2 mar 2015
The occupation forces arrested on Monday night the 11-year old Mohammad Samer Sarhan (the son of the Martyr Samer Sarhan) after raiding his house in the neighborhood of Al-Bustan in Silwan.
Hanadi Sarhan, the child’s mother, explained that the occupation Special Forces raided the family’s house at 9:30 p.m. and checked her ID then arrested her son Mohammad.
Sarhan added that the forces transferred her son to Salah Eddin Street police station for interrogation.
Sarhan explained that she went to attend her son’s interrogation at the police station and was surprised when she found the son was accused of throwing stones at the settlers’ vehicle in Silwan. They forced her to leave the interrogation room and the interrogator threatened to arrest her if she doesn’t follow the orders.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center was informed that the police released the child without any conditions and the child explained that the police assaulted and threatened him in an attempt to get any confessions.
Hanadi Sarhan, the child’s mother, explained that the occupation Special Forces raided the family’s house at 9:30 p.m. and checked her ID then arrested her son Mohammad.
Sarhan added that the forces transferred her son to Salah Eddin Street police station for interrogation.
Sarhan explained that she went to attend her son’s interrogation at the police station and was surprised when she found the son was accused of throwing stones at the settlers’ vehicle in Silwan. They forced her to leave the interrogation room and the interrogator threatened to arrest her if she doesn’t follow the orders.
Wadi Hilweh Information Center was informed that the police released the child without any conditions and the child explained that the police assaulted and threatened him in an attempt to get any confessions.
Israeli forces abducted eight Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, including three teenagers, Monday at dawn, prisoner rights group Addameer said.
Lawyer for Addameer, Muhammad Mahmoud, said that Yousuf Abu Jumaah, Mahdi al-Sayyad, Muhannad Gheith, Basil al-Halabi, and Kamal al-Alami were detained in al-Tur, while Khalil al-Shawish, Maamoon Gheith and Masour Salim were arrested in the Old City.
Israeli forces in the occupied territories routinely arrest Palestinians, usually on the pretext of "security questioning", Ma'an further reports.
East Jerusalem was occupied in 1967 by Israeli military forces and later annexed in a move not recognized internationally.
Israeli soldiers also kidnapped, Monday at dawn, three Palestinians in Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem.
Lawyer for Addameer, Muhammad Mahmoud, said that Yousuf Abu Jumaah, Mahdi al-Sayyad, Muhannad Gheith, Basil al-Halabi, and Kamal al-Alami were detained in al-Tur, while Khalil al-Shawish, Maamoon Gheith and Masour Salim were arrested in the Old City.
Israeli forces in the occupied territories routinely arrest Palestinians, usually on the pretext of "security questioning", Ma'an further reports.
East Jerusalem was occupied in 1967 by Israeli military forces and later annexed in a move not recognized internationally.
Israeli soldiers also kidnapped, Monday at dawn, three Palestinians in Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem.
The Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails announced on Monday their intention to embark on systematic protest steps starting with comprehensive disobedience in all jails on March 10 to protest the continuation of the Israeli persecution.
The head of the Palestinian Authority Detainees and Ex-detainees Committee, Issa Qaraqi, warned of a possible explosion inside the Israeli jails in the very near future. He said, “The persistence of the Israeli authorities in violating prisoners’ rights is no longer tolerated”.
Qaraqi said, in a statement on Monday, the situation in Israeli jails has become so dangerous in light of the Israeli harassment and punitive measures aiming at undermining Palestinian prisoners and weakening the fighting spirit among captives.
He pointed out that the Palestinian detainees will start protest steps announcing a state of disobedience against the Israeli laws from March 10 onwards.
“This will include refraining from going outside their rooms for break times and count procedure, getting the electrical appliances outside their rooms and gradual hunger strikes,” he said.
“A comprehensive hunger strike will be waged on April 17, which marks the Palestinian Prisoner Day. The Prisoners have threatened to torch rooms and blankets in case the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) did not respond to the detainees’ just demands”, he warned.
The most significant demands include medical treatment, ending of the policy of solitary confinement and other arbitrary punitive measures, the collective and individual, ending the administrative detention and allowing family visits, he elaborated.
The head of the Palestinian Authority Detainees and Ex-detainees Committee, Issa Qaraqi, warned of a possible explosion inside the Israeli jails in the very near future. He said, “The persistence of the Israeli authorities in violating prisoners’ rights is no longer tolerated”.
Qaraqi said, in a statement on Monday, the situation in Israeli jails has become so dangerous in light of the Israeli harassment and punitive measures aiming at undermining Palestinian prisoners and weakening the fighting spirit among captives.
He pointed out that the Palestinian detainees will start protest steps announcing a state of disobedience against the Israeli laws from March 10 onwards.
“This will include refraining from going outside their rooms for break times and count procedure, getting the electrical appliances outside their rooms and gradual hunger strikes,” he said.
“A comprehensive hunger strike will be waged on April 17, which marks the Palestinian Prisoner Day. The Prisoners have threatened to torch rooms and blankets in case the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) did not respond to the detainees’ just demands”, he warned.
The most significant demands include medical treatment, ending of the policy of solitary confinement and other arbitrary punitive measures, the collective and individual, ending the administrative detention and allowing family visits, he elaborated.
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) launched a search campaign in various locations in al-Khalil governorate on Monday morning.
Local sources said the IOF soldiers installed military barriers at the entrances of two towns and a refugee camp in addition to the eastern entrance of al-Khalil city. The soldiers searched the Palestinian bypassing vehicles, detained some people and blocked traffic.
