BEIT-JALLA, BEIT-UMAR, BIL'IN, HEBRON, JERUSALEM: SHEIKH-JARRAH SILWAN, MA'ASARA NABI-SALEH NI'ILIN
Due to the Bil'in fifth international conference in which the Palestinian Prime minister Salam Fayad delivered a long speech, and the intensifying of the joint struggle, it was in the focus of the Palestinian media. In the Israeli media the joint struggle was in the media too, mainly in the context of the US pressure for compromise and the intensification of the struggle in Jerusalem. As the Friday was taken by the older locations of Bil'in, Ma'asara, Nebi Saleh, and Ni'ilin - Silwan (Jerusalem), Wallagw, Beit Jalla, Beit Umar and Hebron had to do their joint struggles on the other days of the weekend: Saturday and Sunday.
Nakba day - 20-4-2010 israelpnm@hotmail.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZL9V2ne2Yk
Beit Umar, Beit Jalah and south mount Hebron Saturday and Sunday
As you might know there is a lot going on in the south. From Beit Umar to Hebron and a few other places. There are never enough Israeli activists for everything that happens there and we are very needed to sustain the smaller initiatives.
BEIT JALLA
The bulldozers started again to work in Beit Jala this Thursday, destroying a garden, uprooting trees.
It is expected that the work will continue this Sunday. We need a lot of people to stop the work, and resist against the continuation of the construction of the Wall and lands annexation.
Please join the demonstration at 11am. meeting point at Orthodox club, Beit Jala.
Bulldozers return to destroy children’s playground in Beit Jala. Six activists arrested.
Israeli bulldozers today destroyed a garden and children’s playground in Beit Jala, and 100 fruit and olive trees in Al Walaja, both in the Bethlehem district, to make way for the continued construction of their illegal apartheid wall. Soldiers present used violent force to remove Palestinian, Israeli and international activists who attempted to prevent the destruction. Two Israelis were arrested immediately, and six internationals were later arrested.
Demonstrators in Beit Jala prevented from accessing family's home
In Beit Jala, this is the second time that this particular garden and playground has been bulldozed. A legal injunction preventing further destruction expired this week. Following the previous demolition, in early March, local Palestinian residents and international supporters rebuilt the playground and planted new olive trees in the garden. All these were today destroyed.
Twelve people, representing six different nationalities, sat in front of the Caterpillar bulldozer as it moved up to the garden. Soldiers forcefully removed all twelve, several of whom sustained minor injuries, and one of whom was hospitalized with suspected broken ribs after his stomach was repeatedly stamped upon by one of the soldiers.
After soldiers forced everyone but the owners of the garden up to the road above, they joined approximately 50 other internationals and local residents to hold a demonstration which lasted into the evening. Overlooking the wreckage of the morning’s destruction, the protesters chanted and sang, asking only to be allowed back down to the house, where bulldozing had finished, to speak with the family there. Late in the afternoon, six activists, from the USA, Italy, Spain, Germany and France, managed to access the house via a back route, bringing food in to the family, before being arrested by Israeli Border Police, accused of illegally entering a Closed Military Zone.
BEIT UMAR
Israel Puterman video 24-4-10 at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKfJ1mlI7FE
BIL'IN
" As every year, we have been invited to the Bilin conference"
Fifth international conference in Bil'in had even larger audience and prominences.
Venues spectrum included on one side the speech of Palestinian Prime minister Salam Phiad, and on the other side the venue on the joint struggle chaired by activists of the ISM and Israeli anarchist against the wall.
Friday
A large number of internationals and a couple of dozen Israelis Joined the Palestinian demonstration against the wall and occupation in Bil'in. The demonstrators, over 300 altogether, marched chanting and waving flags (mostly French flags and the orange flags of Bargouthi supporters). Within seconds of the demonstrators reaching the wall's gate the army started shooting tear gas, and many demonstrators retreated. But a strong wind from the North and the enthusiasm built up during the 5th international Bil'in conference helped a larger than usual number of peaceful demonstrators to hold their stance and continue demonstrating by the fence. The demonstration went on for a while, unhindered by a token exchange of gas for stones. But then the army decided to escalate the violence with a second round of gas canisters, this time aimed directly into the crowd, in violation of the army's own rules. A Palestinian citizen of Israel was hit directly in the forehead, and was immediately evacuated by an ambulance to Ramallah, where he was diagnosed with a fractured skull and then transferred to Israel for further treatment. Several other demonstrators were injured from gas inhalation, direct hits by gas canisters, and falling. A bunch of soldiers then entered the village to chase away the last remaining demonstrators. A Palestinian journalist who insisted on doing his job rather than running away was arrested. Several demonstrators then staged a sit-in on the road leading to the fence to demand his release, so the army came in and arrested them as well (three Israelis including one journalist and one US citizen). All those arrested are supposed to be released tonight.
all the 5 - 3 Israelis, 1 Palestinian, and 1 International - who were arrested today in Bil'in were released, under collateral and a ban on entering either Bil'in or Nil'in for 15 days.
