Tag: Settlers - Page 113 - International Solidarity Movement

The Mountains to An Nabi Salih

International Solidarity Movement

19 February 2010

There was an odd collection of internationals rousing in our media office this morning. We were an eclectic mix of activists from the US, Denmark, France, England, Sweden and Taiwan preparing to head out to various demonstrations across the West Bank. After an early guitar session with fellow volunteers, we waved goodbye and began our journey to the Nabi Salih protest. Although we hadn’t made this journey before, we found the service in Ramallah without much trouble. We were three at this point, Valle, Sweet Prince and Lucy, fresh with international enthusiasm to go to a Palestinian demonstration.

Fifteen minutes into the ride, it dawned on us that we needed an alibi if we were questioned by the IDF at the Atara checkpoint just ahead. Valle, pulling out a giant wooden cross out of his bag, thought that we could perhaps pass as Christian zealots following the footsteps of the Crusaders in a village called Sinjil, which apparently has some ancient tombs. Inevitably, the soldier at the checkpoint demanded to see our passports and told us to turn back. After much debate, a shebab persuaded us to follow him on a paved road nearby to get around the checkpoint. We reluctantly followed him, foreseeing that a military vehicle will pull up and chastise us for undermining their orders. Of course, five minutes later, a soldier brandishing an M-16 demanded to know where we thought we were going. Damn, we thought, busted so soon.

In a diplomatic tone, Sweet Prince calmly explained that we were simply pilgrims on our way to visit the holy sites in Sinjil. Unfortunately, we looked more like hippies then devout Christians. Not completely buying our story, the soldier insisted on us handing over our passports. Knowing that our magical little passbooks of privilege would most likely be confiscated and not returned until we signed a letter prohibiting us from re-entering the West Bank, we refused. After a couple minutes of fruitless negotiating, we were forced to turn back.

In our determined spirit and armed with a UN map of the area, we decided to make a 12 kilometer trek weaving through the valleys, dodging the checkpoints to reach Nabi Salih. We zigzagged through aged olive groves, passed picnicking families and strolled along tree-lined stone cobbled footpaths. Nevertheless, the overwhelming injustice of the occupation crept up on us as we saw wadis and its vast tiers of stone lined plateaus upon the horizon; a work of labor over a matter of years and decades that can be snatched away from Palestinians upon the flicker of a pen. Another picture perfect postcard with a back story not often known in this ignorant world of ours I thought. And the beat goes on with the occupation at 61 years of age.

Alas, after three hours under the warm Palestinian sun, we finally approached Nabi Salih. The deserted streets with accompanied by gun shots and shouting ringing from a distance. Due to our three hour detour, we had just missed the demonstration as the press, with gas masks still strapped on their foreheads were heading out. What was still alive and kicking were the shebab throwing stones at the IDF in the field. After a quick refreshment at a Palestinian house, we proceeded to witness tear gasses clouds above a scattered crowd of Palestinian youth, some barely even 7 years old, flinging rocks with homemade slings at one of the most powerful armies in the world.

Valle's lip after being hit by a rubber bullet.

We were within 300 meters of the IDF, far behind the shebab taking photos when Valle nonchalantly said, “I think something hit me.” A stream of crimson red was running down from his lip. A circle of Palestinians, Israeli activists and internationals soon formed around the wounded Swede. In the midst of a panicked crowd, Valle tried to assure everyone that he was okay as he held a blood soaked handkerchief in his hand. Although a bit relieved, we could still clearly see that his upper lip had been cut completely through; forming three lips like those of cleft lips. At first, we thought that it could have been shrapnel that sliced his lip, but a shebab later said that he saw a rubber bullet ricochet from the ground. If it had been a rubber bullet that hit him straight on, his teeth would have been smashed in, a cringing thought.

