Tag: Apartheid Wall - Page 37 - International Solidarity Movement

Palestinian activist faces prison sentence

13 June 2010

Over a thousand demonstrators attended the fifth anniversary of demonstrations in Bil'in — Over a thousand demonstrators attended the fifth anniversary of demonstrations in Bil\’in

Amnesty International has urged an Israeli military court not to convict a Palestinian non-violent activist who has been detained since last July, after he took part in a protest against the Israeli built fence/wall on Palestinian land.

Adeeb Abu Rahma has been charged with “being present in a declared military zone”, “incitement” and “activity against public order”. There is a real concern that the Ofer Military Court in the Israeli-occupied West Bank will convict him on Sunday.

“A guilty verdict would set a worrying precedent for other activists charged and awaiting trial, as Adeeb Abu Rahma would be the first activist against the fence/wall to be brought to a full evidential trial in a case of this kind,” said Amnesty International.

Many Palestinians who protest non-violently against the fence/wall are detained without charge or trial, others who are charged with offences such as stone-throwing will frequently enter plea bargains.

Adeeb Abu Rahma has denied all charges, other than stating that he was present on a number of different occasions in non-violent demonstrations against the fence/wall.

An initial charge made against him for inciting others to throw stones was withdrawn following arguments and evidence put forward by his legal defence.

The activist has repeatedly expressed his commitment to the principle of non-violence. Amnesty International said it is unaware of any credible evidence that he may have used or advocated violence.

“The broad scope of Israeli military orders mean that Adeeb Abu Rahma could be imprisoned solely for legitimately exercizing his right to freedom of expression in opposing Israeli policies in the West Bank,” said Amnesty International.

“If this is the case, we would regard him as a prisoner of conscience who should be released immediately and unconditionally.”

Under military orders that are applied to Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank someone convicted under “Acts of Incitement and Hostile Propaganda” can be subject to imprisonment of ten years or a fine or both. The charge of “Activity Against Public Order” can carry a prison sentence of five years.

Adeeb Abu Rahma, a taxi-driver and father of nine from the West Bank village of Bil’in, was arrested at around 1.30pm on 10 July 2009 while taking part in the weekly demonstration against the fence/wall near Bil’in.

Since March 2009, Adeeb Abu Rahma and his wife Fatima’s families have not been able to visit some 25 acres of their land to cultivate olive trees and cereals as they have been cut off by the fence/wall.

The villagers, together with Palestinian, Israeli and international supporters, have been holding weekly demonstrations for the last five years in protest against the fence/wall and the confiscation of their land by the Israeli authorities.

In March 2010, Israeli soldiers posted flyers in Bil’in declaring that the village and its surrounding area would be a closed military zone every Friday from 8am to 8pm, the day when the protests are held.

While the order applies to “Israeli citizens, foreigners and Palestinians who are not residents of the villages” it states that village residents will not be subject to it.

The arrests of three prominent activists against the fence/wall last year – Mohammed Othman, Abdallah Abu Rahma and Jamal Juma’ – indicated a crackdown on the legitimate expression of opposition to the construction of the fence/wall through the occupied West Bank.

Mohammed Othman and Jamal Juma’ were released without charge in January 2010 following international calls for the end of their detention.

Abdallah Abu Rahma head of the “Popular Committee Against the Wall” in Bil’in, who was arrested on 10 December 2009, is still in detention.

In the last two years, Israeli forces have killed eight people, including a ten-year old boy and two teenagers, at the sites of anti-wall demonstrations and injured scores more, some very seriously.

The Israeli authorities have failed to produce credible evidence that those killed posed a threat to the lives of the soldiers involved.

The Israeli 700-kilometre fence/wall runs from north to south of the West Bank, encircling Palestinian villages as well as whole neighbourhoods in and around East Jerusalem.

The majority of the fence/wall is not built on the “Green Line” (the 1949 armistice line which separates the State of Israel from the occupied West Bank) but is located on Palestinian land inside the West Bank, separating Palestinian towns, villages, communities and families from each other and vital services, as well as cutting off Palestinian farmers from their land.

In June 2004 the International Court of Justice issued a unanimous advisory opinion which stated that the construction of the wall in the OPT is contrary to international law and that Israel was obliged to dismantled sections already built there and provide reparation to Palestinians affected by the construction. The Israeli government rejected these recommendations.

Furthermore, when Palestinians, together with Israeli and international supporters, have demonstrated against the fence/wall, Israeli forces have often used excessive force against them. Some demonstrations are conducted peacefully; in others, some protestors throw stones at the Israeli military or attempt to damage the fence/wall.

Demonstrators interrupt illegal wall construction in Al Walaja

International Solidarity Movement

9 June 2010

Demonstrators walk up the swath of dust, which was recently forest and farmland

A group of over 30 demonstrators came to Al-Walaja today at 7am to obstruct the path of a bulldozer being used to construct the illegal annexation wall. Three demonstrators were arrested during the action; the legitimacy of two of the arrests remains in question. Among the arrested was former Yale Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh.

