As its name suggests, Beit Arabiya is a home belonging to Arabiya Shawamreh, her husband Salim and their seven children, a Palestinian family whose home has been demolished four times by the Israeli authorities and rebuilt each time by ICAHD’s Palestinian, Israeli and international peace activists, before being demolished again last night.

At around 11p.m. Monday, a bulldozer accompanied by a contingent of heavily armed Israeli soldiers appeared on the Anata hills, to promptly demolish Beit Arabiya, along with residential and agricultural structures in the nearby Arab al-Jahalin Bedouin compound. 3 family homes were demolished along with numerous animal pans, and 20 people including young children were displaced, left exposed to the harsh desert environment. While standing in solidarity with Palestinians, ICAHD staff and activists were repeatedly threatened by Israeli soldieries. ICAHD Co-Director Itay Epshtain was beaten and sustained minor injuries.

Beit Arabiya was issued a demolition order by Israeli authorities back in 1994, following their failure to grant a building permit. It has since been demolished four times, to be rebuilt by ICAHD activists. Following a reissue of the demolition order last Thursday, came last night’s fifth demolition. ICAHD Director, Dr. Jeff Halper, standing astride the ruins, vowed to support Salim and Arabiya in rebuilding their home. “We shall rebuild, we must rebuild forthwith, as an act of political defiance of the occupation and protracted oppression of Palestinians” said Halper.

Beit Arabiya has become a symbol of resistance to the Judaization of the Occupied West Bank and Israeli demolition policy. “ICAHD is as determined as always to rebuild the home, and endure in its struggle to bring about justice and peace” added Halper.

Salim and Arabiya, along with their neighbors and friends stood last night and watched as this tragedy unfold once again. Arabiya and Salim have dedicated their home as a center for peace in the memories of Rachel Corrie and Nuha Sweidan, two women (an American and a Palestinian) who died resisting home demolitions in Gaza. In the past decade ICAHD has hosted numerous visitors at Beit Arabiya, and based its annul rebuilding camp at the house, rebuilding 185 demolished Palestinian homes.

UPDATE January 24th: Anata Home Rebuilt by ICAHD Demolished

This morning, Israeli authorities demolished the home of the Abu Omar family, rebuilt by ICAHD in July 2011. The Abu Omar family home, built in 1990 on privately owned land, was demolished by the Israeli military in 2005. Ahmed Abu Omar (46) had applied for a building permit, but was refused on the grounds that his land was zoned as an “agricultural area.” This is a story we hear often, and it reflects Israel’s long-time, unlawful policy of curtailing all construction by Palestinians since 1967. They were offered neither alternative housing nor compensation for the demolition, violating international law. The construction of the Abu Omar family home, long waited since the 2005 demolition by Israel, was completed on July 24th 2011, exactly six months ago. The keys to the home were handed over to the family in a celebratory dedication ceremony marking the end of a two week rebuild. Volunteers were joined by members of the larger Anata community, civil society activists and Palestinian Authority high ranking officials, as family members began life in their rebuilt home. ICAHD staff visited with the family shortly after the demolition of their home took place to find them somber, traumatized, and grief stricken. ICAHD has vowed to support the family in rebuilding their home, once more. This is the second ICAHD rebuilt home demolished within 24 hours, in what seems like a concerted, yet futile, effort to discourage ICAHD from rebuilding demolished Palestinian homes.

(PSP Editorial Note: Palestine Solidarity Project Co-Founder Bekah Wolf has been helping with the training for ICAHD’s rebuilding camp for two summers, including the amazing team who helped build the Abu Omar home in 2011).

For more information and coordination of visits to Beit Arabiya, kindly contact Itay Epshtain at itay@icahd.org or +972-54-2623306

Additional Information

House demolitions and forced evictions are among Israel’s most heinous practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). In 2011, a record year of displacement, a total of 622 Palestinian structures were demolished by Israeli authorities, of which 36% (or 222) were family homes; the remainder were livelihood-related (including water storage and agricultural structures), resulting in 1,094 people displaced, almost double the number for 2010. The Jordan Valley sustained the largest number of demolitions (32% of total structures demolished, 40% of residential structures demolished, 37% of people displaced), with 199 structures demolished and 401 people displaced.
Israel now controls 40% of the West Bank through 149 settlements and 102 outposts, housing more than 500,000 Jewish Israelis, as well as through closed military zones and declared nature reserves. In addition, house demolitions, forced evictions, and land expropriation, exacerbated by settler violence and the economic effects of movement restrictions, have left Palestinian communities struggling to make a living. Palestinians live in constant fear of displacement and dispersion, while Israel secures its domination and control.

