palestine

Below is a report from a Ta’ayush activist about Beit Jala. An action took place there on the 3rd March in an attempt to save an olive grove from destruction in order to make space for the annexation Wall that Israel is building through the West Bank.
                        

Already when driving on route 60, we saw the intimidating bulldozers riding on the side of the road on their way to another day of “putting facts on the ground” as chiefs of the Israeli government call it. As we arrived in Beit Jalla, a heart-breaking scene came into view – a huge pile of sawed trees and olive and lemon branches spread all across the yard of the house next to the wall’s path. A yard it cannot really be called anymore – the grass is turned over, two children’s swings were uprooted and put aside, and the only thing left standing is a brick oven, with mounds of dirt and mud all around it. 10 olive trees were cut down here already yesterday. A red X on the front floor of the house marks the path of the Wall to pass here, which will seize the whole yard area and cut the only access driveway to it. It’s hard to imagine how life would look like in this place in a week or two.

We were 45 protesters – 25 Palestinians, 15 international activists and 4 Israelis. We descended to the works path trying to stop the bulldozers. A group of twenty soldiers prevented us from doing so, and began pushing us up the hill without showing a closed military area order as they are required. While the bulldozer’s claws were uprooting trees one after the other, we explained to the officers that their actions violate numerous international laws, as well as the fact that they may not tell us to move without the order. We were pushed up the hill a few more metres to where we sat on the ground demanding to see a printed order before we move any further. At 08:53 they brought the papers and the officers declared the area will become a “closed military zone” within 7 minutes. One of them held two stun grenades with a nasty grin on his face. We reminded them again that constructing the wall on West Bank lands is a crime according to international law, as well as the ‘settlers’-only road which it “protects” and that they still may put down their guns/ and join us. A bearded IDF captain told us that the only law he follows is the biblical law. Rabbai Arik Ascherman referred him to to read the chapter in the book of Deuteronomy which refers to uprooting of fruit trees.

At 09:00 precisely they started pushing and dragging us up the hill again. 2 Israelis and one international activist were detained for a few minutes and were released shortly thereafter. Two Arab TV network reporters stationed on the upper road to report the events. Two young women from Beit Jalla were prominent among the protesters. As one of the officers told on of them them “Min fadlak, ruch min hon” (Please go away from here), she replied wisely “Min fadlak, ruch leIsrail” (Please, go back to Israel), with her finger pointing north-west.

When we left, the bulldozers were still working with all their might.

Jody McIntyre writing from Bilin, occupied West Bank, Live from Palestine, 11 January 2010

            

The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre recently interviewed Palestinian activist Rani Bornat about his life after being shot by the Israeli army.

Rani Bornat: My name is Rani Abdelfatah Ibrahim Bornat, and I'm 29 years old. I'm from the village of Bilin, west of Ramallah. I was shot in the throat on the first day of the second intifada.

Jody McIntyre: How was your life before you were injured?

RB: Before it happened, my life was like any other young person. I used to study, go horse riding, herd my goats, ride donkeys ... do all the things farmers do. My dream was to finish school, but I was deprived of it. I was to become an electronic engineer, and I was also deprived of that. God willing, I will be able to help my children study to become engineers instead.

It was while I was waiting to hear back from universities about continuing my studies, when the al-Aqsa intifada broke out in Palestine ...

JM: Tell me about how you were injured.

RB: It was Saturday, 30 September 2000, the first day of the uprising. We marched to one of the checkpoints near Ramallah to protest against Sharon's entering of the al-Aqsa mosque. It was a nonviolent demonstration, like the ones here in Bilin, with people chanting and holding up posters. But the soldiers didn't respond with tear gas or rubber bullets, only live ammunition, because it was their aim to kill as many Palestinians as possible.

I wasn't shot with a normal bullet, but a special "butterfly" bullet, so-called because of the way it spins as it flies through the air. It entered my throat and cut the artery that connects and nourishes my body and brain. Now I have an artificial artery. Because the artery was cut, and I had a blood clot in my brain, they had to tie two ends of the artery together. I had a stroke on my left side, and my right arm was left paralyzed.

