American Women Hospitalized with Head Injury and Three International
Activists Arrested in West Bank Protest.
An American 60 year-old women was evacuated to an Israeli hospital
this afternoon, after Israeli soldiers caused her a serious head
injury as they demolished a protest tent in the West Bank village of
Izbet al-Tabib near Qalqilya. A Swede and two British activists were
arrested during the protest.Israeli soldiers, accompanied by bulldozers and other heavy machinery
entered the village of Izbet al-Tabib south of Qalqilya earlier today,
to demolish a protest tent set up only yesterday by the villagers and
begin the construction of a fence that would cut the villagers off
from Highway 55 and of their agricultural land.
During the eviction of the tent, the soldiers violently arrested two
British activists and a Swedish activist. They have also cause a
bleeding head injury to a 60 year-old American woman, who also
suffered blows to her wrist, which is suspected to be broken. She has
been evacuated to an Israeli hospital.
The violent arrests were made solely under the pretext of declaring
the area a “closed military zone”. However, the soldiers and Border
Police officers carried out the arrests without having shown any
document declaring the area as such, as the law requires them to do.
The three are still in custody and are currently held at the Ariel
police station.
During today’s protest, Bayan Tabib, the head of the village council,
has received a promise from an Israeli Civil Administration officer,
that the fence will only be erected on the far end of Highway 55, thus
not cutting off the village’s access to the road or their land. Tabib
attributed the promise to today’s protest, saying the “The protest
today is the only reason that they agreed to move the fence.”
The village of Izbet al-Tabib, which consists of 45 structures and is
home to 247 residents, was built in the 1920’s and is located entirely
in area C according to the 1995 Interim Agreement (Oslo II). Israeli
authorities do not recognize the village and 32 out of its 45 houses,
as well as its school, have been served demolition orders in recent
years. Izbet al-Tabib is the fifth poorest village in the West Bank
and villagers have already lost 45% of their land due to the
construction of Israel’s Separation Barrier.
Photos available
Media contact:
Jonathan Pollak +972-54-632-7736
Janni, Swedish, situated in Izbat At Tabib, +970 568747205,
Anna, ISM Media Coordinator, situated in Izbat At Tabib, +970
597606276
