On 28th of June the Israeli army entered a Summer camp for children in Qaffin and detained one boy of 13 years old for five hours. To get him released the mayor was forced to agree to shutting down the camp. The army claimed that boys had been throwing stones at the nearby wall. They also claimed that the camp was in a military closed zone. Furthermore, the army has given the mayor a list of fifteen wanted boys who they claim are making trouble.
Qaffin, a village if 10 000 people, lies north of Tulkarem very close to the Green Line. The village has a lot of problems because of the wall, which stop them from reaching their land.
The summer camp has been running for four weeks and the Israeli army has been around almost every day. In the camp, the children do sports and art training among other things. The summer camp is part of the bigger struggle against the apartheid wall and another purpose is to give children something to do during the summer holidays.
On the day of this occasion, 150 children were in the camp. They got scared as the military entered the camp, and most of them ran away. Now they are scared to come back, and it is still unclear if the camp can be reopened.
One month ago the Israeli army detained five children, who they claimed had been throwing stones close to the wall. In order to get them released each family had to pay a fine of 7000 NIS. With this fresh in mind, the mayor is now concerned about the consequences of reopening the camp, since it might cause a lot of problem for parents and children of the village. However, he doesn’t like the idea of completely closing the camp.
A 9-year-old child was injured in a demonstration in Far’un near Tulkarem, on Tuesday 24th June. Approximately 100 activists from Tulkarem joined residents of Far’un in the demonstration against the apartheid wall and the house demolitions ordered as a result of its construction.
Demonstrators marched to the two currently threatened houses, bearing a banner that read “This is Apartheid!”, as well as Palestinian and party flags; and chanting “No! No! to the wall!” and “This wall must fall”. Members of the Struggle Front party gave speeches, before protesters marched to the houses that had already been demolished because they stood within the arbitrarily implemented 200m “security buffer zone” – despite the fact that the houses were built long before the wall. Children attached flags to the razor wire on the wall, in defiance of the Israeli signs warning of mortal danger.
After approximately 20 minutes, one Israeli jeep arrived on the military access road beside the wall – a double fence topped with razor wire here – and fired a single rubber-coated steel bullet at the demonstrators as they marched to the demolished house closest to the wall. The bullet was illegally fired from only 20m away, aimed for the head of an elderly man, who ducked just in time. The bullet then ricocheted and struck 9 year old Mohammad Abdel Kareem Salim Bdeir in the leg at high speed, creating a large welt on his inner thigh.
The young boy was treated in the nearby school, after which the activists continued their demonstration – highlighting the apartheid nature of the wall and the demolitions. Many Israeli jeeps and an armoured personnel carrier (APC) arrived as the protest was coming to a close. The jeeps then however entered the village, blocking the path of the bus that was carrying the activists back to Tulkarm, and surrounding it with soldiers on foot, who would not move until human rights workers started photographing them.
The two threatened houses both lie within 50m of the apartheid wall, and despite the fact that they were built in 1998, 6 years before the wall was constructed in the Tulkarm area, they have been declared “illegal structures” by Israeli authorities. The owners were issued with demolition orders – ordering them to demolish their own homes by 3rd February 2008, or else face destruction at the hands of Israeli bulldozers. The orders constitute no idle threat – 8 other homes nearby have been demolished – two in 2003 and six in 2007. Another nearby house has received two letters of warning advising the owners to demolish their home – the next communication they receive will be advice of imminent Israeli destruction. Also under threat is the local boys’ primary school – half of which is within the 200m “buffer zone”.
The owners of the threatened houses joined together in February of 2008 to fight the demolition orders in court, but their case has failed. Concerns have arisen within the community as to the wisdom of taking the case to the high court – the next possibility in the legal battle – for fear of setting precedence if they lose – as has happened with the case of the unrecognised village of Al Aqaba, near Tubas. With the Israeli legal system heavily stacked against Palestinians, many feel that in order to pursue a legal battle, the owners should take their case to the International Court of Justice – a court in which they are much more likely to receive a fair hearing.
In the meantime, the villagers will not sit by and idly wait for bulldozers to enter their village yet again. They have vowed to fight against this system of apartheid that keeps them from their neighbours in the Palestinian village of Taybeh, annexed by the wall; that shoots rubber-coated steel bullets at children; that threatens to demolish their homes.
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On Friday the 13th of June the village of Qaffin held a demonstration against the wall as part of their ongoing protest camp.
On the 5th of June the protest camp was launched with a festival and the establishment of several tents and containers close to the apartheid wall, which separates the village from about half of its land. The camp will continue throughout the summer with a program of cultural and political events.
Today more then a hundred people gathered in the camp to hold their Friday prayers. Supported by internationals from the International Women’s Peace Service, they then marched towards the separation fence. The demonstration headed towards a spot in the fence which is supposed to be an agricultural gate, but has not even the facilities to allow passage and has never been open. Several military vehicles were present on the military road of the fence, separated from the demonstration only by barbed wire. Soldiers kept pointing their guns at the peaceful demonstrators as they were holding banners against apartheid and chanting anti-occupation slogans.
As the demonstration was dissolving, military vehicles also came to the fields inside of the fence and into the village. A stand off between the youth and the Israeli military ensued. Villagers later reported one of the youth was hit by rubber coated steel bullet.
The soldiers eventually left the village after about an hour. Even though the villagers fear more reprisals for their resistance, the protest camp will continue.
Over 100 residents of Shufa turned out at 5pm on Saturday 7th June to protest against the Israeli apartheid system that denies the villagers the right to use the main road of their village.
Bearing a banner that read: “This is Apartheid”, and hand-drawn placards entreating “don’t kill peace”, villagers marched towards the apartheid road in a continuation of the series of demonstrations against the closed road, despite the assurances from the Israeli army commander that if they were to call off their demonstration the road would be opened the following day.
Israeli soldiers quickly entered the village from the nearby army base (built on stolen Palestinian land), and surrounded the demonstrators, preventing them from reaching the road. Protesters stood and chanted “1,2,3,4 Occupation No More!” before negotiating their way closer to the road upon which they have not been allowed to drive for the past three years.
The road, however, is available to settlers from the nearby settlement of Avne Hefez, a “weekend” settlement built in 1985 – the reason the villagers are denied their freedom of movement. Up until 18 months ago, residents were not allowed even to walk on the road. The apartheid system also denies the upper part of the village electricity and phone lines, despite being located just 200 metres from power sources. Villagers are forced to rely upon a diesel-powered generator that functions just three hours each day, costing three shekels per kilowatt – six times the cost of electricity elsewhere in Palestine.
During negotiations, soldiers advised demonstrators to finish their protest by 6:30pm. Protesters refused, saying they would not leave until all the soldiers withdrew from the area, including the two who had occupied a nearby house. All of the demonstrators sat down to show their refusal to move, and started singing defiantly “this is apartheid” in Hebrew, and remained by the road until all soldiers had left.
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.