The demolition of Palestinian homes is politically motivated and strategically informed. The goal is to confine the 4 million residents of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza to small enclaves, thus effectively foreclosing any viable Palestinian state and ensuring Israeli control, and to allow for the expropriation of land, the ethnic displacement of Palestinians, and the Judaization of the Occupied West Bank.

Additionally, demonstrators chanted against the occupation and waved flags. Among the demands issued by the Popular Committee in Beit Ommar were:

1. Our rights to use this road which is built on a Palestinian land.
2. Our rights to enter freely to Jerusalem which is a Palestinian city without the need to have Israeli security permission.
3. Our rights to move freely on our roads without Israeli apartheid occupation military checkpoints, all the checkpoints (at least 450 in the West Bank alone) have to be removed from Palestinian land.
4. We demand an end to the colonization, apartheid and occupation of our lands in general.

As the activists began playing football, dozens of heavily armed Israeli soldiers attacked the protesters to suppress the peaceful protest by pushing and beating participants. The demonstrators remained steadfast and continued to chant and assert their demands despite this aggression. At a certain point, Israeli soldiers detained Mousa Abu Maria, an organizer with the Beit Ommar Popular Committee and the Palestine Solidarity Project. Mousa was put in a military jeep, but the rest of the demonstrators demanded that he be released immediately. After some time, the soldiers gave in to the demands of the crowd and Mousa was released.

Organizers of the protest asserted that they will continue to carry on their peaceful protests until they have achieved their ultimate goal, ending the occupation and gaining their freedom.

Young Israeli mothers from Tel Aviv and Jaffa and their children joined the Palestinian families for creative workshops and joint games in a public park. The mixed group of almost 80 Israelis and Palestinian women and children enjoyed a delicious picnic meal based on Palestinian cooking. Many Palestinian women activists from Beit Ommar have taken the led in organizing these actions to challenge the occupation.

Asked by a correspondent how they feel about this action and the risks involved, as well as the idea of cooperating with Israelis, one of the Palestinian organizers said: “Our life is hard. We and our children need a break, this is a good opportunity to feel free and happy. Just like the Israeli women, our goal is to make a political statement against the occupation of Palestine. We defy the illegal, inhuman, Israeli system that constantly oppresses us”.

The group issued a statement helping to contextualize the political implications of these actions which read:

“We hereby, publicly reassert, that we do break and shall continue to break the laws and orders that limit the right to freedom of movement of the civilian population in the West Bank. We challenge the wisdom, morality and legality of such decrees. We seek the path of civil disobedience against an arbitrary system that, for the past 44 years, has deprived millions of people of their human and civil rights, placing them under a military regime and behind walls, barriers and checkpoints.”

According to the notices received by villagers, the area is close to the train line to Jerusalem and next to the East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo, in which Israeli authorities approved the building of 1,100 new homes on Tuesday, sparking international condemnation.

The notification of the Israeli Ministry of Finance’s intention to purchase the lands said the acquisition was for military and security purposes.

Battir resident Nidal al-Zaghir said: the land confiscation “will be a great loss for the village, as they will lose many of their houses, water wells and agricultural lands.”

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1) WHY ARE YOU INSISTING ON GOING TO THE UN IN SEPTEMBER?
Palestinians want to go to the UN in order to get international recognition for their future – a Palestinian State – and to legitimize Palestinian claims for freedom, independence and statehood.

2) WILL THE UN HELP IN MATERIALIZING THOSE GOALS?
The majority of countries in the world support Palestinian statehood. The goal is to abolish the four and half decades of Israeli occupation in the Palestinian territories. Gaining staehood would open open up several new avenues for Palestine to pursue and end to the occupation and denial of human rights, such as the ICJ.

