Sunday, January 17, 2010

Palestine-Israel, The joint struggle against occupation and the separation fence expand and suppression increase

The AAtW activists were busy during the week in court solidarity in Ofer military prison and with the families of Sheikh Jarrah. Special invitation of the AAtW for this Friday five main demonstrations resulted in the more than usual mobilization to Bil'in (50) and Maasara 30 - in addition to Ni'ilin (10) and the new location Nebi Saleh (5). More than half of these 90 activists continued to the Sheikh Jarrah to join others who went directly there.) State forces seems to start worrying even more last few weeks and increased significantly the persecution of our Palestinian partners. Saturday/Sunday 20:00 - About 200 people came to a prison solidarity demonstration. About 03:30 they were released without any condition and been received warmly by the 60 who remained till the end.

THE CALL

"The effort to repress the demonstrations has been increased at all of the regular centers of struggle.
At Nialin two main organizers were arrested and it is important to respond with a strong show of support.
at Maasara, the demonstration was attacked with gas and rubber coated metal bullets and the village invaded for the second week in a row, organizers have been threatened and the village invaded at night.
In Bilin, another night raid and another arrest. They village is organizing a large demonstration for this Friday and are expecting many from other villages and town in the West Bank to join them as well.
In Nabi Saleh last week's incredible demonstration was followed by settler destruction of olive trees with the help of the army. They are planning a follow up and this is a critical state for them.
Not to forget Sheikh Jarah which also needs all the help it can get.
We should be at all of these places in numbers this Friday.
Please make an effort to come out to one of the demos this Friday."

BIL'IN

More than 45 Israelis with the Anarchist Against the Wall initiative and many internationals joined local activists with lot of Palestinian from the region - including dignitaries from Ramallah.

Following is the report of Iyad Burnat- Head of Popular Committee in Bil'in:

"Today in Bil’in village demonstrators against the apartheid wall and illegal Israeli settlements were met with live ammunition, tear gas (in both plastic and aluminum canisters), rubber bullets, and sound bombs from the Israeli army. Rubber bullets and tear gas canisters injured six demonstrators. Many suffered from sever tear gas inhalation including Fatah leader Dr. Nabil Shath. Others injured include Palestinian cameraman Fadi Aljause and reporter Haron Amira, Bassem Ahmad Yassin (leg injury), Ibrahim Burnat (rubber bullet injury), Nayif Ghazi (tear gas canister head injury), and a man from Jericho who was taken to the hospital in Ramallah (we have not received information about his current condition).

Palestinian, Israeli and International demonstrators marched to the wall with a 20-meter-long Palestinian flag at which time the military immediately began firing tear gas into the crowd. The army entered the village and attempted to arrest two of the Palestinian activists. Israeli and International activists physically intervened in order to stop the arrests. Soldiers shot live ammunition into the air during the conflict in an attempt to scare and disperse the crowd. The crowd consisting of many Israeli solidarity activists did not disperse and began chanting “shame on you” in Hebrew. Mean while many soldiers were entering from another entrance point in the apartheid fence. They attempted to surround the demonstrators from three directions, but were unsuccessful.

Because of the strength tear gas, a joke was made that the army must have been using the new and improved 2010-edition tear gas. The last two weeks of the new year have been marked by an increase in arrests and harassment of Palestinian popular resistance organizers and activists in the West Bank. Last night the army invaded the village of Al Ma'asara and raided the home of Popular Committee organizers Mahmoud Zawhre and Mohammed Brijya. The previous night, the home of Nil’in Popular Committee member Mohammad Ameera was raided. And one day before that three Popular Committee members were arrested from their homes in Nil’in. On the same night as the Nil’in arrests, a Bil’in activist who had been part of Friday demonstrations was arrested. Israeli authorities have intensified their efforts at suppressing the non-violent activities and organizing of Palestinians involved in grassroots campaigns against the Barrier and settlement expansion. Despite these efforts, many people have been attending the Friday demonstrations from neighboring villages, and new popular demonstrations have begun around the West Bank.

For more information:
Bilin-ffj.org and Popularstruggle.org"

MA'ASARA

"In spite of the violent oppression, phone threats and nightly invasion of the village – the village of Ma'asara demonstrated again this Friday.