It was a very dangerous situation -- I was taken to a hospital in Amman, where I stayed for seven months. For the first two months I was in a coma. I was operated on many times ... life-threatening operations. Everyday, people were just waiting for the moment I would die. At first, on the news they said I was a martyr; my father heard on the radio that his son had died. Later, they changed the report, and said that I was a "living martyr."

When I recovered from the coma, I was struggling to speak, I had lost my memory and I couldn't move my arms or legs.

JM: How did your family and other people from the village react to what had happened?

RB: When the people from the village saw me come home, still alive, they were so happy, because everyone thought that I would die from my injuries. Some of the family were crying with joy! All my friends were coming to visit me and stay with me ... sometimes I had to tell them to leave because I was tired and wanted to sleep! I told them to act like before, so that I could continue with my life as normal.

JM: Do you participate in the demonstrations at the wall here in Bilin, or are you too scared after your past experiences?

RB: Firstly, I would like to tell you that I have been shot many times in the demonstrations in Bilin. Secondly, I would like to tell you that the best person to ask is Jody; he will tell you if I'm scared or not!

JM: So you're a little bit scared?

RB: I'm not scared.

These are peaceful protests; if we don't fight for our land, then who can? If we don't fight for the truth, then who can? If we don't stand side by side and resist this occupation together, then who can? Peaceful demonstrations don't hurt or kill anybody; they are only there to serve the oppressed. We must tear down this wall, so that we can live with peace ... and freedom.

JM: Has your wheelchair ever been broken during a demonstration?

RB: Once, we had a demonstration in Bilin for disabled people, which I organized. Normally, we would protest right up at the wall, but on this occasion, the soldiers started shooting tear gas before we were even within sight. They started to shout that "after today, there will be no more demonstrations in Bilin" ... it was because the week before, they had shot an Israeli lawyer who was participating with us. So they wanted to stop the demonstrations because they were afraid of killing Israelis, not Palestinians! But that was a few years ago, so they haven't done a very good job on the "no more demos" promise ...

It was a very powerful symbol of the occupation, to see the Israeli army shooting at the blind and people in wheelchairs. They shot three tear gas canisters at my wheelchair and broke it completely.

JM: Do you think that the Israeli army deal with you differently because you are in a wheelchair?

RB: They treat me exactly the same. They don't care if I am in a wheelchair or if I'm walking -- according to them, I am a threat to the State of Israel, as ridiculous as that may sound.

Maybe they think I want to take revenge for what has happened to me, but I want to tell them that I am a man who wants peace. Even if they destroy my whole life, I only want to make peace.

JM: How do you envision the future?

RB: I am married now, and we have just welcomed three beautiful children, triplets, into the world. I want to start a new life.

Everybody living under the occupation is pessimistic, but I have hope that we can end it. I want to be able to live in freedom, to be able to travel without seeing walls or checkpoints -- those are the real things that restrict my movement!

JM: Are you happy to see someone in a wheelchair from London going to demos with you?

RB: When I first saw you, I loved you, because you're in a wheelchair like me. But it's not important if you're in a wheelchair or not ... what's important are the ideas, the resistance, that's in your mind.

Jody McIntyre is a journalist from the United Kingdom, currently living in the occupied West Bank village of Bilin. Jody has cerebral palsy, and travels in a wheelchair. He writes a blog for Ctrl.Alt.Shift, entitled "Life on Wheels," which can be found at www.ctrlaltshift.co.uk, where a version of this article was originally published. He can be reached at jody.mcintyre AT gmail DOT com.

By Yossi Sarid
 
           
           


24 January
After I heard the version of the police I concluded that the police and we, "the anarchists," were at two different demonstrations. For more than three hours we stood at the outskirts of Sheikh Jarrah - not a stone was thrown, not an arm raised, not a worshiper attacked, not a settler's home broken into. But for the police's disproportionate use of force and its false arrests, as a means of punishment and score-settling, one could say the demonstration was calm and orderly.

The coarsest slogan to be seen was "Fascism shall not pass," so familiar from hundreds of previous protests, and so ineffective: Fascism has clearly passed through many, many obstacles and roadblocks.