The activists were successful in stopping construction for an hour by chaining themselves to the bulldozer.

Qumsiyeh was arrested after the demonstrators decided to disperse upon being notified that fellow Israeli activist Yotem Wolfe would not be released. Wolfe had been arrested after being forcibly removed from a bulldozer to which he was chained by the neck. Qumsiyeh, the only Palestinian present at the action, was pulled aside, arrested and taken in for interrogation under the unspecified pretense that he was considered a “security threat.”

Israeli activist Shay Halatzi was also arrested under the allegation of “being rude” by insulting the unit as he protested Dr. Qumsiyeh’s detention.

Demonstrators were successful in interrupting illegal wall construction by locking onto the bulldozer

Both arrests occurred after the morning demonstration was over and activists were being forced to leave the area. The soldiers threatened the entire group with arrests, after the group had dispersed from the area where the activists had interrupted the work of the bulldozers for approximately 40 minutes by chaining two activists to the apparatus.

At one point during the demonstration, the Israeli contractor in charge of the site attempted to attack the demonstrators and had to be forcibly restrained by the military.

After being forced by soldiers onto the village roads, the crowd then staged a peaceful sit-down demonstration as soldiers prevented demonstrators from moving.

Qumsiyeh was released at 14:00. The Israeli activists were released at 16:30 with conditions preventing them from coming within 500 meters of the wall’s construction sites.

This is another stage in the construction of the wall that will completely surround Al Walaja. Passing within 5 meters of houses, the wall will separate the village from Jerusalem and leave just one exit, a tunnel to Beit Jala.

The claim that the wall, illegal under international law, is being built for security reasons was refuted when retired colonel Dani Tirza, who designed the wall’s route, was hired by the “Givat Yael” company. Givat Yael plans to build a 14,000-housing-unit settlement around the village.

Tirza criticized the route, writing that it takes land from the planned settlement and that there is no security need for it.

Eight arrested in Beit Jala bulldozer action

International Solidarity Movement

17 May 2010

UPDATE: All eight of the activists arrested yesterday during the demonstration in Beit Jala were released last night at 11:30 p.m. Each arrestee was individually interrogated, and required to give the police his or her phone number as contact information “in case further investigation is needed”. No other conditions were stipulated.

Demonstrators obstructed construction of the illegal apartheid wall in Beit Jala

The Christian village of Beit Jala, in the Bethlehem governorate, lies next to the path of the apartheid wall at a point where it cuts deep into Palestinian territory. The objections of the villagers have been ignored and, for the past two months, a regular Sunday protest demonstration has been called at the instigation of the Beit Jala National Committee. This Sunday, May 16th, demonstrators gathered at the site where a bulldozer was clearing agricultural land for the walls’ construction a mere 30 metres from the nearest houses. The protesters’ numbers were constrained as Palestine Authority police prevented local Palestinians from joining the protest.

A core group of international and Israeli activist supporters succeeded in clambering aboard the bulldozer, forcing the clearing work to stop. When Israeli soldiers and border police arrived in numbers half an hour later the activists then sat on the ground in front of the bulldozer, linking arms with the intention of resisting their removal.

Military and border police violently removed the peaceful demonstrators

After an order to leave the site had been issued and ignored the soldiers and border police then proceeded to drag the protesters forcibly over the rocky terrain towards a waiting personnel carrier. Those who chose to walk fared better than those who continued to resist – despite the threat of the use of pepper spray from close quarters. Eight young resisters, five females and three males, including two from the International Solidarity Movement and two from the Palestine Solidarity Project, were taken into police detention at the Gilo settlement.

Israel’s treatment of international activists, aid workers and human rights workers has become increasingly draconian as it attempts to stem the flow of uncensored and first-hand information which flows to the West. Quite simply, “the only democracy in the Middle East” cannot afford the truth to be told and will brook no opposition to its inhuman and illegal policies and practices.

Mabrouk Wadi Rahhal

International Solidarity Movement

15 May 2010

Wadi Rahhal held its first demonstration Friday

Today, Friday 14th May, the small farming village of Wadi Rahhal, just south of Bethlehem, held its first demonstration against the theft of its lands by the massive Israeli colony/settlement of Efrat. In particular, the villagers were objecting to the planned encroachment of the apartheid wall to within 30 metres of the village school. Regular incursions by armed settlers and Israeli troops have not previously brought forth this kind of response from the village.

It is in this central region that the cancerous growth of settlements is most noticeable. Lands annexed to various settlements have come close to splitting the West Bank in two, making a future, contiguous Palestinian state an impossibility. The Wall, both built and planned, completely ignores the “Green Line”, the previously accepted eastern border of the Israeli state.

