In implementing this policy, from October 2001 to the end of January 2005, Israel demolished 664 houses, leaving 4,182 persons homeless.

This practice is forbidden under international humanitarian law. The declared objective is to harm innocent persons – relatives of suspects – whom nobody contends were involved in any offense. As such, it constitutes collective punishment, which violates the principle that a person is not to be punished for the acts of another.

In February 2005, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon accepted the recommendations of a team headed by Maj. Gen. Udi Shani, and decided that houses would no longer be demolished as punishment. The change in policy had a few causes, among them the determination that it is was impossible to state without reservation that house demolitions were effective in preventing terrorist attacks. In addition, evidence was presented to the Shani team indicating that house demolitions as punishment created immense hatred, which increased motivation to carry out terrorist attacks. In addition, it was determined by the committee that house demolitions adversely affected Israel’s public image around the world, and its legality under international law was unclear.

The judge advocate general, Brig. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, explained at a meeting of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset that the decision to cease house demolitions as punishment did not relate only to periods of calm, and that it would remain in effect also if terrorist attacks resumed. The JAG emphasized that the decision was sweeping, and that the subject would be reconsidered only in the event of a drastic change in circumstances.

Despite this, on 19 January 2009, without giving a convincing explanation, Israel renewed its policy and sealed two of four floors in the house of the family of the perpetrator of the attack at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem, ‘Alaa Abu Dahim, in which his parents and one of his brothers lived. In that case as well, the High Court approved the state’s action.

Protest ROM decision to display stolen antiquities

Oakland Ross | The Star

11 April 2009

The Dead Sea scrolls, confiscated from East Jerusalem during Israel’s 1967 military invasion and occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, are coming to Toronto. The move is part of Israel consul general Amir Gissin’s official “Brand Israel” campaign that attempts to ‘rebrand’ apartheid Israel beyond its systematic repression of the Palestinian people.

Since 1967, hundreds of thousands of precious artifacts have been illegally removed by the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA), Israeli soldiers, and illegally operating antiquities dealers from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. These removals of the joint cultural heritage of the region are in direct contravention of at least four international conventions or protocols on the treatment of illegally obtained cultural goods.

Please stand up and let the ROM know that you do not accept the right of museums to display illegally obtained artifacts stolen from occupied territories. The history of such theft and dispossession is a sad legacy of colonial history that Canada and its museums have also been complicit in. It is time to begin reversing this legacy by canceling the current exhibit in accordance with the precepts of international law and refusing to allow the ROM to be politicized for the rebranding of an apartheid state.

For more information please contact the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid at: endapartheid@riseup.net

SUGGESTED LETTER:

Dear Mr. William Thorsell:

I am writing to express my concern about the ROM’s decision to host the Dead Sea scrolls in cooperation with the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA). Since its foundation, the IAA has repeatedly contravened international agreements, protocols and conventions on the proper and ethical handling of cultural artifacts and has been complicit in the systematic dispossession of the Palestinian people.

As you are certainly aware, the transfer of the Dead Sea scrolls from the occupied West Bank into the custodianship of the IAA was effected under military duress and violates international legal norms regulating the handling of cultural goods that are the heritage of humanity. Such removals are part and parcel of a longstanding stripping and transfer of cultural goods from the occupied territories by the IAA, Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and independent and illegally operating local antiquities dealers.

I am also concerned that the ROM’s Distinguished Lecture Series is hosting a number of scholars that have been complicit in the IAA’s aforementioned violations of international law. Such violations have been committed in the interest of forwarding a narrow nationalistic agenda and do nothing towards fostering an environment for a just and lasting peace in the region. This Lecture Series is being organized without the input of prominent Palestinian scholars in the region or of scholars critical of the ways in which the IAA has mishandled the joint cultural heritage of the region.

Finally, the Canadian Jewish News has noted that Israeli consul general in Toronto Amir Gissin’s “Brand Israel attack arsenal” includes the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition. The aim of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Brand Israel campaign, is to shift the attention away from Israel’s systematic violations of international humanitarian law by presenting a more ‘benign’ vision of Israel to a Canadian public increasingly wary of Israel’s war-crimes and apartheid policies towards the Palestinians.

I urge you to stand in solidarity with the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement internationally – launched by Palestinian civil society in the summer of 2005 – that seeks to peacefully put pressure on the Israeli government to end its abuses of international law. Taking a clear and principled position that emphasizes the ROM’s commitment to international law and to the fostering of consensual methods of international cooperation can only strengthen your institutions standing. Anything else would be an abdication of responsibility to the Palestinian communities most adversely affected by Israeli policies of dispossession, occupation and racial discrimination – policies exemplified in the recent history of the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves.

Sincerely,

________________

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Visitor Services Department
Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen’s Park
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M5S 2C6
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416.586.8000

Al-Fakhouri home demolished in East Jerusalem

6 April 2009

On the morning of 6 April, about 150 Israeli soldiers, police & border police came and woke up the 22 members of the Al-Fakhouri family in the Burj Al-Laqlaq neighborhood. The Israeli forces blocked all the entrance roads to the house and occupied three rooftops threatening to arrest anyone who got near the house being demolished.

Around 30 workers destroyed the house in a process taking about 5 hours. The workers left concrete rubble and other debris in the surrounding street. The family was told that for everyday the rubble was left in the streets, the family would be charged 600 shekels on top of paying for the demolition itself.

The family found a demolition order on their door only 2 days prior to the demolition, on Thursday 2nd of April. On the 5th of April, Israeli police showed up at the house around 3PM with another demotion order and told the family to contact a lawyer.

The house was demolished three years ago and the family started rebuilding one and half years before the latest demolition. Due to the limited amount of space and crowded conditions one father in the family had to move with his children because they got sick.

The land and house has been in possession of the Al-Fakhouri family for over 100 years.

The demolition of the Al-Fakhouri home is part of the Israeli ethnic cleansing of occupied East Jerusalem. Over 100 other homes are slated for demolition, which will leave thousands homeless.