I am a political activist who has worked and lived in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This blog chronicles my time in Palestine and also provides news and analysis about Palestine and the situation on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
SPEAKERS AND UPDATED CONFERENCE AGENDA Building Solidarity, Combating Occupation and Apartheid National Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions conference Melbourne, 29 - 31 October 2010
- activism in support of Palestine -
Endorsed by the Palestinian BDS National Committee
Our confirmed speakers so far include:
Rafeef Ziadah Rafeef is a Palestinian activist, unionist and spoken word artist. She is a member of the steering committee of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) Rafeef is also a founding member of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) promoting the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestement and Sanctions (BDS) campaign in Canada and an organizer of the international Israeli Apartheid Week. Rafeef is a member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and was a member of the CUPE’s international solidarity committee for 3 years
Anna Baltzer Anna is a Jewish-American Columbia graduate and Fulbright, who has worked as a volunteer with the International Women's Peace Service in the Occupied West Bank, documenting human rights abuses and supporting Palestinian-led nonviolent resistance to the Occupation. Anna is the author of the book Witness in Palestine and speaks widely in the USA and internationally on the Palestinian struggle for human rights and self-determination. Anna is being brought to Australia as part of a national speaking tour organised by Australians for Palestine and will speak at the Australian national BDS conference on Saturday.
Samah Sabawi Samah is an Australian-Palestinian writer and social justice activist. She is co-author of Journey to Peace in Palestine and a former executive director of the National Council on Canada Arab Relations.
Ofer Neiman Ofer Neiman is a co-editor of the Occupation Magazine, and one of the activists in the Israeli support group for the BDS campaign, “BOYCOTT! Supporting the Palestinian BDS call from within”. He works as an editor and a translator. He believes that Israeli peace and anti-occupation groups will not be able to change reality from within, without support from the outside. Ofer will join the conference launch via internet/video hook up from Jerusalem.
Kevin Bracken Kevin is a long-time unionist and supporter of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination, as well as other social justice issues. Kevin is currently the Secretary of the Victorian branch of the Maritime Union of Australia and the President of the Victorian Trades Hall Council.
Yousef Alreemawi Yousef is a Palestinian academic and advocate for Palestinian and refugee rights. Yousef also presents Palestine Remembered, Australia’s only English language program on Palestine, on Radio 3CR. He is also the founder of ASPIRE – the Australian Society for Palestinian Iraqi Refugees Emergency – an humanitarian project which seeks to resettle in Australia, Palestinian-Iraqi refugees living in refugee camps on the Iraq/Syrian border.
Alex Whisson Alex is a long time Palestine solidarity activist. He is the former convenor of Friends of Palestine in Western Australia and is currently the Public Advocate for Australians for Palestine in Melbourne
Kim Sattler Kim is a long-time unionist, who was active in the South African anti-apartheid campaign. Kim is currently the Secretary of Unions ACT in Canberra. Kim has recently returned from Palestine, where she participated in the Union Aid Abroad APHEDA Middle East Study Tour 2010
Ginny Adams Ginny is an organiser with the Health and Community Sector Union. Ginny has been active in the Palestinian and refugee rights campaigns for more than 10 years. She recently returned from Palestine, where she participated in the Union Aid Abroad APHEDA Middle East Study Tour 2010
Ken Davis Ken is a long-time unionist and social justice campaigner. He is a member of the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine in Sydney.
UPDATED CONFERENCE AGENDA – As of 22 Sept 2010 Conference Registration: All weekend $30/22 (incl: Conference launch meeting) Daily $15/$10 Conference Launch meeting $5 Conference registration: email ausbds@gmail.com
FRIDAY – 29th October CONFERENCE LAUNCH 7pm – 9pm The international Boycott campaign and the struggle for a Free Palestine VENUE: STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA, cnr of La Trobe and Swanston St, Melbourne Speakers: Rafeef Ziadah (Palestinian BNC) Kim Sattler (Secretary, Unions ACT) Yousef Al Reemawi (Palestinian academic) Ofer Neiman (BOYCOTT! Supporting the Palestinian BDS call from Within Israel)
SATURDAY – 30th October TIME SESSION SPEAKERS 8.45 – 9.15am Registration VENUE: MARITIME UNION of AUSTRALIAN HALL – 54 Ireland St, West Melb.