Within minutes of Valle being shot, the IDF unleashed 40 canisters of high velocity tear gas from their military vehicle. The canisters rained down in all directions as plumes of thick white tear gas lingered in the blue sky, scattering the crowd like ants. It was a run-run-as-fast-as-you-can kind of situation with apprehension of the canister dropping on our heads or being engulfed in the lachrymatory agent. As we ran, an Arabic speaking international managed to hail a car to bring Valle to the hospital. He returned an hour later with three stitches and enough resilience to want to go back to the field where the shebab were still hurling stones. Until sundown, it was a cat and mouse game until the IDF started shooting live ammunition into the air and at the ground, creating mushrooms of dust to show the shebab that time’s up, they’ve had enough today.

It’s an obvious act of resistance against the occupation as anyone can see, but it’s also evident that it was a game for the IDF, shooting tear gas canisters, lobbing sound grenades and firing rubber bullets at Palestinians for hours until they’ve had enough and eventually invade the field with their US funded military arms and chase the Palestinians back to their homes. It’s a procedural Friday routine we were told by the Palestinian family who later treated us to dinner in their home. Knowing that Palestinians won’t be able to succeed through force in this current state of affairs, I couldn’t help but wonder how these weekly stone-throwing actions hinder the reconciliation process as Israeli media paints the picture of violent anti-Semitic Arabs. However, many of the shebab are simply unloading steam, taking out their frustration and in their stone throwing, physically resisting the occupation.

We returned to Ramallah and smoke boxed the apartment with strong, cancer-ridden Palestinian cigarettes and we swapped stories of the various protests we were at. The stale cigarette smoke mixed with the rotten smell of sewerage, carried back by two other volunteers who were sprayed with stinky water at the Bil’in protest, despite their multiple showers. The mood was jovial. We compared mental notes of our day in Palestine over sweet sage tea. Shot, stinking, dirty and tired, we laughed away our fucked up world through antics and jokes and went off to a world of dreams.

Bil’in village plants 200 trees next to apartheid wall: existence as resistance!

Bil’in Popular Committee

22 February 2010

Palestinian and internationals help plant olive trees in Bilin to replace those destroyed by Israeli troops and settlers.

At 9:30am residents of Bil’in village, Palestinian political representatives, and International activists gathered in Bil’in to plant olive trees and almond seeds for 20 farmers who own land besides Israel’s Apartheid Wall. Approximately 200 trees were planted as part of the ongoing popular resistance to the Israeli apartheid wall and settlements. Bil’in has organized weekly and sometimes daily actions against the wall for the past five years, gaining international attention for the struggle and becoming a symbol for nonviolent, creative, popular struggle around the West Bank of Palestine.

An hour into the planting, an Israeli soldier appeared on the other side of the wall and gave a warning shot. He stated that planting next to the Wall is forbidden and that people were to stay 10 metres away from the wall. A jeep with four soldiers arrived and stood guard as the people continued planting slightly farther from the wall.

Two years ago the Israeli Supreme Court had deemed the path of the Wall, which cuts through Bil’in’s agricultural land to be illegal. Construction work to reroute the Wall in Bil’in began on February 11th, 2010. Israel has twice been found to be in contempt of court for not implementing the decision sooner. Residents of the village have had permission to access their land on the other side of the wall even before the courts ruling two years ago. Today, farmers planted 80 trees on the other side of the wall.

Israeli soldier just after firing at Palestinians and internationals as they planted olive trees on Palestinian land.

CPT: Israeli settlers chase, intimidate Palestinian school children

Christian Peacemaker Teams

Israeli soldiers refuse to continue daily escort

22 February 2010

AT-TUWANI – On Monday morning, 22 February 2010, four Israeli settlers chased Palestinian school children who were walking home after school in At-Tuwani village. For one hour they awaited the Israeli military escort assigned to ensure their safe passage to their home villages of Tuba and Maghaer Al-Abeed. Because the Israeli military failed to arrive, the children were forced to take a circuitous path home taking over an hour. They finally arrived in Tuba and Mughaer Al-Abeed three hours after the end of the school day.

After the Israeli military refused to respond to members of Christian Peacemaker Teams’ repeated phone calls for over half an hour, Israeli settlers approached on a farm tractor. Two men, one masked, drove down to the children’s regular waiting point on the dirt road that bisects the Ma’on settlement and the Havat Ma’on settlement outpost. Using the tractor, they tried to form a barricade by pushing boulders onto the road surface.

