ISM Digest 4-17-2008; Protest to save Al-Aqaba village, 5 years after his shooting, parents of Tom Hurndall are still seeking answers, Multiple invasions in Beita, Boy killed in hit and run on Israeli only road, Prof. Jeff Halper arrested, Hebron orphanages and schools ordered closed.
0 views
Skip to first unread message
ISM Media Group
Apr 17, 2008, 9:40:19 AM4/17/08
to International Solidarity Movement
ISM Digest 4-17-2008; Protest to save Al-Aqaba village, 5 years after
his shooting, parents of Tom Hurndall are still seeking answers,
Multiple invasions in Beita, Boy killed in hit and run on Israeli only
road, Prof. Jeff Halper arrested, Hebron orphanages and schools
ordered closed.
1. Palestinians, internationals and P.A. Minister gather in Al-Aqaba
to protest Israeli demolition orders
2. The Guardian: Parents of Briton shot by Israeli soldier seek talks
with ambassador
3. Many injured in weekly demonstrations, 11th April 2008
4. Multiple invasions in Beita as Israeli army install new permanent
checkpoint
5. Boy killed in hit-and-run on Israeli only road, Nablus
6. Protests take place in Bil’in, Umm Salamona, while protesters are
prevented from joining demonstration in Al-Khader, 4th April 2008
7. Demonstration against apartheid road 443
8. Tree planting in Beita
9. Ma’an: ICAHD founder Jeff Halper arrested for attempting to stop
house demolition in Jerusalem
10. CPT: Hebron orphanages and schools for 7,000 children ordered
closed
------------------
1. Palestinians, internationals and P.A. Minister gather in Al-Aqaba
to protest Israeli demolition orders
Palestinian and international activists from Ramallah, Budrus, Bil’in,
Al-Khader, Um Salamona and Jenin gathered in the village of Al-Aqaba
in the Jordan Valley on Saturday to express solidarity with the
villagers in their effort to maintain their presence in spite of
Israel’s attempt to wipe their village off the face of the map.
Also joining the gathering were Palestinian Minister of Tourism, Ms.
Khuloud Daibis, representing the Palestinian Authority Cabinet of
Ministers and the Governor of Tubas, Dr. Sami Musallem. Israeli
activists were invited and attempted to join but were prevented by
Israeli soldiers at the Tayasir checkpoint from entering the village.
Upon arrival, activists gathered under the almond tree that serves as
the office of the local village council. The head of Al-Aqaba’s
village council, Haj Sami Sadeq, welcomed everyone, thanked them for
their solidarity, and explained that for nearly 10 years the village
council has been holding all of its meetings under the almond tree
because the Israeli authorities will not allow the village to build a
structure to house the village council. Haj Sami also spoke to the
gatherers, which, in addition to Palestinian students and activists
included, Americans, Canadians, Chileans, Spaniards, Swedes, and UK
nationals, about the history of the village, the years that it spent
serving as training grounds for the Israeli military, the important
battle that they won to remove the Israeli military base from their
village, and their efforts to maintain their presence on their land.
Currently there are 35 outstanding demolition orders against various
structures in the village, including the local medical center, funded
by the British Government, the kindergarten, funded by the American-
based Rebuilding Alliance, the local mosque, and others.
Following the briefing, children from the Jenin Freedom Theater, who
also came in solidarity, put on a performance and led the crowd in
traditional song and dance. Next everyone moved to the grounds of the
kindergarten where activists worked with the children to create a
large banner reading “Save our School” and pinwheels for peace. P.A.
Minister of Tourism Khuloud Diabis and Tubas Governor Dr. Sami
Musallem joined the activities and pledged that the Palestinian
Authority would help the village build, in direct defiance of Israel’s
demolition orders. Ms. Diabis then laid the foundation for a village
council building and reasserted that the P.A. would support its
construction.
On Thursday, April 17th Attorney Elia Tusya Cohen will be petitioning
the Israeli High Court on behalf of the village to repeal the
demolition orders. If you are in or near Jerusalem an April 17, please
join us in front of the Israeli Supreme Court building at 11:00am to
carry the message of the children of Al-Aqaba.
------------------
2. The Guardian: Parents of Briton shot by Israeli soldier seek talks
with ambassador
By Rory McCarthy
Five years after their son was fatally shot by an Israeli soldier in
Gaza, the parents of the British student Tom Hurndall are still
pressing the Israeli government for compensation and a formal apology
as they try to build a criminal case against senior Israeli army
officers.
Hurndall, a 22-year-old photography student, was shot five years ago
today during a demonstration in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
This week his parents, Jocelyn and Anthony Hurndall, wrote to the
Israeli ambassador in London, Ron Prosor, asking for an urgent
meeting. As well as compensation and an apology, the family are still
trying to gather sufficient evidence to bring war crimes charges in
Britain against several Israeli army officers.
The family has not revealed the amount of compensation they are
seeking. A report in the Israeli press last week put the amount at
£500,000, although the correct figure is believed to be higher.
In their letter to the ambassador, Hurndall’s parents wrote: “We claim
that the denial to the family of fair and just compensation amounts to
supporting a policy of indifference and disregard for … innocent
civilians. This can lead to an international criminal responsibility
for whoever acknowledges such an attitude.”
They said they had faced a “wall of deceit and fabrication over the
shooting” before the trial and were now facing “a further debilitating
and prolonged battle to get meaningful compensation”.
It is thought that the Israeli government argues that only the soldier
convicted for the shooting was responsible for the death, not any of
his senior commanders. Yet the family still hopes to secure the arrest
and trial of a number of senior officers. “There is no question that
this is very much still on the cards,” Anthony Hurndall said.
On April 11 2003 Tom Hurndall attended a demonstration in Rafah
organised by a group called the International Solidarity Movement.
Shots were fired from an Israeli army watchtower and Hurndall, who
wore a fluorescent jacket, was helping to pull a group of Palestinian
children to safety when he was shot in the head. He suffered a severe
brain injury and died nine months later in hospital in London.
At first the Israeli military denied responsibility. However, in
August 2005 an Israeli soldier, Taysir Heib, was sentenced to eight
years jail for manslaughter. The following year a British inquest jury
ruled that the soldier had shot Hurndall “with the intention of
killing him”.
