I have not written anything since leaving Palestine but I feel compelled to write about the Israeli massacre in Gaza, if only to ensure that people have a chance to hear a different point of view than the one being aired by our glorious government and ‘unbiased’ media.
The death toll currently stands at 345 Palestinians and 2 Israelis, with 1450 Palestinians injured. The UN has confirmed that at least 57 of the 345 Palestinians killed are women and children. Most of the ‘non-civilian’ deaths are policemen, apparently legitimate targets because they belong to the security forces of a democratically elected government that the West doesn’t like.
The rest of the world seems willing to stand by and let Israel continue this massacre to stop Hamas firing rockets into Israel. These rockets, in weaponry terms, are pathetic. Hamas know that they are not going to destroy the Israeli state by firing them but it is the only voice they have left. Without these rockets the world would not hear about Gaza. The media have not responded to the human suffering in the Gaza Strip but they have responded to the rockets. The last 2 months have seen the worst humanitarian crisis in Gaza since the Israeli occupation began in 1967. People are starving because there is not enough food, they are freezing because they have no fuel to heat their homes, they are living most of the day in blackouts with intermittent sewage and water systems because there is no electricity, they are dying because there is no medicine.
The Israelis have systematically strangled the whole population of Gaza because they elected a government that wants to stand up to Israel and defend its people against a brutal occupation that has lasted over forty years. People cannot get in and out of Gaza to bear witness to what is happening, the only things that can leave Gaza are these rockets, flying crudely into derelict buildings to remind us that there are 1.5 million people struggling to survive the completely manmade suffering brought upon them.
Our government knows this but they are still blaming Hamas for breaking a truce which saw the suffering of the Palestinian people reach its worst level in forty years, a truce which saw Israel kill scores of Palestinian ‘militants’ while claiming to the rest of the world that they were observing the ceasefire. While they blame Hamas, Israel is continuing to bombard the most densely populated piece of land on earth with hundreds of tons of the most crude and deadly weapons known to man.
The west labels Hamas terrorists but for forty years the Israeli army has attacked the civilian population of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip indiscriminately. Since the illegal occupation began in 1967, there have been 5 Palestinians killed for every Israeli killed. Over the last 3 days there have been 177 Palestinians killed for every Israeli killed. Why is the West still blaming Hamas? Do the oppressed not have the right to defend themselves against the oppressor and tell the world what is happening to them, especially when the oppressor has unleashed the full force of its army – one of the most well equipped armies in the world – on the civilian population it is illegally imprisoning and besieging?
We cannot stand by and listen to Western governments point the finger at Hamas while the Israelis continue to slaughter innocent men, women and children.
Please join the protests and demonstrations over the next few days (please check www.palestinecampaign.org for latest events):
LONDON
Tuesday 30 December, 2 - 4pm outside Israeli Embassy, Kensington High Street, London, W4. Nearest tube Kensingston High Street (turn right out of tube station and walk along the main road.
Wednesday 31 December, 2 - 4pm outside Israeli Embassy
Thursday 1 January 2 - 4pm outside Israeli Embassy
Friday 2 January 2 - 4 pm. Outside the Egyptian Embassy, . 26 South Street, London, W1K 1DW. Call for Egypt to open the border immediately.
SATURDAY 3 JANUARY. DEMONSTRATION AND RALLY. Assemble 2pm Parliament Square, W1. Nearest tube Westminster
GLASGOW
Saturday 3 January 12 noon. Outside Lloyds TSB St Vincent Street then assemble for demo at Blytheswood Square 2pm
EDINBURGH
Saturday 3 January 12 noon. Foot of the Mound, Princes Street
BRISTOL
Centre, opposite the Hippodrome, Tuesday - Friday 5.00 - 6.00 and Saturday 3.00 - 4.00.
CARDIFF
Tuesday 30 December 12 to 1pm. outside Cardiff Market/ St John's Church, the Hayes
Wednesday 31 December New Year Vigil. Nye Bevan Statue, Queen Street
NOTTINGHAM
Tuesday 30 December 12 noon, Market Square
SOUTHAMPTON
Tuesday 30 December 12 to 2pm, West Quay Entrance, High Street
PORTSMOUTH
Saturday 3 January 11am, Guildhall Square
Organised by Portsmouth Network for a Just Settlement of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and Portsmouth Stop the War Coalition
HULL
Saturday 3 January, 11am. Queen Victoria Square.
Write to your MP urging them to insist that Prime Minister Gordon Brown acts to ensure:
• An immediate end to Israel's military assault on Gaza
• An immediate end to the blockade and siege on Gaza
• An end to Israel's violations of international law
• An end to Israeli occupation
Boycott Israeli Goods
Join the protests
www.palestinecampaign.org
Monday, December 29, 2008
Saturday, August 9, 2008
The Ethnic Cleansing of East Jerusalem
Over the past couple of weeks, we have made a number of visits to a house in East Jerusalem in which a family is living under the threat of eviction by the Israeli authorities. The Al Kurd family have lived in their house in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood (pictured right) since 1956, but on 16th July 2008 the Israeli Supreme Court issued an order to evict them. This order gives the go ahead for another 27 families living in the neighbourhood to be issued with similar eviction orders. The Al Kurd’s house is part of a housing project which was built by the Jordanian government with the United Nations Refugee and Works Association (UNRWA), to house 28 Palestinians refugee families who fled their homes after the creation of the Israeli state in 1948 (East Jerusalem and the West Bank fell under the jurisdiction of Jordan following the 1948 Arab/Israeli war). It was agreed that after 3 years living in the houses, the refugees would forgo the food assistance they received from UNRWA in return for the ownership of the homes.
In 1967 Israel invaded and occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Shortly after the occupation began, 2 groups of Jewish settlers forged documents claiming that the land on which the houses in Sheikh Jarrah were built, belonged to them. With these documents they managed to register the land in their own names with the Israeli Land Registrar.
After continuous calls for the families to be evicted, the 2 settler groups eventually filed law suits against the families in 1982, claiming that they owned the property rights to the houses. The families appointed a lawyer to defend them. Without asking the families, the lawyer reached an agreement with the settlers, in which he recognised their ownership of the land in return for granting the families protection from eviction under Israeli law. As part of the agreement, the families would have to pay rent to the settler associations. Outraged, the families did not accept the agreement and refused to pay rent. They were subsequently issued with eviction orders by the Israeli courts.
For over 20 years, legal proceedings continued. After yet more investigations, the Land Registrar finally accepted that the settlers had registered the land using false documents and their registration was revoked. However, the Registrar refused to confirm that the Palestinian families were entitled to the ownership of the land.
In 2001, the Al Kurd family (pictured) left their home for 1 month to go to Jordan, where the father of the family was to receive medical treatment (he is partially paralysed and suffers from diabetes and heart problems). When they returned, they found that a group of settlers had broken into part of their home and were occupying it. In 2007 the Israeli Supreme Court recognised that the settlers had broken into the home and issued an eviction order but this has never been carried out. (In the picture the door to the right is where the Al Kurd family live while the door to the left is the section of the house that the settlers occupy)In February 2008, a settler investment company, which the 2 settler groups claimed to have sold the land to, submitted a project to the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem in which they propose to demolish the 28 homes and build 200 settlement units to house new Jewish immigrants.
On 16th July 2008 the Israeli High Court, which did not accept the Land Registrar’s decision to revoke ownership of the land from the settlers and agreed that the settler investment group now owned the land, ordered the eviction of the Al Kurd family who had brought the case against the settlers who were occupying part of their home. Their eviction paves the way for the eviction of the rest families in the neighbourhood.
To reach the Al Kurd family home you have to pass down a few steps from the main road and weave through a small alleyway with houses on the left side and a very small children’s playground on the right. The first house you pass is adorned with Israeli flags – settlers have occupied it. Although all the houses in the neighbourhood were built for Palestinians, a number of them are now occupied by settlers. A temporary wooden hut sits on top of the house and in it, sits an armed security guard. There are no flags on the next house you come to – Palestinians still live in it. The next house is again adorned with Israeli flags – settlers have taken it over.
Then you come to the Al Kurd house. As you walk through a small gate, there is a large patio which is now filled with Palestinians, Israelis and international solidarity activists who sit night and day with the Al Kurd family, waiting for the police and the army to arrive to carry out the eviction order. An impromptu display of posters and banners has been arranged on the walls of the house. However there is one wall of the house that is devoid of any posters, that is because inside this section of the house, live a family of settlers.
The settlers who occupy this part of the house now, are not the same settlers who took over this part of the house in 2001. At the moment they are a young couple with 2 small children who have lived there for a matter of weeks. They belong to an organisation that basically sends people on ‘placements’ to various buildings that settlers have occupied around East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Every 2 or 3 weeks the ‘placements’ end and a new family arrives.
So while one family is defending the home that they have lived in for 42 years, the home in which their 5 children have been born and brought up, the other family is defending a building they have been moved into for the purpose of illegal occupation, they have no attachment to the building or the local community and in fact they will voluntarily leave when they are relieved of their post by the next illegal occupiers.
As we sat with the family, we heard that the settlers continually harass them. Over the years they have played loud music to keep the family awake at night, armed settler security guards have forced their way into the part of the house the family lives in and threatened them, they have brought large groups of settler children to play on the patio, put up posters of Palestinians and encouraged the children to shoot at them with toy guns. Since the court decision in July, an older male settler has come to the house at least once a day, shouting that the family should hurry up and get out of there because he is waiting to move in. One settler occupying a Palestinian home nearby was quoted as saying ‘It’s written in the Bible that we have a right to everywhere in this land, and here we are only minutes from the Western Wall and the Temple Mount.’There is a feeling here amongst many observers that Israel is trying to ethnically cleanse East Jerusalem. The status of Jerusalem is one of the most contentious issues in negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis. Both see it as the most important site in the whole of Palestine for historical and religious reasons. The UN partition plan of 1947 stated that the city would be divided so that the Arabs had East Jerusalem and the Jews had West Jerusalem. Since the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem began in 1967, 250,000 illegal Israeli settlers have moved into East Jerusalem. Of the 250,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, 120,000 of them have been isolated from the city by the Apartheid Wall which has been built around their homes.
If the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood is taken over by settlers, it will mean that the largest settlement in the West Bank, Ma'aleh Adumin, and a number of other illegal settlements in East Jerusalem will be connected to the centre of Jerusalem and the Old City, where the most sacred sites for Jews and Muslims are situated. Although not a huge neighbourhood, the removal of Palestinians to make way for Israelis would be a significant step in ensuring that there was no longer an east or west Jerusalem, but one unified city – a perfect capital for the Israeli state.
As well as moving settlers in, the Israelis have done their best to move Palestinians out of East Jerusalem. They have made it virtually impossible for Palestinians to get permits to build homes, meaning that 3 out of every 4 built, are illegal and face demolition. Since 1967, 8000 buildings have been demolished, many of these are buildings with several storeys, housing many families.
Last week the Israelis demolished a 5 story building in the Beit Hanina neighbourhood of East Jerusalem. They claimed that the 5th floor of the building had been built without a permit. The owner offered to demolish the 5th floor himself, but the Israelis refused and instead demolished the whole building. They arrived in the middle of the night, told the families to get out and then blew it up the next day. The Palestinians had no time to remove their belongings, although the Israelis kindly allowed them to return to the rubble to dig out what they could and collect the bill for the cost of the demolition – 300,000 shekels (£43,500).
The cruelty did not stop there. A single mother, who just a couple of months ago had bought an apartment in the building, did not even have time to collect her purse before the building was destroyed. A few days later she discovered that her credit card had been used at a restaurant and to withdraw cash. The only people who had access to the building once she left and before it was destroyed, were soldiers. This means that having destroyed her home, they were cruel enough to steal the little she had left.
According to Jeff Halper who heads the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, ‘Illegal building is simply a pretext for destroying Palestinian families' homes and lives…The demolitions are part of a policy to stop the natural expansion of Palestinian communities in and around Jerusalem, freeing up the maximum amount of land for use by Israeli settlers…The demolitions increase the pressure on Palestinians to move into the West Bank, so that they will lose their residency rights in the city.’
Wherever you travel in the West Bank (and I presume Gaza) the picture of Jerusalem is always held up as a symbol of the Palestinian desire for freedom and independence. Not only is the city home to the third holiest site in Islam but it is of great historical importance to the Palestinian people and they have always regarded East Jerusalem as the eventual capital of an independent Palestinian state. With every demolition and eviction in East Jerusalem, and with every new Israeli settler that moves in, Israel is again changing the facts on the ground so that when negotiations on the status of Jerusalem reach a climax, they can point to the demographics and say that the whole of Jerusalem must belong to Israel.
On 9th November 2008 the Israeli army evicted the Al Kurd family in the middle of the night. The father of the family suffered a heart attack during the eviction and died two weeks later. His wife is currently living in a tent which the army, under the orders of the acting prime minister of Israel, Tzipi Livni, has destroyed several times.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
A letter to Ahmed's father
Bassam Aramin's 10 year old daughter was killed after being shot in the head by an Israeli border policeman outside her school in 2007. This week he wrote a letter to the father of 10 year old Ahmed who was killed on Tuesday in Ni'lin. Here is a link to the letter:
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31031
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=31031
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Doctors pronounce 17 year old boy clinically dead after being shot by soldiers in Ni'lin
Late last night after getting home from Ahmed’s funeral, we began to hear reports that another boy had been shot by Israeli soldiers in Ni’lin. This morning, doctors have confirmed that 17 year old Yousef Ahmad Younis Amera, who was shot in the head with 2 rubber coated steel bullets from close range, is now clinically dead. They expect him to survive for just a few more hours.
