http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=19254

In video footage released on the 20th July by B’Tselem, Ashraf Abu Rahme of Bil’in village, can be seen being handcuffed, blindfolded and then shot at close range by the Israeli army.




Ashraf was taking part in a solidarity demonstration attempting to break the siege of Ni’lin when he was detained by the army. While clearly handcuffed and unable to see, an Israeli soldier can be seen shooting Ashraf in the foot with a rubber-coated steel bullet from extremely close range, while another soldier holds him by the arm.

The footage was filmed by a resident of Ni’lin who showed it to international solidarity activists living in Ni’lin on the 19th July. The ISM activists were shocked by the footage and quickly passed it on to B’Tselem who have released it to the local, Israeli and international media. They came upon the video by chance, after paying a social visit to the home of the resident who shot the footage.
text from ISM

Hope Under Siege: Pittsburghers in Palestine
A Photo Exhibit

Opening Reception: Thursday, June 19, 2008 6-9PM
at the Shadow Lounge, 5972 Baum Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA



May 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of what Palestinians call the “Nakba.” It is a date engrained into the minds of every Palestinian, everywhere. The translation means the “Catastrophe,” because three quarters of a million Palestinian women, men, and children were expelled from their homes, massacred ensued, and 531 Palestinian towns and villages were destroyed for what was to become the state of Israel.

For the 60 years of Israel’s existence, Palestinians have been refused the right to return to their homes. Palestinians remain the largest refugee population in the world. Many continue to see the uprooting of their trees, the demolition of their homes, the building of apartheid walls, confiscation of their farmland, and the murder of their family members and friends by the Israeli army.

Over the years, many Pittsburghers have traveled to Palestine to witness and document what is happening on the ground in order to amplify the voices of the marginalized Palestinians and spread the truth through eyewitness accounts of life under occupation, of a hope that is under siege.

Please join the Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee as they reveal their photographs from Occupied Palestine. Hear eyewitness accounts from Palestinians and Pittsburghers who have seen and experienced life under the gun. View the scenes of hope and the images of despair. Share the truth with the world about 60 years of dispossession and a hope that refuses to perish.

WHERE: The Shadow Lounge, 5972 Baum Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15206
WHEN: Thursday, June 19, 6-9pm

Hosted by the Pittsburgh Palestine Solidarity Committee (www.pittsburgh-psc.org)

Enjoy performances by hip hop artist Rashad Jamaal, funky-folk music by Leslie Addis, crazy beats by Shambolished, slam poetry by local artists, food by Allegro Hearth Bakery, monster raffle, and much, much more!

For more information, contact: Jonas: joeskillet@riseup.net

From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free!

PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THESE FLYERS WIDELY!

Annapolis: A "Generous Offer" for Palestinian Refugees?
by Neta Golan, 5 December 2007

from AlterNet, see original text here:
http://www.alternet.org/audits/69740/?page=1

Under Israel and Bush's "solution", Palestinian refugees who had been expelled from what is now Israel could return, not to their homes, but to small, non-contiguous parts of less than 22% of their original homeland.


Anyone familiar with Israeli politics was not surprised that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not acknowledge Israel's occupation in his speech at Annapolis. What was surprising was that, while stopping short of mentioning the "R" word -- refugees -- Olmert did acknowledge the Palestinian refugee problem.

Referring to the Palestinians, the Israeli Prime Minister stated in his Annapolis speech: "your people, too, have suffered for many years; and there are some who still suffer. Many Palestinians have been living for decades in camps, disconnected from the environment in which they grew up, wallowing in poverty, in neglect, alienation, bitterness, and a deep, unrelenting sense of humiliation."

Olmert's characterization of the refugees is only partially correct. Poverty, neglect, alienation, bitterness and feelings of humiliation, are only one component of the refugee experience. There are also other components, such as community, pride, generosity, and perseverance. This one-dimensional characterization obviously suits Olmert's conception of a solution. It also casts refugees as objects that will be acted upon (once again), rather than subjects who can genuinely participate in finding a solution. A recent article in the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, titled "Refugees and Jerusalem: A question of money," sheds light on Olmert's statements. The article revealed the outlines of the deal being cooked to sell the rights of the Palestinian refugees.

In addition to oral testimonies given both by Palestinian refugees and Jewish combatants, many official documents describe policies and actions taken by Jewish militias which were designed to expel Palestinians from what has become the state Israel. According to Israeli Historian Benny Morris, "In the months of April-May 1948, units of the Haganah [the pre-state defense force that was to become the IDF] were given operational orders that stated explicitly that they were to uproot the villagers, expel them and destroy the villages themselves." Yet Olmert presented the refugee issue as a humanitarian problem, not unlike one caused by a natural disaster, saying that "Israel will be part of an international mechanism that will assist in finding a solution to this problem." Olmert made it clear that he was not admitting Israel's responsibility for creating the problem by saying "I came here today not in order to settle historical accounts between us…", and by equating the Palestinian refugee problem with the "constant suffering of many Israelis."

The solution Olmert suggests is "an international effort, in which we (Israel) will participate, to assist these Palestinians in finding a proper framework for their future, in the Palestinian state that will be established in the territories agreed upon between us." The suggestion that the refugees do not have the choice to return to the lands from which they were expelled, but instead "return" to a future Palestinian state, is contrary to international humanitarian law, and to UN resolution 194 that "Resolves that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date." Despite this, the United States President George Bush promised Ariel Sharon in a letter on the 14th of April 2004 "an agreed, just, fair and realistic framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as part of any final status agreement will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state, and the settling of Palestinian refugees there, rather than in Israel." Despite the illegality of these promises, they were ratified on June 23, 2004 by both the United States House and Senate. Olmert refers to this letter in his statement as a point of departure for the negotiations.

Working groups are now developing plans to implement Bush's promise. According to Ha'aretz, The Aix Group, "a semi-official political-economic backchannel," is developing a plan for Palestinian refugees. The Aix Group's members include Israeli, Palestinian and international economic experts, academics, members of economic organizations, and officials from international institutions, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, who participate in the Aix Group in their personal capacities.

The group is administered by a steering committee led by Prof. Gilbert Benhayoun, a Moroccan-born Frenchman, Prof. Arie Arnon, economics professor from Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva, Said Bamya, the former deputy minister for economic affairs in the Palestinian Authority, Dr. Ron Pundak, director of the Peres Center and Dr. Samir Hazbun from DATA Studies and Consultation. Other partners include the European Union, French donors, the World Bank, the French Foreign Ministry, the International Development Research Center in Canada, the General Council of the Bouches du Rhone, and the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur.

The Aix Group's document opens with a declaration of principles stating that an agreed and just long-term solution to the problem of the 1948 refugees must be based on the relevant United Nations resolutions, including General Assembly Resolution 194, but then nullifies that statement by saying that "a literal application of this Resolution is no longer possible given the substantial changes on the ground." The document then describes an arrangement that would substitute for the U.N. resolution which they have deemed no longer applicable, stating that, "The parties would agree that the measures recommended in the paper implement Resolution 194."

The reference to "substantial changes on the ground" as an obstacle that renders the UN resolution inapplicable perpetuates the myth that physical or material obstacles render return impossible. According to Salman Abu Sitta an expert on the Palestinian refugee issue, "90% of the village sites are still vacant, 7% are partially built-over, and only 3% are totally built over in Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem." Of course, there are obvious issues that would have to be addressed. But these problems have been dealt with in many places, such as Bosnia, Kosovo and Tajikistan, to name a few, and pose no obstacle in and of themselves to return. A hint to what the real obstacle may be lies in Ha'aretz correspondent Akiva Eldar's statement that "The Aix Group is convinced that if bold steps are not taken in the right direction, the vision of one state for two peoples, based on joint citizenship and equality before the law, will be placed on the agenda."

The group suggests that an international committee of experts would determine what constitutes "fair and full" compensation for property claims. They estimate that the total cost of these claims will be between $15 billion and $30 billion.

The group makes it clear that in cases in which "fair and full compensation" is offered, "restitution" (the right of return) will not be considered. This formulation turns the basic principle set in the UN Principles on Housing and Property Restitution for Refugees and Displaced Persons totally on end. The UN principles clearly note that restitution is the primary remedy, and compensation only comes into play if refugees themselves choose compensation, or if restitution is factually not possible as determined by an independent tribunal.

"Palestinian refugees will be asked to choose a permanent place of residence, the group proposes that the individuals choose more than one alternative and rank their priorities." But the implementation of this choice depends on "the states concerned", including Israel. Aix proposes to create an International Agency for the Palestinian Refugees (IAPR) that will be responsible "to ensure that the final decisions satisfy the wishes of the refugees as much as possible and are in line with the overall agreements to be signed between the representatives of the two sides, and possibly also with the relevant host countries and other countries."

The Aix group expects that a large number of refugees will choose to relocate to other countries at the cost of $8 billion to $19 billion, depending on how many refugees will choose to move from their current country of residence. The plan suggests that some of the Palestinian refugees will be rehabilitated in their current locations and will receive compensation "in kind or in money" at a cost of $10 billion to $14 billion.

