At dawn on September 27th Occupation forces invaded Balata camp with jeeps and an armoured bulldozer with support from Apache helicopters hovering overhead. Military vehicles heading for Balata from many directions were reported. A curfew lasting several hours was imposed on the area and 21 year old Ala’ Mohammad Zaid Shraiah, 17 year old Jihad Yousef Zuqan and 17 year old Abd-Allah Qatawi were arrested.
As in a previous invasion 3 weeks ago the armoured bulldozer plowed through the narrow main street of the camp destroying shop fronts and concrete paving. Children were later seen improvising chairs and see-saws out of the mangled plastic facades whilst reconstruction work was going on. A falafel stand owner, Jamal, didn’t let the invasion dampen his festive Ramadan spirit: “We hardly notice the attacks as they happen so often and we won’t let them spoil Ramadan”.
At around twelve o’clock on Tuesday night Israeli special forces entered four West Bank cities in a raid against money changers and banks. By four o’clock the military had left, with up to 6 million stolen shekels in their possession.
The Israeli military stole money from Jenin, Tulkarm, Ramallah and Nablus. In the latter, the Jordan National Bank and three private money changers were targeted. Unable to open the bank’s treasury, the Israeli forces stole around NIS 500,000 in total from three money changing enterprises and arrested one of the owners, 40 year-old Ghilab Swidan, from his home.
The three exchange shops are all badly damaged. After forcing and blowing open their doors with dynamite, the Israeli military proceeded to ransack the shops, throwing the contents of the offices onto the street outside. They then stole around NIS 250,000 from each in cash and checks, claiming to have information that this money was to be used to fund militant operations against Israel and to support Hamas.
The two money changers who escaped arrest are adamant that they know nothing about the intended usage of the money they handle. The Palestinian authorities do not know why precisely these companies were targeted but Palestinian police officer Hassan Meyrat says, “this is not the first time it has happened. Three years ago, the Arab Bank was raided and millions of shekels stolen.”
In that particular incident, the Israel National Treasury was forced to return most of the stolen money to the bank. This time, with several smaller companies targeted, it is not clear what will happen. The Jordan National Bank is, however, considering pressing charges against the Israeli army.
Although no money was taken from the three-storey Jordan National Bank, the damage sustained to it’s main office in Nablus city centre is extensive. The director of the bank, Abdul Latif Nasif, estimates the reparation costs to amount to around NIS 2 million. The stairway leading up to the office is strewn with glass, the remains of filing cabinets, window blinds and smashed computer screens. The Israeli military also broke most of the windows, punching holes in them for their snipers.
The Israeli military fired heavily throughout the city center during the entire operation, but no one was injured. Ghilad Swidan remains in Israeli custody.
As if economic sanctions and an economic blockade were not severe enough measures, the Israeli authorities have decided to raid some of the remaining sources of Palestinian capital on unsubstantiated allegations of ‘terrorism funding’.
This morning a group of university students and other residents of Beit Furik joined in a non-violent demonstration against the early closure of the checkpoint separating them from Nablus city center. About 50 Palestinian and international protestors marched across a settler road toward the checkpoint holding placards, demanding an end to the Palestinian people’s misery and asking to speak to the highest commanding officer at the site.
A couple of students tried to explain to the soldiers that it is impossible for them to seriously pursue their studies when they are constantly having to fit their schedule around the random regulations of the checkpoint. Beit Furik checkpoint currently closes at 6:30 in the evening, and the protestors’ primary demand was therefore that the checkpoint should be kept open until later in the evening, providing time for students and workers to return home from Nablus.
The soldiers would not listen to the demands and kept ordering the demonstration to back away from the checkpoint. The protestors then hung their placards from the tin roof of the pen where men and women are usually made to wait for their turn to have their IDs and persons inspected before being allowed to go about their day. These messages were ripped down, torn and crumpled up by the annoyed soldiers as the demonstration dispersed.
The village of Beit Furik is strangled by checkpoints, settler-only roads and settlements. In order for the villagers to cross into Salem village, the neighboring town, they have to cross through a checkpoint. When this checkpoint is closed, and the local roads blocked, the residents of Beit Furik are forced to travel in a wide arch in the opposite direction to their destination. Travelling through nine villages on a rocky dirt-track that is nearly impossible to navigate by car in the winter months, it might take up to five hours for villagers to reach Nablus. There is also a high risk of being stopped by soldiers and arrested or turned back.
