NOVANEWS
Live from the Only Democracy Goes to Bil’in and more
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Live from the Only Democracy Goes to Bil’in
Follow Jewish Voice for Peace on twitter at jvplive tonight to get live updates from our own Emily Schaeffer from the Bil’in Conference and protests against the Wall. You can download an audio report by Free Speech Radio news from the conference here. “Conference on nonviolent resistance opens in West Bank”
The IMEMC recaps the first day of the conference.
The IMEMC recaps the first day of the conference.
Hundreds of Palestinians along with international and Israeli delegates started on Wednesday the fifth annual conference on popular resistance in village of Bil’in near the central west Bank city of Ramallah.
In addition to Palestinian ministers, European Union, and United States officials joined the opening of the conference. Bil’in is site of weekly nonviolent protest against the wall and settlements for the past five years.
Bil’in 5th Conference On Nonviolence Resistance – Photo By IMEMC’s Ghassan Bannour
Villages Imprisoned, Protesters Arrested, and Trees Uprooted for Wall
From the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee
Soldiers and Border Police officers imposed curfew this on the village of al-Walaja this morning as olive tree uprooting for the construction of the Wall resumed there and in the adjacent town of Beit Jala, where two demonstrators were injured and two were arrested.
Israeli forces stormed the village of alWalaja this morning, imposing curfew, as bulldozers resumed leveling terrain on the village’s lands for the path of the Wall. Soldiers are patrolling the streets of the village by foot, as well as on horses and all-terrain vehicles, and preventing residents from leaving their houses or being in the streets despite the fact that curfew was not officially announced. Press-card holding cameramen who tried entering the village to film were denied entry by the army.
An Israeli soldier stops Palestinian from Beit Jala from reaching his home during the protest
In the adjacent town of Beit Jala soldiers are gathered in force at the edge of the village preventing land owners from accessing their land. The garden of one of the village’s houses was completely razed by the bulldozers, which are now uprooting an olive grove.
Two members of the villages popular committee were beaten up by soldiers. One of those beaten required medical treatment and was evacuated to the Beit Jala hospital. Two Israeli activists who were at the scene were arrested and are currently held by the police.
![]( "Arrest at Beit Jala")
Construction in both places resumed today after the Israeli Supreme Court lifted an injunction it had previously issued concerning the area.
Al-Walaja is an agrarian village of about 2,000 people, located south of Jerusalem and West of Bethlehem. Following the 1967 Occupation of the West Bank and the redrawing of the Jerusalem municipal boundaries, roughly half the village was annexed by Israel and included in the Jerusalem municipal area. The village’s residents, however did not receive Israeli residency or citizenship, and are considered illegal in their own homes.
![]( "Palestinian Points at Road")
Once completed, the path of the Wall is designed to encircle the village’s built-up area entirely, separating the residents from both Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and almost all their lands – roughly 5,000 dunams. Previously, Israeli authorities have already confiscated approximately half of the village’s lands for the building of the Har Gilo and Gilo settlements, and closed off areas to the south and west of it. The town’s inhabitants have also experienced the cutting down of fruit orchards and house demolition due to the absence of building permits in Area C.
According to a military confiscation order handed to the villagers, the path of the Wall will stretch over 4890 meters between Beit Jala and al-Walaja, affecting 35 families, whose homes may be slated for demolition.
Beit Jala is a predominantly Christian town located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem. Once completed, he Wall will Isolate 3,200 Dunams of the town’s lands, including almost 3,000 Dunams of olive groves and the only recreational forest in the area, the Cremisan monastery and the Cremisan Cellars winery.
Soldiers and Border Police officers imposed curfew this on the village of al-Walaja this morning as olive tree uprooting for the construction of the Wall resumed there and in the adjacent town of Beit Jala, where two demonstrators were injured and two were arrested.
Israeli forces stormed the village of alWalaja this morning, imposing curfew, as bulldozers resumed leveling terrain on the village’s lands for the path of the Wall. Soldiers are patrolling the streets of the village by foot, as well as on horses and all-terrain vehicles, and preventing residents from leaving their houses or being in the streets despite the fact that curfew was not officially announced. Press-card holding cameramen who tried entering the village to film were denied entry by the army.
An Israeli soldier stops Palestinian from Beit Jala from reaching his home during the protest
In the adjacent town of Beit Jala soldiers are gathered in force at the edge of the village preventing land owners from accessing their land. The garden of one of the village’s houses was completely razed by the bulldozers, which are now uprooting an olive grove.
Two members of the villages popular committee were beaten up by soldiers. One of those beaten required medical treatment and was evacuated to the Beit Jala hospital. Two Israeli activists who were at the scene were arrested and are currently held by the police.
Construction in both places resumed today after the Israeli Supreme Court lifted an injunction it had previously issued concerning the area.
Al-Walaja is an agrarian village of about 2,000 people, located south of Jerusalem and West of Bethlehem. Following the 1967 Occupation of the West Bank and the redrawing of the Jerusalem municipal boundaries, roughly half the village was annexed by Israel and included in the Jerusalem municipal area. The village’s residents, however did not receive Israeli residency or citizenship, and are considered illegal in their own homes.
