Tag: Tulkarem

Protest camp built in Qaffin, Tulkarem, as part of ‘Summer Against Apartheid’

On the 5th June, hundreds of Palestinians, joined by international and Israeli activists demonstrated in the village of Qaffin, in the Tulkarm region of northern Palestine, marking the beginning of the ‘Summer Against Apartheid’ campaign.

Qaffin village is situated close to the apartheid barrier and, while it has traditionally enjoyed good relations with the people of the nearby Jewish town of Metzar (in Israel proper), illegal seizures of farmland for the construction of the wall has added to tensions. A protest cam was established close to the apartheid wall. This camp will act as a center for activism and protest throughout the Summer.

Several hundreds of townspeople, accompanied by international solidarity activists, Christian activists, Jewish sympathisers and Israeli Anarchists Against the Wall, marched from the town hall to the site of the Summer camp, set up on village land close to the apartheid barrier.

An air of celebration marked the event with people in high spirits at this opportunity to have their voices heard. Speeches were made by the governor of the district, Mr Talal Dweikat, and the town mayor, Mr Said Harrashi. An international solidarity activist asserted that internationals from the ISM and other groups would continue to support the camp throughout the summer and expressed solidarity towards the village of Qaffin and to all Palestinian grass-roots campaigns looking to secure human rights and justice. An Israeli speaker then related the story of his son’s imprisonment for refusing to serve in the Israeli armed forces of occupation.

Before the meeting dispersed, tear gas cannisters were fired by Israeli troops at some village youth in the nearby field, setting fire to olive trees.

Finishing touches were then made to the protest camp that will be a meeting point for grass-roots activism in the region throughout the Summer.

International supporters will maintain a continuous presence in the camp to mark this summer’s campaign against apartheid.

Silent protest in Shufa village, Tulkarem, against Israeli road-blocks

On Friday 23rd May, approximately 100 Palestinians from the village of Shufa and Tulkarem city, along with international activists, demonstrated against the closure of Shufa’s main road.

In a silent protest against the presence of four road-blocks along the 1km stretch of road, the protesters held banners and signs to indicate the suffering endured due to the denial of freedom of movement of the villagers. The road, which in the past functioned as the main entrance to the village, has been closed by Israeli authorities for six years; while it is available to Israeli settlers from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Avne Hefez.

Approximately eight Isreali military jeeps, with around thirty Israeli soldiers, responded to the protesters threateningly, aiming their machine guns at the demonstrators, in an attempt to force the protest back, but protesters held their ground.

Success came when the Israeli District Coordination Office (DCO) promised Palestinian officials that the issue of the roadblocks will be negotiated with the Shufa village council over the following two days if protesters agreed to move back. Protesters refused to move before the Israeli soldiers did so, and remained seated on the road for approximately 90 minutes until the soldiers left.

While Israeli officials have still committed to review the roadblocks, the Shufa village council announced they will continue to demonstrate at the roadblocks weekly, and then possibly daily, until the roadblocks are removed.

The roadblocks divide the village of Shufa into two parts, forcing residents to travel from one part to the other only on foot or by donkey; and also extends the ten minute journey from Shufa to Tulkarem city into a 30 kilometre ordeal, taking over an hour by car, and forcing residents to pass through the An Abta checkpoint.

500 children, from Tulkarem refugee camp, attempt to march to their families homes

On Wednesday 14th May approximately 500 refugee school children from the city of Tulkarem, in the north-west of the West Bank, attempted to march back to their families’ homes in Jaffa, near Tel-Aviv, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Al-Nakba (the catastrophe).

Waving United Nations flags and many wearing black t-shirts with 1948 blazoned across the back, the children drew attention to the fact that 60 years after the declaration of the state of Israel, which was enabled by the mass killings and forced evictions of up to 700 000 refugees from approximately 418 villages, Palestinians have still been denied their right to return home – as declared by the United Nations Resolution 194 article 11. Marching from the Tulkarem refugee camps through the city streets, the children chanted “We will not sell” – referring to the popular refusal to sell the right to return home.

The demonstration gathered at Al Khadouri university, before attempting to march west towards Jaffa, where the children were quickly stopped by Israeli soldiers positioned at the illegal Israeli apartheid wall that runs through the edge of Tulkarem city. The soldiers pointed their guns at the children and threatened to shoot, forcing the children to turn back.

Organised by the National Nakba Committee; Committees of Tulkarem refugee camps; and the national political parties, the demonstration in Tulkarem is part of the ongoing commemorations and protests against the Israeli 60th anniversary celebrations, in light of the continued refusal to allow Palestinian refugees to return home. Currently there are approximately 4.5 million Palestinian refugees listed with the United Nations; including 56 000 in the city of Tulkarem alone.

Demonstrations will continue on 15th May, with protests planned in cities throughout the West Bank, with Palestinians mourning the loss of their lands and demanding their rights to return home.