With tensions running high after Ahmed’s funeral yesterday, Israeli soldiers had remained at the entrance to the village. Two hundred boys and young men had gathered on the main street and built barricades to stop the soldiers entering the village. When an Israeli excavator tried to clear the barricades it was met by a hail of stones. In response, 50 Israeli soldiers stormed the village, firing tear gas, sound bombs and rubber bullets at the boys and men who had gathered (when I use the term rubber bullets I should make it clear that they are not just a ball of rubber but a ball of steel coated in a thin layer of rubber).
After the death of Ahmed you would think that the soldiers would refrain from using their weapons or if they really couldn’t help themselves they would at least ensure that their actions did not result in death. By the rules of their own army, Israeli soldiers and border police are only supposed to fire ammunition below the waste. The policeman that stood ten metres away from Ahmed had made the decision to fire at his head. You would think the death of a 10 year old child would be so repulsive that the soldiers would not even contemplate firing above people’s feet yesterday.
But no, in total 3 people were shot in the head last night with rubber coated steel bullets. Yousef was shot twice from close range and in a few hours it seems that he will be dead, like Ahmed, another victim of this brutal occupation.
There was no reason for the Israeli army to be in Ni’lin yesterday. The soldiers knew there would be a reaction to their presence. What group of young men anywhere in the world would not react to soldiers stalking through their village after killing a child? Why could they not just stay away and let the villagers mourn in peace? They knew their would be a confrontation and not one soldier who discharged his weapon yesterday can say he wasn’t aware of the consequences.
So in two days, two boys have lost their lives, shot in the head by highly trained military personnel. These were no accidents, this is Israeli policy. This state cannot continue to mask its activities under the cloak of security. These boys did not pose a threat to the state of Israel, they simply asked not to be imprisoned behind a huge concrete wall, where they and their families would have no hope of a future. Taking land from the people you are occupying and transferring your own population to that land is called ethnic cleansing, it is certainly not security or defence.
The longer I stay here the more upset and desperate I feel at the tragedies the Palestinian people have to suffer day after day, while the international community stands by and does nothing. We may think that the support Israel has from countries such as the US and the UK is too great to break, but we cannot ignore what is going on here. Public opinion matters. We only have to look at the role of boycotts and sanctions in bringing down the apartheid regime in South Africa to know that ordinary people can make a difference. While at Ahmed’s funeral yesterday I could not help but think of Hector Pieterson, the 12 year old boy who was shot and killed by South African police in the 1976 Soweto Uprising. The image of Hector being carried by another student, as his sister watched in despair, is now a symbol of the horrors of Apartheid South Africa. The death of Ahmed and the imminent death of Yousef are as awful and horrible as Hector’s. Let us not look back in thirty, forty or fifty years and see how awful this occupation is, let us realise now and be part of the movement to end it.
(Yousef died on 4th August)
With tensions running high after Ahmed’s funeral yesterday, Israeli soldiers had remained at the entrance to the village. Two hundred boys and young men had gathered on the main street and built barricades to stop the soldiers entering the village. When an Israeli excavator tried to clear the barricades it was met by a hail of stones. In response, 50 Israeli soldiers stormed the village, firing tear gas, sound bombs and rubber bullets at the boys and men who had gathered (when I use the term rubber bullets I should make it clear that they are not just a ball of rubber but a ball of steel coated in a thin layer of rubber).
After the death of Ahmed you would think that the soldiers would refrain from using their weapons or if they really couldn’t help themselves they would at least ensure that their actions did not result in death. By the rules of their own army, Israeli soldiers and border police are only supposed to fire ammunition below the waste. The policeman that stood ten metres away from Ahmed had made the decision to fire at his head. You would think the death of a 10 year old child would be so repulsive that the soldiers would not even contemplate firing above people’s feet yesterday.
But no, in total 3 people were shot in the head last night with rubber coated steel bullets. Yousef was shot twice from close range and in a few hours it seems that he will be dead, like Ahmed, another victim of this brutal occupation.
There was no reason for the Israeli army to be in Ni’lin yesterday. The soldiers knew there would be a reaction to their presence. What group of young men anywhere in the world would not react to soldiers stalking through their village after killing a child? Why could they not just stay away and let the villagers mourn in peace? They knew their would be a confrontation and not one soldier who discharged his weapon yesterday can say he wasn’t aware of the consequences.
So in two days, two boys have lost their lives, shot in the head by highly trained military personnel. These were no accidents, this is Israeli policy. This state cannot continue to mask its activities under the cloak of security. These boys did not pose a threat to the state of Israel, they simply asked not to be imprisoned behind a huge concrete wall, where they and their families would have no hope of a future. Taking land from the people you are occupying and transferring your own population to that land is called ethnic cleansing, it is certainly not security or defence.
The longer I stay here the more upset and desperate I feel at the tragedies the Palestinian people have to suffer day after day, while the international community stands by and does nothing. We may think that the support Israel has from countries such as the US and the UK is too great to break, but we cannot ignore what is going on here. Public opinion matters. We only have to look at the role of boycotts and sanctions in bringing down the apartheid regime in South Africa to know that ordinary people can make a difference. While at Ahmed’s funeral yesterday I could not help but think of Hector Pieterson, the 12 year old boy who was shot and killed by South African police in the 1976 Soweto Uprising. The image of Hector being carried by another student, as his sister watched in despair, is now a symbol of the horrors of Apartheid South Africa. The death of Ahmed and the imminent death of Yousef are as awful and horrible as Hector’s. Let us not look back in thirty, forty or fifty years and see how awful this occupation is, let us realise now and be part of the movement to end it.
(Yousef died on 4th August)
Soldiers Use Tear Gas and Sound Bombs at Ahmed's Funeral
Today we went to the funeral of Ahmed Mussa, the 10 year old boy killed yesterday by an Israeli border policeman. The funeral procession began in Ramallah where hundreds of people, including Ahmed's family, drove in convoy to bring his body home to Ni'lin where thousands of mourners were waiting.
When the convoy reached Ni'lin, there were dozens of soldiers and border police waiting on either side of the entrance to the village. Instead of showing a single shred of human decency, they surrounded the funeral procession, knowing that their presence would provoke a reaction and ensure that Ahmed would not be allowed to die in peace as he had not been allowed to live in peace.
As soon as the first stones were thrown, the soldiers fired tear gas and sound bombs directly into the funeral procession, not stopping as people fell and became trampled in the scramble to escape.
Why did the soldiers have to come to Ni'lin today? Could they not have left the area just for one hour or even stood 100 metres further back and just let it be? Could they not have let Ahmed's family and friends mourn without lining up as if to goad them and gloat that they had murdered him? I simply cannot understand what I see here.
The video below was taken as the soldiers began attacking the funeral procession:
Below is an account of Ahmed's funeral written by a colleague at IWPS:
The murder of Ahmed, Age 10
By Kim www.livefromoccupiedpalestine.blogspot.com
Another child has just been murdered. On Tuesday, July 29, Ahmed Ussam Yusef Mousa, aged 10, was shot dead with asingle shot to the head by Israeli occupation forces. Ahmed was murderedjust before 6pm, when he and a group of youth from Ni'lin village attempted to dismantle a section of barbwire fencing erected on the village's land by the Israeli occupation forces. Ahmed is now the 12 person and seventh child to be killed by the Israeli occupation forces in demonstrations against the apartheid fence. He is one of more than 800 Palestinian children killed by the Zionist state since the beginning of the Al Aqsa Intifada in September 2000.
My IWPS team mate and myself got the news last night as we arrived at the ISM office in Ramallah. Within fifteen minutes we were at the hospital. As we arrived Ahmed's little body was being brought into the hospital. My teammate and myself were "lucky" in that we did not see Ahmed but two of our fellow activists from the ISM did. Both long-term activists and very experienced, both of them spoke of how tiny Ahmed was. We all then left the hospital as we did not want to interfere with the family's grief and came back to the ISM media office to work to try and tell the world of Israel's barbarism.
The initial shock, grief and tears we all felt were held at bay over the next few hours as we worked in the ISM's media office, ringing media persons, outlets, pulling together media releases. As we emailed out the press releases to the media and our various networks around the world, the emails poured in expressing shock, outrage and heartache.
As the night wore on we sat with each other, listened and supported eachother, especially with those of use who had close contacts in Ni'lin and who had witnessed the arrival of Ahmed's body at the hospital. None of us could sleep, although we were all exhausted and we sat in the garden as the early hours of the morning came upon us. Finally at around 3am, the last of us forced ourselves to go to bed, but we all spent a sleepless night thinking about the grief the family must have been experiencing, their shock, horror and disbelief that their little boy was no longer with them.
In the morning, other members of the ISM and IWPS began to arrive in Ramallah, so we could all go to the hospital at 10am to be part of Ahmed's funeral procession and to accompany the family home with his body. At around 10.30am, dozens and dozens of residents from Ni'lin arrived at the hospital and Ahmed's body was brought out and placed in the ambulance. Soon, dozens of cars joined in the funeral procession. For the next 45 minutes we made our way in two Palestinian transit vans through the streets of Ramallah. As we did more cars, trucks and taxis joined us with more andmore people.
By the time we finally left the centre of Ramallah, there were more than 40 cars in the funeral procession. Many of the cars displayed Ahmed's shihad (martyr) poster (in Palestine anyone killed as a result of the occupation, whatever their age, is viewed as a martyr). The poster displayed a handsome little boy, slight of build and tiny. Each time I looked at the poster, I wondered how anyone one could think that this tiny child could be such a threat to the security of their state.
How could this little boy, with such a tiny frame, scare grown men? What could posses any person to think that the appropriate response to a small child such as Ahmed was live ammunition, aimed and fired at his head?
As I looked at his photograph trying to imagine why Ahmed had to die, his funeral procession began to make its way out of Ramallah. As we left the city and began to traverse the hills and pass through the surroundingPalestinian villages, we sat in silence, very little to say to each other, as the chants from the Palestinian mourners continued, remembering Ahmed, God and opposing the occupation and the apartheid wall.
As we weaved our way through one village after another, more cars joined us and others came to stand on the streets to offer their silent condolences and respect for Ahmed and his family. Along with adults, young children lined the streets of the villages we passed through and my heart broke as I watch their little faces, many of them too young to comprehend what the procession was about. But as I watched these small children through the windows of our car, I kept wondering if one day they too would share the same fate as Ahmed. And the sadness and anger in me grew once again.
As we approached Bil'lin village, a young father stood on the side of the road, along with a group of young children, many no doubt his own. They stood silent, bravely, in dignity with Palestinian flags in remembrance ofAhmed. It was at that point, all the composure and restraint I had imposed on myself since we first heard the news of Ahmed left me and tears began to stream down my face.
When we reached Bil'in, many of the village residents were on the streets and many joined the funeral procession. Soon we were nearing the settler highway that we must traverse to get to Ni'lin and we all wondered if we would be able to get in.
Would the Israeli army stop us? Would they use violence? Would they attack the funeral procession as they have done on other occasions?
As our car, which was about half way through the funeral procession, came to the highway, we could see the Israeli occupation forces had blocked the road and stopped Israeli plated cars from continuing. This sight was a relief. Soon we, along with the Palestinians mourners and other internationals poured out of the vehicles on to the highway. However, as we approached the entrance of Ni'lin we could see the Israeli occupation forces had also setup another barricade at the far side of the village entrance.
This was a clearly provocative act on the behalf of the Israeli occupation forces. They could have easily set up the barrier (as the road lead to TelAviv) 50 or 100 or 200 metres or more away. Placing the barrier where they did meant they would be confrontation, as emotions, tempers and anger at the killing and death of Ahmed spilled over.
As Ahmed's tiny body, wrapped in his funeral shroud, was carried above the crowd, the mourners chanted his martyrdom, against the occupation and the wall and for the greatness of God. Soon, smaller groups broke off from theprocession to confront the soldiers, yelling at them angrily. In response the Israeli occupation forces began to throw sound grenades and flashbombs. As myself and one of my IWPS teammates moved closer to the frontline to try and offer some sort of international presence, tear gas began to be fired by the Israeli military. For the next few minutes, we were caught between the military firing on us and the young Palestinian men throwing stones in response to the occupation forces attack on the funeral procession.
As people began to run, we were swept up in the chaos and at one point people tried to crush past a park car, resulting in several young boys being dragged down and trampled. Suddenly, I saw a man dragging the limp body of a young teenage boy and at first my heart went to my mouth, as I thought another child had been shot. As the young boy was dragged to safety, he began to gain consciousness and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The march continued towards the balidyier (the municipality office) and then towards the mosque, where tiny Ahmed was carried up the stairs. As prayers were called from the mosque, people sat and stood around in quite vigil forAhmed and his family.