Normally, the road is in daily use by the children and their escort, because it connects their home villages with At-Tuwani and Palestinian cities to the north. However, three times in the previous three school days, the Israeli soldiers had failed to perform their assigned escort.

The two settlers returned to their outpost. After waiting for an hour for the military to arrive, the children decided to return home by a longer path around the settlements. As they walked, four settlers came out from Havat Ma’on and chased them. As the children ran from the settlers, Israeli military jeeps appeared ahead of them, but stopped while soldiers spoke with the four settlers.

Soldiers detained the children for approximately one hour and refused to provide safe passage around the settlement. The children detoured yet again, taking a circuitous path home through dangerously rugged terrain. They finally arrived in Tuba and Mughaer Al-Abeed three hours after school.

The school children of these villages require the military escort because of Israeli settlers’ repeated attacks and harassment, year after year. Whenever the soldiers fail to meet them promptly before and after school, the children wait in dangerous areas under “de facto” settler control.

For a thorough report on the school escort in 2007 and 2008, including maps, photos and interviews with the children, please see “A Dangerous Journey” (.pdf).

For more information contact:
Christian Peacemaker Teams: 054 253 1323
Operation Dove: 054 992 5773

Silwan Demands Justice in Anticipation of Home Demolitions

International Solidarity Movement

19 February 2010

A vigil began close to 12:30PM at the protest tent in the neighborhood of Silwan, East Jerusalem. More than one hundred Silwan community members gathered to listen to speeches and commenced mid-day prayer in unison. Following the collective prayer the community members marched through the streets of Silwan.

Today’s demonstration is a response to the pending demolitions of over 200 homes in Silwan. These demolitions were slated to be government sanctioned “price tag” actions in response to the anticipated eviction of the illegal Zionist squat Beit Yonatan. Ateret Cohanim, a Zionist settler organization, built Beit Yonatan in the heart of Silwan. Their building plan was approved for a four story complex, but and extra three stories were added without approval. This is in contradiction to the four-story limit to which Palestinians in the neighborhood are held.

In a hard-fought battle, the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, grudgingly agreed to evict the settlers after more than a year of attempting to find a legal strategy to avoid serving the orders. Before the legal appeals, State Prosecutor Moshe Lador demanded the sealing orders be served. Mayor Barkat will execute the sealing orders of Beit Yonatan, but only in conjunction with the execution of nearly 200 home demolition orders for Palestinian homes in Silwan.

The illegal squat will be allowed to remain through extra-legal machinations until 200 homes housing 1500 individuals are demolished. The main reason for the displacement of so many Palestinians is to pave the way for a tourism center pertaining to the history of King David and the excavations undertaken to find relics related to his dynasty.

Violent Zionists Tour Sheikh Jarrah

International Solidarity Movement

14 February 2010

At approximately 1 pm today, roughly 20 Zionist tourists entered the yard of the occupied al-Kurd home in Sheikh Jarrah as part of a settlement promotion tour. Verbally harassing both Palestinian residents and Internationals and attempting to block their cameras, tourists listened as a guide expounded upon the religious claims which Zionists use to justify the eviction of Palestinians from their homes. After concluding with song, the tourists passed through the gate as several verbally attacked Palestinians present. 85-year-old Rifqa al-Kurd was roughly pushed while observing the visitors. Upon crossing the street to view the Gawi home, a particularly violent woman verbally attacked an ISM activist, flinging the activist’s camera several meters into the air.

Although intentionally provocative Zionist tours are nothing new in Sheikh Jarrah, the explicit racism and violence exhibited today proved particularly troubling to Palestinian residents. The guide’s script included lines such as “Eventually the Arabs will have to wake up. Some will leave, on their own choice, and some will have to be dragged out. And the world can kick and scream from today ’til tomorrow, but the bottom line is that this land belongs to the Jewish people…” Unlike many of the other tours that have passed across the al-Kurd lawn in the past days, comments made by the guide suggest that participants in today’s program are prospective home buyers.

