27th December 2008 – Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of Nablus today in a series of demonstrations against the massacre of besieged Palestinians in Gaza – the greatest number of Palestinians to be killed in a single day since the beginning of the Israeli occupation.
Upon hearing of the more than 30 Israeli airstrikes that, starting at 11am on Saturday 27th December, killed more than 195 Gazans and injured at least 200 more, spontaneous demonstrations erupted in the centre of Nablus – at Martyr’s square – calling for Palestinians to unite to resist against these attacks.
“In this martyr’s square, in front of the blood of all of our martyrs, we call on all [political] parties to return to the negotiating table to discuss unity”, called one speaker from the Palestinian People’s Party.
Attended by representatives from many political parties and civil society associations, the protestors marched through the streets of Nablus, chanting “Gaza and the West Bank are one!”.
Another speaker cried “Wayn il Arab? Wayn? Wayn?” (Where is the Arab? Where? Where?), drawing attention to the failure of Arab countries to support Palestine in its struggle under Israeli occupation.
Many speakers, from political parties and civil society organisations called in the Palestinian Authority to immediately freeze all relations with Israel.
Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets once more at 3pm, bearing placards calling for Nablus and Gaza to unite and fight together. Up to 500 demonstrators marched through the city centre and the old city, to express their anger and despair at the massacre, while calling for Palestinians to unite to fight the Israeli occupation.
Similar demonstrations have taken place in cities throughout the West Bank, Jordan and countries around the world. A general strike has been announced for the entire West Bank for Sunday 28th in protest against the strike.
From Thursday 18th to Friday 19th December, Israeli military forces invaded multiple villages and cities in the Northern West Bank; including Nablus, Burin, Beita, Jenin and Araba – occupying homes, destroying property, and terrorising families.
In the case of Beita, the incursion coincided with Israeli authorities cutting all water supplies to the village of 12000 people, leaving all homes and businesses entirely without water.
Israeli forces invaded the village of Beita at approximately 12am on the morning of Thursday 18th, storming more than 100 houses. “No one in Beita slept. No one slept that night” reported one elderly villager, whose son was arbitrarily detained, made to strip naked and tortured for six hours.
Mahadi, aged 24, was detained from his home when approximately twelve Israeli soldiers invaded his home at 12am on Thursday morning. He was blindfolded and handcuffed and driven around in an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) for two hours whilst being beaten repeatedly. Mahadi, along with nine other detainees from Beita, were forced to lie on the floor of the vehicle while soldiers sat with their feet on the detainees chest and heads, in an act of ritualistic dehumanisation. The detainees were then taken to Huwarra military base where they were further beaten and subject to humiliating practices. Two of the men were stripped and forced to remain naked for the period of their incarceration. Mahadi was released at 6am, when Israeli soldiers lacerated his back as they cut his handcuffs, before throwing him from the back of a moving army vehicle. “His t-shirt was covered in blood” recalled his mother.
Of the more than 100 houses that were invaded that morning, many reported significant damage, from broken windows to battered-down doors, as well as ransacking and theft. In several cases, soldiers used axes to destroy doors, often before families even had the chance to open the doors themselves. A number of families in the occupied houses were threatened at gunpoint and forced into either single rooms or outside for up to several hours while soldiers searched their homes and ransacked their belongings.
In the case of Fayez Mohammad Atari Dweikat and his family, approximately 25 soldiers forced his family into the cold night at gunpoint whilst they ransacked his home. He reports that during this time, soldiers stole his mobile phone and digital camera from the house.
The family in a neighbouring house, stated that soldiers also forced them at gunpoint into a single room, denying the children access to the toilet; as well as forcing the family members to provide their mobile phone numbers to the soldiers. The family also reported the theft of a flashdrive from the home while they were being detained.
In another nearby house, that of newly-married Rami Dweikat, Israeli soldiers hacked at the door with an axe, in order to enter and ransack the premises – pulling all belongings from cupboards and drawers, leaving the house in a state of ruin. Windows and internal doors were also broken in the house that has even yet not been completed. “They didn’t respect anything” cried his mother.
Many in the village believed the invasion to be part of a training exercise for the Israeli forces. “They were laughing as they entered our houses”, said one villager. “They made all of our village as a practice mission”.
On Thursday night, Israeli armed forces further invaded the village of Burin near Nablus; Al Ain refugee camp inside Nablus city; Jenin city and the nearby village of Araba.
