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As settlers disrupt olive harvest, Israeli officer declares: ‘I am the law, I am God.’
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Americans who support Palestinian cause must be willing to lose friends
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What’s good for Gaza was not good enough for Shalit
As settlers disrupt olive harvest, Israeli officer declares: ‘I am the law, I am God.’
Oct 23, 2011 02:43 pm | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Intimidation of Palestinians in the Israeli-controlled H2 section of Hebron continued today as the Israeli military and settlers harassed Palestinians and international observers as they attempted to pick olives on their land in Tel Rumeida.
Around 40 students from different Palestinian universities marched onto the land at 11AM Saturday morning and began to pick olives along with local families, activists from Youth Against Settlements (YAS) and international observers.
At 12:30 PM the Israeli police confiscated identity passes for 20 Palestinians and, whilst checking their details, forced the group to stand together and individually filmed their faces.
The police declined to justify their actions, only insisting that they had a right to check the details of those present. The Israeli military became increasingly belligerent as protesters challenged the legality of the actions and began to push and shove Palestinians and international observers. After around 20 minutes the police returned the passes and allowed the detained Palestinians to leave. They then ordered international observers to leave the olive groves or be arrested, claiming that the Palestinian-owned olive grove is “Israeli land” and that it was illegal to be on the land and “illegal to be in a group.”
Rafi Dagan, an Israeli commanding officer, stated “I am the law. I am God” when asked to explain why he was flouting Israeli law by forcing people to leave Palestinian land under threat of arrest, without any paperwork to show that it was a closed military zone.
Earlier in the day, Israeli soldiers had pushed photographers attempting to document the olive harvest and confiscated an international observer’s passport for several minutes. Under Israeli law, passports may be shown to the Israeli military but it is illegal for them to be taken away. The Israeli military also briefly detained a young Palestinian man, apparently for running through the olive groves with a Palestinian flag, although he was released after around 10 minutes.
In addition to intimidation by the military, Israeli settlers arrived on the Palestinian land within minutes of the olive harvest beginning and began to harass people picking olives. A group of around 10 settlers gathered in the lower olive groves in Tel Rumeida at 11:55am where Palestinians were busy picking olives. Baruch Marzel, a prominent extremist settler, stood on a Palestinian flag in an obvious attempt to provoke olive harvesters. The military intervened as anger flared between the two groups and sent settlers back to their settlement.
Badia Dwaik, 38, is the Deputy Coordinator of Youth Against Settlements, a nonviolent Palestinian group campaigning against Israeli settlements. He stressed that olive harvesting in Tel Rumeida is not just about economic necessity; it is a form of political defiance and a way to “confirm our existence and to encourage the people to resist”.
The Palestinian land in Tel Rumeida is surrounded by four illegal Israeli settlements. A Palestinian educational centre overlooks steep, dusty terraces to the south which contain around 200 olive trees. The centre, established in 2006 after the building was reclaimed from Israeli military control, and the olive groves below have been subject to repeated attacks and incursions by settlers in recent years. Anti-Palestinian graffiti and the Star of David is clearly visible under fresh coats of paint on the walls at the back of the building, only metres away from a settlement.
The olive groves contain around 200 olives trees and olives were picked on around 70 trees today. Badia Dwaik lamented the poor quality of the olives and the sparse fruit on many of the trees, saying that Palestinians are often unable to tend the land for fear of settler attacks. There is also a chronic shortage of water in Hebron and the owners of the trees are denied permits to dig the land. For example, the YAS reported having problems with water circulation for three days and discovered today that the water lines had been deliberately cut.
According to Badia Dwaik, the YAS intend to continue picking the olives in the coming weeks as “people are scared to come and pick olives alone. And it gives a message: we will continue and never give up.”
( crossposted @ International Solidarity Movement)
Americans who support Palestinian cause must be willing to lose friends
Oct 23, 2011
Philip Weiss
Readers know that I was really impressed by meeting American volunteer Morgan Bach in Palestine. When you watch this video I made in the little village of Al Aqaba, you’ll understand why.
Bach, 24, who blogs here, is a volunteer in Palestine for the Rebuilding Alliance.
Some important moments in the video:
1:01 A friend who doesn’t like Bach’s facebook posts expresses surprise at who Bach is dating.
2:10 Other friends ask, Why would you study abroad in Jordan? “Deep prejudice there.”
2:48 Bach reflects emotionally on a racist thing she said in responding to friends.
3:40 Bach speaks of an older liberal mentor friend with values she admires, who is very active in the Jewish community. He has been discouraging to her when she writes about Palestine– “no such place.” And her blog is “rubbish.”
