Video from Shiekh Jarrah by Yisrael Puternam

Video and report from Nil’in and Nabi Salih will be posted in next days as I am editing the footage now.

Around 200 protestors marched from Hamashbir square, without letting offensive and fascist remarks from passersby to interrupt them along the way. 50 others joined them when they got to Sheikh Jarrah. High presence of Yassam (Police Special Patrol Unit) in the area was noted. The protestors tried to make their way to the house of one of the evicted families, where they intended to hold a protest vigil. They were blocked by police-officers that decreed the protest illegal. After several minutes of negotiation, the officers, breaking supreme and district court rulings, started to forcefully shove the protestors to the other side of the road, arresting two of them in the process. Moving the demonstration to the garden didn’t suffice to the police officers, and they maintained their violent attacks on the protestors. Later on, small groups of demonstrators that made their way back to the family house, also were brutally dispersed, some of their members arrested, as well. In total, 11 activists were illegally arrested during the demonstration. After a few hours, all of them were released, after signing a restraining order for 15 days from the neighbourhood, which is currently under discussion in the district court.

Meanwhile in the neighbourhood, after the demonstration dispersed, settlers violently assaulted the Palestinian dwellers and Israeli activists that remained in place. The settlers threw stones at people and cars, some of which were damaged. Needless to say that none of them was detained or arrested.

Nil’in

Hundreds of people from the town and surrounding villages of Ni’lin gathered on the threatened land, where they affirmed the need to resist the aggressive policies of occupation. Villagers were accompanied by their animals, a symbol of their age old connection with the land that they have farmed for generations. Images and posters of Tristan Anderson were prevalent, the American ISM activist now in a coma after being struck with a tear gas canister during a demonstration.

Nil’in resident Salah Amira and an unnamed Israeli activist were arrested during clashes that lasted late into the afternoon. Israeli soldiers fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd, but no serious injuries were reported.

Bil’in

Throughout the march and cheers the protesters were exposed to the traditional response of the Israeli military that included the use of rubber bullets. Two children were shot during the rally and sustained minor injuries. IDF forces made an active effort to detain one of the groups leaders in an effort to prevent media exposure of the event. Protests and reciprocating efforts have been seen in many cities and have even resulted in the death of Tristen Andersen, an American protester in support of the Palestinian people, who was shot in the head by Israeli forces who opened fire with rubber bullets at a similar protest in the town of Nilin. However, attempts to silence the cries for the basic human rights and respect for international laws were, and will continue to be, a moot exercise.

As Friday prayer let out from the mosque in the town of Bilin the wide array of international visitors were joined by the local Palestinian community for the weekly protest to the wall that had been erected by the Israeli occupying forces. Around 12:30 the crowd began their march and chants to the end of the town towards the IDF forces. It was quickly discovered that several soldiers were hiding within a small stone structure on the Palestinian side of the fence, intent on arresting some of the dissidents who continue to have the audacity to object to the theft of their land by the Israeli military. Having been found by a group of teenagers the soldiers were quickly chased back behind the fence.

Despite the almost immediate release of tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets the march continued to the end of the wall where protesters continued to stand strong despite the choking gas that was rapidly consuming the area. All the while chants for Palestinian freedom and the end of the apartheid state of affairs rang through the crowd as the protesters—including Palestinians, Israelis, and other international supporters—got a good look at the current, contentions relationship. A long standing affair that will continue to see the local community and its international supporters stand together in the pursuit of freedom and equality.

Nabi Saleh

The soldiers came early to Nabi Saleh this week. They came early and eager to fight – as if the shooting of fourteen year old Ehab Barghouthi last week only spurred them to be more aggressive this time. At noon, maybe slightly before, they came unprovoked to the street and took positions in it as if it was theirs to own. When villagers of the tiny hilltop community marched down the street from the mosque, accompanied by their Israeli and international supporters, the junction connecting the two main roads of Nabi Saleh was already occupied by dozens of soldiers.