In Al Ain refugee camp in Nablus, Israeli soldiers overran the camp, invading houses and arresting two. In the Western part of the camp three houses were occupied by Israeli soldiers who left a wake of destruction. “Cul ishi, cul ishi” lamented an elderly resident. “They damaged everything”.
Soldiers detonated multiple bombs on the houses, blowing apart doors; collapsing walls and shattering windows throughout the neighbourhood. In the house of Um and Abu Raed, soldiers exploded their front door, shattering all glass in the house and destroying their washing machine. Soldiers then proceded to further wreak havoc in the house, emptying all cupboards and drawers on to the floor, including the contents of the refrigerator. Cupboards and wardrobes were broken, and holes were smashed in the walls to provide sniper positions for the soldiers.
Large numbers of soldiers and dogs filled the house, surprising residents in their beds, threatening them at gunpoint. The elderly Abu Raed, who is unable to walk due to illness, was pushed out of his bed, beaten and forced to crawl through his house, while soldiers refused to allow his children to help him to his feet. “I am sick, I am sick” he told the soldiers, who were unrelenting in their truculence.
Younger family members were forced into a bathroom individually to face interrogation before the whole family were herded, along with other nearby families, into the small room of a neighbouring house.
From three houses, nine families were forced into a single room – with more than 70 people, including elderly residents; pregnant women and many young children, crammed into a small 3×5 metre room. Residents struggled for air as their requests to be allowed to move to a larger room were denied. Children were forced to soil themselves, as soldiers refused to allow them access to a toilet.
Families were forced into the room at gunpoint at approximately 12:30am, where they were kept for four hours without warm clothes or blankets for the children. When parents requested to be allowed to bring in bedding for the children to sleep on, they were denied, with soldiers telling the parents that they could hold their children while they slept. With not enough room for all of the families to sit down, some were forced to stand for the entire period of their incarceration.
Soldiers eventually allowed some access to the toilet for children and the infirm Abu Raed. “When I am a prisoner, I am allowed to do everything. Why in my home and I not allowed to do anything”, implored an angered Abu Raed.
The house of Um and Abu Raed has been invaded by Israeli soldiers once each week, on average, for the past three years. The extent of the damage of the incursions is such that they are in a constant state of repairs, while bullet holes from previous invasions still riddle the walls of the family home. “In the future we hope to take freedom, like all the people in the world” voiced Um Raed. “Now, it is just a dream”.
The invasions of these villages, along with the invasion of the village of Zawata earlier in the week, are especially poignant as the Gaza-Israel cease-fire was declared dead on Friday morning. This series of terrorising incursions exemplifies the refusal of Israeli authorities to extend the truce to the West Bank – a hope of many Palestinians during the early days of the cease-fire. Many residents of the Nablus area fear that these incursions are also vehicles for training ground troops for an immenent Gaza invasion.
Israeli soldiers raided the village of Zawata late Sunday night, going house to house throughout the village, tearing down doors and scaring residents. The occupying army stayed well into the morning terrorizing young children on their way to class.
On December 14th, at approximately 11pm, Israeli soldiers entered Zawata and began to go house to house, allegedly searching for weapons. By one hour later, approximately ten military jeeps had occupied the village, all entrances and exits were blocked by army personnel, and at least one house was occupied by the military. Further up from the village, eyewitnesses stated seeing what appeared to be four Israeli snipers
Several Palestinian families reported broken doors, a result of the Israeli army not giving enough time for Palestinians to wake up and get to the door on time. According to Palestinian villagers, the Israeli army went to almost every house in Zawata. In most the houses, their stay was brief, long enough to wake residents up, break windows, overturn furniture and generally terrorize residents. But in the case of Ghassan Fou’ad Goodi and his family, the soldiers stayed overnight.
According to Ghassan, soldiers entered his house at midnight. Like most Zawata residents, he wasn’t given enough time to get to the gate of his house to let in the invading soldiers. They tore down the gate, and stormed into the house, forcing Ghassan and his family, into one room. Their landline was unplugged from the wall and their cell-phones were confiscated. Altogether, approximately 50 soldiers surrounded and occupied the house. Four soldiers stayed in the room not allowing the family to leave or contact anybody for help. The occupation lasted over seven hours, forcing the family to stay up all night, and in the morning, preventing the students from going to university classes. When the soldiers finally left the house the next day, around 7:30, they threw the cell phones they confiscated in different places around the house. Ghassan reports that one cell phone and his address book are still missing.
Ghassan Fou’ad Goodi is no stranger to the military. During the second intifada, in 2002, soldiers occupied his house for 6 months. Still, this invasion came as a surprise to the family, due to the fact that there was no apparent pretext for it.
