15 August 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Beit el Baraka, Occupied Palestine
Since two months concerned Palestinians demonstrate against the sale of the Presbyterian church in Beit el Baraka to right-wing activist Aryeh King. Beit el Baraka is a site on the road connecting al-Khalil/Hebron to al-Quds/Jerusalem and near Al Arroub refugee camp. Aryeh King is said to refurbish the church and the surrounding area in order to establish a new illegal settlement.
A Palestinian child protests in front of Israeli soldiers near Beit El Baraka
Today was the 16th demonstration against the sale of the church and the threat of a new settlement. Twice a week they march on the road leading from Beit Ummar to Beit el Baraka and the church. The group of protesters consisted of men, women and children explicitly identifying as Palestinian Christians or Palestinian Muslims. They carried banners and Christian crosses and chanted slogans to defend the right of Palestinians to their own land.
Israeli soldier confront a nonviolent Palestinian protestor near Beit El Baraka
There was an excessive army presence and the many soldiers outnumbered the non-violent protesters by far. As the group marched towards the Presbyterian church their passage was blocked by the army. When they crossed the street in order to continue the demonstration and the march in the fields the army speeded to further block the movement of the demonstrators.
Beit El Baraka residents plan to continue their nonviolent protests in the coming weeks.
No weaponry was used and the peaceful protesters retreated to Beit Ummar and the surrounding villages. They will be back the coming weeks to continue to resist new illegal settlements that enable to annex Palestinian land beyond the internationally recognised borders (the ‘Green Lines’) of Occupied Palestine and ‘48.
2nd March | Abdallah Abu Rahma – originally posted on Haaretz | Bil’in, Occupied Palestine
On February 20, 2005, we, residents of the West Bank Palestinian village of Bil’in, set forth, accompanied by supporters from around the world, and marched to the west side of the village. Israeli army bulldozers had begun uprooting olive trees there and wiping out the place that had shaped our memories and those of our ancestors. The occupation regime provided the excuse that the wall that they were building there was for “security reasons,” but the truth was that the real aim was to steal land to build Jewish settlements. Since then, we have organized 521 weekly Friday demonstrations and another 80 at other times.
The protests are still taking place. We take pride not over the large number of protests that we have held but rather over the fact that we set a goal for ourselves and have accomplished it. We are simple people and are not large in number, but from the first moment, we refused to accept the reality the occupation was imposing on us through the separation barrier, with its route planned to run through Bil’in and neighboring villages. And despite the range of points of view of village residents, everyone agreed on a common goal: persistent opposition to the fence, until it came down.
Advancing toward our goal required us to cooperate like a hive of bees. The first step involved dividing up the tasks and areas of responsibility and pooling together resources and efforts. The recruitment of our friends from abroad in our struggle made things easier for us — as did the fact that Israeli activists joined us. The village residents, who had never met Israelis who were not soldiers or settlers, had a hard time accepting the Israelis’ involvement at first, but it soon became clear that bullets fired at demonstrations did not discriminate. They hit everyone, without distinction of religion, race or gender, and that held true when it came to arrests as well. Nevertheless, discrimination between Palestinian activists and Israelis and foreigners of course does exist in the military court system in the West Bank.
The second step in turning Bil’in into a symbol of the Palestinian popular struggle to such an extent that the villagers have been dubbed the “Palestinian Gandhis” was the use of art, theater, sports and music at the protests to illustrate the disaster that the construction of the fence was bringing upon us. Then came the third step: working with the media to convey the suffering of the Palestinians. We created a bridge of trust and credibility that bypassed the occupation authorities’ and IDF Spokesman’s stream of distortion and spin, telling our story to the Palestinian and international media, and sometimes to the Israeli media as well. We approached not only well-established media outlets, but also the alternative media and social media.
