Tag: Nablus

Three days in Nablus: Four Killed, Six Injured, Eight Arrested

by ISM Nablus, October 11th

The funeral of Abdullah Mansour, murdered by Israeli soldiers. Photo credit: AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh

The Nablus region is constantly under siege by soldiers from the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). In the past three days in Nablus alone, IOF soldiers have killed four Palestinians, injured more than six, and seized at least eight.

Around 2am this morning, IOF soldiers carried out four separate military invasions in the Nablus area. IOF soldiers invaded Al-Ain Refugee Camp, Balata Refuge Camp, Askar Refuge Camp as well as the Old City of Nablus. During the incursion into Al-Ain Camp, an IOF sniper shot and killed Abdullah Mansour 29, of Jericho. Mansour was visiting the home of a relative, and was shot in the head while observing the actions of the IOF from a balcony window. Mansour was not immediately killed by the sniper’s bullet and his life might have been saved if he had been given timely medical care, but as often occurs, his ambulance was prevented from reaching the area by IOF soldiers attempting to impose a closure on the area during their operations.

Some Israeli media sources reported that Mansour was a resistance fighter, shot while attempting to plant a bomb, but this account is contradicted by eyewitness reports from neighbors, a nearby photojournalist, as well as medical personnel. Monsour was a civilian, not a fighter, and he was shot from within a relative’s home, not on the street planting a bomb.

On the same night Mansour was murdered, IOF solders invaded the Nablus Al-Qaryoun neighborhood in the Old City, as well as Balata and Askar refugee camps. In the course of the four incursions, five Palestinian males were taken prisoner by IOF soldiers. In Nablus’ Old City, IOF soldiers broke into numerous homes and seized two brothers, Fadi Ziad Galiz 18, and Mohammad Ziad Galiz, 25. During the attack, which lasted from 2am until 4am, IOF soldiers occupied the Afuri building just outside of the Al-Qaryoun square and used the building as on observation position.

The same night, IOF soldiers invaded Balata Refuge Camp and Askar Refuge Camp. In Balata, IOF soldiers seized three men, Azmi Tawfiq Al Serafi, 20, Abu Rish, 20 and another 20 year old man known only as Hussam. The invasion into Askar Refugee camp utilized an armored, American-made Caterpillar D9 bulldozer in addition to the standard armored army jeeps. The Caterpillar trudged through the camp’s narrow streets and alleys destroying water pumps and pipes, as well as causing extensive damage to camp’s the central market.

In total, during the three hours of invasions into four areas, five men were seized and one killed.

This most recent upsurge of violence began early Sunday morning when IOF soldiers shot and killed a man in Balata Refugee camp. In approximately seventy-two hours, IOF soldiers would kill four Palestinian men, injure more than six and arrest many others. On Sunday morning, in a pre-dawn incursion to Balata Camp, IOF soldiers shot and killed Osama Saleh, 22, known locally as Skipper. Skipper was a resistance fighter with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (who are linked to the Abu Mazan’s Fatah movement), and was shot twice in the chest as he attempted to prevent IOF soldiers from entering the camp by engaging them in an armed clash. During these clashes, IOF soldiers killed Skipper and injured at least four additional persons.

Approximately twelve hours after the invasion into Balata, IOF soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian civilian at Huwarra checkpoint, the main barrier for Nablus residents seeking to travel south, and for those traveling from the south into Nablus. At 3:20pm on Sunday, Amjad Mohammed El-Haj Tirawi, 23, also from Balata Refugee Camp, was attempting to travel south despite the IOF’s total closure of Huwarra checkpoint because of the Jewish holiday. With the checkpoint closed, and Tirawi left with no other way to reach his home, he traveled in a car on a bypass road. IOF soldiers in an army jeep who happened to be stationed on the bypass road at that time spotted Tirawi’s car when it reached the Al-Sateh area, one kilometer from the village of Til. Rather then arresting the passengers of the car, the soldiers opened fire. Tirawi was shot several times in the head, chest and legs and killed. During the shooting, Ahmed Hazzaa Ramadan, 21, from Til village was also shot in the shoulder and injured. The media response by the IOF to this murder was to deny it had even happened, saying they were “unaware of any shooting incident in the area”. That night IOF soldiers arrested another three men from Nablus.