In addition, the group recommends the creation of a fourth fund, which will require about $22 billion, for compensation relating to "refugeehood" not related to property claims or the other programs. All the registered refugees will receive a uniform amount of about $5,000 each. According to Ha'aretz, the money can be attained in a period spread out over 10 years and with extensive, generous international aid.

Under international humanitarian law the right of refugees to return to their homes is an inalienable, individual human right. Like all human rights, it is invaluable and cannot be bought. Under Israel and Bush's "solution", Palestinian refugee families who had been expelled from what is now Israel would be consigned to return, not to their homes, but to small, non-contiguous parts of less than 22% of their original homeland. Jews from anywhere in the world, on the other hand, would be free to "return" to more than 78% of historic Palestine, frequently to live on land seized from those same Palestinian refugees. Such clear discrimination against Palestinian refugees and privileging of Jews from anywhere in the world illustrates clearly that these proposals would further a separate but unequal solution that cannot result in peace.


Neta Golan is an Israeli peace with justice activist living in Ramallah, and a founder of the International Solidarity Movement. For more information see: http://www.apartheidmasked.org

In the war of words, The Times is Israel's ally

The paper consistently adopts Israel's language, giving credence to an inaccurate, simplistic and dangerous cliche.

By Saree Makdisi, SAREE MAKDISI, a professor of English and comparative literature at UCLA, writes frequently about the Middle East.
March 11, 2007

'AS SOON AS certain topics are raised," George Orwell once wrote, "the concrete melts into the abstract and no one seems able to think of turns of speech that are not hackneyed: Prose consists less and less of words chosen for the sake of their meaning, and more and more of phrases tacked together like the sections of a prefabricated henhouse." Such a combination of vagueness and sheer incompetence in language, Orwell warned, leads to political conformity.

No issue better illustrates Orwell's point than coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the United States. Consider, for example, the editorial in The Times on Feb. 9 demanding that the Palestinians "recognize Israel" and its "right to exist." This is a common enough sentiment — even a cliche. Yet many observers (most recently the international lawyer John Whitbeck) have pointed out that this proposition, assiduously propagated by Israel's advocates and uncritically reiterated by American politicians and journalists, is — at best — utterly nonsensical.

First, the formal diplomatic language of "recognition" is traditionally used by one state with respect to another state. It is literally meaningless for a non-state to "recognize" a state. Moreover, in diplomacy, such recognition is supposed to be mutual. In order to earn its own recognition, Israel would have to simultaneously recognize the state of Palestine. This it steadfastly refuses to do (and for some reason, there are no high-minded newspaper editorials demanding that it do so).

Second, which Israel, precisely, are the Palestinians being asked to "recognize?" Israel has stubbornly refused to declare its own borders. So, territorially speaking, "Israel" is an open-ended concept. Are the Palestinians to recognize the Israel that ends at the lines proposed by the 1947 U.N. Partition Plan? Or the one that extends to the 1949 Armistice Line (the de facto border that resulted from the 1948 war)? Or does Israel include the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which it has occupied in violation of international law for 40 years — and which maps in its school textbooks show as part of "Israel"?

For that matter, why should the Palestinians recognize an Israel that refuses to accept international law, submit to U.N. resolutions or readmit the Palestinians wrongfully expelled from their homes in 1948 and barred from returning ever since?

If none of these questions are easy to answer, why are such demands being made of the Palestinians? And why is nothing demanded of Israel in turn?

Orwell was right. It is much easier to recycle meaningless phrases than to ask — let alone to answer — difficult questions. But recycling these empty phrases serves a purpose. Endlessly repeating the mantra that the Palestinians don't recognize Israel helps paint Israel as an innocent victim, politely asking to be recognized but being rebuffed by its cruel enemies.

Actually, it asks even more. Israel wants the Palestinians, half of whom were driven from their homeland so that a Jewish state could be created in 1948, to recognize not merely that it exists (which is undeniable) but that it is "right" that it exists — that it was right for them to have been dispossessed of their homes, their property and their livelihoods so that a Jewish state could be created on their land. The Palestinians are not the world's first dispossessed people, but they are the first to be asked to legitimize what happened to them.

A just peace will require Israelis and Palestinians to reconcile and recognize each other's rights. It will not require that Palestinians give their moral seal of approval to the catastrophe that befell them. Meaningless at best, cynical and manipulative at worst, such a demand may suit Israel's purposes, but it does not serve The Times or its readers.

And yet The Times consistently adopts Israel's language and, hence, its point of view. For example, a recent article on Israel's Palestinian minority referred to that minority not as "Palestinian" but as generically "Arab," Israel's official term for a population whose full political and human rights it refuses to recognize. To fail to acknowledge the living Palestinian presence inside Israel (and its enduring continuity with the rest of the Palestinian people) is to elide the history at the heart of the conflict — and to deny the legitimacy of Palestinian claims and rights.

This is exactly what Israel wants. Indeed, its demand that its "right to exist" be recognized reflects its own anxiety, not about its existence but about its failure to successfully eliminate the Palestinians' presence inside their homeland — a failure for which verbal recognition would serve merely a palliative and therapeutic function.

In uncritically adopting Israel's own fraught terminology — a form of verbal erasure designed to extend the physical destruction of Palestine — The Times is taking sides.

If the paper wants its readers to understand the nature of this conflict, however, it should not go on acting as though only one side has a story to tell.

Peace Now in the Checkpoint


from the Peace Now site

The general secretary of Peace Now, Yariv Oppenheimer, was doing his reserves duty in a checkpoint in the Jordan valley, deep in the occupied Palestinian territories, and was acting just like any other good Israeli soldier.

In an article published today by the Israeli news-site NRG (http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/646/857.html ), Two Machsom Watch activists report seeing Oppenheimer making his military reserve duty in a checkpoint inside the occupied territories, in an area that is slowly being ethnically cleansed from it's indigenous population mainly by the checkpoints who forbid almost any kind of transportation and access between the main cities of the west bank and the valley (see also Amira Hass article http://www.countercurrents.org/pa-hass160206.htm).

Oppenheimer together with the other soldiers in the checkpoint also refused a Palestinian family with seven children who was traveling to see their relatives in a near by village to go through the checkpoint. The Fact that this was the Muslim holiday Eid Elfiter that ends the month of Ramadan didn't seam to soften the Peace Now soldier.

The Machsom Watch activist tried to speak with the soldiers to let the family go through, arguing that an exception should be made because of the holiday and the young age of the children. The soldiers kept refusing the Taxi in which the Family was in to go through, claiming it doesn't have the right permits and said that they are following orders given to them from above.

Oppenheimer didn't deny the story and told the journalist that "When I am being called to do my reserve duty in the territories, i am doing my best to make my task successfully also if it is against my point of view and to act in a humanitarian way".

Israeli peace activists who are fighting for the last years against the occupation can't be very surprised from this story. Peace Now and their male oriented leadership have always attacked the refuseniks movement and kept on proudly committing war crimes in the occupied territories in the name of national unity and law obedience. One can just hope that they will stop being seen by the world as a part of the peace movement in Israel.

Center for Constitutional Rights and Corrie Family respond to decision by 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

CONTACT: David Lerner, Riptide Communications, 212.260.5000

COURT OF APPEALS DISMISSES CCR CASE AGAINST CATERPILLAR FOR DEATHS AND INJURIES IN PALESTINIAN HOME DEMOLITIONS

from THE RACHEL CORRIE FOUNDATION
http://www.rachelcorriefoundation.org/

Case Filed on Behalf of Family of Activist Rachel Corrie and Four Palestinian Families Whose Homes Were Demolished By Caterpillar Bulldozers

September 17, 2007, New York, NY – Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of CCR’s case charging Caterpillar, Inc. with aiding and abetting war crimes and other serious human rights violations on the grounds that the company provided bulldozers to Israel knowing they would be used unlawfully to demolish homes and endanger civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Today’s decision from a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals found that it did not have jurisdiction to decide the case because Caterpillar’s bulldozers were ultimately paid for with money from the United States. Because of the U.S. government’s decision to grant military assistance to Israel, any decision regarding whether Caterpillar aided and abetted war crimes would impermissibly intrude upon the executive branch’s foreign policy decisions. In today’s decision, the Court did not rule on the question of whether Caterpillar aided and abetted Israeli war crimes.

“We are extremely disappointed with the Court’s refusal to decide whether Caterpillar violated the law, essentially because it did not want to question the U.S. decision to pay for the bulldozers,” said CCR Senior Attorney Maria LaHood. “The Court has a constitutional duty to uphold the law, and the law prohibits aiding and abetting war crimes - regardless of who’s footing the bill.”

The case, Corrie, et al. v. Caterpillar Inc. was brought by the parents of Rachel Corrie and four Palestinian families whose family members were killed or injured when Caterpillar bulldozers demolished their homes. Corrie, a 23-year-old American peace activist and student at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, was killed March 16, 2003, in the Gaza Strip by a Caterpillar D9 bulldozer while protecting a home from illegal demolition.