9.15am Welcome/Opening Conference Organising Committee 9.30am – 10.45amPopular struggle: BDS and a short history of civil disobedience and struggle in Palestine and internationally
speakers: Alex Whisson – Australians for Palestine Anna Baltzer - author, Witness in Palestine
10.45-11.15am Break
11.15am – 12.45pm Struggle and Solidarity: Lessons from Palestine Solidarity work internationally Speakers: Samah Sabawi – Palestinian writer/former Executive Director of National Council on Canada Arab Relations Rafeef Ziadah - Palestinian BDS National Committee Kevin Bracken, State Secretary, Maritime Union of Australia (Vic)
12.45pm-1.30pm Lunch
1.30pm – 2.30pm National Targets Proposals - Conference organising committee
2.30pm – 4pm Discussion of proposed National Targets Break into sectoral groups – Unions Campus/Faith based/ Community/Culture
4pm– 4.30pm Break
4.30pm – 5.45pm Solidarity in Action workshops (1) Australian Flotilla project – Gaza Defence Committee (2) Palestinian-Iraqi refugees and re-settlement in Australia – ASPIRE (3) Lessons from Students for Palestine (4) Volunteering in Palestine – International Women’s Peace Service
6.30pm - midnight CONCERT FOR PALESTINE AND DINNER $25/$20 Featuring: Fear of a Brown Planet, The Brothahood, The Conch, hil Monsour Band and; Rafeef Ziadah
Middle East Food and drinks available
SUNDAY 31st OCTOBER
TIME SESSION SPEAKERS
9am – 9.30pm Registration and welcome
9.30pm – 10.45am Apartheid: South Africa, Israel and international law. Speakers: Ken Davis - Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine Ginny Adams – union organiser
10.45am- 11.15am Break
11.15am-12.15pm Palestine Q & A with Rafeef Ziadah and others
12.15pm 1pm lunch
1pm – 2.30pm Hasbara busting: Countering Israel’s propaganda war and attempts to delegitimise BDS. Speakers: Samah Sawbawi - Palestinian writer/former Executive Director of National Council on Canada Arab Relations Kim Bullimore – International Women’s Peace Service-Palestine
2.30pm –3pm Break
3 pm – 4.45pm Decision on National BDS target/campaign
The International Women¹s Peace Service (IWPS) is a team of international female human-rights volunteers in Palestine who provide accompaniment to Palestinian civilians (including farmers during the annual olive harvest), document and non-violently intervene in human-rights abuses and support acts of non-violent resistance to end the Israeli military occupation and construction of the barrier throughout the West Bank.
IWPS is currently inviting applications from women based in Australia and New Zealand who would like to join our team of long-term volunteers.
We are also inviting applications from women who would like to work with IWPS on a short term basis.
LONG TERM VOLUNTEERS: Long-term volunteer applicants will be expected to serve a minimum of one 3 month term in the West Bank, Palestine, as well as supporting our work outside of Palestine. Applicants should be able to commit to further terms in Palestine of one to three months in their 2nd and 3rd year of commitment to IWPS.
Please visit our Long Term Volunteer Page on our website (www.iwps,info) for more information or alternatively you can request an application pack by emailing us at applyiwps@gmail.com
SHORT TERM VOLUNTEERS: We are also accepting application from women who would like to work with IWPS on a short term basis in 2010 and 2011 (minimum of 3 weeks). Please visit our Short Term Volunteer Page on our website (www.iwps.info) for more information.
TRAINING: Successful Australian and New Zealand applicants (both long-term and short-term) will be invited to 4 day training program and meeting in Melbourne, Australia (November 12 – 15th).
If you would like more information and/or would like to receive an Application Package please visit our Volunteer Pages at www.iwps.info where you will find Application Documents, Contact information, answers to Frequently Asked Questions and suggestions about other ways you can help our efforts or you can email us at: applyiwps@gmail.com
Deadline for Australian/New Zealand applications: 8 October, 2010
By International Women's Peace Service - Palestine
Since 2002, the International Women’s Peace Service in Palestine (IWPS-Palestine) has been documenting and non-violently intervening in human rights abuses carried out by the Israeli military and Israeli settlers in the Occupied West Bank against the Palestinian civilian population. We are the only all women team of internationals working in the Occupied West Bank and we are currently looking for new volunteers to join us on the ground in Palestine. (see: http://iwps.info/?page_id=380 )
IWPS - Palestine is located in the Salfit district, a rural area located close to Nablus. The district, as well as the nearby Nablus and Qalqilya districts, are affected by more than 20 illegal Israeli settlements located in the “Ariel settlement bloc”. We were established at the height of the Al Aqsa Intifada in response to a call from the village of Hares for an international presence in their village. Hares, which is home to 3000 Palestinians (mainly farmers), is located in the heart of the Ariel settlement bloc and was under curfew and almost daily invasion from the Israeli military. During one of these invasions in 2001, our neighbour Issa was shot by an Israeli soldier and paralysed. At the time of the shooting, Issa was attempting to bring to safety a group of small children who had been playing outside when the Israeli military invaded the village.(see http://www.occupationalhazard.org/article.php?IDD=413).