In a similar context, the Israeli forces stormed a number of Palestinian houses for search purposes. The IOF soldiers were deployed in the vicinity of al-Khalil University; meanwhile, Israeli military vehicles were stationed at al-Khalil’s various entrances
Local sources said the IOF soldiers installed military barriers at the entrances of two towns and a refugee camp in addition to the eastern entrance of al-Khalil city. The soldiers searched the Palestinian bypassing vehicles, detained some people and blocked traffic.
In a similar context, the Israeli forces stormed a number of Palestinian houses for search purposes. The IOF soldiers were deployed in the vicinity of al-Khalil University; meanwhile, Israeli military vehicles were stationed at al-Khalil’s various entrances
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Monday at dawn, three Palestinians in Nablus, Ramallah, and Bethlehem, and stormed many homes, especially in the southern West Bank district of Hebron. Soldiers flood agricultural lands with wastewater near Bethlehem.
Media sources in Nablus, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, said several armored Israeli military vehicles invaded Aseera ash-Shemaliyya town, stormed and searched a number of homes, and kidnapped one Palestinian identified as Ahmad Mofeed ash-Showly, 28 years of age.
In addition, soldiers invaded a home of Betunia town, west of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and kidnapped Mohammad Hashayka, 22, after storming and searching his home.
The Ramallah office of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said the soldiers cuffed and blindfolded the kidnapped Palestinian, and took him to the nearby ‘Ofer prison and military base.
His brother told the PPS that the soldiers stormed the property around 4 at dawn, ransacked the place while searching it, and kidnapped his brother, who is in his fourth year in Birzeit University, studying Finance.
He is a former political prisoner who, in 2011, spent eight months held under arbitrary administrative detention without charges or trial.
Soldiers also invaded the al-Jabal area in Bethlehem, and kidnapped Jamal Khaled al-Hreimi, 22, after violently searching his home, and stormed a number of neighborhoods throughout the city, in addition to Beit Jala city and nearby communities.
Also in Bethlehem, soldiers closed the main road in the al-Baq’a area, at the western entrance of Teqoua’ town, east of Bethlehem, and opened sewage pipes, flooding dozens of Palestinian olive trees.
Head of the Teqoua’ Local Council, Taiseer Abu Mfarreh, told the Radio Bethlehem 2000 that the soldiers, including some in civilian clothes, conducted training in the area, causing panic attacks among several residents, especially the children.
In addition, soldiers invaded various neighborhoods in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, a number of nearby towns, installed several roadblocks before stopping and searching dozens of cars, and investigated the ID cards of the passengers while questioning them.
Besides Hebron city, the invasion mainly targeted Bani Neim, Halhoul and Sa’ir towns, and the northern entrance of Jouret Bahlas area in Hebron.
Media sources in Nablus, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, said several armored Israeli military vehicles invaded Aseera ash-Shemaliyya town, stormed and searched a number of homes, and kidnapped one Palestinian identified as Ahmad Mofeed ash-Showly, 28 years of age.
In addition, soldiers invaded a home of Betunia town, west of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and kidnapped Mohammad Hashayka, 22, after storming and searching his home.
The Ramallah office of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said the soldiers cuffed and blindfolded the kidnapped Palestinian, and took him to the nearby ‘Ofer prison and military base.
His brother told the PPS that the soldiers stormed the property around 4 at dawn, ransacked the place while searching it, and kidnapped his brother, who is in his fourth year in Birzeit University, studying Finance.
He is a former political prisoner who, in 2011, spent eight months held under arbitrary administrative detention without charges or trial.
Soldiers also invaded the al-Jabal area in Bethlehem, and kidnapped Jamal Khaled al-Hreimi, 22, after violently searching his home, and stormed a number of neighborhoods throughout the city, in addition to Beit Jala city and nearby communities.
Also in Bethlehem, soldiers closed the main road in the al-Baq’a area, at the western entrance of Teqoua’ town, east of Bethlehem, and opened sewage pipes, flooding dozens of Palestinian olive trees.
Head of the Teqoua’ Local Council, Taiseer Abu Mfarreh, told the Radio Bethlehem 2000 that the soldiers, including some in civilian clothes, conducted training in the area, causing panic attacks among several residents, especially the children.
In addition, soldiers invaded various neighborhoods in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, a number of nearby towns, installed several roadblocks before stopping and searching dozens of cars, and investigated the ID cards of the passengers while questioning them.
Besides Hebron city, the invasion mainly targeted Bani Neim, Halhoul and Sa’ir towns, and the northern entrance of Jouret Bahlas area in Hebron.
The family of Palestinian prisoner Ahmed Daraghmeh expressed its deep concern over the health of its son, who has been in Israeli jails since 2004.
The family said it had received news about a sharp deterioration in the health condition of Daraghmeh, who is isolated in Gilboa prison and appealed to human rights groups to visit him.
His brother Iyad said the Israeli prison authority had transferred Daraghmeh one month ago from Ramon prison to an isolation cell in Gilboa with no reason.
He pointed out that his brother, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail, suffered a serious injury during his arrest and underwent surgery at the time.
Daraghmeh had already spent a total of seven years in different Israeli jails before his last detention in 2004.
The family said it had received news about a sharp deterioration in the health condition of Daraghmeh, who is isolated in Gilboa prison and appealed to human rights groups to visit him.
His brother Iyad said the Israeli prison authority had transferred Daraghmeh one month ago from Ramon prison to an isolation cell in Gilboa with no reason.
He pointed out that his brother, who was sentenced to 15 years in jail, suffered a serious injury during his arrest and underwent surgery at the time.
Daraghmeh had already spent a total of seven years in different Israeli jails before his last detention in 2004.
