Sunday, November 22, 2009

Palestine-Israel, The joint struggle against the occupation and the separation fence to be expanded

This week, the struggle of the Anarchists Against the Wall initiative was mainly in the "trinity" of Bil'in, Ni'ilin, and Ma'asara. About 60 were mobilized with us - mainly from the Tel Aviv region. The frustrated Palestinian official leadership contemplated in public the expansion of the Bili'n and Ni'ilin stile of nonviolent struggle as a third Intifada in the whole occupied west bank. It seems, the Israeli secrete services who were aware on the contemplation of this option, were desperate enough to try during the last few months - with out success, to stop the Bil'in example with their series of night arrests of the main activists of the popular comity of village. The other struggles - like the refusnic front and that of Sheikh Jarrah transfer were less prominent.

BIL'IN

This Friday too we persisted in the nearly five years long chain of struggle against the separation fence and occupation in Bil'in. At noon, about 100 of us - including 35 Israelis, and a dozen or so international activists, marched from the center of the village towards the gate to the route of the separation fence.

The usual chants along the march included the mentioning of local activists arrested during the last few months - including the one arrested the day before.

At the gate, as usual, the state force did not wait long before starting to shower us with tear gas grenades. Like usual, some of the grenades were returned to them to enable them to "enjoy" their own "medicine".

As the wind was making it hard to evade the tear gas, we left there earlier than usual. Part of us converged for a while to challenge the state force at a near by section of the separation fence, before we returned to the village.

JERUSALEM

Weekly Protest March from Zion Square to Sheikh Jarrah

Join a march from West to East Jerusalem in protest of the injustice committed against the Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. The march will end in Sheikh Jarrah with a protest against the settler enterprise in the neighborhood.

The march will start at Zion Square at 13:30, Friday 20.11

Every Friday settlers gather in the neighborhood to pray and make their presence known. Such gatherings have often led to attacks on the evicted families.

This Friday they will be joined by members of the radical right wing movement "Im Tirtzu"

Come to raise awareness and protest the settlers' attempt to take over East Jerusalem!

For further information or transportation from Tel Aviv: Maya

MA'ASARA
Some fifty Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators marched Friday noon from the center of Ma'asara village towards the route of the apartheid fence that is to be built on village lands. Like every other Friday, demonstrators were stopped by Israeli soldiers and boarded policemen who laid barbed wire on the main road leading to the fence, forcefully preventing the procession from proceeding. When asked if their actions had any legal basis, soldiers refused to answer.

Protesters then delivered speeches in Arabic, English and Hebrew, and called upon the soldiers to leave their weapons and join the non-violent struggle for two independent states and against war crimes committed by Israel. Slogans were chanted, and the joint drum band, made out of Israeli Qasamba drummers and the village children, played and cheered the demonstrators up.

During the demonstration several children managed to go around the barbed wire, but were pushed back by the soldiers. Some of them then tried to pull away the barbed wire fence with improvised ropes that were then cut by the soldiers. The children, however, did not give up, and eventually succeeded in tearing the fence apart, forcing the soldiers to step up and physically push the demonstrators and threaten demonstrators with arrests.

The demonstration was over within fifteen minutes.

NI'ILIN

200 protestors – Palestinian, Israeli & International, gathered today in the village of Niilin for the weekly protest against the wall. The demonstrators marched from the village to the wall – which grew some 500 meters longer in the last week. Apparently, the military finds it too hard to cope with the village youth's decisiveness. The extended wall joined the two-weeks policy of shooting live ammunition at the demonstrators revived after a few calmer months. As the demonstration reached the gate in the wall, the demonstrators addressed the soldiers that crowded together from its other side and verbally protested the occupation and the wall. It wasn't long before the soldiers dispersed the group with tear gas, answered with stones from some of the youth. Shortly after, a first injury from the 0.22 ammunition was listed. The demonstration went on for hours, counting two medium & one light injuries. The long wall didn't stop the soldiers from invading the village. The skillful youth managed to avoid injuries for this part of the demonstration, and after chasing the retreating soldiers back to the wall, the demonstration was declared over.

Ni'ilin Friday 13-11-09 video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqwE63tJzQo
Ni'ilin Friday 20.11.09 video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hppUAOyOYnA

REFUSENICS

Second Prison Term for Conscientious Objector Or Ben-David
http://www.newprofile.org/english/?p=247

Dear Friends,

After completing her first prison term, Or Ben-David, http://www.newprofile.org/english/?p=231 of the 2009-2010 high school seniors letter of refusal, http://www.shministim.com/ was sentenced earlier today (16 Nov.) to 20 more days in the military prison for women (no. 400) in Tzrifin. This is her second term in prison and the third time she has been tried and sentenced for her refusal to enlist. She is due to be released from prison on 3 December and is likely to be imprisoned again soon afterwards. Her address in prison is:

Or Ben-David
Military ID 6054025
Military Prison No. 400
Military Postal Code 02447, IDF
Israel
Fax: ++972-3-9579389

Since the prison authorities often block mail from reaching imprisoned objectors, we also recommend you to send them your letters of support and encouragement via e-mail to shministim10@gmail.com, and they will be printed out and delivered during visits.

A brief update also on the case of Walaa Kassem Naffaa. http://www.newprofile.org/english/?p=240 Wallaa has been released from prison on 4 Nov. and has not come back for another round in prison yet, but is likely to be imprisoned for the third time in the coming weeks. Also, we have obtained more accurate details about his two prison terms to date, so a correction to previously published information is due: he was first sentenced to 14 days in prison on 1 Oct., and again to 10 days on 27 Oct.

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