Tag: Video

Solidarity with Khader Adnan in the No Go Zone

by Nathan Stuckey

14 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Two months ago, few of us knew the name Khader Adnan.  Today, he is an inspiration to all of us.  Two months ago he was kidnapped from his home by Israel.  He was charged with no crime.  He was abused by his captors and interrogators from the moment he was arrested.  None of this is unusual in Palestine, every day people are kidnapped from their homes, abused, and held without charge.  Torture is a routine matter for prisoners of the occupation.  None of the abuse that Israel inflicted on Khader Adnan was new, it has happened to thousands, really hundreds of thousands of Palestinians under the occupation.

It was all so routine that no one would bother to report on it, that is a specialty of the occupation, to make crimes so routine that they are not news.  Khader Adnan, a thirty three year old Palestinian baker, stood up, he said no.  He is willing to give his life for dignity; a life without dignity is not life.  Khader Adnan has been on hunger strike for 59 days, he lies near death in an Israeli hospital chained to his bed.  He has still not been charged with any crime.

Khader Adnan is not striking only for himself, as he said, “I hereby assert that I am confronting the occupiers not for my own sake as an individual, but for the sake of thousands of prisoners who are being deprived of their simplest human rights while the world and international community look on.”

He could die at any time.

Protests have been held to support him around the world.  Hundreds of Palestinians have joined hunger strikes in solidarity with him.  Today, in Beit Hanoun, we marched in solidarity with him.  We gathered by the half destroyed Beit Hanoun Agricultural College, we passed out posters of Khader Adnan, we raised the Palestinian flag, and we set off into the buffer zone.  Above us were three Israel Apaches, a drone, and an observation balloon, in front of us was a giant concrete wall with towers full of soldiers, and a jeep and a tank on a hill.

This did not deter us.  Israel has a history of shooting missiles into demonstrations and shooting live ammunition into unarmed demonstrations is a regular occurrence, especially in Gaza.  We marched down the road into the no go zone.

The no go zone is a place of death.  Israel has forced out everyone who used to live there, it has destroyed their houses, bulldozed their orchards, and now it claims the right to shoot anyone who enters it.  The land is scarred by the blades of bulldozers, by the tracks of tanks.  We marched across it, toward Erez, toward the wall that surrounds Gaza, toward the wall that reminds us all that Gaza is a giant prison.  We walked until we were about 50 meters from the wall.

Khader Adnan’s wife called us, she thanked us for our support, and described her husband’s suffering, “He is chained to a bed, he is in constant pain, he looks like a ghost.  Still he does not give up.”

Sabur Zaaneen from the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative spoke, “Israel does not respect human rights, the crimes of the occupation are unending, but so will be our resistance to the occupation, the popular resistance will continue until the end of the occupation.”  We chanted our support for Khader, for a man willing to die to live in honor, for a man willing to give his life for his people’s right to live in honor, for a man willing to give his life in his struggle against the occupation.

After the demonstration Sabur received a call from the Palestinian police at the Erez crossing.  The Israeli army had called them threatening to fire on the demonstration unless we left the area.  They threatened to fire on an unarmed demonstration in support of a man who has been on hunger strike for 59 days, a man who could die at any moment, a man who has not even been charged with any crime.  Just as 800,000 Palestinians were forced from their land in 1948 today Israel threatens unarmed demonstrators on their land with death unless they leave their land.

Just as Khader Adnan is steadfast in his hunger strike, we will be steadfast in our resistance to the occupation, like him, we struggle for a life of dignity, a dignity denied by the occupation.  Khader Adnan is our hero; his steadfastness is an inspiration to all of us.

Thank you Khader Adnan.

Nathan Stuckey is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.

Bruqin avoids arrests: Planting hope for Khader Adnan

by Jonas Weber

13 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Villagers of Bruqin and supporters went out today to plant trees in the field by the factory. While trees were planted alongside pictures of Khader Adnan, two young men sneaked over to the fence of the factory and put up Palestinian flags.

In the outskirts of Bruqin, a small village in the Salfit area, there is a field where old Roman ruins slumber amongst the olive trees. The field would be a peaceful place if it was not for the huge Israeli factories built on stolen land right next door. The Israeli factories have caused pollution in the area, contaminating crops and pastures. The rapid settler expansion in the Salfit area is stirring up distress among the residents in Bruqin who worry that even more of their land will be stolen.

