Tag: Ramallah

Noise demonstration in Ni’lin

At 6.30pm on Saturday August the 9th villagers of Ni’lin accompanied by Israelis and internationals walked to their fields to have a noise demonstration against the nearby settlement of Hashmonaim. The settlement was built in 1981 on 8000 dunums of land belonging to the farmers of Ni’lin.

The demonstrators built rock road blocks on the sand road leading to the construction site of the illegal apartheid wall, in order to keep the Israeli army away from the nonviolent protests against the wall which will ensure the continuous annexation of their land. Two jeeps with Israeli soldiers drove to the first road block and started shooting tear gas on the people gathered in the fields. This attempt to stop the protest failed and the villagers managed to create a big drum out of an old well.

Fires where made in the grass which made the nonviolent noise demonstration an aesthetic experience. Soldiers continued to aimlessly fire teargas across the valley, putting on an unexpected fireworks show for the people singing and dancing around the fires.

Ynet: ‘Soft charges hurt more than bullet’

Ashraf Abu Rahma, bound Palestinian fired at by IDF soldier, laments lenient charges filed by Military Prosecution against officer who held him during Naalin shooting incident

By Ali Waked

To view original article, published by Ynet on the 7th August, click here

“This deplorable and ridiculous verdict takes me back to the incident, in which I was in the most humiliating situation – bound, as they fired on me,” Ashraf Abu Rahma told Ynet on Thursday, as he recalled the shooting incident in the West Bank village of Naalin several weeks ago. An IDF soldier was caught shooting a rubber bullet towards the bound Abu Rahma, which resulted in an injury to his big toe.

Abu Rahma was lamenting the Military Prosecution’s decision to indict Lt. Colonel Omri Burberg, commander of the Armored Corps’ 71st Battalion, with charges he believes are not severe enough. Burberg had held Abu Rahma while the soldier fired. The soldier, Staff Sgt. L, said the Lt. Col. had ordered him to fire.

The Military Prosecution indicted Burberg and L. on Thursday, charging them with conduct unbecoming and apparently seeking a suspended sentence. A trial date has not yet been set.

“This decision is far more painful and infuriating than what they did to me. It can’t be that instead of putting him (Burberg) in jail for 3-4 years they’re giving him a reward, saying that it doesn’t matter what you do to Palestinians, everything is acceptable and okay,” he bewailed.

“It was a crime that the entire world saw and most crimes against the Palestinian people are not seen and not filmed and they are a lot worse than what I went through. This verdict reminded me that Israel is only being called (sic) a state of justice and democracy. It is far from being so.”

Abu Rahma said he plans to sue both Lt. Col. Burberg and the army with the assistance of human rights organizations and his lawyers. He claims the incident and the charges prove that “there is not even a bit of truth in the Israeli claim that Israel is a state of justice and democracy.

“There is no justice in Israel and no democracy and no human rights. Where were all these in my case? The decision about Lt.-Col. Omri proves that these do not exist when it comes to the Palestinians.”

He added, “I don’t plan to give up, I have rights and I have honor, even if once again in Israel they’ve proven that they’re the judges and they’re the prosecutors and they’re the investigators and they’re the rulers, when it’s all just a big show.”

The Military Prosecutor’s Office predicts that the parties will reach a settlement. On Wednesday Ynet discovered that Lt.-Col. Omri Burberg is to be relieved of his office, and charged with behavior unbecoming of an officer.

Ynet: Regiment commander to be dismissed over Naalin incident

Crime and punishment: Chief military prosecutor decides to dismiss armored corps lieutenant colonel after IDF soldier filmed shooting handcuffed Palestinian; commander, shooter to face criminal charges

By Hanan Greenberg

To view original article, published by Ynet on the 6th August, click here

First report: Regiment Commander Lieutenant Colonel Omri will be dismissed from his post in the wake of an incident where an IDF soldier fired a rubber bullet at a handcuffed Palestinian, Ynet has found.

The IDF’s chief prosecutor also decided that the commander and the firing soldier will face criminal charges of improper conduct. Such offences are considered relatively minor and do not result in a criminal record. The trial is expected to end in a plea bargain.

For the time being it has also been decided that Lt. Col. Omri will not be able to hold command positions in the future. IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi is expected to meet with the dismissed commander and discuss his future in the military.

An indictment against the two soldiers is expected to be filed in the coming days. A plea bargain could see both of them handed a conditional sentence.


Did commander lie?

The investigation into the affair started after a Palestinian girl filmed an IDF soldier firing a rubber bullet at a handcuffed Palestinian who clashed with forces in the Naalin area.