3) CAN YOU IDENTIFY THOSE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES?
The Occupied Territories are situated in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. They are within the 1967 border lines which are violently and illegally occupied by Israel. Their combined area makes up approximately 22% of historical Palestine.

4) WHY IS ISRAEL OPPOSED TO THE PALESTINIAN DRIVE TO GO TO THE UN IN SEPTEMBER?
Israel is opposed due to its ongoing denial of Palestinian rights and rejection of Palestinian statehood. Israel intends to keep the Occupied Territories and enlarge its “lebensraum” at the expense of the Palestinian people and their land properties. In keeping the Occupied Territories, Israel will carry on with its policy of building settlements and walls in order to fragment the territories so that they cannot be united into any one Palestinian State.

5) HOW CAN ISRAEL ALONE DEFY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AND CHALLENGE THE UN RESOLUTION?
Unfortunately, Israel has been shielded by multiple US vetoes (43) since 1967 providing Israel with all the support needed to carry on its violations against the Palestinian people and their landm on every level. At the same time, in the US, Israel has the world’s largest superpower as it’s strongest ally.

6) CAN WE SAY THAT THE WASHINGTON-TEL AVIV AXIS IS THE MAIN OBSTACLE TO PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
YES …. when we see the blind support of successive US Administrations, including the current Obama Administration towards Israeli aggression and occupation, we can conclude that the US is a major obstacle to peaceful coexistence in the Region as well.
Can you elaborate more on this issue?
• Look at the unlimited financial support of billions of US Dollars provided to Israel every year, which are used to build illegal settlements on Palestinian land;
• Also, the military and the technical support and cooperation between Israel and the US military industries;
• The US vetoes used at the UN Security Council to block the condemnation of Israeli violations of international resolutions including human rights violations in the occupied territories;
• The falsification of the facts and the US biased media coverage of the events in the Middle East which demonize Palestinians and their legal rights; while favoring Israel and its illegal occupation and aggression;
• Look at the empathic support of the Congress and the standing ovations during Netanyahu’s speech defying Obama’s “moderation”;
• All this and many other indications testify the so-called ‘unbreakable bonds’ (Obama) between Israel and the US in which Palestinians are the victims.

7) WHAT HAPPENED TO DIRECT NEGOTIATIONS WITH ISRAEL?
Heading to the UN in September is not a substitute for direct and honest negotiations. However the extreme right-wing Israeli leadership has closed all the doors to honest and tangible negotiations. Negotiating and simultaneously confiscating Palestinian land by expanding settlement building reflects the dishonest mentality of Israel’s leaders. That’s why President Abbas asked for settlements to stop in order to open the way for honest and serious negotiations.

8 ) WHAT ABOUT DELEGETIMIZING ISRAEL?
Going to the UN and obtaining international recognition for a PALESTINIAN STATE on the 1967 borders doesn’t mean delegitimizing the state of Israel as such, but the illegal occupation of Israel in these lands. The military occupation of Israel in the West Bank and Gaza is illegal through Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 in addition to other agreements and treaties (Madrid, Oslo agreements, Road Map, Annapolis Statement and others). Yet Israel and the US are blocking the withdrawal from those occupied Palestinian territories. International law considers Israel’s occupation as illegal, yet Israel is intentionally blurring the line between the 1967 borders and its illegal occupation and expansion.

9) WILL THERE BE RIOTS IN THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES DURING PRESIDENT ABBAS’ SPEECH AT THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY?
Palestinians will celebrate an INDEPENDENCE DAY on the day of his speech, which will be delivered to the International Community in an attempt to obtain freedom for Palestinians, by establishing a free and independent Palestinian State. There will be no riots or confrontations with Israeli soldiers. There will however be a great show of support for President Abbas’ speech in New York along with an even greater rejection of the Israeli occupation.

10) WHAT KIND OF RELATIONS WILL THE NEW PALESTINIAN STATE (THE 194TH UN MEMBER STATE) HAVE WITH ITS NEIGHBORS?
The 194th member state, the State of Palestine will be peaceful, democratic and secular (not religious). It will be a state for all its citizens and entertain peaceful relations with all states of the region, Israel in particular. The Palestinian state will be a peaceful contributor to a turbulent Middle East, in the hope that all nations can live, coexist, and flourish peacefully together.

