- 29 apr 2011
Three Injured, Three Arrested as Troops Attack West Bank Anti-Wall Protests
Ramallah PNN - Two children and a youth were injured, three Israeli activists arrested on Friday as Israeli troops attacked the weekly anti-wall protests taking place in Bil'in, Nil'in, al-Nabi Salleh, central West Bank, as well as al-Ma'ssara village in the south. This week protesters welcomed the National Unity deal signed by Palestinian factions in Cairo on Wednesday.
In Bil'in, 8 year old boy was injured many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation during the weekly protests there. Like every Friday for the past six years international and Israeli supporters joined the villagers after the midday prayers and marched up to the wall to protest. Upon arriving at the gate of the wall, troops stationed there fired tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets at protesters, leading to their injuries. Mohamed Burnat, 8, was hit with a tear gas bomb in his back as soldiers attacked protesters.
In al-Nabi Salleh, 13 year old child and a young man were injured, three Israeli supporters arrested when troops attacked the weekly protest against the wall and settlements. International and Israeli supporters after the midday prayers and marched up to the land where Israeli plans to build a new settlement. Troops attacked villages as soon as they reached the lands and forced them back into the village.
Later troops stormed the village and fired comical water and tear gas into people homes. Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.
In the nearby village of Nalin, villagers along with their Israeli and international supporters, marched up to the wall where soldiers fired tear gas and sound bombs at them. Many were treated for effects of tear gas. This week protest ended with clashed between soldiers and local youth.
Al-Ma'sara village in the southern West Bank, international and Israeli supporters joined the weekly protest against the wall and settlements there and Israeli troops stopped villagers from reaching the construction-side of the wall and used rifle butts and batons to push people back into the village. Israeli troops also arrested two French activists before the weekly protest had ended.
http://fwd4.me/00Wv 23 mar 2012, 14:07 , Respect -
Maria 29 apr 2011
B'Tselem Demands IDF Cease Using Attack Dogs on Undocumented Palestinian Workers
Calling the IDF practice of siccing K-9 attack dogs on undocumented Palestinian workers (Hebrew http://fwd4.me/00Uz ) a terror policy, the Israeli NGO B'Tselem is appealing against its use to the army senior command. It should be noted that the victims are not security suspects, but rather day laborers seeking to enter Israel to find work and who do not have the proper permits to do so (which are practically non-existent anyway). According to B'Tselem:
The incidents took place in the area of a-Ramadin, southwest of Hebron. Most of those injured attempted to enter Israel to work, and one, to receive medical treatment. Two of them were arrested by soldiers and remain in custody. In some of the cases, the laborers told B'Tselem that the dogs did not respond to their handlers order to stop, and the handlers had to use an electric-shock device to calm the dogs.
M [a Palestinian victim] also stated that, while fighting with the dog, a soldier filmed the incident on his cell phone. Soldiers then stunned the dog with an electric-shock device. The dog stopped the attack and his mouth was covered with a muzzle
In one case, the injured worker filed a complaint with the police and was arrested on suspicion of entering Israel illegally Y, who is 22 and lives in a village next to a-Dhahiriya, was with a group of Palestinians trying to sneak into Israel. He told B'Tselem that'a dog jumped on him and bit him from behind and on his left hand. He managed to push the dog away and get into the waiting car, and they entered Israel. Later that day, he returned to the West Bank and went to the government hospital in Hebron, where the doctors found he had a torn tendon in one of his fingers. Three days later, when he went to the police station in Hebron to complain about the attack, he was detained on suspicion of entering Israel, disturbing a public official in the course of carrying out his duty, and fleeing.
Furthermore, in the cases documented by B'Tselem, the soldiers apparently released the dogs at groups of Palestinian laborers attempting to cross the fence, and the dogs bit laborers who did not manage to flee.