“For our family, the court proceedings were trying to bring some accountability for Caterpillar’s role in human rights violations,” said Craig Corrie, father of Rachel Corrie. “Of course, Caterpillar always has the option to act responsibly and could do that by ceasing to provide Israel these bulldozers no matter how they are financed. I call on Caterpillar management to decide that that’s not how Caterpillar wants to make money.”
Added Cindy Corrie, mother of Rachel Corrie, “On behalf of Rachel and Palestinians killed in home demolitions by Caterpillar bulldozers, including three children under 9 years old, a disabled man, and an elderly man, we are extremely disappointed with this decision, and I will continue to seek justice and accountability for all of them.”

Caterpillar provided the D9 bulldozers to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), knowing they would be used to unlawfully destroy civilian homes. Since the year 2000, the IDF has used Caterpillar bulldozers to destroy more than 4,000 Palestinian homes, leaving thousands of individuals homeless in the process. The Caterpillar D9 bulldozer is over 13 feet tall and 26 feet wide, weighs more than 60 tons with its armored plating, and can raze houses in a matter of minutes.

Much of the world community, including the United Nations and international human rights organizations, has consistently condemned these demolitions as a clear violation of international humanitarian law. For years, Caterpillar has had notice that the IDF was using its D9 bulldozers for human rights violations; despite this, the company has continued to provide them to the Israeli government.

“It is important to note that the Court did not reach the substantive questions about Caterpillar’s role in aiding and abetting violations of international law,” said Gwynne Skinner, Visiting Clinical Professor at Seattle University Law School, who, along with CCR, also represents the Corrie family. “However, with regard to the Court’s view that it lacks jurisdiction to decide the case, we are reviewing the decision carefully and will decide soon how to proceed.”

The case, which was filed in March 2005, was dismissed by Judge Franklin D. Burgess in the Western District of Washington in November 2005. In July 2007, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments on whether the case should proceed.

The plaintiffs are represented by the International Human Rights Clinic at Seattle University School of Law, the Seattle-based Public Interest Law Group, PLLC, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and the Center for Constitutional Rights.

About CCR
The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

IDF spokesperson's campaign to demonize Non Violent peace activists


According to the Israeli news internet site Walla on Friday, May 25, the Israeli military spokesperson claimed that the demonstration in Bil'in "ended in relative quiet." The military spokesperson claimed that "this relative quiet stems from the fact that there were almost no leftist Israeli activists present", since they "cause most of the friction between the demonstrators and the IDF".

During this "relatively quiet" demonstration, soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd from a distance of 200 meters without provocation, injuring six Palestinians, including an AFP journalist, who was rushed to the hospital after being shot in the head with a rubber-coated steel bullet. Two activists were detained during the demonstation. The first, Mohammad Khatib, from the Bil'in popular committee against the wall and settlements, was beaten during his arrest and after he was handcuffed. The second, Israeli David Reev, was approached by a soldier who twisted David's arm while demanding that David hand over his camera.


Video of Mohammad Khatib being arrested and abused


Abbas Momani, 33, a photographer for Agence France-Presse, was shot when Israeli soldiers fired at a group of journalists. Turkish Daily News reported that Momani stated he was outside of a Palestinian residence in Bil'in when soldiers confronted them and told them to leave. Momani said, "We explained that we would leave but that we were waiting for the army jeeps who were blocking our cars from getting out. One of the soldiers, who was barely two metres away from us, then fired."

For full AFP story click HERE


Is it really these leftist Israeli activists who incite "friction" and "provoke" the soldiers into throwing tear gas and sound grenades, and to shoot rubber-coated steel bullets?

Or is there another reason why the military wants to be rid of the Israeli and International activists? Israeli soldiers have stated in court that their regulations regarding opening fire differ when Israelis are present than when Palestinians demonstrate alone. If the soldiers assess that Israelis are present they are restricted from firing live ammunition on the crowd. A striking example is Beit Likya, a village neighboring Bil'in. In contrast to its neighbor, there have been no organized demonstrations against the wall and therefore no Israeli or International activists present in Beit Likya over the last two years. And yet within this time, three of the villages children were murdered, shot dead with live ammunition by a solider and a private security guard in incidents related to the Apartheid wall.


Palestinians in Artas have decided to continue to non-violently resist the ongoing destruction and confiscation of their land. Around the same time that the “relative quiet” was happening in Bilin, demonstrators, including Palestinians and a large number of Israeli and international activists, were marching toward the Abu Swai land, which was being blocked by a wall of Israeli soldiers.

Demonstrators chanted, “No to the Wall, No to the Occupation,” as they reached this wall of soldiers. The soldiers would not allow the over 150 protesters to reach the Abu Swai land, which is now a 6 meter ditch in the ground.

The activists locked arms, forming a human chain, and tried again to cross. Soldiers responded at first by using their shields to force the activists backwards. Because there were about 7 times more activists than occupation soldiers, this tactic did not work. So, soldiers started to beat people with their batons and shields, kick people, and choke people.

Solider chokes non-violent peace activist

There were at least 31 of these Israeli activist “provocateurs” present. The remaining activists were a mix of Palestinians and internationals. In Bil’in, the army responded to the demonstration, with its low numbers of Israeli and International activist presence, with tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber bullets, shooting one Palestinian journalist in the head and beating and arresting Mohammad Khatib. Here, the army used methods of physical abuse, instead of the aforementioned dispersion tactics.

There were at least a dozen news outlets and tens of independents who had cameras rolling from the start of the demo in Artas. Camerapersons caught this incident like this: Soldiers push and hit the demonstrators. Demonstrators do not respond with violence. Soldiers then grab one demonstrator, handcuff him, take him away, and arrest him.



Yet, the IDF turned the story around and blamed the violence on the demonstrators.



The man arrested was George, a Greek human rights activist. He was taken away to Hebron police station. Police charged George with “assault leading to injury” and “disrupting soldier’s work.”

George was scheduled to appear for trial around 20:00 Saturday evening, May 26, at the Russian compound in Jerusalem. Gaby Lasky, George's Israeli lawyer, stated that the Greek consulate was very active, which may have pressured the police to release George before the trial.

Greek consulate representatives and solidarity activists were planning to bring video evidence (including more than the above footage) of George's innocence to the court. George was being faced with trumped-up charges of "assaulting an office leading to injury" and "disrupting soldier's work." The video, to the contrary, shows George and other activists being assaulted by the soldiers immediately prior to George's arrest.


George's injuries during arrest

It would have made for a good show-- the claims being brought against George disintegrating into nothingness as activists and the Greek consulate revealed the video evidence to the judge. So, their bluff was called, they were put on the defensive, and they made a quick decision to release our Greek friend, saving face. But they couldn’t get off the hook without a morsel of victory could they? So, as the legal 24 hour mark of holding an international in prison approached, and without being allowed any contact between lawyer and client, Israeli authorities pressured George into signing “conditions,” stating that he will not enter the southern part of the Occupied West Bank for 15 days.

Had the police allowed George to speak with his lawyer, then maybe George would have known for sure that the Occupation’s side of the story was all a bluff, that several of us with different video tapes were almost en route to the court to reveal the abhorring lies of the Occupation, geared at demonizing the non-violent resistance—of the Palestinians, the Israeli activists, and the internationals.


So, that’s what the military has are claims. And more often than not they are false claims. The military, too, is usually seen filming at the demonstration but, of course, this evidence will not be used for the defendant at trial. It will only be used if it benefits the Occupation's version of the story.

These are the Occupation media and military’s attempts at demonizing peace activists. And they either flat out lie about the events at the demonstrations or refuse to include the whole truth, which paints an inappropriate, improper picture of what is really happening.



This demonization of nonviolent activists is not original or surprising. Muhatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King were also labeled provocateurs and trouble makers by those that supported the racist systems that they worked against.

"Don't S**T on my apricots!"
16 May 2007


Mohammad Abu Swai, who holds the deeds to this land, explains the situation in Artas village

Maybe it was because the word was spread, the call was headed, and 4 Israeli and 9 international solidarity activists joined Palestinians in the village of Artas today to resist the Israeli army's demolition of a field of apricot trees in Jesus' hometown of Bethlehem.


Photo of apricot tree, cut by Israeli forces

Or maybe it was because it started to pour down rain, equipped with lightning and thunder, causing not only the army, but also the activists to take shelter in the nearby caves.


Israeli bulldozers ripping apart land for extension of Israeli settlement of Efrat

Regardless, the Israeli bulldozers will be back tomorrow morning, and the Palestinians of Artas village are still seeking the help of solidarity activists to join them in resisting these abhorring actions on behalf of the Israeli army.

The illegal Israeli settlement of Efrat is in the distance. The army is destroying this field of apricot trees in order to pave the way for a new sewage system for the illegal colony. The day before we arrived, contractors and soldiers lined the trees and land with markers, reading "10 meteres, 40 meters, etc," leading all the way up to 150 meters.


