Peaceful Bil'in Protestors Attacked by IOF

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1. Peaceful Bil'in Protestors Attacked by IOF

by ISM media team, October 27th
for video and audio footage of the demo visit http://www.palestinewitness.net
for photos see: http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/10/27/bilin-27-10-06/

Twelve-year old Ibrahim Ghazi Beit-Ilo was hit in the neck by shrapnel
from a live bullet following a peaceful protest march against the
Apartheid Wall in Bil'in today. He underwent surgery at the Ramallah
goverment hospital and the shrapnel was successfully removed. Another
16 people were injured by shrapnel from exploding tear gas and sound
bomb cannisters or were beaten with military truncheons. Two Israeli
protestors were arrested.

The, 600 protestors, comprising Palestinians, Israelis and
internationals, Palestinian flags flying, marched behind political and
religious leaders . Palestinian Legislative Council members Kayes
Abu-Leila and Mohib Awad, Israeli MKs Mohammed Barakeh and Dov Hanin,
Taysir Tamimi a Muslim religious leader and village leaders marched at
the head of the protest from the Bil'in mosque to the massive razor
wire fortifications that divide the village from its agricultural
lands. When they arrived they were met by fully armed Israeli soldiers
in battle dress and border police.

The focus of the protest was a symbolic breach of the wall created by
placing two ladders across the first razor wire fence. Using the
ladders as a bridge, a group of protestors moved into the next line of
wall fortifications. As they crossed they were attacked by tear gas and
sound bombs.

The army turned on the massed demonstrators who were chanting "No to
the Wall." Soldiers fired tear gas and sound bombs into the crowd,
which began to retreat. As the marchers moved back toward the village,
soliders penetrated into the village olive groves, gassing the
retreating protestors. One gas cannister was fired at the ambulance
parked on a hill distant from the wall and soldiers penetrated into the
edge of the village where another tear gas cannister was shot into a
house, injuring grandmother, Intisar Burnat.

The villagers of Bilin have lost more than 50% of their agricultural
lands to the Apartheid Wall. The Israeli government illegally
expropriated their lands without compensation. Although the seizure of
the lands was done in the name of security, in fact, research has found
that corrupt army planners eased the transfer of Bilin's land to a
billionaire Russian real estate mogul who belongs to the Lubavitcher
Hassidim. Bilin lands are now the site of the illegal settlement of
Modin Elit.

Adeeb Abu Rahma -beaten on the leg
Basem Ahmad Issa -rubber bullet in the back.
Zohdiya Ali Alkhatib -teargas
Mohammad Alkhatib -beaten and leg injury
Naser Abu Rahma -shrapnel from a sound bomb in the hand
Ahmad Mohammad Hassan -rubber bullet in the leg
Oz Marinov -hit in the ankle by a sound bomb
Amir Sidi -wounded in the forhead by shrapnel from a sound bomb
R. - foot cut by razor wire
G. and L. - beaten with truncheons

For more information:
Abdullah Abu Rahme - 054 725 8210
ISM media office - 02 297 18 24

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2. Bil'in Cameraman release delayed

For photo see: http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/10/22/release-delayed/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bil'in cameraman Emad Bornat will be spending Eid, the Muslim feast
that marks the end of Ramadan (the holy month of fasting) separated
from his wife and four children. The military prosecution has appealed
his release which means that Emad remains in detention despite a
military judge's decision to release him on October 19th.

The judge had agreed to release Emad on 15,000 NIS ($3,500) bail to
house arrest in a neighbouring village to Bil'in. The judge, however,
also gave the Israeli military until today to appeal the decision.

Emad was seized after a demonstration on October 6th and has been
charged with throwing stones and assaulting a police officer, although
he was filming at the time. Whilst in the border police van Emad
sustained severe head injuries needing hospital treatment and stitches.
A judge ordered an investigation into the origin of these injuries,
finding inadequate the border police's explanation that communication
equipment fell on him.

A hearing on his case was set for Tuesday the 24th of October.

For more information:
Mohammed Khatib, Bil'in Anti-wall Popular Committee: 054 557 3285
Attorney Gaby Laski: 054 441 8988
Israeli video-journalist Shai Polack: 054 533 3364
ISM Media office: 02 297 1824

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3. Bil'in Cameraman Finally to be Released Tomorrow

by ISM media team, October 25th

A judge at Ofer military court ordered Bil'in cameraman Emad Bornat
to be released tomorrow after almost 3 weeks in detention. Emad was
seized in the village after a demonstration against the annexation wall
on October 6th as he was filming Israeli forces. Whilst in the border
police van Emad sustained serious head injuries requiring hospital
treatment. A military judge ordered an inquiry into his injuries,
casting doubt on the explanation of the border police that
communications equipment fell on him.

Whilst in detention at Ofer military prison the Israeli military
refused Emad medical treatment in defiance of the instructions of the
court. Today a judge ordered the head of the military police to give
account to the President of the Appelate Court as to why Emad didn't
receive the required treatment.

Emad will be released on 15,000 NIS bail and into house arrest in a
neighbouring village to Bil'in. Emad, whose footage featured in the
award-winning "Bil'in habibti" is charged with throwing stones
and assaulting a border policeman. No date has been set yet for his
trial.