When prayers finished, Ahmed was brought from the mosque and taken once again by funeral procession to the village burial ground. We walked quietly, as again the chants from the villagers and others Palestinians spoke of Ahmed's martyrdom, God and the occupation. As we approached the burial grounds, women stood atop the house near where little Ahmed would be buried. As the funeral procession passed by they performed the zachrohtah, the traditional sound made to wish someone well. In performing this tradition, the women sought to ensure Ahmed's journey to paradise would be happy and joyful.
As the men accompanied Ahmed's body for burial, we decided to remain outsideand listen to the prayers and sermon. As we waited there, two young girls, both under the age of ten came to say hello. As we conversed, they asked me my name, where I lived and other innocent questions. As I responded, in my badly pronounced Arabic, they also began to ask if I liked Noor, the widely popular Turkish soap opera (which is dubbed in Arabic) that is showing at the moment on Palestinian television. I asked them if they liked Mohanad, the male lead, who all the Palestinian girls have fallen in love with and they told me yes. As I practiced my Arabic with them and spoke of the things little girls find interesting and joyful, I thought again of Ahmed who will never have the chance to play his children's games with his friends or his family and of how he would never be able to speak of the television shows he loved. And again the sadness swept over me for Ahmed and for his family, who would miss him so much.
When the convoy reached Ni'lin, there were dozens of soldiers and border police waiting on either side of the entrance to the village. Instead of showing a single shred of human decency, they surrounded the funeral procession, knowing that their presence would provoke a reaction and ensure that Ahmed would not be allowed to die in peace as he had not been allowed to live in peace.
As soon as the first stones were thrown, the soldiers fired tear gas and sound bombs directly into the funeral procession, not stopping as people fell and became trampled in the scramble to escape.
Why did the soldiers have to come to Ni'lin today? Could they not have left the area just for one hour or even stood 100 metres further back and just let it be? Could they not have let Ahmed's family and friends mourn without lining up as if to goad them and gloat that they had murdered him? I simply cannot understand what I see here.
The video below was taken as the soldiers began attacking the funeral procession:
Below is an account of Ahmed's funeral written by a colleague at IWPS:
The murder of Ahmed, Age 10
By Kim www.livefromoccupiedpalestine.blogspot.com
Another child has just been murdered. On Tuesday, July 29, Ahmed Ussam Yusef Mousa, aged 10, was shot dead with asingle shot to the head by Israeli occupation forces. Ahmed was murderedjust before 6pm, when he and a group of youth from Ni'lin village attempted to dismantle a section of barbwire fencing erected on the village's land by the Israeli occupation forces. Ahmed is now the 12 person and seventh child to be killed by the Israeli occupation forces in demonstrations against the apartheid fence. He is one of more than 800 Palestinian children killed by the Zionist state since the beginning of the Al Aqsa Intifada in September 2000.
My IWPS team mate and myself got the news last night as we arrived at the ISM office in Ramallah. Within fifteen minutes we were at the hospital. As we arrived Ahmed's little body was being brought into the hospital. My teammate and myself were "lucky" in that we did not see Ahmed but two of our fellow activists from the ISM did. Both long-term activists and very experienced, both of them spoke of how tiny Ahmed was. We all then left the hospital as we did not want to interfere with the family's grief and came back to the ISM media office to work to try and tell the world of Israel's barbarism.
The initial shock, grief and tears we all felt were held at bay over the next few hours as we worked in the ISM's media office, ringing media persons, outlets, pulling together media releases. As we emailed out the press releases to the media and our various networks around the world, the emails poured in expressing shock, outrage and heartache.
As the night wore on we sat with each other, listened and supported eachother, especially with those of use who had close contacts in Ni'lin and who had witnessed the arrival of Ahmed's body at the hospital. None of us could sleep, although we were all exhausted and we sat in the garden as the early hours of the morning came upon us. Finally at around 3am, the last of us forced ourselves to go to bed, but we all spent a sleepless night thinking about the grief the family must have been experiencing, their shock, horror and disbelief that their little boy was no longer with them.
In the morning, other members of the ISM and IWPS began to arrive in Ramallah, so we could all go to the hospital at 10am to be part of Ahmed's funeral procession and to accompany the family home with his body. At around 10.30am, dozens and dozens of residents from Ni'lin arrived at the hospital and Ahmed's body was brought out and placed in the ambulance. Soon, dozens of cars joined in the funeral procession. For the next 45 minutes we made our way in two Palestinian transit vans through the streets of Ramallah. As we did more cars, trucks and taxis joined us with more andmore people.
By the time we finally left the centre of Ramallah, there were more than 40 cars in the funeral procession. Many of the cars displayed Ahmed's shihad (martyr) poster (in Palestine anyone killed as a result of the occupation, whatever their age, is viewed as a martyr). The poster displayed a handsome little boy, slight of build and tiny. Each time I looked at the poster, I wondered how anyone one could think that this tiny child could be such a threat to the security of their state.
How could this little boy, with such a tiny frame, scare grown men? What could posses any person to think that the appropriate response to a small child such as Ahmed was live ammunition, aimed and fired at his head?
As I looked at his photograph trying to imagine why Ahmed had to die, his funeral procession began to make its way out of Ramallah. As we left the city and began to traverse the hills and pass through the surroundingPalestinian villages, we sat in silence, very little to say to each other, as the chants from the Palestinian mourners continued, remembering Ahmed, God and opposing the occupation and the apartheid wall.
As we weaved our way through one village after another, more cars joined us and others came to stand on the streets to offer their silent condolences and respect for Ahmed and his family. Along with adults, young children lined the streets of the villages we passed through and my heart broke as I watch their little faces, many of them too young to comprehend what the procession was about. But as I watched these small children through the windows of our car, I kept wondering if one day they too would share the same fate as Ahmed. And the sadness and anger in me grew once again.
As we approached Bil'lin village, a young father stood on the side of the road, along with a group of young children, many no doubt his own. They stood silent, bravely, in dignity with Palestinian flags in remembrance ofAhmed. It was at that point, all the composure and restraint I had imposed on myself since we first heard the news of Ahmed left me and tears began to stream down my face.
When we reached Bil'in, many of the village residents were on the streets and many joined the funeral procession. Soon we were nearing the settler highway that we must traverse to get to Ni'lin and we all wondered if we would be able to get in.
Would the Israeli army stop us? Would they use violence? Would they attack the funeral procession as they have done on other occasions?
As our car, which was about half way through the funeral procession, came to the highway, we could see the Israeli occupation forces had blocked the road and stopped Israeli plated cars from continuing. This sight was a relief. Soon we, along with the Palestinians mourners and other internationals poured out of the vehicles on to the highway. However, as we approached the entrance of Ni'lin we could see the Israeli occupation forces had also setup another barricade at the far side of the village entrance.
This was a clearly provocative act on the behalf of the Israeli occupation forces. They could have easily set up the barrier (as the road lead to TelAviv) 50 or 100 or 200 metres or more away. Placing the barrier where they did meant they would be confrontation, as emotions, tempers and anger at the killing and death of Ahmed spilled over.
As Ahmed's tiny body, wrapped in his funeral shroud, was carried above the crowd, the mourners chanted his martyrdom, against the occupation and the wall and for the greatness of God. Soon, smaller groups broke off from theprocession to confront the soldiers, yelling at them angrily. In response the Israeli occupation forces began to throw sound grenades and flashbombs. As myself and one of my IWPS teammates moved closer to the frontline to try and offer some sort of international presence, tear gas began to be fired by the Israeli military. For the next few minutes, we were caught between the military firing on us and the young Palestinian men throwing stones in response to the occupation forces attack on the funeral procession.
As people began to run, we were swept up in the chaos and at one point people tried to crush past a park car, resulting in several young boys being dragged down and trampled. Suddenly, I saw a man dragging the limp body of a young teenage boy and at first my heart went to my mouth, as I thought another child had been shot. As the young boy was dragged to safety, he began to gain consciousness and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The march continued towards the balidyier (the municipality office) and then towards the mosque, where tiny Ahmed was carried up the stairs. As prayers were called from the mosque, people sat and stood around in quite vigil forAhmed and his family.
When prayers finished, Ahmed was brought from the mosque and taken once again by funeral procession to the village burial ground. We walked quietly, as again the chants from the villagers and others Palestinians spoke of Ahmed's martyrdom, God and the occupation. As we approached the burial grounds, women stood atop the house near where little Ahmed would be buried. As the funeral procession passed by they performed the zachrohtah, the traditional sound made to wish someone well. In performing this tradition, the women sought to ensure Ahmed's journey to paradise would be happy and joyful.
As the men accompanied Ahmed's body for burial, we decided to remain outsideand listen to the prayers and sermon. As we waited there, two young girls, both under the age of ten came to say hello. As we conversed, they asked me my name, where I lived and other innocent questions. As I responded, in my badly pronounced Arabic, they also began to ask if I liked Noor, the widely popular Turkish soap opera (which is dubbed in Arabic) that is showing at the moment on Palestinian television. I asked them if they liked Mohanad, the male lead, who all the Palestinian girls have fallen in love with and they told me yes. As I practiced my Arabic with them and spoke of the things little girls find interesting and joyful, I thought again of Ahmed who will never have the chance to play his children's games with his friends or his family and of how he would never be able to speak of the television shows he loved. And again the sadness swept over me for Ahmed and for his family, who would miss him so much.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Ten Year Old Boy Shot Dead by Israeli Soldier at Demonstration in Ni'lin
While finishing the post below, news came through that a 10 year old boy called Ahmed Ussam Yusef Mousa, has been killed by an Israeli soldier during a demonstration in Ni'lin. He was shot in the head with live ammunition from close range and died instantly.
Having seen the behaviour of soldiers in Ni'lin over the past couple of weeks it is horrible to say that this tragic and utterly deplorable death does not come as a surprise. This murderous, brutal and illegal occupation must be brought to an end and the Israeli state must be held to account for the appalling crimes it has committed. For Ahmed and his family, like many others, it is already too late. Let it not be too late for the next victim.
From ISM media:
A 10 year old boy called Ahmed Ussam Yusef Mousa was shot dead at approximately 6pm near the Palestinian village of Ni'lin. He was shot once in the head at close range with live ammunition. According to eye witnesses a group of youths attempted to remove coils of razor wire from land belonging to the village. Without warning, they were fired upon and Ahmed was killed.
Israeli newspaper Maariv reported in March that the Israeli authorities have given a new order to border police operating along the apartheid wall surrounding Jerusalem. They can now open fire directly on Palestinians who try to demonstrate near the barrier. But sniping is forbidden if there are Israeli or foreign citizens amongst demonstrators.
According to ISM volunteers inside Ni'lin, confrontations are now taking place between villagers and the Israeli forces; shots have been heard and five people are said to have been wounded. Demonstrations have been held almost every day for the past few weeks as near Nil'in against Israel's Apartheid Wall, declared illegal by the International Court in the Hague in 2004. The wall will deprive the village of almost 2,500 Dunums of agricultural land, and put the existence of the entire community in doubt.The Israeli Army and Border Police have been increasingly ill-disciplined and violent in response to the demonstrations.
At least 11 other Palestinians have died protesting against Israeli's apartheid wall. Their names are:
Mohammad Fadel Hashem Rayan, age 25
Zakaria MaHmud Salem, age 28
Abdal Rahman Abu Eid, age 62
Mohammad Daud Badwan, age 21
Diaa Abdel Karim Abu Eid, age 24
Hussain mahmud Awwad Aliyan, age 17
Islam Hashem Rizik Zhahran, age 14
Alaa Mohammad Abdel Rahman Khalil, age 14
Jamal Jaber Ibrahim Assi, age 15
Odai Mofeed Mahmud Assi, age 14
Mahayub Nimer Assi, age 15.
Having seen the behaviour of soldiers in Ni'lin over the past couple of weeks it is horrible to say that this tragic and utterly deplorable death does not come as a surprise. This murderous, brutal and illegal occupation must be brought to an end and the Israeli state must be held to account for the appalling crimes it has committed. For Ahmed and his family, like many others, it is already too late. Let it not be too late for the next victim.
From ISM media:
A 10 year old boy called Ahmed Ussam Yusef Mousa was shot dead at approximately 6pm near the Palestinian village of Ni'lin. He was shot once in the head at close range with live ammunition. According to eye witnesses a group of youths attempted to remove coils of razor wire from land belonging to the village. Without warning, they were fired upon and Ahmed was killed.
Israeli newspaper Maariv reported in March that the Israeli authorities have given a new order to border police operating along the apartheid wall surrounding Jerusalem. They can now open fire directly on Palestinians who try to demonstrate near the barrier. But sniping is forbidden if there are Israeli or foreign citizens amongst demonstrators.
According to ISM volunteers inside Ni'lin, confrontations are now taking place between villagers and the Israeli forces; shots have been heard and five people are said to have been wounded. Demonstrations have been held almost every day for the past few weeks as near Nil'in against Israel's Apartheid Wall, declared illegal by the International Court in the Hague in 2004. The wall will deprive the village of almost 2,500 Dunums of agricultural land, and put the existence of the entire community in doubt.The Israeli Army and Border Police have been increasingly ill-disciplined and violent in response to the demonstrations.