Israeli settlement of Efrat in distance,

Some of us want to make T-shirts that say "Don't shit on our aprictos!"

Artas is a beautiful village, as are her apricot trees and her people. As Israeli bulldozers ripped away the hilltop in the distance to make way for military roads, settler roads, and a place for the militarily-funded Bedouin security personnel to sleep at night and guard the construction site, farmers from Artas whipped up some delicious tea and thanked us all for coming to resist the demolition of their fields.

But the rain came and pushed all the soldiers away. Villagers from Artas believe they will be back in the morning.

We'll be back there too.

* * * *



(I was able to get this story published in The Palestine Times)

And the Israeli occupation forces in Bil'in were just as destruction-happy last Friday when they used unnecessary, excessive violence to quell the regular Friday demonstration against Israel's Apartheid Wall, arresting 10 and injuring seven.

Palestinians were joined by international and Israeli solidarity activists after Friday prayers. Abdallah, a resident of Bil'in and member of the popular committee, explained the theme of the demo for today. He stated, "This demonstration today is dedicated to Azmi Bishara. Azmi Bishara was a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament. Israel is accusing him of working with Hizbollah during Israel's lost war with Lebanon last summer. Azmi is now living in Qatar because, if he returns, Israel will put him in jail for 25 years. But it is Olmert and Peretz who should be in jail."


Azmi Bishara, Photo from Electronic Intifada

"From Bil'in, we are sending out support and solidarity for Azmi Bishara," rang a chant as the demonstration started.

The demonstration left the mosque and marched towards the gate in the Apartheid Wall. Israeli soldiers and border police were already waiting for the non-violent demonstration at the destination.


Photo by Jonas

Demonstrators reached a wall of barbed wire which the occupation forces had constructed on the path. Chants of "End the Occupation" and "Tear down the wall" could be heard. One Israeli border policeman suddenly took aim and shot a Palestinian demonstrator with two rubber-coated steel bullets.

Martinez, and American activist, described the event: "I was just a few feet from Adeeb Abu Rahma when the border policeman shot him. The officer was just about 6 feet away. He took aim for Addeb's legs and hit him twice on the inner side of his thighs. Immediately, Adeeb fell to the ground screaming. Activists immediately came to his assistance. When they lowered Adeeb's pants to assess the injuries, I could see two fairly large holes, bleeding."



Adeeb was taken away by medics with the Red Crescent and driven to the hospital, where he sits at this moment. The rubber-coated steel bullets, because they were shot from such a close range, entered Adeeb's body. He just finished two operations in a Ramallah hospital where he must remain for at least two days under physician supervision. Rubber bullets are considered deadly by the Israeli army if they are shot at a distance from under 40 meters.

At this point, Israeli activists confronted the Israeli commanders to demand an explanation.

Jonathan Pollock explained, "when we tried to get details from the commander, details which he is mandated to give, the commander instead arrested us. There has been a rapid increase in violence in the last few weeks on the part of Israeli forces. This reflects a desperate attempt to break the non-violent resistance by using unwarranted military force and violence."


Israeli activist being arrested

In all, 6 Palestinians (Iyad, Abid, Aid, Naser, Issa, Yosef) and 4 Israelis (Jonathan, Sarah, Nir, Gur) were arrested and later released.


Israeli forces invade the village, firing tear gas, Photo by Jonas

Six other demonstrators were wounded by rubber bullets or tear gas when the border police left the site of the wall and entered the village.



Police were shooting projectile tear gas cannisters and firing rubber bullets as they progressed further into the village of Bil'in. Border police were pushing people out of the way with their rifle and throwing activists around.



Israeli forces assaulting Palestinian activist

The border police effectively chased the majority of the demonstrators back into the village by using brute force.

* * * * * *

And I wonder when the day will come when all of this will hit the mainstream media over your ways...

DAM Da Arab Mcs



Clip from www.dam3rap.com

Dr. Ilan Pappe, an Oxford-educated Israeli revisionist historian, is a senior lecture in the Department of Political Science at Haifa ... all » University, where he began teaching in 1984. Pappe also is president of the Emile Touma Institute for Palestinian Studies. His provocative recent book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine (Oxford: One World, 2007), documents the systematic transfer of the Palestinian population by Israel’s early leaders, a policy he asserts continues today. Pappe will join the faculty of Sussex University in Fall 2007, after repeated death threats by Israelis for his outspoken views. He supports the use of BDS, including a cultural boycott of the Israeli academy, arguing that Israeli will not give up its apartheid-like policies without international pressure. He calls BDS, “the best means to send a message to the Israeli state” for the end of the Israel’s Occupation of the Palestinian territories. Pappe’s address was delivered at the 2nd Bil’in International Nonviolence Conference, 18 April 2007

Excessive force in Bil'in leaves Palestinian in hospital with two operations
11 May 2007


Photo by Jonas

Israeli occupation forces used excessive violence today in Bil'in to quell the regular Friday demonstration against Israel's Apartheid Wall, arresting 10 and injuring seven.

Palestinians were joined by international and Israeli solidarity activists after Friday prayers. Abdallah, a resident of Bil'in and member of the popular committee, explained the theme of the demo for today. He stated, "This demonstration today is dedicated to Azmi Bishara. Azmi Bishara was a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament. Israel is accusing him of working with Hizbollah during Israel's lost war with Lebanon last summer. Azmi is now living in Qatar because, if he returns, Israel will put him in jail for 25 years. But it is Olmert and Peretz who should be in jail."


Azmi Bishara, Photo from Electronic Intifada

"From Bil'in, we are sending out support and solidarity for Azmi Bishara," rang a chant as the demonstration started.

The demonstration left the mosque and marched towards the gate in the Apartheid Wall. Israeli soldiers and border police from the M'gav unit were already waiting for the non-violent demonstration at the destination.


Photo by Jonas

Demonstrators reached a wall of barbed wire which the occupation forces had constructed on the path. Chants of "End the Occupation" and "Tear down the wall" could be heard. One Israeli border policeman suddenly took aim and shot a Palestinian demonstrator with two rubber-coated steel bullets.

Martinez, and American activist, described the event: "I was just a few feet from Adeeb Abu Rahma when the border policeman shot him. The officer was just about 6 feet away. He took aim for Addeb's legs and hit him twice on the inner side of his thighs. Immediately, Adeeb fell to the ground screaming. Activists immediately came to his assistance. When they lowered Adeeb's pants to assess the injuries, I could see two fairly large holes, bleeding."


Photo by Jonas

Adeeb was taken away by medics with the Red Crescent and driven to the hospital, where he sits at this moment. The rubber-coated steel bullets, because they were shot from such a close range, entered Adeeb's body. He just finished two operations in a Ramallah hospital where he must remain for at least two days under physician supervision. Rubber bullets are considered deadly by the Israeli army if they are shot at a distance from under 40 meters.

At this point, Israeli activists confronted the Israeli commanders to demand an explanation.

Jonathan Pollock explained, "when we tried to get details from the commander, details which he is mandated to give, the commander instead arrested us. There has been a rapid increase in violence in the last few weeks on the part of Israeli forces. This reflects a desperate attempt to break the non-violent resistance by using unwarranted military force and violence."


Israeli activist being arrested, Photo by Jonas

In all, 6 Palestinians (Iyad, Abid, Aid, Naser, Issa, Yosef) and 4 Israelis (Jonathan, Sarah, Nir, Gur) were arrested and later released.


Israeli forces invade the village, firing tear gas, Photo by Jonas

Six other demonstrators were wounded by rubber bullets or tear gas when the border police left the site of the wall and entered the village. Police were shooting projectile tear gas cannisters and firing rubber bullets as they progressed further into the village of Bil'in. Border police were pushing people out of the way with their rifle and throwing activists around.



Israeli forces assaulting Palestinian activist

The border police effectively chased the majority of the demonstrators back into the village by using brute force.

For more information, contact:
Abdallah, 0547-258-210
ISM Media Office, 02-297-1824, 0599-943-157

Outsmarting the Occupation in Bil'in
4 May 2007



For 27 months, villagers from the West Bank village of Bil’in have been non-violently resisting Israel’s Apartheid Wall and land theft. Palestinians have been joined by Israeli and international solidarity activists at Bil’in's regular Friday demonstrations against the Wall.

Today, activists met outside of the mosque in Bil'in and started their usual march to the Wall. Chants, songs, and slogans were sung as the demonstrators marched through the heat to reach the Apartheid structure.

There were even two members of the Tel Rumedia Circus for Detained Palestinians who showed up to lighten up the atmosphere and try to squeeze some smiles from the otherwise grumpy soldiers.



The demonstrators made their way three quarters of the way to the Wall without incident. Then, up ahead in the distance, one could make out a hurdle of barbed wire, splitting the path into two sides: one path symbolized non-violent resistance, Ghandi-style; the other path symbolized violence and occupation, police state-style.