Israeli troops shot and injured two young Palestinian men, Sunday morning, in Duheisha refugee camp, south of Bethlehem, in the southern occupied West Bank.
Locals told Ma'an News Agency that clashes broke out early in the morning between young Palestinian men and Israeli soldiers who raided the refugee camp at dawn to detain a young man from his house.
The victims were evacuated to Bethlehem district's public hospital in Beit Jala.
An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma'an that, as forces entered the camp, young Palestinians threw a grenade at soldiers who responded with live fire at the lower extremities with .22 caliber rounds. One hit and slight injury was confirmed.
Before they left the camp, Israeli troops detained 26-year-old Bilal al-Sayfi and took him to an unknown destination.
Israeli forces shot and killed Palestinian teenager Jihad Shehada al-Jaafari in Duheisha camp last week.
An autopsy report later showed that the teen was shot in the upper body, at close range. Jafaari's father had called for the autopsy in order to document Israeli crimes and violations against Palestinians.
Locals told Ma'an News Agency that clashes broke out early in the morning between young Palestinian men and Israeli soldiers who raided the refugee camp at dawn to detain a young man from his house.
The victims were evacuated to Bethlehem district's public hospital in Beit Jala.
An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma'an that, as forces entered the camp, young Palestinians threw a grenade at soldiers who responded with live fire at the lower extremities with .22 caliber rounds. One hit and slight injury was confirmed.
Before they left the camp, Israeli troops detained 26-year-old Bilal al-Sayfi and took him to an unknown destination.
Israeli forces shot and killed Palestinian teenager Jihad Shehada al-Jaafari in Duheisha camp last week.
An autopsy report later showed that the teen was shot in the upper body, at close range. Jafaari's father had called for the autopsy in order to document Israeli crimes and violations against Palestinians.
Two shepherds, activists kidnapped in Hebron, new AD orders for detainees
Dozens of Palestinians suffocated by teargas inhalation during confrontations with the Israeli army, which broke into the village of al-Khader, near Bethlehem, according to local sources. Meanwhile, forces abducted shepherds and activists in the Hebron area.
Ahmad Salah, coordinator of the Anti-Settlement Committee in the village, said an Israeli army force broke into al-Khader in the afternoon hours, provoking confrontations with local residents.
He said that Israeli soldiers opened live fire towards the protesters, yet there were no reports of casualties, according to WAFA. Multiple cases of suffocation by teargas inhalation, as soldiers fired teargas canisters, however.
In the meantime, army broke into a medical clinic in the nearby village of Wadi Fukin, checking the identity cards of medical staff and searching the clinic. No arrests were reported in either village.
It was further reported that Israeli police arrested two Palestinian shepherds as they grazed their flock in the valley of Umm Zeitouna, near the Israeli settlement of Ma’on in Hebron, late Sunday.
According to Operation Dove, in late morning, the security chief of Ma’on settlement and Israeli soldiers arrived in Umm Zeitouna valley where the shepherds, accompanied by international volunteers, were grazing their flock on land which Israeli settlers from Ma’on are attempting to annex.
Minutes later, Israeli police arrived and immediately detained two shepherds and two international volunteers.
At around 12pm, police abductted the two shepherds and took them to Kyriat Arba police station. The volunteers were released, but the shepherds were kept until about 3pm, after being fined 500 NIS each.
Residents of the South Hebron Hills experience continual harassment from settlers in nearby settlements and outposts, but remain steadfast in their commitment to nonviolent resistance.
Each day that they graze their sheep in contested areas, the shepherds continue to resist settler attempts to drive them from their lands. International volunteers have witnessed shepherds chased from Umm Zeitouna six times since the start of the year (in five of these occasions the Israeli army came after a settler's call).
The arrest followed a nonviolent action that morning, during which residents successfully repaired the road which links At-Tuwani village to Yatta, and the attendance on February 27 of the South Hebron Hills Popular Resistance Committee, at the 10th anniversary of nonviolent action in Bil’in.
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In related news, Israeli Ofer military court approved the administrative detention order against eight Palestinian prisoners, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) stated Sunday.
PPS said that the court approved the administrative detention against four prisoners for a period of six months.
The prisoners who received a six month imprisonment sentence without charge or trial were identified as Rami Abu Shalaf, Sliman Battat, mohammed Samaneh, and Mohammed Mimi.
Meanwhile, two prisoners from Jenin received a detention period of three and two months. They were identified as Oday Istiti, and Abd al-Rahman Hindyeh, respectively.
The remaining two prisoners, who were also from Jenin and identified as Mohammed Salatneh and Ali Kamil, received a detention period of four months.
B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, stated that "administrative detention is implemented solely on the basis of an administrative order, without either indictment or trial. Under certain circumstances, this type of detention may be lawful. However, due to the substantial injury to due process inherent in this measure, international law stipulates that it may be exercised only in very exceptional cases – and then only as a last possible resort, when there are no other means available to prevent the danger."
Nevertheless, Israeli authorities routinely employ administrative detention. Over the years, thousands of Palestinians have been held in Israeli custody as administrative detainees for extended periods of time, the center said.
Dozens of Palestinians suffocated by teargas inhalation during confrontations with the Israeli army, which broke into the village of al-Khader, near Bethlehem, according to local sources. Meanwhile, forces abducted shepherds and activists in the Hebron area.
Ahmad Salah, coordinator of the Anti-Settlement Committee in the village, said an Israeli army force broke into al-Khader in the afternoon hours, provoking confrontations with local residents.
He said that Israeli soldiers opened live fire towards the protesters, yet there were no reports of casualties, according to WAFA. Multiple cases of suffocation by teargas inhalation, as soldiers fired teargas canisters, however.