“In the last five years we have had nothing but barriers and
obstruction from the Israelis,” said Jocelyn Hurndall. She said the
family hoped to negotiate a settlement in private with the Israeli
authorities. So far they have received around £8,000 to cover his
repatriation - the first cheque sent for this sum bounced - and then
last year a payment of £50,000.
Late last year, after negotiations failed to bring an agreement, they
began a civil claim in the Israeli courts. Arye Mekel, Israel’s
foreign ministry spokesman, said: “This issue is under legal
negotiations between the family and the ministry of defence. These
contacts are ongoing.”
For original article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/11/israelandthepalestinians
--------------------
3. Many injured in weekly demonstrations, 11th April 2008
IMEMC: Several injuries reported during a nonviolent protest near
Kharabtha village (Road 443)
Palestinian sources reported on Friday [11th April] that several
residents were injured after the army fired at residents, Israeli and
international peace activists who carried a nonviolent protest against
the continued closure of a main road since late 2000.
Dozens of vehicles drove from the center of the village towards the
road while dozens of protesters carried Palestinian flags and chanted
slogans against the Israeli occupation.
Soldiers, intensively deployed in the area, placed barbed-wires in
front of the protesters and fired rubber-coated metal bullets and gas
bombs at them. Dozens received first aid after inhaling gas fired by
the army.
The road, known as Latron Road or Road Number 443 in Israeli military
terminology, was closed since the beginning of the Al Aqsa Intifada
late September 2000, and the army placed concrete blocks and gates on
the road to shut it down.
Nearly 35000 residents of villages near Ramallah are negatively
affected by the ongoing closure of the road.
For original article: http://www.imemc.org/article/54129
--------
IMEMC: Several protesters injured in Bil’in weekly protest
On Friday [11th April] at midday the villagers of Bil’in, a village
located near Ramallah in the centre of the West Bank along with their
international and Israeli supporters conducted their weekly protest
against the Israeli Annexation Wall on the village land.
After Friday prayers, the protesters marched from the village towards
the gate of the wall, which separates the villagers from their land.
As soon as the protest arrived at the gate, Israeli troops stationed
there showered them with sound bombs, tear gas and rubber coated steel
bullets.
A number of civilians were injured, including an Israeli journalist
identified as Israel. The man sustained wounds to his leg after being
directly hit by a rubber coated steel bullet.
For original article: http://www.imemc.org/article/54112
-------------------
4. Multiple invasions in Beita as Israeli army install new permanent
checkpoint
The village of Beita, 7 kilometres south-west of Nablus is currently
closed to all traffic, after the Israeli army installed roadblocks on
all of the roads leading into the village. The earth-mounds were
installed three nights ago, in the early hours of Wednesday 9th April,
during a large-scale invasion of the village, which coincided with the
largest series of invasions and raids across the West Bank in months.
Invasions of the village have continued for the past three nights,
with residents expecting another invasion tonight, 11th April. Six
people have been arrested throughout the invasions, and approximately
ten houses invaded and occupied by Israeli soldiers. Soldiers
reportedly caused a great deal of damage to the houses they occupied,
shooting water tanks, windows, breaking water pipes and other fixtures
- much like the damage they inflicted during the invasion of 20th-21st
February 2008. One house was occupied all day on Thursday 10th.
Invasions have been marked by the shooting of live ammunition, tear
gas and sound bombs, as well as the implementation of curfews at the
entrance to the village.
Soldiers guarding one of the roadblocks advised that the village will
be closed until Sunday 13th April, in response to alleged shooting at
a settler bus that occurred on Thursday 10th April near Beita, during
which no one was injured. This is a clear example of collective
punishment, illegal under international law, but a common practice of
the Israeli army. Whilst the occupation is often justified by Israeli
government spokespeople as necessary due to the lack of security
offered by Palestinian Authority police, it is clear that incidents
such as these shootings only attract Israeli army response if they are
executed by Palestinians. No such collective punishment was evident
following the recent murder of a shepherd by an Israeli settler bus
driver near the village of Salim earlier this week, despite it being
clear that the driver escaped to the illegal Israeli settlement of
Elon Moreh.
---------
New Permanent Checkpoint:
Wednesday 9th April also marked the installation of a new permanent
checkpoint in the Ar Ras area of Beita - along a main entrance to
Beita and also in a strategically high position to enable easy
monitoring of Beita by the Israeli army. The tent checkpoint was
erected just weeks after Israel announced it would remove 50 of the 72
fixed checkpoints throughout the West Bank. This announcement was made
in the spirit of supposedly facilitating greater freedom of movement
for Palestinians, who are currently greatly restricted in this sense.
The experience of residents of Beita, however, indicates the extent to
which this announcement fails to translate into “facts on the ground.”
As one resident expressed, “This is miserable.”
------------------
5. Boy killed in hit-and-run on Israeli only road, Nablus
At approximately 5pm on Monday 7th April, a Palestinian shepherd boy
was killed in a hit-and-run incident by an Israeli settler bus near
the city of Nablus. The 15 year old boy, Sharif Badjas Ishtayeh, from
the nearby village of Salim, was struck by the bus on road 557 - an
Israeli-only road that connects Huwarra checkpoint with the illegal
Israeli settlement of Elon Moreh. Seven of his sheep and one donkey
were also killed, as the shepherd attempted to lead them across the
road.
Witnesses report that the driver, heading towards the settlement Elon
Moreh, hit the boy deliberately, and sped off afterwards, leaving him
to die. Indeed, from the location of the bodies, it is evident that
the boy and his flock were visible from at least 150 metres away,
giving the driver plenty of time to avoid a collision. There is no
indication from the evidence on the scene that the driver attempted to
slow down at any time before or after the attack.
The identity of the Israeli driver is as yet unknown, as neither
driver nor vehicle have been located since the incident.
Distraught Palestinian residents of Salim gathered at the road-side
afterwards, by the slain bodies of the sheep. Clashes erupted between
locals and Israeli soldiers, resulting in soldiers firing tear gas
into the crowd.
The funeral for the boy was held during the night of 7th April, with
most of the village turning out to mourn their latest victim of the
Israeli occupation.