At least 11 other Palestinians have died protesting against Israeli's apartheid wall. Their names are:
Mohammad Fadel Hashem Rayan, age 25
Zakaria MaHmud Salem, age 28
Abdal Rahman Abu Eid, age 62
Mohammad Daud Badwan, age 21
Diaa Abdel Karim Abu Eid, age 24
Hussain mahmud Awwad Aliyan, age 17
Islam Hashem Rizik Zhahran, age 14
Alaa Mohammad Abdel Rahman Khalil, age 14
Jamal Jaber Ibrahim Assi, age 15
Odai Mofeed Mahmud Assi, age 14
Mahayub Nimer Assi, age 15.
Soldiers Run Amok at Women's Demonstration
On Wednesday we went to a women’s only demonstration in Ni’lin. Women from all over the West Bank joined Israeli and international women in a demonstration against the construction of the Apartheid Wall and the confiscation of land belonging to the village (see post below for background).
I had thought that being a demonstration made entirely of women, the soldiers might show a little restraint in the use of their weaponry, but it was not to be. As we walked down towards the construction site, holding banners made by the children at the local school, the soldiers walked straight towards us and threw tear gas canisters and sound bombs at us.
We were not to be deterred however and repeatedly regrouped after every attack. For over an hour, the women of the village stood in front of the soldiers between attacks and told them what the occupation and the Wall was doing to their lives. Some of the soldiers, many of them only 18, looked thoroughly uncomfortable with what was going on. Presumably because they knew these women could be their mother or their sister. For the rest of the soldiers however, there was to be no moment of reflection.
As the women tried to speak to some of the soldiers there were others bursting with excitement with tear gas canisters and sound bombs dangling from their finger tips and bulging out of their pockets. It was as if they simply had too many toys to play with. Every time we tried to regroup, they would just hurl their weapons at us. Even their commander could not control them. Every time a weapon was thrown he shouted at the soldier to stop, as he was reprimanding one soldier, another soldier ten metres away would throw his weapon, as he went to reprimand him, the same would happen again. It was honestly like a comedy sketch except there was nothing funny about it, everything they were throwing had the potential to kill or seriously main if used from such close range. That their commander was trying to control them was a positive but the fact that he couldn’t, was a very dangerous negative.
As the soldiers became bolder and bolder as more and more of them managed to use their weapons while the commander wasn’t looking, a full scale assault on the women began, with tear gas and sound bombs being thrown from only meters away. When men from the village, who had been standing away from the demonstration, saw the attack, they came in to help the women get away. As they did, the soldiers, now free of any inhibitions they may have had previously, used their batons and rifle butts to beat the men. It was as if there was a huge sense of release that they could physically hit men while only being able to gas women.
At one point I saw a man emerge with blood pouring from his head. As medics came to treat him one soldier threw tear gas directly at them. As they ran away the soldier followed them and each time they tried to sit the man down to treat him, the soldier threw tear gas at them. It was as if it was a game where all rules had been abandoned (even the lawless Israeli army are not allowed to target medics). In the melee that resulted, two men were arrested; one was an international taking photographs of the demonstration who, after being held in detention for 6 days, was deported this evening and the second man was the father of the girl who filmed the incident that made international news last week, in which a soldier shot a bound and blindfolded Palestinian. He has been in prison since his arrest and is yet to appear in court. There is no indication of how long he will be held for and what he is charged with.
I had thought that being a demonstration made entirely of women, the soldiers might show a little restraint in the use of their weaponry, but it was not to be. As we walked down towards the construction site, holding banners made by the children at the local school, the soldiers walked straight towards us and threw tear gas canisters and sound bombs at us.
We were not to be deterred however and repeatedly regrouped after every attack. For over an hour, the women of the village stood in front of the soldiers between attacks and told them what the occupation and the Wall was doing to their lives. Some of the soldiers, many of them only 18, looked thoroughly uncomfortable with what was going on. Presumably because they knew these women could be their mother or their sister. For the rest of the soldiers however, there was to be no moment of reflection.
As the women tried to speak to some of the soldiers there were others bursting with excitement with tear gas canisters and sound bombs dangling from their finger tips and bulging out of their pockets. It was as if they simply had too many toys to play with. Every time we tried to regroup, they would just hurl their weapons at us. Even their commander could not control them. Every time a weapon was thrown he shouted at the soldier to stop, as he was reprimanding one soldier, another soldier ten metres away would throw his weapon, as he went to reprimand him, the same would happen again. It was honestly like a comedy sketch except there was nothing funny about it, everything they were throwing had the potential to kill or seriously main if used from such close range. That their commander was trying to control them was a positive but the fact that he couldn’t, was a very dangerous negative.
As the soldiers became bolder and bolder as more and more of them managed to use their weapons while the commander wasn’t looking, a full scale assault on the women began, with tear gas and sound bombs being thrown from only meters away. When men from the village, who had been standing away from the demonstration, saw the attack, they came in to help the women get away. As they did, the soldiers, now free of any inhibitions they may have had previously, used their batons and rifle butts to beat the men. It was as if there was a huge sense of release that they could physically hit men while only being able to gas women.
At one point I saw a man emerge with blood pouring from his head. As medics came to treat him one soldier threw tear gas directly at them. As they ran away the soldier followed them and each time they tried to sit the man down to treat him, the soldier threw tear gas at them. It was as if it was a game where all rules had been abandoned (even the lawless Israeli army are not allowed to target medics). In the melee that resulted, two men were arrested; one was an international taking photographs of the demonstration who, after being held in detention for 6 days, was deported this evening and the second man was the father of the girl who filmed the incident that made international news last week, in which a soldier shot a bound and blindfolded Palestinian. He has been in prison since his arrest and is yet to appear in court. There is no indication of how long he will be held for and what he is charged with.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
More Settler Attacks, More Injustice
Attack No.1:
On Saturday we met a 44 year old Palestinian woman who had been attacked by a female Israeli settler on her way to work. The woman was at a bus shelter near Zatara checkpoint at around 9am waiting for the bus that would take her to work in the local council. As she waited, a group of settler women approached her. She recognised one of them to be a woman who had verbally abused her a month before, telling her that she was not allowed to use the bus shelter as it was ‘settler-only’. When the group reached her, the settler she recognised, who was in her mid-twenties, took a baton out of her bag and struck the Palestinian on the knee so hard that she was signed off work for 8 days and felt pain in her knee for almost 3 months. Too afraid to repeat her journey, the woman had to put in a transfer request and now works in a different district.
Not only was this incident cruel and vicious, but it also illustrates the chilling similarities of what is going on in Palestine with Apartheid South Africa and the discrimination against black people in the United States. Although there are no signs above the bus shelters designating them ‘settler-only’, there are enough civilians wielding batons to ensure that Palestinians know their place.
Attack No. 2:
On Monday night we were called out to the village of Immatin where settlers had attacked Palestinians working in their land. By the time we reached the village the attack had finished, but we met with the Palestinians who had been injured and they told us what had happened.
A father and son had been working in their field at around 5pm when they were approached by 5 settlers, 2 of them on horseback, 3 on foot. The settlers began shouting abuse at them and threatening to beat them if they did not leave their land. As about 15 Palestinians who were working in nearby fields came to help, the settlers moved to higher ground, where within minutes they were joined by up to 20 masked settlers. The settlers began throwing stones at the Palestinians and lighting fires on their land.
A number of Israeli soldiers arrived but they did nothing to stop the settlers. The father who had been working in his field, went to the soldiers and asked if they were going to stop the attack. As he was talking to the soldiers, a settler came between him and the soldiers and sprayed him with an unknown substance in his eyes, causing them to inflame and the skin on his face to burn. As he turned away, the settler hit him on the back of his head with a stick. When his son went to help the settler sprayed the son’s arms and hands with the substance and also beat him on the back of his head and the lower back. All along the soldiers stood there and did nothing to stop the attack.
The soldiers then moved to the higher ground and stood alongside the settlers. Instead of intervening as the settlers continued to light fires and throw stones, they fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the Palestinians as they tried to reach their land to put the fires out. One Palestinian was shot in the thigh by a rubber bullet and as he fell from the impact a soldier threw a tear gas canister directly at him. Eventually the settlers left and Palestinian firemen were able to put out the fires but not before 60 olive trees had been destroyed.
Attack No.3:
On Thursday we were called back to the same village as settlers were attacking once again. By the time we reached the village, after waiting 40 minutes at a checkpoint, the attack had ended. This time the settlers had set fire to over 50 dunums of land, destroying 130 olive trees (the picture on the left shows some of the burnt land). Once they had lit the fires, the settlers had left.
When we arrived at the village there were over 30 soldiers in the area. When we asked what they were doing there, one of them replied ‘We are here to prevent conflict’. We then asked him if they were making any efforts to arrest whoever was responsible for the fires. He replied that it was a matter for the police and gestured over his shoulder to where a number of policemen seemed to be sat twiddling their thumbs in a police jeep.
So having seen their land destroyed, the Palestinians were now surrounded by soldiers while the settlers continued their crusade. During the course of the afternoon a number of other villages reported similar attacks and it is thought that the same group of settlers were responsible. When we drove through one area a whole valley was filled with smoke. The Israeli army had closed the road leading to the affected villages so we were unable to enter to see or report on the damage. However when we spoke with somebody on the phone he said that a large group of settlers had reached the village of Burin where they had thrown stones at Palestinians, smashed cars, started fires and cut wires supplying electricity to the village.
It is thought that the settlers responsible came from local settler outposts (pictured right). Outposts are illegal even under Israeli law (any type of settlement is illegal under international law). They began to appear in the 1990s and are established when settlers take over new areas of land, generally on hilltops close to existing settlements, and set up mobile homes on the land and declare it to be a new settlement. Although supposedly illegal they are indirectly and often directly supported by the Israeli government. What generally happens is that the government declares them illegal but does nothing about them until eventually they begin to resemble an actual settlement, so then the government recognises them and pumps in the resources and incentives that other settlements receive.
Occasionally the government makes a symbolic attempt to dismantle the outposts (10 have been dismantled since 2001 but another 60 have been established). On Thursday the army made such an attempt and tried to remove a trailer from a local outpost that settlers had recently moved there and begun living in. When the army tried to remove the trailer, clashes broke out and the settlers then went on a rampage attacking the village of Burin and lighting the fires described above.
On Saturday we met a 44 year old Palestinian woman who had been attacked by a female Israeli settler on her way to work. The woman was at a bus shelter near Zatara checkpoint at around 9am waiting for the bus that would take her to work in the local council. As she waited, a group of settler women approached her. She recognised one of them to be a woman who had verbally abused her a month before, telling her that she was not allowed to use the bus shelter as it was ‘settler-only’. When the group reached her, the settler she recognised, who was in her mid-twenties, took a baton out of her bag and struck the Palestinian on the knee so hard that she was signed off work for 8 days and felt pain in her knee for almost 3 months. Too afraid to repeat her journey, the woman had to put in a transfer request and now works in a different district.
Not only was this incident cruel and vicious, but it also illustrates the chilling similarities of what is going on in Palestine with Apartheid South Africa and the discrimination against black people in the United States. Although there are no signs above the bus shelters designating them ‘settler-only’, there are enough civilians wielding batons to ensure that Palestinians know their place.
Attack No. 2:
On Monday night we were called out to the village of Immatin where settlers had attacked Palestinians working in their land. By the time we reached the village the attack had finished, but we met with the Palestinians who had been injured and they told us what had happened.
A father and son had been working in their field at around 5pm when they were approached by 5 settlers, 2 of them on horseback, 3 on foot. The settlers began shouting abuse at them and threatening to beat them if they did not leave their land. As about 15 Palestinians who were working in nearby fields came to help, the settlers moved to higher ground, where within minutes they were joined by up to 20 masked settlers. The settlers began throwing stones at the Palestinians and lighting fires on their land.
A number of Israeli soldiers arrived but they did nothing to stop the settlers. The father who had been working in his field, went to the soldiers and asked if they were going to stop the attack. As he was talking to the soldiers, a settler came between him and the soldiers and sprayed him with an unknown substance in his eyes, causing them to inflame and the skin on his face to burn. As he turned away, the settler hit him on the back of his head with a stick. When his son went to help the settler sprayed the son’s arms and hands with the substance and also beat him on the back of his head and the lower back. All along the soldiers stood there and did nothing to stop the attack.
The soldiers then moved to the higher ground and stood alongside the settlers. Instead of intervening as the settlers continued to light fires and throw stones, they fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the Palestinians as they tried to reach their land to put the fires out. One Palestinian was shot in the thigh by a rubber bullet and as he fell from the impact a soldier threw a tear gas canister directly at him. Eventually the settlers left and Palestinian firemen were able to put out the fires but not before 60 olive trees had been destroyed.
Attack No.3:
On Thursday we were called back to the same village as settlers were attacking once again. By the time we reached the village, after waiting 40 minutes at a checkpoint, the attack had ended. This time the settlers had set fire to over 50 dunums of land, destroying 130 olive trees (the picture on the left shows some of the burnt land). Once they had lit the fires, the settlers had left.When we arrived at the village there were over 30 soldiers in the area. When we asked what they were doing there, one of them replied ‘We are here to prevent conflict’. We then asked him if they were making any efforts to arrest whoever was responsible for the fires. He replied that it was a matter for the police and gestured over his shoulder to where a number of policemen seemed to be sat twiddling their thumbs in a police jeep.