Twenty four hours after the killing of Tirawi, IOF soldiers at Huwarra checkpoint murdered yet another Palestinian man. According to reports from local media, medical volunteers and eyewitnesses, Mohammed Waleed Mustafa Sa’ada, 20, also from Til village was shot and killed without provocation. Sa’ada had approached the checkpoint, heading towards a taxi that was being searched by IOF soldiers. When he was approximately ten meters from the taxi, without warning, Sa’ada was shot once and wounded, forcing him to fall to the ground. While kneeling on the ground, a second IOF soldier opened fired on Sa’ada, hitting him three times. Palestinian bystanders were prevented from aiding Sa’ada after he was shot. An ambulance with the Palestinian Red Crescent arrived soon after, and once again, bystanders were prevented from aiding the medics in their attempts to transport the wounded man to the ambulance stretcher. Sa’ada later died from his wounds.

Official IOF accounts of the incident diverge strongly from the numerous eyewitness testimonies. An IOF spokesperson said that Sa’ada was shot while “attempting to assault a solider with a knife” though no knife was recovered, and all accounts indicate that Sa’ada was nearly ten meters from the closest soldier when he was shot four times.

The following day, Huwarra checkpoint was closed to all Palestinian males under 45 years old. Soldiers at the checkpoint also beat an unnamed youth from the village of Almasharik. After the assault, the young man was taken into detention.

The last three days in Nablus have shown a dangerous upsurge in the use of deadly force by IOF soldiers. With two shot dead at a checkpoint and at least eight shot in the refugee camps, the Nablus region is under siege. There are daily incursions into the Nablus refugee camps and city center, and on an average day, soldiers invade and occupy homes, fire at buildings and arrest unarmed citizens. The recent killings have alarmed the local residents, though the regularity of violence in the area is not new. Residents of Nablus, like Azzem Hroub, 42, call on the international community to speak out against the use of violence against civilians and the frequent closures of the city. Hroub, a local shop keeper in Nablus’ Old City commented on the events of the last three days and said, “They just keep killing as every day. They could use arrests but they just kill and kill. When they close checkpoints for their [Jewish] special days, what are we to do? We must try to move around, and if we do this, we are killed. What are we to do? What can the US or the UN do for us in this time? Our situation is very difficult.”

In total during this the time discussed, occupation forces have arrested at least forty-two Palestinian males in military raids throughout the West Bank.

Sources:

BBC (English news source, online)

CNN (American news source, online)

Associated Press (American news source, online)

Ma’an News Agency (Palestinian news source, online)

WAFA News Agency (Palestinian news source, online)

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) (Palestinian Human Right group based in Gaza)

Ha’aretz (Israeli newspaper, online)

Ynet (Israeli newspaper, online)

Israeli Defense Force [sic] (press statements, online)

The Times: “Rabbi leads defence of Palestinian olive groves”

The Times of London, October 9th. by Ian Mackinnon

Editorial note: A reporter from The Times of London joined Palestinian farmers accompanied by ISM, IWPS and Rabbis for Human Rights volunteers for picking as recorded in this report on our site. His report, focusing on the Rabbis, was published in the Times and on their website, and is pasted below.

* * *

The olives are stunted, the trees in poor condition. At the top of a ladder, stripping fruit from high branches, the Palestinian farmer Omar Karni is in his element, working his way up a dusty olive grove that has been in his family for generations.

For the first time in four years, the family has been able to harvest the crop. Last time Mr Karni tried, radical Jewish settlers set fire to the tinder-dry land and beat him as he fled.

“I’m so happy to be here,” he said, stretching to reach a branch in the relentless sun. “This is my land and if I can’t come here to farm it I feel incomplete. I must do this to keep the land in my family.”

Mr Karni, 58, a Muslim, can go about his business without threat largely because of a rabbi who has co-ordinated with the Israeli Army and police to be on the spot to provide protection. Rabbi Arik Ascherman peers through binoculars towards the Har Berakha settlement near Nablus, in the West Bank, for signs of trouble. Heavily armed Israeli police patrol through the trees and an army Humvee squats across the dirt track to deter unwanted visitors.

Rabbi Ascherman, co-director of Rabbis for Human Rights, will spend the six-week olive season rising at dawn with other volunteers to put his life on the line to protect Palestinian farmers from armed Jewish settlers. Without the Jewish cleric, the farmers would be fired upon or beaten, their harvest stolen and ancient trees — some dating from Roman times — felled with chainsaws.