After 7 years in Hares, we recently relocated to the neighbouring village of Deir Istyia, which like Hares and other Palestinian villages under the occupation, continues to suffer greatly. In the past months, Deir Istiya has been subject to semi-regular curfew and invasion. The village which is home to just over 3100 people has already lost much of its land to Israel’s occupation and is now struggling to keep more of its land being taken by the illegal settlements.
Since our establishment 8 years ago, hundreds of women from around the world have joined us in Hares and now Deir Istiya. They have played a vital role in not only documenting and non-violently intervening in human rights abuses carried out by the Israeli military and illegal Israeli settlers, they have also been active in supporting Palestinian non-violent resistance to end Israel’s occupation and to stop the building the apartheid wall. IWPS volunteers over the years have provided regular accompaniment to Palestinian civilians, including to farmers trying to reach their land and who have been prevented by the Israeli military and/or illegal settlers. We have also coordinated internationals teams to assist with accompaniment during olive harvest each year. Our team members have been part of the non-violent civil resistance which has attempted to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes and the construction of the apartheid wall.
In the last three years, our team members have been increasingly called on to try and intervene to stop and/or document the increasing number of Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian civilians and villages. While there has been a dramatic increase in the number of settler attacks on Palestinians across the Occupied West Bank, many of the worst attacks have occurred in the nearby Nablus district. These attacks by illegal settlers have included the poisoning of Palestinian livestock, the torching and burning of hundreds of dunums of Palestinian agricultural land, the invasion of Palestinian villages by armed settlers, the beating and stoning of unarmed Palestinian residents, the destruction of Palestinian property and the firing of homemade missiles at Palestinian villages on several occasions. In response to these attacks, our team members have regularly provided a temporary international presence in the villages under attack in order to try and stop the attacks, while also documenting the attacks in an attempt to bring them to the attention of the wider public, internationally.
In recent months, IWPS has been active in supporting the non-violent demonstrations in the village of An Nabi Saleh. Since December 2009, the village has been holding non-violent demonstrations against the creeping settlement expansion and land confiscation by the illegal Israeli settlement of Hallamish (also known as Neve Tzuf) and each week the demonstrations are brutally attacked by Israel’s military. IWPS-Palestine is run solely by volunteers from around the world and we have just issued a call for new volunteers to join us on the ground in Palestine. If you would like to find out more about IWPS, you can either visit our website at www.iwps.info or you can contact as at applyiwps@gmail.com and we will send you details of our application process.
the terrible news has come through that the Israeli military has shot dead 4 Palestinian youth in less than 24 hours in the West Bank. Mohammed Qaddous, age 16, was killed when he was shot from behind by the Israeli military with live ammunition. Ussayed Qaddous, 19, from the same village of Iraq Burin was also shot in the head with live ammunition and died several hours later. The Israeli military has denied the use of live ammunition, despite medical proof to the contrary.
My teammates from the International Women's Peace Service (IWPS), Marie and Gwen, were in the village at the time of the shootings and I have included their initial report below [at the time of the report was written the second boy, Ibrahim remained in coma. Sadly, he died later].
Two other Palestinian from the village of Awarta, which is also in the Nablus region were shot dead by the Israeli military in the hours following the death of the first two boys. The Israeli military is claiming the two boys attacked them with pitchforks. However, according to my team mates from IWPS, who have since visited Awarat, the villagers have contradicted the IOF's story, saying that Muhammed Faysal (19 yrs) and Salah Muhammad Qawariq (16 years), were in fact killed by settlers.
Reports in the Haaretz have reported Palestinian Authority spokespersons saying that witnesses stated that the two young men were killed in cold blood after they had been arrested and bound by the IOF.