So having seen their land destroyed, the Palestinians were now surrounded by soldiers while the settlers continued their crusade. During the course of the afternoon a number of other villages reported similar attacks and it is thought that the same group of settlers were responsible. When we drove through one area a whole valley was filled with smoke. The Israeli army had closed the road leading to the affected villages so we were unable to enter to see or report on the damage. However when we spoke with somebody on the phone he said that a large group of settlers had reached the village of Burin where they had thrown stones at Palestinians, smashed cars, started fires and cut wires supplying electricity to the village.
It is thought that the settlers responsible came from local settler outposts (pictured right). Outposts are illegal even under Israeli law (any type of settlement is illegal under international law). They began to appear in the 1990s and are established when settlers take over new areas of land, generally on hilltops close to existing settlements, and set up mobile homes on the land and declare it to be a new settlement. Although supposedly illegal they are indirectly and often directly supported by the Israeli government. What generally happens is that the government declares them illegal but does nothing about them until eventually they begin to resemble an actual settlement, so then the government recognises them and pumps in the resources and incentives that other settlements receive.Occasionally the government makes a symbolic attempt to dismantle the outposts (10 have been dismantled since 2001 but another 60 have been established). On Thursday the army made such an attempt and tried to remove a trailer from a local outpost that settlers had recently moved there and begun living in. When the army tried to remove the trailer, clashes broke out and the settlers then went on a rampage attacking the village of Burin and lighting the fires described above.
When Palestinians in Burin tried to stop the settlers the army arrived in the village, but far from being deterred, a settler grabbed a gun from one of the soldiers and fired several shots in the air. When he did this the soldiers standing by did nothing. If a Palestinian had done the same he would have been killed within seconds. I am not saying that the settler should have been killed but the incident illustrates the complete lawlessness and impunity with which the settlers act. Basically they have formed their own militia that even the might of the Israeli army is afraid, or perhaps unwilling, to challenge. If the army cannot even stand up to the settlers then what chance is there that they will protect Palestinian farmers and villagers from these gangs as they prowl the hillside in search of their prey.
The problem with settlements and outposts is two-fold. Not only are Palestinians subjected to attacks from their inhabitants but vast areas of land have been annexed by the Israelis for their creation. This leaves the prospects of peace based on a Palestinian state on pre-1967 borders (which unfortunately is the only likely outcome of the current era of 'negotiations') in tatters.
A staunch supporter of settlements and outposts was the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose term in office ended in 2006 after he suffered a stroke. Thirty years ago Sharon was asked how Israelis should deal with Palestinians, he responded that, ‘We'll make a pastrami sandwich out of them. We'll insert a strip of Jewish settlements in between the Palestinians, and then another strip of Jewish settlements right across the West Bank, so that in twenty-five years time, neither the United Nations nor the United States, nobody, will be able to tear it apart.’ In 1998, while Israeli foreign minister, he publicly urged settlers to seize hilltops in order to break up the continuity of Palestinian areas, saying: ‘Let everyone get a move on and take some hilltops! Whatever we take, will be ours, and whatever we don't take, will not be ours!'
It has been Israeli policy since negotiations with Palestinians began to continually change the ‘facts on the ground’ so that every time the Palestinians negotiate they are in fact negotiating for less and less land. Each time the Israelis offer the Palestinians a state of their own in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, it is not the same territory that they captured in 1967 but a shrunken shadow of this territory, punctured and dislocated by Israeli settlements. When the Palestinians refuse the offer (which also denies them the right to control their own borders, control of their own resources, freedom to choose their own capital and numerous other conditions synonymous with a sovereign state) it is they who are blamed for the failure of the peace talks (which is what happened in Camp David in 2000).
While the negotiations stall, the Israelis continue to grab more and more land through the expansion and establishment of settlements and outposts (there are currently over 400,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem) so that next time they offer the Palestinians a state it will be a further reduced and dissected one. The pressure from the international community (mainly the US) is for the Palestinians to accept the state being offered by Israel but where is the justice in this proposed state?
In 1948 after the creation of the state of Israel, the Palestinians were left with 22% of the land of Palestine which comprised the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In 1967 the Israelis occupied this territory, subjected its population to a brutal occupation and have since taken a further 40% of their land for settlements, infrastructure, military bases and the continuing construction of the Apartheid Wall. Now the Palestinians are criticised for not accepting the offer of a state that resembles a butchered array of cantons, where vast amounts of land, used to support a historically agricultural population, have been taken and many villages and towns are cut off from each other in enclaves surrounded by Israeli settlements through which they are unable to pass.
Settlements have dire consequences for the daily life of Palestinians and for the prospects of peace in the region. These consequences are compounded by the fact that settlers appear to have been given free reign to attack Palestinians. Police investigations are scarce and ineffective and although occasionally arrested, settlers are very rarely brought to justice. So not only have Palestinians lost their land and their homes and been cut off from family, friends and livelihoods, they must now live in fear of attack from those responsible, despite the fact that the very existence of settlers is illegal under international law.
The problem with settlements and outposts is two-fold. Not only are Palestinians subjected to attacks from their inhabitants but vast areas of land have been annexed by the Israelis for their creation. This leaves the prospects of peace based on a Palestinian state on pre-1967 borders (which unfortunately is the only likely outcome of the current era of 'negotiations') in tatters.
A staunch supporter of settlements and outposts was the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose term in office ended in 2006 after he suffered a stroke. Thirty years ago Sharon was asked how Israelis should deal with Palestinians, he responded that, ‘We'll make a pastrami sandwich out of them. We'll insert a strip of Jewish settlements in between the Palestinians, and then another strip of Jewish settlements right across the West Bank, so that in twenty-five years time, neither the United Nations nor the United States, nobody, will be able to tear it apart.’ In 1998, while Israeli foreign minister, he publicly urged settlers to seize hilltops in order to break up the continuity of Palestinian areas, saying: ‘Let everyone get a move on and take some hilltops! Whatever we take, will be ours, and whatever we don't take, will not be ours!'
It has been Israeli policy since negotiations with Palestinians began to continually change the ‘facts on the ground’ so that every time the Palestinians negotiate they are in fact negotiating for less and less land. Each time the Israelis offer the Palestinians a state of their own in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, it is not the same territory that they captured in 1967 but a shrunken shadow of this territory, punctured and dislocated by Israeli settlements. When the Palestinians refuse the offer (which also denies them the right to control their own borders, control of their own resources, freedom to choose their own capital and numerous other conditions synonymous with a sovereign state) it is they who are blamed for the failure of the peace talks (which is what happened in Camp David in 2000).
While the negotiations stall, the Israelis continue to grab more and more land through the expansion and establishment of settlements and outposts (there are currently over 400,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem) so that next time they offer the Palestinians a state it will be a further reduced and dissected one. The pressure from the international community (mainly the US) is for the Palestinians to accept the state being offered by Israel but where is the justice in this proposed state?
In 1948 after the creation of the state of Israel, the Palestinians were left with 22% of the land of Palestine which comprised the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In 1967 the Israelis occupied this territory, subjected its population to a brutal occupation and have since taken a further 40% of their land for settlements, infrastructure, military bases and the continuing construction of the Apartheid Wall. Now the Palestinians are criticised for not accepting the offer of a state that resembles a butchered array of cantons, where vast amounts of land, used to support a historically agricultural population, have been taken and many villages and towns are cut off from each other in enclaves surrounded by Israeli settlements through which they are unable to pass.
Settlements have dire consequences for the daily life of Palestinians and for the prospects of peace in the region. These consequences are compounded by the fact that settlers appear to have been given free reign to attack Palestinians. Police investigations are scarce and ineffective and although occasionally arrested, settlers are very rarely brought to justice. So not only have Palestinians lost their land and their homes and been cut off from family, friends and livelihoods, they must now live in fear of attack from those responsible, despite the fact that the very existence of settlers is illegal under international law.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Israeli soldier shoots at a bound and blindfolded Palestinian
In recent weeks I have attended a number of demonstrations against Israeli policy in the West Bank village of Ni’lin.
Before 1948 Ni’lin owned 58,000 dunums (1 dunum is 1000 square metres). In 1948 the Israelis annexed 40,000 dunums to be part of their new state. After the Israelis occupied the West Bank in 1967 they built illegal Israeli settlements with roads leading out into ‘Israel proper’. These settlements and their infrastructure took away another 8000 dunums of Ni’lin’s land. At present the Israelis are constructing the Apartheid Wall around the village along with a military base which will take a further 2500 dunums. The Israeli authorities have also informed the village that they will be building a tunnel at the entrance of the village that will go underneath the settler road they currently use to access the village. The villagers will only be able to enter and leave the village through this tunnel which will connect to Palestinian roads. For this they will confiscate a further 250 dunums.
Experience from other such constructions around the West Bank indicate that the Israelis will use the tunnel to restrict access to village land that lies beyond the tunnel by only opening the tunnel at particular times during the day. Furthermore a buffer zone is required between the ‘settler-only’ roads and Palestinian areas in which no Palestinians are allowed to be. While this land is not confiscated as such, it is rendered redundant through lack of access. If land is not accessed for 3 years Israeli law states that it then belongs to the Israeli state.
So out of 58,000 dunums of land the village will be left with 7250 which will include inaccessible land and built up areas which cannot be farmed.
The loss of land goes hand in hand with the loss of freedom. The villagers will only be able to access the village through a tunnel built underneath the soon to be ‘settler-only’ road. Israeli soldiers will control the gate at the entrance to the tunnel and therefore control the movement of the villagers. Already the Israeli authorities have said that the gate in the section of the tunnel which serves the upper part of the village will only be opened for 45 minutes a day. This means that 1000 people living in the upper village will be completely isolated from vital services and they will be unable to go to work, further impoverishing an already strangled economy.
So for the last 2 months, internationals and Israelis have joined villagers in protests against the continuing confiscation of their land. The Israeli army have been responding with more and more brutality using excessive tear gas and sound bombs as well as rubber bullets and live ammunition. When I was there last week the soldiers appeared to be firing the tear gas directly at us. Not only does the gas cause severe pain and breathing difficulties but the canisters are extremely hot and when fired at high speed from long distances they can cause serious injury. I had worn a brightly coloured top to the demonstration naively thinking that it would be much safer to remain visible to the soldiers at all times. Instead it appeared to facilitate their target practice.
The army have declared a curfew on the village on numerous occasions in the last month as a result of the demonstrations which means that villagers cannot leave their homes for any reason. As a result, international activists have begun staying in the village to witness and document the abuse of human rights. While staying with a family last week, an international working with ISM was shown a video by a young girl which she had filmed a couple of weeks ago. The video showed a soldier shooting at a Palestinian villager with a rubber coated steel bullet. The man had been detained by the Israelis during a demonstration, he was bound and blindfolded and being held by a lieutenant colonel as the shot was fired. Here is a link to the video:
http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_Releases/20080720.asp
It should be noted that while the Israeli army has condemned the actions of the soldier, the lieutenant colonel who not only witnessed the attack but actually held the prisoner’s arm as the shot was fired, took no action following the incident. The only reason this has come to light is that the video was uncovered, if it hadn’t been then nothing would have been done and nobody would have known about it. One can only wonder how many other incidents like this go unnoticed in Palestine.
Before 1948 Ni’lin owned 58,000 dunums (1 dunum is 1000 square metres). In 1948 the Israelis annexed 40,000 dunums to be part of their new state. After the Israelis occupied the West Bank in 1967 they built illegal Israeli settlements with roads leading out into ‘Israel proper’. These settlements and their infrastructure took away another 8000 dunums of Ni’lin’s land. At present the Israelis are constructing the Apartheid Wall around the village along with a military base which will take a further 2500 dunums. The Israeli authorities have also informed the village that they will be building a tunnel at the entrance of the village that will go underneath the settler road they currently use to access the village. The villagers will only be able to enter and leave the village through this tunnel which will connect to Palestinian roads. For this they will confiscate a further 250 dunums.
Experience from other such constructions around the West Bank indicate that the Israelis will use the tunnel to restrict access to village land that lies beyond the tunnel by only opening the tunnel at particular times during the day. Furthermore a buffer zone is required between the ‘settler-only’ roads and Palestinian areas in which no Palestinians are allowed to be. While this land is not confiscated as such, it is rendered redundant through lack of access. If land is not accessed for 3 years Israeli law states that it then belongs to the Israeli state.
So out of 58,000 dunums of land the village will be left with 7250 which will include inaccessible land and built up areas which cannot be farmed.
The loss of land goes hand in hand with the loss of freedom. The villagers will only be able to access the village through a tunnel built underneath the soon to be ‘settler-only’ road. Israeli soldiers will control the gate at the entrance to the tunnel and therefore control the movement of the villagers. Already the Israeli authorities have said that the gate in the section of the tunnel which serves the upper part of the village will only be opened for 45 minutes a day. This means that 1000 people living in the upper village will be completely isolated from vital services and they will be unable to go to work, further impoverishing an already strangled economy.
So for the last 2 months, internationals and Israelis have joined villagers in protests against the continuing confiscation of their land. The Israeli army have been responding with more and more brutality using excessive tear gas and sound bombs as well as rubber bullets and live ammunition. When I was there last week the soldiers appeared to be firing the tear gas directly at us. Not only does the gas cause severe pain and breathing difficulties but the canisters are extremely hot and when fired at high speed from long distances they can cause serious injury. I had worn a brightly coloured top to the demonstration naively thinking that it would be much safer to remain visible to the soldiers at all times. Instead it appeared to facilitate their target practice.
