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INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT PALESTINE Trial Begins in Case of Peace Worker Attacked by Settler in Hebron PHRMG succeeded in reopening the case of British citizen and peacemaker Angie Zelter who was attacked by settler Frank Karmel from Hebron on August 29, 2001. September 4th was the first hearing. In brief, Ms. Zelter was attacked by a settler from the infamous Avraha Avino settlement who hit her on the head, wrestled a camera off her neck and smashed it to pieces, spat at her and verbally abused her as she witnessed settlers attacking an elderly Palestinian man and photographed the incident. Her colleague, Christian Peacemaker Team member Diane Roe, was also present. This case had previously been closed by the prosecutor on the grounds that Ms. Zelter was a tourist and had left the country. This despite the fact that Ms. Zelter's lawyer had written to the prosecutor, assuring that her client would come back to the country anytime her testimony was needed. PHRMG intervened and got the case reopened. Both the judge and the prosecuting attorney were surprised to see a courtroom packed full of supporters for Ms. Zelter, including representatives from the British Consulate. The prosecuting attorney had not contacted Ms. Zelter -or PHRMG- before the hearing in court, and also failed to contact the main witness, fellow peace worker Diane Roe, who she believed to be out of the country. PHRMG lawyers are observing the trial closely and monitoring the performance of the prosecutor to ensure she represents Ms. Zelter zealously. The defendant, settler Frank Karmel, sauntered into court forty-five minutes late and is being represented by a public defender. Although PHRMG has still not received a charge sheet with the indictments, Mr. Karmel pled guilty to the charge of destroying the camera, citing self-defense, and denied the charge of physically hitting Ms. Zelter. The judge set up the proof hearing to begin at 2 p.m. on New Year's Eve day, December 31, 2002. PHRMG finds this questionable, seeing that it is a holiday for many people involved in this case and is concerned that it is a tactic to prevent supporters and witnesses for Ms. Zelter from appearing in the courtroom. PHRMG will release additional updates on this case as it develops. Hebron's Repeat Offenders: Settlers A new Settler Hotline case similar to Ms. Zelter's occurred on July 30, when Hebron settlers attacked another peace activist, Le Anne Clausen. Ms. Clausen was beaten with fists by settler girls, hit with stones, kicked in the head, and had a rock smashed on her face. She filed a complaint and has many eyewitnesses. PHRMG will be monitoring this case as well. Settlers, especially those from Avraha Avino settlement, continually attack Palestinians and international peace supporters. Groups of young teenage settler girls have become repeat offenders in broad daylight against innocent civilians in Hebron. PHRMG believes it is the past failure of police to arrest the offenders and prosecute these cases or to even interfere when such assaults take place that encourages such arrogant criminal behavior. The Israeli military also often stands on the sidelines and watches innocents take abuse from settlers before they reluctantly intercede. PHRMG will be diligently assisting all victims of these and other settler crimes to try to see that the cases are investigated and prosecuted according to law. Tara Close Public Relations Officer Email: admin@phrmg.org The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG) 5, Ragheb Nashashibi St. P.O.Box 19918, East Jerusalem 91198
September 14, 2002 2nd National Student Conference on the Palestine Solidarity Movement October 12-14th, 2002 Students Allied for Freedom and Equality, a coalition of progressivestudent activists at the University of Michigan, united behind thegoal of ending Israeli occupation and Apartheid, proudly hosts thePalestine Solidarity Movement in October for the 2nd National StudentConference. A preliminary schedule includes the following: October 12th, Academic Day October 12th, Evening, Palestine Cultural Show October 13th-14th, Activist Days Speakers include: Registration can be found on the conference site at: For more information, please contact SAFE at: To make a monetary donation, to help defray the costs, or to endorseor inquire about sponsorship or publicity opportunities, pleasecontact SAFE (see contact information above) For lodging information, please visit: If you would like to inqudire about availability of freeaccommodations with University of Michigan students, please email: studentsallied@umich.edu
September 14, 2002 Peter Lippman's Journal Peter Lippman, an ISM activist who was in the Dhesheh refugee camp and then Nablusfor most of August, is writing an extended journal about his time with the ISM and his subsequent visit to Israel. He wants to start sending this out in sections next week.The writings might be too long to include in the regular ISM postings. So if you're interested in receiving this, please send Peter a note with your address, at pl52ip@hotmail.com.