Recently the village had been suffering from increasing military violence, declared by the army as a tool to stop demonstrations as of 2010. After having invaded the village after recent demonstrations and patrolling it at night on weekdays, soldiers raided the houses of several prominent activists in the dead of night between Thursday and Friday, causing damage to property and threatening activists that if demonstrations continue – a boy might get killed in the village. Soldiers said that they believe it is what the villagers want as it would "portray" the soldiers as killers. Soldiers also threatened the villagers with arrests if demonstrations continue, and encouraged the husband of one of the main female activists to divorce her if she continues "making trouble".

But in spite of all this, a demonstration did take place in the village, thought somewhat smaller than usual. 50 Palestinians, Israelis and internationals marched from the village center towards its agricultural lands and the route of the wall. On their way they learnt that the army has sent jeeps to roam the village, and that armed soldiers were standing on the rooftops around the demonstration area.

Demonstrators still proceeded and reached the line of soldiers blocking the main road with razor wire. Demonstrators beat their drums, chanted slogans, and in their Arabic, English and Hebrew speeches pronounced their commitment to the popular and non-violent struggle against the wall, the settlements and the occupation in spite of oppression, and called upon the soldiers to cross over to the side of joint struggle, in stead of supporting the war crimes and land and water theft.

The demonstration ended peacefully."

A video from the demonstration of Friday 8.1.10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmwI8L0raaM

MEDIA

Fencing match By Avi Issacharoff http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142715.html

BIL'IN-NA'ALIN - Friday, 11 A.M. There is another hour until the onset of the weekly ritual. The participants are in face-off mode. On the "Israeli" side of the fence, south of the village of Na'alin - a three-minute drive from the city of Modi'in, which is halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv - many Israel Defense Forces and Border Police jeeps have taken their places, along with the officers, the binoculars and the weapons. All the entrances to the village have been blocked to ensure the enemy cannot send in reinforcements....

It's January 1, 2010, the anniversary of the establishment of Fatah, and the movement has decided to mark the event at the traditional Friday demonstration in the village. Israeli intelligence forecasts a particularly high turnout.

About 10 minutes away, Mohammed Khatib, a 36-year-old father of four, is walking around near the mosque in Bil'in and smiling like a little boy. He is a member of the Supreme Coordinating Committee, the coordinating body of the popular committees - a term borrowed from the first intifada - which are responsible for organizing the demonstrations. He is about to leave the village, due to an order issued against him by the State of Israel, prohibiting him from being in Bil'in between noon and 6 P.M. on Fridays. During those hours, the order stipulates, he has to "report to the police station closest to his home."

Accordingly, Khatib, who gets legal advice from Israeli lawyers, will soon travel to Ramallah, to the Palestinian police station there. "No one ever said which police, and that is the closest station to my home," he says, still smiling.

Read more at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1142715.html

NABI SALIH

Israeli forces must have anticipated the large response to the An Nabi Salih Popular Struggle’s callout for international solidarity in their 4th consecutive Friday demonstration on January 15th. Three International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activists were turned away from the seldom-staffed partial checkpoint of ‘Atara, between Ramallah and An Nabi Salih. Fortunately, a back route was established and the group made it to the village, joining 10 other internationals, a dozen journalists and over 100 Palestinians.
The hilltop village of An Nabi Salih has a population of approximately 500 residents and is located 30 kilometers northeast of Ramallah along highway 465. The demonstration protested the illegal seizure of valuable agricultural land and the January 9th 2010 uprooting of hundreds of the village resident’s olive trees by the Hallamish (Neve Zuf) settlement located on highway 465, opposite An Nabi Salih. Conflict between the settlement and villagers reawakened in the past month due to the settler’s attempt to re-annex An Nabi Salih land despite the December 2009 Israeli court case that ruled the property rights of the land to the An Nabi Salih residents. The confiscated land of An Nabi Salih is located on the Hallamish side of highway 465 and is just unfortunately one of many expansions of the settlement since it’s establishment in 1977.