“This whole issue of trying to prevent the olive harvest is the ongoing struggle to get Palestinians off the land,” the rabbi said. “But if we Jews are to survive in this land we must restore hope by being here to break down the stereotypes the Palestinians have of Israelis. This is the best single thing I can do to protect my two children.”

The rabbi and his fellow volunteers — some Israeli, some foreign — will help to harvest and to police groves in 30 West Bank villages that sit cheek-by-jowl with Jewish settlements and have become flashpoints.

Last year attacks rose sharply at harvest-time, with feelings running high over Israel’s pullout from the Gaza Strip. Thousands of olive trees were cut down, others damaged, crops stolen, and several Palestinian farmers suffered serious injury at the hands of settler mobs.

Gamilah Biso, an Arabic-speaking Jewish volunteer who was brought up in Damascus, realises that her presence and that of her colleagues is vital to ensure that the olives can be harvested from the West Bank’s ten million trees to produce the 36,000 tonnes of olive oil. That accounts for one fifth of Palestinian agriculture. “If we weren’t here the farmer and his family just wouldn’t be able to come,” Ms Biso said, deftly stripping the green olives from the branches. “It would be too easy for the settlers to shoot them.”

Victory in a two-year court case brought by the rabbis and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel may help to ease tensions. It has guaranteed the farmers access to their land and obliged thearmy to protect that right. The Army recently drove away settlers who had come to steal the olives from Mr Karni’s land — yet subsequently barred the family from their 12-acre grove because they had arrived before the agreed schedule. Mr Karni’s early appearance was driven by the desperation of current Palestinian circumstances. The harvest now offers a vital economic lifeline.

“We came to raise money for the Ramadan celebrations,” he said. “No one has any stable work these days. So the harvest has become very, very important to survive. We await the harvest like we await the rain.”

Haaretz: Israeli army “aims to keep out ‘escorts’ of Palestinian farmers during harvest”

Ha’aretz, October 9th. by Amira Hass

The Israel Defense Forces [sic] are demanding that Palestinian farmers not allow Israeli and foreign sympathizers to escort them during the olive harvest to places where military protection is needed against abusive settlers, Palestinian sources in the Nablus region told Haaretz.

An Israeli security source confirmed the report, saying that IDF officers have been influenced by statements of settlers, who say they are enraged during the harvest by the presence of Israeli leftists who act as provocateurs. A 2005 memo to soldiers from the Civil Administration regarding the olive-picking season states: “Involvement of various entities, Israeli and foreign, is expected, as an ‘aid’ to the Palestinians in the harvest and as a motive for creating provocations.”

On the other hand, the 2006 Olive Harvest Order issued by the Samaria Regional Brigade stated, under “Key lessons from the previous year”: “Working axis vis-a-vis leftist organizations: During the harvest season the left appeared largely as a coordinating force and for the most part offered no provocations. The best and most effective axis for maintaining communication is between the implementers [i.e., the olive-pickers – A.H.] and the organizations.”

The contradictory policy was evident as the harvest season began last week in the Nablus region. In the village of Burin, for example, Israeli [activist] escorts were prohibited, but they were permitted later in the week. In the village of Klil the army allowed women from an international solidarity group to be present during the picking. Last Tuesday, however, soldiers barred farmers from entering their property, necessitating the intercession by phone of activists from Rabbis for Human Rights.

Rabbi Arik W. Ascherman of RHR has for years organized groups of Israeli peace activists to escort farmers in some 30 West Bank villages, as protection against settler attacks.

The IDF Spokesman stated that the GOC Central Command had recently signed several orders requiring advance coordination to enter limited areas during the harvest period, but that most West Bank harvest areas are freely accessible to farmers and Israeli civilians. Regarding the incident last Tuesday, the IDF said that the Klil farmers left the area of their own volition after soldiers asked to check their ID because they had not coordinated their arrival in advance.

