Tag: Settlers

ISM volunteer kidnapped from court–finally released

8 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

An ISM volunteer was detained and threatened with deportation for participating in a peaceful, nonviolent demonstration in the village of Iraq Burin last week, and was finally released by Israel since there was no justification for her arrest or deportation.

These weekly demonstrations come following the January shooting of  a 19 year old  Palestinian man, Oday Maher Hamza Qadous, by a member of the same illegal settlement. Saturday’s demonstration also follows an illegal nighttime raid into Iraq Burin on Thursday night–consistent with an ongoing Israeli policy of repeated incursions into the village.

About 30 local villagers, including children, were accompanied by 3 French, 2 Swedish, 2 British, an American, and  1 Brazilian international observer during their weekly demonstration against the illegal Israeli settlement of Bracha. Local villagers and international activists were forced to flee down a steep escarpment into the valley and adjacent village, while under fire from what observers noted to  be high velocity tear gas canisters according to their range, as well as rubber coated steel bullets that were shot at head height. During the attempt to escape pursuing Israeli forces, two international activists, who wish to remain anonymous, suffered minor injuries.

At one point Israeli forces were also seen throwing stones at a Palestinian medic  after protesting their illegal and unjustified arrest of a nonviolent, international activist.

“She was ahead of us all,” commented a British activist who witnessed the arrest of the woman. “Three soldiers were around her, and a male soldier made the arrest. She went limp while soldiers dragged her away.”

The activist, from Brazil, was arrested and accused of assaulting Israeli police by throwing stones and told she was going to be taken to a court hearing on Sunday, facing  possible deportation.  The hearing was scheduled to take place at 8:00 Sunday morning, yet she was transported to a deportation center without hearing.

A representative of the State  affirmed in an informal meeting with the woman’s lawyers that she had been released around approximately 9:30 AM, while Prison Administration insisted that the activist was still in custody as of 12pm.  Lawyers commented that this inconsistency opened a window for deportation police to illegally transport the woman to a deportation center without a hearing or legal consul. Lawyers commented that the woman’s illegal detention facilitated a planned deportation process.

The volunteer remained in custody while lawyers petitioned the state to release her. On July 6th the court answered with a decision that the volunteer  may not be deported and that the State has to respond until July 7th at 12:00 PM to the lawyers’ request to release her immediately. After waiting for the state’s response the volunteer was released yesterday without any conditions and her visa was extended for an additional week.

Violent incitement against internationals in Sheikh Jarrah

2 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Two international activists were assaulted by 4 Israeli police officers in an unprovoked attack in Sheikh Jarrah this morning.

The two Danish activists were part of a group of five internationals staying at a home which has been partially occupied by settlers. With the support of the Israeli military in an ongoing dispute over property rights in East Jerusalem, a number of Palestinian families have been evicted from their homes and have been left homeless.

Police arrived for no reported reasons at approximately 8:30am and approached one of the activists who was sitting and reading at the gate of the home. Police demanded that he showed them his passport. He and the other Danish activist presented their passports which were then snatched by the police officers . The officers then proceeded to push the activists to the ground and punch and kick them while on the floor. The police took the details of the passports despite having no legal reason for doing so and eventually gave them back after the other activists intervened and told them their actions were illegal. The police continued to patrol the area for the next few hours despite the situation being peaceful.

This is part of an ongoing campaign by the Israeli police and army who are deliberately targeting and violently harassing activists showing solidarity with displaced Palestinians in the East Jerusalem area.

The ultimate aim of the Zionist organizations is to convert Sheikh Jarrah into a new Jewish settlement and to create a Jewish continuum that will effectively cut off the Old City from 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.

Settler arson attack in the village of Burin

30 June 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

On Thursday 30 June at 11:00 AM, the villagers of Burin reported that a fire was started by a group of settlers in one of the village´s crop field in the hills.

According to a villager who witnessed the events, Walid M. N. noted that before the fire began to burn, approximately 50 settlers from the illegal settlement of Yitzhar, including some children, were seen atop the hill which is just situated  in the southwest portion of the village.

ISM was told that many villagers went up to the blaze to try to stop it, but the Nablus Fire Department had to be called afterwards to put the fire out.

When ISM went to see where the attack had taken place, a jeep of Israeli soldiers could be seen watching the area.

