Tag: Ni’lin - Page 26 - International Solidarity Movement

One injured by live ammunition at weekly demonstration in Ni’lin

11 December 2009

More than 150 residents of Ni’lin, international and Israeli activists attended today’s weekly Friday protest against the Wall.

After the Friday prayer, which was held on the village’s land, demonstrators marched towards one of the gates, chanting slogans against the confiscation of Palestinian land and called for an end to Israeli military occupation and justice for the Palestinian people.

When the demonstrators reached the gate and started climbing the Wall, a small number of soldiers arrived in a jeep and started shooting large quantities of tear gas canisters into the crowd. After the crowd dispersed, clashes erupted between the soldiers and the village youth, with soldiers using live ammunition against the demonstrators.

Simultaneously, the main entrance to the village was blocked by Israeli forces, preventing everybody from both entering and leaving the village.

After about one hour, a large number of soldiers entered the village’s land from two sides and started chasing the demonstrators towards the village, using large quantities of live ammunition.

One protester (27 years old) was shot just above the knee and was taken to Ramallah hospital immediately. He is currently undergoing treatment and his situation is stable. The demonstration ended half hour after this incident.

Coordinator of the Ni’lin Popular Committee, Ibrahim Ameera, stated: “Preventing people from entering our village and the use of live ammunition will not discourage our people to attend our peaceful struggle and claim our legitimate rights. Ni’lin will serve as a model for the Palestinian struggle and it will duplicated all around Palestine in order to resist the occupation and its racist, violent policies.”

Ni’lin background

Israel began construction of the Wall on Ni’lin’s land in 2004, but stopped after an injunction order issued by the Israeli Supreme Court (ISC). Despite the previous order and a 2004 ruling from the International Court of Justice declaring the Wall illegal, construction of the Wall began again in May 2008. Following the return of Israeli bulldozers to their lands, residents of Ni’lin have launched a grassroots campaign to protest the massive land theft, including demonstrations and direct actions.

The original route of the Wall, which Israel began constructing in 2004, was ruled illegal by the ISC, as was a second, marginally less obtrusive proposed route. The most recent path, now completed, still cuts deep into Ni’lin’s land. The Wall has been built to include plans, not yet approved by the Army’s planning authority, for a cemetery and an industrial zone for the illegal settlement Modi’in Ilit.

Since the Wall was built to annex more land to the nearby settlements rather than in a militarily strategic manner, demonstrators have been able to repeatedly dismantle parts of the electronic fence and razor-wire surrounding it. Consequently, the army has erected a 15-25 feet tall concrete wall, in addition to the electronic fence. The section of the Wall in Ni’lin is the only part of the route where a concrete wall has been erected in response to civilian, unarmed protest.

As a result of the Wall construction, Ni’lin has lost 3,920 dunams, roughly 30% of its remaining lands. Originally, Ni’lin consisted of 15,898 dunams (3928 acres). Post 1948, Ni’lin was left with 14,794 dunams (3656 acres). After the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the illegal settlements and infrastructure of Modi’in Ilit, Mattityahu and Hashmonaim were built on village lands, and Ni’lin lost another 1,973 dunams. With the completion of the Wall, Ni’lin has a remaining 8911 dunams (2201 acres), 56% of it’s original size.

Ni’lin is effectively split into 2 parts (upper and lower) by Road 446, which was built directly through the village. According to the publicized plan of the Israeli government, a tunnel will be built under road 446 to connect the upper and lower parts of Ni’lin, allowing Israel to turn Road 446 into a segregated-setter only road. Subsequently, access for Palestinian vehicles to this road and to the main entrances of upper and lower Ni’lin will be closed. Additionally, since the tunnel will be the only entryway to Ni’lin, Israel will have control over the movement of Palestinian residents.

Israel commonly uses tear-gas projectiles, rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition against demonstrators.

Since May, 2008, five of Ni’lin’s residents were killed and one American solidarity activist was critically injured from Israeli fire during grassroots demonstrations in Ni’lin.

5 June 2009: Yousef Akil Srour (36) was shot in the chest with 0.22 caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.

13 March 2009: Tristan Anderson (37), an American citizen, was shot in the head with a high velocity tear gas projectile. He is currently at Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv with uncertain prospects for his recovery.

28 December 2008: Mohammed Khawaje (20) was shot in the head with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition. He died in a Ramallah hospital 3 days later on 31 December 2008.

28 December 2008: Arafat Rateb Khawaje (22) was shot in the back with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.

30 July 2008: Yousef Amira (17) was shot in the head with two rubber coated steel bullets. He died in a Ramallah hospital 5 days later on 4 August 2008.