Background on Sheikh Jarrah

Approximately 475 Palestinian residents living in the Karm Al-Ja’ouni neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, located directly north of the Old City, face imminent eviction from their homes in the manner of the Hannoun and Gawi families, and the al-Kurd family before them. All 28 families are refugees from 1948, mostly from West Jerusalem and Haifa, whose houses in Sheikh Jarrah were built and given to them through a joint project between the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the Jordanian government in 1956.

So far, settlers took over houses of four Palestinian families, displacing around 60 residents, including 20 children. At present, settlers occupy all these houses and the whole area is patrolled by armed private security 24 hours a day. The evicted Palestinian families, some of whom have been left without suitable alternative accommodation since August, continue to protest against the unlawful eviction from the sidewalk across the street from their homes, facing regular violent attacks from the settlers and harassment from the police.

The Gawi family, for example, had their only shelter, a small tent built near their house, destroyed by the police and all their belongings stolen five times. In addition, the al-Kurd family has been forced to live in an extremely difficult situation, sharing the entrance gate and the backyard of their house with extremist settlers, who occupied a part of the al-Kurd home in December 2009. The settlers subject the Palestinian family to regular violent attacks and harassment, making their life a living hell.

The ultimate goal of the settler organizations is to evict all Palestinians from the area and turn it into a new Jewish settlement and to create a Jewish continuum that will effectively cut off the Old City form the northern Palestinian neighborhoods. On 28 August 2008, Nahalat Shimon International filed a plan to build a series of five and six-story apartment blocks – Town Plan Scheme (TPS) 12705 – in the Jerusalem Local Planning Commission. If TPS 12705 comes to pass, the existing Palestinian houses in this key area would be demolished, about 500 Palestinians would be evicted, and 200 new settler units would be built for a new settlement: Shimon HaTzadik.

Implanting new Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank is illegal under many international laws, including Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The plight of the Gawi, al-Kurd and the Hannoun families is just a small part of Israel’s ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from East Jerusalem.

Legal background

The eviction orders, issued by Israeli courts, are a result of claims made in 1967 by the Sephardic Community Committee and the Knesseth Yisrael Association (who since sold their claim to the area to Nahalat Shimon) – settler organizations whose aim is to take over the whole area using falsified deeds for the land dating back to 1875. In 1972, these two settler organizations applied to have the land registered in their names with the Israel Lands Administration (ILA). Their claim to ownership was noted in the Land Registry; however, it was never made into an official registry of title. The first Palestinian property in the area was taken over at this time.

The case continued in the courts for another 37 years. Amongst other developments, the first lawyer of the Palestinian residents reached an agreement with the settler organizations in 1982 (without the knowledge or consent of the Palestinian families) in which he recognized the settlers’ ownership in return for granting the families the legal status of protected tenants. This affected 23 families and served as a basis for future court and eviction orders (including the al-Kurd family house take-over in December 2009), despite the immediate appeal filed by the families’ new lawyer. Furthermore, a Palestinian landowner, Suleiman Darwish Hijazi, has legally challenged the settlers’ claims. In 1994 he presented documents certifying his ownership of the land to the courts, including tax receipts from 1927. In addition, the new lawyer of the Palestinian residents located a document, proving the land in Sheikh Jarrah had never been under Jewish ownership. The Israeli courts rejected these documents.

The first eviction orders were issued in 1999 based on the (still disputed) agreement from 1982 and, as a result, two Palestinian families (Hannoun and Gawi) were evicted in February 2002. After the 2006 Israeli Supreme Court finding that the settler committees’ ownership of the lands was uncertain, and the Lands Settlement officer of the court requesting that the ILA remove their names from the Lands Registrar, the Palestinian families returned back to their homes. The courts, however, failed to recognize new evidence presented to them and continued to issue eviction orders based on decisions from 1982 and 1999 respectively. Further evictions followed in November 2008 (Kamel al-Kurd family) and August 2009 (Hannoun and Gawi families for the second time). An uninhabited section of a house belonging to the al-Kurd family was taken over by settlers on 1 December 2009.