According to Marie and Gwen, while they can not ascertain the manner of the boys death at this time, they believe the story about the boys attacking the IOF is unlikely. What is not in dispute, however, according to my team mates is that the boys were unarmed and were killed in cold blood.
In addition, to the report from my colleagues at IWPS, I have also included a report from Haaretz on the 4 shootings and a report from YNet on the first two deaths in Iraq Burin.
In solidarity, Kim
*** Medical Xray of live ammunition lodge in the skull of Ussayed Qadous. Photograph by Salma aDeb'i - B'Tselem
INITIAL IWPS REPORT ON IRAQ BURIN - 21 MARCH, 2010
16 YEAR OLD MUHAMMED DIED AS A RESULT OF GUNSHOT WOUNDS BY ISRAELI MILITARY AND 16 YEAR OLD IBRIHAM IS CURRENTY IN SURGERY FOR A GUNSHOT TO HIS HEAD.
Today, March 20th, Gwen and I responded to a call earlier in the week by the Mayor of Iraq Burin, Abu Haitham, to be an international presence in his village during what has become weekly clashes between armed settlers and Israeli soldiers and unarmed villagers.
We arrived at the village a little after 11:00am and were soon joined by a group of international volunteers from Project Hope who work in the Nablus refugee camps, who were there for informational resources rather than villager accompaniment, then a little later a couple of ISM’ers . Later in the day members of EEAPI came to be a presence for a time.
We gathered at a community building in the village and were given some history on the problems the villagers of Iraq Burin has had with the illegal settlement of Bracha, their inhabitants and the military. Construction on the settlement began in 1982 taking land from neighboring villages Burin and Kufr Kalil, and now plan to expand onto land belonging to Iraq Burin. According to the coordinator for the Project Hope delegation, Israel plans to link the settlements around the Nablus area to the Larger settlement of Ariel.
According to Israeli law, if land is left unused it reverts to the state (of Israel) after 3 years. The villagers of Iraq Burin held their weekly Friday prayers on the land surrounding their village that wasn’t being used for agriculture. About six months ago the military began denying the village access to this land. The villagers went to court and got an order giving them freedom to access all their land. However, settlers began attacking them during their Friday prayers. The military was called in but did not prevent the settlers from attacking. Instead, they acted as escorts for the settlers. The settlers began “holding prayers” at a well on the land of Abu Haitham. In actuality, they have thrown stones in the well, swam in it and made it unfit for potable water.
The villagers then proposed they would not hold demonstrations against the settlers if they would be allowed access to their land on Saturdays to plant. This was agreed to by the military; however, access to their land on Saturdays has been met with violent resistance by both the settlers and the military.
In the past couple of weeks 15 people have been injured in settler violence.
Today, when we arrived in Iraq Burin their were approximately 12 soldiers visible on the hills surroundng the village. After our meeting with the Mayor and other internationals, about 50 people proceeded toward part of the land in dispute. Soldiers (not those in position when we first arrived but rather another group) immediately began provoking the villagers with taunts and shooting live ammunition into the air in an attempt to disperse the gathering. This went on for about 10 minutes. The military then began shooting tear gas as well as the live ammo. There was a retreat of the demonstration, then the demonstration would go back, replaying the scene of violence over and again for several hours.
When it appeared that the military was retreating for the day IWPS and ISM prepared to leave. Suddenly, there was a great commotion with villagers running toward the village and yelling. Five or Six military jeeps came into the village from the road while those who had been engaged in the demonstration came down from the hills. Heavily armed soldiers began a house to house search, and arrested 3 young men. At one house an ISMer attempted to enter the house with the soldiers to document their treatement of the inhabitants but he was physically blocked from entering.
We followed the soldiers to each house they raided, but unfortunately there were too few of us to adequately document the human rights abuses. While we were shadowing the soldiers we heard what I assumed to be tear gas explosions in another part of the village. After the soldiers completed their house raids they quickly exited the area and soon after villagers again started running toward the center of the village. As well, ambulances headed in the same direction. We followed and heard that teenagers had been shot, a 16 year old by the name Muhammed of was shot in the back and a 15 year old named Ibrihim was shot in the head. According to villagers they were shot with live ammunition. At the time of this writing, we are waiting to hear of the condition of Ibrihim, who is in surgery.