The army have declared a curfew on the village on numerous occasions in the last month as a result of the demonstrations which means that villagers cannot leave their homes for any reason. As a result, international activists have begun staying in the village to witness and document the abuse of human rights. While staying with a family last week, an international working with ISM was shown a video by a young girl which she had filmed a couple of weeks ago. The video showed a soldier shooting at a Palestinian villager with a rubber coated steel bullet. The man had been detained by the Israelis during a demonstration, he was bound and blindfolded and being held by a lieutenant colonel as the shot was fired. Here is a link to the video:
http://www.btselem.org/english/Press_Releases/20080720.asp
It should be noted that while the Israeli army has condemned the actions of the soldier, the lieutenant colonel who not only witnessed the attack but actually held the prisoner’s arm as the shot was fired, took no action following the incident. The only reason this has come to light is that the video was uncovered, if it hadn’t been then nothing would have been done and nobody would have known about it. One can only wonder how many other incidents like this go unnoticed in Palestine.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Almonds pose massive security threat to the State of Israel
This is a little long but please bear with me as again it is a story that needs to be told.
On Sunday and Monday we joined a farmer and his family from the village of Kufr Qalil as they tried to harvest almonds from their land. The land is very close to an illegal Israeli settlement. The Israelis took away some of the farmer’s land to construct a road to the settlement, so his land is now split into 2 sections, some falling below the road and the rest falling above it. The family are scared to visit their land because the settlers from the settlement attack or harass them and they also have problems gaining access to the land. They ask for internationals to accompany them because in the past the presence of internationals have helped them gain access to their land and proven to help limit, and decrease the severity of, attacks. I presume this is because if internationals witness anything people outside are likely to hear about it (and if I’m really cynical perhaps people will also be more likely to listen to what is said).
At 7am we met the family and split into 2 groups, one to work above the road and another below it. I went with the group heading below the road which consisted of myself, another woman from IWPS, a male international, and a 20 year old female, a boy of 16 and 2 children, all from the farmer’s family.
As we crossed the settler road to get to the fields, a settler was driving past. When he saw us he stopped the car and began making phone calls on his mobile. The Palestinians were obviously scared and asked us to walk in front of them. We carried on walking down the road and the car drove slowly behind. We entered the fields and as we were about to start work a settler with an M16 (a huge gun) then entered the fields and said that the family did not have permission to be in the fields below the road and we would have to leave.
However the family did have this so called ‘permission’. In 2006 the Israeli High Court ruled that Palestinians should be able to access their land freely at any time, they do not need to obtain permission and the army is duty bound to protect them from settlers. These rulings are rarely followed however and farmers are constantly turned away from their land because they have not applied for ‘permission’ from the Israeli authorities. The family we were with today had however obtained this permission. They had spoken to the DCO (the office which coordinates the Israeli army’s activities within a particular district), which said they would be able to go to their fields. Having spoken to a farmer the DCO is then required to liaise with all security forces in the area to ensure that the farmer has adequate protection while his work is carried out.
So for 10 minutes we stood with an armed settler, whose presence was illegal, as he told the family they would have to leave their own land as they had no permission to be there, even though legally they did not need permission. Then 2 soldiers arrived. I assumed they were there to fulfil their duty and protect the Palestinians but they only spoke Hebrew and only spoke with the settler. They then proceeded to tell us through a variety of threatening gestures that we must leave the land.
We called the DCO who passed us from person to person within the office but confirmed nothing
and expressed no concern that the settlers and soldiers were preventing the Palestinians reaching their land. Then 2 men in uniforms arrived (pictured right with the armed settler), they wore badges that simply said ‘Security’. One had an M16, the other a video camera. They too approached us and said we would have to leave. When we asked who they were they would not answer.
The soldiers then left us to go and speak to the group who were harvesting on the fields above the road. (Leaving a group of Palestinians surrounded by armed settlers is clearly in breach of the High Court ruling that states they are duty bound to protect Palestinians from settlers trying to attack them or interfere with their work)
Once the soldiers had left the 2 ‘security’ men soon became aggressive. They seemed particularly keen to antagonise the 16 year old boy, trying to push him from his fields. They then tried to take the family’s donkey but I threw myself on top of it to stop them (it appears that land, lives and freedom are not enough for the Israelis, they want the donkeys too).
After 10 minutes the soldiers returned and were soon joined by 2 Israeli policemen who also told us we were not allowed to be below the road. When I asked one of the settlers why it mattered that we were in the fields below the road I was told that ‘it matters’. That was all we heard by way of explanation all day.
Finally a representative from the DCO arrived and when I asked if the family had permission to be there he said yes, so I asked if we could begin work and he said yes, so I asked if he would ask the settlers to leave so that we could start work he shrugged his shoulders and remained sat in his car.
Eventually the family decided they did not want trouble and they did not want to be attacked while they worked so we would just go to the fields above the road. They confirmed with the DCO and the Israeli policeman that they wanted to work in the fields below the road the following day and they were assured this would be possible.
The following day…
When we arrived at the road the next day there was already a minibus full of settlers (pictured left) and an army jeep waiting for us. As soon as we approached, the settlers charged from the minibus towards us but the soldiers prevented them reaching us. All of the settlers were teenage boys who seemed to be following orders from a man in his fifties who was driving the minibus. Some of them carried large sticks and the Palestinians (who this time included the 20 year old woman, the 16 year old boy and 3 small children) were clearly very scared.
When we explained to the soldiers that we had permission to be in the fields they said they knew nothing about it and we would have to wait until they had spoken to their commander. The settlers watched and waited for 20 minutes before getting back into the minibus and driving towards us, stopping directly in front of us. The grown man then turned on very loud music and along with the boys, jumped out of the minibus and began ‘dancing’ around us and jumping on top of the bus. While there was no violence in their actions, the behaviour was extremely intimidating and the young Palestinian children were really frightened. We looked to the soldiers to stop this intimidation but instead of ending the performance they began laughing, turned the music in their jeep up and began taking pictures with their mobile phones. I felt that now familiar feeling of disbelief once again.
After 5 minutes the settlers left and the army said they had checked with the DCO and we could work on the fields above and below the road. So at last, the family could pick their almonds.
We did not pick many however before the soldiers returned 30 minutes later and said the DCO had changed its mind and that if we didn’t move to the fields above the road we would be arrested. When the internationals protested they were told that if they didn’t leave, the soldiers would take the Palestinians away. Knowing that being ‘taken away’ could result in detention for several months if not longer (regardless of age), we left the fields immediately. When leaving we gave the soldiers a copy of the High Court order but they said, as most perpetrators of oppression do, that they were just taking orders from above. (The picture on the left shows heavily armed soldiers forcing children to leave their fields)
We crossed the road and began working in the fields above. After half an hour the same soldiers returned and said that the whole area had been declared a closed military zone. The soldiers produced a document which was in Hebrew so we could not understand it, but it contained an aerial photograph which basically showed the area we were standing in with a huge red circle drawn around it. A closed military zone means that nobody can enter the designated area and anybody who does will be arrested immediately. It is normally reserved for full scale military operations in big cities.
One of the clauses of the High Court order we had shown the soldiers is that Palestinians cannot have free access to their land if a closed military zone has been declared. So rather than just letting this poor family pick their almonds, the soldiers had gone to their commander and organised for a closed military zone to be declared in some empty fields in the middle of nowhere, where there was no threat whatsoever to the security of state of Israel.
Minutes later 3 policemen arrived and the soldiers gave them the papers and left. The policemen then began shouting that we had 5 minutes to leave the area or we would all be arrested. So again we gathered up our things and began to leave. While waiting for the other group who were higher up in the fields, we contacted the head of the police who allowed us to wait in the fields until his arrival. After 10 minutes he arrived along with the same DCO representative as the day before.
The policeman then explained that in order to be able to work in the fields the farmer must speak with the DCO. When we told the policeman that the representative standing in front of us had confirmed with the farmer and ourselves the day before that the farmer could come the next day, the representative denied having ever spoken to any of us. He then told the farmer that if he wanted to visit his fields he would have to visit the DCO office and present papers that proved he owned the land. Once he had done this the DCO would then issue him with specific dates on which he would be ‘allowed’ to visit his fields. Under threat of arrest we left.
The farmer visited the DCO later that day with the papers proving he owned the land but they were not accepted. The family have been unable to return to their land since and it is unlikely that if they are ever granted ‘permission’ the almonds will still be in a harvestable condition.
The whole incident was a complete violation of the 2006 Israeli High Court ruling, yet there seems nothing we can do about it. It is so hard to comprehend that there are people so intent on preventing others living. Picking almonds may not seem like an important issue to us, but it means everything if you have already lost so much. In a place where poverty and unemployment are so high, land provides a lifeline. It also gives people a purpose and a sense of worth in a place where every policy seems motivated by a desire to crush the human spirit. Israel carries out most of its activities under the pretence that they are necessary in order to ensure the security of the Israeli state. Yet this incident is one of numerous examples that illustrates that these policies have nothing to do with security; how can 3 children, a 16 year old boy and a 20 year old girl picking almonds in a field pose a threat to the state of Israel? These policies intend solely to make life so difficult for Palestinians that they are driven to despair and give up their land.
The longer I stay here the greater the anger and the disbelief becomes. I am only seeing a tiny part of it, but what is going on here is unimaginable cruelty and oppression. The Israeli soldier who read a copy of the ruling that we gave to him said ‘I don’t care about all this human rights and sh*t’. This seems to be an appropriate motto for the Israeli state.
At 7am we met the family and split into 2 groups, one to work above the road and another below it. I went with the group heading below the road which consisted of myself, another woman from IWPS, a male international, and a 20 year old female, a boy of 16 and 2 children, all from the farmer’s family.
As we crossed the settler road to get to the fields, a settler was driving past. When he saw us he stopped the car and began making phone calls on his mobile. The Palestinians were obviously scared and asked us to walk in front of them. We carried on walking down the road and the car drove slowly behind. We entered the fields and as we were about to start work a settler with an M16 (a huge gun) then entered the fields and said that the family did not have permission to be in the fields below the road and we would have to leave.
However the family did have this so called ‘permission’. In 2006 the Israeli High Court ruled that Palestinians should be able to access their land freely at any time, they do not need to obtain permission and the army is duty bound to protect them from settlers. These rulings are rarely followed however and farmers are constantly turned away from their land because they have not applied for ‘permission’ from the Israeli authorities. The family we were with today had however obtained this permission. They had spoken to the DCO (the office which coordinates the Israeli army’s activities within a particular district), which said they would be able to go to their fields. Having spoken to a farmer the DCO is then required to liaise with all security forces in the area to ensure that the farmer has adequate protection while his work is carried out.
So for 10 minutes we stood with an armed settler, whose presence was illegal, as he told the family they would have to leave their own land as they had no permission to be there, even though legally they did not need permission. Then 2 soldiers arrived. I assumed they were there to fulfil their duty and protect the Palestinians but they only spoke Hebrew and only spoke with the settler. They then proceeded to tell us through a variety of threatening gestures that we must leave the land.
We called the DCO who passed us from person to person within the office but confirmed nothing
and expressed no concern that the settlers and soldiers were preventing the Palestinians reaching their land. Then 2 men in uniforms arrived (pictured right with the armed settler), they wore badges that simply said ‘Security’. One had an M16, the other a video camera. They too approached us and said we would have to leave. When we asked who they were they would not answer.The soldiers then left us to go and speak to the group who were harvesting on the fields above the road. (Leaving a group of Palestinians surrounded by armed settlers is clearly in breach of the High Court ruling that states they are duty bound to protect Palestinians from settlers trying to attack them or interfere with their work)
Once the soldiers had left the 2 ‘security’ men soon became aggressive. They seemed particularly keen to antagonise the 16 year old boy, trying to push him from his fields. They then tried to take the family’s donkey but I threw myself on top of it to stop them (it appears that land, lives and freedom are not enough for the Israelis, they want the donkeys too).
After 10 minutes the soldiers returned and were soon joined by 2 Israeli policemen who also told us we were not allowed to be below the road. When I asked one of the settlers why it mattered that we were in the fields below the road I was told that ‘it matters’. That was all we heard by way of explanation all day.
Finally a representative from the DCO arrived and when I asked if the family had permission to be there he said yes, so I asked if we could begin work and he said yes, so I asked if he would ask the settlers to leave so that we could start work he shrugged his shoulders and remained sat in his car.
Eventually the family decided they did not want trouble and they did not want to be attacked while they worked so we would just go to the fields above the road. They confirmed with the DCO and the Israeli policeman that they wanted to work in the fields below the road the following day and they were assured this would be possible.
The following day…
When we arrived at the road the next day there was already a minibus full of settlers (pictured left) and an army jeep waiting for us. As soon as we approached, the settlers charged from the minibus towards us but the soldiers prevented them reaching us. All of the settlers were teenage boys who seemed to be following orders from a man in his fifties who was driving the minibus. Some of them carried large sticks and the Palestinians (who this time included the 20 year old woman, the 16 year old boy and 3 small children) were clearly very scared.When we explained to the soldiers that we had permission to be in the fields they said they knew nothing about it and we would have to wait until they had spoken to their commander. The settlers watched and waited for 20 minutes before getting back into the minibus and driving towards us, stopping directly in front of us. The grown man then turned on very loud music and along with the boys, jumped out of the minibus and began ‘dancing’ around us and jumping on top of the bus. While there was no violence in their actions, the behaviour was extremely intimidating and the young Palestinian children were really frightened. We looked to the soldiers to stop this intimidation but instead of ending the performance they began laughing, turned the music in their jeep up and began taking pictures with their mobile phones. I felt that now familiar feeling of disbelief once again.