“At 3:30 or 4am I heard some noise outside of my window,” Silwan resident Abdallah Rajmi told me as we stood on a narrow street in the middle of a battle between young Palestinian stone throwers and Israeli occupation forces from the Border Police. “I thought it was a simple drunken fight but then I heard a lot of noise coming from the people involved and my neighbors began waking up.”

Silwan is a neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, near the walled Old City, and is the target of an ongoing Israeli government plan to demolish dozens of Palestinian homes and replace them with Israeli settlements and a Jewish-themed park.

Rajmi recalled the events as tear gas and rocks were being thrown from both sides onto the alley where we were standing. “At this point I went to my roof to see what was happening and I saw three settler guards with ‘small weapons’ approach a group of young Palestinian men,” referring sarcastically to the guards’ large Uzi assault riles. “The guards began shooting the men and everyone in Silwan woke up.”

At this point, we had to move to the entrance of Rajmi’s house because a storm of rocks started to rain down on us and the Border Police began to use rubber-coated steel bullets.

“I could not believe my eyes. I saw a man lying in his own blood and dying. The settler guards had just shot him in cold blood and watched him dying. He was there, on the ground, for one hour until an Israeli ambulance arrived on the scene, of course they would not allow any of us to get near him. The Israelis did, however, bring over forty settler guards and Border Police to the scene before the he was moved.”

The dead man was named as Samir Sarhan, aged about 30 according to news reports, and the father of five children.

Rajmi spoke clearly while looking me straight in the eye but once could see the rage simmering over the killing. “This is not a good situation. This is an extremely hard situation and I think that chaos is going to break out here,” he said. “If another one dies from his wounds sustained last night, I think that Silwan is going to blow up. You just wait and see what happens during the funeral march.” The procession was to end at a cemetery near the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Indeed, Rajmi was correct about the unrest in Silwan boiling over. I had been in the neighborhood since 8am, right when the protests of stone throwing at Israeli Border Police started. Silwan sits in a deep valley and the area has many small winding alleys. Thus pockets of resistance were surfacing all over the place as groups of young Palestinians would sneak up on Israeli forces and rain stones upon them with calls of “leave this place” and “this is not your place, leave now!” Border Police reacted with waves of tear gas which would cover the village including the houses where women and children were hiding from the street fighting. At points, the Israeli forces would use rubber-coated steel bullets from very close range, which has often resulted in permanent or lethal injuries. Tires were set on fire and trash cans overturned. It was hard not to think of images of the second Palestinian intifada as I was trying to get photographs.

This situation continued for five hours throughout Silwan. Pockets of stone-throwing here and there while tear gas covered the whole village as a form of collective punishment. Eventually, the funeral march began with calls of “God is great!” and every resident of Silwan came to the street to join the procession. As the funeral march wound its way through the narrow streets, people began attacking every settler house, car or bit of infrastructure in its path. Eventually, at the entrance of Silwan right next to the entrance to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which Jews refer to as the Temple Mount, and the “City of David” settler complex, the crowd exploded with rage and full-scale destruction began. Windows were smashed in the front of the City of David building and Israeli Border Police cars were flipped over and set on fire.

As the group moved closer to the al-Aqsa compound, a number of public buses from the Israeli company Egged were on the road. Angry Silwan residents expressed their frustration and began to destroy every window and surface of the buses possible. At one point, people entered the buses in order to rip out their seats. This happened while the bus driver was still inside. The procession reached the al-Aqsa compound and the tension died down but news agencies are now reporting that stone throwing from the al-Aqsa compound plateau began when the funeral was over and Israeli troops had entered the al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.

Rajmi told me that the violence is only going to grow because of this murder. I have received word from him that one of the wounded victims from the shooting had just succumbed to his wounds. His name was not immediately available.