4:20 Bach is “defriended.”
7:20 Some Jewish teachers are very interested in Morgan’s reports from Palestine.
8:12 Bach on Jewish identity construction and the difficulties of a non-Jew interrogating that construction.
10:10 Her fears about being too blunt about Palestine, lest she offend.
The background to this video:
When I got to Jerusalem, Morgan invited me to the little Palestinian village she’s helping to defend from being uprooted in the Jordan Valley, Al Aqaba. And I went out to visit.
Here’s Morgan, below, with Mayor Haj Sami Sadeq overlooking a Israeli military base in the right background.
That military base has stolen lands of Al Aqaba, and is drawing a noose around the community. Most of the population has fled.
And here’s Morgan teaching the ABC’s to Palestinian children.
Anyway, late at night after Haj Sami gave us dinner, I sat outside in the quiet village talking to Morgan and she told me about friends she’d lost because of her work on Palestine. I whipped out my little video camera. So watch the video. It’s long, but
What’s good for Gaza was not good enough for Shalit
Oct 23, 2011
Seham
‘Shalit was poorly nourished in captivity’
A relative of the formerly captive soldier told Ynet on Friday that while Shalit wasn’t starved, he was not provided with a nutrient-rich diet. “There wasn’t a shortage of food, they didn’t starve Gilad, but the menu was primarily Gazan and not really nutritious,” he said. “There were pitas and a lot of hummus.”
link to www.ynetnews.com
The Gaza diet (and the Congo diet and the Zimbabwe diet)
Several months ago, ministry officials approached the United Nations to consult with them about their dietary plan for the Gaza Strip. The UN officials – as one might guess – politely told them to go to hell, refusing to have anything to do with such a policy. The Israelis then turned to a Health Ministry dietician, whose advice might have led to the present policy according to which, as Israeli officials have stated, “the minimal requirements for the sustenance of Gaza Strip residents are being observed without inflicting a humanitarian disaster.”
link to mondoweiss.net
And more news from Today in Palestine…
Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Erasure of culture & history
Oxfam: Settlers cost farmers over $500,000 this harvest
Ma`an News Agency “Burning an olive tree is like burning a farmer’s bank account,” said Oxfam director Jeremy Hobbs.”Over 100,000 Palestinian families depend on the money they earn during harvest season. Especially because this is a bad harvest, every olive counts.” Oxfam says over 2,500 olive trees were destroyed in September, and 7,500 this year. Since 1967, 800,000 olive trees have been uprooted resulting in a loss of around $55 million to the Palestinian economy, the international organization estimates.”
link to www.maannews.net
Village council: Israel builds watchtower near SalfitSALFIT (Ma’an) — Israeli authorities have started the construction of a watchtower near the illegal settlement outpost of Nofei Nehemia, the head of a local village council said Saturday. Samir Hareis, head of Iskaka’s village council in the Salfit district, told Ma’an that the watchtower was being built to monitor Palestinian farmers and citizens in the village.
link to www.maannews.net
Tulkarem checkpoint ‘closed for maintenance’
TULKAREM (Ma’an) — Israel’s army has informed the Palestinian Authority that the Innab military checkpoint in Tulkarem will be closed Sunday until Nov. 1, a Ma’an correspondent reported. The checkpoint, which blocks the eastern entrance to Tulkarem, will be closed for maintenance, according to officials with the District Coordination office. Locals will have to take another route.
link to www.maannews.net
The Village Of Jabai
Forested hilltops surround the land of Jabai. It is a quiet village that displays the beauty of a typical Palestinian village. Less than one thousand people live here and rely on farming to provide for their basic needs. Yet Israel’s policy of land confiscation and the nearby settlers of Beit Ein have disrupted what would be a serene place to call home. Land confiscation began in 1948 when Israel confiscated over 2,000 dunams of farmland. Later, another 5,000 dunams were taken to create a “natural zone,” which is now under the control of Israel. This natural zone was confiscated in order to become a natural, “green” space to preserve the environment. This land is now guarded by a checkpoint and where shepherds once brought their goats to graze now the goats and the farmers are forbidden. Many villagers now fear that if they try to access this land they may risk being shot.