Written by Marie Edited by Gwen
Mohammed Qaddous: Photograph by Salma aDeb'i - B'Tselem
Mohammed Qaddous: Photograph by Salma aDeb'i - B'Tselem
***** Last update - 21:46 21/03/2010 PA accuses Israel of killing Palestinian teens 'in cold blood' By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, and News Agencies Tags: Israel news, Nablus, IDF
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1157845.html
Senior Palestinian Authority officials on Sunday accused Israel of escalating tensions after Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinian youth in the West Bank in 24 hours.
Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib called for an independent investigation into the killing of 19-year-old cousins Mohammed Qawariq and Saleh Qawariq on Sunday, who were shot by Israel Defense Forces troops who they attempted to stab with a pitchfork. The soldiers were not harmed in the incident.
Khatib cited witness accounts that the two had been shot only after being arrested, while Mahmoud al-Aloul, a senior figure in the Fatah party led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the youth had been killed in "cold blood".
"Nobody can imagine that we can stand with our hands tied vis-a-vis what is happening," Aloul told around 1,500 mourners at their funeral in Awarta, south of Nablus.
According to initial reports, soldiers from the IDF's Nahshon Battalion were stationed south of the Israeli settlement of Itamar in order to protect Palestinians plowing their land.
"Two men tried to stab a soldier during a routine patrol near the Awarta security crossing near Nablus. The force opened fire and confirmed their death," an army spokeswoman said.
Earlier Sunday, a 19-year-old Palestinian died of wounds sustained one day earlier when IDF troops opened fire on demonstrators south of Nablus.
Oseyd Abd al-Nasser Kadus was hit in the midriff by a rubber-coated bullet and was taken to the hospital in Nablus, where he had been listed in critical condition.
Another youth, Ibrahim Abd al-Khader Kadus, 16, died Saturday after being hit in the heart by a rubber-coated bullet fired by IDF troops.
The two were wounded clash after IDF soldiers tried to prevent clashes between Israeli settlers and Palestinians near the village of Iraq Burin, south of Nablus. Villagers own land that borders the nearby settlement of Bracha.
Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Israel had responded to U.S. and international efforts to revive peace talks "with more escalation" that thwarted attempts to get negotiations going.
The head of the local village council, Abd al-Rahim Kadus, told Haaretz that every Saturday settlers come to the village, attack the locals and destroy property, leading to clashes with the Palestinians.
Israeli troops usually intervene to break up the fighting, which then turns into a confrontation between young villagers and the soldiers.
The Palestinians maintain that the two teenagers were hit by live ammunition and that the soldiers prevented Palestinian medical staff from evacuating them. The two teenagers were subsequently rushed to the hospital in private cars.
The IDF began an investigation into the incident, which marked the first killing of a Palestinian in months. Army sources told Haaretz that the Palestinians' claim that live rounds were fired is false.
The human rights group B'Tselem, which sent an investigator to the hospital in Nablus, said that both casualties were the result of live rounds.
In recent weeks demonstrations have taken place in the area by villagers, who have also pelted soldiers with stones
Dear friends, the International Women's Peace Service in Palestine is currently inviting applications for women to join them as long term volunteers working on the ground in Palestine.
Please find below the details of how to apply or visit the IWPS website at www.iwps.info
in solidarity, Kim ***
The International Women’s Peace Service in Palestine (IWPS-Palestine) is a team of women human rights workers, who provide international accompaniment to Palestinian civilians, document and non-violently intervene in human rights abuses and support acts of non-violent resistance to end the illegal Israeli occupation and building of the apartheid wall.
IWPS-Palestine is currently inviting applicants from women who would like to join our team of longer term volunteers. Successful applicants will serve a minimum of one three month term in Palestine and support our on-going work outside. Preference will be given to women able to commit to further terms in Palestine (1-3 months). Deadline for application 30.09.09. Please contact: iwpstraining@yahoo.com for more info and application form. More information about IWPS see: www.iwps-pal.org
By Kim Bullimore This article has also been published by Palestine Chronicle www.palestinechronicle.com
On September 13, in response to a 9 year old Israeli settler child living in the "wildcat" outpost of Shalhevet, about half a kilometre from the illegal Israeli colony of Yitzhar, being stabbed by a lone Palestinian, hundreds of illegal settlers rioted en-mass and terrorised several thousand villagers in the Palestinian township of Asira al Qibliya. In the course of the riot at least 8 Palestinians were seriously injured, six by live ammunition fired by the illegal settlers, who also vandalised residential homes and beat unarmed children and adults, while members of the fourth strongest army on earth stood by and let the settlers riot [1].