Being attacked for harvesting resistance - Click here for more photos

 

In the Salfit area, 19 Palestinian villages are surrounded by 22 illegal settlements. It is a cluster of stolen land that is threatening to cut the West Bank in two if expansion is allowed to continue. Israel plans to build train tracks from Tel Aviv to the illegal settlement of Ariel, which would speed up this divide.

As the land repairing villagers came closer to the factory, they drew on the attention of the illegal settler security, and a man with a rifle demanding for volunteers to leave. Since the tree planting was taking place on Palestinian soil these calls where not heard by the villagers. A few minutes later the first Israeli soldiers started showing up asking the tree planters to move back from the factory. As some men decided to plant yet another tree at the edge of the factory area, they were surrounded by soldiers and one man was pulled away from the group.

ISM activists tried to get a straight answer as to the reason of the man’s arrest, but it was of no avail. Instead the soldiers surrounded yet another group of men and started tugging at them.

When questioned why they were attempting to arrest Palestinians, the only answer offered by the soldiers was that the area had been declared a closed military zone and that the man had been bothering the soldiers. However the soldiers could not produce any document proving the declaration of the area beeing a military zone.

ISM activists demanded to see relevant paperwork in support of the military’s claims, else they must release the man since there were  no substantial suspicions against him. After apoximately 20 minutes of avoiding the stares of upset activists and villagers, the soldiers retreated, and after some further negotiations back and forth the Palestinian man was  successfully de-arrested and released.

Though this particular case ended with nothing worse than a pair of sore wrists, it is a clear example of the lawlessness suffered by Palestinians under Israeli military law.

Jonas Weber is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Kufr Qaddoum: Cut off road and electricity does not deter demonstrations

by Jonas Weber

10 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Villagers and internationals assembled in Kufr Qaddoum after prayer time to demonstrate against the blocking of their main road to Nablus. The army cut off the electricity in the entire village as collective punishment  for the ongoing demonstrations in Kufr Qaddoum.

The villagers, including women  and many children, walked up to the top of the village, joined by internationals and press. They stopped about 100 meters from the occupation forces, where they held speeches and sang. The occupation forces started firing a huge amount of tear gas at the crowd as a couple of kids where throwing stones. Many people were affected by the tear gas, that was fired nearly constantly from then on.

Locals and supporters march in Kufr Qaddoum on February 10th, 2012

The occupation forces finally retreated into the illegal settlement, where they kept on taking pictures and filming the protesters. The crowd walked down closer, and gathered under an olive tree, to honour the memory of a man shot dead by a settler 20 years ago in that exact spot. The village was still without electricity as we left.

Jonas Weber is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Hebron: At least 10 children arrested by Israeli military in one week

by Satu Gustafsson

11 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The extreme Golani Unit of the Israeli military is escalating its arrests of Palestinian children in Al Khalil (Hebron), targeting boys between the ages of 12 to15 years old with at least 10 reported cases of child arrests made just in the span of one week.

The arrest of Dwaik and Sultan

On February 2, 2012, 12-year old Islam Dwaik and 13-year old Ahsan Sultan were walking near Tel Rumeida. According to the two children, they were on their way to register for English courses. During their walk Israeli military accused the youth of throwing a stone at Israeli soldiers patrolling the area, with 12 soldiers arresting the two boys and walking them through Shuhada Street and into the illegal settlement of Abraham Avino.

Dwaik and Sultan stated that as they were walking, they noticed military was following and “running near them” until they were arrested.

The youth were detained for a total of three hours, which included them being escorted by military to their homes. Once they arrived at their respective households, soldiers threatened that if their children were arrested in the future, that the parents would also be arrested as well.

A local Palestinian stated that as the military paraded the youth into Shuhada street, it was “as if they were making an example of them and their families.”

In another incident on Saturday, February 4th, during a settler tour in the old city of Al Khalil , Israeli military alleged a single stone was thrown towards the heavily armed soldiers while the illegal Israeli settlers and Zionists were returning to their illegal colony. The settler tour is a weekly activity of the Israeli settlers and Zionists, where they take a tour of the Palestinian old city with armed soldiers as escorts, in an attempt to claim heritage, taunt locals, stifle local businesses, and invoke their presence as occupiers.

Volunteers from International Solidarity Movement, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), and The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel  (EAPPI) were on the scene when six Israeli soldiers claimed the stone was thrown, who then sought out Palestinian youth who were in the area. The soldiers found three boys between the ages of 12 to 15 years old, threatening them and their families with arbitrary arrests. International activists and observers were barred from getting near the detained youth, who were later released.

Another incident was reported by an international volunteer on Monday, February 6th. Volunteers from Temporary International Presence in Hebron witnessed the arrest of two boys near Qordoba school, while soldiers threatened their school principal.