Today’s demonstration was organised by the National Committee of Wadi Rahhal and is intended to become a regular event. It was supported by villagers from nearby Beit Ummar, together with a small group of Israeli activists and Australian, Canadian and United States supporters from the International Solidarity Movement and the Palestine Solidarity project. A notable feature was the number of school children marching alongside their elders.

Non-violent demonstrators were met with heavily-armed Israeli solders

The well-organised group of 70 to 80 demonstrators marched to within metres of Efrat’s present boundary, where they were met by a heavily-armed squad of Israeli Occupation Force soldiers. Leaders of the protest spoke in Arabic and Hebrew, announcing the peaceful and non-violent nature of the demonstration and appealing to the troops not to initiate a violent response. An international activist, speaking on behalf of the ISM, PSP and Israeli supporters present, affirmed their solidarity with the Palestinian people, who have endured 43 years of military occupation and called for three cheers for a Free Palestine. The demonstrators then dispersed, with no casualties suffered, ending a successful, peaceful and non-violent demonstration.

* “Mabrouk” is an Arabic term, meaning “Congratulations”.

Weekend demonstrations continue the struggle

International Solidarity Movement

10 May 2010

Demonstration in Bil'in symbolizing the Nakba and Palestinian refugees' inability to bury loved ones on native soil. — Demonstration in Bilin symbolizing the Nakba and Palestinian refugees inability to bury loved ones on native soil.

Bil’in
Today’s demonstrators, Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals, marched from the Bil’in mosque towards the illegal apartheid wall. Halfway along the route, the procession picked up several men dressed entirely in black, carrying a coffin with a man inside. The grim scene symbolized the Palestinians’ loss of land during the Nakba and their inability to return to these lands. Most importantly, the coffin symbolized the fact that Palestinian refugees are not allowed to bury their deceased loved ones on their native soil.

The Israeli army fired tear gas and many aluminum canisters into the crowd not long after they gathered at the wall. The army aggressively entered through the wall’s gate and chased protestors up the route, as other soldiers fired tear gas canisters into the retreating crowd. Several were grabbed and arrested: Haitham al-Khatib, cameraman from Bil’in; Stormy, an American activist; Ashraf Abu Rahme from Bil’in; Abdul Fattah Burnat from Bil’in; and two Israeli demonstrators. One Palestinian man was injured with a gas canister to his chest, and dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation. The procession finally retreated after these arrests and after being forced back up the hill into the village.

An Nabi Saleh
Fifty Palestinian, Israeli and international activists demonstrated Friday against land confiscation in An Nabi Saleh . The demonstration started at 1:30 pm in the center of the village and lasted roughly 400 meters, where demonstrators were met by the Israeli military which immediately shot tear gas at the crowd. After being dispersed, demonstrators hid among the houses of the village. The Israeli military continued throwing sound bombs and firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets for three hours. When the military retreated, demonstrators again tried to reach the lands which have been stolen by settlers but soldiers started again to launch tear gas and live ammunition (three warning rounds).

Near the end of the demonstration, plainclothes police officers who had infiltrated the demonstration grabbed eleven year-old boy, and two Israel activists who attempted to prevent his arrest. A 19-year-old demonstrator was arrested and beaten by plainclothes police officers. Four Israelis and one international were stopped and detained while driving on a road towards An Nabi Saleh. All were later released. The demo finished at 7pm.

Ni’lin
Approximately 50 Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators gathered outside of the town of Ni’lin Friday, attending midday prayers in a quiet olive grove before marching towards the illegal apartheid wall. Chanting and waving flags, the demonstrators fanned out upon reaching the wall, where they were met with volleys of tear gas. Protestors marched east along the wall before returning to the village. Several cases of tear gas inhalation were reported.

Al Ma’asara
The demonstrators of Al Ma’asara achieved a rare victory this week, reaching the farmland which falls on the illegal wall’s route. In more than two years, this is the first time demonstrators have reached the land, though this is the objective each week. Approximately 35 demonstrators, Palestinian, Israeli and international, were surprised when, upon reaching soldiers and razor wire blocking the road, their request to continue the march was considered and then granted. Demonstrators sang and listened to speeches upon reaching the land, and then returned peacefully to the village.

Soldiers watch protest near Shuhada Street

Hebron
Twenty-five Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals attended this newly-begun demonstration, gathering at an entrance to Shuhada Street, the main street in Hebron, now closed to Palestinians. After lively chants which lasted nearly an hour, the protest filed through the narrow streets of Hebron’s old city. Settlers poured water on demonstrators from the occupied second story of market buildings. Demonstrators returned to the Shuhada street gate without incident.

Beit Jala
Marching from the central square towards construction of the illegal wall, 50 Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators were met with Israeli military, who had blocked the road with razor wire. A demonstration was staged at the barbed wire and numerous speeches were delivered, before protestors turned back. The illegal wall cuts through a family’s front yard in Beit Jala, coming within meters of their home. Numerous ancient olive trees have been uprooted in the construction, which veers wildly off a linear path in order to snake around Route 60.