While much has been made by the illegal settlers and some of the Israeli and international press of the stabbing and "terrorist" attack on Yitzhar, little was said – if anything at all – about the fact that for the past decade the heavily armed settlers of Yitzhar and other nearby illegal Israeli settlements have been violently terrorising the unarmed Palestinian villages around them. Neither was it mentioned that in the last twelve months, such unprovoked attacks by the Yitzhar settlers have increased substantially. Nor was it mentioned that there had also been an increase in similar attacks by other illegal settlers against Palestinian villages in the Qaliqilya and Hebron region of the Occupied Paletinian Territories (OPT).
The intensification of these attacks in all the various regions throughout the occupied West Bank have been well documented by the Israeli military, international and Israeli human rights workers and have also been intermittently been reported in the Israeli media. In the Nablus region where Asira al Qibiliya is located, the attacks carried out by the illegal settlers – in many instances just before, during or after the Jewish Shabbat - have included the poisoning of Palestinian herds of goat and sheep, the torching and burning of hundreds of dunums of Palestinian agricultural land, the invasion of Palestinian villages by armed settlers, the beating and stoning of unarmed Palestinian residents, the destruction of Palestinian property and the firing of homemade missiles at Palestinian villages on several occasions [2]
Illegal settlers attack Asira al Qibiliya, 13 September 2008
On May 16th of this year, myself and my team mate from the International Women's Peace Service (IWPS) and members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) were called out to one of the many ongoing attacks carried out by the Yitzhar settlers against Asira al Qibiliya. On this particular occasion, 30 armed illegal settlers attempted to enter the village, hurling stones at houses and attempting to set alight the wheat fields belonging to the village. Over the next couple of hours an intense standoff occurred between the dozens of well-armed Israeli occupation forces and approximately hundred unarmed young boys and men from Asira al Qibiliya who had attempted to prevent the illegal settlers from entering the village and terrorising the inhabitants. The Israeli military rather than coming to the aid of the unarmed Palestinian villagers, instead opened fire on them with teargas and rubber bullets. One villager was hit in the face with a ricocheting bullet fired by the Israeli occupation forces and a woman and her four children, including a 2 month old baby and three other children under the age of 10 years suffered respiratory problems when the Israeli military threw teargas into their home [3]. According to the family, whose house lies on the outskirts of the village, close to the illegal colony this was not the first time their house had come under attack by either the settlers or the Israeli military. At around 7pm, the Israeli military finally left the village but at the request of the people of Asira al Qibiliya, ourselves and the activists from the ISM -who had arrived in the village during the middle of the standoff - stayed in the village overnight due to fears by the villagers that another attack would be carried out against them.
Because this was not the first attack on the village, over the next few months, IWPS, the ISM, the Ecumenical Accompaniers (EA) and Rabbis for Human Rights developed a roster to allow internationals and Israeli anti-occupation activists to either provide a presence in the village or to be on-call should any more settler attacks occur. Over the next few weeks, the illegal settler of Yitzhar and other illegal colonies attempted to carry out attacks on Asira al Qibiliya and other nearby villages. On a number of these occasions (but not all) the illegal settlers were prevented from entering the various villages or their surround fields, when the villagers demanded that the Israeli military stop them. While the Israeli military did on occasion prevent the illegal settlers from entering into the Palestinian villages, the settlers were never arrested or detained by the Israeli forces for attempting to carry out premeditated, unprovoked and violent attacks.
Despite this, however, settlers were still able to carry out a range of attacks on unarmed Palestinians. On June 16 illegal settlers from Yitzhar physically attacked three Palestinian sheppards from the village of Burin (located about a half hour from Asira al Qibiliya). According to the report issued by UN OCHA oPt (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories), the settlers also stabbed and killed three donkeys [4].
Three days later on June 19, both IWPS and UN OCHA oPt documented settlers from Yitzhar and other illegal setters attacking two houses in Burin, stoning Palestinian plated cars and setting fire to the farm lands of Palestinians villagers from Burin, Asira al Qibilya and Urif, destroying more than 800 dunums of olive groves. On the morning of this attack, myself and my team mates at IWPS had received an emergency call from locals in Asira al Qibiliya informing us that the illegal settlers were in the process of torching hundreds of dunums of Palestinian farmland in the area and were carrying out an attack on the nearby village of Burin. Two of my team mates quickly headed to Burin, while myself and another team mate alerted the media and other activists to the attacks.