29 July 2008: Ahmed Mousa (10) was shot in the forehead with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and pronounced dead upon arrival at a Ramallah hospital.

In total, 19 people have been killed during demonstrations against the Wall.

Israeli armed forces have shot 40 demonstrators with live ammunition in Ni’lin. Of them, 11 were shot with 5.56mm caliber live ammunition and 26 were shot with 0.22 caliber live ammunition.

Since May 2008, 87 arrests of Ni’lin residents have been made in relation to anti-Wall demonstrations in the village. The protesters seized by the army constitute around 7% of the village’s males aged between 12 and 55. The arrests are part of a broad Israeli intimidation campaign to suppress all demonstrations against the apartheid infrastructure in the West Bank.

Palestinian demonstrator shot with live ammunition during Ni’lin protest yesterday

Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

4 December 2009

During yesterday’s demonstration in Ni’lin, Hassan Naffe’, 21, was illegally shot by a sniper using 0.22” munitions. The 0.22” munitions, often colloquially referred to as ‘twotwo’ were classified as live ammunition and banned as crowd-control measures in 2001, by the then Judge Advocate General (JAG) Menachem Finkelstein. Naffe’ was shot in the groin and evacuated to the Ramallah hospital.

An Israeli sniper using 0.22” munitions shot Palestinian protester Hassan Naffe’ in the groin yesterday, during an anti wall demonstration in the West Bank village on Ni’lin. Naffe’ was moderately injured and evacuated to the Ramallah hospital, where an xray showed the bullet had lodged itself in his hipbone.

Late in 2001, the then JAG, Menachem Finkelstein, reclassified the 0.22” munition as live ammunition, and specifically forbade its use as a crowd control means. The reclassification was decided upon following numerous deaths of Palestinian demonstrators, mostly children (see here).

Despite this fact, the Israeli military resumed using the 0.22” munitions to disperse demonstrations in the West Bank in the wake of Operation Cast Lead (see here). Since then at least two Palestinian demonstrators were killed by 0.22” fire: on 13 February 2009, Az a-Din al-Jamal, age 14, in Hebron, and on 5 June 2009, Aqel Srour, age 35 in Ni’lin. 27 more were injured in Ni’lin alone, with varied degrees of severity.

Following the death of Aqel Srour, JAG Brig. Gen. Avichai Mandelblit reasserted that the use of the 0.22” munitions “are not classified by the IDF as means for dispersing demonstrations or public disturbances” (see here) , and their use was stopped.

On 13 November 2009, the army resumed using the 0.22” munitions against demonstrators in Ni’lin, already injuring four demonstrators, in conditions very far removed from life-threatening situations (under which the shooting of live ammunition is permitted).

Of the four, Mu’ataz Naffe’ was shot in the testicle, and Hassan Naffe’ was hit in the groin. Considering the fact that these shots were made by a sniper, and are extremely precise, this can not be attributed to anything but intent.

Palestinian moderately hurt in Naalin

YNet News

4 December 2009

Evacuating the injured Palestinians Friday (Photo: Activestills)

A 20-year-old Palestinian protestor was moderately injured from a bullet fired by the security forces during a rally against the separation fence in the West Bank village of Naalin, Palestinian sources reported Friday.

An Israel Defense Forces official said the man was lightly wounded after being hit in the lower part of his body by a bullet fired from a Ruger rifle, which is used as a crowd dispersal mean. One of the protesters, Yonatan Polk, said he was standing next to the demonstrator that was shot.

“The guy was standing between 50 and 70 meters away from the soldiers, with two barbed-wire fences between them,” he said.

“Both he and the soldiers were standing behind cement blocks, meaning any arguments of their lives being in danger are far from reality. He was hit by a live bullet near his crotch. It’s a policy of using these means in order to create tension and nothing more,” he added.

Dozens of Palestinians, left-wing activists and foreigners took part in the weekly anti-fence demonstrations in the villages of Bilin and Naalin. Some 150 people protested in Naalin and about 80 in Bilin.

According to the IDF, the protestors rioted and hurled stones at the security forces, who responded with tear gas and crowd dispersal means.

Later Friday, the IDF reported that two Molotov cocktails were hurled at Border Guard vehicles in Naalin. There were no reports of damage or injury.

Efrat Weiss, Roee Nahmias and Anat Shalev contributed to this report

Palestinian shot in Naalin claims soldiers said he ‘deserves it’

Hanan Greenberg | YNet News

2 December 2009

Ashraf Abu Rahma, who was shot by IDF soldier during anti-fence protest takes stand in military court, says he was arrested for no reason, bound, and beaten by soldiers. ‘I heard a shot, I was hit, and I fell,’ he testifies.