SLEEPING IN THE BED OF A SUICIDE BOMBER The young wife of Amer Nabulsi (not his real name) had a special way of coping with his death. She decorated their room with pictures of children and young couples, valentine hearts, teddy bears, and other irrepressibly cute images. Some were happy, a few sad, and others in love. Some were cut from magazines; others were posters, cards or stickers. To these images she added her own words and symbols I sleep in their room, so her artwork surrounds me every morning and evening. Much of it is in Arabic, which I don't read very well, but the tears and broken hearts drawn with marking pens speak clearly enough, as do the few English words, "I love you and miss you." The reason I sleep here is that she has fled the house, along with most of the family. Out of a total of ten family members, only Amer's parents are here, along with me and other members of the International Solidarity Movement from the U.S., Ireland, Italy, the U.K. and other countries. Israeli authorities have threatened to demolish the house, despite the fact that it is a war crime to do so. The Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory, outlaws collective punishment of entire families or communities. We want to try to prevent this from happening, or at least put up nonviolent resistance. No one knows for sure why Amer chose to become a istishhad (one who martyrs him/herself). By Palestinian standards, he had every reason not to. He had a job, a home, a car, a loving wife and daughter. While not wealthy, he did not have to worry about becoming needy. Furthermore, his mother and father consider suicide bombings to be immoral. They are deeply devout muslims, but are among the vast majority who believe that any form of suicide is against Islam. They spend much of their time reading the Koran and praying. In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, they are quite liberal by local standards, and highly tolerant. Their youngest daughter wears jeans and wouldn't be seen in the hijab, or traditional head covering, and her relation with her fianci is anything but traditional, with her parents' blessing. Amer's father cannot talk for long about him without tears welling up in his eyes and his face being transformed by grief. What led Amer to put on a vest of Semtex and cause his flesh to be scattered by its explosive force? Part of the reason might be the anger that he must have felt when his father suffered brain damage from a beating administered by Israeli forces. Mr. Nabulsi's left side was left partly paralyzed and he now speaks with difficulty, as if he had had a stroke. Still, that was seven years ago. More recently, a friend was killed in a car that was destroyed by Israeli gunfire. His family also reports that he was strongly moved by both the news and personal reports of the Israeli invasion of Ramallah in early March, 2002, and especially the siege of the presidential compound. However, such experiences are common to most Palestinians, and do not necessarily make them suicide bombers. What was the difference in Amer's case? I can only speculate, but it may have been the strong sense of moral right and wrong, of justice and injustice, that his parents instilled in him. It permeates the family, and can be seen as they drop by for meals and conversation with their parents, in which I am invited to share. The small children get plenty of love and patience, but no indulgence. Even the slightest disciplinary action comes with a moral dictum, however brief. It may be that Amer simply grew impatient with the injustice he saw around him. Perhaps it was the daily humiliation at the ubiquitous checkpoints, where Palestinians pass only with the permission of the soldiers on duty. Perhaps it was the increasing sight of Israeli settlements, built on confiscated Palestinian land, on the hilltops surrounding the city. Perhaps it was the arbitrary arrest and/or assassination of thousands of "suspects" by Israeli security forces, the use of torture, now considered legal in Israel, and the unlimited detention without charges. Perhaps it was the refusal to allow him and 3.3 million others in Gaza and the West Bank to worship in Jerusalem, the holiest city in the country to all religions. Perhaps it was the diversion of water resources, the deaths of ambulance patients at checkpoints, the bulldozing of olive and fruit orchards, or the construction of settler roads, which Palestinians are permitted neither to use nor cross. I have been with the family for two weeks now, and it is time to go, although our group will continue to maintain a presence at this and other homes, as the situation warrants. When the Israeli occupation forces choose to commit war crimes, they prefer to do so away from the eyes of international observers. I would have stayed even if the family had been a misanthropic group of wild-eyed fanatics, because a war crime is a war crime. However, they are kind, generous, and courageous, and we have bonded during my stay. We kiss each other on the cheeks and exchange contact information. They invite me to come to their daughter's wedding. I promise to call. Suicide attacks against innocent noncombatants are also a war crime, and Amer's family is right to condemn them. However, I do not see wild-eyed religious fanaticism as the reason for the attacks. I see instead a resilient people without other means of resistance, pushed to desperation by the increasing pressures of ethnic cleansing, while their cries for help are ignored. Is there a proud people anywhere that might not be driven to such measures to defend themselves Paul Larudee
Roadblock to be Removed in Anabta, Palestine Contacts: Anabta: Saturday, September 14th, a group of Palestinians and Internationals with the International Solidarity Movement will attempt to simultaneously remove eight roadblocks outside the village of Anabta about 10 kilometers east of Tulkarm. The Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) and Israeli settlers use roadblocks to restrict the movements of Palestinians. These roadblocks, usually consisting of a large mound of rocks and dirt have been placed around hundreds of villages throughout Palestine. Usually about 2 meters high and placed the width of the road, the roadblocks restrict the movement of vehicles going into and out of villages. Ambulances attempting to attend to those in need of medical attention are often unable to get into or out of villages because of the roadblocks which are often combined with large ditches across the road as deep as 2 meters. Villagers must resort to walking to enter and leave villages but elderly and disabled people often find it impossible to pass these roadblocks. The excavations associated with the roadblocks damage buried utility cables, water pipes, and sewer pipes thus causing health related problems. Medicine, food, water and other essential items are unable to reach the villages due to this inhumane tactic used by the IOF and the State of Israel. These barriers created by the IOF are weapons of war used against a civilian population. "This inhumane treatment of Palestinians must stop. The ISM will assist Palestinians with the removal of roadblocks as long as the IOF continues to use this type of weapon against the civilian population of Palestine," said Osama Qashoo with the ISM.
Buy Palestinian embroidered Christmas cards! The Palestine Children's Welfare Fund is selling Palestinianembroidery here in the US to help provide jobs for over 100 womenin the Dhesheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, Palestine. The value of the items to be sold is over 25 000 US dollars which will go to the women and the children of the refugee camps to help them survive the brunt of the vicious attacks and the starvation imposed on themdue to the closures and curfews. The items will be put on sale in nation wide activities and through thePCWF website - http://www.pcwf.org/. Please consider buying your Christmas cards and presents from the site. PCWF asks that you place your orderprior to October 30th, 2002 so they can obtain more items from Palestine and give the women enough lead time to produce and ship the products. The curfews and closures make delivery erratic and your timely response will be greatly appreciated. Thanks and salamat INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
September 12, 2002 TAKE ACTION TAKE ACTION: To call your elected officials see the personal contact information available on congress.cfl-online.org. To write the White House and Congress visit HTTP://CONGRESS.CFL-ONLINE.ORG [After you enter your contact info the appropriate addresses are provided. Simply type a letter and click send. And be sure to bookmark this page so you can send ONE LETTER EVERYDAY].....we have prepared letters which are easy to send.
