Saturday, February 9, 2013

Palestinians establish fifth protest village, Canaan, in South Hebron

Dear friends,
as you may have heard, Palestinian activists established a fifth protest village called Canaan on Palestinian land over the weekend in south Hebron.  The protest village was immediately attacked by Israeli Occupation Forces.

Please find below the call to action to support the village, as well as a statement on the establishment of the protest village. Also included is the Maan News report on the village.

In solidarity, Kim

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Call for participation in direct action: South West Bank Committee

We are the sons and daughters of Canaanites will establish Canaan Village (Canaan) on endangered Canaanite Palestinian land. We declare that it is our natural right to develop, reclaim, improve, use, and live on all our lands free and without threats from occupiers/colonizers.


Beginning Saturday 9 February, we will have several days of direct work to help farmers in the South West Bank reclaim and improve their agricultural lands


We call on people of conscience and media to join us as we work our lands and thus defend it against attempts by foreign colonizers to usurp it.


If interested to help, meet us at Bab Zqaq in Bethlehem at 7 AM Saturday when we will move to the location/s of the work.


South West Bank committee against settlement and apartheid wall


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ACTIVISTS BUILD NEW VILLAGE, CANAAN, SOUTH HEBRON - FEB 9, 2013


A group of activists Saturday put up a new tent village near Yatta, south of Hebron in the south of the West Bank to protest Israeli land expropriation to expand nearby illegal settlements, according to activists.

Tens of activists arrived in Yatta during the early hours of the morning to put up the tent village they named Canaan on land surrounded by the illegal settlements of Sussia and Karmiel

A first attempt by Palestinian and foreign activists and residents of Yatta to build the tent village of Canaan was quickly foiled when the soldiers, who surrounded the area, removed them and took them away. Activists later returned and set up tents on the same location, but the army removed them again.

Soldiers at one point attacked the activists at least 2 people including one woman and sprayed skunk water at the tents to keep the activists away and declared the area a closed military zone, said activists.

Soldiers cordoned the area and prevented more activists from reaching Canaan village, which was set up only a week after a similar protest tent village, al-Manatir, was put up on land near the village of Burin, south of Nablus, also to protest Israeli settlement expansion.

"We began building the tents and were surprised when a large force of the Israeli army began attacking us and destroying tents and hitting us ... We will try and build Canaan village again," Younis Arar, coordinator of the popular committees in the southern West Bank said.

Several activists were arrested during forcibly eviction and taken to the Hebron police station, according to army. Three journalists were detained at the scene, a Ma'an reporter said.

Yatta popular committee spokesman Ibrahim Rabee told Ma'an the protest camp was a stand against Israeli policies in the region.

"We are establishing Canaan on our land after our homes and water wells were demolished, and our people displaced," he said.



*** Activists establish new protest village in South Hebron
by Maan News: 9 February 2013







HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Palestinians and foreign solidarity activists on Saturday set up a new protest village in the south Hebron hills, and vowed to remain there despite Israeli forces moving to dismantle the structures.

Early Saturday, activists set up steel-framed tents near the Palestinian village of al-Tuwani, calling the encampment "Canaan".

Younis Arar, coordinator of the popular committees in the southern West Bank, told Ma'an that soldiers assaulted the 30 activists who had gathered in the area.

"We began building the tents and were surprised when a large force of the Israeli army began attacking us and destroying tents and hitting us ... We will try and build Canaan village again," Arar said.

A military spokeswoman said soldiers evacuated illegal structures, and responded with riot dispersal means when around 100 Palestinians "rioted" in the area.

A Ma'an reporter said three journalists were detained, and the military spokeswoman said five Palestinians and five Israelis were arrested for entering the area after it was declared a closed military zone.

Yatta popular committee spokesman Ibrahim Rabee told Ma'an the protest camp was a stand against Israeli policies in the region.

"We are establishing Canaan on our land after our homes and water wells were demolished, and our people displaced," he said.

The south Hebron hills lies in an area of the West Bank under full Israeli military control, and its residents say Israel does not allow any building permits and demolishes homes and infrastructure, while supporting Israeli settlements in the area.

Just south of al-Tuwani, Israel has established a closed military zone where the state wants to evict eight Palestinian villages to make way for a army training ground.





The Canaan protest camp is the fifth such initiative in recent weeks.

In January, the Bab al-Shams village was set up in an area where Israel plans to build the "E1" settlement, severing the West Bank from Jerusalem.

Then, locals established the al-Karamah (Dignity) village in Beit Iksa, northwest of Jerusalem, which is set to be tightly encircled by Israel's separation wall.

A week later, activists set up the Al-Asra, or prisoners, protest village in the village of Anin, northwest of Jenin.

Last Saturday, Palestinians established the "Al-Manatir neighborhood" encampment in an area of Burin village that activists say is slated for confiscation by a neighboring settlement.

Israeli forces have moved to evacuate each of the camps and dismantle their structures.



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