Palestine-Israel, The joint struggle on the verge of expansion

The lesser radical Israeli left involvement in the joint struggle against the separation fence and other aspects of occupation expand - both in Sheikh Jarrah and other places. The dignitaries of the Palestinian authority do so too... but with internal conflicts. It was expressed in a few hours arrest of a leader of the popular struggle in the south by the Palestinian authority police, after a joint action at Beit Omar. More than hundred people were mobilized on Friday by the anarchists against the wall initiative to the demonstrations at Bil'in, Ma'asara, Nebi-Saleh,Ni'ilin, and Sheikh-Jarrah. Saturday and Sunday we were in south of the west bank of occupied Palestinian. Saturday at Beit Omar and on Sunday we mark the end of the weekend in a demonstration in Beit Jalla.

BEIT JALLA

Around 50 - Palestinians, internationals, and a dozen Israelis, marched chanting with flags and banners, along the road that leads to the construction of the apartheid wall in Beit Jalla. After a short distance march down the road we were stopped by about 20 IOF soldiers and a spool of barbed wire that block the way. Chants and speeches were held in Arabic, English and Hebrew, mentioning the 1948 massacre of Dir Yasin, and stressing Palestinians rights of movement and access to their land. About 20 workers of various media documented the scene. After the speeches we sat down on the road facing the spool of the barbed wire and the Israeli state forces. After a while the demo ended peacefully and protesters went swiftly away from the soldiers.

BEIT OMAR

"Israeli forces clashed with several dozen Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, arresting 14 people, the army and witnesses said.The protesters were joined by Israeli peace activists and foreigners at the rally near Beit Omar village, charging that Jews from nearby Bat Ayin settlement were farming on Palestinian-owned land.The demonstrators threw rocks and set fire to crops, the army and witnesses said."

"The march started at one o'clock this afternoon from the municipality and moved in the direction of the area where settlers had laid a foundation stone last week for a new outpost "Gav'at Ires Shlomo". The area is on top of a hill close to Khirbat Safa. Land in the area is owned by families from Beit Ummar."

"The march began to move towards the land threatened with confiscation - an area of 1200 dunums belonging to the families of Qoukas, ‘Adi and Khalil from Beit Ummar. Khirbat Safa’s 600 residents are living on this land and depend for their income primarily from livestock and agriculture in the surrounding hills."

"First reports indicate that when the area where the new outpost is to be built was reached, some of the people in the protest march proceeded to symbolically dismantle small parts of the foundations, already laid by the settlers. Initially the occupation forces present in the area did not intervene and gave the protesters a 10 minutes warning. As soon as the ten minutes period was over, so-called Israeli "border police" arrived on the scene and, according to the coordinator of the Stop the Wall Campaign in Hebron district, Raed Abu Ayyash, these "border police" started to attack the people using disproportionate violence. They started firing rubber-coated metal bullets, teargas and sound grenades at the people in the march and in the area of the village. This led to four injuries from rubber-coated metal bullets. Dozens of people suffered respiratory problems, among them residents of Khirbet Safa who had stayed in their homes."

"Earlier today Israeli occupation forces arrested the following five members of the local committee against the Wall and Settlements in Khirbet Safa: Younis Arar, coordinator of the Committee; Mousa Abu Maria, External Relations Officer; Mohamed Ayad Awad, Media Spokesman; Sakhr Abu Maria and Atef Abu Diya, both members of the popular committee. In addition to these five, another five international solidarity activists were arrested during the weekly march."
BIL'IN

About two dozen Israelis and two dozens internationals joined the village people to a "nice" spring day Friday demonstration against the separation fence and occupation. On the noon march from the village center to the gate in the separation fence were the usual chants and placards - including reference to the Dir Yasin massacre of 1948 day.

At the last part of the march, we could see the far away new route of the separation fence which after about two years delay in enacting the decree of the highest court, it is in the process of being moved to about one kilometer to the west.

At the gate, the more daring participants entered the route, hung flags on the electronic fence and ridiculed loudly the soldiers which were half hidden near by. After a long while the state forces started to shoot at us tear gas grenades... and got themselves a significant doze too - thanks to the changing wind and accident of theirs.