Nablus Appeal Dear Friends: Greetings from Nablus that has been under strict curfew for nearly THREE MONTHS (Eighty four days). The Israeli army is ignoring the needs of residents to live, work and send our children to schools. Please contact your Parliament Member, Congress Person, and Knesset Member. Youbre your Mayors, Ministers and leaders. Ask them why the curfew is still imposed on nearly 200,000 people for the past EIGHTY FOUR days. And please DO NOT accept a reply that the Israeli army think there are more suicide attacks originating from Nablus. Ask them if they have evidence to support their aggression. Also ask them why they confiscated our radio transmitters for the second time. WE ARE DEPENDING ON YOU TO HELP US Amer Abdelhadi
"Individuals have International duties which transcend the
national obligations of obedience. Therefore individual citizens have
the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace & humanity."
Praying and March Against Land Confiscation What: Palestinian farmers and international supporters hold prayer service and march protesting confiscation of farmland and water sources by the Israeli military. When: Friday, 13 September 2002, Prayer Service at 12:30pm, March at 1:30pm Where: Prayer Service in Beit Amin and March to Izbet Salman, (Near Tulkarem/Qalqilia) West Bank, Palestine Contact Information: Osama Qashoo (Qalqilya, ISM) 052/225-703 from Israel/Palestinian Territories, (972-52)225-703 international Garrick Ruiz (Los Angeles, ISM) 067/371-507 from Israel/Palestinian Territories, (972-67)371-507 international Lisa Nessan (San Francisco Bay Area, ISM) 052/272-524 from Israel/Palestinian Territories, (972-52) 272-524 international Kristin Razowsky (Flo) (Minneapolis Midwest Region, ISM) 067/361-708 from Israel/Palestinian Territories, (972-67) 361-708 international BACKGROUND Palestinian farmers from villages in the Tulkarem and Qalqilya regions of the Israeli occupied West Bank will gather Friday between Beit Amin and Izbet Salman to pray on their land. The Israeli Military plans to seize over 80,000 dunams of fertile farmland (one dunam is approximately a quarter acre) and nearly all of the region's 37 water wells. After the prayer the farmers will march to the neighboring community of Izbet Salman. Volunteers from the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led organization which supports Palestinian nonviolent resistance to Israeli Occupation, will participate in the march. These seizures of Palestinian land will result in the redrawing of the border between Israel and 1967 Occupied Palestine. Areas affected extend along the Israeli-Palestinian border, from Jenin to Hebron. The Israeli military claims the confiscations are necessary due to nonspecific security concerns. Last week, the Israeli military notified farmers of the immediate seizure of their lands when Israeli soldiers placed handwritten documents signed by General Keflinsky in Palestinian olive orchards and croplands. Within days, bulldozers accompanied by military personnel began the destruction of acres of cultivated farmland and the cutting down of ancient olive trees laden with fruit ready for harvest in the coming month of October. According to the handwritten notices, the farmers had one week to appeal the decision; however, they have been unable to make an appeal due to military travel restrictions and Isreali administrative office closures for the celebration of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Israeli seizure will turn the area's subsistence level farmers into refugees, robbed of ancestral land and economic means of supporting their families. The area around Tulkarem and Qalqilya is one of the most fertile agricultural area in the West Bank and includes the Western Aquifer Area which supplies the primary irrigation and drinking water for the surrounding population. The region's economy is dependent on these wells and family farms, which have been under cultivation for generations. This week, Israeli surveyors with armed Israeli soldiers continue to mark the areas slated for seizure. Painted and red ribbon markers have been placed meters away from villagers' homes, on agricultural greenhouses and trunks of fruit trees. Palestinian farmers state their only hope for holding onto their land is through international condemnation of the Israeli seizures.
Nablus Update Since I started writing Nablus Diary "Nablus Under Curfew", I have been talking about the curfews and agonies Palestinians face enduring it; Agonies that come in many different shapes and colors. Agonies that include losses of loved ones by death, arrests or man-hunts, losses of income by banning people from work, losses of hope by isolation, humiliation and unawareness of being left in the dark. There must be someone or some body who is benefiting from the continuous curfews. Israel says the curfews have reduced the number of attacks in Israel but still claims that they are still discovering explosive factories in homes, shops and offices that get demolished later. This is what the public hears from Israeli officials. For Israel, there are many other benefits of the curfew. In addition to the degrading of the whole Palestinian society to push them to accept whatever Israel throws their side, Israel is busying itself with other issues that were harder to resolve few years back; The confiscation of lands. Israel uses four strategies to confiscate more Palestinian lands; Settlements, military, roads and the fence. The previously remote settlements are being joint together using so much of the Palestinian lands along the way. The army officials are putting their hands on large peaces of lands for military or security purposes -or to destroy them and stop Palestinians from harvesting them again-. The network of new roads - Settlers roads as called by Palestinians- are also being constructed on Palestinian lands to enable settlers to travel safely. The security fence had had its share of clarifications by Israeli officials. Some claim that the fence would be the future borders between Israel and Palestine. Others claim that the fence is built to serve a limited length of time as a preservative measures to stop candidates of suicide attackers to infiltrate to Israel (as Israel claims). Whatever the reason, policy, strategy or Israeli dream, more Palestinian lands are taken from their owners while they are locked up in the curfew. As for the continuous curfew, Palestinians have started to draw their own conclusions. A friend told me on Friday that curfew will not be lifted until the end of the week. He explained that the New Hebrew Year celebrations would stay until Tuesday, then we have the anniversary of September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. We will be locked up until then. Curfew days are increasing, EIGHTY TWO of them so far, during which, Israel is taking full advantage. The world is watching, yet has done little. Amer Abdelhadi