------------------
6. Protests take place in Bil’in, Umm Salamona, while protesters are
prevented from joining demonstration in Al-Khader, 4th April 2008
Umm Salamona:
The weekly demonstration against the wall in Umm salamuna gathered
around 50 Palestinians and internationals on the 4th of April.
The peaceful demonstration marched down the main street until it
reached the entrance to the town where the Israeli military stopped
the demonstrators using marble barbed wire. At the entrance the
demonstrators chanted and there where a speech in English and Arabic,
where they asked the military to leave so the demonstration could
pass, and reach the wall. But the military refused to let the
demonstration through. After about an hour the demonstration ended.
One person was detained by the soldiers and wasn’t released for around
an hour before the demonstrators walked away from the town entrance.
--------
Bil’in:
IMEMC: Ten non-violent protesters were reported injured during the
weekly Anti-Wall protest at the village of Bil’in located near the
West Bank city of Ramallah on midday Friday.
As the case each week, villagers from Bil’in along with Israeli and
international activists marched towards the location of the Wall which
is separating the village from its land. As soon as the protest
reached the gate of the Wall soldiers showered the protesters with
tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets. Medical sources reported
that ten protesters suffered gas inhalation.
The village of Bil’in has been protesting the construction of the wall
on the village’s land for over three years.
For original article: http://www.imemc.org/article/53950
--------
Al-Khader:
IMEMC: Israeli army prevents Israelis from joining non-violent
demonstration in Al-Khader
The Israeli army prevented a number of Israeli peace activists to join
the Palestinian residents of Al-Khader in their weekly nonviolent
protest against the construction of the separation wall on their land
on Friday at noon.
Eyewitnesses told IMEMC that troops stopped the Israeli activists and
took the keys of their cars at one of the entrances of the village,
and informed the activists that they will get their keys back only if
they are going back to Jerusalem.
Coordinator of the Local Committee for Popular Resistance in Bethlehem
Samer Jaber, said “This is an attempt by Israel to prevent solidarity
with the Palestinians in their just struggle to end the Israeli
occupation.”
“Israel has prevented hundreds, if not thousands, of Internationals to
come to Palestine the moment they figured out that those
internationals are coming to join nonviolent activities with the
Palestinians,” Jaber added.
Jaber told IMEMC that around 150 Palestinians and Internationals,
protested near the southern entrance of Bethlehem area. The protest
took the form of holding the Friday prayer in the street at the
presence of around 60 Israeli soldiers.
The protesters dispersed after the Imam gave a speech to the
worshipers and protesters calling for an ongoing nonviolent resistance
to end the Israeli occupation.
For original article: http://www.imemc.org/article/54107
------------------
7. Demonstration against apartheid road 443
On 4th April around 200 Palestinians, joined by Israelis and
internationals, held a non-violent demonstration on Road 443 following
the recent decision made by the Israeli High Court that effectively
approves the prohibition of Palestinian movement on the road and it’s
reservation for exclusive Israeli use (www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/
966013.htmlRoad).
Protesters marched from Khartabth Al-Misbah towards the road waving
Palestinian flags, before being blocked by the Israeli army. Speeches
were then made by prominent figures within the community denouncing
the apartheid system within the West Bank that this road enforces and
insisting that demonstrations against the Israeli only road would
continue until full, equal access is granted to all Palestinians.
Despite initially being built for Palestinian use, as of 2002 all
Palestinians were denied access to the road, despite this decision
never being supported by a military order or any legal means. By
allowing the continuation of this system of separation, the Israeli
High Court have essentially granted it approval. Road 443 together
with the Separation barrier creates two walled Palestinian enclaves
that Israel plans to connected by what it terms ‘fabric of life’ roads
that run underneath the Israeli-only road. The first of these roads
was recently opened between the enclave of Biddu and the enclave of
Beir Nabala and has high concrete walls running on either side.
The system of settler only roads and other physical barriers within
the Palestinian Occupied Territories cut the West Bank up to over 70
enclaves. These restrictions on the freedom of movement have had
hugely detrimental effects on the Palestinian economy and destroy any
aspirations towards a territorially contiguous viable state. The
severe hindrance on productivity caused by the restrictions placed on
the movement of workers and goods, as well as denial of access to
farm- land, has resulted in 46% unemployment in the West Bank. The
prohibition of Palestinian travel on the road also applies in
emergency medical cases, further infringing on Palestinian human
rights.
------------------
8. Tree planting in Beita
Today approximately twenty residents from the village of Beita near
Nablus, as well as international human rights workers (HRWs), took to
the mountain of Jabal al Arma to plant 200 trees in order to prevent
the encroachment of nearby settlement Itamar.
The project of planting the 200 conifers was a collaboration between
the municipality of Beita, the Union of Agricultural Work Committee
and Norwegian People’s Aid.
The Beita municipality have reasons to believe that the mountain of
Jabal al Arma on the outskirts of the village of Beita is planned as a
potential site for a new outpost from the Itamar settlement, with the
surrounding mountain-tops already covered with illegal settlement
outposts. To prevent such a theft of land, the council is undertaking
a program of caring for the site, which is already planted with olive
trees, fig trees and grapes. It is hoped that by doing this, settlers
will be deterred from attempting to occupy the site.
Jabal al Arma is extremely important for the village of Beita, as it
contains fresh water springs that feed the town’s water supply; as
well as ancient Roman ruins, which are a local tourist attraction.
However, such features make it a prime target for settler occupation -
as settlements are often positioned above water reserves, effectively
stealing water as well as land.
This is a major problem throughout the West Bank, with settlement
outposts and expansion annexing Palestinian land to Israel; polluting
surrounding lands with raw sewage; and creating a system of apartheid
within the West Bank as Israeli-only roads cut through Palestinian
land, denying Palestinians the possibility of a contiguous state.
This project of protecting and reclaiming land is thus in operation
throughout the entire West Bank, with more plantings planned for
Nablus, as well as Tulkarm, Ramallah and Hebron.
-------------------
9. Ma’an: ICAHD founder Jeff Halper arrested for attempting to stop
house demolition in Jerusalem
Israeli police arrested Jeff Halper, the founder and coordinator of
the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) for attempting
to prevent the destruction of a Palestinian house in the town of
Anata, within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, on Wednesday
morning.
He was detained at the Metsudat Adumim police headquarters for two
hours before being released. He has not yet been charged with any
criminal offence but has been told he may face criminal proceedings.