A tempest of tear-gas and rubber-coated bullets took over the village as soldiers shot over sixty tear-gas canisters at once towards the demonstrators minutes after they started to march. When protesters regrouped, still inside the village, the same happened again.

Protest in the village was ignited about three months ago after settlers from the adjacent Jewish-only settlement of Halamish, abided by the Army, forcefully took over a natural spring belonging to residents of Nabi Saleh. Demonstrators eventually managed to march away from the village’s center in two main groups – one heading to the spring from the hill on the West, and the other through the valley on the south. Both groups were met by Border Police officers who barraged them with mass amounts tear-gas and rubber-coated bullets.

The thick clouds of teargas that filled the valley effectively prevented the group that struggled to cross to the spring through it from succeeding. However, the clashes that ensued near the valley between local youth and the Army served as cover for the group marching from the hills, which managed to reach another of the village’s springs, only to find settlers swimming in it. Soldiers who eventually got to the group politely ordered the settlers to leave, while attacking the demonstrators with tear-gas in order to push them back to the village.

A few hours after the demonstration had started, both groups regrouped at the village, where Border Police officers shot at demonstrators from behind the stone terraces that crosshatch the fields between the village and the settlement. As the hours progressed the Army slowly retreated towards the permanent military post at the entrance to the village, where clashes continued. At dark, when clashed finally ended, more than 25 injured protesters were counted, all of them from rubber-coated bullets.

In Bil’in dozens suffered from gas inhalation when troops suppressed a march against the Israeli occupation organized by the Popular Committee Against the Wall and settlements. The demonstration was a manifestation against the wall being built on Bil’in’s land and the annexation and expansion of Israeli apartheid. The occupation forces fired tear gas towards the citizens of Bil’in, foreign peace activists and peace-loving Israelis.

This week’s demonstartion marked the Global Week against racism in the world and coincided with many popular events against racism and oppression against the peoples and territories – in particular the Palestinian people. The demonstration begun after Friday prayers and marched from the centre of the village, then continued to the western gate of the wall. Over one hundred people participated in the march, including a group from the PFLP (The Popular front for the Liberation of Palestine) and a delegation from the Freedom Theatre in Jenin. The demonstration was headed by people dressed up as three prominent figures in the global struggle against racism and occupation: Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. Palestinian flags were raised and toured the village streets as the participants chanted slogans condemning the wall and the occupation.

As the march reached the wall it was met with a shower of tear gas, rubber bullets and sound bombs, then clashes broke out between demonstrators and occupation soldiers. The demonstartion lasted for hours as troops deliberately fired tear gas towards crews of journalists from Palestine TV and other stations to discourage the footage from the International Week Against Racism -and the Popular Committee’s condemnation of Israel’s racist and immoral practices- from being broadcast. In response, the Popular Committee stressed the need for cohesion, national unity and solidarity and highlighted that it was in the public interest for everyone involved in anti-racist stuggles to stand shoulder to shoulder with each other.

At 9:30am residents of Bil’in village, Palestinian political representatives, and International activists gathered in Bil’in to plant olive trees and almond seeds for 20 farmers who own land besides Israel’s Apartheid Wall. Approximately 200 trees were planted as part of the ongoing popular resistance to the Israeli apartheid wall and settlements. Bil’in has organized weekly and sometimes daily actions against the wall for the past five years, gaining international attention for the struggle and becoming a symbol for nonviolent, creative, popular struggle around the West Bank of Palestine.

An hour into the planting, an Israeli soldier appeared on the other side of the wall and gave a warning shot. He stated that planting next to the Wall is forbidden and that people were to stay 10 metres away from the wall. A jeep with four soldiers arrived and stood guard as the people continued planting slightly farther from the wall.

Two years ago the Israeli Supreme Court had deemed the path of the Wall, which cuts through Bil’in’s agricultural land to be illegal. Construction work to reroute the Wall in Bil’in began on February 11th, 2010. Israel has twice been found to be in contempt of court for not implementing the decision sooner. Residents of the village have had permission to access their land on the other side of the wall even before the courts ruling two years ago. Today, farmers planted 80 trees on the other side of the wall.