Israeli Occupation Forces on the police state side of the barbed wire aimed their guns towards the protesters, whose weapons came in the form of video cameras and peace signs and circus equipment.

In Arabic, Hebrew, and English, demonstrators yelled, "No to the Wall!" and "Don't shoot!"



As one Palestinian demonstrator began to pull away the barbed wire which was preventing the crowd of reaching the bigger Wall behind it, Israeli forces began to fire tear gas.

Demonstrators rushed into the olive grove, hands and handkerchiefs covering eyes and mouths to prevent the suffocating gas from reaching their corneas and lungs. I myself heard rubber-coated steel bullets whizzing through olive branches. Everywhere you looked projectile tear gas cannisters were either dropping like heavy flies from the sky or screeching through the trees.

The peaceful protesters retreated after 20 minutes but regrouped further up the path. Some quick decision making was made on behalf of the Palestinian organizers and their solidarity colleagues. And soon the crowd bolted down some rugged terrain.



The goal was to reach another side of the Apartheid Wall- to possibly dismantle some parts of it, but at least to reach the Wall and cross it.

On the other side of the Wall, of course, the Israeli settlements of Mod'in Ilit and Mattityahu East are illegally constructed. These colonies, and the Apartheid Wall in this story, have been built on nearly 60% of land that has been confiscated by Israel from the Palestinian village of Bil'in. This is Apartheid at its finest.

So, through the mountain side, about 30 demonstrators, a blend of Palestinian, Israeli, and internationals, quietly hustled on over to another portion of the extensive Wall of Apartheid.



Luckily, most people had their boots and tennis shoes on because it was a rocky road. The military camera was facing the road on which the demonstrators had marched. It was not facing this covert action against a different portion of the Wall.

Once the hikers regrouped, they placed tired and branches on the barbed wire and were able to make their way across the first wall. At this point, the demonstrators were between Walls. One a wall of barbed wire and the other electrical fencing and barbed wire.



Further in the distance, Israeli forces were firing into the remaining demonstrators who stayed behind in the olive grove. Signs in Hebrew at this part of the wall read in Hebrew something like this: "If you come any closer, there is a threat of death." So, demonstrators cut the wires and flung the posts down the rocky slope.

This small march made its way between walls towards the Occupation forces. Soldiers did not even notice the crowd until they were just meters away. When they were spotted, however, soldiers turned their fire from the olive grove and onto the pack of 30.



"Don't shoot!" was screamed in a handful of languages. Soldiers were caught off guard. Their unsynchronized reactions proved this. Soldiers were coming right up to the fence and pointing their guns at the non-violent demonstrators.



Soldiers could not throw the tear gas over the first wall because it would have tumbled down the mountain so they threw it on the road near the jeeps.



It dissipated quickly. Mohammad Khatib from the Popular Committee walked further up the path. A soldier confronted him at a gate in the Wall. Mohammad recounted:

"The soldier was pointing his gun right at me. He was just centimeters from shooting me. I told him we were non-violent and not to shoot. You can arrest us if you want but don't shoot. I then heard the commanding officer tell the soldier in Hebrew to stand down."



After some negotiating with the soldiers, the Palestinians were able to get the army to agree to let the thirty demonstrators exit through the main part of the wall, without shooting them. This is the location in the Wall where, every week, demonstrators have been trying to reach.

Over the past few weeks, Occupation forces have not allowed the demonstration to reach this gate in the Wall, and have prevented the marchers from doing so by using tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets, just like they were using today.

Two weeks ago, Israeli forces shot Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner Mariad Macguire in this same way-- she was part of the demonstration that was trying to reach the gate in the Apartheid Wall. About 25 peaceful protesters were injured by demonstrators that day.


Two weeks ago, Nobel Peace prize winner shot by Israeli forces, Photo by Jonas

So, it was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. The demonstrators outsmarted the army and crossed the wall. They walked past Israeli soldiers on the right side of the wall, firing into the mountainside. And they walked past soldiers on the left, who were still firing tear gas at the Palestinians in the olive grove.



One member of the Tel Rumeida Circus for Detained Palestinians swirled around her circus poi as she passed the absurdity of the Occupation.

When asked to make an official statement about TRCDP's role at the demonstration, she said "If we can make one soldier smile at us, it's a success because that means he is not shooting a Palestinian during that second."



* * * * *

Bil'in is a Palestinian village that is struggling to exist. It is fighting to safeguard its land, its olive trees, its resources… its liberty.

While annexing close to 60% of Bil'in land for Israeli settlements and the construction of Israel’s separation wall, the state of Israel is strangling the village. Every day it destroys a bit more creating in an open air prison for Bil’in’s inhabitants.

For more about Bil'in, click HERE

* * * * *

I also want to share this little story with you.

Two days ago, I was in a taxi coming from Hebron to Ramallah. We had a meeting in Hebron to discuss some things about the ISM.

One must cross at least three checkpoints to get to Ramallah. Of course, this doesn't include flying checkpoints, where soldiers can stop you at anytime. And of course, this rule does not apply to you if you are Israeli. And of course, these checkpoints divide Palestinian land from Palestinian land-- not a checkpoint on the "borders" of Palestine and Israel. Special license plates distinguish between "the good guys" and the "bad guys," according to the State.

So, just outside of Hebron, we were told at a checkpoint to pull over to the side of the road. There were five cars in front of us already.



Soldiers were rummaging through one of the Palestinian cars. All the people in the car were forces to exit and stand beside a wall. One of the soldiers pulled a keffiyeh out of the car. A keffiyeh is the traditional scarf or headdress you'll find here in Palestine, black ones, red ones, green ones, multi-colored ones... So, because it represents Palestine, this soldier takes the keffiyeh and throws it inside the checkpoint, and would not give it back to the Palestinian who owned it.

Then the men were told to get back into the car and my taxi made its way to the front of the line.

Soldiers ordered everyone out of the car and we stood against the wall. Could you guess what I had in the trunk? 100 keffiyehs! I could only imagine what the soldier would do to them.



"Who's bag" the soldier says in Hebrew.

"This is my bag. And I don't speak your language."

Again the soldier said something in Hebrew.

I don't speak your language, English or Spanish please I told him.

He made me open my bag. 100 keffiyehs!

Why do I have these he asked. I told him I like them.

But why do you have them?

I going to Jerusalem, I told him, to send these back to California. I work with an inter-faith group, Jews Muslims and Christians- and they are expecting these keffiyehs.

He tore the bag apart a little bit but refrained from stealing them like he did the Palestinian's.

This is how they are. If you are Palestinian and have something, they will take it, destroy it. If you are international and you have 100 of that same thing, keep moving.

It was a bit disgusting. I felt a bit shameful. But I know they're day is coming.

The clock is ticking.

For those of you who haven't seen this, please watch.

From Journeyman Pictures: Life in Gaza is a constant gauntlet of Israeli sniper fire, military rockets and army bulldozers. No one is safe. In light of the escalating tensions, we’re bringing back one our most moving documentaries, a hard-hitting expose of life in the Occupied territories. We speak to the children caught in the crossfire and find out the true cost of Israel’s targeted assassinations policy.

A little boy screams in agony. There’s shrapnel in his eye, leg, stomach and feet. He was playing in the street outside his house when an Israeli helicopter fired missiles at the car of a Hamas member. Ten minutes later, the helicopter returned and fired two more bombs at the decimated car, spraying the surrounding district with sharp metal darts. Makmoud was just 1 of 47 people injured in the attack. Four others were killed.

The feeling in Gaza is that the West accepts this type of action. It doesn’t matter how much so called ‘collateral damage’ it causes. Whichever side kills last says it is a response to the one before. In the grim calculus of this conflict, around three Palestinians die for every Israeli killed. It’s an equation that keeps old hatreds fresh.

Israel’s hardline policy may only be aimed at militants but it’s the civilians who end up paying the price. 12 year old Huda Darwish was sitting in her classroom when a stray bullet from an Israeli sniper hit her. After three weeks in a coma, she is finally waking up. Her relatives’ joy quickly vanishes when they realise that the bullet has left her blind. The reality of her shattered life suddenly hits her. “I want to die. Why did this happen to me?” she asks. Her family have no answers.

We visit Huda’s school in Rafah to see how the accident could possibly have happened. The school is run by the United Nations on a big open site not easy to miss. But an Israeli military position is situated just 500 metres away. As we enter her classroom, a shell explodes nearby. The children flee terrified under their desks. One girl is so traumatised she is in a state of shock. Their teacher says that this happens all the time.

Almost every day, Israeli troops leave their base in Rafah to bulldoze Palestinian houses. “This is a combat area,” explains Colonel Pinky Zoaret. He says he needs to destroy the houses to deny the terrorists cover. But most of the houses belong to ordinary Palestinians. Thousands have lost their homes. And there’s no compensation for the dispossessed. “I can’t sleep,” confides resident Doctor Sameer. “I smoke about 40 to 50 cigarettes a night.” All his life savings are in his house but he knows he could lose it at any time.