Apparently, the IDF also shoots Palestinians for doing nothing more than trying to feed their families. And then to cover up the crime they imprison them so the victim is out of reach of NGOs or journalists who might conceivably embarrass the army by exposing its egregious conduct:
On 25 April, K, a 45-year-old resident of al-Burej, Hebron District, tried to enter Israel illegally. During the attempt he apparently was wounded by gunfire and was bitten by a dog and was taken to Soroka Medical Center, in Beersheva. A few hours later, K was taken from the hospital and is now in the army's prison at Ofer. Since he is incarcerated, B'Tselem presently [is] unable to obtain further details on the incident.
In its defense, the army claims the dogs only attack those attempting to damage the Wall and that they receive permission before unleashing the dogs. This is disproven by the fact that dogs have attacked Palestinians even before they cross the Separation Wall while still inside Palestinian territory. Also, it defies common sense that a Palestinian laborer seeking work in Israel would endanger his chances of crossing the barrier by damaging the Wall.
I'm reminded of the attitude of the beloved Prof. Amos Funkenstein, who passed away tragically some years ago, toward dogs. Since he was a child of survivors, he always disliked canines and used the derisive term hund to describe them. Do we not remember why Jews of that generation hated dogs? Because the Nazis used them in precisely the same way the IDF is using them on Palestinians. The only difference is that the Jews ended up gassed and the Palestinians only end up maimed. At least they have their lives.
http://fwd4.me/00Uy...Read more 28 mar 2012, 09:50 , Respect -
Maria 30 apr 2011
A minor, two others arrested amid West Bank raids
WEST BANK, (PIC)-- Three Palestinians including a minor were assaulted amid Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raids sweeping the West Bank Saturday morning.
The IOF raided several villages in Jenin province and took custody of several Palestinians but later released them.
Military patrol men entered the villages of Bardala east of Tubas and Yabud and Qubatiyya south of the city and roamed the streets without report of arrest.
They arrested several Palestinians amid searches conducted in the Al-Ras Al-Ahmar area but later released those taken.
The IOF set up a random roadblock at the entrance of the Kufeirat searching vehicles and checking IDs.
IOF soldiers assaulted three men in Beit Ummar north of Al-Khalil on Friday evening. Among them was a youth aged 16.
The minor was left with bruises all over his body after being severely beaten.
IOF soldiers launched a tear gas cylinder at another man who then sustained breathing difficulties after choking on the gas, witnesses reported.
Palestinian sources in Dora south of Al-Khalil said IOF soldiers opened fire at a Palestinian man before arresting him. The victim was transferred to a Beersheba hospital to receive treatment.
Witnesses said police hounds were released against him and that he was severely beaten after his injury.
http://fwd4.me/00Yk 2 apr 2012, 15:27 , Respect -
Maria 30 apr 2011
Relative: 11-year-old detained in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) Israeli forces detained Friday an 11-year-old boy from a village northwest of Jerusalem, a relative said.
Muhammad Hushiyeh was walking in the Qatanna village when youths threw stones at Israeli soldiers, his cousin Lubna told Ma'an.
She said soldiers arrested the stone-throwers and swept up Muhammad as well. He was not involved beforehand, she insisted.
The boy is already in a difficult situation; his father was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers a year earlier, Lubna pointed out.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=383463 4 apr 2012, 21:54 , Respect -
Maria 1 mei 2011
60-year-old American woman injured in protest
QALQILIYA (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces injured an American activist and detained three other foreign nationals Sunday, as they attempted to stop Israeli bulldozers from razing Palestinian agricultural land east of Qalqiliya, witnesses said.
International solidarity activists gathered in Izbat At-Tabib in the northern West Bank on privately-owned Palestinian property, which Israel seeks to confiscate for the construction of a wall around Jewish-only settlements in the area.
Soldiers pushed over a 60-year-old American woman with the Michigan Peace Team, who fell and was taken to hospital with a suspected broken wrist, witnesses said.
They added that Israeli forces detained two British activists and one Swedish activist.
A Ma'an correspondent said Israeli officials ordered a group of journalists to leave the area, threatening to arrest them for being in a closed military zone.
