Tag: Settlement - Page 96 - International Solidarity Movement

Jews take over Jerusalem house from Palestinians

Douglas Hamilton | Reuters

3 November 2009

Jews took over another house in Arab East Jerusalem on Tuesday in what Palestinians say is a systematic campaign to drive them out and strengthen Israel’s hold on all of Jerusalem.

The house, built 10 years ago by the al-Kurd family, is the seventh this year to be awarded to Jewish settlers following legal battles in the Israeli courts, where the Palestinians say a fair hearing is impossible to obtain.

The houses, in a predominantly Palestinian district, now fly the Israeli flag and are protected by men with guns.

The al-Kurd house was unoccupied and locked for eight years by court order pending settlement of a land-ownership dispute.

Police kept members of the family back as a dozen Israeli men removed furniture.

“They can go to Syria, Iraq, Jordan. We are six million and they are billions,” said Yehya Gureish, an Arabic-speaking Yemen-born Jew who said his family owned the land and had Ottoman Empire documentation to prove it.

“This land is Israel. We are in Israel. God gave this land to the Jews. The Torah tells us so. You want war? Declare war on God, not on us,” he said.

Israel annexed East Jerusalem after capturing the area in a 1967 war and regards all of the city as its capital, a claim not recognised internationally. Some 200,000 Jews live in East Jerusalem, alongside about 250,000 Palestinians.

Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they hope to create in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, say they have little chance of winning property cases in Israeli courts or reclaiming land or homes in West Jerusalem and Israel.

The home takeover was filmed by an activist from the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, whose video includes some cursing and a brief scuffle, but no violence.

“I am Jerusalemite, a Palestinian. I didn’t come from all over the world,” said Rifka al-Kurd, who had the house built 10 years ago for her married daughter.

A group of Orthodox religious Jews watched the scene from the rooftop of a nearby house they took over in early August, on the same day as its Palestinian residents were evicted onto the street. An Israeli flag fluttered from the roof.

Also watching were members of the al-Ghawi family, who have symbolically camped on the sidewalk next to their former home for three months in a protest against eviction. Their tent was broken up by Israeli police last week but they set it up again.

The United States and the United Nations have demanded Israel stop evicting Palestinians in East Jerusalem or demolishing their homes.

Israel says it is on solid legal ground in tearing down structures built without permits. Palestinians says building permission is impossible to obtain from Israeli authorities.

B’Tselem: Settlers harass Palestinians and steal crops during olive harvest in the West Bank

B’Tselem

20 October 2009

The video shows three events that took place during this year’s olive harvest in the West Bank .

In the first incident, documented on 15 October by a volunteer in B’Tselem’s camera distribution project, settlers are seen stealing olives from a grove belonging to a resident of al-Mughair village in Ramallah District, near which the Adey Ad illegal outpost has been established. The footage shows two settlers picking the olives and dragging filled sacks to a car. While filming the incident, the volunteer notified the authorities. Half an hour later, soldiers and personnel from the Israeli DCL arrived at the site and arrested the settlers. On 26 October, the investigation file was transferred to the legal division in the Judea and Samaria (SHAI) Police Department, which will decide, based on the evidence, whether to file an indictment.

The second incident also occurred in al-Mughair and was filmed by one of B’Tselem’s field researchers. Several days after the complaint was filed regarding the stolen olives, village residents discovered that several dozens of olive trees had been cut in their groves. Residents of other villages in the West Bank also reported olive trees that had been cut or uprooted.

In the third incident, which took place on 19 October in Sinjil, Ramallah District, one of B’Tselem’s field workers filmed settlers harassing olive pickers although soldiers were present. According to the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), residents of the village were also attacked by several dozens of settlers as they attempted to harvest olives. Army forces that were in the area removed the settlers and enabled the Palestinians to proceed with the harvest.

Information gathered so far about this year’s harvest indicates that the harvest has been relatively limited in scope, due to the meager crops, and that less harassment of Palestinians by settlers has been reported than in previous years. However, reports have been received of olive trees being cut or uprooted in several areas in the West Bank . In addition, during 2009, the conditions for receiving permits to cross through Separation Barrier have been made more stringent, increasing the difficulty faced by Palestinians who are separated from their land by the Barrier.

Bil’in demonstrates in solidarity with jailed activist: ‘We are all Adeeb Abu Rahmah’

Bil’in Popular Committee

30 October 2009

Adeeb Abu Rahmah was arrested on 10 July this year, and is still held in custody for taking part in organizing the village’s demonstrations. Demonstrators wore masks of his face and called for his release.

Two protestors were injured today, while several suffered from tear gas inhalation during the weekly Friday demonstration in Bil’in.

The demonstration was called by the Popular Committee Against the Wall and began after the Friday prayers. Bil’in citizens were joined by a group of international and Israeli solidarity activists and together they raised Palestinian flags and banners condemning the occupation, racist policy of building the Wall and settlements, land confiscation, road closures and detention and killing of innocent people.

Adeeb Abu Rahmah, a leading activist and organizer from the West Bank village of Bil’in has been held in detention since his arrest during a demonstration on 10 July 2009 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqaO8lFYuM0).