“It’s not clear if they’re going to press charges,” Halper told Ma’an
after his release, adding that he may be facing a jail sentence if
charged. “I’ve run out of hours of community service so they’ll have
to put me in jail but I doubt that it’ll happen.”
Israeli police removed the furniture from the Hamdan family home in
Anata before Israeli bulldozers moved in and leveled the house, an
ICAHD spokesperson said.
Meir Margalit, ICAHD field coordinator, appealed to a Jerusalem
municipal court on Wednesday for a stop demolition order. The appeal
was rejected, ICAHD said.
The house that was home to 12 members of the Hamdan family, had been
previously demolished in December 2005, and was rebuilt by
international volunteers last summer as an act of civil disobedience
against the policy of house demolitions.
“Ending house demolitions is in the first phase of the Road Map. This
[house demolitions] is just spitting in the face of the Quartet. We’re
supposed to believe there’s a peace process but the occupation are
doing everything they can on the ground - building the separation
wall, building settler roads and house demolitions,” Halper said.
“The peace process is a sham. Israel doesn’t even pretend they are not
doing any of these things. This shows the whole impotence of the peace
process,” he added.
ICAHD says that 88% of land in Jerusalem is not zoned for Palestinian
construction. As a result, building permits are nearly impossible to
obtain, and houses are routinely demolished on this pretext.
28 homes have been demolished in Jerusalem since the beginning of
2008, ICAHD says.
For original article: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=28598
For video of Prof. Halper's arrest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C7FZc_h2VA&eurl=http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/page/2/
------------------
10. CPT: Hebron orphanages and schools for 7,000 children ordered
closed
Last night (April 1st 2008) approximately 300 women, including
teachers, mothers and students, protested the shut down of their
school and orphanages by the Israeli government. This is one of
several schools and orphanages serving 7,000 orphans and students in
the Hebron area. Internationals, including Christian Peacemaker Teams
(CPT), members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and
others committed to non-violence, slept in the school expecting armed
Israeli soldiers to come and seal up the doors.
The Israeli High Court have just extended the order by one week. This
evening internationals have arrived to stay in the school for the
night because no one has seen a copy of the written order. There’s
also a presence at one of the boys schools by the men and boys of the
community. Sixteen year-old American-born Rabiha Abu Sneineh, an
articulate defender of her school and friends who will become
homeless, joined her classmates in last night’s protest. Her
descriptive letter to Oprah is below.
Dianne Roe, who works with the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) in
Hebron, cried when she was interviewing sixteen-year-old Rabina. Below
is a news release distributed by CPT and a letter that Rabina,
who was raised in Houston, Texas, who wrote to Oprah last week.
Sixteen year-old American-born Rabiha Abu Sneineh will join her
classmates tonight in facing armed Israeli soldiers if the Israeli
army carries out the order effective 1 April closing orphanages and
schools funded by Islamic Charities that serves 7,000 children.
Two years ago Rabiha was a teenager in Houston, Texas where she was
treasurer of the student council and loved going to the mall with her
friends. Her new friends are her classmates at the Girls’ orphanage
school in Hebron. Last year they helped her learn Arabic and integrate
into her new surroundings. Now she wants to help them.
Dear Oprah,
My name is Rabiha Abusnineh and I am 16 and a half years old. For the
first fifteen years of my life, I have lived in Houston, Texas in the
United States of America. I was really happy there because I had
everything I wanted. For instance, I had a 3.9 GPA and I had awesome
friends and went to a really good school (North Shore High School).
But all that changed when I moved to Hebron, Palestine in August of
2006. I didn’t know the Arabic language at all but over time and
practice and a lot of repetition I have learned it and become the
highest ranking in my class due to endless cooperation from my school.
I go to Al-Shar’iya Secondary School for Girls but it is not just any
normal school. It is a school of 650 girls, 500 of them being orphans
that depend on the school for a place to study, to eat, to sleep, to
get treated if they’re sick, to get school supplies, and probably
every other necessity they need to live. And now for some reason the
Israeli Occupation wants to close it down along with its other
branches that include a school for orphaned boys and an elementary
school for orphaned children. What they do not realize is that if they
were to close the Islamic Charitable Society which funds these
orphanage schools, they would be kicking some of these orphans into
the street with no one to care or to spend on them.
They say that these orphans practice terrorism and due to their false
accusations they have confiscated all of the properties and the income
that are required to care for the orphans and the buses that transport
them from their homes to the school and they’ve closed down the bakery
that extends bread to the orphans to sustain their hunger and they’ve
stolen all the food in the food pantry that contains canned goods and
meats for the orphans and they’ve confiscated the warehouse that
contains school supplies and clothes for the orphans. I declare that
these are not things used for terrorism so why have they taken them?
And now they have given the different orphan schools warning to be
closed by April the first.
My school and the Palestinian people have done plenty of things to
stop this decision that came out about a month ago. We have marched
and protested all with out any result. I ask you Oprah as a last
resort to please please please help! I am asking you not for money but
to help spread awareness on this situation and to help people see that
the students of this school are orphans that have lost their fathers
or mothers or both and in that lost their main source of income and
their main source of love and care. This is not a political situation
but rather it is a humanitarian one. Ever since I was a kindergarten
in America I have learned that “All men were created equally” and that
the American people have “the right to life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness”. If we were all created equally then us striving for
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness shouldn’t differ between
Americans, Palestinians, Africans or any one else.
I have been taught to stand up for what I believe in and what I
believe has nothing to do with politics because I’ve always been
neutral but Oprah by studying at this school and seeing everything
that is provided I can not imagine what life is going to be like if it
closes down so I will stand by them to the very end until they get
back their rights. I ask you Oprah to please respond to this message
as soon as possible because there is roughly a week left until the
Israeli Occupation decide to carry out their inhumane and heartless
plan. I watch your show about every week day here from Saturday-
Wednesday and so does practically every other girl in my school. They
see you as a source of kindness and compassion due to your help with
building the African Schools and your help with a lot of different
things. Please help them see that personally by helping them. Again
all I ask for is coverage and awareness and hopefully a visit from
you. Your reward will be in heaven. God Bless You for you are surely
one of my role models and what I strive to be like when I’m older.