In the meantime, army broke into a medical clinic in the nearby village of Wadi Fukin, checking the identity cards of medical staff and searching the clinic. No arrests were reported in either village.
It was further reported that Israeli police arrested two Palestinian shepherds as they grazed their flock in the valley of Umm Zeitouna, near the Israeli settlement of Ma’on in Hebron, late Sunday.
According to Operation Dove, in late morning, the security chief of Ma’on settlement and Israeli soldiers arrived in Umm Zeitouna valley where the shepherds, accompanied by international volunteers, were grazing their flock on land which Israeli settlers from Ma’on are attempting to annex.
Minutes later, Israeli police arrived and immediately detained two shepherds and two international volunteers.
At around 12pm, police abductted the two shepherds and took them to Kyriat Arba police station. The volunteers were released, but the shepherds were kept until about 3pm, after being fined 500 NIS each.
Residents of the South Hebron Hills experience continual harassment from settlers in nearby settlements and outposts, but remain steadfast in their commitment to nonviolent resistance.
Each day that they graze their sheep in contested areas, the shepherds continue to resist settler attempts to drive them from their lands. International volunteers have witnessed shepherds chased from Umm Zeitouna six times since the start of the year (in five of these occasions the Israeli army came after a settler's call).
The arrest followed a nonviolent action that morning, during which residents successfully repaired the road which links At-Tuwani village to Yatta, and the attendance on February 27 of the South Hebron Hills Popular Resistance Committee, at the 10th anniversary of nonviolent action in Bil’in.
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In related news, Israeli Ofer military court approved the administrative detention order against eight Palestinian prisoners, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) stated Sunday.
PPS said that the court approved the administrative detention against four prisoners for a period of six months.
The prisoners who received a six month imprisonment sentence without charge or trial were identified as Rami Abu Shalaf, Sliman Battat, mohammed Samaneh, and Mohammed Mimi.
Meanwhile, two prisoners from Jenin received a detention period of three and two months. They were identified as Oday Istiti, and Abd al-Rahman Hindyeh, respectively.
The remaining two prisoners, who were also from Jenin and identified as Mohammed Salatneh and Ali Kamil, received a detention period of four months.
B'Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, stated that "administrative detention is implemented solely on the basis of an administrative order, without either indictment or trial. Under certain circumstances, this type of detention may be lawful. However, due to the substantial injury to due process inherent in this measure, international law stipulates that it may be exercised only in very exceptional cases – and then only as a last possible resort, when there are no other means available to prevent the danger."
Nevertheless, Israeli authorities routinely employ administrative detention. Over the years, thousands of Palestinians have been held in Israeli custody as administrative detainees for extended periods of time, the center said.
According to a report by Hussam Association of Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners, Israeli occupation forces have kidnapped some 285 Palestinians, 30 of whom are children under the age of 18, during February 2015 alone.
The report, according to the Palestinian News Network (PNN), showed that a majority of the Palestinians kidnapped, especially women and children, were detained for hours or days before their release.
Hebron ranked first regarding the number of youth kidnapped, with the number of 72 , followed by Jerusalem, 56, and Ramallah 32.
In Nablus the number reached 30, in Jenin 27, in Bethlehem 22, 9 in Qalqilya, 7 in Tulkarem, 6 in Jericho, 6 in Tubas and 3 in Salfit.
In the Gaza Strip, 15 people were kidnapped; 9 of the abductions took place near the border siege of Gaza, against merchants and patients who were being transferred through the Erez crossing checkpoint, in addition to 3 fishermen who were arrested while on their boats in the sea, and were released after.
According to Al Hourani Center for Documentation and Studies' monthly report on Israeli violations against the Palestinian people, about 350 Palestinians were kidnapped including 3 women and 14 year old Malak Al-Khatib in January.
See also: 3755 Children Kidnapped In Past Four Years, 1266 in 2014 Alone
The report, according to the Palestinian News Network (PNN), showed that a majority of the Palestinians kidnapped, especially women and children, were detained for hours or days before their release.
Hebron ranked first regarding the number of youth kidnapped, with the number of 72 , followed by Jerusalem, 56, and Ramallah 32.
In Nablus the number reached 30, in Jenin 27, in Bethlehem 22, 9 in Qalqilya, 7 in Tulkarem, 6 in Jericho, 6 in Tubas and 3 in Salfit.
In the Gaza Strip, 15 people were kidnapped; 9 of the abductions took place near the border siege of Gaza, against merchants and patients who were being transferred through the Erez crossing checkpoint, in addition to 3 fishermen who were arrested while on their boats in the sea, and were released after.
According to Al Hourani Center for Documentation and Studies' monthly report on Israeli violations against the Palestinian people, about 350 Palestinians were kidnapped including 3 women and 14 year old Malak Al-Khatib in January.
See also: 3755 Children Kidnapped In Past Four Years, 1266 in 2014 Alone
1 mar 2015
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) nabbed on Sunday a Jerusalemite young man at the entrance to Shufat refugee camp to the north of occupied Jerusalem on charge of possession of stun grenades.
The Israeli radio claimed that the detainee was arrested after IOF allegedly found seven stun grenades in his car.
The detainee, 30, was transferred to an Israeli investigation center after bomb experts were able to defuse the grenades, according to the sources.
Meanwhile, IOF soldiers stationed at Container military checkpoint arrested Sunday an 8-year-old child in al-Khalil while on his way back home from school.
Local sources confirmed that the child was violently searched before his arrest.
Along the same line, a number of residents were stopped and searched in the nearby Shalala Street. No arrests were reported.
The Israeli radio claimed that the detainee was arrested after IOF allegedly found seven stun grenades in his car.