HEBRON
Report from 1st Weekly Saturday Protest in Hebron- April 24, 2010
At around 15:45 a group of approximately 60 Palestinians, Israeli, and International activists gathered in Hebron next to the checkpoint gate separating Shuhada Street in H2 from the Casbah in H1. The protest, which hopes to become a weekly action, was intended to disrupt the army-accompanied settler tour that goes through the Casbah (Old City) every Saturday. The Casbah is in a part of Hebron that is controlled by the Palestinian Authority (in contrast to Shuhada Street in the Israeli controlled part of the city) and thus, in theory, should not be an area restricted to Palestinian movement.
The protestors stood in front of the gate where the tour usually enters, holding signs and chanting slogans in Arabic, English, and Hebrew; this continued for some time without any disturbance. Soldiers and Israeli police looked onto and videotaped the protest from pillboxes and rooftops nearby. Eventually the protest was declared over, but was then suddenly reignited with news that the settlers had managed to enter the Casbah through another entrance. The protestors then began to advance through the marketplace alleyways to where the tour was said to be but they were met by a line of soldiers who blocked their path.
Protesters continued chanting and tried to push past the soldiers claiming that it should not be a crime to walk through their own city. Protesters tried several times to run around to different entrances into the market to prevent the tour from progressing, but each time they were met by a chain of soldiers and the face-off /pushing began again. Amidst the chaos of running back and forth, one Israeli activist was arrested for no apparent reason. When the protesters re-grouped at the original location alongside the checkpoint gate, they formed a human wall in front of the soldiers by linking arms. The soldiers stood in front of the protestors, blocking them, in order to create a clear path for the settlers to exit the Casbah and pass through the gate back to Shuhada Street. The police then arrived and arrested two more Israeli activists as well as a Palestinian activist and resident of Tel Rumeida, Hebron. One of the arrests was particularly violent as the protester was pushed to the ground and then dragged/carried away. The protest ended shortly afterward and, at the time of writing this report, the 4 arrestees are still being held in the police station in Kiryat Arbah.
Video from Demo in Hebron 24 April 2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFp-7BCYfLY
Youth Against Settlements (http://www.youthagainstsettlements.org) invites you to the weekly demonstration in Hebron on Saturday 1st May.
Invitation for Hebron Action this SATURDAY 1st May
Last Saturday 60 Palestinian, Israeli and International demonstrators managed to severely disrupt the weekly settler tour in Hebron, holding them off for two hours and limiting their visit to the Old City to a mere 15 minutes. We need your support to continue this important and inspirational action. This week we want it to be bigger and better. Join us!
Where: Hebron; meet at the car park to the right of Hebron Municipality.
When: Every Saturday. Meet at the car park to the right of Hebron Municipality at 3:00pm. Demonstration brief will be given at 3:30pm. Demonstration will start at 4pm and is expected to last approximately 2-3 hours. Please be on time as we have to walk to the protest location.
Theme: The closure of Shuhada Street to Palestinians and the continued presence of illegal settlements in Hebron and the rest of the West Bank. We are hoping to block one of the regular "settler tours" that take place on Saturdays.
Bring: The more banners the better in Arabic, English and Hebrew. Bring things to make noise - we would particularly love to have drummers - please call us if you can attend!
Contact: or email at info@youthagainstsettlements.org.
Please share this invitation with anyone who may be interested!
Hope to see you Saturday for this important and exciting action!
JERUSALEM
SHEIKH JARRAH
After the previous Friday demonstration and during the week, solidarity visits were done.
Friday, as usual, hundreds of Israelis from Jerusalem and other parts of Israel participated in the afternoon demo (including activists who earlier participated in the noon demos at Bil'in, Ma'asara, and Nebi Saleh.