Another sign had the great honour of being tossed into a police van together with the person holding it: "Jews and Arabs don't want to be enemies." It will be submitted to the judge as evidence corroborating the anarchistic character of the entire demonstration. Indeed, in such a delicate and explosive place as Jerusalem it's best not to wave such subversive slogans, which disturb the peace.
 
In my long years of demonstrating I have never seen a protest so restrained, so not in need of a permit according to any rational interpretation of the law. Not every police officer - yea, not even every brigadier general - is authorized to declare it illegal. If the police views Friday's demonstration as a criminal act then the democratic right to demonstrate has been destroyed and Jerusalem begins resembling Tehran. Already it is not entirely clear whether what we have is the Israel Police or the Yisrael Beiteinu Police.

Since leaving active political life I have not attended demonstrations despite repeated requests; after all, there is no shortage of reasons to demonstrate in these parts. I told myself - I've paid my protesting dues, time to make way for the next generation. But Nitzan Horowitz and Ilan Ghilon and Shelly Yachimovich and Daniel Ben Simon are social-welfare-oriented MKs, and the removal of Palestinian families from their homes is not a social-welfare issue.

This time I could not refuse. All citizens, not just public figures, have a duty to resist. And so, on Friday afternoon the retired demonstrators came and filled the little square. The struggle in Sheikh Jarrah isn't over, it's just beginning. More Palestinian families are slated for transfer, and one cannot trust this government, the mayor of Jerusalem or even the city's judges to do the right thing.

When the judges rule in favour of the settlers the latter stop mocking them and celebrate the confirmation of their position; but when they rule against them, they blow  them a giant raspberry. Months ago the High Court of Justice ordered the demolition of Beit Yonatan, in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan, and it is as if it never happened. It's only when they agree with the decision that they follow it.  

More at  http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1144646.html

06/02/2010
                          

Gaza – Ma'an – The Gaza Energy Authority announced on Saturday that the sole power plant shut down one of its two generators as a result of the ongoing fuel shortage in the coastal enclave.

"The remaining amount of fuel is enough to operate one generator until Sunday morning," a statement said.
"The power plant's capacity has dropped to 30 megawatts ... Gaza districts will suffer as a result, leaving the plant unable to provide power for around 50% of the residents. This will rise to 60% if bad weather continues as it causes electrical malfunctioning."

The Energy Authority called on international parties, Arab states, and delegates of the Islamic Conference Organization to end Gaza's power crisis by holding the Ramallah-based Ministry of Finance responsible for decreasing the fuel allowance into Gaza, which it said mirrored Israel's blockade policy on the Strip.

Furthermore it urged municipalities, heads of municipal councils, the Coastal Water Authority and the Ministry of Health to undertake the necessary procedures to deal with the power crisis, and called on residents to cooperate with technical crews.

On Thursday, authorities warned that the power plant will cease all operations late Friday night due to a lack of fuel.

The plant had already shut down services to all but 30-40 percent of the coastal strip by nightfall on Thursday, the Gaza Energy Authority said, noting that the sudden cold front in the region spent the remaining fuel faster than expected.

The Energy Authority has notified mayors and municipalities across Gaza, and was informing the Health Ministry and major telecommunications companies PalTel and Jawwal to prepare for the worst.

"People are trying to stock up on fuel to operate private generators for the buildings and institutions that have them," according to Emad Eid, the director of Ma'an's Gaza City bureau. He said that while Gazans are used to these blackouts, most generators in private homes are too weak to produce enough electricity for heating, and are used predominately for simple needs like charging mobile phones.

Eid also noted the unfortunate timing of the shutdown, accompanying a sharp drop in temperatures across the occupied territories and Israel. "It's already freezing here, and it's only going to get worse," he said.

The plant has four generators, and while all are functional, only one is being used. This generator supplies electricity to the population of Gaza for 16 hours a day because there is not enough fuel to power all four.

The fuel for the plant is purchased from and delivered by Israel, via trucks through the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza. The majority of fuel used for personal use is smuggled from Egypt through the tunnel matrix, and fills private generators in homes. The power plant, however, can only use Israeli industrial grade diesel.