The detainee, 30, was transferred to an Israeli investigation center after bomb experts were able to defuse the grenades, according to the sources.
Meanwhile, IOF soldiers stationed at Container military checkpoint arrested Sunday an 8-year-old child in al-Khalil while on his way back home from school.
Local sources confirmed that the child was violently searched before his arrest.
Along the same line, a number of residents were stopped and searched in the nearby Shalala Street. No arrests were reported.
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Art piece made from spent tear gas canisters by Rana Bishara
Plumes of teargas wafted up the terraced hillside of the West Bank village of Bil’in on Friday when over 1,000 demonstrators marked ten years of weekly protests against Israel’s separation wall and occupation outside of Ramallah. Israelis drove in from Tel Aviv, and international activists and Palestinians from nearby towns flocked to march from the center of Bil’in to the hamlet’s agricultural grounds. As they do every Friday, clashes ensued once protesters reached the outskirts of town where olive orchards and patches of vegetable farms buffer Israel’s concrete barrier and one of the most populated settlements, Modi’in Illit. Two Palestinians were injured with live fire, and the army detained four. Palestinian youths carried the flag of their occupied nation, with many sporting black tee-shirts with an outline of Ziad Abu Ein, a Palestinian minister who died in the winter after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers during an olive planting to commemorate International Human Rights Day. “Listen to that, we destroyed the jeep” said Ahmad Abu Rahme, 21, while resting under the shade of an olive tree near the wall as stones clanged against an army vehicle. Close by Ahmad’s childhood friends lobbed stones. “We grew up like this,” he said, recounting Bil’in’s first protest a decade ago. At that time, Ahmad’s father did not want him to protest, fearing an encounter with the Israeli army could lead to arrest or injury. Now ten years later, Ahmad’s father joins him on Fridays and weekly protests have become staple family outings. Bil’in’s Friday demonstrations started in 2005 when Israeli soldiers arrived to construct the separation wall at the edge of the town. |
The army wanted to build a cement barrier between a then uninhabited settlement neighborhood in Modi’in Illit and Bil’in. “Everybody from the village, we went to stop the bulldozer from cutting olive trees,” said Hamde Abu Rahme, 27, the celebrated photojournalist from Bil’in who documents the weekly protests. “At this time I was only 17 years old. And we tried our best to stop this.”
Within the year left-leaning Israeli activists from the group Anarchists Against the Wall joined the Friday demonstrations. Two years later a dozen of other villages facing land confiscations started their own weekly marches. Yet it was Bil’in that became the symbol for Palestinian non-violent resistance, a term that is debated because often the marches end in stonethrowing from the town’s youth. Bil’in is also recognized for creativity and costume. Villagers have come out in Santa Claus suits and blue alien garb and body paint modeled off of the movie Avatar. Once protestors even had an Israeli dress as Mahatma Gandhi and a Palestinian as Martin Luther King Jr. The press images of unarmed renowned peacemakers and cinema characters fleeing from the Middle East’s strongest army and its gun fire were so compelling that it catapulted Bil’in to become the West Bank’s real-life David and Goliath tale. What is now referred to as the Palestinian non-violent movement was born.
Bil’in suffered losses over the decade of dissidence. Regularly the army tear gassed and shot live fire into the crowds at the Friday protests. Two of Abu Rahme’s cousins were killed during such clashes. Bassem Abu Rahme, 31, was slain in 2009 and Jawaher Abu Rahme, 36, died in 2011 from asthma related complications after inhaling tear gas. Bassem Abu Rahme’s killing and the confrontations between villagers and the Israeli military were featured in the Academy-Award-nominated film Five Broken Cameras by Bil’in native-turned-celebrity Emad Burnat and Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi. Although the army conducted investigations that trailed on for years, no soldier was ever charged in either of the cousins’ deaths.
And Bil’in lost land. By the time Israel’s army completed construction of the separation wall in 2008, around 2,000 dunums of Bil’in’s farmland was trapped behind the Israeli side of the barrier. Then in 2010 Israel’s high court intervened after a leading Israeli human rights law firm, Yesh Din, filed a petition. The jurists ruled that the path of the wall must be re-routed because it was built on privately owned Palestinian land. Still the new route took more than 650 dunums. Bil’in’s legal victory is widely seen by Palestinians as a win for popular resistance against settlement encroachment on Palestinian territory. And the protests continued. Bil’in villagers want to get the rest of their land back that the settlers usurped.
“As Palestinians you always lose, but we got something and it’s not for nothing of course,” Abu Rahme continued. “We got more than a thousand dunums back. It’s our land. It means it’s [popular resistance is] working, no? This is a good thing. And I think also Palestinians must struggle elsewhere,” Abu Rahme added.
“I believe with all my heart. I don’t just go to demonstration and say Palestine will be free, I truly believe it,” said Mohammed Hamad, 22. Hamad is from Bil’in and works two jobs in the West Bank’s economic center, Ramallah. His days are spent in a multimedia studio. At night he is a waiter in an upscale bar. Although he work days end at 4 am, Hamad rarely misses a Friday protest and comes dressed in lab goggles, eye protection against potent tear gas.
“I will never stop protesting. Just when Palestine is free then I will stop and go another country and protest there until they are free too,” said Hamad.
Popular resistance v. Palestinian Authority
After three hours Friday, Bil’in’s demonstration thinned. Internationals lounged on boulders, snacking on chips and drinking soda with locals. A few curled up for a nap on the sofa of the town’s media center, a modest building plastered with posters of Bil’in’s fallen demonstrators and political figureheads.