Ashraf Abu Rahma, the Palestinian who was shot in the foot with a rubber bullet while he was bound and gagged after being arrested in a demonstration in Naalin in July 2008, arrived Wednesday in the Kirya’s military court to testify against the two defendants in the affair – the then-commander of the 71st Battalion and the soldier suspected of the shooting.

According to Abu Rahma, after he was shot, the soldiers said to him, “You deserve this and even more.”

Abu Rahma came face-to-face with the defendants on Tuesday for the first time since the incident. Lt. Col. Omri Burberg and Staff Sgt. (res.) Leonardo Corea, sat on the defendants bench without even casting a glance at the witness. Abu Rahma addressed the judge when he asked that his assailants be judged to the letter of the law.

At the start of his testimony, Abu Rahma claimed that there were no grounds for his arrest at the said protest. He said that following his arrest, he was beaten by Border Guard officers and blindfolded. “They bound my hands. I heard a shot. I was hit in the leg and fell,” said Abu Rahma. According to his testimony, after being shot, he heard the soldiers saying to him in Arabic: “You deserve this and even more.”

The event, which was first reported in Ynet, occurred on July 7, 2008. During that time, the village Na’alin was under curfew and full closure for four days. Palestinians, Israeli left-wing activists, and international peace activists marched from the village of Dir Kadis in order to bring food to the besieged residents of Na’alin.

Abu Rahma, who was among those protesting, was arrested for about a half an hour. He was taken to a military jeep by Lt. Col. Burberg who was in the field. Once he was next to the jeep, one of the soldiers near him shot at him. According to Abu Rahma, he was hit in the foot.

The former battalion commander was charged with making threats, and the subordinate soldier was charged with unlawful use of a weapon. Previously, the two were slapped with the relatively light charge of inappropriate conduct, however, the indictment was changed following an unusual intervention by the High Court of Justice.

The Military Advocacy has yet to formulate a stance on what type of punishment it will request be handed to the defendants if they are found guilty. However, in closed conversations with the Military Advocacy, they said they will seek heavy punishments for both Burgerg, who has since left his position in the battalion and has been transferred to a lesser position, and for Corea, even though he already completed his military service

Army renews use of live ammunition against demonstrators

B’Tselem

26 November 2009

On Friday, 13 November, soldiers were documented firing 22-caliber bullets at demonstrators during the weekly demonstration against the Separation Barrier in Ni’lin. The shots were fired a few dozen meters from the targets, and lightly wounded two demonstrators. The IDF Spokesperson’s Office confirmed that 22-caliber bullets had indeed been fired.

The following Friday, 20 November, soldiers again fired live ammunition at the demonstrators, causing moderate injuries to one and lightly injuring another.

In 2001, the then judge advocate general, Major General Menachem Finkelstein, prohibited the use of 22-caliber bullets to disperse demonstrators. In early 2009, however, the army resumed its use against demonstrators in the West Bank. B’Tselem protested the action. In reply, Judge Advocate General Major General Avichai Mandelblit reiterated that the IDF does not classify the Ruger rifle, which fires 22-caliber bullets, and similar weapons, as means to disperse demonstrations or public disturbances, and that the rules governing their use in Judea and Samaria are stringent, comparable to the rules for opening fire and use of live ammunition.

Since then, the army has resumed use of 22-caliber bullets, killing at least two Palestinians in the West Bank, and wounding dozens, some of them severely. In February of this year, ‘Az a-Din al-Jamal, 14, who was throwing stones with other youths, was killed. In June, a border policeman shot ‘Aqel Srur, 35, in the chest at a demonstration in Ni’lin, killing him. Following that, the army ceased using the ammunition, until 13 November.

Real-time observations by B’Tselem and video footage filmed at two demonstrations indicate that the gunfire was completely contrary to army orders. There was no justification to use lethal weapons in these incidents. Persons from the village were indeed throwing stones at security forces on the other side of the fence, but from a few dozen meters away. The security forces found cover behind concrete blocks or inside shielded jeeps, so they were not in a life-threatening situation. The security forces had other means, which cause much lesser harm, that they could easily have used to distance demonstrators from the fence, among them tear gas and an odorous liquid sprayed at demonstrators from a tanker.

Following the firing of the 22-caliber ammunition at demonstrators on 13 November, B’Tselem wrote to the judge advocate general, demanding an investigation into the incident, and direction of commanders whose soldiers engage in dispersing demonstrations to again clarify to their troops the rules for using live ammunition during demonstrations. B’Tselem demands that the army immediately stop using 22-caliber ammunition in circumstances in which soldiers’ lives are not in danger, and that measures be taken against security forces who fired live ammunition in violation of regulations and caused the death and injury of civilians.