For more information:
Mohammed Khatib, Bil'in Anti-wall Popular Committee: 054 557 3285
Attorney Gaby Laski: 054 441 8988
Israeli video-journalist Shai Polack: 054 533 3364
ISM Media office: 02 297 1824

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4. Donkey Forced To Go Through Tel Rumeida Checkpoint

by ISM Hebron, 21st October

After a few hours of quiet and calm at the guard post on the top of the
hill, one Human Rights Worker (HRW) worker went inside the HRW flat
very briefly to retrieve a few things. Just a few minutes after she
went upstairs, a group of 6-8 soldiers and a group of 4-6 young settler
men (ages 17-22) walked down from the Tel Rumeida settlement and
soldier station, walking about 20 yards apart. The settler men came
towards the stoop where the HRW and two Palestinian men were sitting;
some of them sat near the Palestinian man. The HRW soon noticed that
the group of soldiers had stopped just up the hill, formed a line, and
were all pointing their guns towards the top floor of a Palestinian
home. There was no apparent reason for them to be doing so, so the HRW
walked towards them to inquire, but was stopped by the settler men, who
had formed a line across the road and would not let her pass. She
walked towards the end of the line to get around them, but a settler
stepped in front of her path, and pressed his shoulder towards hers to
keep her from passing. She persisted, and eventually passed him as he
put his tongue in her face and said rude-sounding comments in Hebrew.
By the time she got through the line of settlers, the line of soldiers
had dispersed. The HRW phoned the flat to request the return of the
other HRW and to let another HRW know that there was a potential for
problems to arise so she could film from the roof. As she filmed, the
settlers continually yelled at her and gave her menacing looks. Soon,
one settler walked to the door of the residential building and looked
inside. At that point the HRW came down and asked the settler what he
wanted, to which he replied, "Do you speak English? FUCK YOU!", and
laughed with his friends.

The HRW came down the stairs at about the same time that another HRW
walked up from his post on Shuhada street. All three HRWs observed as
the settlers stood around and then were joined by the soldiers. After
10 or 15 minutes, the settlers and the soldiers walked down the hill
towards Shuhada street; the male HRW followed them down the hill. A
group of five settlers in their mid-twenties loitered directly in front
of the main checkpoint in to Tel Rumeida. As Palestinians entered
through the checkpoint the settlers positioned themselves so as to
obstruct the Palestinians, glaring at them and in one instance shouting
at an elderly lady. When the threatening behavior of the settlers was
pointed out to the soldier on duty he simply shrugged his shoulders.
When a Palestinian was prevented from bringing his large crates of food
through the gate that adjoins the checkpoint, the settlers shouted with
glee and raised their middle fingers to the Palestinian. On complaining
to the soldier on duty, the soldier replied that the settlers where
allowed to be there. When it was pointed out that they were making
obscene gestures he claimed that he had not seen them. After around
15-20 minutes the settlers departed.

Every afternoon a Palestinian man arrives at checkpoint 56 with a
heavily loaded donkey and goes through into the Israeli-controlled H2
section of Hebron. In order to be allowed to take his donkey through
the small gate at the side of the checkpoint, the man had to get an
Israeli court order as otherwise the soldiers at the checkpoint might
refuse to allow him to use the gate. On the afternoon of Saturday, 21
October, the four Israeli soldiers on duty at checkpoint 56 refused to
open the side gate for the man and his donkey to pass through, and
instead insisted that the donkey pass through the checkpoint itself,
through the metal detectors. Once the man had managed to get his donkey
through the checkpoint, three HRWs had to negotiate with the soldiers
in order to be able to get the man's many goods through the
checkpoint too, in the end
each making two trips through the checkpoint in order to carry the
goods through. The soldiers at the checkpoint made the HRWs go back
through the metal detectors and empty their pockets of metallic
objects, despite the fact that they were clearly heavily weighed down
with boxes of bananas, large bags of flour, etc.

The HRWs first contacted the District Coordinating Office (DCO) about
the soldiers, who were also only allowing Palestinians to pass through
the checkpoint very slowly, but were told they must contact the police.
They were told this despite border police and one policeman being
present at the time, all standing around doing nothing to ease the
congestion at the checkpoint. One of the border policemen overheard the
telephone conversation with the DCO and the HRW's criticism of the
inaction of the border police and laughed and said, "Thank you".
The HRWs then contacted the Kiryat Arba police about the soldiers'
overly obstructive attitude but when the police arrived, they first of
all stopped two HRWs further down Shuhada Street before even
approaching the checkpoint. The policeman who was driving the jeep
asked both HRWs their names and where they were from. After answering
the questions, one HRW pointed towards the checkpoint, letting the
police know that the HRWs at the checkpoint were the ones who made the
call, assuming that the police had stopped because of the call, but the
police merely acknowledged that they knew who called and proceeded to
ask the HRWs questions. They asked how long the HRWs had been standing
where they were standing and then said that they shouldn't stand
there because it could make the situation worse. The police more or
less said that they want to keep everything calm and that they didn't
want the HRWs to stand there. The HRWs said that they were working for
the same reason and that they are allowed to stand on the street. The
police asked when the HRWs were leaving, the HRWs answered and once
more reminded the police that the HRWs at the checkpoint had made a
call and wanted to talk to them. A third HRW walked from the checkpoint
to the police car and spoke with the police briefly before the police
finally drove towards the checkpoint.

