Bil’in Part II: The village that never sleeps

Saturday, July 11^th, 2009

Three MPTers stayed the night in Bil’in after the protest on Friday in order to conduct night watch in the village. Israeli soldiers who come to arrest residents without explaining why they are being arrested or where they are being detained have raided the village almost every night for the last month. In the last month 10 people have been arrested including one American activist who was nonviolently trying to stop the detainment of one young Palestinian man. Most of these arrests are young men under the age of 18. Usually a large number of soldiers (between 50-100) come into the village in the middle of the night attempting to surprise residents while they are sleeping. We were told by members of the International Solidarity Movement, who have had a presence in Bil’in for the past 3 weeks, that often the soldiers wear black or white masks to hide their identity. To see a video of these night raids from the International Solidarity Movement’s website please go here: http://palsolidarity.org/2009/07/7532. Currently there is a list of 150 Bil’in residents to with arrest orders.

MPTers stayed awake with local Palestinians watching for Israeli soldiers who may be coming into Bil’in to arrest villagers. As a result of these night raids, Palestinian residents are awake all night every night and then go directly to work in the morning. When asked when they sleep, a local man told MPT that “sometimes we sleep a couple hours after work, but sometimes not at all”.

During night patrol, MPTers met two men who told them this story: The two men present along with another Bil’in resident had all been very good friends. One of them was shot point-blank in the head with a tear gas canister by the Israeli military during one of the Friday protests in April 2009. These canisters are made to be shot a distance of 500 meters, making close-range shots lethal. This young man suffered a severe head injury, which has left him with limited use of one arm. He also showed us pictures of his head after surgery, which had an incision from the front of his scalp to the back. One picture included Bassem Abu Rahme visiting him at the hospital a few days before he himself was shot by the same type of tear gas canister, which hit him in the chest killing him instantly. This also occurred during one of the Friday nonviolent demonstrations. The third friend told MPT that he lost one friend and almost lost the other. He was expecting to be targeted by the Israeli military next.

Soldiers did not enter Bil’in on the night of July 11^th.

Bil'in Part I: Israeli military fires tear gas and skunk water on peaceful demonstrators

Friday, July 10, 2009

This Friday, MPT’s summer team joined other internationals and Israeli peace activists alongside the villagers of Bil’in to protest the settlements and the Wall, both of which have taken the villagers’ land. The village of Bil’in is located 7 miles west of the West Bank city of Ramallah and has a population of 1,500 people. Bil’in has been peacefully demonstrating every Friday for the last four years due largely to the fact that the occupation has cut them off from 65 percent of their own land. In 2007 the people of Bil’in won a court case in the Israeli High Court, where it was ruled that part of their land be returned to them. However, no action has been made to carry out this decision and the land remains controlled by the Israeli army.

On the day MPTers were present the protestors were reminded by the demonstration leaders of this day five years ago when the International Court of Justice decided to declare the Israeli wall illegal. At around 1:30 pm demonstrators began the march down to the wall, where the Israeli military was already waiting. Palestinians chanted things like, “1, 2, 3, 4, occupation no more” and approached the military with hands raised to show soldiers that they came in peace and had no weapons.

The portion of the Wall which the demonstrators approached is composed of two gates, with a space of about 10 feet in between. On this particular Friday, Palestinians were able to open the first gate, which was wrapped in barbed wire allowing the protestors to approach the front of the barrier. Members of the Bil’in Popular Committee encouraged internationals to make their presence known to the soldiers by moving to the front. This was followed by a military vehicle projecting a liquid mixture composed of water and chemicals onto the demonstrators, which is called “the Skunk”. Immediately protesters retreated from the wall.

This is only the second time the Skunk has been used at Bil’in. It was used a little less than a year ago on demonstrators. According to an article in Haaretz, “Bil'in and Na'alin have turned into a place for experimentation for the Israeli security forces. The demonstrators have become guinea pigs for various weapons.”