Once completed, the path of the Wall is designed to encircle the village’s built-up area entirely, separating the residents from both Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and almost all their lands – roughly 5,000 dunams. Previously, Israeli authorities have already confiscated approximately half of the village’s lands for the building of the Har Gilo and Gilo settlements, and closed off areas to the south and west of it. The town’s inhabitants have also experienced the cutting down of fruit orchards and house demolition due to the absence of building permits in Area C.
According to a military confiscation order handed to the villagers, the path of the Wall will stretch over 4890 meters between Beit Jala and al-Walaja, affecting 35 families, whose homes may be slated for demolition.
Beit Jala is a predominantly Christian town located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem. Once completed, he Wall will Isolate 3,200 Dunams of the town’s lands, including almost 3,000 Dunams of olive groves and the only recreational forest in the area, the Cremisan monastery and the Cremisan Cellars winery.
Israel Transferring Goods, Fashionably Late
From Gisha’s Gaza Gateway
When the closure was imposed on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, clothes and footwear importers in Gaza found themselves unable to bring goods into the Strip that they had ordered from abroad. For almost three years now, these goods have been sitting in storage containers at Israel’s port in Ashdod or in the West Bank. Each month of storage costs an importer between $300-$500 per container.
Recently, however, it appears that Israeli policy-makers decided that fashion no longer constitutes a security threat to Israel (at least temporarily). In response to a petition to Israel’s High Court (see link to petition (in Hebrew)) by importers in Gaza, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stated that it had decided “on a one-time basis, and as a goodwill humanitarian gesture, to grant permission to the petitioners to transfer their clothing and footwear products” to Gaza.
This transfer was, however, subject to several conditions imposed by Israel, including: that the products were acquired prior to the Hamas takeover of the Strip; that the goods were originally purchased with the intention of being transferred to Gaza, and of course, upon provision of detailed information on the nature of the goods, such as the type of clothing (prompting us to ask whether there can be items of clothing more dangerous than others?).
Since April 4, 2010, Israel has permitted the transfer of clothing and footwear products to Gaza, and to date 110 trucks have entered the Strip, at a rate of 10 trucks per day. However, with each truck that enters, it becomes clear that the celebration over the transfer of new items may have been premature: the clothes and shoes have accumulated moisture in the many months of storage, and many of the products have either rotted completely or been partially damaged by mildew.
The losses to the merchants, in addition to the costs of storage, are estimated at 30% of the value of each truck.
Almost 750 more containers of clothes, shoes and other goods, including office equipment and children’s games, are still sitting in Israel or in the West Bank. Due to Israel’s vague and arbitrary policies regarding transfer of goods to Gaza, it’s not clear if and when it will decide to put a stop to this “one-time”, “humanitarian gesture” or when it will again permit the transfer of such items in the future.
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When the closure was imposed on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, clothes and footwear importers in Gaza found themselves unable to bring goods into the Strip that they had ordered from abroad. For almost three years now, these goods have been sitting in storage containers at Israel’s port in Ashdod or in the West Bank. Each month of storage costs an importer between $300-$500 per container.
Recently, however, it appears that Israeli policy-makers decided that fashion no longer constitutes a security threat to Israel (at least temporarily). In response to a petition to Israel’s High Court (see link to petition (in Hebrew)) by importers in Gaza, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories stated that it had decided “on a one-time basis, and as a goodwill humanitarian gesture, to grant permission to the petitioners to transfer their clothing and footwear products” to Gaza.
This transfer was, however, subject to several conditions imposed by Israel, including: that the products were acquired prior to the Hamas takeover of the Strip; that the goods were originally purchased with the intention of being transferred to Gaza, and of course, upon provision of detailed information on the nature of the goods, such as the type of clothing (prompting us to ask whether there can be items of clothing more dangerous than others?).
Since April 4, 2010, Israel has permitted the transfer of clothing and footwear products to Gaza, and to date 110 trucks have entered the Strip, at a rate of 10 trucks per day. However, with each truck that enters, it becomes clear that the celebration over the transfer of new items may have been premature: the clothes and shoes have accumulated moisture in the many months of storage, and many of the products have either rotted completely or been partially damaged by mildew.
The losses to the merchants, in addition to the costs of storage, are estimated at 30% of the value of each truck.
Almost 750 more containers of clothes, shoes and other goods, including office equipment and children’s games, are still sitting in Israel or in the West Bank. Due to Israel’s vague and arbitrary policies regarding transfer of goods to Gaza, it’s not clear if and when it will decide to put a stop to this “one-time”, “humanitarian gesture” or when it will again permit the transfer of such items in the future.
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- A Nonviolent Che Guevara in Gaza
- Remembering Bassem (Pheel) Abu Rahma
- A Bailout For Arms Dealers: US Aid and the Israeli Budget
- Israel Demolishes and Silences its Bedouin Villages