9 activists injured as Israeli army attacks demonstration in Shufa, Tulkarem

On Saturday 10th May, approximately 200 Israeli, Palestinian and international activists converged on the village of Shufa, seven kilometres south-east of Tulkarem in the north-west of the West Bank, to remove the Israeli-imposed roadblocks that deny the residents of the village freedom of movement.

Organised by the municipality of Shufa, Combatants for Peace, Tulkarem Centre for Social Services, the ISM and Anarchists Against the Wall, the demonstration was part of the Nakba commemorations that are taking place throughout the West Bank from 8th-15th May.

At 12pm approximately half of the activists, including village residents, carried picks, shovels and hoes to the one of the four roadblocks that cuts Shufa from nearby Izbit Shufa – which force residents to travel the one kilometre distance either by foot, or to take a 2 hour car journey. The successful removal of the roadblock took approximately two hours, with demonstrators having to resort to using a village tractor to move some of the larger rocks. Finally, a service mini-bus was able to cross through the remnants of the roadblock, to the cheering of the waiting crowd. Throughout this process, approximately 30 Israeli soldiers waited behind the final roadblock – 50 metres away, to ensure that the road would not be cleared entirely.

When activists attempted to make their way to the final roadblock, soldiers quickly intercepted them, blocking their way and insisting that they not take photos. When activists attempted to push through the line of soldiers, sound bombs were thrown into their midst, followed by a barrage of rubber-coated steel bullets, shot at close range. Soldiers continued to fire at the activists whilst they were fleeing. Four Palestinians, four Israelis and one international were injured by the assault, one of whom required hospitalisation. Four of the injured were sitting immobilised in the fields, receiving first aid treatment, when approximately ten soldiers approached the group. After a brief exchange of words, Israeli soldiers threw sound bombs at the group, despite their obvious incapacitation.

The village of Shufa presents an extreme example of the inhumanity of the occupation – not only are 1200 residents denied freedom of movement due to the nearby presence of an Israeli settlement (illegal under international law); they are also denied phone lines and electricity, despite the fact that electricity sources are located just 200 metres from the village. Currently the Shufa municipality operate a generator which provides just four hours of electricity each day – less if the price of diesel is high. Residents are intermittently granted extensions to these hours if there is a special occasion, such as a wedding. The village had phone lines and electricity until 2001, when, at the whim of the Israeli authorities, it was cut – ostensibly because the lines passed through Area C (Israeli-controlled territory according to Oslo agreements of 1994). Water access is also a major problem for the village, but Israeli authorities refuse to give them permission to build a new well.

This situation exemplifies the system of apartheid that is now entrenched in the West Bank. Palestinians cannot drive the one kilometre stretch between Izbit Shufa and Shufa, whilst a Israeli-only roads, leading to the settlement of Avne Hefez, known as a “weekender” or “holiday” settlement, surround the villages. 2500 dunums of Shufa’s land was stolen to construct the illegal settlement and the nearby military base, but a further 2500 dunums are unreachable because Israeli soldiers systematically prevent Palestinians from accessing them. Palestinians are regularly prevented from harvesting their crops, with settlers harvesting them instead. The Oslo agreement was particularly pernicious in implementing this system, with the village of Shufa being tightly bound by Area C, thus preventing the building of any new homes. Even the local council is unable to build a new council building, because the Area B land is not available. Building in Area C is impossible, despite the fact that the land is owned by residents of Shufa, because Israeli authorities systematically refuse to grant building permission to Palestinians.

This system of apartheid shows that the aims of the Nakba in 1948, to rid the land of Palestinians, are still being pursued today, just through different, and often more subtle means. The strangulation of the village that is the effect of these apartheid practices, is forcing people from their lands for the simple reason that the residents cannot afford to live there any longer, as almost all access to livelihoods is cut off. As the Mayor of the village stated: “There are no possibilities to make money at all. All avenues are stifled.”

The Guardian: Area C strikes fear into the heart of Palestinians as homes are destroyed

By Rory McCarthy

Original article published in The Guardian on 15th April 2008, click here

In the end it came down to a single-page letter, written in Hebrew and Arabic and hand-delivered by an Israeli army officer who knocked at the front door. The letter spelt the imminent destruction of the whitewashed three-storey home and small, tree-lined garden that Bassam Suleiman spent so long saving for and then built with his family a decade ago.

It was a final demolition order, with instructions to evacuate the house within three days.

If Suleiman was in any doubt about the Israeli military’s intentions he had only to look outside his back door where large piles of rubble and broken concrete mark the remains of the seven of his neighbours’ houses that were demolished in the same way last year.

