Tag: Video

Susiya continues to pave the road despite Israeli settlement activity

by Aida Gerard

4 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

One 17 year old boy from Yatta, Khalid Al Hurush, was arrested during a peaceful action in Susiya, and several people were beaten by the Occupation Forces on December 3rd, 2011. On Saturday at 10 AM, around 60 demonstrators gathered in Susiya to demonstrate against demolition orders. They proceeded towards  a road  process of being constructed in the area by the local villagers and decried a demolition order against a newly built school.

 

Demonstration in Susiya - For more images click here

The demonstrators walked to the new road in Susiya chanting in Arabic and in English against the land grab, expansion of the settlements, and the intensified demolitions in the South Hebron Hills.

When the demonstrators reached the road, they began to construct one of the parts of the dirt road that remains unfinished, due to daily harassment from soldiers against the workers on the road. After half an hour several military jeeps showed up. The Occupation Forces ordered that the demonstrators stop working. Protesters gathered around the Occupation Forces to protest their interference, chanting Palestinian liberation songs and waving Palestinian flag. Suddenly the Occupation Forces arrested a 17 year old boy, Khalid Al Hurush, who was waving a Palestinian flag. When the protesters attempted to stop the arrest of the young boy, the Occupation Forces began hitting and pushing pushing the boy into one of the jeeps.

Several protesters saw the Occupation Forces beat Khalid Al Hurush inside the jeep after being handcuffed. He was directly taken to Kiryat Arba where he was accused of interrupting police work and destroying a part of a military jeep during transportation. On December 4th the 17 year old was transferred to the Russian Compound, a prison, in Jerusalem.

A protester from the area commented on the arrest, “It seems that the young boy was arrested and was beaten up in the custody of the Occupation Forces in order to scare him and other protesters from demonstrating against  Israeli Occupation.”

After the arrest the protesters continued to work on the part the road for several hours.

Susiya has been exposed to a wide range of demolitions since 1991, but due to the steadfastness of the Palestinians in the area, every time a demolition takes place, the citizens of the area rebuild a shelter for to protect the land from being colonized by illegal, Zionist settlers.

Aida Gerard is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Israeli navy harasses Palestinian fishermen, international observers off Gaza coast

3 December 2011 | Civil Peace Service Gaza

On Saturday, 3 December 2011, the Israeli navy harassed Palestinian fishermen and international observers three miles off the coast of Gaza.

Israeli military harassing on the high seas – Click here for more images

Between 10:00 and 11:00 am, two warships repeatedly charged a group of seven hasakas, one trawler, and the Civil Peace Service Gaza boat Oliva.

 

Following night raids, Nabi Saleh continues to march for justice

by Aida Gerard

25 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The Occupation Forces invaded An Nabi Saleh village three times injuring several people by shooting directly at demonstrators with tear gas canisters and rubber coated steel bullets on Friday, November 25th.

Three people were arrested Wednesday in a night time raid earlier in the week. Rami Tamimi, 33, Uday Tamimi, 20, and Muatasim Tamimi, 16 years old were all taken away. The Israeli military justified the arrest Uday and Muatasim because they will be used as witnesses against Bassem Tamimi in his court hearing next week. Bassem Tamimi  is one of the local members of the Popular Committee who was arrested in Spring, 2011. The main evidence in Bassem’s case is the testimony from a 14 year old boy, which was fundamentally flawed and violated the rights set forth in the Israeli Youth Law. The same mistreatment was used against Muatasim who was arrested Wednesday night in order for him to testify against Bassem.

Bassem Tamimi has a long history of being targeted by the Occupation. He has been arrested  by the Israeli army 11 times to date, though he was never convicted of any offense. Bassem Tamimi has spent around three years in administrative detention, with no charges brought against him. After popular demonstrations began in An Nabi Saleh 10 houses have gotten demolition orders, including the home of Bassem. Bassem’s wife, Nariman Tamimi, has been arrested twice, whiles two of his young sons have been critical injured.

In the last court proceeding against Bassem, he gave a statement dening the unlawful charges against him but proudly admitting to organizing demonstranstions in An Nabi Saleh and stuggeling against the Occupation.

On Friday, soon after the noon prayer demonstrators gathered near the mosque of An Nabi Saleh, where one of the local coordinators gave a small speech about solidarity with the struggle in Jerusalem and also about the negotiations and agreements between Hamas and Fatah. He emphasized the importance of the leaderships’ focus on the resistance and support of it as well. In the end he talked about the night raids of An Nabi Saleh and arrests of youth and minors in connection to the arrest of three people from An Nabi Saleh Wednesday night.

Demonstration in Nabi Saleh
Demonstration in Nabi Saleh – Click here for more images

The demonstration proceeded towards the entrance of the village and was met by skunk water and tear gas canisters shot directly at demonstrators. When the Occupation Forces withdrew to the entrance of the village, demonstrators closed the roads and prevented the military jeeps from entering the village, going towards the mountain in front of the water resource that the illegal settlement Halamish attempts to annex.