Meanwhile Hamad headed home. He walked uphill where he met Rana Bishara, 43, a Palestinian visual artist from the Galilee in northern Israel who lives in Beit Jala, outside of Bethlehem. Bishara sat on a plastic chair in front of two sculptures she made that morning from spent tear gas canisters and pieces of barbed wire from an army fence that buttresses the separation wall in Bil’in. Though she is not from the West Bank, Bishara regularly travels to different villages active in popular resistance against the wall. “We are under illegal occupation and our resistance is legal,” she said.
Some local officials attended the tenth anniversary protest: Palestinian Liberation Organization executive committee member Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi and the mayor of Ramallah Dr. Laila Ghannam. But Bishara has more faith in demonstrations like Bil’in than the recent actions taken by Palestinian leadership at the United Nations, seeking a Security Council resolution that recognizes Palestinian statehood, or joining the International Criminal Court (ICC). At the end of this month, Palestinian officials have indicated they will charge Israel with war crimes relating to Gaza and settlements in the West Bank.
Bishara scoffed at the Palestinian government’s hopes of achieving a trial against Israel. “It’s a big joke,” she said. “Only a small portion of the Palestinian population support the leadership.”
Comparing the Palestinian Authority’s two decades of failed negotiations that failed to reduce Israel’s occupation to the five years of protests in Bil’in that led to Israel’s high court ordering a return of confiscated land, Bishara says she has more faith in Palestinian villagers than their leaders.
Hamad agreed; overall the government is wasting its time. “We are not unified and for that I feel shame,” he said.
It is worth noting that a handful of village activists from across the West Bank receive salaries from the Palestinian Authority to carry out popular resistance as a full-time job. To some, this is regarded as a buy-out of a grassroots movement. But despite the presence of paid organizers, sentiments against the Palestinian Authority run deep.
“There are some people in the government who say they are with the popular resistance, but if you are really with the people, don’t stop them from protesting at Beit El or Qalandia,” said Hamad, noting that Palestinian security forces break up demonstrations at Israeli checkpoints or settlements as a provision of the Oslo accord, which mandates security coordination between Israelis and Palestinians. “So we are under an occupation, under occupation.”
Within the year left-leaning Israeli activists from the group Anarchists Against the Wall joined the Friday demonstrations. Two years later a dozen of other villages facing land confiscations started their own weekly marches. Yet it was Bil’in that became the symbol for Palestinian non-violent resistance, a term that is debated because often the marches end in stonethrowing from the town’s youth. Bil’in is also recognized for creativity and costume. Villagers have come out in Santa Claus suits and blue alien garb and body paint modeled off of the movie Avatar. Once protestors even had an Israeli dress as Mahatma Gandhi and a Palestinian as Martin Luther King Jr. The press images of unarmed renowned peacemakers and cinema characters fleeing from the Middle East’s strongest army and its gun fire were so compelling that it catapulted Bil’in to become the West Bank’s real-life David and Goliath tale. What is now referred to as the Palestinian non-violent movement was born.
Bil’in suffered losses over the decade of dissidence. Regularly the army tear gassed and shot live fire into the crowds at the Friday protests. Two of Abu Rahme’s cousins were killed during such clashes. Bassem Abu Rahme, 31, was slain in 2009 and Jawaher Abu Rahme, 36, died in 2011 from asthma related complications after inhaling tear gas. Bassem Abu Rahme’s killing and the confrontations between villagers and the Israeli military were featured in the Academy-Award-nominated film Five Broken Cameras by Bil’in native-turned-celebrity Emad Burnat and Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi. Although the army conducted investigations that trailed on for years, no soldier was ever charged in either of the cousins’ deaths.
And Bil’in lost land. By the time Israel’s army completed construction of the separation wall in 2008, around 2,000 dunums of Bil’in’s farmland was trapped behind the Israeli side of the barrier. Then in 2010 Israel’s high court intervened after a leading Israeli human rights law firm, Yesh Din, filed a petition. The jurists ruled that the path of the wall must be re-routed because it was built on privately owned Palestinian land. Still the new route took more than 650 dunums. Bil’in’s legal victory is widely seen by Palestinians as a win for popular resistance against settlement encroachment on Palestinian territory. And the protests continued. Bil’in villagers want to get the rest of their land back that the settlers usurped.
“As Palestinians you always lose, but we got something and it’s not for nothing of course,” Abu Rahme continued. “We got more than a thousand dunums back. It’s our land. It means it’s [popular resistance is] working, no? This is a good thing. And I think also Palestinians must struggle elsewhere,” Abu Rahme added.
“I believe with all my heart. I don’t just go to demonstration and say Palestine will be free, I truly believe it,” said Mohammed Hamad, 22. Hamad is from Bil’in and works two jobs in the West Bank’s economic center, Ramallah. His days are spent in a multimedia studio. At night he is a waiter in an upscale bar. Although he work days end at 4 am, Hamad rarely misses a Friday protest and comes dressed in lab goggles, eye protection against potent tear gas.
“I will never stop protesting. Just when Palestine is free then I will stop and go another country and protest there until they are free too,” said Hamad.
Popular resistance v. Palestinian Authority
After three hours Friday, Bil’in’s demonstration thinned. Internationals lounged on boulders, snacking on chips and drinking soda with locals. A few curled up for a nap on the sofa of the town’s media center, a modest building plastered with posters of Bil’in’s fallen demonstrators and political figureheads.
Meanwhile Hamad headed home. He walked uphill where he met Rana Bishara, 43, a Palestinian visual artist from the Galilee in northern Israel who lives in Beit Jala, outside of Bethlehem. Bishara sat on a plastic chair in front of two sculptures she made that morning from spent tear gas canisters and pieces of barbed wire from an army fence that buttresses the separation wall in Bil’in. Though she is not from the West Bank, Bishara regularly travels to different villages active in popular resistance against the wall. “We are under illegal occupation and our resistance is legal,” she said.