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1018282.html

The spraying continued for at least five minutes after which time demonstrators started to return to the gates. However, before they could make it back to the front, the army fired tear gas canisters into the crowd of participants. MPT is unsure of the exact number of canisters that were fired, however one Israeli army jeep is able to fire 32 canisters at a time. There were at least two jeeps firing. Immediately people tried to retreat, though this is difficult because the tear gas makes it hard to breath, disrupts your ability to see and causes disorientation. These effects were all intensified because of the Skunk water. Water in general heightens the effects of tear gas, causing the skin to burn. Normally after the first round of tear gas protestors will return to the front of the barrier to continue their resistance. However, because of the intense effects of the Skunk water along with tear gas most demonstrators retreated from the Wall after the first round of tear gas. Participants did promise to return the following week.

Although no one was critically injured, many individuals were treated for gas inhalation and severe vomiting. Also, two protestors were arrested during the demonstration, one Israeli and one Palestinian. Fox news was present at the demonstration and broadcasted this coverage of the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BsoDJBPq6Q.

While the footage gives viewers an idea of the intensity of the atmosphere in which the protest took place, team members would like to clarify some of the comments made by the newscasters. At the very beginning it is said that “there are violent protests underway”, not clarifying where the violence was coming from. Members of the Popular Committee announced over a megaphone that this demonstration would be carried out peacefully. The violence came from the Israeli military who sprayed skunk water and fired tear gas. The news report also stated that the Palestinians were trying to break through the gate to get to “the other territory”. In reality, the territory on the other side of the wall is Palestinian land.

Mas-ha: Thriving Town Taken by the Wall

Tuesday, 7 July 2009

On Tuesday three members of MPT visited Mas-ha, a village of 2,500 people thirty minutes southwest of Nablus. MPT was invited to visit the village by a friend who currently lives in the United States and is originally from Mas-ha.

A view of Mas-ha from the top of the mosque's minaret

Mas-ha is a village surrounded on three sides by Israeli settlements/the Separation Wall and on one side by an Israeli-only road. Before the second intifada, Mas-ha was a thriving market town with a direct road into Tel Aviv, where Israelis and Palestinians coexisted and conducted daily business with one another. Every week Palestinian merchants traveled to Mas-ha where Israeli customers could buy Palestinian-made products at a lower price than in Israel proper. But as a result of the second Intifada Israel closed down the main road thereby ending trade with local Israelis, building an Israeli-only road that runs next to Mas-ha. Today Mas-ha has an extremely high rate of unemployment as a result of the Separation Wall.

The Israeli-only road just beyond the Wall

Three settlements border Mas-ha (El Kana, Ezz Efraim and Sha'ari Tekva) erected on land confiscated from local Mas-ha residents and neighboring villagers. The road Israel has built to connect these two settlements is not a direct route but rather snakes around two large hills composed of Mas-ha olive groves. Furthermore, Israel usually grants only the oldest men in a family the permission to pick olives in those groves in controversial areas – groves near the Wall or settlements. While MPT was there, construction workers were mining in one of the large hills, presumably for future settlement expansion in the area. This annexed area is divided from Mas-ha by the Separation Wall. Concrete in some areas and an electrified fence in others, this wall is under 24 hour surveillance by the Israeli military. Our tour guides explained that if anyone approaches the fence/Separation Barrier, sensors alert the military who immediately come to the scene. During MPT’s tour we observed a large tractor that sweeps the dirt near the Separation Barrier daily so that the military can see any new footprints.

Beyond the wall, Israeli construction is going on, presumably the construction of a settlement.

Military vehicle driving by as we stand near the Separation Barrier.

The final leg of our tour involved visiting on Palestinian family’s home that is completely surrounded by the Separation Wall. To the left of the house is the Elqana settlement and to the right is a series of four gates that separate Mas-ha from the house. This house, once a part of Mas-ha, became isolated in 2003 with the construction of the Separation Wall. The children are not able to play in their own front yard because of the daily footprint sweeps conducted by the military, and because of the electric fence/Separation Barrier around their home. Initially the family was not allowed to have any visitors or leave the house as they were under constant curfew. Today there is a locked gate under 24 hour surveillance, which the family and the military have a key too, although members of the family are often harassed or questioned if they have visitors or arrive home late at night. The family has been offered large amounts of money for their land from the Israeli government, but nonviolently resist the occupation by remaining in their home.

The house is completely surrounded by the Wall, which at some parts is concrete, and at other parts is electric fence. You can see Elqana settlement just behind the house. The family that lives here can only enter/exit through this locked door.

Elqana settlement just on the other side of the Wall from Mas-ha.