A contingent of the demonstrators that "dared" to approach the evicted houses were forcibly pushed to the location of the main demonstration near the main street of the neighborhood.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYVTOeT74zs&feature=player_embedded
SILWAN
An extreme rightist demonstrated in the Silwan neighborhood - where settlers are in the process of taking over houses. Hundreds of state force personal escorted the 30 extreme rightists while local Palestinians and coalition of the Israeli radical left including anarchists (according to media) had a counter demo.
MA'ASARA
This Friday demonstration was smaller than usual, due to the Demonstration in Wallage. The people marched towards the exit from the village to the main road, where the soldiers waited for them as usual with the spool of barbed wire blocking the road. When the demonstrators riched the barbed wire, they demanded for the right of passage to the lands of the village but as usual were refused. The soldiers number was double that of the demonstrators... but still called for reinforcement.
Speeches were carried on the spot in Arabic and English proclaiming the commitment not to stop the protests in spite of the suppression. After the speeches the demonstrators dispersed without giving pretext to the trigger happy gendarmes... whose urge to shoot tear gas grenades on the demonstrators was frustrated.
NABI SALEH
As you may know, the struggle in Nabi Saleh is a local struggle with no intention to stop until the Israeli occupation ends.
Recently, new dynamics encouraged by the army are threatening to undermine the struggle from within, suggesting that some small gain may be enough for the village to stop its demonstrations.
It is of vital importance to come tomorrow if you can and show solidarity with the brave residents of Nabi Saleh who has been targeted brutally by the army along with their elders and children, in their own yards and houses.
The demonstration was nonviolent from the side of the villagers, till one Palestinian threw a stone and by it started an internal havoc.
After an intense internal conflict the trouble was settled.
NI'ILIN
Ni'lin's weekly protest was held to mark Palestinian Prisoner Day. In honor of the occasion, a Hamas member of parliament attended the protest in support of the popular struggle. The marchers held a banner calling attention to the imprisonment of members of Ni'lin's popular committee, and t-shirts sporting the pictures of the village's shabbab currently jailed were worn by all. the march set off to the fence gate, when it was attacked unprovoked by soldiers who fired metal tear gas canisters directly at the group of protesters closest to the gate. one Israeli was lightly injured when the projectile hit his leg. following the immediate dispersal of the demonstration, some youths threw stones at the soldiers over the concrete wall. the soldiers fired tear gas at the protesters. then a group of three border police officers crossed the wall, followed by several soldiers. one of the border police officers fired live ammunition several times, presumably in the air, while chasing the protesters closer to the village. the demonstration ended around an hour and a half later with no additional injuries recorded.
David Reeb Friday 23.4.2010 Ni'ilin video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG3Lty2qXig
WALLAGE
Thanks to the overwhelming scale of the occupation, many of our actions seem frustrating and without immediate reward. The Israeli military is able to proceed unobstructed in most of its work, and it is a rare occasion when we find ourselves in the position to directly challenge the physical manifestations of this apartheid state.
Friday presented an exciting opportunity to disrupt wall construction in the village of al-Walaja. Over 100 residents marched through the village, gathering to hear a brief speech at the site of Thursday’s destruction before filling the freshly bulldozed road with a large number of massive rocks, effectively closing the road from IOF vehicles. With over 300 meters of road blanketed with boulders, work on Sunday morning will be disrupted!
Five activists, three ISM and two EAPPI, were present to support this community which will be effectively suffocated by the wall. The village will continue its resistance Sunday morning as the workers return to destroy more land.
In Al-Walaja, we took over the mountain and the Shabab blocked the new road that soldiers had opened to get equipment that uproots the olive trees in the villager’s land. Watch here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNrplPXm9Qs And here is the ISM story on what happened in Beit Jala http://palsolidarity.org/2010/04/12098
Video direct action against bulldozers, Al Walaja, 25.04.2010 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er1vAJObtzM
Al-Walaja facts:
This is the second weekly demonstration in 2010 against settlement land confiscation and the construction of the Apartheid Wall this year. According to the most recent Apartheid Wall map, published in 2006, the village of al-Walaja will be completely surrounded by the wall with village access restricted to just two gates. In this village of just a few thousand, wall construction will steal 5,000 dunams of land.
Israel Puterman video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oohuwfYwAz0
Israel Puterman videos of Walage 27-4-10, 25-4-10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaF33HVqDpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET--OhJTdC4
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