The plan for the demonstration was to march from the hilltop village and down to the seized fields in an attempt to reach the land. Less than one kilometer into the march, demonstrators met military jeeps, Israeli soldiers and unsparing amounts of tear gas blocking the road. Occupation resisters successfully forced the military to retreat a few hundred meters and an avenue to continue the march towards the fields through a valley between the road an the An Nabi Salih village was created. Military forces defended the settler-confiscated lands from multiple points including the road leading up to the village, highway 465 and a hilltop in An Nabi Salih using tear gas, sound bombs, rubber coated bullets and live ammunition.

Major struggles to reach the land occurred in the valley and on the lower portion of the access road to An Nabi Salih with sporadic outbreaks of force throughout the area. By 4pm, soldiers were forced into retreat to the base of the road (tear gas canisters rained intermittently until dusk) and a deal was made between the Popular Committee and the military for the release of the seven Palestinians arrested during the demonstration, three of which were woman arrested at the demonstration’s inception. Accounts of military violence during their detention at the Hallamish settlement were reported by multiple arrestees. One Palestinian resister was severely wounded by a tear gas canister resulting in a large gash in his head requiring emergency evacuation and medical attention by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
Seven International Solidarity Movement volunteers participated in the demonstration by shooting video, taking photos, offering medical aid and witnessing frontline violence and arrests.

Israel Puterman Video of Nabi Salih this Friday http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5b-SBrsOSo

TV channel 10 news 11-1-10 take of Nabi Salih action/clash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gGQP2JKR14

Nabi Salih Hebrew text and Video
http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/1/1632675

NI'ILIN

Invitation to Friday 15-1-10 demonstration:

For over a year & a half the people of Ni'ilin have been demonstrating against the wall of annexation and deprivation built on the village lands

For over a year & a half the people of the village are subject to a ruthless attack:

5 murdered

Hundreds wounded

Numerous indictments

Night raids

Yesterday, the Israeli Military arrested Ibrahim Ameera (a member of the popular committee against the wall) and Zaidun Srur in a night raid, as part of the ongoing oppression campaign against the village.

The coming Friday (January 15, 2010), we will demonstrate alongside the village people against the deprivation, against the wall, against racism, and for the liberation of Ni'ilin and entire Palestine!

The Members of Ni'ilin Popular Committee Against the Wall that were detained this week will be brought to the "Ofer" Military Court Tuesday, January 19.

8.1.10 Interview with Palestinian activist Hassan Mousa at Friday's weekly demonstration against the wall and settlements in Nil'in. Mousa was arrested on 12.1.10 in an ongoing escalation of Israeli attempts to suppress the Palestinian Popular Resistance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZNmq-kqeHo

As part of the escalation against the popular struggle, the Israeli Military arrested two members of the Ni'ilin popular committee against the wall over the last week – Ibrahin Ameera and Hassan Mousa. Ni'ilin has paid a dreadful price during the year and a half of demonstrations against the wall: five demonstrators murdered (among them 2 kids), hundreds wounded, dozens arrested and trailed and many more "wanted", military night incursions, denied work permits, roadblocks & curfews – an orchestrated campaign of brutal oppression.
Nonetheless, some 150 demonstrators gathered this Friday for the weekly demonstration against the wall, and were joined by international and Israeli activists who found their way to the village through fields after all the entrances were sealed by the military. Following the prayer, the demonstrators marched to the route of the wall. On arrival, the soldiers started shooting tear gas at the demonstrators, and some of the village youth retaliated with stone throwing. Confrontations with the soldiers continued for two hours from both sides of the wall before the soldiers invaded the village fields. On entrance, they shot many rubber bullets injuring one demonstrator in his leg. In the fields too, the resistance didn't decline and for two more hours the courageous youth maintained their standing. Only late in the afternoon did the demonstrators decide to end the weekly demonstration.

Media:

....The second IDF soldier was lightly wounded by stones hurled at security forces during a protest against the security barrier at the West Bank village of Ni'lin. Some 150 Palestinians and left-wing activists participated in that protest.

Israeli group Anarchists Against the Wall organizes protests against the security barrier, such as this protest at the Palestinian village of Ni'lin [illustrative photo]:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1263147901990&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

OFER MILITARY JAIL-COURT

"Today at Ofer military court the testimony of two witnesses for the prosecution was heard in the trial of Addeb Abu Rahma from Bilin. He is charged with "incitement to violence" and has been in jail for six months since his arrest July 10. In fact He has been remanded until the end of legal proceedings. The Prosecution is asking for a sentence of 14-months.