Those who try and stop the violence can end up paying with their lives. Rachel Corrie was one of them. She brought the Palestinians’ plight to the world’s attention when she died, crushed by an Israeli bulldozer while trying to protect a building. The IDF maintain that she died because of her own irresponsible and illegal behaviour. But eye witnesses tell a different story. “The driver could clearly see she was there,” states her friend. “But instead of stopping, he continued forward.”

Months later, there are more high profile killings in Gaza. British photographer Tom Hurndall was shot trying to rescue a six year old girl who was stuck out in gunfire. Then cameraman James Miller was killed by Israeli fire. “James died because we trusted them to behave like a civilised army. We knew they could see that we weren’t armed and that we were carrying a white flag. We trusted them not to kill us under those circumstances and they shot James anyway,” states his colleague Saira Shah.

Gaza still remains a killing zone.

REQUEST: Please donate your new or used video cameras to ISM Palestine

The more internationals that arrive here in Palestine, the more we are able to document life under Occupation. However, we are very very low on video cameras and field recorders.



Why do we need video cameras? To catch on tape illegal Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians, including children , as they walk to and from school or tend to their crops and livestock in the villages...



To catch Israeli soldiers arbitrarily invading Palestinian homes, whereupon they ransack the house and beat the Palestinian residents. Having cameras in these situations helps to de-escalate the situations because, for the most part, soldiers and settler do not want to be filmed performing these violent acts and harassment.



There is also a new wave of Palestinian home demolition orders that the Israeli military and courts have issues. Palestinian are not issued building permits or they are too expensive to purchase. So, often times, the Israeli military enters a Palestinian town or village to destroy the homes. Right now we have ISM activists in Al Hadidi and Izbat at-Tabib, two villages that have been given orders to leave their homes before bulldozers come and rip apart their livelihoods. We have been renting a video camera from a camera store but it is very expensive.

The Israeli army recently re-demolished homes in the South Hebron Hills. Palestinian, Israeli, and international solidarity activists were present to try and prevent the demolitions. Luckily, there was someone from the group Tayyush who was there with a video camera to document this atrocity.

We also will use these cameras to document weekly demonstrations in the village of Bil'in, in Bethlehem, and in the Hebron region.

There are countless incidents where we will use these video cameras, and we will share the evidence of these war crimes with the media, and with the world.

If anyone out there can donate a new or used video camera, please contact me!

Salamaat from Palestine!

Jonas
joeskillet@riseup.net

or you can call US number 1-510-868-8046 and leave a message and I will check it as soon as I can.

Peace out

Just can't quell the non-violent resistance
27 April 2007




Once a week for 26 months, Palestinians from the village of Bil’in have been non-violently resisting the Israeli Occupation and the Apartheid Wall has ripped through the village. This Friday, Palestinians were joined by international and Israeli solidarity activists. They joined the demonstration outside of the mosque in Bil’in but, instead of taking the normal route to the gate in the Apartheid wall, the demonstrators took a side route.


Demonstrators chant songs near the Apartheid Wall


Last week, the Israeli occupation forces shot at least 20 non-violent demonstrators, including Mairead Maguire, the Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner. This week, demonstrators were hoping to catch the army off guard by taking this alternate route.

When the demonstrators reached their destination at the Wall, Israeli soldiers were 200 meters away, awaiting the demonstration to arrival from its normal direction. Even the high-powered water tank was on the inside of the Wall. Little did they know, we were catching them by surprise further down the route of the illegal barrier.

Palestinians were shouting, "No to Occupation, No to the Wall!" Internationals and Israelis joined in, throwing chants in the direction of the few soldiers who made their way to demonstration. The bulk of the soldiers were still up on the hill, too far to shoot rubber-coated steel bullets or sounds bombs.

These few Israeli soldiers who were across the Wall from the demonstration threw a couple tear gas cannisters. The peaceful demonstrators did not budge.



Instead, Abu Sadi, one of the elders of Bil'in, crossed through a torn portion in the fence and walked towards the soldiers on the other side of the Wall. There are actually two walls at this point. The space between, a sort of no-man's-land, serves as a military access road. And from up the hill, soldiers were entering this access road, speeding towards the demonstrators.

The high-powered water tank arrived on the other side of the Wall as well. A couple other Palestinians followed behind Abu Sadi. The water tank revved up and began blasting the peaceful demonstrators on their faces and backs. Last week, Mohammad Khatib was blasted in the chest and received medical attention for his injuries. He said it "felt like my ribs were broken." And now, Abu Sadi, probably in his late 60's, lay on the ground after being smashed by the force of the water.



Four street medics rushed over to help Abu Sadi from the ground. The army continued to shoot at Abu Sadi, the medics, and the demonstrators during this process. A handful of other demonstrators then crossed through the opening in the fence.

As more Israeli soldiers arrived, the started to shoot tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and sponge bullets at the demonstrators who had not crawled through the fence. According to a Palestinian who was hit by one before, sponge bullets stick into your skin until you get it medically removed or it just comes out on its own, and they go for $55 a round.



The water tank revved up again but this time started to squirt dark blue water at the demonstrators. Sometimes this water is laced with some sort of chemical which makes your skin feel like it is on fire. Today, it seemed to stain clothes and hands and faces, not to mention staining the earth and trees. It also burned a bit when it entered the eyes.



The line of demonstrators in between the two fences marched forwards towards the several more soldiers and jeep who had arrived. The army tried to arrest one of them but demonstrators intervened to de-arrest him.



Abu Sadi crawled atop the hood of the jeep and soldiers continued to fire at the demonstrators still inside of the Wall.



For half an hour, demonstrators sung to the soldiers to "Free Palestine," to "tear down the wall," to "end the Occupation," and asked, "Hey soldiers can you say, how many kids did you shoot today?" The soldiers gave no reply. They just kept on shooting.

At the request of the Palestinians, the internationals and Israelis joined the Palestinians in retreating from the area between the fences and made their way back through the fence, hands in the air, with some attention on the sponge bullet gun aiming in their direction.



Further towards the gate in the Wall, some of the demonstrators continued to non-violently resist and attempt to reach the other side of the Wall. Abdullah, a Palestinian from Bil'in, was detained by the army but later released.

And soon the demonstrators made their way back to the village, many of them covered from head to toe in a dark blue substance, aimed at quelling their non-violent resistance.

But, like every Friday, Palestinians and their international and Israeli solidarity colleagues will be back, to demand and end to the Occupation, to dismantle the Apartheid Wall which the International Court of Justice has already deemed illegal and calls for it immediate destruction, and to keep up the on-going non-violent struggle towards justice.



Peace out

Listen to the Democracy Now segment here:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/23/1350224

Israeli troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas at a non-violent protest against the separation wall near the West Bank village of Bilin. Several protesters were injured including the Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Maguire who was shot with a rubber bullet. She joins us on the line from Ireland. [includes rush transcript] We turn now to Israel and the Occupied Territories. Israeli forces have killed eight Palestinians over the past two days including a 17-year-old girl and a Palestinian police officer. Meanwhile Israeli troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas at a non-violent protest against the separation wall near the West Bank village of Bilin. Several protesters were injured including the Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Maguire who was shot with a rubber bullet. Mairead has just returned to Ireland.

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

Palestinian activists plant 32 Olive trees south of Bethlehem, in memory of the victims of the Virginia Tech Massacre



Full story here:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/04/25/from-palestine-to-virginia/

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

Video of the demonstration in Bil'in, Tito climbing the Israeli video tower



Full story here:
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/04/24/tito-arrest-update/

All we had for breakfast was tear gas
21 April 2007

"Thanks to the media here for telling the truth...Bring this truth to whatever country you come from!"




These were Mairead Maguire's words, a Nobel Peace Prize winner from Northern Ireland, just one hour before she was shot with a rubber-coated steel bullet by Israeli Occupation Forces.

At a press conference next to the Apartheid Wall in Bil'in, she stood beside Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Palestinian Information Minister.


Press conference near Apartheid Wall

"Non-violence will solve the problems here in Israel and Palestine," Ms. Macguire continued. "Often, the world sees only violence. But Palestinians are a good people, working towards non-violence. This Wall must fall! It is an insult to the human family and to the world-- that we are building Apartheid Walls in the 21st Century! More than forty years of Occupation and Land Appropriation"

Ms. Macguire demanded her viewers of the world to stop Israel's "mild dictatorship" and "total Israeli government control."

Dr. Barghouti thanked her and the 500 attendees of the Second Bil'in International Conference on Non-violence. Regarding the Wall, he stated that it was an "instrument of ethnic cleansing, the same as what happened in 1948." Barghouti suggested to read Illan Pappe's book, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine for a clear explanation.

Barghouti stated that the Apartheid Wall is being used to suffocate the idea of a 2-state solution and an independent Palestinian state.

Describing the Wall, Barghouti said that it was 850 km in length, which is three times the length of the Green Line (the 1967 Armistice line), that the wall surrounds and imprisons cities and villages. Qalqilia was mentioned, a city of 46,000 Palestinians, which is completely surrounded by the Aparthied Wall.