After 5 minutes the settlers left and the army said they had checked with the DCO and we could work on the fields above and below the road. So at last, the family could pick their almonds.
We did not pick many however before the soldiers returned 30 minutes later and said the DCO had changed its mind and that if we didn’t move to the fields above the road we would be arrested. When the internationals protested they were told that if they didn’t leave, the soldiers would take the Palestinians away. Knowing that being ‘taken away’ could result in detention for several months if not longer (regardless of age), we left the fields immediately. When leaving we gave the soldiers a copy of the High Court order but they said, as most perpetrators of oppression do, that they were just taking orders from above. (The picture on the left shows heavily armed soldiers forcing children to leave their fields)We crossed the road and began working in the fields above. After half an hour the same soldiers returned and said that the whole area had been declared a closed military zone. The soldiers produced a document which was in Hebrew so we could not understand it, but it contained an aerial photograph which basically showed the area we were standing in with a huge red circle drawn around it. A closed military zone means that nobody can enter the designated area and anybody who does will be arrested immediately. It is normally reserved for full scale military operations in big cities.
One of the clauses of the High Court order we had shown the soldiers is that Palestinians cannot have free access to their land if a closed military zone has been declared. So rather than just letting this poor family pick their almonds, the soldiers had gone to their commander and organised for a closed military zone to be declared in some empty fields in the middle of nowhere, where there was no threat whatsoever to the security of state of Israel.
Minutes later 3 policemen arrived and the soldiers gave them the papers and left. The policemen then began shouting that we had 5 minutes to leave the area or we would all be arrested. So again we gathered up our things and began to leave. While waiting for the other group who were higher up in the fields, we contacted the head of the police who allowed us to wait in the fields until his arrival. After 10 minutes he arrived along with the same DCO representative as the day before.
The policeman then explained that in order to be able to work in the fields the farmer must speak with the DCO. When we told the policeman that the representative standing in front of us had confirmed with the farmer and ourselves the day before that the farmer could come the next day, the representative denied having ever spoken to any of us. He then told the farmer that if he wanted to visit his fields he would have to visit the DCO office and present papers that proved he owned the land. Once he had done this the DCO would then issue him with specific dates on which he would be ‘allowed’ to visit his fields. Under threat of arrest we left.
The farmer visited the DCO later that day with the papers proving he owned the land but they were not accepted. The family have been unable to return to their land since and it is unlikely that if they are ever granted ‘permission’ the almonds will still be in a harvestable condition.
The whole incident was a complete violation of the 2006 Israeli High Court ruling, yet there seems nothing we can do about it. It is so hard to comprehend that there are people so intent on preventing others living. Picking almonds may not seem like an important issue to us, but it means everything if you have already lost so much. In a place where poverty and unemployment are so high, land provides a lifeline. It also gives people a purpose and a sense of worth in a place where every policy seems motivated by a desire to crush the human spirit. Israel carries out most of its activities under the pretence that they are necessary in order to ensure the security of the Israeli state. Yet this incident is one of numerous examples that illustrates that these policies have nothing to do with security; how can 3 children, a 16 year old boy and a 20 year old girl picking almonds in a field pose a threat to the state of Israel? These policies intend solely to make life so difficult for Palestinians that they are driven to despair and give up their land.
The longer I stay here the greater the anger and the disbelief becomes. I am only seeing a tiny part of it, but what is going on here is unimaginable cruelty and oppression. The Israeli soldier who read a copy of the ruling that we gave to him said ‘I don’t care about all this human rights and sh*t’. This seems to be an appropriate motto for the Israeli state.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Another Year of Injustice
On Wednesday I went to a demonstration in Azzun Atma to mark the 4th anniversary of the ruling by the International Court of Justice in the Hague that the Wall being built around the West Bank is illegal and construction should stop immediately. Since the ruling construction of the Wall has continued unabated and peaceful demonstrations have been held around the West Bank on each anniversary of the ruling.
While the Wall has a devastating impact on most of the West Bank, its brutality is particularly apparent in this small village. In 1983 the villagers of Azzun Atma began to lose land to the occupation as the Israelis built 2 illegal settlements on either side of the village. In 2003, they began to lose their freedom as the Israelis built the Apartheid Wall so that it surrounds their village completely. Now, the only way they can leave the village is through a checkpoint manned day and night by soldiers. Although they are there every hour of every day the soldiers will only open the gate at the checkpoint between 6am and 10pm. This means that if somebody desperately needs to leave the village, even if they are sick or dying they must wait until 6am as the soldiers will not open the gate during the night under any circumstances.
The original plan for the demonstration had been for villagers from Azzun Atma to demonstrate on their side of the checkpoint and the people coming from Qalqiliya and Beit Amin to demonstrate on the other side. When we arrived at the checkpoint there was nobody on the Azzun Atma side as apparently the villagers were afraid of the repercussions once the other demonstrators left. Few could blame them; in recent months there have been increasing cases of harassment by the soldiers, the villagers are regularly humiliated while crossing the checkpoint and last month a villager was severely beaten by the soldiers while trying to cross to the village.
We stood near the checkpoint which was guarded by over around 20 soldiers for approximately thirty minutes. With our point made (but not taken) we left. It is likely that the demonstrators will be back next year, that is if the village of Azzun Atma still exists.
While obviously the ruling by the International Court of Justice is important and the more international condemnation of Israel’s policies the better, the continued construction of the Wall has highlighted the apparent impunity with which Israel behaves. A just peace seems a long way off if Israel continues to be unaccountable for its actions.
While the Wall has a devastating impact on most of the West Bank, its brutality is particularly apparent in this small village. In 1983 the villagers of Azzun Atma began to lose land to the occupation as the Israelis built 2 illegal settlements on either side of the village. In 2003, they began to lose their freedom as the Israelis built the Apartheid Wall so that it surrounds their village completely. Now, the only way they can leave the village is through a checkpoint manned day and night by soldiers. Although they are there every hour of every day the soldiers will only open the gate at the checkpoint between 6am and 10pm. This means that if somebody desperately needs to leave the village, even if they are sick or dying they must wait until 6am as the soldiers will not open the gate during the night under any circumstances.
The original plan for the demonstration had been for villagers from Azzun Atma to demonstrate on their side of the checkpoint and the people coming from Qalqiliya and Beit Amin to demonstrate on the other side. When we arrived at the checkpoint there was nobody on the Azzun Atma side as apparently the villagers were afraid of the repercussions once the other demonstrators left. Few could blame them; in recent months there have been increasing cases of harassment by the soldiers, the villagers are regularly humiliated while crossing the checkpoint and last month a villager was severely beaten by the soldiers while trying to cross to the village.
We stood near the checkpoint which was guarded by over around 20 soldiers for approximately thirty minutes. With our point made (but not taken) we left. It is likely that the demonstrators will be back next year, that is if the village of Azzun Atma still exists.
While obviously the ruling by the International Court of Justice is important and the more international condemnation of Israel’s policies the better, the continued construction of the Wall has highlighted the apparent impunity with which Israel behaves. A just peace seems a long way off if Israel continues to be unaccountable for its actions.
Links:
Stop the Wall campaign: http://www.stopthewall.org/latestnews/637.shtml
Full ICJ ruling: http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/131/1677.pdf
Israeli human rights organisation: http://www.btselem.org/English/Separation_Barrier/ Case study Azzun Atma: http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=395
Israeli human rights organisation: http://www.btselem.org/English/Separation_Barrier/ Case study Azzun Atma: http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=395
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Dancing to the soldiers
On Saturday we joined villagers from Sarra on a demonstration against a roadblock that prevents them accessing the road that connects them to surrounding towns. The roadblock means that for those working or studying outside of the village, simple journeys they have to make every day have become long and unpredictable. To travel eastwards they must now go to the opposite end of the village, travel for several miles in the wrong direction and negotiate numerous checkpoints. Furthermore, villagers have been unable to access their land as the Israelis have built a highway around the village (on village land) that can only be used by Israelis so Palestinians cannot even cross the road to reach the trees that lie beyond it.When the demonstration reached the roadblock which is basically an earth mound, we climbed on top of it and faced the army jeep that was waiting for us. In quick succession another 5 army vehicles arrived including 2 armoured personnel carriers.
There was a very positive energy in the protest as the Palestinians chanted resistance songs, waved their national flag and some young boys held a banner stating that what is going on in Palestine is Apartheid. After just 2 or 3 minutes this atmosphere was crushed as a soldier threw a sound bomb which landed directly in front of the children holding the banner. Instantly there was panic and people began to flee.
After several minutes people regrouped and slowly retuned to the earth mound. This time a group of boys dressed in traditional costumes climbed over the mound, went down to the army vehicles and began dancing the Dabka, the national dance of Palestine. The crowd clapped the boys on and it was a special moment watching them dancing in front of soldiers who really didn’t know what to do. Some turned their backs, others stood rigid determined not to be distracted, while the demonstrators cheered, clapped and waved the Palestinian flags.
After a few minutes the soldiers told us we would have to leave and they began to close in on us with snipers taking their positions on the hills above us. I wondered who the snipers had their rifles trained on, was it the children holding their flags, the boys dressed in their dance costumes, the teachers, students or engineers committed to non-violent resistance against this brutal occupation?
As the soldiers moved in, the demonstrators retreated and began to head back to the village. As we did so the soldiers fired the first rounds of tear gas which sent people scrambling backwards into the tiny bottleneck that led to the road block. It was a miracle that nobody was injured in the stampede. As people tried to get away, the soldiers continued to fire more tear gas at us again and again until the road was empty. The demonstration was over but the image of the Palestinians performing their national dance in front of the soldiers was a powerful act of resistance that I will not forget.
Friday, July 4, 2008
The Living and the Dying That We Don't Hear About
I’m sure everyone has read about or seen the incident in Jerusalem this week in which a Palestinian used a bulldozer to kill three Israelis and injured dozens more. These deaths and injuries were horrible and should not have happened; rightly they have been condemned internationally. In contrast, I doubt that many people have heard about the deaths of four Palestinians this week at the hands of the Israeli military, there has certainly been no international condemnation. These deaths were equally horrible and should not have happened. One of the men killed was linked to a Palestinian militant group (if, for some, that justifies his assassination), one was a university student killed in his bedroom, the other two were seventeen year old boys.
All of these deaths were wrong and they should all have been reported. While I doubt the media coverage is any comfort to the families of the Israeli victims, imagine how silence would feel. Imagine a soldier shot and killed your son or brother when they had done nothing wrong, he then walked away and nothing was said, people did not even hear about it let alone condemn it or seek an explanation or punishment. Imagine your whole life was full of injustice and persecution that nobody ever heard about, let alone tried to stop. It is unbearable to imagine where the desperation and the frustration at this silence would lead you but the awful events in Jerusalem are one tragic possibility. As always the Israelis will not see this logic, instead it appears that they will respond by further imprisoning a population already on its knees, fuelling the fire of desperation.
(Since writing this it has become clear that the actions of the driver of the bulldozer were not in anyway politically motivated, although the Israelis are continuing to label the incident a terrorist attack)
News Links:
Two killed in Nablus: http://www.imemc.org/article/55617
A 17 year old boy killed in Beit Omer: http://www.imemc.org/article/55703
A 17 year old boy killed in Tubas: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?r=ShowDetails&ID=30172
35 Palestinians killed in June: http://www.imemc.org/article/55730
All of these deaths were wrong and they should all have been reported. While I doubt the media coverage is any comfort to the families of the Israeli victims, imagine how silence would feel. Imagine a soldier shot and killed your son or brother when they had done nothing wrong, he then walked away and nothing was said, people did not even hear about it let alone condemn it or seek an explanation or punishment. Imagine your whole life was full of injustice and persecution that nobody ever heard about, let alone tried to stop. It is unbearable to imagine where the desperation and the frustration at this silence would lead you but the awful events in Jerusalem are one tragic possibility. As always the Israelis will not see this logic, instead it appears that they will respond by further imprisoning a population already on its knees, fuelling the fire of desperation.
(Since writing this it has become clear that the actions of the driver of the bulldozer were not in anyway politically motivated, although the Israelis are continuing to label the incident a terrorist attack)
News Links:
Two killed in Nablus: http://www.imemc.org/article/55617
A 17 year old boy killed in Beit Omer: http://www.imemc.org/article/55703
A 17 year old boy killed in Tubas: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?r=ShowDetails&ID=30172
35 Palestinians killed in June: http://www.imemc.org/article/55730
Monday, June 30, 2008
'The One-Family Bantustan'
On Monday we went to Mas’ha where the Apartheid Wall has not only been built around a village preventing people reaching their land, it has also been built so that it excludes one house from the rest of the village leaving it trapped behind a 40m long, 8m high concrete wall on one side and a 3m high fence on the other. The Wall has been built to ‘protect’ the illegal Israeli settlement built on Palestinian land next to the village, yet its only purpose appears to be to cut off Palestinians from their land and their livelihoods and in this case to cut off one family from their friends, relatives, neighbours and the life they have lead since they built their home in 1972.
