Tag: Nablus

Near the village of Hares south-west of Nablus lays the industrial compound of Barqan where Salman Mahmoud Simlawi has been facing a takeover of his land for decades by two factories on each side of his property. On Thursday the 26th the factory managed to uproot several olive trees after arresting Simlawi and preventing him to contact his lawyer nor any human rights groups.

On three occasions ISM Nablus has spent time on Simlawis land trying to prevent further conquest from the Villar factory bulldozer. Villar international is an Israeli construction company that specializes in large scale residential projects, amongst other things expansions for settlements.

“Villar group specializes in finding and purchasing lands for industrial buildings, safe housing for immigrants to Israel and offices for lease.” – Villar Corporate Statement.

For companies such as Villar producing their materials in industrial compounds inside Palestine is an opportunity to acquire a lower minimum wage, around 8-10 NIS per hour, cheaper than the average 19 NIS per hour in Israel. In 1982 Villar began clearing land to expand their productions facilities and Simlawi chose to go to court. Since 1986 Simlawi has legally been able to work on his original land near Hares yet harassment from the factory using military help continues with Villar refusing to recognize the 1986 court decision when confronted on Simlawis land. Now facing two large factories on each side Simlawi is slowly but surely loosing land. Simlawis only chance to fight the factory is through the Israeli legal system, but it requires the appearance and cooperation of the civil administration who haven’t yet showed support.

The invasion of ‘Ein Beit Al Ma’ refugee camp by the Israeli occupation forces continued on Friday, July 20, 2007 at 10:20 am when several jeeps returned to the main street of Nablus and entered the camp. International human rights activists present created a human roadblock on the main thoroughfare of the camp to stop any other jeeps from entering the camp and continuing their siege on the camp’s inhabitants. Three internationals were shot with rubber bullets during the blockade. They were just three of the several victims of the Israeli army’s aggressive and excessive use of force that morning, on what could have otherwise been a quiet, peaceful and sunny Friday holiday.

For past ISM reports of this event click here and here.

After a standoff in ‘Ein Beit Al Ma’ refugee camp, Friday morning, July 20, 2007, in which six international human rights activists … all >> confronted the Israeli Occupation Forces, at 11:30am several Israeli snipers were forced out of the home they had occupied since 3:00 am that morning. The internationals entered the house after the withdrawal of the snipers and found 35 civilians inside, 20 of which were children.

Several Palestinian boys approached the activists to point out Israeli snipers in a building on the hill above the camp. The Israeli soldiers had forced four families, 30 people, into a first floor room and held them hostage for over eight hours.

Occupying and using a civilian home as a military position is illegal under international and Israeli law.

Nablus, a city in the North of the West Bank is surrounded by military bases and invaded nightly by heavily armored Israeli Occupation Forces. These incursions kill and injure civilians on a daily basis. Not only are the individual actions of this platoon, these soldiers, and the Israeli Occupation Forces illegal, but the entire occupation of the West Bank since 1967 is in violation of the 4th Geneva Convention and in contravention of numerous UN declarations.

Explanation of the “Deleuzian” Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Strategy.

The siege on ‘Ein Beit Al Ma’ refugee camp continued until noon on Friday, July 20, 2007 when the Israeli Occupation Force completely vacated the West Bank city of Nablus. International human rights activists who had been in the camp since 9:30am discovered a system of holes the IOF had blown through the walls of the refugee camp homes.

The IOF destroyed walls of numerous homes, labeling the holes in order to allow soldiers to move through the refugee camp without entering the streets. This systematic tactic of collective punishment traumatized many of women and children who woke up to their homes being invaded and destroyed by the IOF. Internationals took still-photos of three homes connected by two partially demolished walls. They documented broken windows linked to holes in the walls of adjacent homes.

When the IOF entered each of the homes, they immediately forced all those present into a single room and compelled them to stay there while their homes were occupied and used to link civilian homes in the military operation. Many homes had significant damage not only to their windows and walls but also to their personal affects.

One woman told the international human rights activists that the IOF soldiers asked where her husband was. She told them that he was not home because he worked in Nablus Municipality. She said she asked them who they were looking for and they replied they were looking for everyone because everyone is Hamas.

Another woman sobbed as she told an international human rights activist that 20 or more soldiers remained in her house for two hours. “They brought sandwiches. They destroyed my home and then they ate their lunch,” said she. “My children were so scared they hid under the bed in the room we were forced into.” The mother was allowed to leave the room in which her children hid only to serve water to the soldiers occupying her living room.

The IOF occupied a total of nine homes all of which were connected by this system of holes in the walls and broken windows. Activist found the residents in a complete state of shock and despair thanks to the morning’s invasion.