Reflections on September 11 From Nablus By Amer Abdelhadi What a sad and frustrating day today was. Most Palestinians have sat all day long in front of their TV screens. No matter how many channels they have, they still get to watch what happened on September 11 and hear how the world has turned, against them. I remember how the attacks in New York and Washington had shocked Palestinians; horrific clips TV's were showing, threats of more attacks were breaking the coverage, people were just too scared at how the world is turning. The attacks had reminded them of their own agonies. Palestinians do understand the definitions of terror. I drove to my office in Radio Tariq Al Mahabbeh and was stopped many times along the way by people asking about the attacks; where they true, how many planes were there, did anyone claim responsibility, what are the damages and what was the reaction from President Bush and his administration... etc. People in Nablus are used to asking these kinds of questions. Questions that became common since Israel started using its American toys (helicopters, fighter jets and tanks). Prior to September 11, Palestinian cities were shelled by these Israeli toys, buildings were demolished and gone down in ruins like the twin towers - with the difference in the size and publicity-, people were killed whilst staying in their own homes or on the streets. People were always checking for the news. Since Palestinians had nothing to do with them, the attacks, some hoped, would change the way the United States dealt with the Palestinian issue, they would straighten the behaviors of the repetitive American administrations towards Palestinians, and finally the attacks would make Americans closer as they shared being victims of terror together make sure Palestinians are not terrorized any more. Wishful thinking that was. The way the United States did indeed change the way it dealt with Palestinians, they switched from the ignored mode to the unwanted. The behaviors of the current administration under President George Bush had isolated the Palestine Authority and president instead of hearing his side of the story. The American public had started its own war against Arabs and Muslims, violently or publicly with the great help by top American officials. The American repetitive administrations have not listened to the voice of peace before September 11. They are still not listening to the voice of wisdom and that violent only leads to more violent and once that starts, a scary snow ball would start rolling, everywhere. Palestinians are not violent people; all they want is to live in peace, enjoy the growth of their families and children, and enjoy life by having the right to their own destiny. The American administration had vowed revenge and got it, they declared war on Afghanistan and ended up hunting for more, Iraq, Hezbollah, Hamas, etc. all in the name of fighting terror. A fight that is too expensive for all sides, a fight that will leave more hatred than love, more warfare than peace, more poverty than surplus and more bloody revenges than previous revenges. Palestinians didn't celebrate and party when the attacks took place in New York and Washington, they didn't feel joy when they saw the sufferings that they share, the future that they fear and the destiny that they dread. We were just too busy hanging on to our side of the rope, trying to balance our needs with our insanity. The world had indeed changed after September 11. Home demolitions are becoming a daily event, killings a daily flash and land destruction and leveling a daily routine. "The only losers after Sep 11 were the Palestinians" A friend told me today "and the only winners were the Israelis". This is the world after September 11, no body is listening; state terror has become a legitimate way of laying down facts. Facts that have kept the residents of Nablus locked up in a strict curfew for EIGHTY THREE and still counting. The world is watching, yet has done little. Amer Abdelhadi
Back Home, Thinking of Aseel I have been back in the United States for three full days. I think I have just about gotten over my jet-lag. And still, it was hard to fall asleep last night. I was thinking of Aseel, a small eight year-old girl in Askar Refugee Camp. I spent seven nights in her home of seventeen people, sleeping in a room with her, her grandmother and two sisters. Aseel and her sisters took turns sleeping beside me. When it was Aseel's turn she would hold my hand as she went to sleep. She would tell me, " I sleep better when you are here. Good Night." Each night that I would come to their home and into their room it is fairly late, nine-thirty or ten o'clock, sometimes later. Sometimes the whole family is there, sometimes just the old woman and her three granddaughters. No matter when I come they are always waiting up for me, in that cement room with two cots, a table and a vase with plastic flowers. No matter how tired we all are, we sit together for an hour or tell stories or draw. One night the girls and I do exercises together. They show me the backbends they learned at school and I teach them a few yoga poses. They are excited to learn yoga and try to get their grandmother to join us but she says she is too old. Every night while I am there we fall asleep with the light on, a dim bulb hanging from the center of the ceiling. And if Aseel is beside me she grabs my hand. Each night we wake up to the sounds of Israeli (US made and supplied) military helicopters and planes, and sometimes gunfire from the planes. One night while I was there, flares were shot lighting up the whole camp. Another night we heard tanks and wondered if they were coming to destroy the family's home. I was sent by the International Solidarity Movement to stay with Aseel's family because their home is slated for demolition by the Israeli army. Aseel's brother Mohammed was a suicide bomber. The Israeli military demolishes the homes of the families of suicide bombers as a form of collective punishment. (They say they do it to deter other suicide bombers, however, it has proven not an effective deterrence.) Folks in Askar believe that with an international presence in the homes the soldiers may not come, or at the very least, an international may be able to negotiate with the soldiers and buy time for the family to get their belongings from the house before it is destroyed. The family does not know when the soldiers will come to destroy their home. It could be this night or a night six months from now. They come with tanks and explosives. When I ask about Mohammed the grandmother tells me he was good and honest and very sensitive. "He felt things in a deep way," she tells me. They tell me they never imagined he would become a suicide bomber. They tell me, three weeks before the attack he saw his best friend shot and killed by Israeli soldiers and that he then became very quiet. I hear this, and things like it, over and over again by people who knew those who became suicide bombers. They say those who are carrying out the attacks in Israel are often young and feel the occupation and the suffering of those around them very