Some local officials attended the tenth anniversary protest: Palestinian Liberation Organization executive committee member Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi and the mayor of Ramallah Dr. Laila Ghannam. But Bishara has more faith in demonstrations like Bil’in than the recent actions taken by Palestinian leadership at the United Nations, seeking a Security Council resolution that recognizes Palestinian statehood, or joining the International Criminal Court (ICC). At the end of this month, Palestinian officials have indicated they will charge Israel with war crimes relating to Gaza and settlements in the West Bank.
Bishara scoffed at the Palestinian government’s hopes of achieving a trial against Israel. “It’s a big joke,” she said. “Only a small portion of the Palestinian population support the leadership.”
Comparing the Palestinian Authority’s two decades of failed negotiations that failed to reduce Israel’s occupation to the five years of protests in Bil’in that led to Israel’s high court ordering a return of confiscated land, Bishara says she has more faith in Palestinian villagers than their leaders.
Hamad agreed; overall the government is wasting its time. “We are not unified and for that I feel shame,” he said.
It is worth noting that a handful of village activists from across the West Bank receive salaries from the Palestinian Authority to carry out popular resistance as a full-time job. To some, this is regarded as a buy-out of a grassroots movement. But despite the presence of paid organizers, sentiments against the Palestinian Authority run deep.
“There are some people in the government who say they are with the popular resistance, but if you are really with the people, don’t stop them from protesting at Beit El or Qalandia,” said Hamad, noting that Palestinian security forces break up demonstrations at Israeli checkpoints or settlements as a provision of the Oslo accord, which mandates security coordination between Israelis and Palestinians. “So we are under an occupation, under occupation.”
Hamas on Saturday warned of the serious repercussion of Israel’s ongoing attacks on Palestinian detainees held in Raymond jail, calling for mobilizing mass-solidarity with the isolated captives.
Hamas spokesperson Hosam Badran said in a press statement that the Raymond inmates have lately been subjected to a wave of pre-planned psycho-physical torture tactics perpetrated by the Israeli prison authorities most notably via abrupt break-ins and search campaigns.
Tension has hit climactic levels at the Raymond lock-up after the prison administration cracked down on leader Sheikh Jamal Abu al-Heija and the Jihad-affiliated inmate Zeid Bseisso.
Badran pushed for mobilizing mass-support of the Raymond prisoners’ cause, warning of Israeli intents to hoodwink Palestinian detainees and cut the cord that links them together to one single cause and soil.
Recent negotiations between the Israeli prison authorities and representatives of Hamas inmates have reached a deadlock after the Israeli administration reneged on earlier pledges and accords banning transfers of leaders of the prisoner movement from one prison to another.
Badran reiterated Hamas’s solidarity with the prisoners’ cause and support of any protest moves initiated in objection to the Israeli prison authorities’ despotism and violation of prisoners’ rights.
Some 350 Hamas-affiliated inmates and 70 Jihad affiliates, held in the Israeli Raymond lock-up, have launched distress signals over the storming campaigns stepped up by the Israeli occupation wardens.
Hamas spokesperson Hosam Badran said in a press statement that the Raymond inmates have lately been subjected to a wave of pre-planned psycho-physical torture tactics perpetrated by the Israeli prison authorities most notably via abrupt break-ins and search campaigns.
Tension has hit climactic levels at the Raymond lock-up after the prison administration cracked down on leader Sheikh Jamal Abu al-Heija and the Jihad-affiliated inmate Zeid Bseisso.
Badran pushed for mobilizing mass-support of the Raymond prisoners’ cause, warning of Israeli intents to hoodwink Palestinian detainees and cut the cord that links them together to one single cause and soil.
Recent negotiations between the Israeli prison authorities and representatives of Hamas inmates have reached a deadlock after the Israeli administration reneged on earlier pledges and accords banning transfers of leaders of the prisoner movement from one prison to another.
Badran reiterated Hamas’s solidarity with the prisoners’ cause and support of any protest moves initiated in objection to the Israeli prison authorities’ despotism and violation of prisoners’ rights.
Some 350 Hamas-affiliated inmates and 70 Jihad affiliates, held in the Israeli Raymond lock-up, have launched distress signals over the storming campaigns stepped up by the Israeli occupation wardens.
The Department of Prisoner's Affairs with the Palestinian Authority recently issued a report regarding the 17 Israeli jails housing some 7,000 Palestinian prisoners. Sources within the organization have predicted uprisings and a series of protests over the next month, due to the very poor living conditions reported there.
Data from the prisoners themselves reveal a possible hunger strike in the next few weeks.
Prisoners and humanitarian aid workers have compiled a list of steps required in order to contain an escalating feeling of discontent among detainees:
• Improve the medical treatment of patients;
• End to solitary confinements;
• Stop the raids and inspections;
• Start again to broadcast media channels;
• Stop arbitrary detention without charges;
• End the closure of inmates’ accounts;
• Stop individual and collective punishments;
• Stop raising prices of canteen purchases;
• Stop moving prisoners between prisons without any reason;
• Stop preventing family visits;
• Allow prisoners to study for higher education;
The report, according to the PNN, continues by highlighting the difficulty to manage an increasing situation of dissatisfaction and anger among prisoners.
The Palestinian Authority said that the illegitimate movement of prisoners is the key factor of the increasing anger and acts of rebellion among prisoners, used as a double weapon by Israeli reports on detainees’ behavior.
