Tag: Settlers - Page 131 - International Solidarity Movement

Ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem

Art Gish

9 November 2009

My teammate woke me at 6:00 a.m. “We need to go over to the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood to accompany the al Ghawi family, a Palestinian family that Israeli police evicted from their home on August 2.” The family is now living in a tent on the sidewalk across the street from their home.

Immediately after the police evicted the al Ghawi family, four Jewish families, involving twenty people, moved into the al Ghawi house. This is part of the Israeli government’s program to remove Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, and turn this Palestinian neighborhood into a Jewish neighborhood. The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood is only one of the Jerusalem neighborhoods that the Israeli government is actively ethnically cleansing.

Since the family never knows when they may be attacked by the Jerusalem police or settlers, a common experience for the family, internationals stay at the tent around the clock. The police have demolished their tent four times since August. The al Ghawi family is part of the nonviolent resistance to this take over.

I sat on the curb near a fire Fuwad, one the men of the family, had built to warm us from the morning chill, and to boil some tea which he shared with us.

I watched settlers emerge from the house, presumably on their way to work. They looked us over as they passed near us with their guns. I wondered if the homeless family camped out in front of their stolen house touched anything in the hearts of those settlers.

The Ghawi family built this house in 1956 on land purchased in 1952 from the Jordanian government by the United Nations (UNWRA) for refugees from the new state of Israel. The settlers claim that land in the distant past had been owned by Jews, thus giving Jews today the right to confiscate the land. The Ghawi family now is threatened to become refugees a second time.

It became clear to me as I spent the day with the family that their morale was high. Neighbors stopped by to chat and drink tea with the family. They are not giving up and they are not going away.

Israeli army use live ammunition during invasion of Iraq Burin

7 November 2009

On Saturday 7 November the residents of Iraq Burin, a small village outside Nablus, once again had their weekend disrupted by settlers and the Israeli army. During the day settlers from the nearby illegal settlement came down close to the village in a provocative act. The scenario that followed was the same as the previous two Saturdays – settler attack followed by an army invasion. During the invasion that lasted about one hour, the army shot teargas and live ammunition inside the village.

Because of similar events of settler and army violence in the last two weekends, the Palestinians have called for international activists to be present in the village on Saturday morning. At around 2.30pm, five settlers from the illegal settlement Bracha appeared close to the village, scaring and provoking the villagers. Three young men from the village approached the settlers in an attempt to make them leave the land. After the settlers refused to leave, the two groups started throwing stones at each other. At this point, nine Israeli soldiers who were posted nearby intervened. While the Palestinians returned to the village as soon as the army appeared, instead of making the settlers leave or just keeping watch from a distance, which would have lead to less violence, the army chose to invade the village. Young men from the village responded with stones, after which the army started shooting teargas canisters and live ammunition, moving further and further inside the village.

At one point some of the soldiers went up to a house inside the village and violently smashed a window when the owners did not open the door. The frightened family, including three young children, then opened and were forced to evacuate from the house and stand on the street while the soldiers stayed in the house.

Israeli settlers plow privately owned Palestinian fields, Israeli police fail to intervene

9 November 2009 | Christian Peacemaker Team

For immediate release:

At-Tuwani – On the morning of Sunday 8 November 2009 four Israeli settler youth from Ma’on settlement plowed privately-owned Palestinian fields in Umm Zeituna valley. The settlers arrived at approximately 8:50am and chased two Palestinian shepherds off the land throwing stones, before starting plowing. Local Palestinian shepherds and international peace activists from Operation Dove called the Israeli police, who failed to respond to the incident.

Settlers worked for several hours and plowed the whole valley which is situated on privately-owned Palestinian land and lies outside of Ma’on’s municipal boundaries.

Local shepherds also reported that on Friday 5 November settlers from Ma’on, with the accompaniment of Israeli soldiers, plowed a field near the Palestinian village of Maghayir al Abeed belonging to Hajj Hussein Daoud from the Palestinian city of Yatta. The owner has filed several complaints regarding settlers violating his property rights. In recent years the Palestinian land owner requested the presence of Israeli police and the Israeli army during plowing and harvesting due to Israeli settler attacks.

Additionally, in recent days three privately-owned Palestinian fields in Mashakha valley, adjacent to a recent expansion by the Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on, have also been plowed. Palestinian shepherds have told internationals from Christian Peacemaker Teams and Operation Dove that they suspect that settlers from Ma’on and Havat Ma’on plowed the land.