While visiting in Mas-ha MPT learned about the struggle that Palestinians go through in order to visit their family outside Palestine, in this case to visit the United States. (According to Badil Resource Center for Residency and Refugee Rights 67% of Palestinians live outside of the West Bank, Gaza and Israel proper.)

Palestinians must apply for permission from Israel to enter occupied East Jerusalem where they must then schedule an interview and apply for a visa from the United States embassy in Israel. Most Palestinians are denied at some point during this multi-stage process, or Israel may grant permission only to elderly members of the family who cannot travel alone. One of the men has applied four times to visit his brother in the U.S., and while his elderly mother was granted permission (she cannot travel alone) he was denied three times. The last time they suggested he stop wasting his money on applications. One of his cousins was also denied a visa to visit his family in the United States.

Palestinian pride still holds strong in Mas-ha

MPTers also met one young Palestinian man who is studying in the U.S. but has returned to Mas-ha establish and run a summer camp for fifteen Palestinians between the ages of 16 and 19. One part of the camp includes visiting Jerusalem, a trip most Palestinians in the West Bank are not able to make because Israel denies them the permission to enter. While in Jerusalem he hopes to take them Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial, because according to him Arabs most of all need to see this site.

Nablus: Palestinians Protest Israeli Piracy

Monday, 6 July 2009

MPT attended a small protest of about 50 people, in nearby Nablus on Monday on behalf of Palestinian and humanitarian prisoners. The protest was calm with no disruptions.

The protest was partly inspired by an incident on June 30 in which the Israeli Navy pirated the ship Spirit of Humanity, which was carrying three tons of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. They also detained the human rights workers on board. This is the fourth ship that has been sent by the Free Gaza movement. Among those detained were former Congresswoman and 2008 presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire, and documentarian Adam Shapiro.

The aid came in response to Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has lasted over 24 months. Israel lets very little aid into the Gaza Strip to put economic pressure on Gaza’s government, strangling the civilian population of food, medicine, and communication to the outside world.

The protest was also inspired on behalf of Palestinian prisoners. According to Addameer, an organization promoting human rights for Palestinian prisoners, approximately 20% of Palestinians (about 40% of the male population) have been detained by Israel since 1967. As of March 2005, there are 7500 Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel. Among these is Marwan Barghouti, one of the most powerful Palestinian politicians.



In addition to the Kafkaesque manner in which Palestinians are arrested and tried, they are held in poor conditions. The prisoners are held in overcrowded tents inadequate for extreme weather, are provided with low-quality food in small rations, and are not provided with medical attention, including those injured during their arrest and/or detention. In violation of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, Palestinian children aged 14+ are tried as adults. During the protest, people held up a banner created by the Palestinian Prisoners Society which said, “There will be no peace, until the liberation of prisoners.”




The man pictured above, the founder and director of the Center for Global Consciousness, read the following translation of a press release from main political parties in the Nablus Governorate in regard to the attack on The Spirit of Humanity ship and the piracy that the Israeli government has practiced against international solidarity with the Gaza Strip and with the Palestinian people:

“The first point is the siege that is imposed on the Gaza Strip, from the air, and the sea, and the land is one of the worst, racist practices in modern history, and it’s a very clear violation of international law and the legitimacy of the United Nations resolutions.

The prevention of the ship of Spirit of Humanity from reaching the shores of Gaza that was carrying humanitarian aid is a very clear challenge from the Israeli government to the whole international community and its legitimacy again.

The ones who have killed the international solidarity activist, American young woman Rachel Corrie, the martyr of humanity is the same occupation that is now categorically besieging the Gaza Strip and preventing food and medicine from our people. This is the same occupation that should be boycotted on all levels – economic boycott, and social and political boycott – against this Israeli-led occupation.

Four: The claims by Israel that the waters adjacent to the Gaza Strip are Israeli territorial waters is completely against international legality, and against all UN resolutions, that present Palestinian land as occupied land and that Israel should withdraw from it in accordance to all international and UN resolutions.

Number five: The call by the international community to support the [???] of solidarity [???] solidarity with the Gaza Strip that is already besieged, especially the American ship that has been sent by the American people and that encompasses a hundred (persons) from around the world, among them the parliamentary George Galloway.