Bil’in’s weekly demonstration against the Wall and settlements was devoted to calling for the release of Abu Rahmah, as well as to protesting the ongoing attempts to eliminate the village’s resistance. Protesters marched on Friday wearing masks of Adeeb, declaring “We are all Adeeb Abu Rahmah”.

Abu Rahmah, who has been detained for over three months, is not suspected of committing any violence, but was indicted with a blanket charge of “incitement to violence”, which was very liberally interpreted in this case to include the organizing of grassroots demonstrations. A judge had initially ruled that Abu Rahmah is released with restrictive conditions, but an appeal filed by the military prosecution had the decision overturned, and he was remanded until the end of legal proceedings. Since the arrest, the defense has appealed this decision four times. Trials often last up to a year and Abu Rahmah is the sole provider for a family of eleven.

Abu Rahmah’s arrest came amidst an Israeli arrest and intimidation campaign that began concurrently with preliminary hearings in a Bil’in lawsuit against two Canadian companies responsible for the construction in the settlement of Modiin Illit. In almost five years of protest, 75 Bil’in residents were arrested in connection to demonstrations against the Wall. Of them, 27 have been arrested in the recent, ongoing arrest campaign. Israeli forces have been regularly invading homes and forcefully searching for demonstration participants, targeting the leaders of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, as well as teenage boys accused of stone throwing. Sixteen currently remain in detention, nine of which are minors.

On 23 June 2009, the Canadian court heard the preliminary arguments for a suit brought by Bil’in against two companies registered in Canada (Green Park International & Green Mount International). The village is seeking justice against the construction of settlements on its lands under the 2000 Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Statute, which incorporates international humanitarian law into Canadian federal law. Some of the people arrested in the latest wave of arrests have reported being questioned in regards to this suit during their interrogation.

Villagers from Burin plant 50 olive trees to replace those destroyed by settlers

29 October 2009

On Thursday, 29 October, a group of international activists accompanied Palestinian farmers and villagers from Burin to the planting of approximately 50 olive trees as a part of the ‘10,000 Trees for Nablus’ campaign to replace some of the trees destroyed by settlers during the harvest.

Although the Nablus region saw fierce rains on the morning of the tree planting, there was a strong turn up when the action began at noon. Around 60 pupils from the Burin Girls School joined the march to the fields, followed by many more Palestinians of all ages. The demonstration was also attended by 30 members of the French solidarity organisation CCIPPP (Campagne Civile Internationale pour la Protection du Peuple Palestinien). In total, the tree planting was attended by between 150 and 200 people.

Although the trees were planted close to the city of Burin, and not in the threatened lands near the illegal settlements of Yitzhar and Bracha, the planting was an important act of resilience and a testament to the Palestinian steadfastness in their demand to be allowed to work their fields. It is hoped that this will be only the first of a series of tree plantings around Palestine, including in the threatened lands found around almost every illegal settlement in the West Bank.

These acts are vital due to the constant harassment by settlers. In Burin alone, this season has seen farmers and activists threatened by armed settlers on the 16 October, an arson attack against a building under construction on the 13 September and the cutting down of some 150 olive trees by masked settlers with chainsaws on the 28 September. When farmers attempted to protest this criminal act on the following day, they were forced off their land by the Israeli military.

Israel confirms settlers ramping up West Bank construction

Amos Harel | Haaretz

23 October 2009

The defense establishment confirmed that in recent weeks West Bank settlers have been making a noticeable effort to expedite construction, in an attempt to maximize the “facts on the ground” before the United States and Israel reach an agreement on a settlement freeze.

A senior security source said this week that the defense establishment’s view on the situation was reflected in reports published in Haaretz last Friday, which stated that extensive construction is currently being carried out in at least 11 settlements.

“The settlers are very much in tune with the ticking political clock,” the senior defense source said. “You can sense it on the ground, with the infrastructure work that is being done, but also in more minor things. They are acting without any legal authorization and are ignoring the state.

“The approach at this time is that whoever can, goes ahead and builds,” the source continued. “It begins with the official leadership of the Yesha Council [of settlements] and ends with the hilltop youth.”

He pointed out that the phenomenon of unbridled construction is evident in both the more established settlements and in the illegal outposts.

“Whoever can, lays the floor in preparation for constructing a building; and in factories they add extensions to roofs. In some settlements, they’ve built factories for rapid construction of caravans on site, so that they can bypass the ban – on transporting caravans – which was issued by the Civil Administration. Everything was done with the intent of creating a critical mass in many different locations at once, which will make evacuation in the future [more] difficult,” he said.

“They are well aware of the historical precedent: after all, all sides – the Americans, the Israelis, the Palestinians – are now talking of a permanent settlement that will include the settlement blocs in Israeli territory. This is happening because of previous construction in those locations,” the source added.

The senior defense source acknowledged that the measures that have been adopted by the defense establishment to counter the new construction are limited in their scope. “Wherever it involves limited housing, they are evacuated. In other places, where they manage to [get there before] us, the IDF secures warrants – but this does not necessarily result in evacuation,” he said.