Since 2014 to date, convicts have seen more than 400 raids and abuse of force by the Israeli police within the prison system: the wrecking of rooms, incursions and searches made with police dogs, assaults on detainees and the confiscation and damage of their belongings.
The value of the fines imposed on prisoners has reached, during the period mentioned, to more than a million and a half shekels, as individual and collective punishments are deducted from the prisoners’ personal accounts.
This period has seen a big increase in the number of arrests, where the number of detainees augmented from 4,000 to 7,000 arrests since June of 2014, including mass arrests among children.
Related: Palestinian Children Subjected to Torture in Israeli Prisons
The medical negligence and failure to provide treatments for prisoners and the renewal of administrative detention are routinely and continuously re-imposed, along with solitary confinement. Indicators show the clear escalation of violence carried out by the Israeli government against the prisoners.
The Department of Prisoner's Affairs reported that from March 1, detainees might take steps toward an uprising.
Starting with a hunger strike, every two days for two weeks, followed by a complete hunger strike and refusal to the daily arbitrary room examinations.
Then, the rejection of evening diagnosis and, finally, general disobedience for all the month of April.
The escalation of the protest could possibly reach the point when the prisoners refuse drinking water and announce an open-ended hunger strike.
The department demanded external support to the prisoners by all national institutions and Islamic forces.
See also: Ferwana: “6059 Palestinians Kidnapped By The Army in 2014”
Data from the prisoners themselves reveal a possible hunger strike in the next few weeks.
Prisoners and humanitarian aid workers have compiled a list of steps required in order to contain an escalating feeling of discontent among detainees:
• Improve the medical treatment of patients;
• End to solitary confinements;
• Stop the raids and inspections;
• Start again to broadcast media channels;
• Stop arbitrary detention without charges;
• End the closure of inmates’ accounts;
• Stop individual and collective punishments;
• Stop raising prices of canteen purchases;
• Stop moving prisoners between prisons without any reason;
• Stop preventing family visits;
• Allow prisoners to study for higher education;
The report, according to the PNN, continues by highlighting the difficulty to manage an increasing situation of dissatisfaction and anger among prisoners.
The Palestinian Authority said that the illegitimate movement of prisoners is the key factor of the increasing anger and acts of rebellion among prisoners, used as a double weapon by Israeli reports on detainees’ behavior.
Since 2014 to date, convicts have seen more than 400 raids and abuse of force by the Israeli police within the prison system: the wrecking of rooms, incursions and searches made with police dogs, assaults on detainees and the confiscation and damage of their belongings.
The value of the fines imposed on prisoners has reached, during the period mentioned, to more than a million and a half shekels, as individual and collective punishments are deducted from the prisoners’ personal accounts.
This period has seen a big increase in the number of arrests, where the number of detainees augmented from 4,000 to 7,000 arrests since June of 2014, including mass arrests among children.
Related: Palestinian Children Subjected to Torture in Israeli Prisons
The medical negligence and failure to provide treatments for prisoners and the renewal of administrative detention are routinely and continuously re-imposed, along with solitary confinement. Indicators show the clear escalation of violence carried out by the Israeli government against the prisoners.
The Department of Prisoner's Affairs reported that from March 1, detainees might take steps toward an uprising.
Starting with a hunger strike, every two days for two weeks, followed by a complete hunger strike and refusal to the daily arbitrary room examinations.
Then, the rejection of evening diagnosis and, finally, general disobedience for all the month of April.
The escalation of the protest could possibly reach the point when the prisoners refuse drinking water and announce an open-ended hunger strike.
The department demanded external support to the prisoners by all national institutions and Islamic forces.
See also: Ferwana: “6059 Palestinians Kidnapped By The Army in 2014”
Israeli forces, Saturday, abducted three Palestinians, including a head of a village council, as well as summoned two others for interrogation, according to reports by security sources.
According to WAFA, Israeli forces stationed at a checkpoint to the west of al-Jab‘a village, southwest of Bethlehem, detained two Palestinians while they were tending their farmland.
The detainees were identified as Head of the Village Council Nu‘man, 50, and ‘Ikrima Hamdan.
The two were reportedly handcuffed and interrogated before being led to an unknown destination.
Forces also raided al-‘Ubeidiya town, to the east of the city, where they summoned two Palestinians for interrogation.
Salamah Shanayta, age 26, and Walid Hasasna, 22, were served with notices ordering them to appear before Israeli intelligence in the military base of Gush Etzion.
Meanwhile, in Hebron, soldiers took 19-year-old Imad al-Rajabi near the Ibrahimi mosque in the Old City.
They also set up roadblocks in several Hebron neighborhoods, as well as at the entrances of Sa‘ir and Halhul, where they stopped and inspected vehicles with Palestinian registration plates and examined passengers’ ID cards.
According to WAFA, Israeli forces stationed at a checkpoint to the west of al-Jab‘a village, southwest of Bethlehem, detained two Palestinians while they were tending their farmland.
The detainees were identified as Head of the Village Council Nu‘man, 50, and ‘Ikrima Hamdan.
The two were reportedly handcuffed and interrogated before being led to an unknown destination.
Forces also raided al-‘Ubeidiya town, to the east of the city, where they summoned two Palestinians for interrogation.
Salamah Shanayta, age 26, and Walid Hasasna, 22, were served with notices ordering them to appear before Israeli intelligence in the military base of Gush Etzion.
Meanwhile, in Hebron, soldiers took 19-year-old Imad al-Rajabi near the Ibrahimi mosque in the Old City.
They also set up roadblocks in several Hebron neighborhoods, as well as at the entrances of Sa‘ir and Halhul, where they stopped and inspected vehicles with Palestinian registration plates and examined passengers’ ID cards.
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