“How would you feel when you’ve spent 20 years finishing your life’s project?” said Suleiman, 38, a teacher. He began moving his furniture out after the letter, from the civil administration of Judea and Samaria, the defence ministry department responsible for the Israeli-occupied West Bank, came on January 31. Now there are just a couple of plastic chairs in his front room and in the hallway the carpets are rolled up and ready to be moved. Clothes are piled on the floor and the shelves are empty, save for a stack of documents charting the story of the impending demolition. His brother, Husam, has already left the ground floor flat but the new washing machine and fridge stand still wrapped in plastic. Suleiman, his wife and two children wait for the bulldozers.

“Everything I did in my life was for what’s now inside this house and now it’s going to be destroyed,” said Suleiman. “It’s very hard for me to find somewhere else to live.”

The Israeli authorities argue that Suleiman’s house was built in a part of the West Bank known as area C, a designation from the era of the Oslo Accords which means Israel has full military and administrative control. In order to build, a Palestinian must apply for a permit from the Israeli authorities. If there is no permit – as in Suleiman’s case – the building is liable for demolition.

Area C covers 60% of the West Bank, home to around 70,000 Palestinians. It is also the area in which most Jewish settlements, all illegal under international law, are built. Compelling statistical evidence shows that while it is extremely hard for Palestinians to obtain building permits, settlements continue to grow rapidly.

Research by the Israeli group Peace Now found that 94% of Palestinian permit applications for Area C building were refused between 2000 and September 2007. Only 91 permits were granted to Palestinians, but 18,472 housing units were built in Jewish settlements. As a result of demolition orders 1,663 Palestinian buildings were demolished, against only 199 in the settlements. “The denial of permits for Palestinians on such a large scale raises the fear that there is a specific policy by the authorities to encourage a ‘silent transfer’ of the Palestinian population from area C,” Peace Now said.

This year there has been a marked increase in demolitions. There were 138 demolitions between January and March, most in area C, compared with 29 in the last three months of 2007, according to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. This year 400 Palestinians have been displaced as a result. At a time of a renewed peace process to create an independent Palestinian state, the reality in the West Bank is that Jewish settlements are growing and demolitions of Palestinian homes are on the increase.

The problems of the village of Far’un, south of Tulkarm, are complicated by the vast West Bank barrier, which here runs away from the 1949 ceasefire line that divides Israel and the Palestinian territories. The wide, steel fence, which passes just a few dozen metres from Suleiman’s home, cuts off the village from a slice of its agricultural land and underground water reserves and has turned this area into a dangerous no-go zone: in December 2006, a 14-year-old Palestinian girl playing nearby was shot dead by an Israeli soldier.

Suleiman’s house and that of his neighbour Emad Hassahsi, which has also received a demolition order, were built before the barrier arrived, in an area they were told – and they have letters that appear to support their claim – was area B, in which Palestinians have administrative control and therefore somewhere they thought they could safely build. Only later did the Israeli military announce it was in fact area C. There are similar disputes about the exact delineation of the different areas elsewhere the West Bank.

Israel’s civil administration offered no explanation for the rise in demolitions but told the Guardian: “The procedures that are carried out before the materialisation of a demolition order include: issuance of an order to cease building that is usually issued in the early stages of the construction of foundations; numerous deliberations at the high planning and zoning committee and of course an open door to the supreme court of justice. These procedures are valid for both Palestinians and Israelis alike.” It said the buildings demolished in Far’un were “built illegally without the required licences”.

One effect of the strict planning curbs is to limit the growth of Palestinian villages. “If you look at the way the Israelis are enforcing planning and construction regulations you see they are being enforced in a one-sided way,” said Avi Berg, research director of the leading Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, which has worked on the Far’un case.

Settlement growth continues apace despite the fact that the current peace talks are based on the US Road Map, under which Israel is required to freeze settlement activity. In another report, Peace Now said that since the talks began at Annapolis last November, Israel was still building 500 homes in West Bank settlements and had issued tenders for 750 homes in East Jerusalem settlements. Reports suggest another 1,400 homes will be built in two settlements in East Jerusalem and in the West Bank.

The Israeli government defends the continued settlement construction particularly in the major settlements which it calls “population centres”, saying it will not build new settlements or expropriate more land. “In the population centres and in Jerusalem the reality on the ground will not be the same in the future as it is today,” Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert said last month. “There will be more additional building as part of the reality of life and this is something that was explained …”

Not all the cases of demolition involve homes. In January, Israeli forces uprooted 3,200 trees, destroyed water cisterns and stone terraces in fields near Beit Ula, close to Hebron, in the southern West Bank. Again this was in area C. The civil administration said the demolition was an “enforcement activity” carried out after legal warnings.

But in this case the target was a €64,000 (£51,000) project from the European commission which began two years ago to provide a livelihood for the villagers, several of whom also put their own money into the planting.

“It was a tragedy for us,” said Sami al-Adam, 46, a farmer who had put in 45,000 shekels. “They’re tearing me out by my roots. They want to destroy Palestinian farmers psychologically and economically.”