Tag: Road Closure

Beit Dajan gears up for continued resistance

by Robin

15 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On the 14th of March 2012 two internationals from ISM went to Beit Dajan to talk about the recent upstart of demonstrations in the village.

We met with Naser Abu Jaish who is the administrative manager in the municipality. Beit Dajan is a village with about 4000 inhabitants and is situated about 10 km east of Nablus. Since the beginning of the second Intifada, there has been a roadblock put up on the main road by the Israeli military.

This has made transportation difficult for the villagers as they were forced to take a 60km “detour” to reach Nablus. With the amount of time wasted by taking a longer road, both water supply and emergency health care cannot function normally anymore. The road block has not only been a disaster in logistics and services for the village, but more importantly four people have been killed by the army when trying to use the road.

In 2005 a new road was built to Beit Furik, a village nearby which shortens the travel distance to Nablus. However, it’s still a detour which complicates the daily life for Palestinians. It was rumored that the roadblock would be removed by Israel, but four months ago it became clear that this was not the case. The citizens of Beit Dajan organized and mobilized for their first demonstration on the 7th of March. The actions were carried out in order to open the road for Palestinians again, a cause which of course is very popular in the village. Naser was very happy with the action.

“More than 500 people participated, both young and old! And we are expecting even more people this week.”

The demonstration was outspokenly non-violent and this succeeded as not one single stone was thrown. Despite of this the Israeli soldiers used tear gas against the villagers.

Naser tells us that the demonstration has been warmly welcomed by the people and that a lot of excitement and unity has come from it.

“Of course we fear that the military will use even more violence, but it will not stop us from delivering our message: That we have the right to use the road,” Naser says.

“We would like ISM to show their presence at our demonstrations every Friday along with other international observers”, Naser said with hope in his eyes and emphasis on the importance of peaceful resistance in order to regain their road.

Robin is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Kufr Qaddoum: Demonstrators photograph military violence despite their weapons and cameras

by Amal

23 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The demand in Kufr Qaddoum for their main road to be reopened continues. Today’s demonstration exceeded the number of participants in the past few protests. Approximately 200 people joined together against this illegal street closure. Many of the supporters came from different parts of Palestine and the international community, from Bilin residents to an activist all the way from Norway.

Hundreds stand in solidarity against military Occupation - Click here for more images

Kufr Qaddoum is finally starting to receive the exposure it needs in order to get its story out to the public and the world.

Unfortunately, this did not stop the Israeli Occupation Soldiers from their pattern of increased violence during demonstrations. The majority of the tear gas canisters used today were aimed either directly into crowds or at specific individuals. It is illegal to use tear gas as a fatal weapon rather than for dispersion. There were many close instances of potential serious injuries due to these canisters being shot as physical contact weapons. To make the possibility of serious injuries greater, the soldiers positioned themselves on the roof of a house, which gave them a clearer view of their human targets. There was no regard for the people that live in this house as the soldiers occupied the top of it.

Besides shooting tear gas canisters directly at protesters, the soldiers spent a lot of time taking pictures of the participants. Pictures taken by soldiers have been used many times to imprison participates of these unarmed protests.  The Israeli Occupation Forces have many methods to diminish any resistance such as imprisonment and fatal injuries. These are the risks that protesters accept with the hope that one day their people will be free.

Amal is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Beit Ummar collectively punished for peaceful demonstration

15 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

October 14th was the seventeenth day of the hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. People took to the streets for a solidarity demonstration in the village of Beit Ummar, Hebron. This is the second such demonstration in this village, a similar march last week led to several arrests in a dawn raid on Thursday 13th October.

There have been numerous demonstrations across the West Bank since the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike began. These are in support of the 9 demands of Palestinian prisoners, which include the right to family visits, end to the use of isolation as a punishment, and an end to the profiteering of Israeli prisons from financial penalties charged against prisoners.

The Beit Ummar protest began after noon prayers with a peaceful march through the village, but later there were clashes between approximately 10 – 15 young demonstrators and the Israeli military, who used tear gas to disperse them. The clashes continued until around 4pm. Nobody was seriously hurt.

Later that evening – after the press and international observers had left – Israeli forces closed all main entrances to the village. These have yet to be re-opened. Popular Committee spokesman, Muhammed Awad, reported that an ambulance was prevented from passing through. It was en route to attend to a sick man, but the Israeli forces refused access despite protestations from the ambulance crew.

The mayor of Beit Ummar, Nasri Sabarneh, has condemned the action, calling it revenge for the hunger strike solidarity marches.

The names of three men arrested following last weeks protest are Yousef Ekhil, 40; Muhamad Bahar, 17 and Ahmad Sleibi, 16.

 

Kufr Qaddoum demands access

by Alistair George

30 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Israeli military forces mounted an aggressive incursion into the centre of Kufr Qaddum today, in response to the weekly demonstration against the closure of the main road linking the village to the nearby city of Nablus, in the North of the West Bank.  The Israeli military fired tear gas canisters directly into streets crowded with villagers and international observers, causing many to suffer from severe gas inhalation.

Murad Shttaiwi, spokesman of the demonstrations, confirmed that this was the furthest that the Israeli military had entered into the village since the weekly protests began on 1 July 2011.  He also claimed that after the protest in Kufr Qaddum on Friday 23 September 2011, fires caused by Israeli military tear gas canisters burned nearly 200 olives trees.

After midday prayers today around 250 villagers, marched to the edge of Kufr Qaddum where they burned an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and called for the road to be re-opened.  In response, the Israeli military deployed military vehicles and fired tear gas to drive the protesters back into the village, whilst Palestinian youths threw stones.

The main road linking Kufr Qaddum to Nablus passes by Qadumim, an illegal Israeli settlement, and was closed by the Israeli military in 2003 during the Second Intifada.  The distance from Kufr Qaddum to Nablus is 13km on the main road; however, villagers are now forced to take an alternative route which is 26km long.  The road remains closed to the emergency services and, according to Murad Shttaiwi, three people have died since 2003 because the ambulances were forced to take seriously ill villagers via the longer route to Nablus.

A recent report published by the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy estimated that restrictions on movement imposed by Israeli forces costs the Palestinian economy $184m a year.

Murad Shttaiwi says that the village has suffered greatly for many years because of the closure of the road.  He is also concerned about the upcoming olive harvest in Kurf Qaddum;

“Last year the military only allowed us to collect olives for one or two days.  On the days that we couldn’t go, the settlers came and stole the olives.”

 

Alistair George is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).