The prosecution's witnesses were two boys from the village who incriminated Adeeb in signed statements extracted from them during the interrogation. The first witness denied everything that he allegedly said in the interrogation and said that he signed his name only after he was pressured to do so and without being able to read the statement since he can't read. The second witness only admitted that he said Adeeb is a member of the wall committee and said that he said it because he had a fight with him. They were then declared as hostile witnesses and cross examined by Adeeb's lawyer Adv. Gaby Lasky and by the military prosecutor. It should be noted that all of the trials of the people of Bil'in are based on the incriminating statements given by young people during their interrogations in the General Security Service facility, usually shortly after being removed from their homes at night and arrested.

The court session was a good opportunity for us to meet Adeeb. He was glad to see us, and of course happy to see his wife. During the trial he said some things which I want to forward to his many supporters: "I see the TV images from Nabi Saleh and Deir Nizam, and am glad that the struggle continues and spreads to new places, despite the arrests of activists of the popular struggle. I also saw that the Israeli court decided that Route 443 should be open for Palestinians. This is a small victory, and I'm sure that we will reach many more victories. This wall will fall, in bil'in and everywhere. It's not easy for me in jail, there is no fresh air and no sunshine. I miss my wife and my nine children, but I'm strong, and will not break. The Popular struggle against the apartheid wall and occupation is also strong, and will not break".

More from the wonders of Ofer Military Court and the Israeli occupation - this morning judge's Rubinstein read his decision to hold Abdullah Abu Rahma in detention until the end of proceedings. Abdallah told us that the dozen arrests of activists against the wall only strengthen him in his faith that the popular struggle should continue. Despite my arrests, or perhaps because of my arrest, my family continues to go to the weekly demonstrations in Bilin."

REFUSNICS

Int'l Day of Solidarity with the Shministim -- San Francisco
January 9, 2009 is the International Day of Solidarity with the Shministim--Israeli youth refusing to serve in the IDF. Or Ben-David, 19, is sentenced to her third term in a military prison http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CdCeno_SnU

SHEIKH JARRAH

Friday 15-1-10: 17 were arrested when police tried to prevent the march to Sheikh Jarrah


About 03:30 in the morning all of them were released without any condition and been received warmly by the 60 of the solidarity crowd who remained till the end.

Media:

.... About 150 people took part in the protest. Police officials said the suspects were detained after ignoring police orders to disperse.

.... Police arrest CEO of Israeli civil rights group in Sheikh Jarrah

Police arrested 16 left-wing protestors in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem on Friday, among them the CEO of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Hagai Elad.

Leftist activists have held weekly demonstrations in Sheikh Jarrah for the past three months, in protest of the eviction of Palestinians from their homes and their replacement with Jewish families.

According to activists, the protest that took place on Friday was not authorized, unlike previous weeks' protests. At the onset of the demonstration, police declared it illegal and threatened to arrest its participants. An eye witness reported that police began arresting the main participants, Hagai Elad and a protester waving a Palestinian flag among them.
In a statement, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel condemned its CEO's arrest. "We harshly condemn the police's suppression of the freedom of speech which had no legal grounds. The demonstration was forcefully scattered even though it took place legally, with no provocations or disruptions of public order," it was written.

Jerusalem police responded, saying it was an illegal protest of anarchists and leftist activists who did not listen to police orders. Regarding the arrest of Elad, the police said that if the CEO of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel allows himself to participate in an illegal protest, he shouldn't be surprised he got arrested. "

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A call:

Today 17 activists were arrested in the weekly protest in Sheikh Jarrah. They will spend the weekend under arrest and will be brought before a judge on Saturday evening.

We will not give in to the police violence and the attempt to silence our voices.

We will not stand by while Sheikh Jarrah residents are evicted and their protest suppressed.

Come to demonstrate against the ongoing suppression of the protest. -------
Police detain 13 leftist protestors in east Jerusalem.

Saturday/Sunday 20:00 - 03:30 About 200 of us came to a prison solidarity demonstration at the court and prison station of Jerusalem. Drumming circle, songs and chant were loud enough to be heard by the 17 - who few times replied us in kind along the waiting to their release.

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