Once the probe got under way, investigators discovered disagreements between the soldier and his commander. The soldier claimed that he fired at the Palestinian on the orders of Lt. Col. Omri. However, Omri said he did not issue such order, but rather, only wanted to scare the Palestinian.

Subsequent polygraph tests indicated that the commander lied in his interrogation while the soldier was telling the truth.

Ynet: ‘How can a boy threaten soldiers?’

Uncle of 11-year-old Palestinian said to be killed by Border Guard police officer slams security forces; posters of Ahmed Musa posted across Palestinian village; dead child turns into symbol of resistance to West Bank fence

By Ali Waked

To view original article, published by Ynet on the 30th July, click here

A general strike has been called at the Palestinian village of Naalin Wednesday to protest the killing of 11-year-old boy Ahmed Mussa. IDF troops blocked the main entrance to the village, while businesses in Naalin closed their doors ahead of the funeral, scheduled for Wednesday. Meanwhile, weeping local residents gathered around the Mussa home and slammed the IDF and Israel’s security forces.

The women standing near the home kept repeating “they have no God,” while wiping away their tears. Mussa’s uncle, Hosni Yusuf Mussa, told Ynet that he fails to understand why a Border Guard police officer would shoot at a child.

“He was a young boy playing with his friends. How could he threaten the soldiers?” he said. “They’re just kids who saw a march against the fence and joined in. To come back dead and without a head shows the cruelty of the soldiers.”

‘A grand lie’

Mussa said he believed the killing was a message to protestors in a bid to end the ongoing demonstrations against the West Bank security fence. He added that he does not believe in filing a lawsuit against Israel.

“A lawsuit won’t make a difference and a trial won’t make a difference,” he said. “At most, the soldiers will put on a show…the judges release (the soldiers) immediately…what they’re doing is one grand lie, a show for the media.”

Meanwhile, posters of the dead child have been posted across the village, and slogans pertaining to his death have been scribbled on walls – an honor normally reserved for wanted Palestinians killed by the IDF. Despite his young age, the slogans say Mussa is a symbol of resistance to the security fence and vow to “continue his path.”

Mussa’s 10-year-old friends said they were trying to remove barbed wire placed by the army when a jeep arrived and forces started to fire.

“Suddenly, we saw the martyr falling and one bullet in his head,” said Mussa’s friend Ahmed Saadat. He admitted that the children then started hurling stones at the forces, with one of them hitting a police officer in the head.

10-Year old shot dead at Nil’in

A 10 year old boy called Ahmed Ussam Yusef Mousa was shot dead at approximately 6pm near the Palestinian village of Nil’in. He was shot once in the head at close range with live ammunition.

Pictures courtesy of Activestills

According to eye witnesses a group of youths attempted to remove coils of razor wire from land belonging to the village. Without warning, they were fired upon and Ahmed was killed. Israeli newspaper Maariv reported in March that the Israeli authorities have given a new order to border police operating along the apartheid wall surrounding Jerusalem. They can now open fire directly on Palestinians who try to demonstrate near the barrier. But sniping is forbidden if there are Israeli or foreign citizens amongst demonstrators.

Demonstrations have been held almost every day for the past few weeks as near Nil’in against Israel’s Apartheid Wall, declared illegal by the International Court in the Hague in 2004. The wall will deprive the village of almost 2,500 Dunums of agricultural land, and put the existence of the entirely community in doubt.

The Israeli Army and Border Police have been increasingly ill-disciplined and violent in response to the demonstrations. News came this morning that Israeli Battalion Commander Lt. Col Omri, had been sent on 10 days compulsory leave as a punishment for his conduct at Nil’in. Omri held a 27 year old Palestinian detainee Ashraf Abu Rahma by the shoulder while one of his men shot Abu Rahma with a rubber coated steel bullet at very close range. Abu Rahma was blindfolded and his hands were bound when he was shot in the foot.

At least 11 other Palestinians have died protesting against Israeli’s apartheid wall. Their names are:

Mohammad Fadel Hashem Rayan, age 25.

Zakaria MaHmud Salem, age 28.

Abdal Rahman Abu Eid, age 62.

Mohammad Daud Badwan, age 21.

Diaa Abdel Karim Abu Eid, age 24.

Hussain mahmud Awwad Aliyan, age 17.

Islam Hashem Rizik Zhahran, age 14.

Alaa Mohammad Abdel Rahman Khalil, age 14.

Jamal Jaber Ibrahim Assi, age 15.

Odai Mofeed Mahmud Assi, age 14.

Mahayub Nimer Assi, age 15.

To date, none of the soldiers who killed demonstrators has been prosecuted.