deeply. They see innocent lives lost, the lives of their friends and family, and they see no other way of fighting back. Thousands of people have been made homeless because of house demolitions by the Israeli army. Being the family of a suicide bomber is just one reason given among many. Often homes are destroyed, "cleared" is the term used by the Israeli military, "cleared on the grounds of military necessity", in areas near settlements, by-pass roads and army positions. Sometimes homes are destroyed in areas where clashes have broken out between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers. The demolitions generally take place in the middle of the night without any warning being given to the residents. The Freedom Summer Campaign is over. ISM still has volunteers in Palestine but the numbers are growing smaller. These past nights several nights no international has stayed with Aseel and her family and there is no formal international body to help protect them. So I think about them as I go to sleep at night. And I think about them today as I remember the tragedy of September 11th and the subsequent war on terror. My prayer, today, is that we feel the pain of all the victims of violence and terror wherever they are, whoever they are. That we seek the end to the violence and terror carried out by all individuals and government bodies, including our own. Ellen O'Grady
Palestinian farmers protest Israeli confiscation of land and water What: Palestinian farmers and international supporters hold prayer service and march protesting confiscation of farmland and water sources by the Israeli military. When: Friday, 13 September 2002, Prayer Service at 12:30pm, March at 1:30pm Where: Prayer Service in Beit Amin and March to Izbet Salman, West Bank, Palestine Contact Information: Omar Sabhar, General Director, Ministry of Local Government, Palestinian National Authority, 059/837-606 from Israel/Palestinian Territories, (972-59)837-606 international Osama Qashoo (Qalqilya, ISM) 052/225-703 from Israel/Palestinian Territories, (972-52)225-703 international Garrick Ruiz (Los Angeles, ISM) 067/371-507 from Israel/Palestinian Territories, (972-67)371-507 international Lisa Nessan (San Francisco Bay Area, ISM) 052/272-524 from Israel/Palestinian Territories, (972-52) 272-524 international Kristin Razowsky (Flo) (Minneapolis Midwest Region, ISM) 067/361-708 from Israel/Palestinian Territories, (972-67) 361-708 international Palestinian farmers from villages in the Tulkarem and Qalqilya regions of the Israeli occupied West Bank will gather Friday between Beit Amin and Izbet Salman to pray on their land. The Israeli Military plans to seize over 80,000 dunams of fertile farmland (one dunam is approximately a quarter acre) and nearly all of the region's 37 water wells. After the prayer the farmers will march to the neighboring community of Izbet Salman. Volunteers from the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led organization which supports Palestinian nonviolent resistance to Israeli Occupation, will participate in the march. These seizures of Palestinian land will result in the redrawing of the border between Israel and 1967 Occupied Palestine. Areas affected extend along the Israeli-Palestinian border, from Jenin to Hebron. The Israeli military claims the confiscations are necessary due to nonspecific security concerns. Last week, the Israeli military notified farmers of the immediate seizure of their lands when Israeli soldiers placed handwritten documents signed by General Keflinsky in Palestinian olive orchards and croplands. Within days, bulldozers accompanied by military personnel began the destruction of acres of cultivated farmland and the cutting down of ancient olive trees laden with fruit ready for harvest in the coming month of October. According to the handwritten notices, the farmers had one week to appeal the decision; however, they have been unable to make an appeal due to military travel restrictions and Isreali administrative office closures for the celebration of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Israeli seizure will turn the area's subsistence level farmers into refugees, robbed of ancestral land and economic means of supporting their families. The area around Tulkarem and Qalqilya is one of the most fertile agricultural area in the West Bank and includes the Western Aquifer Area which supplies the primary irrigation and drinking water for the surrounding population. The region's economy is dependent on these wells and family farms, which have been under cultivation for generations. This week, Israeli surveyors with armed Israeli soldiers continue to mark the areas slated for seizure. Painted and red ribbon markers have been placed meters away from villagers' homes, on agricultural greenhouses and trunks of fruit trees. Palestinian farmers state their only hope for holding onto their land is through international condemnation of the Israeli seizures.
DEMONSTRATION AGAINST OCCUPATION AND CURFEW AND FOR THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION JOINTLY ORGANISED BY LOCAL RESIDENTS, CHILDREN AND INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS MAQATAA CHAECKPOINT (OUTSIDE THE MOSQUE) - NABLUS PALESTINE 14h00 Thursday marks the 15th day of the temporary IDF checkpoint which is based outside the Mosque, opposite Maqataa. A combination of tanks, APCs and Jeeps have been based there, and have been delaying ambulances, UN vehicle and trucks for considerable periods of time. An attck on a UPMRC ambulance driver has been witnessed, and there have been a number of arrests. Couples with the roadblock immediately outside the Old Police Building, the effect of this checkpoint has been to severely restrict movement between the East and The West of the city. There have been many incidents where IDF sdoldiers have fired live ammunition at groups of young boys who have reacted to the presence of the checkpoint and soldiers. Residents of houses and apartments in the immediate vicinity of the checkpoint have been kept under virtual house arrest, and attempts to leave the buildings have resulted in sahots being fired by the soldiers. A 12 year old girl was hospitalised after being hit by a bullet which was fired into the entrance hall of her apartment block. As a result resident children have been confined to the block for the duration of the checkpoints existence, and their movement has been further restricted by the danger of approaching windows that face onto the checkpoint. Obtaining food and medicines has been problematic, and some assistance has been provided by the Red Cross. A group of local children, residents and International Observers will stage a demonstration against the checkpoint on Thursday at 2pm. The demonstration will take the form of a teach-in and carnival for the children, with lessons, games and activities being offered. * ACTIVITIES ARE PLANNED TO TAKE PLACE WITHIN METRES
OF TANKS AND SOLDIERS. For more conatcts please call Robin Horsell 059 377 281 or Saif at 050 495 836 or Suzan Barclay 055-829680 / 059-877091