Thank you again for being my role model and for any help that you can
offer.
Sincerely,
Rabiha Abusnineh
P.S. Please hurry!! God Bless You and all of your staff and crew!
For more information about CPT’s work in Palestine: http://www.cpt.org/work/palestine
his shooting, parents of Tom Hurndall are still seeking answers,
Multiple invasions in Beita, Boy killed in hit and run on Israeli only
road, Prof. Jeff Halper arrested, Hebron orphanages and schools
ordered closed.
1. Palestinians, internationals and P.A. Minister gather in Al-Aqaba
to protest Israeli demolition orders
2. The Guardian: Parents of Briton shot by Israeli soldier seek talks
with ambassador
3. Many injured in weekly demonstrations, 11th April 2008
4. Multiple invasions in Beita as Israeli army install new permanent
checkpoint
5. Boy killed in hit-and-run on Israeli only road, Nablus
6. Protests take place in Bil’in, Umm Salamona, while protesters are
prevented from joining demonstration in Al-Khader, 4th April 2008
7. Demonstration against apartheid road 443
8. Tree planting in Beita
9. Ma’an: ICAHD founder Jeff Halper arrested for attempting to stop
house demolition in Jerusalem
10. CPT: Hebron orphanages and schools for 7,000 children ordered
closed
------------------
1. Palestinians, internationals and P.A. Minister gather in Al-Aqaba
to protest Israeli demolition orders
Palestinian and international activists from Ramallah, Budrus, Bil’in,
Al-Khader, Um Salamona and Jenin gathered in the village of Al-Aqaba
in the Jordan Valley on Saturday to express solidarity with the
villagers in their effort to maintain their presence in spite of
Israel’s attempt to wipe their village off the face of the map.
Also joining the gathering were Palestinian Minister of Tourism, Ms.
Khuloud Daibis, representing the Palestinian Authority Cabinet of
Ministers and the Governor of Tubas, Dr. Sami Musallem. Israeli
activists were invited and attempted to join but were prevented by
Israeli soldiers at the Tayasir checkpoint from entering the village.
Upon arrival, activists gathered under the almond tree that serves as
the office of the local village council. The head of Al-Aqaba’s
village council, Haj Sami Sadeq, welcomed everyone, thanked them for
their solidarity, and explained that for nearly 10 years the village
council has been holding all of its meetings under the almond tree
because the Israeli authorities will not allow the village to build a
structure to house the village council. Haj Sami also spoke to the
gatherers, which, in addition to Palestinian students and activists
included, Americans, Canadians, Chileans, Spaniards, Swedes, and UK
nationals, about the history of the village, the years that it spent
serving as training grounds for the Israeli military, the important
battle that they won to remove the Israeli military base from their
village, and their efforts to maintain their presence on their land.
Currently there are 35 outstanding demolition orders against various
structures in the village, including the local medical center, funded
by the British Government, the kindergarten, funded by the American-
based Rebuilding Alliance, the local mosque, and others.
Following the briefing, children from the Jenin Freedom Theater, who
also came in solidarity, put on a performance and led the crowd in
traditional song and dance. Next everyone moved to the grounds of the
kindergarten where activists worked with the children to create a
large banner reading “Save our School” and pinwheels for peace. P.A.
Minister of Tourism Khuloud Diabis and Tubas Governor Dr. Sami
Musallem joined the activities and pledged that the Palestinian
Authority would help the village build, in direct defiance of Israel’s
demolition orders. Ms. Diabis then laid the foundation for a village
council building and reasserted that the P.A. would support its
construction.
On Thursday, April 17th Attorney Elia Tusya Cohen will be petitioning
the Israeli High Court on behalf of the village to repeal the
demolition orders. If you are in or near Jerusalem an April 17, please
join us in front of the Israeli Supreme Court building at 11:00am to
carry the message of the children of Al-Aqaba.
------------------
2. The Guardian: Parents of Briton shot by Israeli soldier seek talks
with ambassador
By Rory McCarthy
Five years after their son was fatally shot by an Israeli soldier in
Gaza, the parents of the British student Tom Hurndall are still
pressing the Israeli government for compensation and a formal apology
as they try to build a criminal case against senior Israeli army
officers.
Hurndall, a 22-year-old photography student, was shot five years ago
today during a demonstration in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.
This week his parents, Jocelyn and Anthony Hurndall, wrote to the
Israeli ambassador in London, Ron Prosor, asking for an urgent
meeting. As well as compensation and an apology, the family are still
trying to gather sufficient evidence to bring war crimes charges in
Britain against several Israeli army officers.
The family has not revealed the amount of compensation they are
seeking. A report in the Israeli press last week put the amount at
£500,000, although the correct figure is believed to be higher.
In their letter to the ambassador, Hurndall’s parents wrote: “We claim
that the denial to the family of fair and just compensation amounts to
supporting a policy of indifference and disregard for … innocent
civilians. This can lead to an international criminal responsibility
for whoever acknowledges such an attitude.”
They said they had faced a “wall of deceit and fabrication over the
shooting” before the trial and were now facing “a further debilitating
and prolonged battle to get meaningful compensation”.
It is thought that the Israeli government argues that only the soldier
convicted for the shooting was responsible for the death, not any of
his senior commanders. Yet the family still hopes to secure the arrest
and trial of a number of senior officers. “There is no question that
this is very much still on the cards,” Anthony Hurndall said.
On April 11 2003 Tom Hurndall attended a demonstration in Rafah
organised by a group called the International Solidarity Movement.
Shots were fired from an Israeli army watchtower and Hurndall, who
wore a fluorescent jacket, was helping to pull a group of Palestinian
children to safety when he was shot in the head. He suffered a severe
brain injury and died nine months later in hospital in London.
At first the Israeli military denied responsibility. However, in
August 2005 an Israeli soldier, Taysir Heib, was sentenced to eight
years jail for manslaughter. The following year a British inquest jury
ruled that the soldier had shot Hurndall “with the intention of
killing him”.
“In the last five years we have had nothing but barriers and
obstruction from the Israelis,” said Jocelyn Hurndall. She said the
family hoped to negotiate a settlement in private with the Israeli
authorities. So far they have received around £8,000 to cover his
repatriation - the first cheque sent for this sum bounced - and then
last year a payment of £50,000.