Surely this death could be a spark for further violence, which the people of Silwan seem to be prepared for. Unlike the “Fayyadism” — official Palestinian Authority cooperation with the Israeli occupation –that is taking over Ramallah, the people of Silwan are ready to resist and fight regardless of the price in occupied East Jerusalem.

Photo by Joseph Dana

In An Nabi Saleh 50 Palestinian, international and Israeli demonstrators attempted to march to the land taken over by settlers from the nearby Halamish settlement. They were met with large amounts of tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and attack dogs. After being chased back into the village, 2 Israeli activists were detained and one was beaten in the military jeep before both were released without charge.

Demonstrations also occured in Ni’lin, Biddu, Bil’in and Wadi Rahal against the Annexation Barrier. In Wadi Rahal, in the southern Betlehem District, demonstrators gathered for the first time in over 3 years to protest the resumption of the construction of the Annexation Barrier, which will come within 30 meters of the village school.

In Nabi Saleh the demonstration Friday proceeded as usual and was winding down when soldiers and undercover intelligence officers invaded the village and began grabbing people. An 11 year-old boy, another Palestinian teen, and 2 Israeli activists were arrested and taken to the nearby settlement. Local women attempted to prevent the soldiers from taking the young boy, but were threatened and attacked. He was released later in the evening, and reported being beaten by the military at the police station. The Israeli activists, were also released, as were 4 Israelis and 1 international who were arrested on the road to Nabi Saleh, all without charge.

Several were also reportedly arrested in Bil’in, a lively demonstration against Palestinian expulsion from Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem was also held on Friday, and demonstrators in Al Ma’asara reportedly reached their agricultural land during the demonstration, a rare accomplishment in this village which has been demonstrating against the construction of the Annexation Barrier since 2007.
The weekly demonstration in Beit Ommar was canceled for a community event.

In a co-ordinated series of non-violent protests across the West Bank today thousands of Palestinians protested peacefully against the Israeli restrictions imposed on access to the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, part of a week-long clampdown on Palestinians in Jerusalem which began when the Israeli government announced the construction of 1500 new housing units in East Jerusalem.

In Beit Ommar over 100 residents marched down the main street after midday prayers to demonstrate the strength of feeling against the further violations of their freedom of movement and freedom of worship. They were met by an incursion into the town by 8 military vehicles carrying more than 35 heavily armed soldiers who attempted to disperse the protest using stun grenades and tear gas. A large number of youths began throwing stones at the vehicles and the army responded by sending 2 squads of soldiers towards the centre of the town, breaking into houses as they advanced. From behind the safety of their vehicles other soldiers launched gas grenades and fired rubber coated steel bullets at the youths.

After a standoff for several hours the soldiers retreated to the watch tower at the entrance to the town firing rubber coated bullets and tear gas as they went. The situation remains tense in the town tonight with a3 military vehicles stationed at the entrance to the town and large numbers of youths gathered ready to defend against another invasion.

Both Ni’lin and Bil’in held demonstrations with international and Israeli supporters despite a declaration earlier in the week that both villages would be closed military zones for internationals and Israelis on every Friday for the next 6 months, in an attempt by the Israeli military to end the demonstrations.

In Al-Ma’asara, the demonstration proceeded as usual, with demonstrators marching towards the barbed wire fencing put in place at the entrance of the village by the Israeli military. This week, however, an unusual breach of the barrier was achieved. An eyewitness described it thus:

“Yesterday was a historic day in Palestine. The Israeli Occupation Forces stood aside powerless as they witnessed a mass Palestinian non-violent action that breached the razor wire, military vehicles and M-16s that had stopped the villagers of al Ma asara from working their fields for years.

In a peaceful commemoration of the seventh anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie under the tracks of an Israeli bulldozer, PSP, internationals and Israeli activists accompanied local farmers in a demonstration along the main street through the quiet village. As usual there was a strong military presence gathered behind a roll of razor wire that cut off access to the farmland.

Suddenly a flock of Palestinian sheep made a non-violent dash for the razor wire to cheers and whoops from the protesters. In a slickly co-ordinated move, protesters lifted the roll of razor wire and the IOF soldiers watched powerless as the Palestinian sheep rushed past them chanting Baa. It is hoped that other sheep in the international community will now follow this brave lead.”