After eventually speaking to the soldiers at the checkpoint, one of the
two policemen said that unless the soldiers did something "extreme,
we are not allowed to interrupt their activities". The policeman also
said that the man with this donkey needed to carry the original of the
court order with him in order for him to pass through the side gate of
the checkpoint, although this man comes to the same checkpoint every
afternoon with his donkey. After speaking to the soldiers again, the
policeman said the soldiers claimed that the donkey having to go
through the checkpoint was a "misunderstanding" as the Palestinian
man had not understood that the donkey could go through the gate but
that the goods had to go through the metal detector in the checkpoint.
The policeman even maintained that the soldiers had been trying to help
the man. This was not true and the HRW said this to the policeman.
Another HRW was later threatened with arrest by the police for
allegedly obstructing the soldiers - she had been trying to get them to
ease the congestion at the checkpoint by letting the Palestinians pass
through more quickly.

22nd October

In the afternoon two soldiers manning checkpoint 56 between
Palestinian-controlled H1 and Israeli-controlled H2 continuously
harassed Palestinians passing through the checkpoint by not opening the
checkpoint doors for them to enter, half opening then closing the
checkpoint doors in front of their faces, not opening the checkpoint
doors once Palestinians were inside the checkpoint and making even very
small children go back through the metal detector one at a time. When
challenged by two HRWs as to why they were behaving in this manner, one
of the soldiers answered, "because it is fun; it is the best fun".
Security was clearly not the reason for their behaviour as at
approximately 5.10pm the checkpoint doors were left open and both
soldiers stood outside the checkpoint while one took a photo of the
other with his mobile phone as a couple of Palestinians passed through
unchecked. At one point the HRWs called the police regarding the
soldiers' behaviour but they failed to arrive.

At 7.05pm a female HRW alone in the ISM/Tel Rumeida Project flat in Tel
Rumeida heard voices outside the door and, on opening a window in the
door, saw soldiers outside peering in. The HRW asked if she could help
the soldiers, to which one soldier answered, "no". The HRW closed
the window again but heard one of the soldiers saying that they wanted
money. The soldiers then moved to the staircase and then, after a few
minutes, they left the building and moved up the street towards the Tel
Rumeida settlement. There were 12 soldiers in total. The reason for the
appearance of the soldiers at the flat is unknown, although the HRW did
recognize one of the soldiers at the door as one of the ones from the
checkpoint with whom she had argued that afternoon about the harassment
of the Palestinians at checkpoint 56.

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5. Eid in Tel Rumeida

by ISM Hebron, 24th October

Today was the second day of Eid, the three-day holiday after Ramadan.
During these three days, families visit each other, something made very
hard by the soldiers stationed in Tel Rumeida.

Internationals walking up the hill saw a group of Palestinian residents
at the top of the hill and learned that soldiers had yelled at a young
Palestinian child who walked by with a toy gun. The boy ran away and
was very scared.

The soldiers then detained a man who was walking by and said they were
going to hold him until the child was brought back. Some residents went
and brought the toy gun back and gave it to the soldiers, showing that
it was a toy gun. They explained that the boy was scared and would not
be coming back. The soldiers refused this and said they would hold the
man until the boy came back.

Internationals repeatedly told the soldiers that their behavior was
unreasonable, that it didn't make sense to threaten a passerby
because a child had a toy. The soldiers then started removing
Palestinian residents from the street, screaming at everyone and going
to the door of the shop, screaming for everyone to leave.

A car of settlers stopped in the street outside the store and started
accusing one of the internationals, saying "You cause problems here.
Your filming causes problems..."

At this point, the soldiers detained a second man who was in the store.
They made him go to the soldier station and tried to take his phone,
however an international was able to hold the phone and gave it back to
the man. The soldiers again tried to take the phone and were
successful.

The man was taken across the street next to the first man who was still
being detained. He stood against a wall, but the soldier spent the next
few minutes demanding that he sit on the ground, though he was wearing
new clothes for the Eid holidays. Eventually he was forced to sit on
the ground.

Internationals called Machsom Watch, the DCO (without answer) and the
Israeli police.

The soldiers then began telling the internationals to turn their
cameras off. Two soldiers went after two internationals, pushing the
male international, trying to knee him in the groin, and hitting the
camera multiple times. Another batted at the second international's
camera.

The Israeli police arrived and refused to talk to any of the
internationals. Instead they initially spoke only to soldiers and then
eventually a resident, the brother of the detained men. During this
time, the first detained resident got his ID back, and then soldiers
demanded the internationals' passports. One international refused,
saying she would give it to the police if they asked, but not to a
soldier, who was not allowed to ask for it in the first place.

After the police left, two soldiers began yelling at an international
watching from the roof with a Palestinian woman. They told the two
repeatedly to go inside and though the international told them she was
simply on the roof of her home, the soldiers then started saying in a
monologue, "You are refusing to go in? You are refusing? Fine, you
have refused," Two soldiers then entered the building, while others
outside blocked the door and prevented other internationals from
entering. When one international told the soldiers that there were
children in the home and the soldiers would obviously be scaring them,
he also asked, "You think scaring the children is funny?" he said,
"Yeah."

After looking around on two levels of the roof (the international and
Palestinian woman were in the apartment with the door bolted), the
soldiers left and three of them went into the building across the
street. Other soldiers stood in front of this door as well, preventing
anyone from entering while they looked around on the roof.

When family members tried to leave the building, they refused to let
them out, slamming the door in their faces. They were in the home for
five minutes.

The police arrived at this moment and began shouting at the soldiers.
The police then asked for the ID from the remaining detained resident
and gave it back to him. The soldiers continued to remove the
Palestinian children from the area.

Dave, an international, sitting in the middle of Shuhada Street watched
as soldiers came down the hill and gathered at the checkpoint. They
began pointing at Dave on Shuhada Street. Five minutes later, at
2:10pm, two soldiers walked over and stood in front of Dave, asking him
to take their photo, which he did.

He was then called to the checkpoint and was told that the commander
wanted to talk to him. The commander told him that they would close the
checkpoint if he was in the area and not allow anyone to go through. At
this point, the checkpoint was already closed, and a family was waiting
to leave the neighborhood.

Dave then left the checkpoint and walked to the end of Shuhada Street.
However, soldiers shortly forced a Palestinian child to walk down to
him and tell him that the soldiers wanted him to come back to the
checkpoint. The family was still there waiting, and the commander
threatened Dave again, telling him the checkpoint would be closed until
he left the area. At this point, after much argument, Dave left the
area.

K then went down to the checkpoint and the commander came to the door
and asked her what she was doing. He told her to leave and that she
makes too much trouble. She explained that she just arrived, to which
he replied, "Well, I don't like the look of you and if you don't
go, I will keep the checkpoint closed until you leave." After telling
him that children such as himself shouldn't have so much power, she
also left.

Another international then went down and walked with two kids down
Shuhada Street. She was at the end of Shuhada Street and could not even
see the checkpoint, and was filming three small children who were
playing for the camera when a soldier at the checkpoint shouted at her
to come down and said the commander wanted to talk to her.

At this point, people were waiting on both sides of the checkpoint. The
commander threatened her, saying, "You've crossed the line today. I
have orders that the checkpoint will be closed until you leave." At
this point she also left.

Beth then went down to the checkpoint, taking her time. When she got
close enough to see, she saw between 8-10 people, including women and
children, being detained across the street from the checkpoint by
border police and a policeman. Other residents who were walking towards
the checkpoint at this time turned around and went back when they saw
what was happening.

Another international came down and the two went closer together,
though they were still some distance away. Soldiers saw them and called
one international down, saying again that the commander wanted to speak
to him. He said, "I told you before to go away. I've closed the
checkpoint because you're here. I'm not letting anyone go to your
home until you leave."

A few minutes later, those who were being detained were released, but
then 8-10 men who had just come through the checkpoint were detained. A
settler boy walking by at this time, simply kept repeating, "Fuck
you, fuck fuck."

Five internationals then went down to the checkpoint where some
Palestinians said they had been detained since 3:45. At 4:30pm Machsom
Watch was called, who called the DCO, and at 4:45 they were released.

An international asked the soldier, "So you're punishing everyone
because of us." To which the soldier replied "everyone." A family
came and the soldier said he was stopping this family and wouldn't
let them through the checkpoint until the HRWs left. The soldier
confirmed repeatedly that he was willing to punish the entire community
if the HRWs didn't leave. When the soldier began laughing at the
situation he was asked if he thought it was funny. To which he replied
"Do you think it's funny my face being on the internet?" Seeing
that an entire family was being detained the HRWs were left with no
choice but to leave the checkpoint area.

K stayed above the checkpoint with border police, and the commander
again told her to leave. He then forced a woman who was waiting at the
checkpoint to go over and ask her to leave and said to K, "I can make
the Arabs turn against you."
Then she left.

Internationals came up the hill and saw three toddlers throwing rocks
at a Palestinian house. An international yelled at them and they ran
away.

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6. Settler Colonists Beat Palestinian Family - One Palestinian Arrested

For photos see:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/10/27/burin-settler-attack/

by ISM Nablus, October 27th

Palestinian farmers were today harvesting olives on their land between
the quarry at Huwarra checkpoint and Berakhya settlement. A Palestinian
house stands uninhabited in the middle of this area, casting a desolate
shadow over the settler bus stop on the road below. The man who used to
live there is longing for the day when he can move back to his home but
remains pessimistic. The entire land has remained untouched for over 6
years, as Israeli colonists always threaten any Palestinians who dare
to even approach it.

Today, however, a family of farmers from Burin decided to brave the
Berakhya settlers and set off early this morning to harvest their olive
trees. At twelve o'clock, six Israeli colonist men trespassed onto
the land and, wielding a knife, proceeded to threaten the Ghazzal
family, shouting at them to leave the land immediately. In front of
their children, the father and mother were pushed and pulled around by
colonists and beaten on the arms and chest.

A volunteer from Rabbis for Human Rights, Zachariah Sadea, was
contacted. Upon arrival at the scene at around half past one, he
immediately contacted the DCO in Nablus. Frightened by this, the
Israeli colonists finally left the land, only to go to the police
station in Huwarra military base in order to file a complaint against
the family's 18-year old son, Fatih Ghazzal. Claiming that Fatih had
beaten, or threatened to beat up the Israeli colonists, they demanded
that he be arrested.

At three o'clock, two Israeli soldiers drove up to the land where the
family were harvesting; still recovering from the shock of the colonist
attack. The soldiers arrested Fatih, beating him severely over the head
as they did so. Zachariah Sadea, explaining to the soldiers that Fatih
had not beaten the colonists but in fact had been attacked by them,
attempted to physically prevent the arrest and was then also beaten by
the soldiers.

Devastated by the kidnapping of Fatih, the family carried the day's
harvest down to the checkpoint to wait for their beloved son and
brother. As the rain poured down and friends of the family stopped to
commiserate with them before passing through the checkpoint, Fatih was
transported from Huwarra to the Ariel colony police station. Finally,
the family left the checkpoint, hauling the sacks of olives onto their
backs and piling into a taxi in teary-eyed silence.

The RHR volunteer will, as an eye-witness to the colonist attack,
testify against their blatantly false accusations. The prospects of
success are, however, bleak since a senior military commander is now
claiming to have witnessed Fatih's attack on the colonists, even
though he was stationed on the other side of the hill at the time.
Fatih is currently still being held at Ariel, awaiting legal assistance
from Yesh Din.

For more details contact:
ISM Nablus 0599076568

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7. Olive Harvest Faces Obstacles from Israeli Army: Three Nablus Region
Reports from the 25th and 27th of October

For photos see: http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/10/28/3-reports/

by ISM Nablus affinity groups and ISM Media team

Harvest Continues in Salim Despite Occupation

Wednesday 25th October: With Eid celebrations complete, the annual
olive harvest continued today in villages across the West bank. In the
village of Salim near to Nablus city, volunteers with the International
Solidarity Movement were invited by local Palestinians to help with the
harvesting of their olives in the groves close to the Israeli
settlement of Elon Moreh.

On the approach to the olive groves, villagers were stopped by soldiers
of the Israeli occupation forces. They were controlling the gate
through which Palestinians must go to cross the settler-only roads,
which stand between their village and their land agricultural land.
After requiring the villagers to show their IDs, the Palestinian
villagers continued their journey on to the olive groves.

Salim's olive groves are situated in the beautiful valleys to the
east of Nablus, commanding stunning views of the city and on a clear
day, the hills of Jordan. However, this local environment has been
marred by the sprawl of Israeli settlements, and colonial outposts on
the hilltops surrounding the olive groves (all structures Israel builds
in the occupied territories in order to house its civilian population
are illegal under international law). In the course of the construction
of these illegal settlements and settler-only apartheid roads, some 80
dunnums of land have been confiscated by the Israeli army from Salim.

One Palestinian family from the village told volunteers how they had
had 350 olive trees, which had been destroyed last year by settlers.
They also indicated the loss of large areas of fertile land which they
were no longer able to access due to the continued construction of the
illegal settlements and settler-only roads. The lands had been
previously used for growing cereals and vegetables. This land now lies
unused - a vexatious waste of natural resources and a serious blow to
the economy of Salim.

Olive picking in Salim today progressed without serious incident, and
in spite of the numerous obstacles put in the way of the villagers by
the Israeli army and the continued colonisation of their land, villages
were in good spirits. However, as volunteers were returning to the
village, reports were coming in of a violent settler attack on
Palestinians, also out picking olives on their land in a village west
of Nablus. With several weeks of the olive harvest to go in the
occupied west bank, it remains to be seen whether or not settlers and
soldiers will continue the violence, intimidation and theft that have
marred the olive harvest of 2006 so far.

-

"This is not peace!" - Olive Harvesters in Awarta Face Obstacles
from Settlers and Soldiers

Friday 27th October: Sitting in the shade of an olive tree, drinking
tea out of a thermos, it is easy to forget where you are. Walking among
a throng of chatty, giggly children in a stunningly beautiful valley
framed by gently rolling mountains, you could be forgiven for letting
your guard down for a moment. That is, until a military jeep comes
careening down the road at 100km/h and an 8-year old Palestinian boy
hangs out of the window of a car driving toward it - his face distorted
and feigning terror, screaming at the top of his voice. Then you are
reminded that this is Awarta, a village south of Nablus city and
adjacent to the ever expanding and notoriously violent Israeli
settlement of Itamar, and that the calm moments always precede a storm.

Awarta's olive groves are located between the Palestinian village and
the Israeli settlement, the latter's caravan and watchtower outposts
spread out on hilltops in every direction. A dirt path leading up to
the gate in the outer perimeter settlement fence divides the land
directly facing the settlement into east and west, while a tarmac road
leads deeper into the groves in the south-west. All of the land is
under direct threat from Israeli colonist attacks and Itamar has
recently erected a second perimeter fence around its original border,
thus confiscating even more fertile land and further decimating
Awarta's olive harvest.

The Palestinian villagers are now afraid of even approaching the fence
to pick olives from the trees. "If we go within 50m of the fence, the
settlers go mad. They will cut down more of our trees and pollute our
water. This is what they always do", says one anonymously speaking
villager with land adjacent to, and on the far side of the barrier. In
light of these obvious risks, the harvesters' resolve to pick every
last olive this year is especially impressive. Even if the Israeli army
decide not to protect the Palestinians villagers in accordance to the
Israeli High Court decision taken earlier this year, where it was
stipulated that Palestinian farmers have a right to enter and work
their land, with or without DCO* permission, and that the military
commander in the area must defend this right. In the past, the Israeli
army have often opted for declaring Palestinian land that deem likely
to be target by Israeli colonists "closed military zones." They
have justified this by saying that the law is aimed to protect the
Palestinian residents, but has in reality, saved them from any real
confrontation with Israeli colonists, while at the same time often
preventing Palestinians from farming their olives. The court ruling
clearly says that this is no longer allowed and that territorial
closure is subject to a number of strict preconditions.

This decision is important to many Palestinian farmers. It provides
them with a legal weapon to use in fighting for their rights to their
land. Apart from land in "red zones," which are not subject to such
rapid changes as "closed military zones," and can be checked on
military maps, all farmers should in theory be unhindered and protected
in working their land and harvesting their olives this season. The
result on the ground in Awarta has been that a large number of military
vehicles carrying soldiers and police patrol the area during the day,
driving back and forth and occasionally stopping in certain areas. This
is truly a schizophrenic experience for many of the villagers.
Accustomed to avoiding any contact with the Israeli military, they are
now forced to rely on them for protection against Israeli colonists.
Old habits die hard and the children still squeal "jeish"
("army" in Arabic) and move closer to their parents whenever a jeep
speeds by.

As was clearly illustrated yesterday, scepticism as to the military's
motives is warranted. A family of olive pickers was chased away by
Israeli soldiers while attempting to harvest on land near one of the
outposts west of the dirt path. Colonists from Itamar claim that this
land has been sold to them, while the Palestinian owners dismiss this
as malicious lies and carry with them deeds to the 187 dunums
concerned. Their work on the land having been brutally interrupted, the
family has now contacted the DCO in Nablus, requesting that they act as
arbitrator between the disputees and offer protection to the family
during the harvest. "We are expecting a reply from them on Tuesday,
but will go to harvest our olives regardless of their decision", says
one of the family's adult sons.

It is also clear that the Israeli military has a very limited capacity
and/or will to prevent colonists' attacks on Palestinians. The day
before yesterday, two armed colonists from Tel Hayim wandered down the
mountain at around four o'clock in the afternoon to threaten olive
pickers and force them to leave their land. The military were at that
time not present in that particular area of the massive expanse of
olive groves. It also seems that no measures will be taken to prevent
this from happening again.

Apart from the impracticalities of military protection, it is clearly
not a politically or morally viable solution. The pretense that the
Israeli military forces are maintaining a presence on the land "on
the people's orders" as one police officer put it, is just that - a
pretense. The situation is better summed up in the words of a
hard-pressed Awarta farmer, eager to finish the work as soon as
possible: "We are happy the soldiers are here because the settlers
may not come then. But this is not a solution. We, the Palestinians,
want peace. And peace is not having soldiers shoot at our children one
day and then wishing us a good day's olive harvest the next."

Awarta will continue its struggle for a good harvest and international
supporters are more than welcome to join in. For a practical and
powerful act of solidarity, come to Palestine. Harvesting is resisting!

* DCO: District Co-ordination Office. Formerly joint Israeli
Palestinian institutions for the administration of civilian affairs in
the occupied Palestinian territories, the Palestinian Authority was
kicked out at the start of the second intifada. DCOs are affectively
the civil administration wing of the Israeli military.

-

Beit Iba Overcomes Obstacles from the Israeli Army to Harvest Olives

Friday 27th October: Today, olive harvesting continued at Beit Iba.
Villagers, including their 82-year-old grandmother and volunteers from
the International Solidarity Movement and the International Women's
Peace Service, spent much of the day picking olives close to the
Israeli army's checkpoint at Beit Iba, to the Northwest of Nablus
city. This site is also close to olive groves where villagers have been
repeatedly driven off their land by the Israeli occupation forces in
recent weeks. Today's picking continued peacefully, and a large
quantity of olives were harvested in between rain showers and lunch
breaks (where international volunteers were invited to sample amazing
homemade humous, cheese and bread brought by the villagers). However,
harvesting could only begin once villagers had been given permission to
enter their land by the Israeli occupation forces, and to do so,
villagers had to climb over rolls of razor wire which were installed by
the Israeli army a month ago. Children and a man with an amputated leg
were among those who had to negotiate this obstacle. The Israeli
occupation forces also told villagers that no vehicles could be brought
close to the olive grove, thus making it difficult for the sacks of
olives to be taken from the site. Despite these obstacles, and
intermittent rain, villagers and volunteers persevered, and remain
determined not to be denied access to their land.

*************************************************************************************

8. Olive Harvest in Tel Rumeida under Threat from Settlers

For photos see:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/10/29/olive-picking-tr-settlement/

by ISM Hebron

Thursday 26th October

Our Palestinian neighbour, H, lives only 2 metres away from the Tel
Rumeida settlement. On Wednesday night he came over to explain to the
internationals living in Tel Rumeida the situation as they had offered
to help him with an olive harvest. H has experienced continual
harassment from the settlers who want to force him out and occupy his
house and land. They have put razor wire across a path so that he
cannot access a safer way to his home and have built their own steps
down onto this land so that they can work it themselves. One of the
main people responsible for this is a woman who recently moved to the
Tel Rumeida settlement after having been evicted from the settlements
in Gaza.

Under Israeli law, if a Palestinian does not work his land for 3 years
it is forfeited to the state who are then free to dispose of it as they
see fit, including giving it to settlers. This was why it was so very
important that the land be accessed. Extra people from the
International Solidarity Movement, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Tel
Rumeida Project, Rabbis for Human Rights, International Women's Peace
Service and photographers from B'Tselem all agreed to come to Tel
Rumeida to help with this potentially very dangerous operation to allow
H to access this land. Picking the olives was not the main objective:
the most important goal was to access the land and have proof that
Palestinians have worked on it.

H has a High Court order saying that Palestinians must be allowed to
access and work his land. It also says that the army and police must
protect them while he does so. The army agreed to allow this to happen
at 13.30.

Before this planned operation, in the late morning, one international
went to the start of the track from the Palestinian man's house which
leads to his olive trees. This track has been blocked by razor wire put
there by the Tel Rumeida settlers to stop him accessing his own land.
After a few minutes, the international was spotted by a settler woman,
who started to throw rocks down at her. The settler woman was later
joined by two other settler women, who also threw rocks down at the
international, some of them very large. A soldier went up to the
settlers at one point but did not take action about their violence and
at one point he was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with one of the
settler women as she threw large rocks at the international. One of the
settler women was also observed gathering rocks in a blue bucket,
presumably to throw at the international later and also attacked the
international with a large stick and insulted and shouted at her.

Another international then approached the track and the olive trees
from the Tel Rumeida road and shouted loudly at the women to stop
throwing stones at the international. A woman settler then came up to
her very aggressively and told her to go away. When the international
refused and told the settler that it wasn't the settler's land to
be on, the settler demanded to see the international's passport. The
international refused to do this, and asked what the settler's
religion had to say about throwing stones at people and trying to steal
their land. The settler shouted that it was the international and her
religion who were responsible for the Holocaust. When challenged by the
international to explain this, the settler started aggressively pushing
the international down the hill away from the settlement. At one point
another settler woman joined her, and both pushed and assaulted the
international, at one point bending the international's fingers back
to make her let go of a wire fence she was holding onto. At this point
the police arrived, but instead of attempting to restrain the attacking
settler women, they removed the international down the hill, but not
before a settler woman spat once in the international's face and once
in her hair. The police, and the two soldiers present, took no action
about any of this.

Other internationals had filmed the stone throwing and assaults but
although they showed this clear footage to the police, the police
insisted that they could not take any immediate action but that the
internationals would have to go to Kiryat Arba police station in order
to make a complaint, a constant refrain, despite the fact that they are
legally supposed to take complaints at the scene of a crime and make
arrests immediately. One of the policemen said that he knew one of the
settler women because she had assaulted many people in the past.
However they took no action.

At 1pm the international's gathered at H's house. A large group
from Belgium were there doing a tour of the West Bank and H was
explaining to them his situation. At 1.40 H led the whole group onto
the land around the razor wire. They began to pick olives and to dig
the ground around the trees. One group worked at clearing the razor
wire from the path and clearing away the vines so that the path was
open again.

10 minutes after the Palestinians entered the land, settlers came down
the staircase from the settlement. They sat or stood under the olive
trees reading the Torah. Soldiers were at the top by the settlement.
Three women came down, one with a baby on her hip. They began to shout,
saying that this is their land. H has documents to prove Palestinian
ownership of the land. When the woman was asked to produce her papers
she said the Bible gave her ownership of this land. She very recently
moved to Tel Rumeida having been evicted from Gaza. Soldiers came down
onto the land and stood among the crowd instead of removing the
settlers.

A settler then began shouting at Issa, a Palestinian man who joined the
olive harvest, telling him not to work the land and the suddenly hit
Issa very hard on the left cheek.

Instead of stopping the settlers' attacks and removing them, the
soldiers ordered all the internationals to leave the land. H asked the
internationals to leave for a few minutes. As the internationals were
leaving, a settler youth jumped from a wall to attack them. A soldier
picked him up, using a Hebrew term of endearment, and moved him away.

Eventually, after a lot of arguing with the soldiers all the
internationals left the land. The settlers went back up the stairs and
the Palestinians returned to work on their own, the children climbing
the trees and the adults picking the olives.

Ten minutes later the three settler women came back down to the land
and began to shout at H and the Palestinians. They seemed very
aggressive. A settler woman holding a baby attacked H's 13 year old
niece, kicking her. H then called for the internationals to come back
which they did.

Again, the soldiers focused on removing the internationals, trying to
get them to leave the land, but they refused unless the settlers were
removed out of fear for the Palestinians' safety. The soldiers
refused to remove the settlers and the police did not get involved. The
internationals all sat down in a group. The settler women were walking
around and throwing water from bottles onto various people. One
international woman with a video camera was drenched.

The same settler youth from the earlier attack, again jumped off the
wall, this time directly onto an international cameraman who the
settler began kicking and hitting profusely. After falling off the
cameraman, the settler youth ran after him down the path, trying to
attack him again. The settler youth was again picked up and removed by
a soldier who shook the youth's hand as he was carrying him away.

H asked all internationals to return to his house and he decided to
stay off the land for a few minutes until the situation calmed down. He
returned repeatedly to the land throughout the afternoon with his
family and other Palestinians and they continued to work the land and
pick the olives.

Although he was not able to do all the work he wanted to H was very
happy at the end of the day. He has achieved his main objective of
asserting his right to work the land and has video proof that this has
happened. There is also video evidence of settlers trespassing and
assaulting a Palestinian as he attempted to work the land. There will
be a court case to charge the settler with assault and this will bring
additional pressure about the ongoing theft of Palestinian land.

Friday 27th October

Nine HRWs (two from TRP, two from ISM, four from CPT, one from IWPS)
- met a Palestinian at the Siyaj family's home at 8am. By 9am the
family members started to arrive with the materials to begin the olive
harvest; the HRWs and a fluctuating number of Palestinians ranging from
two to eight including children and young men, began harvesting olives
from the two trees closest to the home but furthest from the settlement
and military outpost. The first few hours were peaceful and productive:
some people helped knock olives out of the tree with sticks and others
gathered the olives from the catch-blankets below. The trees seemed to
have an endless amount of olives which were piled in large woven
plastic bags. At approximately 10am, just as soon as some Siyaj family
members offered everyone tea and Eid cakes and people began to relax
from their work, a stone was thrown by a young male settler (age
18-25). He lingered on the side of the house closest to the settlement
until multiple HRWs turned on their video cameras and four or five
soldiers arrived, at which point he retreated to the settlement. Paying
no attention to the settler, the soldiers walked straight towards the
Palestinian men near the olive trees; HRWs followed with cameras. A
Palestinian presented "The Right to Access Agricultural Lands"
document to the soldiers, who agreed to speak with a Palestinian once
the HRWs turned off their video cameras. After reading the document
they said we could continue harvesting as we were, as long as we did
not film, so the harvesting proceeded. The soldiers stayed nearby and
were soon joined by a few police who did not approach the harvesting
group.

At approximately 11:30am another HRW arrived and was directed to help
the Abu Heikel family with their harvest. Not long after the HRW left
for the Au Heikel home, several soldiers left the area and moved
towards the home; one HRW followed. At the house, the soldiers
initially told the family they would have to stop harvesting as they
were in a closed military zone. Soldiers were shown the order of the
Israeli High Court guaranteeing Palestinians access to their land and
requiring the army to protect this right, but still attempted to stop
the harvesting. HRWs made phone called to the Israeli DCO (District
Co-ordination Office), and some moments later further soldiers arrived
and spoke to their colleagues, after which time the family were able to
continue harvesting for the rest of the day, with HRWs, soldiers and at
times Police and Border Police present. There were no incidents
involving settlers.

At the Siyaj home, the harvesting continued smoothly until the group
completed the harvesting of the first two trees and moved to the side
of the house closer to the settlement to begin harvesting two more
trees. Again, the harvesting began peacefully and productively - people
were enjoying the work and there was much laughter. Sometime around
1:30pm another settler threw a stone: this time it was a boy (age
10-13) who threw the stone from the settlement yard and was captured on
film (see attached photographs A and B). The HRW who photographed the
boy was in the tree harvesting olives so he shouted to the special
police as two other HRWs grabbed their video cameras. The special
police and local police slowly came to where the HRW stood with two
Palestinian men who were reviewing the photographs. The police
recognized Baruch Marzel and the boy from the photograph and went to
the settlement, presumably to speak to them, but the results of are
unknown.

Two special police men stayed at the house and observed from the porch
as the group continued to harvest olives. Abu Siyaj brought pita bread
with cheese to all the people harvesting olives, which now consisted of
four HRWs and six to eight Palestinians, mostly children and teenagers.
The harvesting continued uninterrupted until just before 4pm, as we
began to pack up the catch-blankets, when the HRWs in the trees noticed
the settler children in their yard with a bucket which had been used
the day before to hold stones for throwing. The HRWs drew this to the
attention of the police on the porch, who then stepped off the porch
onto the stairs where they were visible to the children who seemed to
change their posture slightly once they saw them. A man joined the
children and after standing around for five minutes or so, walked back
towards the home with the children at hand. The children remained
outside, waving and staring at the HRWs in the trees, and began
climbing a tree. After 10 minutes are so, three settler boys came down
the path and picked olives from a Siyaj family tree while the police
stood nearby, doing nothing in response to their actions. The HRWs
remained in the trees with cameras on and photographed as the family
finished packing up to leave. Everyone departed without problems.

Saturday 28th October

Today was rainy and cold and perhaps less active because of it. When
the two international arrived on Shuhada street the Police jeep was at
checkpoint 56 and police were asking young Palestinian men for
identification after they came through the checkpoint. They briefly
stopped four men before driving away shortly after noon. At 3 pm a
young male settler (age 14 - 18) walked by two HRWs and attempted to
spit at them, but spit on himself instead. A few minutes later a young
Palestinian boy (age 5-9) who we see often on Shuhada street walked by
alone, holding a plastic bag. He was much less cheerful than usual, and
did not stop when the HRW said hello. He walked on with a very serious
look on his face, and the HRWs walked slowly behind as he walked
towards the Qurtuba School steps. When he came close to the stairs, he
picked up his pace and ran around the corner before the HRWs made it to
the corner, and before they did, the boy ran back onto the street
chased by five to seven settler boys. The HRWs went towards the
settlers with a camera and the soldier walked from his post into the
street. The settlers just lingered and made faces until walking back
towards the settlement. The HRWs asked the boy if he wanted them to
walk with him - he looked very frustrated and said no, even when
asked by TIPH - he explained that he wanted to walk around the long
way. Later, the HRWs saw him without the bag; hopefully he delivered it
successfully.

At 3:30pm two young settler women (ages 14-18) had a verbal
confrontation with an older Palestinian woman. The HRWs ran towards
them shouting at the soldier and the soldier walked to them just as the
settlers left the woman alone. At 4:45 two young settler men and a
Palestinian man began a verbal confrontation that looked as though it
could become physical but a soldier from checkpoint 56 walked to them
and broke it up. The settlers and the Palestinian walked away, both
still saying things loudly to each other. The same soldier then
proceeded to make the checkpoint more pleasant by throwing stones into
the puddle and then placing cardboard on top so the Palestinians would
not have to walk in the mud. The HRWs said thank you as they left the
street and headed home.

The Al Azzeh family suffered further deprivation today. Probably during
the night, their water pipes were smashed where they pass, on the road,
by the Tel Rumeida. This is the fifth time that the pipes have been
cut, within the last 2 months. In this time no one has been arrested
for this offence. This has occurred even though the Israeli command has
cameras covering the area. Israeli soldiers constantly restrict
Palestinian and International movement in the locality of the Tel
Rumeida settlement. They justify this because of the proximity of the
military base. In spite of this, the DCO claim that a cut water pipe,
in a location to which Palestinians and Internationals do not have
access, is not their responsibility. Cut razor wire on Palestinian land
is however! As happened yesterday, the wire must be replaced by bare
handed Palestinians under threat of arrest! Israeli settlers or
soldiers, who destroy part of the water pipe, are allowed freedom do
repeat their offense time and time again.

*************************************************************************************

For more reports, journals and action alerts visit the ISM website at
http://www.palsolidarity.org

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