Late last year, after negotiations failed to bring an agreement, they
began a civil claim in the Israeli courts. Arye Mekel, Israel’s
foreign ministry spokesman, said: “This issue is under legal
negotiations between the family and the ministry of defence. These
contacts are ongoing.”
For original article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/11/israelandthepalestinians
--------------------
3. Many injured in weekly demonstrations, 11th April 2008
IMEMC: Several injuries reported during a nonviolent protest near
Kharabtha village (Road 443)
Palestinian sources reported on Friday [11th April] that several
residents were injured after the army fired at residents, Israeli and
international peace activists who carried a nonviolent protest against
the continued closure of a main road since late 2000.
Dozens of vehicles drove from the center of the village towards the
road while dozens of protesters carried Palestinian flags and chanted
slogans against the Israeli occupation.
Soldiers, intensively deployed in the area, placed barbed-wires in
front of the protesters and fired rubber-coated metal bullets and gas
bombs at them. Dozens received first aid after inhaling gas fired by
the army.
The road, known as Latron Road or Road Number 443 in Israeli military
terminology, was closed since the beginning of the Al Aqsa Intifada
late September 2000, and the army placed concrete blocks and gates on
the road to shut it down.
Nearly 35000 residents of villages near Ramallah are negatively
affected by the ongoing closure of the road.
For original article: http://www.imemc.org/article/54129
--------
IMEMC: Several protesters injured in Bil’in weekly protest
On Friday [11th April] at midday the villagers of Bil’in, a village
located near Ramallah in the centre of the West Bank along with their
international and Israeli supporters conducted their weekly protest
against the Israeli Annexation Wall on the village land.
After Friday prayers, the protesters marched from the village towards
the gate of the wall, which separates the villagers from their land.
As soon as the protest arrived at the gate, Israeli troops stationed
there showered them with sound bombs, tear gas and rubber coated steel
bullets.
A number of civilians were injured, including an Israeli journalist
identified as Israel. The man sustained wounds to his leg after being
directly hit by a rubber coated steel bullet.
For original article: http://www.imemc.org/article/54112
-------------------
4. Multiple invasions in Beita as Israeli army install new permanent
checkpoint
The village of Beita, 7 kilometres south-west of Nablus is currently
closed to all traffic, after the Israeli army installed roadblocks on
all of the roads leading into the village. The earth-mounds were
installed three nights ago, in the early hours of Wednesday 9th April,
during a large-scale invasion of the village, which coincided with the
largest series of invasions and raids across the West Bank in months.
Invasions of the village have continued for the past three nights,
with residents expecting another invasion tonight, 11th April. Six
people have been arrested throughout the invasions, and approximately
ten houses invaded and occupied by Israeli soldiers. Soldiers
reportedly caused a great deal of damage to the houses they occupied,
shooting water tanks, windows, breaking water pipes and other fixtures
- much like the damage they inflicted during the invasion of 20th-21st
February 2008. One house was occupied all day on Thursday 10th.
Invasions have been marked by the shooting of live ammunition, tear
gas and sound bombs, as well as the implementation of curfews at the
entrance to the village.
Soldiers guarding one of the roadblocks advised that the village will
be closed until Sunday 13th April, in response to alleged shooting at
a settler bus that occurred on Thursday 10th April near Beita, during
which no one was injured. This is a clear example of collective
punishment, illegal under international law, but a common practice of
the Israeli army. Whilst the occupation is often justified by Israeli
government spokespeople as necessary due to the lack of security
offered by Palestinian Authority police, it is clear that incidents
such as these shootings only attract Israeli army response if they are
executed by Palestinians. No such collective punishment was evident
following the recent murder of a shepherd by an Israeli settler bus
driver near the village of Salim earlier this week, despite it being
clear that the driver escaped to the illegal Israeli settlement of
Elon Moreh.
---------
New Permanent Checkpoint:
Wednesday 9th April also marked the installation of a new permanent
checkpoint in the Ar Ras area of Beita - along a main entrance to
Beita and also in a strategically high position to enable easy
monitoring of Beita by the Israeli army. The tent checkpoint was
erected just weeks after Israel announced it would remove 50 of the 72
fixed checkpoints throughout the West Bank. This announcement was made
in the spirit of supposedly facilitating greater freedom of movement
for Palestinians, who are currently greatly restricted in this sense.
The experience of residents of Beita, however, indicates the extent to
which this announcement fails to translate into “facts on the ground.”
As one resident expressed, “This is miserable.”
------------------
5. Boy killed in hit-and-run on Israeli only road, Nablus
At approximately 5pm on Monday 7th April, a Palestinian shepherd boy
was killed in a hit-and-run incident by an Israeli settler bus near
the city of Nablus. The 15 year old boy, Sharif Badjas Ishtayeh, from
the nearby village of Salim, was struck by the bus on road 557 - an
Israeli-only road that connects Huwarra checkpoint with the illegal
Israeli settlement of Elon Moreh. Seven of his sheep and one donkey
were also killed, as the shepherd attempted to lead them across the
road.
Witnesses report that the driver, heading towards the settlement Elon
Moreh, hit the boy deliberately, and sped off afterwards, leaving him
to die. Indeed, from the location of the bodies, it is evident that
the boy and his flock were visible from at least 150 metres away,
giving the driver plenty of time to avoid a collision. There is no
indication from the evidence on the scene that the driver attempted to
slow down at any time before or after the attack.
The identity of the Israeli driver is as yet unknown, as neither
driver nor vehicle have been located since the incident.
Distraught Palestinian residents of Salim gathered at the road-side
afterwards, by the slain bodies of the sheep. Clashes erupted between
locals and Israeli soldiers, resulting in soldiers firing tear gas
into the crowd.
The funeral for the boy was held during the night of 7th April, with
most of the village turning out to mourn their latest victim of the
Israeli occupation.
------------------
6. Protests take place in Bil’in, Umm Salamona, while protesters are
prevented from joining demonstration in Al-Khader, 4th April 2008
Umm Salamona:
The weekly demonstration against the wall in Umm salamuna gathered
around 50 Palestinians and internationals on the 4th of April.