An EU contract paying for fuel shipments expired on 30 November 2009, according to Kan'an Obeid, deputy manager of the Energy Authority in the coastal enclave. While the EU had been providing the service after the contract expired, officials notified the authority that they would no longer pay for the fuel shipments unless the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah drafted a new agreement and payment scheme.

Israeli military bulldozers demolished five water cisterns and three farming huts owned by farmers from Ithna village, southern West Bank, on Thursday.

                          

The soldiers also confiscated water pumps and electricity generators used by the farmers, witnesses told local media.

The army says the structures were built in close proximity to the Israeli wall being built on the villagers' lands.

The farmers said that they went to the Israeli court and were waiting for a judge’s decision on the matter. They added that the army gave them no warning before the demolition today.

The Mayor of Ithna , Jammal Al Tmeizi, said that the military wants to take over the land because of its rich agricultural properties. Al Tmeizi added that the lands in question are the only source of income for its owners.

Thursday February 11, 2010 16:55 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News & Agencies

Gaza – Ma'an – As Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the Gaza Power Authority, the EU and international donors point fingers over the failure to provide adequate fuel for electricity generation in the Strip, the lives of residents again turned upside down as they faced life without power.
                       

"The blackouts cause a lot of trouble for merchants, factories, families and students, my wife has to work overnight sometimes when the electricity comes on to make foo for the family," Abu Khalil, who works in a Gaza shop said.

"I leave home at 7am and return at evening and find no power, our lives are conducted in the dark,” he said.

Abu Khalil said he was worried about buying a generator, after two fires erupted in the last month from faulty models, and a third - improperly stored inside a home - resulted in the death of three children from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Press photographer Yousef Deeb said that he often stays up into the odd hours of the night to e-mail photos to foreign press agencies and edit his work. He said he has to wait until the power comes on to file his work, often delaying deadlines for hours and jeopardizing a story.

Hala Iskeik is a university student, who said finding time to get work done while it was still light out was next to impossible with the short winter days lasting less than 11 hours. She said she worries even more about her brothers, both of whom are studying for the Tawjihi, the university entrance exam. Students regularly study 12 hours a day for the tests, and Hala said there were no candles in the house to help them when the lights went out.

Deputy chief of the Gaza Power Authority Kan’an Ubeid said that on top of the irregular fuel deliveries a technical problem at the plant caused it to shut off four hours overnight on Tuesday, blacking out most of Gaza city and much of the central Strip.

He said there was little the authority could do to fix the situation, noting a reliance on industrial fuel from donors and the PA as well as the “goodwill” of Israeli crossings officials to allow it into the Strip. Technical issues were not likely to be permanently solved either, he noted, as the authority continued to wait for thousands of replacement parts and upgrade equipment blocked by Israel from entering the Strip.

Sunday January 31, 2010 03:11 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

King Abdullah of Jordan stated on Saturday that the whole world would pay the price of failed peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and added that his country will not accept any role as an occupying power in Palestine.

He stated that peace, supported by most Palestinians and Israelis, is the only solution to the conflict.

This peace, he added, is based on the two-state solution, and added that he will not accept any talks or even hints of a Jordanian role as a power controlling Palestine.

The King further stated that Jordan will always assist the Palestinians in achieving their own state on their land.

During his speech at the Economic Forum in Davos, King Abdullah said that his army will not be the new army that replaces the Israeli forces in Palestine, and that the Palestinians are demanding to achieve their legitimate right of an independent state.

He further stated that the solution should be two-states, living side by side in peace, and that if this is not possible, then the alternative is a one bi-national state for the Palestinians and the Israelis.

The Jordanian Monarch said that, for the first time, he is pessimistic as all efforts to achieve peace in the region failed, and that the suffering is still ongoing.

During a session managed by Fareed Rafiq Zakaria of CNN, the king said that the situation in the Middle East will witness further deterioration should the conflict remain unresolved.

He added that the chances for peace will be very limited and warned that what is happening now is limiting the chances of establishing a Palestinian state.