Photo of Apartheid Wall in Qalqilia

"This Wall is being built between Palestinians and Palestinians," he said. "It is not being built between Palestine and Israel. 850,000 Palestinians are behind this wall. It is destroying Palestinian social, economic, health, and educational systems."

"It has been condemned by every major legal body, including the International Court of Justice, and it must be removed!"

"You will see the Israeli military practice violence here today."

After 60 years of dispossession and 40 years of Occupation, Dr. Barghouti joined Ms. Macguire in Bil'in, as "a symbol of the Palestinian non-violent struggle," he said. He also demanded the release of British BBC journalist Alan Johnson, "who did everything he could to bring the truth, a wonderful being which (he) knew well, a fantastic journalist. We demand his freedom. It continues to hurt the image of the Palestinian people."

Barghouti closed by saying that there is no propaganda needed-- just to show the pictures of the wall and checkpoints, for they speak for themselves.


Israeli high-powered water tank at Apartheid Wall

Just before the press conference ended, a huge Israeli high-powered water police-tank rolled through the opening in the Wall, demanding that all the vehicles of the press leave the premises.

Further beyond the Wall, Tito, a Puerto Rican activist was waiting for his cue. After the press conference ended, he climbed the sky-scraping Israeli military tower housing the military camera, which watches over the village of Bil'in like the all-seeing-eye of the pyramid, recording every movement of the cages Palestinians in Bil'in.


Tito on the top of military tower hanging Palestinian flag

Cheering, "Tito! Tito!," friends and activists snapped photos and a crew of supporters lingered below the massive tower. Military vehicles dispatched themselves to try and prevent the too-quick climber of Puerto Rico.

As he reached the top, the cheers grew louder and waving high and proud over the beautiful village of Bil'in were the colors of red, white, green and black.

It would be another five hours before Tito descended the tower.

On the other side of the village, Friday prayers at the mosque were ending, and hundreds of Palestinians, Israelis, and international solidarity activists would march down the road towards the Apartheid Wall.


Non-violent demonstrators march to the Apartheid Wall

But even with Dr. Mustafa Barghouti present and with the Irish Nobel Peace Prize Winner joining the non-violent demonstration, Israeli Occupation Forces utilized their usual violent tactics to try and quell the resistance.


Israeli Occupation Forces fire tear gas at demonstrators

Blocking the path with armed soldiers about 100 meters before the Wall, soldiers began to fire tear gas into the crowd of 400 or so protesters. The crowd would disperse, covering their faces with bandannas and onion slices to dilute the suffocating gases. But the crowd would regroup and continue, Ghandi-style, their non-violent procession to the Apartheid structure.

Israeli forces kept this up for quite some time, but as demonstrators reached closer to their goal, the occupiers added more ingredients to their recipe-- this time using rubber-coated steel bullets.

Several patches of demonstrators in different parts of the olive grove were screaming in Arabic, Spanish, Hebrew, English, and others, "Don't shoot! We're non-violent!"

But the triggers of the occupier's guns pulled anyways-- the weapon of non-violence needed to be dismantled.


Rubber-coated steel bullet wound to the leg

And from 10 meters away, filmmaker Asusena Fernando from Spain was hit on the left leg with one of these rubber-coated steel bullets. She said to me, "He looked straight into my eyes. I asked him not to shoot but he took aim anyways."

Moments later, Masid Abu Tamer, a Palestinian Israeli a journalist for British Channel 2 was shot in the head with a rubber bullet. The Palestinian Red Crescent placed him on the stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance.


Palestinian-Israeli shot in head with rubber bullet

"He's the second one it 3 minutes that they've shot in the head!" yelled someone next to me.

It is illegal under Israeli military law to shoot rubber bullets from a distance under 40 meters. They are considered lethal otherwise. Lymor Goldstein was shot by Israeli forces in the head last August from a distance of 10 meters with a rubber bullet. The bullet penetrated his skull and entered his brain. Luckily, he is still around and is serving as Tito's lawyer right now as I am writing this.

I saw Tomas from Denmark fall to the ground, Dawood from the UK hit on the inner thigh near his groin, Ali from Palestine hit in the leg, and tear gas canisters were oozing with white smoke from what seemed like every inch of the land.



I exited the street to find a group of 8 Palestinian, Israeli, and internationals with their hands raised high to the sky, shouting not to shoot. Because of my medic background, and because of the recent shootings previously mentioned, I hovered nearby.




Suddenly, Ms. Macguire, the Irish Nobel Peace prize winner was shot in the leg.

Two other street medics carried her to safety and the army continued to fire into the non-violent crowd.



The resilience was astounding. The demonstrators kept regrouping. Even Ms. Macguire, after being shot and with red, watery tear-gassed eyes-- she rejoined the march.

Eventually, there was an ad-hoc town hall meeting. Habibi, a Palestinian from Jenin stood atop a dirt mound and announced that we were moving forward. "We need internationals to join us! We are going to cross to the other side. Let's just move quickly as one group and we will make it!"

On the other side of army lines stood Dr. Barghouti, the crowd below Tito, and other activists who were being harassed by the soldiers.

So we charged forward, through clouds of tear gas, and reached the hill toward the Wall. Soldiers refrained from firing tear gas now since we stood just inches away. The canon of the water tank moved its aim from the demonstration towards this new crowd of activists forming on the hill near the jeeps.

Occupation forces started throwing people around, threatening them with arrest. Soldiers were swinging their batons. A young Palestinian boy was hit and was carried away over someone's shoulder.


Palestinian boy is carried away after being beaten by Israeli forces

"Shame!," someone exclaimed to a soldier, "Is that how the moral Israeli army treats Palestinians children?"

The soldiers were trying to force the activists apart but they locked arms and became one solid unit that the army just could not dismantle. When the soldiers turned their attention on a singular activist and charged at him, the line of activists unlocked arms and puppy-piled on top of him, saving him from the soldiers' abuse.



Tear gas and rubber bullets continued to be fired at the demonstration back across the path. Those who saw that we made it across attempted to join us but the army was determined to not let this happen. And there was Tito was up on that tower.

When a Palestinian teenager fainted from tear gas inhalation, demonstrators called for Dr. Barghouti. He came to the boy's assistance, checked his jugular pulse, splashed some water on his face, and helped him off to safety. Others throughout the demonstration were treated with tear gas inhalation.



Three internationals were detained, handcuffed, and brought to one of the army jeeps. Another was de-arrested by the group who made it to the hill. Soldiers were confining these activists to a small space.



I could see them whispering to each other and it became clear to me that the water canon was pointing directly at the activists. (Water canons can knock the wind out of you and cause serious damage). And the soldiers kept backing away as if they didn't want to get splashed. "Follow the soldiers!" one of the activists yelled. The soldier in the water tank would be less inclined to shoot at the activists if they were adjacent the soldiers. So no water was fired as the activists followed the soldiers' steps, still locking arms.

After some time, a Palestinian from the organizing committee amplified his voice over the bullhorn, saying that the demonstration should come to an end. He negotiated with the soldier that they would not fire at the activists during the retreat.

As they left, they moved away the barbed wire that the soldiers had used as a roadblock. The demonstrators from the other side of the road marched towards the ones who had crossed the army line.

Chanting ensued and the two groups rejoined. After a quick decision, the whole of the group marched back towards the jeeps and soldiers and immediately sat on the ground, locking arms. Over the loud speaker, someone told Tito's story--- of a man who came all the way from Puerto Rico to stand in solidarity, to climb the tower to hand the Palestinian symbol of independence, and to risk arrest and deportation. The crowd answered back, "Tito! Tito! Tito!"

Then, the three men who were arrested were released and rejoined the demonstrators.

At this point, the Bil'in's Second Annual Conference on Non-violence came to an end. The soldiers exited the gate in the Apartheid Wall. The demonstrators went to tend their wound, to expel the tear gas powder from their noses and lungs. Others, like Ursula from Switzerland, went to the hospital because she was shot in the stomach with a rubber bullet.

Ana Maria, a 63 year old retired lawyer from Spain, tended to her stomach after also being hit with a rubber bullet.


Rubber-coated steel bullet wound on stomach

An estimated 25 people were either hit with rubber bullets, soldier batons, or received medical care from tear gas inhalation.

And Tito remains in prison. It is the first time that the military commander has used a practice for an international that is normally used against the Palestinians. When a Palestinian is arrested, the army usually hold the person for 96 hours before even seeing a judge. The commander can then extend that 96 hours for and another 96 hours. With Israelis or internationals who are arrested in similar situations, they are usually released before 24 hours.

Lymor Goldstein, Tito's lawyer, has said that the court may deport Tito tomorrow, even though Tito was scheduled to leave Palestine on Sunday (tomorrow) anyways.



The people of Bil'in and their Israeli and international solidarity friends will be back next Friday, to continue their non-violent struggle against Israeli Apartheid and land theft.