As my team mates travelled to Burin, I rang contacts in the village. While talking to a Palestinian journalist who was on location in the village, I could hear yelling, shoots being fired and scuffles breaking out as villagers attempted to get to their fields to put out the fires set by the illegal settlers. The Israeli military, however, who had refused to stop the settlers setting the fire, also physically prevented the Palestinian farmers and villagers from getting to their fields to put the blazes out. Our field team also rang to tell us that despite being 15 minutes away from the village, they could see large plumes of smoke in the air and fields burning. Our field team were later to report that around 250 illegal settlers on board coaches who arrived in the area. According to our field team, the Israeli military accompanied the settlers and did not attempt to prevent them from endangering the lives of the villagers or destroying their property [5]. Instead, when the villagers of Burin attempted to defend themselves against the settler attacks, the Israeli military open fire on the unarmed villagers throwing teargas canisters into two of the houses under attacks. As a result an elderly Palestinian woman and a 3 month old baby suffered tear gas inhalation and needed medical attention. In addition, UN OCHA oPt noted that due to the settler attacks, the Israeli military were forced to close the road between Yitzhar colony (in the Nablus region) and Jit village (in the Qalqilya regioni) for seven hours between 11 am and 6pm. [6]
The following month on July 27, IWPS received yet another emergency call from Burin where 25 - 30 illegal settlers were using petrol to set fire to the village's olive and almonds trees after attempting to carry out a stoning attack on Palestinian sheppards [7]. The villagers reported to IWPS that this was the third attack the village had suffered at the hand of the illegal settlers that week.
Illegal settlers tie Palestinian man to telephone pole and beat him Samoa, Occupied Hebron, July 2008
The failure to mention the growing number of attacks on the Palestinian villages of the Nablus region by the illegal settlers from Yitzhar and other illegal colonies, however, was not the only thing left out of the coverage of the settler riot by much of the Israeli english-language and international media. Also left out was that illegal settlers who reside in Yitzhar are some of the most hardcore and ideological of settlers, with a great many of them being adherents of the violent, racist anti-Arab ideology of American-born Israeli, Rabbi Meir Kahane.
Kahane, who was assassinated by an Egyptian-born American in 1990, was the founder of the racist Jewish Defense League in the USA and Kach (Thus) in Israel. He was also the inspiration for Kahane Chai (Kahane Lives) which was founded by his son. Kahane, who was elected to the Knesset in 1984 called for the expulsion of all Palestinians and Arabs from the Holy Land, the banning of sexual relationships between Jews and non-Jews and also believed that democracy and Judaism were not compatible [8]
In 1994, Kach and Kahane Chai were declared terrorist organisations by the Israeli government (and later the USA) after one of Kach's members, American-born Israeli doctor, Baruch Goldstein, massacred 29 Muslim men, women and children at prayer in the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and wounded at least 100 others. At the time of the attack Kach issued statements supporting Goldstein's act of mass murder. The following year in 1995, a follower of Kahane, Yigal Amir assassinated Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin [9].
Jessica Stern in her 2003 book, Terror in the Name of God: Why religious militants kill, notes that prior to Goldstein's murderous attack and the assassination of Rabin, Kach and Kahane Chai had also claimed responsibility for a range of other attacks on Palestinians and Israeli government officials, including the murder of four Palestinians in 1993. Stern also documents that in 2002 Kach leader, Baruch Marzel, was arrested in connection "with a plot to leave a trailer laden with barrels of gasoline and two gas balloons outside a Palestinian girls' school in East Jerusalem" [10].
In the wake of the attacks carried by the illegal settlers, the Israeli english-language and international media reported that Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, stated that his government would not allow "pogroms against non-Jews" to be carried out. However, what was not mentioned in the media coverage was that the Israeli Prime Minister only found his voice after the Israeli television media aired extensively footage, obtained by Palestinian, International and Israeli anti-occupation activists, showing the intensity of the attack and that the Israeli military and police had accompanied the settlers to the village and stood by watched as the settlers to carry out the attack on the unarmed village, doing nothing to prevent it. Prior to the footage being shown, Olmert had little to say about this latest settler attack.