Number six: The attack on journalists and the imprisonment of journalists that accompanied the ship of Spirit of Humanity is a very clear attack on freedom of the press and is an attempt by Israel to divert attention from what’s happening on the ground. It’s an attempt by Israel to camouflage the reality of its crimes against the Gaza Strip and the people of Palestine.”

MPT in Tuba, assist children, witness protest

Thursday, 2 July, 2009 Last Thursday, two MPTers got the chance to travel to the Southern Hebron Hills to spend two nights in the villages of At-Tuwani and Tuba. Both villages are within the borders of Area C meaning that they are under full Israeli control. In At-Tuwani there is no running water, electricity for only four hours a day and villagers are forced to burn their trash since the Israeli government fails to send anyone to pick it up. This is a huge contrast in comparison to the settlement of Ma’On and its illegal counterpart outpost, Havat Ma’On, which have full electricity and running water. According to a recent study done by the World, the region is entering into its fifth year of drought with Israelis getting four-fifths of the water available, leaving Palestinians with a mere one-fifth of the water supply (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/27/israel-palestinian-water-dispute).

Ma’On and Havat Ma’On have created various problems for the villagers in the area. The road leading from At-Tuwani to the small village of Tuba runs right between the settlement and the outpost. This road was the only road directly to and from Tuba, one of the uses being for the children in Tuba going to school in At-Tuwani. Due to settler violence, the road has been closed for over a decade. Whereas it used to take only twenty minutes to get from Tuba to At-Tuwani, villagers now have to travel out of their way on slightly safer paths that can take up to two hours in order to avoid settlers. This has posed problems in the past in situations where someone in the village has fallen sick and needed hospital care. Even taking the long path is too dangerous in the evening or at night because of settler violence against the villagers. Due to the steep hills and rugged terrain, this path can only be traveled by foot or donkey.

There was a time when children from Tuba ceased going to school because the risk was too great. Peace activists and internationals in the area would accompany children to school but in 2004 internationals were brutally beaten by the settlers while escorting the children to school. The Israeli government was forced to provide an escort of four soldiers to accompany the children to and from school under the condition that no Palestinian adults or internationals would be able to walk with them. The soldiers are often late escorting the children and sometimes do not walk them the full way. Since internationals are unable to walk with the children, members from the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) who are stationed in At-Tuwani, monitor the escort by staying with the children until the soldiers arrive and having people on the other side making sure they arrive all the way to school safely. To learn more about CPT’s work in the Hebron region, visit
www.cpt.org/work/palestine.

The small village of Tuba is comprised of two extended families that have been living in the area for several generations. The families are shepherds, taking their sheep out to graze in the hills on a daily basis. This routine task comes with threats of harassment from settlers and the Israeli Army alike. In the past settlers have thrown stones at the shepherds and the internationals who accompany them and have even killed one of the shepherd’s donkeys. With the army, there is always the threat of arrest. The other week two boys, aged 15 and 16, were arrested while attending their sheep. Even though they shepherd their sheep in the same area day after day, the army claimed the boys were on settler owned land. The boys were taken into the city of Hebron and detained for five hours before being let go. Neither boy had any money and one of them had never even been to Hebron before. Hebron is the second largest city in the West Bank and the boys had no way of getting home. Luckily, a CPT member was in town at the same time and was able to bring them back to Tuba. The Friday that MPT was in Tuba, another villager was arrested for letting his graze sheep on privately owned Palestinian land. The army, once again, claimed that it was Israeli owned land.

While shepherding with the children last Saturday, two MPTers witnessed a demonstration right outside the Ma’On settlement by Ta’ayush, an Israeli peace group. Soldiers, police officers, and border security showed up and told protesters to vacate the land, calling this particular area of Tuba a “closed military zone.” MPT walked with members of Ta’ayush back to At-Twani, followed by the Army jeeps where the Army again confronted members of the protest. As far as MPT knows, no arrests were made.

Burin: Palestinians Resist Settlers Nonviolently

Saturday, 4 July 2009

MPT was called shortly after 7pm about a settler attack in the nearby village of Burin (right). We had previously reported on settler vandalism in Burin, particularly on the damage done to the construction of a Palestinian’s house.

