Today, in the Qalqilia region, the village of Azzoun again came under intense military repression as two Palestinian youths were abducted by Israeli soldiers. This follows weeks of Israeli army invasions, mass arrests, home invasions, curfews and road closures that have seen the residents of the village terrorized.
At approximately 4pm, Israeli soldiers invaded Azzun, firing live ammunition and sound bombs. An army Jeep drove directly to a carpark where local boys were playing football. Soldiers continued shooting, terrifying residents, and proceeded to grab at random a 15 year old boy, forcing him into the jeep and driving off – all the while threatening distressed family members who watched helplessly. He was released 30 minutes later.
Soldiers then returned to the village, and, after threatening to kill the International Human Rights Workers who were questioning at to why the army was invading the village, arrested a twelve year old boy who happened to be walking past with his father. The boy was driven off in the jeep with no explanation, and was later released.
On Monday night, a group of Israeli settlers attacked a marble factory in Al-Funduq, causing damage of over $17000. The owner, Hani Mohammad Salman, believes the attack was revenge of the killing of an Israeli settler, who was shot in his car just next to the factory.
As the attackers managed to break into the yard, they smashed several marble discs, continuing with the factory’s office, breaking a television and the glass of the windows. Hani Mohammad Salman points out the broken marble, shattered in hundreds of pieces across the yard.
“Even if it’s a big economical setback, I have to continue my business. I have ten employees, all with children. How will they be able to support their families without work?”
According to Hani Mohammad Salman, the majority of customers come from the nearby settlement of Qedemim, reflecting the economical situation of the village with commercial signs in both Arabic and Hebrew.
Despite the connections with the settlers, the Israeli military decided the night of the killing to impose a curfew and block the main road with large rocks and mud, violating international law by using collective punishment against a population.
The village of Azzoun was invaded once again by the Israeli Army on Friday 23rd November. Two international Human Rights Workers (HRWs) were beaten and had their cameras stolen as they attempted to document the incursion.
At approximately 11am soldiers entered the village, shooting sound bombs and firing live ammunition. They continued in this manner through the streets in a clear attempt to intimidate the local population. When approached by the two HRW’s and questioned as to the reason for the invasion, one soldier replied, “This is Israeli land…This is Jewish land. Go away”. He then asked the HRWs whether they understood the term ‘Shoot To Kill’, advising that this was the policy under which they were operating.
As the HRWs refused to leave the area and continued to document the proceedings, the soldiers became increasingly threatening, with one soldier saying, “We have been nice. Soon we will not be nice”. Upon repeated questioning one of the soldiers claimed that the army were searching the village for the suspect in the shooting of a settler that took place near the village of Al-Funduq on the night of Monday 19th November.
The soldiers then proceeded to lead the HRWs up a quiet side street where upon command the seven soldiers swiftly turned, split up and grabbed the HRWs, punching and kicking one and wrestling the other to the ground, stealing their cameras. The commander of the team then aggressively pointed his machine gun at the heads of the HRWs, telling them to go away.
This is but one incident in a spate of repressive measures being levelled at the village of Azzoun and others in the Qalqilya region, that includes ongoing curfews, army invasions, mass arrests and road closures.
These actions are suspected to be part of a strategy to garner High Court approval for a four kilometre wall to be built along the highway from Izbat Al Tabib to Kafr Laqif – a wall that will effectively seal the main gate of Azzoun forever and impede travel for Palestinians throughout the region – for which the markings already exist. Locals fear that Israeli army repression will continue in the village of Azzoun in order to fulfil this aim.
As shown by the robbery of HRWs filming the incursion, the army clearly don’t want evidence of their activities being made public.
Eight men were arrested in the village of Azzoun today as a result of an early morning raid by Israeli soldiers. Israeli jeeps entered the sleeping village at approximately 2:30am, shooting sound bombs and ordering residents to evacuate their houses, forcing families with babies as young as 2 months old into the freezing rain under threat of death. With the houses emptied, soldiers proceeded to enter and ransack premises, leaving residents in the street for up to half an hour.
The eight arrestees were aged between seventeen and twenty-five, with many of the arrests seemingly random.
The family of one of the arrested men reported that around 30 Israeli soldiers entered their home between 2:30 and 3am, shooting sound bombs into the house despite the fact that the front door was open. Soldiers ravaged the house before arresting the eldest son, aged twenty-five, a Palestinian Authority soldier on holidays with his family.
Another young man, aged twenty-one, was taken from his home whilst his family were forced out into the rain for fifteen minutes. Approximately 30 Israeli soldiers broke down the door of the family home, demanding that the parents give up all of their sons to the soldiers. The only son at home was seized and dragged out of the house wearing merely light pajamas, the soldiers ignoring the family’s pleas to allow him to take warm clothes.