Celebrating the Sabbath Today I came as close as I may ever be to attending an Islamic prayer service with about 1,500 worshiping farmers. This morning I spent at the small village of Falimia where our small band of 4 international volunteers had been invited back to the community where we had been 2 days earlier, walking through rich, fertile farmland, past rows and rows of greenhouses, and among orchards of fruit-laden olive/orange/lemon trees. The very land that the Israeli military has begun to confiscate and plow under. That day, we had walked along the redspray painted numbers, marked by surveyors where the construction will take place. Marks appeared on rocks as close as 3 meters from people's homes, on the trunks of ancient olive trees and the poles and tarps of industrial-sized greenhouses. And the drinking water beneath the ground would also fall under the ever expanding Israeli Occupation. Today, we were present to witness the villagers' demonstration of commitment to their land and homes. For nearly 2 hours, the men and boys of the surrounding villages came here to worship, not in the mosque but in the fields among their crops. It was an incredibly powerful sight: young children and cane-supported old men, all farmers, seated on the land cultivated by their fathers and their fathers' fathers' and their fathers' fathers' fathers and on and on. The past and the future together to pray for peace and for assistance from the only resource currently available to them. I watched from the shade of a fruit tree as the men and boys one-by-one washed their hands, their faces and their feet from water of an irrigation faucet. They then carefully slipped their sandles on and walked to a place in the fallow field, spread their prayer mat, removed their shoes and sat silently, listening to the songs of worship. It was an incredibly powerful act of nonviolent resistance and of their refusal of the Israeli confiscation. At the end of the service, several of them were interviewed by a television reporter and I had my first appearance on mass media television. Regretably, I doubt this story will reach Israel or the United States. But for today, the villagers thanked us for being with them, for witnessing their struggle, and joining our voices with their prayers in breaking the silence. Jennifer, ISM Activist
Nablus Update From Amer Abdelhadi Dear Friends, Sunday, September 8th,2002. Curfew days are getting longer, in Palestinian minds anyway. The things that are happening on a daily base are repeated over and over like a snow ball with nothing in the horizon to slow it down. On the contrary the only thing that moving forward is Israeli escalation of violence against Palestinians. It wasn't just another day in the curfew for Nazih Abdelhadi on the eve of August 15th when he received a phone call from his jewelry workshop neighbors to inform him that the army were searching and vandalizing his workshop -near the old city of Nablus- and preparing something. Not a long while later, the same neighbors called again to tell him that the sounds that shook the whole city were actually the sounds of the demolition of the floor where Nazih's workshop was. I met Nazih whilst walking in the old city when the curfew was lifted few days later. He urged me to go up to his workshop. He was urging everyone to go up and have a look. The whole floor was totally damaged, the sealing was down in several places while the ground was covered in debris mixed with bits and peaces of tape recorders, radios, small TVs and molds for bracelets, rings and necklaces. The floor was partitioned in three parts; two jewel workshops and a repair shop for small electrical appliances. Does this look like an explosives factory? Nazih was asking anyone who was prepared to listen. The damage was massive and underrated. Everybody was complaining to everybody about their own losses. Mohannad Fakher-Eldin is the owner of the building that was attacked. No one had suffered as much as me he said. In the April incursion, an Army tank shelled the top floor of the building next door causing it to drop down on mine. I lost all the balconies and all the window frames and glass. This time they finished me and my building for nothing. No evidence of explosives or components was found in any of the workshops, he said angrily. The army had spent quite a while in the Fakher-Eldin building that housed in addition to the workshops, a dental clinic, several textile workshops, a cafe and some warehouses. Everything was vandalized Mohannad said as he took me for a tour in the ruined building. The dental clinic was totally destroyed, all the materials that are used by dentists were mixed together to leave everything behind useless. The cafes was also cleaned out, the Arjeelas - Hubble Bubble water pipes, were wrecked as the soldiers had obviously tried to use them. The chairs and tables were smashed and the coffee beans and tea leafs were mixed together. Out of all places in the city, they picked my building. Who is going to pay for all the repairs? I cannot even tell if I can rebuild aggravated Mohannad said. "Some realtors informed him that the building may have to be brought down and built again for safety. I ran a little research and found that the army had found nitric acid in the workshops which is commonly used by all jewelers. They can't expect to convince the world that every jewelers' workshop is a factory for explosives, Nazih said. What's happening here is the result of the world's ignorance and the green light that Americans are giving the Israelis. Two nights before, the army have surrounded my neighborhood and brought all men between the ages of 15-50 down to the streets where they had their names and ID cards checked. They checked mine through their long printed lists and also through their command using their radio system. If I was on the wanted list, I would be in jail now. Where did they get the explosives factory claims from, Nazih wondered. They blew up most of the jewelers workshops to destroy Nablus, not my workshop alone, Nazih concluded. The Jewelry market is one of Nablus famous trades. The demolitions are becoming a Business as usual policy for the army; No witnesses are ever available to support the army's finding, no evidence is ever found to prove the charges and no place is left intact to prove anything anyway. During the curfew, people are prevented from their basic self defense rights. No one is given a chance to see, hear or smell anything that may challenge the Israeli claims. Oppressions are performed just like the curfew; under the world's eyes but without their intervention. War crimes are taken place for the world to see. The curfew has been imposed on Nablus Nearly three months, EIGHTY DAYS. The world is watching, yet has done little. Amer Abdelhadi P.S. A news flash on Radio Tariq Al Mahabbeh just confirmed that the curfew is not to be lifted tomorrow. That makes 81 days in this curfew. The world community is waiting. I wish I knew what they are waiting for.