Also not mentioned by Olmert or the subsequent media coverage was that such large scale "pogroms" are perpetrated on regular basis by illegal settlers against Palestinians civilians and that the Israeli military and police do nothing to prevent them. This fact has been regularly document by Israeli human rights groups such as B'Tselem. In 2001, they noted in their report, Free Reign: Vigilante settlers and Israel's non-enforcement of the law, that "settler violence against Palestinians is extensive and has been prevalent in the Occupied Territories for many years [11]. B'Tselem noted that between December 1987 and the beginning of October 2001, that 124 Palestinians had been murdered by Israeli settlers, 11 of them between the one year period between September 2000 and October 2001. The report went onto note that the Israeli military and police regularly failed in their duties to protect Palestinians from violent attacks.
Seven years after B'Tselem's Free Reign report, the organisation's website notes that nothing much has changed. According to B'Tselem's website, "when Palestinians attack Israelis, the authorities invoke all means at their disposal – including some that are incompatible with international law and constitute gross violations of human rights – to arrest suspects and bring them to trail. Defendants convicted by military courts can expect harsh sentences" [12 ]. However, according to B'Tselem, "in contrast, when Israeli civilians attack Palestinians, the Israeli authorities employ an undeclared policy of leniency and compromise towards the perpetrators. This policy is reflected in the actions of the officials in charge of law enforcement – the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and the Israel Police Force (IPF) – which do not do enough to prevent harm to the life and property of Palestinians and to sop violent attacks by settlers while they are taking place. All law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities demonstrate little interest in uncovering the substantial violence that Israeli civilians commit against Palestinians in the Occupied Territories".
The recent "pogrom" carried out by the illegal settlers of Yitzhar is not an isolated incident or an aberration. Such pogroms happen with frightening regularity and are regularly ignored by the Israeli government who view the illegal settlers as their front line shock troops against the Palestinian population. These attacks are also regularly ignored by the mainstream media, who as media researchers Greg Philo and Mike Berry in their 2004 book, Bad News from Israel, note regularly fail to accurately report what happens in Occupied Palestinian Territories [13].
The failure of the media to do its job and to accurately report what is happening in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza is why it is important for those of us concerned about human rights to support B'Tselem's "Shooting Back" program (where video cameras are provided to vulnerable communities in the OPT), as well as the work of groups like IWPS and ISM who regularly document on the ground the reality of what is happening.
The recent settler riots in Asira al Qibiliya will not be the last to take place in OPT. Until Israel's illegal and brutal occupation is ended and occupation infrastructure such as the illegal colonies, outposts and the apartheid wall are dismantled and the Israeli military that protects them is removed, Palestinians will not be safe in their own homes and there will be no chance at a real peace, which will bring an end to bloodshed on both sides of the conflict.
Al Jazeera - Inside Story: Israeli settler violence (part1) 18 June 2008
[2] Associated Press (13 July, 2008) Settler arrested in failed rocket attack on Palestinian town http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1001565.html
[3] Settlers attack Asira al Qibliya, ISM Report (17 May, 2008) http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/05/17/settlers-attack-asira-al-qibliya/
[4] Protection of Civilians Weekly Report (11 – 17 June, 2008) UN OCHA oPt http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/WBN_264.pdf
[5] IWPS Human Rights Report 360 http://www.iwps.info/en/articles/article.php?id=1153
[6] Protection of Civilians Weekly Report (18 – 24 June, 2008) UN OCHA oPt http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/WBN_264.pdf
[7] Mergui, R., and Simonnot, P., (1987) Israel's Ayatollahs: Meir Kahane and the Far Right in Israel. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Saqi Books
[8] IWPS Human Rights Report 371 http://www.iwps.info/en/articles/article.php?id=1177
[9] Kahane Movement, Anti-Defamation League http://www.adl.org/terrorism/symbols/kahane_2.asp
[10] Talking with Jewish Extremists (excerpts from Jessica Stern's 2003 book, Terror in the Name of God: Why religious militants kill) Israel's next war, Frontline, PBS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/israel/extreme/nameof.html
[11] Dudai, R., (2001) Free Reign: Vigilante settlers and Israel's non-enforcement of the law, B'Tselem: Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (Jerusalem)
[12] B'Tselem: Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories http://www.btselem.org/English/Settler_Violence/Index.asp
[13] Philo, G., and Berry, M., (2004) Bad News from Israel , Pluto Press, London