link to www.stopthewall.org
Village of Nahalin
The sun shines on Nahalin’s jasmine bushes that welcome visitors to this village close to Bethlehem. With a population of 7,000, it is situated on a small fraction of its former 17,000 dunams, about 6,000 dunams. Since the Oslo Accords, only 1,000 dunams of Nahalin is located in Area B, the rest is under the harsh restrictions of Area C. Eleven thousand dunams of land have been lost to the four settlements surrounding Nahalin: Betar Illit, Neve Daniyel Rosh Tzurim, and Jabout. Today, a high-pressure electricity system is being built. On both sides of the 6 – 7 kilometer line surrounding the village, an area 60 meters on each side will be confiscated.
link to www.stopthewall.org
Village of Husan
The small community of Husan sits between Bethlehem and Hebron. Husan has existed for almost four hundred years, with the original inhabitants coming from Saudi Arabia. Today, its 6,000 inhabitants consist of farmers, employees of factories, and workers, however the majority are children and students. From the hills of Husan one can see Jerusalem and on a clear day, even the Mediterranean Sea. At first glance, it is a serene village. The people here are satisfied with their lives, their land, their families and their farms. As one farmer says, “There is only one obstacle and that is the occupation, which is killing and shrinking Palestine, making life miserable.”
link to www.stopthewall.org
The Village of Battir
A village study of Battir was conducted by Stop the Wall around December 1, 2010. Battir is a village in the West Bank of Palestine with a population of around 5,000 people. People are employed as farmers or employees working in small projects or businesses. From the 1940s to today, farmers and the community fight against confiscation of their lands by Israel. Battir’s is a story of resistance through the court system.
link to www.stopthewall.org
Farming In The Mouth Of The Lion: A Case Study On Wadi Fuken
Wadi Fuken, population 1,300, was once a village that represented the agricultural wealth of Palestine. Its sage, fruits, and vegetables were the main supply in Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Hebron markets. Yet Israel’s illegal occupation and oppressive policies have suffocated the farmers in Wadi Fuken by attacking the village’s economy. Land confiscation, settlement development, the Oslo Accords, closure of nearby Jerusalem, and stipulations on trade have all affected Wadi Fuken farmers for the worse, paralyzing their economy.
link to www.stopthewall.org
Israeli Regime Violence
Israel attempts to assassinate PRC leader
The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) said that the Israeli occupation tried to assassinate one of its leaders on Friday evening by planting an explosive device under his car.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Israeli forces fire into air by funeral procession, 4 injured
JENIN (Ma’an) — Four people were injured by fragments of Israeli ammunition after troops fired into the air while a funeral procession passed through a gate in the separation wall in the northern West Bank on Saturday. Mourners from Dhaher al-Malih, a Palestinian village cut off from the West Bank behind Israel’s separation wall, tried to pass through a gate to bury Fathi al-Khatib in a cemetery near Tura, in the Palestinian West Bank.
link to www.maannews.net
Resident Kidnapped In Bil’in, Dozens Treated For Effects of Teargas Inhalation
Israeli soldiers attacked the weekly nonviolent protest against the Annexation Wall and settlements, in Bil’in village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and kidnapped one resident; dozens were treated for the effects of teargas inhalation.
link to www.imemc.org
Israeli Soldiers Attack Anti-Wall Protest in Beit Ummar
HEBRON, October 22, 2011 (WAFA) – Israeli soldiers Saturday attacked the weekly non-violent protest against settlements and the Apartheid Wall in Beit Ummar, a town north of Hebron, said local activist. Spokesman of the National Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Beit Ummar, Mohammed Awad, said Palestinian, Israeli and international activists headed to Karmi Tzur settlement constructed on Beit Ummar property to protest against settlement activities and construction of the wall. Israeli soldiers declared the area a closed military zone, prevented the protesters from reaching the settlement gate and battered them before firing tear gas, stun and smoke grenades at the protesters. Many activists suffered from suffocation, added Awad.
link to english.wafa.ps
IOF troops enter the Daheya neighbourhood of Nablus
Local sources in Nablus said that IOF troops entered the Daheya neighbourhood in the northern West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday and went around the streets of the neighbourhood.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Israeli forces storm Beit Iksa after Jerusalem stabbing
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces attacked 3 Palestinians on Saturday in the East Jerusalem village of Beit Iksa, a Ma’an correspondent said. Two others were detained as Israeli forces closed the military checkpoint to the village, reportedly in pursuit of an attacker who had earlier stabbed an Israeli man in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramot. An Israeli police spokesman could not be reached for comment.