The fourth step involved devoting resources to legal battles — providing legal defense and assistance to detainees and aid in filing court petitions. We knew that the prospect that a court in Israel would accept the Palestinian position was slim, but through insistence and persistence, and concerted legal effort, we convinced the Israeli Supreme Court that our arguments were correct, that the route of the fence on Bil’in’s land was not decided based on security considerations, as the Israeli army had claimed, but rather in order to confiscate land and expand the settlements that were built on our land.
As a result, on July 3, 2007, the court ruled that the fence in Bil’in should be demolished. The execution of the court decision, albeit after major delays, delighted the village residents, but that was not the end of the story. The protests continued, with additional goals: rehabilitating the land that had been recovered, encouraging the villagers to establish a presence on it, by farming it again and by building recreational facilities on it to reestablish the connection between the residents and the land itself.
The fifth step involved continuity. Whatever the weather, in heat and cold, regardless of the circumstances, whether sad or happy, and despite the various kinds of collective punishment — the closure, the roadblocks, the curfews — we insisted on holding the demonstrations with our flag held high. One day people asked me why I always carried a Palestinian flag at the demonstrations, to which I replied that as long as the occupation continues, my flag will be held high as a symbol of the continued fight for liberation.
The Israeli army spared no effort to put down the demonstrations in Bil’in. It used various types of ammunition, some old and familiar, while others were tried here for the first time. They also demonstrated considerable creativity when it came to collective punishment. The army raised the use of nighttime raids into the village to a real art form. Hundreds of residents were arrested in the ten years of protest, and thousands were injured. Two people from one family, Bassem and Jawaher Abu Rahmeh, were killed by the army. None of this diverted us from our goal of liberating our land.
On this momentous occasion, after ten years of efforts, I was put on trial for a fifth time over a series of false allegations. This is also the fifth time that an Israeli judge has convicted me. Last time it led to 16 months in prison, but there is no punishment that can undermine my sense of the justice of my right to defend my land and my people’s land and our human rights. I will remain loyal to this struggle whatever the price.
Anyone who has tasted success and victory will always seek to repeat them and preserve them and will not be reconciled to any other reality. The price is steep, but the rewards come later, when you sense the joy, the security and the peace that your activities have provided for everyone. Failure and defeat sometimes make people evade responsibility and assign blame for their circumstances. There are also those who deal with defeat by assimilating the worldview of the victor and acceptance of the new reality. That is another reason why we cannot remain silent in the face of injustice. All of us much act to change the bitter reality.
The successes and achievements of the village of Bil’in are not exclusively that of one person but rather the result of a collective effort that everyone is entitled to take pride in — Palestinians, activists from abroad and Israeli activists. We therefore share our happiness with all of those who have come to Bil’in since 2005. We will continue to strive for humaneness to prevail. Even those who have not come to the village up to now are invited to join in and taste the sweetness of success.
Abdullah Abu Rahmeh is the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee
17 February 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Bil’in, Occupied Palestine
On Friday 13th February, Israeli forces assaulted the demonstration in Bil’in with hundreds of tear gas rounds, dozens of stun grenades and pepper spray, injuring eleven Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators. Member of the Bil’in popular committee Mohammed Khatib and a UK citizen and solidarity volunteer Michael “Mick” Bowman were both violently arrested. At the demonstration, Palestinian activists carried posters honoring Kayla Mueller and condemning the murders of the three students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Demonstrators holding posters, cameras and Palestinian flags flee tear gas (photo by ISM)
“As people were protesting a soldier suddenly came running, wielding pepper spray, spraying it at journalists and activists indiscriminately,” reported Karam Saleem, a Palestinian activist present documenting the demonstration. Those who had been pepper sprayed, including Mohammed Khatib, were taken down to an ambulance to treat their burns. Saleem continued, “Mohammed was about twenty meters away from the main part of the protest, still suffering from pepper spray, when suddenly a soldier ran after him and grabbed him. Another five soldiers quickly surrounded him and shoved him violently to the ground.”
