Tag: Settlers - Page 108 - International Solidarity Movement

Youth against Settlements organizes another successful demonstration in the heart of Hebron

Youth Against Settlements

4 May 2010

Demonstrators march through the narrow Old City streets, where settlers poured water from windows of the occupied second story

On Saturday 1st May 2010, Youth Against Settlements held the second of their new, weekly, non-violent demonstrations in the heart of the Old City of Hebron. The demonstration calls for the opening to Palestinians of Shuhada Street and freedom of movement for all Palestinians in Hebron.

Approximately 80 Israeli, International and Palestinian demonstrators attended the demonstration which took place in the heart of the old city of Hebron next to a closed entrance to Shuhada street and the Beit Romano settlement.

The demonstrators carried banners and Palestinian flags and chanted slogans in Arabic, English and Hebrew condemning the closure of the Shuhada street and calling for the end of the practices of the occupation and the settlers against the Palestinian residents of Hebron.

A large number of Israeli soldiers and police were positioned on the roof tops of the buildings surrounding the demonstration. A large number of settlers, from the Beit Romano settlement, also watched the demonstration take place. The demonstration ended with a tour through the Old City during which settlers tried to spray dirty water on the demonstrators.

Hisham Sharabati, media spokesman for Youth against Settlements, said that “This weekly demonstration is part of a series of events organized Youth against Settlements to demand the reopening of Shuhada Street which has been closed to Palestinians since 1994 but remains open for use by settlers and the Israeli Military and Police”.

According to Hisham Sharabati the closure of Shuhada street, which is located in the heart of the city, has severed the city in two, paralyzing trade and destroying the commercial centre. More than 500 shops and businesses have been forced to close by military order. The continual repression enforced by the occupation has led to the mass abandonment of more than an additional 1000 shops, businesses and homes in the city centre.

Continued military violence can’t shake determination of An Nabi Saleh

International Solidarity Movement

1 May 2010

Violent arrest in An Nabi Saleh. Credit: Keren Manor/Activestills.org — Violent arrest in An Nabi Saleh. Keren Manor/Activestills.org

Israeli military violence on Palestinian land continued Friday in the village of An Nabi Saleh, where more than 100 non-violent demonstrators gathered to protest land confiscation and the ongoing apartheid. Shooting through windows, firing low-flying tear gas at protesters and arresting five, the military’s use of extreme violence has not subsided.

After gathering for speeches by local residents, Palestinian, Israeli and International demonstrators marched through the village and towards land recently confiscated by the illegal Hallamish settlement. After the initial peaceful march was dispersed by tear gas, military jeeps invaded the village. Soldiers threw percussion grenades and fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at villagers, some of whom were merely watching the demonstration from their homes. One canister, fired directly at the head of an Israeli demonstrator from a distance of 20 meters, could have proved lethal had it not narrowly missed striking him. Such tactics were responsible for fracturing the skull of Emad Rezqa last Friday in Bil’in.

The violence continued throughout the day. Four Palestinians and one Israeli were violently arrested while resting behind a house. Multiple demonstrators left the village in ambulances, including one Palestinian who received a broken hand from being struck by a tear gas canister. Village residents have also been routinely arrested in night raids. Despite such extreme measures taken by the Israeli military, the village continues to host spirited and lengthy demonstrations each Friday.

The hilltop village of An Nabi Saleh has a population of approximately 500 residents and is located 30 kilometers northeast of Ramallah along highway 465. The demonstrations protest the illegal seizure of valuable agricultural land and the uprooting in January 2010 of hundreds of the village residents’ olive trees by the illegal Hallamish (Neve Zuf) settlement located opposite An Nabi Saleh. Conflict between the settlement and villagers reawakened in the past month due to the settlers’ attempt to re-annex An Nabi Saleh land despite an Israeli court decision in December 2009 that awarded the property rights of the land to the An Nabi Saleh residents. The confiscated land of An Nabi Saleh is located on the Hallamish side of Highway 465 and is just one of many expansions of the illegal settlement since it’s establishment in 1977.

Demonstrators halt construction of the Wall in alWalaja

Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

28th April 2010

UPDATE: Video of this action has been added below.

Demonstrators managed to disrupt the construction of the Wall in alWalaja for the second time in a week . A 15 year old demonstrator was beaten, pepper-sprayed and arrested.

Demonstrators sit in front of bulldozer in Al Walaja

Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators managed to stop the construction of the Wall in the village of alWalaja, south of Jerusalem for the second time this week. If completed, the path of the Wall in the area will surround the village completely, isolating it from all its lands, the cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem and essentially the rest of the world.

Demonstrators managed to block the bulldozers in the early morning, and even climb and take over one of the machines. A Border Police force at the scene arrested on of the demonstrators – 15 year old Nabil Hajajla – who was beaten and pepper-sprayed. Following Hajajla’s arrest, Border Police officers managed to drag the demonstrators away from the bulldosers and construction was resumed.

