Tag: Settlement - Page 53 - International Solidarity Movement

As Obama lands : Palestinians erect new Bab al Shams neighbourhood

20th March 2013 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee , Jerusalem, Occupied Palestine

Palestinians assert their right to protect their lands from colonialism and their opposition to American policy which keeps granting Israeli occupation and repression of Palestinians full support.

Hundreds of the Palestinians arrived this morning, Wednesday March 20th, to Eizariya and erected about 15 tents on lands of the village as new neighborhood of Bab al Shams village, on a hillside opposite to the one on which the original village of Bab al Shams was established two months ago.

Organisers stress that the action today aims “first, to claim our right as Palestinians to return to our lands and villages, second, to claim our sovereignty over our lands without permission from anyone. Third, our actions are aimed at protecting our land from continued confiscation and threat of settlement and colonization. And Fourth to expand popular resistance as one form of resistance, out of many, that our people are engaged in everywhere.

As the action today coincide with President Barack Obama’s visit to the region, activists assert their opposition to the American Administration policy, which has been complicit in Israeli occupation and colonialism. Organizers stress: “An administration that used the veto 43 times out of 79 (between 1979 to 2011) in support of Israel and against Palestinian rights, an administration that grants military aid to Israel of over three billion dollars annually, can’t have any positive contribution to achieve justice and rights of the Palestinian people.”

The village is established on the lands of Eizariya east of occupied Jerusalem in an area the Israeli government calls E1 and where it has committed to building 4000 settlement units. The hillside falls between Ma’ale Adumim settlement and Jerusalem, and is 13 square KM in size. This land belongs to the villages of Al-Issawiyeh, Eizariya, Al-Tor, Anata, and Abu Deis.

Activists consider this area to be the lands of Bab Al-Shams where we have established today a new neighborhood called “Ahfad Younis” (Younis’ Grandchildren-after the name of the main figure in Bab al Shams novel).

Residents of the new neighborhood of Bab Al-Shams invite Palestinians to join the village and participate in maintaining its steadfastness.

Bab Al-Shams is accessible through Eizariya

Media Contact: 05991070069 or 0598914541

Facbook page: https://www.facebook.com/Babalshams2013

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bab_Alshams

Demonstrators arrive with materials to build new village

Tent facing the Maale Adumim settlement which is the largest in the West Bank

Huge Palestinian flag is erected directly across from Maale Adumim settlement

Demonstrators hold up sign made for Obamas visit

Student shot and many others injured during night raid in Al Fawwar camp , Hebron

12th March 2013 International Solidarity Movement, Hebron , Occupied Palestine

By Team Khalil

One student is dead and three others were shot during an Israeli army night raid in the al-Fawwar camp south of Hebron on Tuesday. 5 others were also injured .25 year old university student, Mahmoud Adel Tete, was shot with live ammunition alongside his teenage brother and two other men last night at 9pm .

Four army vehicles entered the refugee camp attempting to find a suspect they claimed had thrown a molotov cocktail at a settler car. However, they were swamped with stones as soon as they arrived from the Palestianian refugees furious about the sudden invasion of their camp. One of the vehicles was immediately descended on by people trying to destroy the army vehicle. The soldiers panicked, opening fire on the Palestianian refugees, shooting blindly into the crowd with live ammunition.

Within minutes there was fatal casualty, Mahmoud an active supporter of the prison hunger strikers, was shot in the head with an illegal “dum dum” bullet by a Israeli soldier, the shot killed him instantly. His brother, 15 year old Feres, was shot in the hand including Mahmoud Shadfan who was shot in the stomach and Rami Al Karanz who was shot in the leg, all with live ammunition. Several people were injured with rubber coated bullets, and purposely driven over by army vehicles attempting to disperse the crowd.

The al-Fawwar Camp has been firmly situated in South Hebron for sixty years, established in 1951, the camps many residents are villagers from now occupied lands from the 1948 armistice line. The camp is home to around 8,500 people who receive minimal assistance from outside organizations and are also subject to the road block at Beit Hagay which restricts their movements in the West Bank.

The funeral for Mahmoud Adel Al-Tete was held today and attended by an estimated 8,ooo people at 12:30PM in the al-Fawwar Camp. Following the death of Mahmoud and the injuries sustained by the Palestinians involved in last nights raid, clashes erupted in Hebron city and in the al-Fawwar camp, continuing well into the night.

Sebastiya protests against sewage dumping

9th March 2013| Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

On Friday, the village of Sebastiya held its first demonstration in order to protest the flooding of its land by the sewage coming from the nearby Jewish-only settlement of Save Shomron. Around 150 people from Sebastiya, together with Israeli and international activists, participated in the demonstration which was broken up quickly by tear gas canisters and stun grenades.