Small children were terrified when, on their way to class, several soldiers, armed with M-16s and wearing camouflage face paint, hid in an alleyway pointing their guns at them. Some children ran back to their houses, while others crying and fearing for their lives, decided to push onward.
This is yet another example of what life is like under Israeli occupation. Although, Zawata is part of Nablus, designated area A under the Oslo agreements, and is supposed to be under the complete control of the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli military enters at will and with impunity.
At 12pm on Friday 5th December, approximately 100 residents of Nablus came out to protest against the settler rampage that saw Palestinians attacked in their cars and homes throughout the West Bank, following the eviction of one settler-occupied house in Hebron.
Organised by the Nablus municipality, a coalition of political parties and a variety of Nablus-based associations, the demonstration took over the city centre, calling for Palestinians to take a stand against the onslaught of settler attacks. Speakers from various parties called for unity amongst Palestinians, from the West Bank to Gaza; from the camps to the villages, in the face of the inaction of the Israeli authorities to quell the rampage. As one speaker from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said “Now settlers and soldiers declare their true face about their feelings for Palestinian people”.
Speakers called for Palestinian leadership to cease all negotiations with Israel, and for all Palestinian political parties to stand together in this, ending the divisions in Palestinian politics. A number of speakers also spoke about the possibility of third Intifada against settlers, and against the Israeli occupation. This echoes statements made earlier by the mayor of Nablus, who stated for news agencies that “If the Israeli military do not succeed to stop the settlers’ violence, then we will call on the Palestinian residents to go out on the streets and fight back”.
The demonstration was a defiant refusal to be intimidated by this recent spate of attacks, no matter how brutal. As Dr. Najat Abu Baker, a Palestinian MP, stated “This is our land. We will stay and the settlers will be the ones to leave”.
A group of 50 Palestinians from the village of Burqa in the North of Nablus, joined by solidarity activists and members of the press, held their weekly demonstration demanding the return of Palestinian land from the evacuated illegal Homesh settlement on Friday.
The demonstrators marched to farmland surrounding the settlement at 11:00 am Friday morning to replant olive trees on their forcibly neglected land. Over 5000 dunams of land in and surrounding the settlement are inaccessible to the Palestinian populations of the surrounding villages and the demonstrators on Friday were both physically and symbolically reclaiming this important and fertile farmland.
The Homesh settlement was abandoned in 2005 following the terms of the “disengagement” plan, though settlers have attempted to repopulate the land multiple times since and none of the land has been returned to its rightful Palestinian owners. Israeli authorities claim that the area, after the evacuation, is to be considered Area C according to the Oslo agreements, though the logic behind such a claim is clearly lacking. The goal of today’s demonstration was not to reach the settlement itself, though villagers reported having seen Israeli settlers on the abandoned land from the location of the manifestation, confirming worries that settlers were once again attempting to repopulate the land.
Today’s demonstration was instead focusing on the extreme loss of land around the settlement, dunams where Palestinians used to grow olives, apples, apricots and walnuts. After the evacuation many of the Burqa, Sebastiya, Beit Imreen, Talluza, Deir Sharaf and Silat adh Dhahr residents returned to their long neglected lands to replant, though much of their work has already been reversed when settlers have come to uproot and burn the newly planted trees. In addition many of the farmers’ storage areas and wells have been sabotaged or damaged by settlers. In April of this year settlers poured toxic chemicals into the water of the wells.
When assessing the barren farmland one Burqa resident, Abu Sami, lamented; “these settlers have completely changed our landscape”. The settler attacks have also targeted many of the Palestinian shepherds that have attempted to graze their sheep on the land surrounding Homesh, many have reported incidents when they were attacked by settlers and had their sheep shot.
In the years since the evacuation the residents of Burqa and other surrounding villages have received thousands of dollars from organizations like Oxfam Quebec to use, along with their own funds, to build up the land once again, though their attempts have been made futile with persistent abuse and incursion from illegal settlers. Many residents were already forced to leave the area when their livelihood was taken away with the destruction of their farmland and many more will probably be forced to follow if these settler reigns of terror continue. Along with settler violence the residents of Burqa suffer constant Israeli army evictions, invasions and harassment. For all of these reasons the Palestinians of the community have vowed to hold weekly demonstrations to prevent the nightmare of Homesh from plaguing their lives once again, proudly carrying signs proclaiming; “We will fight until we get our rights”.