link to www.maannews.net
Settler Violence & Aggression
Settlers attack olive harvesters in Nablus district
Jewish settlers on Friday attacked a group of around 200 Palestinians who were picking olives in the village of Jalud near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Jewish settlers perform religious rituals at the Aqsa Mosque
In a provocative step, a group of extremist Jewish settlers on Friday performed religious rituals near Bab al-Qattanin gate, one of the Aqsa Mosque gates.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
In recovery: Hit and run victim’s will is stronger than ever
Sajah Bilal Abd el Raouf Jum’a, 19, who was seriously injured in a hit and run attack by an Israeli settler is still in need of treatment for her injuries. After ten days in the hospital she is now back in her home in Kufr Qaddoum. She will need to stay two more weeks in bed before she is able to walk. This Sunday her 20 days off from university will expire, and she will continue her studies from her home.
link to palsolidarity.org
Siege on Gaza
Israel: Follow Prisoner Exchange by Ending BlockadeIsrael and Hamas should follow the announced prisoner exchange with measures to improve human rights. Israel should end its punitive closure of Gaza, which Israeli leaders have said was partly to pressure Hamas to release captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, but which extends far beyond denying military shipments to Hamas. Hamas and Israel should also ensure that everyone in their custody is treated humanely. (Jerusalem) – Israel and Hamas should follow the announced prisoner exchange with measures to improve human rights, Human Rights Watch said today. Israel should end its punitive closure of Gaza, which Israeli leaders have said was partly to pressure Hamas to release captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, but which extends far beyond denying military shipments to Hamas.link to www.hrw.org
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Six US medics arrived in Gaza on Friday to provide treatment not available in the blockaded coastal strip, the Union of Health Work Committees said. The delegation will work in Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia and Al-Awda Specialist Health Day Care Center in Gaza City during their five day visit, a press statement said. Delegates include a urologist, cardiologist, psychiatric nurse and pediatric nurse, the release said, adding that the visit was UHWC’s fourth humanitarian mission in cooperation with the Gaza Community Mental Health Program.
link to www.maannews.net
An open letter from Palestinian students to their peers in Europe
We Palestinian students of the Gaza Strip wish to send a message to all European student groups in solidarity with the Palestinians to do all they can to increase Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel this academic year. We also reiterate our support for the recent call by Palestinian Civil Society, of which we are a signatory, to end all collaborative research between European Universities and Israeli universities.[1] Research centers in Israeli academic institutions are actively involved in fuelling Israel’s huge weapons industry and tools of its military occupation and siege. It is this apparatus of violence that makes studying in Gaza so difficult, not to mention the daily toils and tragedy of Israeli apartheid policies. We, therefore, call for an end to this compliance on all campuses with those directly complicit in the war crimes and colonial subjugation of us the Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank,‘48 Palestine and throughout the Diaspora.
link to palsolidarity.org
Child & Political Detainees
UN rights expert: Palestinian children subject to arrests, violence by Israel
UN human rights rapporteur for the Palestinian territories Richard Falk calls on Israel to adopt international guidelines for protection of Palestinian children living under Israeli occupation.
link to www.haaretz.com
More than 160 Palestinian children remain behind Israeli bars
No children were released from Israeli jails and detention centers as part of the recent prisoner exchange, while human rights agencies add that many Palestinian children in Israeli prisons are being tortured.
link to electronicintifada.net
Human Rights: Condemning Palestinians to Torture and Children to Imprisonment
A boy soldier returns home to assuage the “righteous indignation” of Israel, no longer “sensitive [even] to its image of democracy.” Palestinian soldiers and civilians of no blame, who were incarcerated and held in Israeli prisons for resisting the brutal occupation of their land, return to find themselves in another prison, Gaza, while others were forced into exile. All of the Palestinians released face an uncertain future. The future remains even more bleak for the Palestinian children left behind Israel’s prison walls, however. Does Israel really care for its returned son Sergeant Shalit? Or was he used as a political pawn? Was “partial intelligence” soon after his capture enough to effect a rescue operation? Evidence suggests it was, but what of Gaza and the conditions inside Israel’s notorious prisons? The world must seek the testimonies of the returned sons and daughters of Palestine and learn of and from their ordeal.
link to www.globalresearch.ca
5300 Palestinian captives are still incarcerated in occupation jails
The Ministry of Captives and Freed Captives in the Palestinian government of Gaza said that the Israeli occupation is still incarcerating 5300 Palestinian captives in its jails.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
530 Life Term Prisoners Remain in Israeli Jails
GAZA, October 22, 2011 (WAFA) – A total of 530 Palestinian prisoners serving single or multiple life terms remain in Israeli jails after the latest swap, according to a report published on Saturday. The report, prepared by Abdul Nasser Ferwaneh, a researcher specialized in prisoners’ affairs, said that the swap between Israel and Hamas, in which Israel has released 477 prisoners on Tuesday with a promise to release 550 more in two months, was number 38 in Arab and Palestinian swaps with Israel since 1948.