Stones and fire in Kufr Qallil – yet the olive harvest continues

by ISM Nablus, report filed October 5th

Omar Suleiman from Kufr Qallil walked through his 10 dunums of olive trees on Saturday the 30th of September, occasionally grabbing hold of a tree trunk and nimbly climbing up to inspect the higher clusters of fruit. He shook his head and gestured toward the empty branches here and there. Nestled on a slope between Berakhya colony and Huwarra checkpoint and military base, his olive grove is frequently invaded by Israeli colonists. They beat the trees to make the ripest olives fall to the ground in order to steal them, and also sabotage the harvest in other ways. About two months ago, they set fire to a 16 dunum large plot of land below the olive grove. Haj Suleiman’s family now have to trudge up a slope of desolate scorched earth in order to reach their land – an ugly reminder of the threat that the Israeli colonists of Berakhya present to their Palestinian neighbours.

Two years ago, the family was attacked by a group of Israeli colonists armed with machineguns. Haj Suleiman bears scars on his chin and scalp from big rocks thrown at him in unprovoked outbursts of colonist violence. When he attempted to defend himself by physically restraining his attackers, the Israeli military retaliated by forcing him and his family out of their house at two o’clock in the morning for five nights in a row – threatening the family members with violence and randomly breaking parts of their furniture. The family is now afraid to go to harvest their olives from the land closest to the colony. After having kept silent and submissive for a few years, the family have now had enough, and therefore decided to request international and Israeli accompaniment this year.

The first three days of harvesting in Kufr Qallil were relatively quiet, apart from an incident of theft from land on the south side of the road leading up to Berakhya colony. Israeli colonists were spending the eve of Yom Kippur bathing at a holy mountain spring adjacent to the road, some of them also having brought bags to fill with Palestinian figs and pomegranates.

On the fourth day of harvesting (Tuesday October the 3rd), an armored jeep full of soldiers arrived at the scene, shouting and motioning at the olive pickers to cease their work. They told the group – Haj Suleiman, his family and volunteers from IWPS and ISM – to pack up and leave as they had not obtained permission from the DCO (District Coordination Office) and were therefore not allowed to work the land on that particular day. Although the group argued that this order was unlawful and requested that the soldiers consult their higher commanders and the DCO before chasing them off the land, the soldiers insisted and threateningly escorted everyone back to the village. Afraid of retaliation, the family did not wish to directly resist the order but after hours of phone calls to the International Committee of the Red Cross and various levels of command at the DCO, it was ascertained that the order given by the soldiers was actually contrary to Israeli law and military policy, in light of recent judicial developments.

On 26 June 2006, the Israeli High Court of Justice issued a ruling in response to a petition regarding the right of Palestinian farmers, who are residents of the West Bank, to gain access to their land (H.C.J. 9593/04 Rashad Morar v. The IDF Commander for Judea and Samaria). In short, the court decision means that Palestinian farmers have a right to enter and work their land, with or without DCO permission, and that the military commander in the area must defend this right. In the past, Israeli military have often opted for attempting to stifle any violence on the part of Israeli colonists by declaring land a “closed military zone.” They have justified this by saying that the law is aimed to protect the Palestinian residents, but has in reality saved them from any real confrontation with Israeli colonists. The court ruling stipulates that this is no longer allowed and that territorial closure is subject to a number of strict preconditions.

This decision is crucial to many Palestinian farmers in providing them with a legal weapon to use in fighting for their rights to their land. Apart from land in “red zones,” which are not subject to such rapid status changes as “closed military zones,” and can be checked on military maps, all farmers should in theory be unhindered and protected in working their land and harvesting their olives this season. Tuesday’s events, however, clearly illustrate how this new policy, whether due to misinformation or malice, is not being implemented by soldiers on the ground.

It seems that the more senior and legally conscious echelons of the Israeli military are reluctant to inform foot-soldiers about the changes unless faced with farmers or volunteers who know the law and can argue their case. This was made apparent yesterday, as the DCO tried to dissuade Haj Suleiman from harvesting his olives on the day he wanted, instead suggesting a later date more suitable to them. Despite this, the family continued harvesting, their numbers boosted by international and Israeli volunteers, the latter from Rabbis for Human Rights and other anti-occupation organizations. The Israeli military were also present, although this time as protection from Israeli colonists.

Despite manipulation and lies from the Israeli military and the DCO, the olive harvest continues. We urge all internationals to do their utmost to come to Palestine in solidarity with farmers who have been denied safe and unconditional access to their land. Harvesting is resisting.