Al-Walaja is an agrarian village of about 2,000 people, located south of Jerusalem and West of Bethlehem. Following the 1967 Occupation of the West Bank and the redrawing of the Jerusalem municipal boundaries, roughly half the village was annexed by Israel and included in the Jerusalem municipal area. The village’s residents, however did not receive Israeli residency or citizenship, and are considered illegal in their own homes.

Once completed, the path of the Wall is designed to encircle the village’s built-up area entirely, separating the residents from both Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and almost all their lands – roughly 5,000 dunams. Previously, Israeli authorities have already confiscated approximately half of the village’s lands for the building of the Har Gilo and Gilo settlements, and closed off areas to the south and west of it. The town’s inhabitants have also experienced the cutting down of fruit orchards and house demolition due to the absence of building permits in Area C.

According to a military confiscation order handed to the villagers, the path of the Wall will stretch over 4890 meters between Beit Jala and alWallaja, affecting 35 families, whose homes may be slated for demolition.

Beit Jala is a predominantly Christian town located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem. Once completed, he Wall will Isolate 3,200 Dunams of the town’s lands, including almost 3,000 Dunams of olive groves and the only recreational forest in the area, the Cremisan monastery and the Cremisan Cellars winery.

International activist arrested on false accusations in Sheikh Jarrah

International Solidarity Movement

19th April 2010

At approximately 11.30pm on the 18th April, a British ISM activist, Robin Brown, was arrested in Sheikh Jarrah having been falsely accused by Israeli settlers of attacking them with tear gas. Those present in the hours leading up to his arrest insist this cannot possibly be true. Brown was released from police custody at 3am on the 19th – recognition from the police that there was absolutely no evidence to support the settlers’ accusations.

Earlier in the evening, settlers had attempted to destroy a mural that was recently painted in the front garden of the Al Kurd home, half of which is occupied by settlers. Running past the wall, they threw cupfuls of white paint at the mural before fleeing down the street. Despite their later claims to police, there was no confrontation in the street between them and the Palestinian residents of the neighbourhood, or the international activists who were also present.

The previous night, Israeli settlers attacked local residents in the street, pepper spraying two of them. As the police say that, when called to the area on the night of the 18th, a settler did show signs of having been gassed, it seems possible that this was inflicted upon him by a fellow settler, still in possession of the pepper spray used the night before. The police who arrested and interrogated Brown found no traces of any kind of gas or spray on his hands, clothes or bag, proof that, if any gas was used, it did not come from him.

Brown says, “It is clear that settlers have decided to try to find ways to get rid of the international activists who sit in solidarity with Sheikh Jarrah residents, and who document the violence and harassment that is inflicted upon them by the settlers. Settlers frequently make up lies in an attempt to get Palestinians arrested. It’s no surprise that they’re now doing the same to internationals”.

Palestinians reclaim property through graffiti

International Solidarity Movement

18th April 2010

The Al-Kurds continued to reclaim what remains of their Sheikh Jarrah home today with an art project. Three graffiti artists from Palestine, Israel and the UK joined Sheikh Jarrah residents and activists for a day of garden beautification. The artists met with residents in the morning while activists prepped the walls for painting. “Sheikh Jarrah” was sprayed in both Arabic and English with an Al-Aqsa style mosque between the two. The Gawi children, evicted from their homes in August 2009, assisted with the creation. Neighborhood kids also made stencils to decorate the doors, walls and pathways of the yard.

graf1 — Nasser Al-Ghawi sits by reclaimed wall

Settlers were present in large numbers, upwards of 15 at times, throughout the day. They sat in front of the occupied Al-Kurd home watching as over 40 residents, Israeli and international activists filled the yard to support the evicted families of Sheikh Jarrah. Police also had a heavy presence. Artists were blocked from painting on the western wall of the yard, shared by a Palestinian neighbor who recently received eviction papers because the wall. Painting was only permitted on the eastern wall of the yard. At one point during the day, police blocked access to the yard to everyone except Yoni, a leader of the settlers.

A legal battle will ensue shortly regarding the ownership of the yard. Settlers claim that it is communal property thus they have the right to access the playground toys recently installed by the Palestinian Authority and the right to paint the walls. One settler remarked how glad he was that we were painting the walls white, as it prepares it for the Israeli flag. Sheikh Jarrah residents and activist supporters insist that the court gave the settlers the Al-Kurd home and just the home. The legal basis for the home being transferred to settlers is that it lacks the proper permits. The yard and walls however, do not require permits and were never deemed illegal, thus logic would state that these parts of the property should not be transferred to the settlers.

Settlers continued in their attempted provocation of residents and activists throughout the night despite even attempts by the military to calm them down.

The Al-Kurd yard has received a makeover in the past month, going from a graveyard of their former life to a playground with olive and fruit tree landscape. The landscaping was completed by Palestinian youth from around occupied East Jerusalem; the playground was funded by the Palestinian Authority and installed by representatives from the government and residents; today’s artwork was organized by the dedicated Israeli activists in Sheikh Jarrah.