Background information

Due to settler violence and threats, Palestinians were forced to abandon their homes in Umm Zeituna in 1998. Settlers from Ma’on and Havat Ma’on continue to harass and attack Palestinians in the area of Umm Zeituna. Despite the ongoing threats the area is still used by local Palestinian community for farming activities, grazing their flocks, gathering herbs and wood, and as path for traveling to the nearby city of Yatta.

On Friday 10 April 2009 five masked Israeli settlers attacked three Palestinian women in Umm Zeituna, throwing rocks and beating one of the women. The injured woman needed to be hospitalized to receive treatment for her injuries. (see At-Tuwani release: http://cpt.org/cptnet/2009/04/11/tuwani-release-masked-settlers-attack-three-palestinian-women-south-hebron-hills)
(Also see a B’tselem interview: http://www.btselem.org/english/testimonies/20090410_settlers_assault_pregnang_woman_near_um_al_kheir_witness_al_hazalin.asp)

In recent months settlers from the Israeli settlement of Ma’on have further expanded the settlement by erecting six new mobile homes and executing preparatory building work on land beyond the existing boundary fence of Ma’on. In addition, the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on also continues to expand.

British activists blockade Carmel Agrexco

Indymedia UK

6 November 2009

Activists blockade in solidarity with Palestine

At about 6 o’clock this morning a group of London students and international activists, including members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), blocked the two gates leading to the depot. The activists seek to raise awareness of the UK’s continued role in the purchase of goods produced in Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank as well as Carmel Agrexco’s role in the sustenance of Israel’s illegal expansionist activities in Palestine.

The blockaders have urged companies dependent on Carmel Agrexco’s supplies, and therefore inconvenienced by this and previous blockades, to seek out new suppliers and, in so doing, show that Carmel Agrexco’s continued support for Israel’s aggression in Palestine will not be allowed to continue.

At 12.30 the blockade was still going strong, with both gates completely blocked, preventing vehicles from entering or leaving the premises.

Police have told protestors that they might be ‘obstructing the highway’ or committing trespass. When asked if they meant aggravated trespass, the police said no. This means that the offence would be civil, rather than criminal. At the original Agrexco trial in 2006, evidence established that there was no public highway at the positions where the blockades have been set up.

Campaigners maintain that Agrexco’s trade in settlement produce is not lawful activity. Gaza continues to be subject to an inhumane blockade.

The blockade finally ended having started at 6.15am it went on till 2:30pm for a total of 8 hours.

Part way through the demonstration, Carmel workers managed to find a space through which they could manoeuvre forklift trucks, they managed to load one waiting lorry with goods, despite activists attempting to blockade this by standing in front of them and Carmel workers being very keen to ram those present. Acknowledging this option, the blockaders managed a feat of ingenuity and re-positioned the fencing to blockade the whole of the access gate these preventing any further efforts by the workers to get produce through to waiting vehicles.

In response to the shift in positioning, Carmel closed the external gates trapping both blockaders and supporters inside Carmel property. Supporters were finally let out, however the blockaders were trapped inside. Despite the calmness in those present for all of the morning, Agrexco workers became aggressive both physically and verbally with both those blockading and those supporting. Police present did little to stem the aggression with Agrexco workers attempting to intimidate the blockaders and continued to verbally threaten supporters claiming they were going to “Fuck you over”.

Pressure was mounting in a situation where activists were put at considerable risk of harm whereby those blockading were trapped inside the Agrexco gates and supporters were not able to directly access them.

After some time of tense standoff, blockaders were finally released at 2:30pm.
The blockade was a success with the site being closed for over eight hours. The police made no arrests however made several warnings that all those present would be arrested under Section 14 of the Public Order Act based upon the claim that the police officer believed that those present were intimidating people by preventing Carmel employees from conducting their business.

Jewish settlers throw stones at Palestinian houses in Sheikh Jarrah

6 November 2009

On Friday 6 November 2009 at 2am, many stones and one glass bottle were thrown onto the roofs and yards of Palestinian houses in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem. The stone throwing did not cause material or physical damages but did wake up and endanger the Palestinian residents including young children.

The stone throwers were observed by Palestinian residents as being orthodox religious Jews. They gathered on the street outside the Shimon Hatzadik Tomb, located just behind the Palestinian houses in the heart of Palestinian Karm Al-Ja’ouni neighbourhood. The stone throwing lasted about 10 minutes until the police arrived. When the Palestinians informed the police about the violence, they didn’t show any interest and failed to arrest the perpetrators. Instead, they focused on harassing the local Palestinians and international activists, questioning them about their presence and demanding their passports.

Stones thrown at a Palestinian house by settlers

Shimon Hatzadik Tomb in the heart of Palestinian Karm Al-Ja'ouni neighbourhood, Sheikh Jarrah