Footnote: Wednesday night, more violence befell the village of Kufr Qallil, when 40 year old Nasir Hasan Mansur was shot by Israeli military. Mansur was sitting in front of his home when the soldiers fired north from Beit Ur checkpoint, hitting him in the left foot.

For another account of the fourth day of the picking (October 3rd), see this report on the IWPS site.

A reporter from The Times in London joined ISM, IWPS and Rabbis for Human Rights volunteers for one of these picking days. His report, focusing on the Rabbis, is published on the Times website.

Plan for the Olive Harvest Campaign 2006

On the 5th of October a special meeting made up of regional ISM coordinators took place to present their plans for the olive harvest and to make everyone aware of each other’s activities so that better coordination between the regions can take place. Below is a summary of each region’s activities to give an idea of how well organized we are this year and to hopefully encourage more people to come and support the Palestinian farmers and their families against the violence of the colonist settlers and the obstruction and harrassment of the Israeli army. If you are an ISM support group doing training in your country, please let new volunteers know about this plan so that they can have an idea of what they will be doing, and can be reassured that they will be needed.

Nablus region
Some of the most ideological settlers in the West Bank live here in notorious settlement outposts such as Itamar. Nablus region will be the top priority for the campaign because of the danger to farmers from these settlers, and the large number of villages in the area that the ISM Nablus committee has forged contacts with in the lead-up to the harvest.

  • Picking in 24 villages all over the Nablus region
  • Started 1st October. Ongoing till 30th November (most villages will start after Eid).
  • Need for continuous presence of 20-30 internationals from October 25th.
  • Accommodation for volunteers in ISM apartment in the Nablus Old City, but also villages. Bring sleeping bags because of cold nights
  • Co-ordination wtih EAPPI (in Yannun) and Rabbis for Human Rights being done

Hebron region
ISM volunteers will focus on families picking from their gardens and groves in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron city. Last year settlers tried to steal olives. Tel Rumedia contains some of the most extreme, Kahanist elements of the settler movement, hence it is a high priority for the campaign. The Israeli army frequently declares the area as a closed military zone to “protect” the settlers.

  • Eight families in the area have asked for volunteers. Also, 6 families in villages near the Kiryat Arba settlement have asked for volunteers.
  • Starting mid-November
  • Need minimum 5 internationals
  • Accommodation for volunteers in the ISM/Tel Rumeida Project apartment in Tel Rumeida
  • Co-ordination being done with many international organisations. In case of an urgent need in other parts of Hebron region (e.g. Qawawis, Jab’a), will co-ordinate with the international organisations working in those areas such as CPT, EAPPI. to send people if we have them available. The ISM Hebron committee has also talked to Palestinian university students. Will send people to other areas in Hebron region for demonstrations as requested by local committee co-ordinating internationals.

Ramallah region
Generally, not big risks, but people needed in Bil’in outpost. Maximum 7 people needed for whole region. It’s not top priority – if there is an emergency and enough volunteers, people will go there. Direct action is always an ISM priority, even during the olive harvest so we will encourage volunteers to take part in demos, eg. Bil’in and other actions, eg. roadblock removals at Jaba.

  • Bil’in – Priority for this region. Need minimum 2 people to stay in the outpost – they can participate in Olive harvest, but there is minimal risk. It is still a priority, because there is now a problem with getting people past the fence and to the outpost. This was no problem until now.
  • Possiblity of help needed in Beit Sira (first olive harvest since wall built there), Aboud (one family might need some help), Beit Furik (might face some risk because of it’s location) or Biddu (no risk from settlers).

Tulkarem region
There are only three settlements in this region. Five Palestinian villages have land near to them. For the first time this year, Palestinians with certain land in this area will try to access it to pick olives. Not a high-risk area, hence not a high priority for ISM volunteers.

  • Picking in two areas
  • Starting mid-October. Every village needs a week to finish
  • Need around 5 people to move around the region

IWPS in Salfit
Anticipates enough IWPS volunteers over this period to cover their areas. Will send IWPS volunteers to other areas in emergencies if they have the numbers.

  • Strong focus on 7 villages, 5 on standby, going to meet 2 more in next few days
  • Az Zawyia – from mid-October, most after Ramadan – 6 internationals. for 1-2 weeks
  • IWPS are based in Hares village, Salfit region
  • Co-ordination with Rabbis for Human Rights being done