Mohammed Khatib, the coordinator of the West Bank-wide Popular Struggle Coordination Committee and a member of the the Bil’in Popular Committee, said today that “The Supreme Court had already ruled this should happen almost three years ago and it should not have taken so long. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the only reason that this is finally happening now are the five years of persistent struggle and the scarifies the people of my village have made. While we are happy for the lands that do return, we do not forget the lands and crops that remain isolated behind the Wall. Our struggle will continue until all of our lands are returned and the Occupation is over.”

Following initial construction of Israel’s wall on Bil’in’s lands in February 2005, residents organized almost daily direct actions and demonstrations against the theft of their lands. Garnering the attention of the international community with their creativity and perseverance, Bil’in has become a symbol for Palestinian popular resistance. Almost five years later, Bil’in continues to hold weekly Friday protests.

In addition to grassroots demonstrations and nonviolent direct actions, Bil’in has held annual conferences on popular resistance since 2006; providing a forum for villagers, activists and academics to discuss strategies for the unarmed struggle against the Occupation.
Realizing the limitations of the appealing to Israeli court and the legal remedies possible to achieve through them, the village of Bil’in commenced legal proceedings before the Superior Court of Quebec In July 2008. The appeal was filed against two Canadian companies, Green Park International Inc. and Green Mount International Inc., for their involvement in constructing, marketing and selling residential units in the Mattityahu East section of Modi’in Illit.

As part of a recent campaign to quash grassroots resistance to the Occupation, 37 residents of Bil’in have been arrested in connection to anti-Wall protest since June last year. Among those arrested are also five members of the village’s Popular Committee, which organizes the demonstrations. They have all been arrested on suspicions of incitement – a blanket charge for organizing demonstrations. Similar arrest campaigns are carried by Israel across the West Bank, targeting grassroots organizers.

Tear Gas at a Recent Bil'in Protest

Today in Bil’in village demonstrators against the apartheid wall and illegal Israeli settlements were met with live ammunition, tear gas (in both plastic and aluminum canisters), rubber bullets, and sound bombs from the Israeli army. Rubber bullets and tear gas canisters injured six demonstrators. Many suffered from sever tear gas inhalation including Fatah leader Dr. Nabil Shath. Others injured include Palestinian cameraman Fadi Aljause and reporter Haron Amira, Bassem Ahmad Yassin (leg injury), Ibrahim Burnat (rubber bullet injury), Nayif Ghazi (tear gas canister head injury), and a man from Jericho who was taken to the hospital in Ramallah (we have not received information about his current condition).

Palestinian, Israeli and International demonstrators marched to the wall with a 20 meters long Palestinian flag at which time the military immediately began firing tear gas into the crowd. The army entered the village and attempted to arrest two of the Palestinian activists. Israeli and International activists physically intervened in order to stop the arrests. Soldiers shot live ammunition into the air during the conflict in an attempt to scare and disperse the crowd. The crowd consisting of many Israeli solidarity activists did not disperse and began chanting “shame on you” in Hebrew. Mean while many soldiers were entering from another entrance point in the apartheid fence. They attempted to surround the demonstrators from three directions, but were unsuccessful.

Because of the strength tear gas, a joke was made that the army must have been using the new and improved 2010-edition tear gas. The last two weeks of the new year have been marked by an increase in arrests and harassment of Palestinian popular resistance organizers and activists in the West Bank. Last night the army invaded the village of Al Masara and raided the home of Popular Committee organizers Mahmoud Zawhre and Mohammed Bornat. The previous night, the home of Nil’in Popular Committee member Mohammed Brijya was raided. And one day before that three Popular Committee members were arrested from their homes in Nil’in. On the same night as the Nil’in arrests, a Bil’in activist who had been part of Friday demonstrations was arrested. Israeli authorities have intensified their efforts at suppressing the non-violent activities and organizing of Palestinians involved in grassroots campaigns against the Barrier and settlement expansion. Despite these efforts, many people have been attending the Friday demonstrations from neighboring villages, and new popular demonstrations have begun around the West Bank.