The Occupation Forces had invaded the mountain and threatened the demonstrators with the words, “If you come near we will shoot you,” but demonstrators were steadfast and managed to make the Occupation Forces withdraw by walking in between them.

Meanwhile the Occupation Forces invaded An Nabi Saleh village, shooting tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and spraying demonstrators and houses with foul-smelling water.

In the end the Occupation Forces withdrew all units to the entrance of the village, and demonstrators ended the demonstration with a small gathering.

Aida Gerard is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Dkaika: Israel continues to expel Bedouins

by Aida Gerard

23 November 2011  | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Dkaika Bedouins face expulsion - Click here for more images
Dkaika Bedouins face expulsion - Click here for more images

The entire Bedouin village of Dkaika encounters demolitions, and all the villagers face expulsion. Every single construction of Dkaika has a demolition order totally over 75 demolition orders including a mosque, a school, a graveyard, water cisterns, housing tents, and folds for sheep.

This Thursday, on the 24th  of November, the Israeli Supreme court will decide if it will accept the interim injunction submitted by villagers in collaboration with Rabbis for Human Rights.

The village of Dkaika has a history of receiving demolition orders as early as 1998, and since then they have been facing demolitions. The latest demolition orders arrived the 1st November 2011. The village received 36 demolition orders covering 46 structures. This January, 17 structures were demolished in Dkaika including a part of the school and family houses, which left families sleeping outdoors in the winter time and school children studying under the open sky.

The Israeli Civil Administration plans to expel the Bedouins in Dkaika to a village 6 kilometers north of Dkeika called Hameeda. The Civil Adminstration reasons that in Hameeda members from the same Bedouin tribe called Ka’bne reside there and thus the expulsion is justified. Rabbis for Human Rights consider the planned expulsion to be a violation of international law. Yet the issue is complicated since none of the Bedouins of Dkaika have land in that village, and the tribe system of the Bedouins makes it impossible for the Bedouins to move to other Bedouins’ land.

In reaction to the demolitions, the head of Dkaika community, Mukhtar Yussif Nadjada said, “If they come and demolish our houses we will start rebuilding the same day. We have lived on this land before the creation of Israel and we will die on this land.”

The ICA (Israeli Civil Administration) usually puts pressure and building restrictions on villages in area C by using area zone planning. They draw a circle fitting the needs of the Occupation and name it the buildup area. This causes a lot of problems for villagers because it restricts their possibilities of building on their land, and normally it supports the expansion of settlements and is of no infrastructural use for Palestinians. In the case of Dkaika, ICA is not even willing to create an area zone planning. ICA claims that the Bedouin village has no self sustainability, and for this reasons they will expel all citizens of Dkaika to Hameeda.

Mukhtar Yussif Nadjada, the head of Dkaika, said, “The planning of the Occupation ONLY suits the building of the soldiers and settlers who expand. We live near the separation wall, and that’s why they want to expel us.”

The expulsion of Bedouins in the South Hebron Hills are similar to the plans of expulsion of Bedouins in all area C in the West Bank and of the Bedouins living in the Negreb dessert, according to B’Tselem.

Aida Gerard is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Internationals harassed and denied entry into Nabi Saleh

by Wahed Rejol

18 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Following last week’s violence in the village of Nabi Saleh near Ramallah, international observers and activists were today denied entry into the village by Israeli soldiers. The soldiers said that the entire village was a closed military zone and provided paperwork that seemed to support their claim. The internationals were followed and harassed by the Israel military as they attempted to leave the village.

Every Friday the village of Nabi Saleh organizes a march to protest the 2009 confiscation of an important water source by the Israelis. Last week  Abu Hussam Tamimi suffered injuries after being shot in the face at close range by Israeli soldiers, in violation of international law. Also last week an 11 year old boy from the village suffered rib injuries from a “rubber bullet”*

Five international activists from the International Solidarity Movement were denied entry to the village while attempting to document this weeks protest. After leaving the main entrance to the village the activists were followed by military jeeps and harassed by soldiers.

When it became clear that any entry to the village was impossible, the activists tried to obtain transportation back to Ramallah. The Israeli military prevented taxis and services to stop to pick them up.

The video below shows activists asking soldiers to allow them to travel back to Ramallah. After approximately two hours the activists were able to find transportation out of the area. The van was followed by an Israeli military vehicle for several kilometers.

Last week an ISM activists was detained for several hours after being arrested in Kufr Qaddoum while photographing the weekly protest there. He was falsely accused of throwing stones and was physically abused by the Israelis. He was released later that night.

* Israel commonly uses the term “rubber bullets” when describing round steel bullets with a thin rubber coating

Wahed Rejol is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).