Two 11 year old boys from Qordoba school, detained by Israeli military

The  female, international volunteer described the event:

Two 11 year old boys were detained at Qordoba school. Towards the end of our monitoring period this afternoon, as we were leaving the area, the TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) and I saw 6 soldiers armed with M-16’s run urgently up the hill towards the school. We then heard 6 soldiers shouting violently at the children and heard children screaming and crying.

The three of us ran up the stairs to find the soldiers pulling the boys by their clothes to take them to the police station. The teachers from the school were still on the school grounds and surrounded the children to protect them and attempted to talk to the soldiers. The soldiers yelled at the teachers several times to “go away.” Finally, the principal came out and intervened. The soldiers made the teachers leave and allowed the principal to stay and talk to them on the boys behalf, since she told him the parents were at home and not near the school.

The soldiers were accusing the boys of throwing stones at the Israeli settlement (Beit Hadassah Settlement) across the street and down the steep hill from the school. The principal explained that the boys were playing and started to fight with each other and did not intentionally throw stones at anyone. TIPH said while they had been standing near the school, they only saw the boys playing. They did not see anyone throw a stone. The principal pleaded that the boys not be arrested.

The captain for these soldiers, who was negotiating with the principal of the school, threatened her by saying, “Next time if stones are thrown at the Jewish people, I will take the nice little children to the police and I will make a big (something inaudible stated in Hebrew or Arabic) at your school.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zzjL-1-DUY

He then told the principal and the students they were free to go.

After the incident,  TIPH and I talked to the principal. The children who were involved and another student who had been playing with them were crying hysterically and were visibly traumatized by this incident.

In October 2011 Qordoba school was the scene of Israeli violence against school children, as soldiers obstructed access to the school and assaulted male and female students as they demonstrated for their right to education.

Arrests were also made on February 9th after violent incursions by the Israeli military. The soldiers arrested three youth, whose ages range between 14 and 15 years old. According to WAFA News Agency, the arrests were made following the use of tear gas and sound bombs to raid Palestinian homes.

Palestinian youth have been manipulated through military arrests, according to the Defense for Children International, which launched its  current campaign against such treatment in 2001. According to DCI children are arrested and used to incriminate other Palestinians through typically illegal or forged testifying, applying pressure to the communities of arrested youth to create subservience and fear, and to set an example out of those politically active, enticing entire communities to become fearful of exercising freedom of speech and assembly.  And in some cases, youth are arrested and subdued into becoming informants for the Israeli military.

According to the Palestinian Information Center, a total of 3,200 Palestinians were arrested by Israel in 2011 alone, 383 of those being children. Approximately 350 Palestinian youth are currently imprisoned by Israel. The issue of administrative detention is under fire as Khader Adnan continues to withhold food consumption in an act of civil disobedience against Israeli arbitrary arrests and extensions of its illegal administrative detentions. Yet to further Israel’s lack of regard for international law, the rights of defenseless children are being violated to continue Israel’s illegal and violent occupation as the Golani unit continues to target youth in Al Khalil.

By manipulating arbitrary child arrests as a means to pressure the Palestinian community, Israel stands in violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which it is a signatory.

Satu Gustfasson is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

In Photos: Settlers and Israeli military violently steal land in Kufr Qaddoum

6 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On February 5 the residents of Kufr Qaddoum noticed several soldiers and illegal settlers on their lands who were plotting how to illegally seize land from the village. Upon arrival, International Solidarity Movement received word that indeed the colonizers were planning an action to seize land today.

Zionists attack to steal Palestinian land in Kufr Qaddoum - Click here for more images

Early this morning over 20 Israeli soldiers and Zionist settlers descended up on Kufr Qaddoum’s lands, arresting local villager Abu Ashraf, and dragging him off. Settlers were seen plowing through the land with bulldozers and military present.

In a collaboration between military and illegal settlers,  the main road that Kufr Qaddoum has been advocating to open through its weekly peaceful demonstrations has also been reportedly seized, while illegal, Zionist settlers are currently planting trees in the newly plowed land under the protection of the Israeli military.

Every Friday Kufr Qaddoum has held peaceful demonstrations to reopen their main road. On January 21 the village celebrated their success in peacefully pushing back Israeli Occupation Forces for the second week in a row as they tried to reclaim access to this road.

Kufr Qaddoum  is hedged in on most sides by Israeli Jewish settlements, illegal according to international law, the 1993 Oslo Accords, and in some cases even Israeli law.