The peaceful demonstration marched down the main street until it
reached the entrance to the town where the Israeli military stopped
the demonstrators using marble barbed wire. At the entrance the
demonstrators chanted and there where a speech in English and Arabic,
where they asked the military to leave so the demonstration could
pass, and reach the wall. But the military refused to let the
demonstration through. After about an hour the demonstration ended.
One person was detained by the soldiers and wasn’t released for around
an hour before the demonstrators walked away from the town entrance.
--------
Bil’in:
IMEMC: Ten non-violent protesters were reported injured during the
weekly Anti-Wall protest at the village of Bil’in located near the
West Bank city of Ramallah on midday Friday.
As the case each week, villagers from Bil’in along with Israeli and
international activists marched towards the location of the Wall which
is separating the village from its land. As soon as the protest
reached the gate of the Wall soldiers showered the protesters with
tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets. Medical sources reported
that ten protesters suffered gas inhalation.
The village of Bil’in has been protesting the construction of the wall
on the village’s land for over three years.
For original article: http://www.imemc.org/article/53950
--------
Al-Khader:
IMEMC: Israeli army prevents Israelis from joining non-violent
demonstration in Al-Khader
The Israeli army prevented a number of Israeli peace activists to join
the Palestinian residents of Al-Khader in their weekly nonviolent
protest against the construction of the separation wall on their land
on Friday at noon.
Eyewitnesses told IMEMC that troops stopped the Israeli activists and
took the keys of their cars at one of the entrances of the village,
and informed the activists that they will get their keys back only if
they are going back to Jerusalem.
Coordinator of the Local Committee for Popular Resistance in Bethlehem
Samer Jaber, said “This is an attempt by Israel to prevent solidarity
with the Palestinians in their just struggle to end the Israeli
occupation.”
“Israel has prevented hundreds, if not thousands, of Internationals to
come to Palestine the moment they figured out that those
internationals are coming to join nonviolent activities with the
Palestinians,” Jaber added.
Jaber told IMEMC that around 150 Palestinians and Internationals,
protested near the southern entrance of Bethlehem area. The protest
took the form of holding the Friday prayer in the street at the
presence of around 60 Israeli soldiers.
The protesters dispersed after the Imam gave a speech to the
worshipers and protesters calling for an ongoing nonviolent resistance
to end the Israeli occupation.
For original article: http://www.imemc.org/article/54107
------------------
7. Demonstration against apartheid road 443
On 4th April around 200 Palestinians, joined by Israelis and
internationals, held a non-violent demonstration on Road 443 following
the recent decision made by the Israeli High Court that effectively
approves the prohibition of Palestinian movement on the road and it’s
reservation for exclusive Israeli use (www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/
966013.htmlRoad).
Protesters marched from Khartabth Al-Misbah towards the road waving
Palestinian flags, before being blocked by the Israeli army. Speeches
were then made by prominent figures within the community denouncing
the apartheid system within the West Bank that this road enforces and
insisting that demonstrations against the Israeli only road would
continue until full, equal access is granted to all Palestinians.
Despite initially being built for Palestinian use, as of 2002 all
Palestinians were denied access to the road, despite this decision
never being supported by a military order or any legal means. By
allowing the continuation of this system of separation, the Israeli
High Court have essentially granted it approval. Road 443 together
with the Separation barrier creates two walled Palestinian enclaves
that Israel plans to connected by what it terms ‘fabric of life’ roads
that run underneath the Israeli-only road. The first of these roads
was recently opened between the enclave of Biddu and the enclave of
Beir Nabala and has high concrete walls running on either side.
The system of settler only roads and other physical barriers within
the Palestinian Occupied Territories cut the West Bank up to over 70
enclaves. These restrictions on the freedom of movement have had
hugely detrimental effects on the Palestinian economy and destroy any
aspirations towards a territorially contiguous viable state. The
severe hindrance on productivity caused by the restrictions placed on
the movement of workers and goods, as well as denial of access to
farm- land, has resulted in 46% unemployment in the West Bank. The
prohibition of Palestinian travel on the road also applies in
emergency medical cases, further infringing on Palestinian human
rights.
------------------
8. Tree planting in Beita
Today approximately twenty residents from the village of Beita near
Nablus, as well as international human rights workers (HRWs), took to
the mountain of Jabal al Arma to plant 200 trees in order to prevent
the encroachment of nearby settlement Itamar.
The project of planting the 200 conifers was a collaboration between
the municipality of Beita, the Union of Agricultural Work Committee
and Norwegian People’s Aid.
The Beita municipality have reasons to believe that the mountain of
Jabal al Arma on the outskirts of the village of Beita is planned as a
potential site for a new outpost from the Itamar settlement, with the
surrounding mountain-tops already covered with illegal settlement
outposts. To prevent such a theft of land, the council is undertaking
a program of caring for the site, which is already planted with olive
trees, fig trees and grapes. It is hoped that by doing this, settlers
will be deterred from attempting to occupy the site.
Jabal al Arma is extremely important for the village of Beita, as it
contains fresh water springs that feed the town’s water supply; as
well as ancient Roman ruins, which are a local tourist attraction.
However, such features make it a prime target for settler occupation -
as settlements are often positioned above water reserves, effectively
stealing water as well as land.
This is a major problem throughout the West Bank, with settlement
outposts and expansion annexing Palestinian land to Israel; polluting
surrounding lands with raw sewage; and creating a system of apartheid
within the West Bank as Israeli-only roads cut through Palestinian
land, denying Palestinians the possibility of a contiguous state.
This project of protecting and reclaiming land is thus in operation
throughout the entire West Bank, with more plantings planned for
Nablus, as well as Tulkarm, Ramallah and Hebron.
-------------------
9. Ma’an: ICAHD founder Jeff Halper arrested for attempting to stop
house demolition in Jerusalem
Israeli police arrested Jeff Halper, the founder and coordinator of
the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) for attempting
to prevent the destruction of a Palestinian house in the town of
Anata, within the municipal boundaries of Jerusalem, on Wednesday
morning.
He was detained at the Metsudat Adumim police headquarters for two
hours before being released. He has not yet been charged with any
criminal offence but has been told he may face criminal proceedings.
“It’s not clear if they’re going to press charges,” Halper told Ma’an
after his release, adding that he may be facing a jail sentence if
charged. “I’ve run out of hours of community service so they’ll have
to put me in jail but I doubt that it’ll happen.”
