Hebron Merchant Reads Certificate of Appreciation

Protesters also gathered in Sheik Jarrah today for the weekly demonstration against the ethnic cleansing of East Jerusalem. Approximately 200 activists gathered near the former homes of the al-Kurd, al-Ghawi and Hanoun families, all of whom were evicted by the Israeli government to make way for illegal Israeli settlers in 2008-2009. The police had closed the sidewalk near the Hanoun house, where demonstrators had gathered for much of last weeks demonstration, so the crowd gathered in a small park down the block, holding signs, beating drums and chanting against the settlers and evictions. At one point the crowd marched down the block to the home of the Sa’aw family, one of two new families to receive eviction orders this year. All five families are part of a group of twenty-eight houses facing eviction in Sheik Jarrah. The families are refugees from the 1948 war, and were given their homes in 1956 by the Jordanian government in collaboration with the United Nations Relief and Works Committee. The families have been fighting a 38 year legal battle to defend their homes, and though they have proven legal ownership of their houses the court has ruled in favor of the settlers.

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.

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.”

This week, while the festive march of hundreds gathered at the entrance to Sheikh Jarrah, where they were met by dozens of police and military border police, a smaller group of the Palestinian home owners and a group of international solidarity activists protested outside the homes, within the area blocked off to the main demonstration by the police. Throughout the demonstration, settlers were free to cross the line of police, while Jewish demonstrators were arrested for stepping off the sidewalk.

In front of the evicted houses, just over a dozen settlers attempted a counter-demonstration, leading to heated confrontations that the police refused to separate, but were quickly out-numbered and out-shouted by the evicted families and their supporters, and dispersed on their own. Afterward, 5 Palestine solidarity activists were arrested.

In Nabi Saleh, the demonstration against the attempted expansion of the Halamish settlement was attended by over 100 men, women and children, as well as international and Israeli activists. A week after Ehab Barghouthi, 14, was put into a coma after he was shot in the forehead from close range with a rubber-coated steel bullet, the demonstration was as determined as ever to reach the land, which contains a spring essential to the agricultural livelihood of the village. They were again met with a barrage of tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and the “skunk”, a chemical spray with an overwhelming nasty smell.

In Ni’lin, Al-Ma’asara and Bil’in, the demonstrations against the construction of the Annexation Barrier on their agricultural land continued, with large contingents of Israeli and international solidarity activists. In Ni’lin, over 100 demonstrators marched towards the Barrier, which is a combination of fence and concrete wall unique to Ni’lin of all rural areas, where they were met by Israeli forces who used tear gas, and a horrible-smelling spray called “the skunk” to disperse the group.

In Jerusalem on Friday, approximately 3,000 Jews and Palestinians gathered in a soccer field near the entrance to the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah after the Israeli High Court heard a petition from the protesters who were demanding the right to gather on the street where right-wing Jewish settlers have moved into homes from which Palestinian owners have been forcefully evicted in the last year. The compromise solution from the court was to allow a smaller procession of no more than 300 demonstrators to march from the field to the entrance of Sheikh Jarrah a few hundred meters away.

Regular demonstrations were also held in Ni’lin, Bil’in and Al-Ma’asara, both against the construction of the Annexation Barrier on their agricultural land.

In Nabi Saleh, which has been demonstrating for several weeks against a move by settlers from the nearby Halamish settlement to take over a a spring and other privately-owned Palestinian agricultural land, several dozen residents, along with Israeli and international solidarity activists, again marched from the village towards the land being annexed by the right-wing settlers. They were confronted by Israeli forces, who used tear gas, sound grenades, and rubber-coated steel bullets to deter the crowd. The army then invaded the village, using a jeep-mounted tear-gas launcher that shoots 30 canisters of gas at a time, into the built-up area of the village, affecting everyone in their homes. A young man was taken to the hospital with a moderate injury when he was shot in the head with a rubber-coated bullet.

In Ni’lin, several dozen residents continued their weekly protest against the construction of the Annexation Barrier through their agricultural lands. Participants marched from the edge of the village into the olive groves, approaching the combined fence-wall. They were forced back by the Israeli military, who used large amounts of tear gas, including firing the tear gas at houses, affecting people not participating in the demonstration.

Hundreds of residents in Asira Al-Qyblia marched against land confiscation towards Ytzhar settlement, home to some of the most violent settlers in the entire Occupied Territories who have repeatedly destroyed trees belonging to Asira Al-Qyblia residents, and attacked the village and others in the surrounding Nablus District. The march was fired on by the Israeli military with tear gas and sound grenades, though no one was seriously injured.

In Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem, 80 Jewish demonstrators, many dressed in costumes for the coming Purim holiday, joined over 100 Palestinians near the entrance to Sheikh Jarrah to protest the eviction of Palestinian families from their homes and the implantation of right-wing Jewish settlers. A festive demonstration, with chants, drumming, and songs, was held for over an hour as Israeli police and military border police sealed off the street to demonstrators.

Though this demonstration ended without confrontation or violence, it came in the wake of a riot Wednesday night, when dozens of settlers entered the partially occupied Al-Kurd family home to begin preparation for the celebration of Purim, a Jewish holiday held Sunday, February 28, which traditionally includes drinking large amounts of alcohol, making it one of the most dreaded Jewish holidays for Palestinians, who often come under attack by intoxicated settlers on this day.
Sure enough, the settlers in Sheikh Jarrah began attacking the Palestinian residents of the same home. Israeli soldiers arrived and attempted to restrain the crowd but were unsuccessful and soon turned on the growing Palestinian, international, and anti-occupation Jews in the crowd, clubbing and pepper spraying them. Several were injured before the Israeli police escorted the settlers out of the area. One Palestinian man was arrested early in the evening; none of the settlers were detained.