After most of the demonstrators retreated, few soldiers passed the fence to our side and arrested Haitham Al-Khatib - the village Journalist and videographer. He was released only at at night.

Friday 9.4.2010 David Reeb video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQObsY2IxHA

JERUSALEM

Sheikh Jarrah

As usual the last Fridays, the march from west Jerusalem to the east occupied one was banned by the police. The usual converging of few hundred demonstrators was allowed only on the square on the side of the main street - facing the street of the evicted houses. The usual circle of drummers was joined by the clowns' troop. Chants, calls and short speeched were carried during the 90 minutes vigil.

Many participants came from other part of Israel including people who participated at noon in demonstrations in other places.

In parallel to the demonstration at the square near the street with the transfered families houses there was a 40 people vigil nearer to these. In breach of the relevant laws the state forces forced them to move to the main body of the demonstration and arrested 4. In fear of another denunciation by the judge if held till next day court hearing, they were released on bail few hours later with ban from returning for a week only.

Keren Manor video of Sheikh Jarrah Friday 9.4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRVbKnzSmhA

MA'ASARA

Tens of soldiers invaded Ma'asara Thursday night, threatening two members of the local popular committee with arrests if there were to be "any problems" during the weekly demonstration. Soldiers made it clear that they didn't care whether the two, Hassan and Muhamad Barjia, were in any way responsible themselves to the presumed "problems".

In spite of the threats, some 50 demonstrators marched through the village Friday noon towards the soon to be stolen lands. On the main village road a similar number of soldiers waited for the march with barbed wire, and prevented the procession to proceed. Demonstrators gave speeches in Arabic, English, Hebrew and French, defying the occupation and commemorating the 62nd anniversary of the Dir Yasin massacre.

At some point demonstrators tried to remove the barbed wire, but were shoved back by soldiers. In response demonstrators sat on the ground, beat drums and sang songs. After about an hour of protest demonstrators returned to the village, promising to return in greater numbers next week, for the Palestinian Day of the Prisoner.


NEBI SALEH

Nabi Saleh, April 9th: "It is not resistance, it's our living they were targeting"

Around 80 Nabi Saleh residents, other Palestinians and international and Israeli supporters participated in this week's demonstration against the crippling occupation and the Halamish settlement's annexation and destruction of a growing amount of land and resources from the village.

This Friday saw yet another escalation in the Israeli army's collective punishment criminal strategy against the entire village. The demo began, as always, with an unprovoked Israeli invasion and attack on a peaceful march, while protesters were even starting to sit down on the ground, to signify their will to protest non-violently. This time the Israeli army has also chosen to use its "skunk" stink-liquid cannon directly and deliberately on the village's houses, yards and main street. The track spraying the liquid even went back for a refill and then continued with its awful abuse. As one of the inhabitants of the houses targeted said: "It is not resistance, it's our living they were targeting". The stink-liquid is expected to stay and spread stink in the area sprayed for days afterwards.

The Israeli army also used a few times its jeep-installed cannon to shot barrages of tear gas canisters, as well as single high-velocity and regular canisters, on the entire village, and kept pushing the protesters back into the village's built area.

At a certain point a few protesters climbed the hill overlooking one of the village's springs, attended by provocative settlers, and as a result the Israeli army sent some of its forces to expel the settlers from the area.

For a few hours protesters refused to disperse and re-gathered again and again in protest, some of them throwing stones to ward off the army incursion, others just standing peacefully against the armed-to-the-top soldiers, documenting, or taking care of the injured from the army's aggression.

NI'ILIN

The Palestinian residents of Ni'lin were joined by a group of ten Israelis and a similar number of internationals in their weekly protest against the wall. after about half an hour of protesting near the route of the wall, with soldiers firing tear gas at the protesters, and some of them throwing stones over the wall, a group of soldiers crossed the wall and began chasing protesters through the village's olive groves. the soldiers fired test gas, and several live bullets, probably in the air. Around an hour later, the soldiers retreated to their base and the village youth returned home. No injuries were recorded, aside from some teary eyes and a flat tire in one activist car, and a ruined clutch in the other..

Friday 9.4.2010 Israel Puterman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUa1R80lL1M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W06lfCetT5E

See Previous reports at: http://ilanisagainstwalls.blogspot.com