link to english.wafa.ps
Released Prisoners
Qar’awi criticise PA security for summoning recently freed captives
Fathi Qar’awi, member of the PLC, stressed that the positive atmosphere created by the release of Palestinian captives should be utilised to expedite the implementation of reconciliation.
link to www.palestine-info.co.uk
Prisoners exiled to Gaza
On almost every street in Gaza, tents have been erected to host welcome home ceremonies and receptions for the Palestinian prisoners freed in the recent prisoner exchange deal between Israel and the Palestinians. However, among the conditions to the deal stipulated by the Israeli side, was for more than 160 of the prisoners released to be deported to the Gaza Strip rather than returned to their homes in the West Bank or Jerusalem. As such, a tent was also set up to welcome the deportees to the Strip where large numbers of Gazans alongside well-known personalities gathered to welcome and congratulate them. The government in Gaza has also expressed keen readiness to receive the exiled prisoners, a number of whom have spent more than twenty years in Israeli prisons. They are currently being put up by the government in hotels along the coast until they adjust to their new lives.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk
Benefits for released prisoners in Gaza announced
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian prisoners who were released in the prisoner deal and sent to Gaza will stay in hotels for three weeks or until they each get a private apartment, car, and a job. Gaza’s Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh gave each of the 294 prisoners $2,000, and future income will be gained through jobs provided for each prisoner, said Saber Abu Karsh, a prisoners advocate in Gaza.
link to www.maannews.net
Interview with Ahlam Al-Tamimi: My closeness to a Fatah militant is a message to those who obstruct national reconciliation
“I will remain committed to Islamic principles and will not renounce Hamas; the movement has taught me a lot.” Just before she was due to fly to Amman, I met the only female Palestinian prisoner from Jordan involved in the Hamas-Israel prisoner exchange agreement, the woman dubbed the “gem of the deal”, Ahlam Al-Tamimi. She was released after spending 10 years in Israeli prisons and detention centres and the deal with Israel means that she has been spared having to spend the rest of her life in a prison cell; her original sentence was 16 life terms.
link to www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk
Palestinian youth welcome former detainees to Gaza in “Prisoners Uprising”
Fifty Palestinian youth marched from Gaza’s International Committee of the Red Cross compound to the Commodore Gaza and Al-Quds International Hotels, celebrating the release of 477 political prisoners Tuesday and welcoming those exiled to Gaza, who are currently housed in the hotels. The demonstration ended in the Al-Nour Cultural Center, where four exiled prisoners, as well as the son of a current prisoner from Gaza, addressed the crowd. “We are trying to awaken youth about the situation of the prisoners through ongoing activities,” said Majed Abusalama, one of the organizers of the event.
link to palsolidarity.org
Activism / Solidarity / Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
22th October 2011: Accompanied by a big crowd of international and Israeli activists and residents of Beit Ommar, PSP had a peaceful demonstration towards the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur. The internationals carried slogans for “justice,” “freedom for all”, and “dignity for the Palestinians”. Slogans supporting freedom for the prisoners and the occupation were also present. Speeches were held in Arabic, English and French.
link to palestinesolidarityproject.org
Monday 24th October, 5.30 pm, Friend’s Meeting House, Ramallah. Hosted by Al-Haq and Diakonia in cooperation with
Birzeit University and the Konrad Adenaur Stiftung.
link to us2.campaign-archive1.com
Despite attacks, national conference unites Students for Justice in Palestine
Hundreds of student activists from dozens of colleges and universities across the US are expanding the grassroots movements for Palestine solidarity activism despite aggressive smear campaigns by pro-Israel groups.
link to electronicintifada.net
Campaigners: EU research projects support occupation
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian civil society groups called on European research bodies to halt cooperation with Israeli institutions implicated in violating human rights, in a statement issued Thursday. The release said Israel’s association agreement with the EU gives it equal access to research funding as members, “despite Israel’s consistent violation of the Agreement’s human rights clause.” The campaigners pointed to European collaboration with and funding of military companies Elbit Systems and Israeli Aerospace Industries, which it said were involved in building Israel’s wall and supplying drones for military strikes on Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.
link to www.maannews.net
Member group Adalah-NY recently brought to light changes to the TIAA-CREF website, which no longer features the slogan, “For the Greater Good” as prominently as it once did. For more information about TIAA-CREF click here.