Residents advise that this is common practice for the Israeli soldiers. “They always come in the winter after midnight”, said on resident. “They search the houses and take the young men aged around twenty years old. If they do not find the sons, they destroy everything – food, clothes, furniture, everything. Sometimes they even break the walls.”
The father of one of the arrestees reported that his family is used to random arrests – that he, his father and his grandfather have all been arrested many times for no reason. Once, Israeli soldiers even arrested his thirteen year old son, keeping him in detention for one week before releasing him.
None of the families have any information as to the whereabouts of their sons. No reasons were given for the arrests, and as such families do not know if the youths have been charged or held in Administrative Detention (detention without charge or trial). They suppose they will have to wait up to twelve days before lawyers will have access to their sons, if at all.
New York, New York, Nov. 20 – The Madison Avenue jewelry store *LEVIEV New York* was again the site of protests by human rights activists angered by Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev’s settlement construction in Palestine, and other abusive practices in Angola and New York City. Tuesday evening’s protest, on the second day the store was open to the public, followed a noisy, surprise protest at *LEVIEV New York’s* gala opening on November 13 which derailed the evening for the celebrities and socialites in attendance.
In a loud, festive protest this evening, 40 New Yorkers chanted, danced Palestinian Dabka and performed street theater. Protesters were faced by a cordon of police officer who leaned against the LEVIEV store windows, blocking any view of the expensive jewelry in the showcase. No customers entered the store during the hour and a half protest. Protesters focused on Leviev’s companies’ construction of five illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, Leviev’s close ties with the repressive government of Angola where he mines diamonds, and Leviev’s massive New York City development projects with his former US partner Shaya Boymelgreen, which have been plagued by construction problems, and have frequently utilized underpaid, non-union workers in hazardous conditions.
Protesters chanted, “You sparkle, you shine, but settlements are still a crime,” and “How fancy, how pretty, Leviev out of New York City.” They paused to hear the tale of the “gems of injustice” which featured dancing cardboard diamonds. A performance of the Palestinian national dance, dabka, to the song “Wayn ya Ramallah” was interrupted prematurely by an NYPD officer who appeared unappreciative of Palestinian culture. Since no customers were willing to enter the store during the protest, protesters handed pedestrians on Madison Avenue gift bags which included soil from Palestine and a thank you note saying, “Dear valued customer, with every purchase you make from *LEVIEV New York*, you help Lev Leviev to seize a handful of Palestinian land in order to build more illegal Israeli settlements.”
Riham Barghouti, a spokesperson for Adalah-NY, explained that “This new campaign is a strong local response to the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. It shows the willingness of more individuals in the US in general and in New York City in particular to carry out effective action to oppose the building of Israeli settlements on confiscated Palestinian land, and other Israeli human rights violations.”
The protestors’ call for a boycott of Leviev’s businesses comes days before the US government hosts Israeli and Palestinian leaders at Annapolis, Maryland for negotiations. Israel’s rapidly expanding settlements, viewed worldwide as a violation of international law and an obstacle to peace, will be a major topic at the negotiations. Leviev’s Danya-Cebus and LIDAR companies are building homes in the West Bank settlements of Zufim, Mattityahu East, Maale Adumim and Har Homa. Previously, Danya Cebus built homes in Ariel settlement. The five settlements in which Leviev has built homes seize vital Palestinian water resources and agricultural land, and are strategically located to divide the West Bank into disconnected enclaves, making the creation of a viable Palestinian state difficult or impossible.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth has also reported that Leviev is a primary donor to the right-wing Israeli organization the Land Redemption Fund. The Fund spends its large budget to secure Palestinian land for Israeli settlement expansion, allegedly with the aid of deceit and strong arm-tactics. Journalist Meron Rapoport revealed today in the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz Daily that Leviev was a guest of honor two years ago at a major event in Jerusalem for Elad, an Israeli organization which promotes the “Judaization” of Palestinian East Jerusalem. Elad refuses to reveal the names of its donors.
Leviev, Israel’s richest man, burst onto the New York City scene by buying up a large number of properties and buildings in Brooklyn and Manhattan over the last five years. He came under fire, along with his former US partner Shaya Boymelgreen, from the Laborer’s Union and ACORN for the working and safety condition at his development projects. Brooklynites are concerned that these problems will carry over into the duo’s planned Gowanus Village project.
Protest organizers announced plans to flyer outside *LEVIEV New York* this Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, and to organize a large protest in the coming weeks. “We will return as often as necessary until New Yorkers understand that Leviev’s triangle trade is built on human rights abuses and the destruction of marginalized communities in New York City, the Palestinian towns of Bil’in and Jayyous, and in Angola,” said Ethan Heitner, a spokesperson forAdalah-NY.
For more info see Adalah-NY: The Coalition for Justice in the Middle East:
www.mideastjustice.org