In Al-Ma’asara, approximately 30 Palestinians were accompanied by 10 international and Israeli solidarity activists as they marched down the main past Al-Ma’asara village, connecting villages east of Betlehem with the main throughway, Route 60. They were quickly stopped by Israeli soldiers at the edge of Al-Ma’asara, where they declared the area a closed military zone. The demonstrators insisted they were trying to reach the site of the Annexation Barrier, which was partially constructed on Palestinian land in 2007-2008 but has not been completed or worked on for over a year.

Al-Ma'asara 02_12_10

Nabi Saleh 02.12.10

In Ni’lin, demonstrators, with the usual foreign contingent, marched after the noon call to prayer to the site of the Annexation Barrier, which has been completed in several areas surrounding the village and cutting off access to large amounts of agricultural land. 2 people, Palestinian resident of Ni’lin Arafat Amira and Israeli anarchist Yonatan Pollak were arrested during the demonstration.

In Sheikh Jarrah, a neighborhood in Palestinian Jerusalem that has been the site of several evictions to allow for Jewish settlers to takeover homes belonging to Palestinians for over half a century, a lively group of Jewish Israelis and Palestinian Jerusalemites gathered at the entrance to the neighborhood, near the homes of Ghawi and Hanoun families, both of whom were kicked out of their homes in August, 2009 and have been living in protest tents on the street since then. Israeli police prevented the group from entering the street, which is still largely Palestinian with 3 homes occupied by Jewish Israeli settlers, but did not resort to the mass-arrests and violence they had used in previous weeks against the peaceful demonstrations.

All of these demonstrations were overshadowed in media coverage and attention by a group of people in Bil’in who painted themselves blue, dressing up as characters from Hollywood’s $300 million film Avatar for their weekly march to the Annexation Barrier built on their agricultural land. This comes as the Israeli military begins to finally comply with an Israeli court order to re-route the fence in the Bil’in area, which will return access to some of the village’s land to the residents, which has been cut off since the completion of the fence in this area over 2 years ago.

In Ni’lin this week, over 100 people joined the weekly demonstration. The village’s main entrance was closed by the Israeli military so most media did not get in, while international and Israeli activists arrived through the fields. As the Israeli forces chased the demonstration back into the village, one man from Yabroud village, was detained. No other arrests or injuries were reported.

In Al-Ma’asara, Bethelem District, over 50 residents, joined by Israeli and international activists, marched from the center of the village. One military jeep was parked further into the village, nut the demonstrators just marched around, chanting on their way to the main road and the Annexation Barrier, which is to be routed between Palestinian villages and the Gush Etzion settlement of Efrat.
The demonstration was halted at the entrance to the village, as usual, by a line of razorwire and Israeli military where speeches were then made in several languages before the demonstration peacefully returned to the village.

In Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, after a series of weeks with multiple arrests of mostly Israeli citizens, most of which were released by the courts who admonished the Israeli police for disrupting the peaceful demonstrations, there were no arrests. Demonstrators were “allowed” to gather near the entrance to the neighborhood, while residents of Sheikh Jarrah joined them and gathered on the other side of the police barricade, which was set up to prevent supporters of the Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah from entering, while at the same time allowed “visiting” extremist right-wing settlers to enter freely.

This Friday, January 22, demonstrations were again held against land confiscation, the Annexation Barrier, and the expulsion of Palestinians from East Jerusalem for the settlement of right-wing Jewish settlers.

In Al-Ma’asara, Bethlehem District, approximately 70 Palestinians, Internationals and Israelis marched from the center of town towards the barrier set up by the Israeli military. Tensions were high as a larger-than-usual presence of Israeli soldiers and border police lined the route of the march on the roofs of buildings. The demonstration included the imposed Palestinian government’s minister of agriculture who participated in a symbolic tree-planting near the entrance of the village. Speeches were made in Arabic and Hebrew and the demonstration left peacefully. Not satisfied with the lack of confrontation, the Israeli soldiers followed demonstrators into the village. One man was followed into a shop where he was arrested by the soldiers as he bought chicken. He was released later in the evening.

In Nabi Saleh, Ramallah District, Israeli soldiers invaded the village before the demonstration officially began, arresting 6 Palestinian residents, 3 men and 3 women. The demonstration was held as planned, protesting the recent attempted confiscation of agricultural land by the nearby Halamish settlement.

In Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, a group of 350 Israelis and Palestinians gathered in a park near the street where several houses have been taken over by a right-wing Jewish settler organization beginning last summer. For the past several weeks, dozens of Jewish Israeli activists have been arrested during the demonstrations, which were beginning with a permitted march from the center of West Jerusalem to the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. This week, the Israeli police refused to issue a permit for the march so organizers decided to begin closer to the occupied street, which, as usual, was cut off by Israeli police. During the demonstration, as participants marched towards the occupied street, Israeli police began arresting participants. 22 people were arrested in all. During the protest, the Israeli police were allowing settlers to gather inside their barricades on the occupied street, where they began attacking Palestinian residents. 2 Palestinians were reportedly hospitalized after assaults by Jewish Israeli settlers. Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah who participated in the demonstration were also arrested after they arrived at their homes. Recent updates from Israeli organizers suggest that at least some of the 22 demonstrators are being charged, and that the Israeli prosecution has requested that 6 be held for the duration of the legal proceedings, a process that is often used against Palestinians during legal procedures but is exceedingly rare against Jewish Israelis.