Update From Bethlehem The five internationals who have been arrested by the Israeli army in Nablus on Thursday September 5, 2002 have been released on the same day around midnight. We apologize for the inconvience that has been caused by not sending this information immidately for techincal reasons. We will keep you informed. The ISM Media Centre
Notes From Gaza Its been a little while since I have had both the time and ability to get a report out. I'm going to work backwards at least a little bit and tell you about what is most strong in my mind first. I arrived in the Gaza Strip once again on Tuesday, September 3. I returned to Rafah on the Egyptian border the next day September 4. My plan was to have several meetings, see friends and return to the middle area last night, have meetings in Gaza City this morning (in fact I should be meeting right now) and leave for the West Bank after that. All these plans have come to nothing and I will be in Rafah at least one more day and probably more. In order to explain, let me tell you about yesterday. It was quite a day. I have been staying with my friend at Salahadeen Gate (the area which is attacked almost every night by the Israeli military which I wrote about in an earlier report, if you want to read it it is at www.straybulletins.com/garrick). Since I haven't spent much time there during the day yesterday he offered to show me his house that has been partially demolished (he now rents a home down the street). We walked up to take pictures of his home and the other houses which have been demolished there. Many of the local children followed us. As we were taking pictures, suddenly, without warning, soldiers in a nearby base opened fire on us. Obviously it is unbelievably horrible to be shot at and that a military would fire at people who are only taking pictures, but what really made me angry was that they opened fire on the ten or fifteen children there. No one was hit, they were firing over our heads. But this was actually the first time that I know for sure they were shooting live rounds at me. They fired their m-16's on automatic, which you can't do with rubber bullets, and they fired into the wall above my head so that I was showered with bits of wall dislodged by the bullets. Obviously, even if they didn't fire directly at the children, any of them could have been hit by a ricochet from this type of fire. The children ran, some were traumatized, others seemed to be so used to it that it didn't even really bother them. How truly sad that there are children who are not frightened by being shot at. Before I continue with the day perhaps I should tell you a few things that have happened here recently: About two weeks ago the Gaza and Bethlehem First plan was announced. This "temporary peace plan" was supposed to have Israel withdrawing from these two places on one day followed by Hebron two days later and then other areas of the occupied territories. In Bethlehem the curfew was lifted and the military withdrew to its ring around the area, meaning that there have been some improvements in daily life but that the army is always just a few minutes a way and the area is still surrounded by colonies/settlements and a military ring. In Gaza no one has seen any change in anything. The checkpoints remain, the colonies/settlements remain and the military remains. No one I have spoken with says their has been any change in the situation here except for the person I am staying with who says that maybe there has been some lessening of the amount of gunshots near Salahadeen gate from the military but it still happens nearly every night to some degree. And I can tell from experience over the last few days that there definitely is still a lot of shooting and shelling some nights. The Israeli military has yet to pull out of Hebron, despite their promises and the fact that until two days ago there was not attack at all against Israel and there still has not been an attack against civilians. Sorry all, we have just gotten word that we might be able to get to Gaza City. We need to leave now. I will continue as soon as I can. Life here is chaotic. Love and Rage from Occupied palestine, Garrick Garrick Ruiz
Lament For Humanity My dearest family and friends, The ominous date on the calendar looms closer - September 11 - that unlikely day in that unlucky month. When we were told the world changed forever. Or did it? Long before the attacks in Washington and New York there were the millions of dead in Rwanda, hacked to pieces by machetes. There were the thousands of children in Iraq, dead, as food became a weapon of war. There were the hundreds upon hundreds in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Chile - dead - simply for speaking the truth. There are the countless number of Palestinians - dead, tortured, imprisoned - for daring to resist occupation and dispossession. For so many, the world changed on the day their husband was murdered, their child died of starvation, or their sister became one of the disappeared. For so many, the world will never be the same now that their home has been destroyed, now that their child has been murdered by the bullets of occupation, now that their husband has been beaten and imprisoned. As we mourn the dead of September 11th, we must remember that we are not mourning alone. There are millions of people who share the pain and suffering of Americans on this day - they are the Rwandans, the Iraqis, the Nicaraguans. The Palestinians. I wrote the following poem "A Lament for Humanity" several weeks ago. I re-read it today, and have decided to offer it up as my prayer of hope and peace for the world as we mourn for all those who suffer from the violence of war, hatred, and terrorism in all of its forms. A Lament for Humanity Cycles of violence Powerful men And what about those of us With love from Palestine,
Health worker detained and beaten, medical clinic invaded Israeli soldiers today invaded a Medical Relief clinic in Beit Lahiya, the Gaza Strip. The soldiers proceeded to dismiss some of the clinic staff, and detained others. They still remain in the building. Yesterday in Nablus, Israeli soldiers at a military checkpoint stopped an ambulance. This is customary practice throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but this time the abuse of human rights went further. The Palestinian Medical Relief ambulance driver, Firas Al-Baqri, who had just taken a cancer patient home after receiving treatment, was ordered to stop. He then was made to leave his vehicle by one of the soldiers, who began to beat him. Firas told us how the soldier punched him in the face and on his body. His hands were also tied. This beating continued for around ten minutes, and was witnessed by other medical staff in the ambulance, and two workers from the Red Cross – Hosam As-Shaqsheer and an unknown foreign woman. No intervention was able to halt this unprovoked attack, and all the medical staff were prevented from leaving the military checkpoint. Despite this appalling treatment Firas, who was eventually released, said that it would not stop him from continuing his work. Pointing out that Israeli soldiers had killed other medical personnel in the last two years, he believes it is important not to be intimidated into stopping “this important humanitarian work”. For more information contact Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi +972 2 2985372 or +972 (0)59 254218