After the demonstration I took a long ride down to Hebron. The view is amazing and lush and beautiful, bu when all you have for breakfast is tear gas, it becomes a little nauseating on the twsisty-and-turny road.

But we made it, entered the checkpoint into the Palestinian neighborhood of Tel Rumeida which is under total Israeli military control, and made our way to the international flat. Israeli flags lined the whole trek up the hill to the house. (Israeli "indepedence" day is coming up in a few days-- hence the constant reminders of flags for Israelis and dispossession for the Palestinians).

I had some yerba mate and cracked my knuckels and it was time, once again, for the Tel Rumeida Circus for Detained Palestinians.



We lit up and twirled around outside. Palestinian kids surrounded us on all sides. Israeli soldiers watched from down the way.



An army jeep with a huge white and blue Israeli flag stopped a few feet away, presumably enjoying the show from within the shell of the armored vehicle...

Another international joined in on spinning some fire, officially expanding TRCDP.

It was a nice ending to a rough day.

The next morning I headed off to Ramallah to meet with Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. We met at his Information/Media Office to discuss some things.

Last week, when Research Journalism Initiative sent us at the ISM a link to a video of Israeli soldiers forcing Palestinian youth to act as human shields in Nablus, we called around the media. Eventually, it reached Barghouti's office and he used RJI's footage that we helped publish for his press conference that he holds once a week. He wants to work with us at the media office.



ISMers or other groups often videotape or photograph such events like that in Nablus or Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians, or the army destroying Palestinian homes. Barghouti said it would be nice if our team and his team worked together so that we could utilize our resources, to share with the world this footage which is often banned from the mainstream media.

He gave me his personal phone and fax numbers and his email address. Hours later, when we were told by Tito's lawyer about the situation-- we jumped on the call. We informed Barghouti's team that this is the first case where an international was being detained for 96 hours-- a practice usually employed against the Palestinians. Tito was supposed to leave from Palestine tomorrow but there is a possibility that Tito will have a trial. Even more, Tito may be deported, and we are waiting now to see which way this will turn.

Barghouti's office is ready to spread the word about Tito coming to Palestine to support Palestinian non-violent resistance to Israeli apartheid and occupation.

And I am going to bed.

Salamaat

These Boots Were Made for Marching... Dispatch #5
17 April 2007

Every April 17, Palestinians demonstrate across Palestine in commemoration of Prisoner’s Day. Today, there are non-violent demonstrations being held in Jenin, Hebron, Tubas, and silent demonstrations being held outside of prisoners where Palestinians are being illegally detained.

Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti recently held a press conference where he highlighted the case of Palestinian political prisoners. He said that 10,400 Palestinians are currently being held in Israeli jails in contravention of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. 4,575 prisoners (46 %) have not undergone trial and 950 (10%) are being held in administrative detention which means that prisoners have not been charged, can be held for up to 6 months, which can then be renewed indefinitely. 376 children under the age of 18 and 118 women are currently in Israeli jails. 95 percent of Palestinian prisoners have reported being subjected to various forms of torture and 183 prisoners have died in Israeli jails.

Last Friday, Palestinians from the village Bil’in held their regular Friday demonstrations against Israel’s Apartheid Wall, incorporating the upcoming Prisoner’s Day events into the march




At least 15 demonstrators were injured that day in Bil’in. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at a crowd of Palestinian, Israeli, and internationals, who were non-violently resisting Israel’s Apartheid Wall and Occupation of Palestinian land.

Every Friday for the past 26 months, Palestinians and their Israeli and international colleagues have been meeting in Bil’in and demonstrating against the Apartheid Wall. Today, in commemoration of Palestinian Prisoner’s Week, a portable “jail cell” was carried along the march towards the Wall. Palestinians, with their hands tied, resembling prisoners, marched inside the cell. Photos of Marwan Barghouti and other political prisoners were seen throughout the march.



Israeli forces were waiting inside of the Wall, however, preventing the demonstrators from reaching their destination. A high-powered water tank was also inside the Wall, waiting to be used on the demonstrators. Instead, the army started propelling tear gas at the peaceful demonstration. As people began to scatter in various directions, soldiers fired indiscriminately into the trees.



When the demonstrators regrouped and began their march to the Wall again, the army began using an excessive amount of tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Martin, an American solidarity activist, explained, “Just as people cleared the smoke from the tear gas they had to start dodging rubber bullets. Even the demonstrators who were retreating back to the village were at risk. I even saw a medic from the Red Crescent being carried away.”



“Every time I turned around I saw another person being carried away. I have never seen the army this aggressive in Bil’in,” said Miriam, a Palestinian activist.




Although the army would not let even one demonstrator reach the Wall, firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets continuously, the demonstrators persisted for two hours on trying to reach the Wall.



Another Palestinian activist explained, “Just like our Palestinian brothers and sisters in Israeli jails, we too are in a jail here in Bil’in. But our prison here has no ceiling.”






During the retreat back into the village, I stopped at the side of the road for a rest. I was moved quickly when I noticed that wind was carrying the army’s tear gas my way. As I walked further up the road, I turned to view the scene. As if time were standing still, I noticed a black bee sized object heading my way. As it got closer, I realized it was heading for my leg and that it wasn’t a bee. It was moving too fast. And at the last moment, instinctively, I jumped into the air.

A tiny hole was left in my big black boot. The rubber-coated steel bullet that was heading for my shin luckily hit rubber coated boot instead, reflecting the damage.

I paused for a moment, remembering that I was wearing these same boots last year in Bil’in. I didn’t jump that time.



Shortly thereafter, I received a phone call from Qatar. It was Al Jazeera calling. Just a day before, an activist in Nablus sent the ISM media office a link to a video that he had just recorded. The video shows Israeli Occupation soldiers forcing Palestinian youth to pose as human shields in front of their jeep, to protect it from stones being thrown.

After watching to video, we decided to call around to our media contacts. This stuff was definitely worth getting out there. The Associated Press didn't want it. Reuters wasn't interested. But we weren't letting it go unnoticed. Eventually in was picked up by Ali Waked at YNet and then Ha'aretz ran a story on it. It made it way around the internet and newspapers and eventually to Qatar. The following day, Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti used the footage during a press conference in Ramallah.

Because of this negative publicity for Israel's Occupation Army, the officer involved was suspended.

Though it was a small step, it reinforced the importance of cooperation between groups, this time including Research Journalism initiative (http://www.researchjournalisminitiative.net) and the ISM Media Office.

Here is the video:




The next day, the Tel Rumeida Circus for Detained Palestinians (http://trcdp.livejournal.com) was invited to perform at the Palestine Cultural Palace. We at TRCDP worked alongside the First Palestinian Circus School last summer, teaching Palestinian youth such things as fire dancing, juggling, and acrobatics. So, it was a pleasant surprise running into some of the students at the Palace.



When the crowd of 700 theatre-goers were leaving the Palace after watching dabke, theatre, and an orchestral performace, TRCDP was waiting for them outside.



TRCDP will soon be sending out a call for international circus performers to join them and the non-violent struggle in Occupied Palestine for this summer. After the Tel Rumeida Circus for Detained Palestinians ended their fire show, it was time to focus on the detention of almost 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners, behind bars in Israeli jails.


So, members of the Campaign to Free Marwan Barghouti and All Prisoners (www.freebarghouti.org) were joined by Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals at Israel's Apartheid Wall near Qalandya checkpoint today. A large stencil of Marwan Barghouti was pre-sliced as were thirteen additional stencils reading, "Patience Marwan," all in different languages. The action was held in honor of Palestine's upcoming Prisoner's Day, to be held on today, April 17.

Nearly 40 people arrived for the action. First, prisoner solidarity activists climbed the ladders and spray painted the spliced wood, soon to reveal a silhouette of a familiar image:




Then, thirteen nations were represented as they spray painted "Patience Marwan" in the Palestinian colors. A Palestinian held the stencil for an Israeli as she climbed to the highest peak on the ladder and she held the stencil for him as the black paint attached itself to the Apartheid Wall.




Then residents of South Korea, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Holland, Japan, Norway, and elsewhere, sprayed their country's message. I sprayed the message from the people of the United States. We took our turns, spraying in solidarity a message of freedom-- to release Marwan and all of Palestine's Political Prisoners, currently being held behind bars in Israeli jails.





An Israeli soldier yelled at the spray painters from the Apartheid Tower, but the soldiers remained huddled inside the Wall, and the action continued.

For more about Palestinian Political Prisoners, visit: http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=2177

Tomorrow in Bil'in, the Second Annual International Bil'in Conference will start. Day 1 will include speakers from Palestine, Israel, France, Italy, the US, and other countries, talking about non-violent resistance to Israeli Occupation and Apartheid. Day 2 will include workshops on boycott and divestment, direct action, and media. The third day, Palestinians and the conference participants will march in solidarity to the Apartheid Wall in Bil'in, which is currently stealing 60% of the land and placing it on the "Israeli" side of the Wall.

I will be there covering the conference for you all. So please stay in touch. Pardon my delay since the last dispatch.

Salamaat
Jonas

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