Mohammed Khatib being arrested (he is holding a poster of Kayla Mueller)
He was handcuffed and blindfolded before being loaded into a military jeep.
Mohammed Khatib was first pepper sprayed, then violently arrested, handcuffed and blindfolded
Israeli forces targeted journalists and those attempting to document the protest; many were shoved and threatened while attempting to photograph or film. Those present reported that the Israeli military also fired tear gas directly at people holding cameras.
Journalist being assaulted by Israeli forces – only one of many that Friday in Bil’in (photo by ISM)
Israeli forces pepper sprayed demonstrators who were doing nothing more that trying to photograph the army’s brutality, and also pepper sprayed those holding posters of Kayla Mueller and the three US students from Chapel Hill. Jameel Al-Barghouthi, head of the Palestinian Authority Committee Against the Apartheid Wall and Settlements, Munthir Amira, head of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC), Mohammed Khatib, a member of Bil’in’s Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, Issam Rimawi, a Palestinian photojournalist, two Palestinian activists Abdallah Elian and Kafah Mansour, British citizen and activist Mick Bowman, two female Israeli activists, and one Danish and one Dutch female international volunteer were all injured.
“The army was extremely brutal yesterday in their use of tear gas, beatings, and pepper spray,” recalled Tali Shapiro, an Israeli activist who was severely pepper sprayed in Friday’s demonstration, suffering from first degree burns on her hands, ears, and most of her throat and neck. “We saw they were beating and arresting someone (Mohammed Khatib), so I ran towards them. By the time I got up the hill Mohammed had been taken away and another man [Mick] was on the ground with many soldiers on top of him, twisting his limbs and head. I immediately took out my phone to take pictures. The soldiers started pushing away journalists. They formed a line in front of several of us, and before I could assess the situation another soldier sprayed my face with pepper spray.”
Activist Tali Shapiro after being severely pepper sprayed (photo by ISM)
Fifty-six-year-old Mick Bowman, a social worker and resident of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, recalled that in the time before his arrest, “the Israeli forces behaved with particular aggression towards protesters who were carrying the posters of Kayla and of the students from Chapel Hill North Carolina.” Border police threw stun grenades directly towards demonstrators, scattering those holding posters near the front of the protest.
“Next thing I knew,” Mick recalled, “three or four soldiers jumped on me from behind and forced me to the ground. I was lying face downwards, with a couple of them kneeling on my back.
Mick Bowman, knelt on, assaulted and pepper sprayed by Israeli border police arresting him (photo by ISM)
As they were handcuffing me, one of them stood on my hand, rubbing his boot back and forth and crushing my thumb. One of them grabbed my nostrils, and another was pressing down on my face, causing abrasions and bruising around my right eye. After they had handcuffed me, a border policeman also pepper sprayed the left side of my face from the distance of a few inches.”
Mick Bowman being dragged to the military jeep, just after being pepper sprayed
After their arrest, Mohammed and Mick were transported to the Binyamin settlement police station. Mohammed Khatib was taken to Ofer military prison and Michael Bowman was taken to Muskubiya (the Russian Compound) prison in Jerusalem. Both were charged with ‘assaulting a soldier.’
“When police officers use violence they always claim that violence was used against them. It’s standard procedure” explained Mohammed Khatib. Mick was released on the evening of February 14th, and Mohammed was eventually released on the evening of February 15th, on a bail of 4,000 shekels (1,030 USD).
Abdullah Abu Rahma, head of the Bil’in popular committee, described the purpose of demonstration in Bil’in: “On Friday we protested against the theft of our land by Israel’s illegal wall and settlements and to express our resistance to terrorism everywhere. We carried the images of Kayla Mueller who was killed while being held captive by Da’esh and who had marched with us in Bil’in. We also carried the images of Deah Barakat, Yusor Mohammad, and Razan Abu-Salha, who were murdered in their home in North Carolina. We made it clear that we will oppose terrorism and the killing of innocent people whether it is committed by organizations like Da’esh, by states like Israel or by individuals like the murderer from Chapel Hill.” This Friday will mark the tenth anniversary of Bil’in’s popular resistance demonstrations – against the Apartheid Wall, against the Israeli occupation, and against oppression and violence everywhere.