From Amer Abdelhadi in Nablus Dear Friends, Wednesday September 4th, 2002. “The Israelis are asking for trouble, they are trying to hurt each one of us directly and personally. Unless some high powers stop them, we will see groups of people committing suicide making the whole place look life a fire ball” That is what a friends said to me today as he called to ask about my news which I will share with you. I direct and manage a local radio station, Radio Tariq Al Mahabbeh –TMFM in short- in Nablus. Many years ago I used to dream about being permitted inside a radio station to see how announcers are behind the scene. I used to imagine meeting my favorite DJ one day, in person, and have him/her explain to me how they do it. It was only a dream at the time as we were under occupation which prohibits people from having their own media. The dream was over as soon as I returned home after graduation from the UK. In 1997, the dream became a reality. The Palestinian Authority had finally issued permission for me to start a radio station I called Tariq Al Mahabbeh meaning, the Love Lane. I wanted it to be a place where people could get closer together, even through airwaves. I never believed airwaves should not be limited to a certain area or restricted to certain tastes. At the time, Israel radio – Arabic service – was the only source of information and they were taking us, Palestinians, much for granted. Our people are so richly cultured and educated; we concluded that we should make all efforts at pleasing all tastes and generations. The dream, same as reality, was growing. TMFM, has become very popular in a matter of weeks. Radio commercials were coming in, sponsorships were covering programs’ expenses and allowing developments to the station that became fully computerized with the human and technical capabilities to operate 24 hours non stop. The dream was just starting. With Israeli army next door to us, we were under continuous threat of all kinds of things. In July 1999, our rebroadcast link studio was invaded. Our equipments were confiscated and we were charged with operating an illegitimate radio station. The excuse was; Israel doesn’t recognize licenses issued by Palestinians, even in 1999. Our losses exceeded US $ 30,000. At the beginning of Al Aksa Intifada, we have contracted reporters in all Palestinian areas to cover updated news on the hour, every hour. New talk shows were assigned and hence new additions to the team. Our contact lists were getting larger and included all different ranks in both public and private sectors in life. We became more close to our listeners and that in itself has made TMFM the sole source of information. As the siege was getting stricter, new polices were decided on. For example, movements from one Palestinian area to the other in the siege became almost impossible, workers were prevented from their work, sick people could not reach hospitals and travelers never reached their destinations. With the help of taxi drivers and daily commuters, we started airing traffic flashes that directed commuters to alternative routes, sometimes inside farming fields. Sometimes, our warnings of newly erected road blocks had saved peoples lives saving others valuable time. Many things have changed since. Children’s’ programs became focused on the current situation and ways to help them deal with the anxieties and the trauma caused by the curfew and occupation and daily presence of military around them. Specialists were invited to tell their views and stories were made to simplify answers to the many questions children ask. Our services had included receiving calls from sick people requesting medicine or medical advices. When we received such calls, we contacted doctors, neighbors and paramedics to provide medical aid to those who cannot otherwise obtain it. We have also called and have been called by families who were held hostage by the Israeli military. For example, we contact relief committees who were able to get in through the Israeli military siege to provide help. We also broadcasted the calling for prayers as the army had damaged the electricity lines in most parts of the city. As the Israelis escalated their attacks on Palestinians, the station’s income started decreasing until it stopped completely. The will and assertion to carry on was our only source of strength. Our team’s morals were high, their closeness to people was overwhelming even though, salaries were paid irregularly, sometimes not at all as the bad days went by. The worse nightmare started at the beginning of April when Israel decided to re-occupy the West Bank again. The air and tank strikes have hit our studios hard. Two of our reporters escaped death by less than 10 seconds. Two departments, one main transmitter, Internet servers, studio computers and retail made studio furniture were completely destroyed. Some of the programs had to immediately stop, if aired from a certain studio, because it was just too dangerous to be there. When the curfew was finally over twenty days later, we thought we will never experience it again. But in May the incursions were repeated several times ranging between ten hours to seven days. In June the curfew started on the twentieth. It is still imposed until this day, seventy five days later. With misfortunes continuing to the once ambitious dream, together with the lack of finance to keep the necessary resources intact and with the continuous dangers of traveling to deliver the news correctly, our operation started struggling for survival. However, our team had decided they would carry on as long as they can afford to –they have other to support too. Unfortunately the tides were very high yesterday. An army jeep accompanied by armored vehicles raided our rebroadcast link AGAIN. After forcing the main doors open, they took away all the equipments that were there preventing our listeners (outside Nablus) from the services we were struggling to offer them. Today, commuters would not have anyone tell them how to get out of sieged villages curfew, children would not have anyone explain to them why they cannot leave their homes or why the Israeli army are in their streets riding in strange and scary looking cars, sick people would not be able to obtain medicine from their neighborhood and people living further away would not hear the prayers announcement. The curfew will not be lifted from Nablus tomorrow. Some sources reported that the Israeli army are preparing for a new military operation in Nablus again. Whatever it is, the curfew seems to be staying for a longer time. We have been in it for SEVENTY FIVE days. The world is watching, yet has done little. Amer Abdelhadi
NABLUS: Five Internationals Abducted by Israeli Defense Force Five internationals have been abducted by the Israeli Defense Force: Susan Barclay (USA), Thomas Sommer (France), Lisa Jones (UK), Fiona Pfeisser (Germany), and a 5th unnamed international were walking on a street in Nablus when they were abducted by soldiers. Latest news from them was an hour ago saying that they have been transferred to the Police Station in Ariel Colony. For more info Contact:
Israeli Army Confiscating Palestinian Land at Izbit Salman International Activists Trying to Defend Homes and Families This area is a very fertile agricultural area, that supplies many areas in the West Bank with vegitables. an big part of this land is about to be destroyed by the Israeli bulldozers. The mayor of Izbit Salman (Husein Kuzmar) is there with ISM activists and they are trying to protest this illegal land confiscation. The bulldozers are currenly building a road of about 60 to 100 meters wide, where barbed wire and trenches will be on each side. This is not only consuming land of the farmers and but also threatening to demolish houses, and destroy agricultural land and green houses. Moreover, the road will separate the village from its agricultural land. For more information from the Site, please call
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Photo credits: Photos courtesy Ben Scribner, International Solidarity Movement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
