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.
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.
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.
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.”