To get to their home the family in the house have to pass through a metal gate that until recently only soldiers held the keys for. While the family can now control their access to some extent, any visitors have to call or shout over the wall to be let in. When the gate is opened an alarm is sent to the Israeli military and they sometimes appear and turn the visitors away. To the side of the house is a large road used day and night by heavy military vehicles, the family have no access to the road.
Before the Wall was constructed the family had 2 dunums of land on which they ran a small restaurant and cultivated fruit and flowers for sale. The Israelis confiscated this land for the construction of the Wall and now all that remains is the house. The family own land very close to their home but instead of it taking them 2 or 3 minutes to reach it, as it used to, it now takes half an hour as they have to travel back through Mas’ha, travel around the settlement and approach it from the opposite direction. If the soldiers create problems for them or set up flying checkpoints along the road, the journey can sometimes take 3 or 4 hours.
Their neighbours are settlers living in large houses on the other side of the fence about 20 feet away. While one of the neighbours says hello from time to time the only contact the family have with the other neighbours is when they pelt the family home with rocks. The children of the family do not play outside as they are scared of the soldiers and the settlers.
The house has received a lot of international attention but no matter how many people come and sympathise with them and shake their heads at the absurdity of it all I doubt anyone can really imagine what it must be like living and growing up in a house like this. They wake up to see a huge concrete wall, they are scared to leave their home in case they get back and the military has taken it over, friends and relatives cannot just call by for a casual chat, their children cannot play happily and freely in the garden because the neighbours might throw rocks at them and they can’t rely on their land because they cannot always reach it.
We didn’t stay long, we just talked with the family, they explained their problems, we sat staring at the huge concrete wall and we shook our heads as many have done before us. The UN are aware of the situation but it seems there is nothing they can do, despite the fact that Israel is acting illegally on several levels. When we left the house I felt like I had just visited somebody in prison, a huge iron gate closing behind us as the family retreated back to their cell.
Links:
http://www.un.org/unrwa/emergency/barrier/profiles/mas'ha.html
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/bantustan.html
To get to their home the family in the house have to pass through a metal gate that until recently only soldiers held the keys for. While the family can now control their access to some extent, any visitors have to call or shout over the wall to be let in. When the gate is opened an alarm is sent to the Israeli military and they sometimes appear and turn the visitors away. To the side of the house is a large road used day and night by heavy military vehicles, the family have no access to the road.
Before the Wall was constructed the family had 2 dunums of land on which they ran a small restaurant and cultivated fruit and flowers for sale. The Israelis confiscated this land for the construction of the Wall and now all that remains is the house. The family own land very close to their home but instead of it taking them 2 or 3 minutes to reach it, as it used to, it now takes half an hour as they have to travel back through Mas’ha, travel around the settlement and approach it from the opposite direction. If the soldiers create problems for them or set up flying checkpoints along the road, the journey can sometimes take 3 or 4 hours.
Their neighbours are settlers living in large houses on the other side of the fence about 20 feet away. While one of the neighbours says hello from time to time the only contact the family have with the other neighbours is when they pelt the family home with rocks. The children of the family do not play outside as they are scared of the soldiers and the settlers.The house has received a lot of international attention but no matter how many people come and sympathise with them and shake their heads at the absurdity of it all I doubt anyone can really imagine what it must be like living and growing up in a house like this. They wake up to see a huge concrete wall, they are scared to leave their home in case they get back and the military has taken it over, friends and relatives cannot just call by for a casual chat, their children cannot play happily and freely in the garden because the neighbours might throw rocks at them and they can’t rely on their land because they cannot always reach it.
We didn’t stay long, we just talked with the family, they explained their problems, we sat staring at the huge concrete wall and we shook our heads as many have done before us. The UN are aware of the situation but it seems there is nothing they can do, despite the fact that Israel is acting illegally on several levels. When we left the house I felt like I had just visited somebody in prison, a huge iron gate closing behind us as the family retreated back to their cell.
Links:
http://www.un.org/unrwa/emergency/barrier/profiles/mas'ha.html
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/bantustan.html
Wadi Qana
On Saturday we went to a demonstration / solidarity visit to Wadi Qana. This is a small valley in the Salfit district. It’s very pretty particularly during the winter months and Palestinians have used its water sources for centuries as it has numerous natural springs. Since the occupation began in 1967 the Israelis have been gradually annexing the land, forcing the Palestinians who lived in the area out and making it impossible for Palestinians in the surrounding areas to reach the land (which is owned and farmed by them) and use its water resources.We joined local villagers, representatives of the Palestinian Authority, Israelis and other internationals on a visit to Wadi Qana and to the village of Al-‘Uyuuna at the end of the valley. We set off in cars along an awful road but were stopped after 1km by 2 Israelis jeeps. The soldiers said we were not allowed to take cars through the valley (despite the fact they’d just driven their jeeps through it). We abandoned the vehicles and set off on foot only for them to change their minds 500m down the path meaning we could all get back in the cars and continue.
On either side of the valley the hills are lined with illegal Israeli settlements, 7 in total. Not only are the settlements built illegally on stolen land but the settlers often come down the slopes and attack local farmers trying to earn a living on their own land. In addition they vandalise wells and water pipes used by Palestinians and in some cases they have completely taken over natural water springs, guarding them so that Palestinians cannot reach them. The road through the valley can hardly be described as a road and at various points we had to splash our way through overflowing raw sewage from the surrounding settlements. Not only is this disgusting but it also contaminates the natural water supplies that the Palestinians depend on.After half an hour we reached the village of Al-‘Uyuuna. It used to have 40 buildings but 33 of these have been demolished by the Israeli military. The remaining 7 all have demolition orders
on them. To look at them, I was surprised they even warranted a demolition order, they would not have looked out of place in one of those museums showing what rural life was like hundred of years ago. They look like this because the Israeli authorities will not allow the villagers to use anything other than basic stone and mud to build their homes, with a blanket ban on permanent concrete roofing. They obviously don’t want the villagers to get too settled, even though most of them have lived in the area for centuries. The other residents fled to the village in 1948 after being forced from their homes in Jaffa when the Israeli state was created. They have been waiting to return to their homes ever since.
When we left the village we headed out on the settlement road and left through the settlement gate. Anybody can leave through this gate but only those on a list held by the Israeli authorities can enter the village through the gate. Those lucky enough to have been registered at birth as belonging to the village are on the list but there are many that are not on the list as the Israelis have stopped registering people under the village, instead registering them under surrounding villages. It is clear what they want to achieve through this policy.If not on the list villagers and visitors to the village have to travel round to the other side of the valley and make their way along the terrible road along which we came. Many of the villagers are students or work in the local towns, having to make this journey is a real struggle as they do not have their own vehicles. It also means that villagers have to continue their most basic existence, as materials and machinery that could improve their conditions cannot be brought over the road.
The visit and the plight of the villagers was summed up just by looking at the hillside, at the bottom were tiny basic mudstone buildings while at the top stood grand luxury homes with bay windows and balconies (see picture below). When we drove through the settlement and out of the gate it was like stepping into a model village, the gardens were landscaped and hanging baskets lined the roads. It is clear that the Israeli authorities see only one community living here in the future, despite the fact that their presence is illegal under international law.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Settler Attacks
On Friday we visited the villages of Burin and Azira al Qibliya. 
Not only do the settler attacks affect the Palestinians economically as they have lost thousands of trees and vast areas of wheat fields have been destroyed, but the psychological impact of the attacks is terrifying. The Israelis appear to have a policy of building these illegal settlements at the top of hills and above Palestinian villages. This means that Palestinians must live every day with the fear of these people above them waiting to come down and attack them with apparent impunity. I can’t imagine living life like that.
We listened to the frustration that the local people felt because they could do nothing to stop the settlers and the Israelis refused to acknowledge the attacks and repeatedly failed to intervene when they were taking place. They then told us about one particular settler who had come from the US to live in the settlement. Employing another tactic used by settlers he had claimed that the Palestinians were attacking him (with no evidence whatsoever) and called on the US consulate to assist him. They duly sent a representative to the settlement to meet him and offer their support. I can’t really get my head around a settler who comes here because he believes that for whatever reason he is entitled to that land despite the fact it has been inhabited by other people for centuries and centuries. He then alleges this incident and calls on his representative from a country thousands of miles away to come and protect him on the basis that he is a US national in trouble in a foreign land.
In fact the whole settler issue confuses me, I can’t understand that these people go out and attack people living a couple of hundred metres from them, return home and then go out the next day and attack them again, day after day – and there is nothing being done about it.
Both villages are located at the bottom of or on the side of steep
hills at the top of which illegal Israeli settlements have been built. The villagers face a lot of problems with Israeli settlers attacking them or their property. Setting fire to Palestinians land has become a common tactic for settlers, they know what the land means to Palestinians, not only its cultural and historical significance but also because so many of them depend on it to live. They also know that there is virtually no chance that they will ever be caught. Despite a catalogue of attacks by settlers there have been no arrests let alone prosecutions for their continuing persecution in this area. Although the military now responds to calls from Palestinians they rarely intervene to stop the attacks.
I had been ill the day before but 2 other IWPS volunteers had been called to the villages because the settlers had come down the hillside and were setting fire to wheat fields and olive trees belonging to Palestinians. When we came the next day, there were large patches of black on the hillsides where crops had been completely destroyed.
As the fires raged the day before in both villages the army were called but they just watched as the settlers continued to light the fires and they would not let the Palestinians go to their land so that the fires could be put out. As a result people had to stand and watch their land and their livelihoods burn for several hours while they could do nothing about it.
In the evening the settlers started more fires at the top of the hill but Palestinians had to wait until the fires reached within 20m of their houses before they could put the fires out. This is because the settlers have created an imaginary line between the settlements and the villages (even though all of the land belongs to the Palestinians) and if Palestinians cross that line they will attack them.
On Friday we visited 2 houses that have suffered the worst attacks from the settlers as they are the furthest up the hill and so the nearest to the settlements. At the first house the family showed us numerous bullet holes from previous settler attacks and told how the settlers often came down the hill and threw stones and missiles at their home. Palestinian homes are always surrounded by children playing but there were none playing outside this house as the parents told us their children were scared to leave the house because of the settlers.
The second house we visited had been attacked the day before. Settlers had come down the hill and set fire to a fig tree next to the house and drawn stars of David on the side of the house. There were only women and children at home at the time and they had to wait for the Israeli military to turn up before they could go out and extinguish the fire.
I had been ill the day before but 2 other IWPS volunteers had been called to the villages because the settlers had come down the hillside and were setting fire to wheat fields and olive trees belonging to Palestinians. When we came the next day, there were large patches of black on the hillsides where crops had been completely destroyed.
As the fires raged the day before in both villages the army were called but they just watched as the settlers continued to light the fires and they would not let the Palestinians go to their land so that the fires could be put out. As a result people had to stand and watch their land and their livelihoods burn for several hours while they could do nothing about it.In the evening the settlers started more fires at the top of the hill but Palestinians had to wait until the fires reached within 20m of their houses before they could put the fires out. This is because the settlers have created an imaginary line between the settlements and the villages (even though all of the land belongs to the Palestinians) and if Palestinians cross that line they will attack them.
On Friday we visited 2 houses that have suffered the worst attacks from the settlers as they are the furthest up the hill and so the nearest to the settlements. At the first house the family showed us numerous bullet holes from previous settler attacks and told how the settlers often came down the hill and threw stones and missiles at their home. Palestinian homes are always surrounded by children playing but there were none playing outside this house as the parents told us their children were scared to leave the house because of the settlers.
The second house we visited had been attacked the day before. Settlers had come down the hill and set fire to a fig tree next to the house and drawn stars of David on the side of the house. There were only women and children at home at the time and they had to wait for the Israeli military to turn up before they could go out and extinguish the fire.Not only do the settler attacks affect the Palestinians economically as they have lost thousands of trees and vast areas of wheat fields have been destroyed, but the psychological impact of the attacks is terrifying. The Israelis appear to have a policy of building these illegal settlements at the top of hills and above Palestinian villages. This means that Palestinians must live every day with the fear of these people above them waiting to come down and attack them with apparent impunity. I can’t imagine living life like that.
We listened to the frustration that the local people felt because they could do nothing to stop the settlers and the Israelis refused to acknowledge the attacks and repeatedly failed to intervene when they were taking place. They then told us about one particular settler who had come from the US to live in the settlement. Employing another tactic used by settlers he had claimed that the Palestinians were attacking him (with no evidence whatsoever) and called on the US consulate to assist him. They duly sent a representative to the settlement to meet him and offer their support. I can’t really get my head around a settler who comes here because he believes that for whatever reason he is entitled to that land despite the fact it has been inhabited by other people for centuries and centuries. He then alleges this incident and calls on his representative from a country thousands of miles away to come and protect him on the basis that he is a US national in trouble in a foreign land.
In fact the whole settler issue confuses me, I can’t understand that these people go out and attack people living a couple of hundred metres from them, return home and then go out the next day and attack them again, day after day – and there is nothing being done about it.
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