As for Iran, King Abdullah said that his country rejects any military campaign to deal with the Iranian “issue”, and called for a diplomatic solution.

He added that every country has the right to obtain nuclear power for civil usage, such as generating power, and said that dealing with nuclear files should be very “transparent”.

King Abdullah said that UN nuclear inspectors should also deal with Israel’s nuclear agenda.

He returned to Jordan on Friday evening after visiting Spain and Switzerland, His wife, Queen Rania, accompanied him on the tour.

Sunday February 21 by Ghassan Bannoura - IMEMC News

                                          

Israeli troops fired tear gas and concussion grenades on Sunday midday at a Mass held by residents of Beit Sahour, a city in the southern West Bank.
Residents from Beit Sahour, along with international supporters, gathered at the evacuated Israeli military base of Ush Ghrab east of the city. People held banners demanding the halt of the recently renewed Israeli construction at the site, and called for the end of settlement activity around their city.

21 February Gaza - Ma'an News Agency

Five Palestinians were injured and structural damage was sustained when Israeli forces opened fire at a target north of Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, on Sunday.

Muawiyah Hassanein, director of ambulance and emergency services in Gaza, said three people sustained minor injuries and were treated at the scene, while two others were transfered to the Kamal Udwan Hospital to undergo further treatment.

Witnesses said the shelling targeted Palestinian workers at the evacuated Israeli settlement of Gush Katif in northern Gaza.

An Israeli military spokesman told Ma'an: "Earlier today an IDF force identified a man approaching the security fence in a suspicious manner in the northern Gaza Strip. The force fired at the suspect. No casualties or structural damage were reported on both sides."

Three Palestinians were injured when Israeli helicopters fired on a group of fighters near the central Gaza military base Kissufim following reports of clashes in the area early Saturday morning.

Additionally, on Thursday, Israeli forces entered deep into the Gaza Strip during day-long clashes, witnesses reported and the military confirmed. Four tanks and a bulldozer penetrated 900 meters in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp area and demolished two homes.

The violence coincides with increased Israeli activity inside the Gaza borders, with the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reporting five separate penetrations where Israeli military equipment "conducted land leveling operations."

21 February

     At a meeting in January, The Interior Ministry, the Israel Lands Administration and the southern district of the Israel Police threatened to triple the demolition rate of ‘illegal’ construction in the scattered Bedouin communities in the Negev.
According to data obtained by Haaretz, 2009 saw an increase over the previous year in the demolition of ‘illegal’ Bedouin homes and efforts to prevent Bedouin construction. Last year, 254 homes were destroyed.

In 2008, the figure was 225 ‘illegal structures’. Sources at the joint agency meeting said Bedouin construction in the Negev is not only continuing despite these enforcement efforts but is even increasing. This year should see 700 buildings destroyed and the deep plowing of 9,000 dunams of land to prevent new construction.

Ibrahim Al-Wakili, who heads the Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages, warned of an explosive situation if demolition even doubles.

"The Bedouin in ‘unrecognized’ villages don't constitute any kind of obstacle to the development of the Negev, and the state must involve us just as [it does] other residents of the Negev," Al-Wakili said. "Even if they triple the demolitions," he added, "it won't help, if the state has no solution for people who for the past 60 years have suffered neglect. At least they shouldn't begin an intensified demolition campaign. The village residents cannot be put in a situation in which there is just demolition. It won't help. From the moment you press on the balloon too much, ultimately something happens. We call on the prime minister and all of those responsible for the demolitions not to bring people to the brink of despair. This is not healthy for any of the parties [involved]."

At the beginning of last year, the southern district police commander of the Israel Police, Yohanan Danino, met with Bedouin representatives and told them definitively that illegal Bedouin construction in the Negev would not be permitted.  The police claim that the Bedouin have destroyed ‘ancient’ site and forests, particularly at the area named Ein Avdat National Park; although the ‘Park’ as with all Israeli establishments, carpets over Palestinian history.

              
And of course, the greatest ancient forest in Palestine was concreted over to build the illegal ‘settlement’ Har Homa.