Israeli police removed the furniture from the Hamdan family home in
Anata before Israeli bulldozers moved in and leveled the house, an
ICAHD spokesperson said.
Meir Margalit, ICAHD field coordinator, appealed to a Jerusalem
municipal court on Wednesday for a stop demolition order. The appeal
was rejected, ICAHD said.
The house that was home to 12 members of the Hamdan family, had been
previously demolished in December 2005, and was rebuilt by
international volunteers last summer as an act of civil disobedience
against the policy of house demolitions.
“Ending house demolitions is in the first phase of the Road Map. This
[house demolitions] is just spitting in the face of the Quartet. We’re
supposed to believe there’s a peace process but the occupation are
doing everything they can on the ground - building the separation
wall, building settler roads and house demolitions,” Halper said.
“The peace process is a sham. Israel doesn’t even pretend they are not
doing any of these things. This shows the whole impotence of the peace
process,” he added.
ICAHD says that 88% of land in Jerusalem is not zoned for Palestinian
construction. As a result, building permits are nearly impossible to
obtain, and houses are routinely demolished on this pretext.
28 homes have been demolished in Jerusalem since the beginning of
2008, ICAHD says.
For original article: http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=28598
For video of Prof. Halper's arrest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C7FZc_h2VA&eurl=http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/page/2/
------------------
10. CPT: Hebron orphanages and schools for 7,000 children ordered
closed
Last night (April 1st 2008) approximately 300 women, including
teachers, mothers and students, protested the shut down of their
school and orphanages by the Israeli government. This is one of
several schools and orphanages serving 7,000 orphans and students in
the Hebron area. Internationals, including Christian Peacemaker Teams
(CPT), members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and
others committed to non-violence, slept in the school expecting armed
Israeli soldiers to come and seal up the doors.
The Israeli High Court have just extended the order by one week. This
evening internationals have arrived to stay in the school for the
night because no one has seen a copy of the written order. There’s
also a presence at one of the boys schools by the men and boys of the
community. Sixteen year-old American-born Rabiha Abu Sneineh, an
articulate defender of her school and friends who will become
homeless, joined her classmates in last night’s protest. Her
descriptive letter to Oprah is below.
Dianne Roe, who works with the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) in
Hebron, cried when she was interviewing sixteen-year-old Rabina. Below
is a news release distributed by CPT and a letter that Rabina,
who was raised in Houston, Texas, who wrote to Oprah last week.
Sixteen year-old American-born Rabiha Abu Sneineh will join her
classmates tonight in facing armed Israeli soldiers if the Israeli
army carries out the order effective 1 April closing orphanages and
schools funded by Islamic Charities that serves 7,000 children.
Two years ago Rabiha was a teenager in Houston, Texas where she was
treasurer of the student council and loved going to the mall with her
friends. Her new friends are her classmates at the Girls’ orphanage
school in Hebron. Last year they helped her learn Arabic and integrate
into her new surroundings. Now she wants to help them.
Dear Oprah,
My name is Rabiha Abusnineh and I am 16 and a half years old. For the
first fifteen years of my life, I have lived in Houston, Texas in the
United States of America. I was really happy there because I had
everything I wanted. For instance, I had a 3.9 GPA and I had awesome
friends and went to a really good school (North Shore High School).
But all that changed when I moved to Hebron, Palestine in August of
2006. I didn’t know the Arabic language at all but over time and
practice and a lot of repetition I have learned it and become the
highest ranking in my class due to endless cooperation from my school.
I go to Al-Shar’iya Secondary School for Girls but it is not just any
normal school. It is a school of 650 girls, 500 of them being orphans
that depend on the school for a place to study, to eat, to sleep, to
get treated if they’re sick, to get school supplies, and probably
every other necessity they need to live. And now for some reason the
Israeli Occupation wants to close it down along with its other
branches that include a school for orphaned boys and an elementary
school for orphaned children. What they do not realize is that if they
were to close the Islamic Charitable Society which funds these
orphanage schools, they would be kicking some of these orphans into
the street with no one to care or to spend on them.
They say that these orphans practice terrorism and due to their false
accusations they have confiscated all of the properties and the income
that are required to care for the orphans and the buses that transport
them from their homes to the school and they’ve closed down the bakery
that extends bread to the orphans to sustain their hunger and they’ve
stolen all the food in the food pantry that contains canned goods and
meats for the orphans and they’ve confiscated the warehouse that
contains school supplies and clothes for the orphans. I declare that
these are not things used for terrorism so why have they taken them?
And now they have given the different orphan schools warning to be
closed by April the first.
My school and the Palestinian people have done plenty of things to
stop this decision that came out about a month ago. We have marched
and protested all with out any result. I ask you Oprah as a last
resort to please please please help! I am asking you not for money but
to help spread awareness on this situation and to help people see that
the students of this school are orphans that have lost their fathers
or mothers or both and in that lost their main source of income and
their main source of love and care. This is not a political situation
but rather it is a humanitarian one. Ever since I was a kindergarten
in America I have learned that “All men were created equally” and that
the American people have “the right to life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness”. If we were all created equally then us striving for
life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness shouldn’t differ between
Americans, Palestinians, Africans or any one else.
I have been taught to stand up for what I believe in and what I
believe has nothing to do with politics because I’ve always been
neutral but Oprah by studying at this school and seeing everything
that is provided I can not imagine what life is going to be like if it
closes down so I will stand by them to the very end until they get
back their rights. I ask you Oprah to please respond to this message
as soon as possible because there is roughly a week left until the
Israeli Occupation decide to carry out their inhumane and heartless
plan. I watch your show about every week day here from Saturday-
Wednesday and so does practically every other girl in my school. They
see you as a source of kindness and compassion due to your help with
building the African Schools and your help with a lot of different
things. Please help them see that personally by helping them. Again
all I ask for is coverage and awareness and hopefully a visit from
you. Your reward will be in heaven. God Bless You for you are surely
one of my role models and what I strive to be like when I’m older.
Thank you again for being my role model and for any help that you can
offer.
Sincerely,
Rabiha Abusnineh
P.S. Please hurry!! God Bless You and all of your staff and crew!
For more information about CPT’s work in Palestine: http://www.cpt.org/work/palestine
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages