The Israeli military bulldoze farm lands in northern West Bank areas
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- Written by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News & Agencies Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News & Agencies
- Published: 03 August 2009 03 August 2009
- Hits: 4117 4117
The Israeli military bulldoze farm lands in northern West Bank areas
The Israeli military bulldozed, on Monday, Palestinian owned lands near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
The head of the Bureen village council, Ali Eid, told local media that the military is expanding the Israeli settlements of Barkha and Yitshar, located nearby.
The military is working on land for months and now its so close that you cane see the work from the city of Nablus, Eid told the Palestinian News and Information Agency WAFA.
Palestinians evicted in Jerusalem: Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 02 August 2009 02 August 2009
- Hits: 4413 4413
Israeli police have evicted nine Palestinian families living in two houses in occupied East Jerusalem.
Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately. The US has urged Israel to abandon plans for a building project in the area.
Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967, a move not recognised by the international community.
The evictions have been condemned by the United Nations, the Palestinians and also the UK government.
The US said the evictions were not in keeping with Israel's obligations under the so-called "road map" to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
'Deplorable'
The operation to evict the 53 Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah district of the city was carried out before dawn on Sunday by police clad in black riot gear.
It followed a ruling by Israel's Supreme Court that the land originally belonged to Jewish families. Israel wants to build a block of 20 apartments in the area.
The evictions were quickly condemned by the United Nations.
"I deplore today's totally unacceptable actions by Israel," the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert H Serry said. "These actions are contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions related to occupied territory.
A night in Bilin
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- Written by Jody McIntyre writing from Bilin, occupied West Bank, Live from Palestine Jody McIntyre writing from Bilin, occupied West Bank, Live from Palestine
- Published: 31 July 2009 31 July 2009
- Hits: 4481 4481
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| PHOTO: Residents of Bilin demonstrate against nightly invasions by the Israeli army, 29 July 2009. (Oren Ziv/ActiveStills) |
Over the last few weeks, the residents of Bilin have been subjected to constant night raids by the Israeli military, in retaliation to their weekly nonviolent demonstrations, now in their fifth year, against the Apartheid Wall, which has stolen over half of their land. So far, 17 youths have been arrested, some as young as 16 years of age, usually for their participation in the demonstrations. Many of the boys will not see their family again for months. With the situation getting critical, local activists of the Bilin Popular Committee called for a night demonstration to protest against the raids.
The village has become somewhat of a symbol of the Palestinian resistance, but they have often paid a heavy price for their spirit and resolve -- the Israeli army respond to their non-violent actions with brutal force; tear gas, rubber-coated bullets, and live ammunition, in April of this year resulting in the death of Bassem Abu Rahma, a local resident.
Mohammed Khatib, a member of the Committee, explained the motivation behind the decision to have a demonstration at night, stating that, “No-one goes to sleep before four or five in the morning.” He added that, “We stay awake all night, observing the movements of the Israeli military, fearing that we may be the next person to be kidnapped and thrown in jail. Now it is time for us to seize the initiative.”
As we gathered in the center of the village, with the clock approaching midnight, there was a perceptible atmosphere of tension. This was the first attempt at a night demonstration, and I for one do not trust a teenage Israeli soldier with his finger on the trigger shooting in the dark. Nevertheless, we were determined to make our message clear -- the night raids must end.
“We don’t want confrontation with the army… this is a peaceful demonstration!” announced Abdullah Abu Rahma, another member of the Popular Committee.
With a group of around 120 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists waving torches in the air, making our presence clear, we marched down toward the Wall, turning left before we reached it in order to avoid provoking the military. All the way chanting:
"No, no to the Wall!"
From there, the path got tougher, my wheelchair grinding over gravel as we continued forging our way through the dark. The whole time we had one eye over our shoulder -- considering the tear gas, sound bombs and other weapons we are usually greeted with, God knows how they would respond to this new development.
We reached an open area, and climbed up onto the grassy bank, looking down at the soldiers now frantically patrolling the Wall. We proudly waved our Palestinian flags, and lit bonfires to mimic the "camp-fires" the Israeli army set up every night, presumably to keep the people of Bilin on edge.
Sarah, an Egyptian activist attending the demonstration, told me about the affect of the raids on family life. She explained that, “It’s terrible… even the children can’t sleep. They are being deprived of one of their most fundamental human rights.”
As we stood around our make-shift fires, I was filled with feelings of both relief, that we had not been shot at, and of achievement, that we had managed to seize the initiative from the occupying forces. After many sleepless nights waiting and searching for invading soldiers, it was a great release of frustration to show that we would not stand for this injustice any longer.
The army clearly didn't have a clue how to respond, firing flares into the sky to get a better look at our activities. The result was magnificent views of incredible beauty -- you could see for miles!
"Thank you very much," said Haitham al-Katib, Bilin's resident film-maker.
The people of Bilin responded with trademark humor, a nearby family firing flares of their own, as an impromptu firework display emanated from the house, prompting cheers all round.
After more uphill marching, by which time my wheelchair was struggling but assisted by the pushing of Palestinian friends, we returned to the village unscathed.
Everyone agreed that the action was a success -- we had really turned the tables on the Israeli army, and we vowed to integrate the new tactic into our ongoing campaign of nonviolent resistance.
So it looks like there will be more sleepless nights for Bilin, but for a completely different reason.
Jody McIntyre is a journalist from the United Kingdom, currently living in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin. Jody has cerebral palsy, and travels in a wheelchair. He writes a blog for Ctrl.Alt.Shift, entitled “Life on Wheels,” which can be found at www.ctrlaltshift.co.uk. He can be reached at jody.mcintyre [at] gmail [dot] com.
Settlers attack Palestinian vehicles near Nablus
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- Written by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
- Published: 31 July 2009 31 July 2009
- Hits: 3817 3817
Dozens of extremist Israeli settlers of the Shavot Ami illegal outpost, installed on Palestinian lands west of the southern West Bank of Nablus attacked dozens of Palestinian vehicles and hurled stones at them.
Local sources reported that several vehicles were damaged, but no injuries were reported.
Israeli soldiers and policemen were present in the area but did not attempt to stop the settlers.
Ghassan Douglas, in charge of the settlements file at the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, warned of the severity of these attacks, and added that Friday attack came parallel with a statement issued by settler leaders in the West Bank calling for more violence against the Palestinians and their properties.
Last week, the settlers carried repeated attacks against the residents and their homes especially in areas south west of Nablus.
Douglas called on human rights and legal groups to intervene and stop the attacks.
In July, the settlers carried dozens of attacks against the residents, and burnt olive orchards and vines.
Support Iranians, Not US Intervention
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- Written by Sean Penn/Ross Mirkarimi/Reese Erlich Sean Penn/Ross Mirkarimi/Reese Erlich
- Published: 29 July 2009 29 July 2009
- Hits: 4062 4062
Published
on Tuesday, July 21, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
During our travels to
That contradiction
continues today as
Many Iranians believe that
they have experienced a coup d'état, in which the military and intelligence
services have hijacked the presidential election. Through vote buying and
manipulation of the count, Ahmadinejad had guaranteed himself another four
years in office.
In June over a
million Iranians marched in the streets of major cities across the country. The
spontaneous demonstrations included well-to-do supporters of opposition
candidates, but also large numbers of workers, farmers, small business people
and the devoutly religious. They were fed up with 30 years of a system that
used Islam as an excuse for union labor strike breaking, lack of women's rights
and repression.
The Iranian government
responded to these peaceful protests with savagery, killing dozens of people.
Some human rights groups put the number at over 100. The government admits
arresting 2500 people nationwide and continues to hold at least 500. Most are
being held without charges or have simply disappeared.
The repression hasn't
killed the movement. On July 17, over 10,000 people came to Friday prayers in
support of the opposition. Instead of chanting "Death to
Meanwhile in
That doesn't exactly build
credibility among Iranians.
President Obama faces tough
choices on
In reality, the
The
That's why citizen
diplomacy is so important. Iranian demonstrators welcome the support of
ordinary Americans. Joan Baez recorded a Farsi language version of "We
Shall Overcome" that has shot around the world on You Tube.
Iranian activists are
holding a hunger strike in front of the UN in
We
urge you to participate in the July 25 demonstrations around the
Sean
Penn is an actor who wrote about
Article printed from www.CommonDreams.org
URL
to article: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/21-10