Before our arrival, we were told that one of the settlers had shot a gun at the house’s owner and the District Commanding Officer (DCO) had been called. When MPT arrived, settlers stood at the edge of the illegal Urusi outpost of the Har Bracha settlement, peering down through binoculars. MPT kept their cameras on the settlers, deterring any possible assaults from them other than the earlier gunshots. The DCO was seen at the edge of the settlement several minutes after the settlers had retreated, and they told the homeowner’s brother that there could not have been an attack because the settlers were in the middle of their evening prayers.

Settlers looking at us (click to enlarge)

The DCO looking at us (click to enlarge)

Meanwhile, the villagers showed us a few olive trees that settlers had broken at a previous time. In addition, many of their olives had been stolen.

Broken olive tree

When the owner of the vandalized house noted that the settlers damage the property on a daily basis, MPT realized that the owner was resisting nonviolently. Despite the destruction of his home numerous times since construction began, and despite knowing that these attacks will probably not stop after moving into his home, he continues to build – he had laid new pavement since we were last in Burin.

24 June 2009

4 July 2009

This man’s situation is a good example of how difficult it is for Palestinians to build homes anywhere in the West Bank. Under the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, 1995, the West Bank was divided up into three zones: A, B, and C. In Area A the Palestinian Authority has full control de jure. In Area B the Palestinian Authority is in control of administrative matters, but the Israeli army occupies it. Area C is under full control of Israel.

Area C contains the majority of West Bank land, yet it is nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain a building permit from Israel in order to build housing or any other structure. In the time period of 2000-2007, 94.5% of requests from Palestinians for building permits in Area C zones were rejected.

Owner of house showing us damage done by settlers in the past

The man in Burin noted that his house is in Area B, Palestinian land under both the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli army. But he described how Area B can seem like Area C – Palestinian land under the Israeli army that’s forbidden to most Palestinians. His house, he told us, is an example of how Palestinians often cannot even build on Area B. But he is determined to keep his property, despite the problems that come with it.

Huwwara: A Settler Night Visit

Thursday, 2 July 2009

Shortly before 11 p.m. MPTers were phoned by their Palestinian contact, Zakiraya, who told them that a Huwwara resident driving down the main highway had noticed that a group of settlers had entered Huwwara near the mosque. Three MPT members walked the short distance from their house down to the main street and toward the mosque. When they approached the Mosque, they noticed nearly a dozen settlers sitting about 200 feet from the Mosque. They were presumably from the illegal settlement of Yizhar. The settlers appeared to be praying. MPT made their presence known by filming the street. More settlers arrived in a car and some left as though they were taking shifts.

A picture of the mosque during the daytime

Zakiraya called the team members and informed them that the DCO (District Commanding Officer) had been notified and said he would come to the scene. Team members were then asked to document in case violence occurred as well as maintain their presence, to deter the settlers from using violence.

About fifteen minutes later an army jeep arrived with soldiers, shortly followed by two more jeeps. The soldiers and settlers walked around the corner of a nearby building almost out of site of the MPT members. The soldiers stayed with the settlers for another 15 minutes and then both parties left. Before the soldiers left, they walked up to the three MPTers and asked in a joking manner if “everything was cool”.

MPT was at the scene for about an hour total. While they were waiting for the army to arrive, a Palestinian husband and wife whose home MPT was standing near approached them. The couple invited MPTers in for coffee, but the team members explained that they were working. Although MPTers tried to explain to both the man and woman that they were monitoring settler presence on the road, the woman did not understand as she only spoke Arabic and the team members only spoke English. When the woman finally looked to her left, she pointed fearfully and exclaimed to her husband, “mustutaniin,” the Arabic word for “settlers”.

Zakiraya, MPT’s Palestinian contact, told the team members that it is extremely unusual for settlers to come into the town of Huwwara in this manner.

A map of the area: Huwwara is in the south. The Yitzhar settlement is just to the northeast. (Courtesy of www.poica.org).

They do use the main highway that passes through the town, but they do not walk or sit. As relayed in previous reports, the Palestinians in the villages surrounding Yizhar settlement have experienced a large amount of violence from settlers in this area. Due to this, they are concerned when settlers come into their village. Additionally, the fact that the settlers were praying near the mosque at a time when evening prayers had just finished and villagers were likely to be making their way home, seemed to be a statement of some kind.

Three short video clips of the settlers.