Burin is located in the southwest of Nablus. It has a population of approximately 4000 inhabitants. The villagers have been suffering from regular settler attacks for many years.

Presence with a splash of tea is recipe for detainment

19 June 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Deir Qaddis
Deir Qaddis

On Sunday June 19th, six International Solidarity Movement activists from the United Kingdom, United States, Brazil, Germany, and Sweden were illegally arrested by the Israeli military after attending a demonstration against the construction on confiscated land belonging to the Palestinian village, Deir Qaddis.

Apart from numerous Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists, many children and elderly villagers participated. The demonstrators marched through the village waving flags and chanting slogans. Some of the demonstrators formed a road blockade with rocks on the confiscated land.

The Israeli military arrived shortly after and responded with volleys of tear gas, aimed directly at demonstrators. The tear gas canisters set alight the grass around them, causing a fire which spread for hundreds of meters throughout the hills.

After the Israeli military had left the area, the demonstrators returned to the village. The military subsequently invaded the village following the demonstrations. The internationals were resting in a Palestinian home drinking tea. Upon noticing army infringement upon the village, the international volunteers walked onto the road to see where the army was, hoping that their presence as internationals would deter the soldiers from attacking the village. Yet the commanding officer ran down the hill, with about 15 soldiers behind him, pointed his gun directly at the volunteers, and said violently, “If you move, I will shoot.”

While under arrest the soldiers proceeded to teargas the village below, and as they did so, the wind carried the teargas across to the international volunteers. As they tried to treat themselves with onions and alcohol wipes, items commonly used to deter the affects of tear gas, the soldiers shouted that tear gas was “part of the Israeli experience.”

Then the soldiers forced them to walk in convoy formation.

“We walked with a soldier in front of us, behind, and one on either side with guns, shouting at us and using intimidation techniques, forcing us to walk like prisoners,” said one volunteer.

She continued to describe her experience as they were taken away from the village. “We walked for approximately 15 minutes in the heat and sun along the road until we were outside the illegal Israeli settlement of Nil’ in. When we repeatedly stated that we did not believe our presence in the village was illegal, or that the arrest was legal, the soldiers responded with the same aggressive responses that we ‘should know the law of the country that we are in, meaning Israel. They then made us get into an armoured jeep, where we were forced to sit in silence before blindfolding us, for the acclaimed reason that we were ‘not allowed to see the settlement’ through which we were passing,” she said.

During the first six hours of detention, the activists were kept in an armored military truck, being blindfolded for approximately one hour. After more than ten hours in detention,  the activists were forced to stay awake and were given one piece of bread and water. The arresting officer was the Hebrew/English translator during each activist’s interrogation, having testified against them just hours before. He talked over the activists as they gave their testimony, accused the activists of lying and cut one activist off before she could finish her testimony. They were released 17 hours later, after signing a condition stating they will not participate in demonstrations in Deir Qaddis, Bi’lin and Ni’lin.

The activists were charged with participating in an illegal demonstration despite the fact that the demonstration took place on Palestinian land and therefore can not be declared illegal under both Israeli and international law.

Beit Ommar harvests despite Israeli threats

15 June 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

On June 14th 2011 a Beit Ommar farmer reported that he was “ordered” to leave his farm land by an armed security guard from the adjacent Karmei Tzur settlement. The guard apparently used a dog to drive the farmer and his family from the land. Settlers had also recently set fire to the wheat harvest on the same farmland. The farmland borders a large separation fence, behind which there is further farmland and the settlement.

On June 18th the farmer, his family, some villagers, Israelis, and internationals returned to the land to farm and harvest grape leaves. The armed guard arrived and called the army who came in three trucks with an additional police truck. Approximately 15 soldiers entered the farmer’s land from the settlement through a gate in the fence. The soldiers told the farmer he could not farm his land, claiming it was a closed military zone. Following interaction with the Israeli protesters, the commander then changed his order so that the farmer and the villagers were permitted to farm, so long as the Israeli and internationals remained 150m away. The villagers completed their farming, while the Isrealis and internationals waited. They all returned to the village after harvesting. The farmer will continue to farm his land.

Beit Ommar is located to the south of Hebron. The “security fence” was built around the settlement about five years ago. The fence encircles the Karmei Tzur settlement , but also encompasses a significant amount of village land. This farm is outside the settlement fence but has experienced problems from the settlers in recent months.