A convoy of vehicles ran from the village to the land next to the settlement where the sewage water is being dumped. Palestinians held the Friday prayer on the fields and after that, demonstrators marched towards the settlement. Soon afterwards, Israeli forces started to shoot tear gas canisters and stun grenades at protesters. As people ran through the fields Israeli forces continued firing tear gas canisters and Palestinian youth threw some stones back. One person was taken away by ambulance as a result of overexposure to tear gas. The protest lasted for an hour.

Sabastiya is an ancient village located just 10 km north of Nablus. For over a decade, residents of the village have been suffering harassment from Israeli forces and settlers. In 2001 settlers uprooted and destroyed around 1000 olive trees, substantially damaging the land of several families. In 2006 the Israeli army put up a fence in an attempt to confiscate the land where the trees had originally been, but farmers from the village pulled it down.

Recently, the nearby settlement of Shave Shomron has been pumping their raw and untreated water sewage directly onto Palestinian fields, poisoning the apricot and olive trees. In addition to holding demonstrations, residents of Sabastiya are currently bringing legal action against Shave Shomron in order to stop the settlement from dumping its sewage on Palestinian lands.

Residents of Sabastiya pray before demonstrating

A demonstrator is treated for tear gas inhalation

Israeli settlers and army raid Yasouf: One person arrested, several cars vandalized

20 February 2013| International Solidarity Movement, Yasouf, Occupied Palestine
ISM Nablus

At approximately 3:00 AM in the morning on Tuesday, the 19th of February 2013, 3 armed settlers from the illegal settlement of Kfar Tappuah raided the Palestinian village of Yasouf. Not only did the settlers vandalize several cars by slashing the tires, they also sprayed graffiti on several walls in the village, which included the main council building. The graffiti which was written in Hebrew, roughly translated to: “Paying the Price for Terrorism of Stones”. The slogan aforementioned is a reference to the settlers’ “Price Tag Campaign” which, since its inception has violently targeted several Palestinian villages.

Graffiti in village of Yasouf, reading ‘Price tag; stone terror’, 18 February 2013 (Photo via: Abed Al-Karim a-Saadi/B’Tselem) — Graffiti in village of Yasouf, reading ‘Price tag; stone terror’, 19 February 2013 (Photo via: Abed Al-Karim a-Saadi/B’Tselem)

The mayor of Yasouf commented on the graffiti asserting that “For the Israeli, guns are like flowers but stones are the weapons of terrorists.” The villagers believe that this particular raid is retaliation for them farming their own land near the Israeli checkpoint of Zat’tara.

Not only did the Israeli military continue to watch the situation from the outskirts of the village without intervening to stop the vandalism, this raid was accompanied by the Israeli military itself. They began searching multiple houses, which ended with the arrest of 1 Palestinian. The man detained was 21 year old, Thaer Neem Obeid. He was later taken to the Israeli military prison at Huwarra and was still being held captive beyond the day of his arrest.

This is not the first time the Palestinians of Yasouf have been subjected to settler harassment, especially in the last few months. December 2012 saw the settlers uprooting a number of the village’s olive trees. For the story, read more here.

Al-Manatir three, have been released

14 February 2013| International Solidarity Movement, Burin, Occupied Palestine

Waheeb, Ashraf and Diaa were released on the 14^th of February 2013 after spending 12 days in an Israeli prison following the al-Manatir protest village in Burin.

During the al-Manatir action, the 3 Palestinian activists were detained by the Israeli military and then arrested by the border police. The 3 of them were pepper sprayed and Waheeb was severely beaten and kicked by the Israeli military as shown in the video evidence below:

The reason for arrest given was that they participated in an illegitimate protest as well as allegedly throwing stones. 2 of the 3 men, Waheeb Qadoos and Ashraf Abu Rahma, were also potentially facing an extra charge of assaulting the soldiers. The trials for the 3 were delayed twice and they were finally released, having their charges dropped after their lawyer adel Samara submitted video footage of the proving that it was the settlers and soldiers who attacked the demonstrators. A welcome party was held in the village of Burin, where residents, Palestinian and International activists welcomed the released detainees.

Al-Manatir protest village was established by Palestinian activists, with the support of International activists, in a hilltop located in the northern village of Burin, which has been inaccessible for residents of Burin for the past few years due to the surrounding illegal settlements of: Adei Ad, Bracha, Yitzhar, and Mitzpe which encircle the Palestinian village.

The protest village was simultaneously being dismantled by the Israeli military and border police at the same time it was being established. There was an excessive use of tear gas canisters and stun grenades fired upon the residents and activists, causing many to vacate the area. Illegal Settlers from the nearby Bracha and Yitzhar settlements showed up at the scene and proceeded to steal the metal huts from the protest village and attacked Palestinian houses injuring 17 year old Zackariah Yasir Nijar, on the outskirts of Burin.

Clashes between Palestinian youth and the Israeli military and border police continued until sunset, ending when the Israeli forces retreated from the village.