These restrictions of movement are devastating for Beit Furik’s social, economical and political situation. Yet the residents of Beit Furik are defiant and view today’s demonstration as the first of many similar acts of protest. They welcome all expressions of support and solidarity for their struggle for freedom of movement.
In between the Israeli military checkpoints of Beit Iba and Shave Shomeron settlement, is the Palestinian village of Deir Sharaf. The village has 3,500 residents and is dismembered by a settler-only road, an Occupation settlement and two checkpoints. This village has been fighting a four year battle to dispose of its garbage, after Occupation forces began preventing the village from dumping their garbage on their own land.
Since 2002, the village of Deir Sharaf has had problems from Occupation forces concerning the issue of garbage disposal. Prior to 2002, the village disposed of their trash locally, though soon after the outbreak of the Palestinian Intifada, Occupation forces decided that this disposal program could not continue. Currently, the village is forced to drive the trash almost 40km to a dump in Jaba’, due west of Tubas, and south of Jenin.
The small village is having a great deal of difficulty with this restriction. In order to purchase diesel fuel for the daily commute to Jaba’, the village council has to pay more than 200 NIS a day. During their northern trek, the truck must pass through two permanent military checkpoints, and on most days, a number of temporary ‘flying’ checkpoints. Because of the settler-only roads, and the checkpoints, the journey sometimes is too long to be completed in one day, while on the best of days, it takes no less than 5 hours. Sometimes, the garbage truck driver is made to return to the village with his truck still full because Occupation soldiers based at checkpoints along the way decide to not allow the passage of the haul.
The garbage truck used in Deir Sharaf is collectively owned by their village and the village of Beit Iba. Each village is meant to use the truck on alternating days but because often times one load takes more than one day to deliver, the villages are both unable to effectively dispose of their waste. Beit Iba is located on the opposite side of a permanent checkpoint from Deir Sharaf so the collective arrangement is subject to the closures of the military. In addition, every 10-14 days the soldiers staffing Beit Iba checkpoint rotate. When this occurs, the new soldiers always stop the truck from passing, and detain the driver. This means that every two weeks, the President of the Deir Sharaf Council must travel to the checkpoint and renegotiate the passage of the truck with the current crew of soldiers.
The truck has also been seized by Occupation forces four times in four years, when after being unable to make the journey to Jaba’, the truck attempted to dump in the village. During these incidents, the driver was detained and once again, the President of the Council had to go to the detention center to explain the situation and negotiate the release of the driver and the truck. Last time the truck was seized, it was held for 15 days, and upon its release, the Council President was made to sign a paper promising that if the village was seen attempting to dump the garbage in their village again, their truck would be seized and the village fined 20,000 NIS.
The situation with Deir Sharaf highlights the everyday interactions between the Palestinian people and the Occupation. Here, even the seemingly simple task of garbage disposal is subject to the whims of checkpoint soldiers and closures. The Palestinian people of this West Bank village are denied the right to use their land as they like. For some reason, in the village of Deir Sharaf, the Occupation feels the need to regulate the disposal of garbage, while it simultaneously destroys the land in the same village by razing olive groves for an eight meter high concrete wall encircling the settlement. This interaction shows that for the Occupation, their concern is not ‘security’ as they claim, but rather oppression and harassment.
Tomorrow, Friday at 10 a.m. Palestinian students of Al-Najah university of Nablus will demonstrate against the major checkpoint of Beit Furik (near Beit Furik village) which is affecting the inhabitants of several villages in the area. The action will address the occupation’s devastating effects on Palestinian education.
Hundreds of students, employers, teachers, patients, workers, and traders use the checkpoint each day to move between surrounding villages and the city of Nablus. They are often subjected to unnecessary humiliation tactics in addition to long waiting periods and frequent denial of access. In addition to this daily dehumanization, the checkpoint of Beit Furik closes around 6pm in the afternoon and forbids the students of Beit Furik village to go home after finishing their classes at Al-Najah.