Palestinian demonstrators holding posters of Kayla and of the three murdered in North Carolina. The one of the Chapel Hill students reads “to resist terrorism everywhere”
2nd December 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Occupied Palestine
Over 100 Palestinians and international activists took part in a non-violent demonstration on the 30th of November to protest against the Prawer Plan. The demonstration began at the al-Bireh municipality building in Ramallah and proceeded onto the Bet El settlement nearby. Demonstrators were met with stones then live ammunition from settlers before the Israeli army and border police arrived, employing violent tactics to disperse the demonstrators and arresting three Palestinians in the process.
Protesters gathered at the municipality building at around 2pm to protest the Prawer Plan (Israel’s planned removal of up to 70,000 members of the Bedouin population living in the Negev) before travelling by bus to the Bet El settlement. On arrival protesters made their way up a side entrance of the illegal settlement whilst under attack from stones thrown by settler youth. This did not deter the demonstrators who chanted slogans and attached banners to the settlement fence. This brought the attention of settlers armed with automatic firearms. After a brief period of pushing on the chain linked fence the armed settlers fired a volley of live ammunition in the air in an attempt to intimidate the non-violent protesters. Shortly after this Israeli forces began arriving on the scene.
This prompted those present to continue demonstrating on the main road adjacent to the settlement. The Israeli army and border police were initially passive due to the large presence of journalists and photographers, which led those present to believe that this non-violent protest would be allowed to continue without violent intervention. However it quickly degenerated into a brutal crackdown on all peaceful protesters present. The security forces initially fired a flurry of tear gas canisters whilst advancing 30 meters before breaking into formations with riot shields to obstruct the road. Numerous stun grenades were then thrown at the feet of protesters in an effort to disperse them. However it was only once arrests began to take place that this occurred. One of those arrested was slammed to the ground and held there by up to 12 soldiers and border police before being led away to an undisclosed location.
By this point a good deal of the demonstrators had dispersed but a small number headed towards Jalzaun refugee camp and created road blocks to attempt to disrupt the advance of the Israeli soldiers. Some also began to throw stones up the road where the lines of army and border police remained, at which point tear gas was fired in vast quantities towards the Palestinian protesters. Some protesters were forced to leave the area due to the thickness of the tear gas in the air and the unbearable conditions that this created. However those that did remain, as well as the residents of the refugee camp, were shot at with both rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition even after the demonstration was clearly finished. Despite this, no serious injuries were reported although many people were treated on the scene for tear gas inhalation.
Protests against the Prawer Plan have taken place across Palestine, but also worldwide over the last few days including in the Negev itself where up to 1000 people attended. However despite this Benjamin Netanyahu described the Prawer Plan demonstrations as “riots” and stated, “We shall continue to advance the Prawer Bill.”
5th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Tulkarem, Occupied Palestine
Protest in Tulkarem
On the 4th of November, associations, officials and activists protested against the chemical factories that sicken the population of Tulkarem.
The construction of Israeli factories on Palestinian land near Tulkarem started in 1987. At the time locals were told these installations were a good will gesture that would provide employment.
26 years later the women’s group MIFTAH, surrounded by speakers from the Palestinian Government, Ministry of Health and local campaigners raised concerns about the high rates of cancer, respiratory diseases and skin ailments close to the factories. All of them condemned the factories.
It was reported that the factories do not operate when east winds would carry the fumes into Israel and that toxic waste had been buried on agricultural land in a nearby Palestinian village.
International activists then joined a protest march to the high wire topped wall that marks the boundary to the industrial complex.
The protest passed peacefully without the security forces attending.