Residents said Israeli authorities had issued them warrants earlier in April informing them that their land would be confiscated.
An Israeli army spokesman said soldiers were in the area to secure the engineering team, but that it was border police who carried out the arrests.
A border police spokesman could not be reached for comment.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=383744 6 apr 2012, 17:16 , Respect -
Maria 1 mei 2011
IDF to bolster presence near Palestinian areas ahead of Nakba Day events
Several Palestinian groups post notices online calling for a 'Day of Rage' in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Nakba Day.
The Israel Defense Force is preparing to substantially bolster its presence near Palestinian population centers in the coming two weeks as planned public events to mark the Nakba (the Palestinians' term for the events of 1948 ) approach, including processions and rallies.
In recent weeks, a number of Palestinian groups have posted notices online calling for a "Day of Rage" in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on Nakba Day, which falls this year on May 15. The groups are calling for demonstrations to promote the reconciliation between the Fatah and Hamas factions and for the immediate establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Some groups also called for a third intifada against Israel.
The recent upheavals and revolutions across the Arab world seem to serve as a significant impetus for the Palestinian activism.
The IDF is still unsure of how intense the planned events will be and whether they will spill out from areas under Palestinian control, but preparations are being made in the event that thousands of Palestinian civilians attempt to march toward Jewish settlements or the separation fence in the West Bank, or toward the border fence of the Gaza Strip.
Psychological training
To prevent such developments, the IDF is planning to halt training for many of the conscript units and deploy them near possible points of friction in the West Bank. Prior to their deployment, the units will undergo training on how to disperse demonstrations and also undergo "psychological preparation" for dealing with civilians.
Border Police units, which specialize in dispersing demonstrations, will also be significantly bolstered.
In the four years since the Second Lebanon War, the IDF has significantly cut down the deployment of conscript and reservists units in the West Bank, to allow for longer and more complex training than done in the past. This was in part possible because of the improved security situation in the West Bank, the transfer of security responsibility for Palestinian cities to the Palestinian Authority, and the assignment of Palestinian policemen to cover villages in the area.
The IDF hopes the Palestinian security forces will ensure that the demonstrations remain under control, but the Central Command is preparing for scenarios in which the PA security will not intervene and thousands of Palestinian civilians will try to move toward settlements or the separation fence.
http://fwd4.me/00Zl 10 apr 2012, 10:33 , Respect -
Maria 2 mei 2011
IOF soldiers batter foreign solidarity activists
QALQILIA, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) attacked and beat up foreign solidarity activists east of Qalqilia on Sunday for protesting the construction of a new wall surrounding a village.
Local sources said that huge military bulldozers escorted by IOF troops started to build the wall surrounding the village of Ezbat Al-Tayeb east of Qalqilia on Sunday and were confronted by citizens and solidarity activists.
They said that the soldiers assaulted the activists, who were participating in a sit-in tent in the village, and four of them were injured including one who was hospitalized in moderate wounds.
http://fwd4.me/00cj 10 apr 2012, 12:08 , Respect -
Maria 3 mei 2011
Israeli Border Policewoman as Stone-Cold Killer
Shani Sevilia
A new expose of Israeli police brutality and torture exploded yesterday with reports that a member of a special Border Police unit, Shani Sivilia, had been accused of torturing a Palestinian boy in March 2010, by cocking and pretending to fire her pistol into his head at close range, all in response the deadly act of his possessing three firecrackers.
While the charges brought against her were shocking enough, even worse was the discovery by Israeli journalist, Ido Kenan, of her Facebook page, which is replete with the feverish product of what Ido cinematically calls Dangerous Mind. Kenan has published a version of this in Yediot. http://fwd4.me/00j1
Yesterday, I wrote about the specific charges brought against her by the police special affairs unit. Today, we'll examine the contents of her formerly publicly accessible Facebook page (now private). There are a number of interesting themes running through this material which it's worth paying close attention to.
Sevilia is released from her army service
First, Sivilia is a Mizrahit. As such, she clearly feels a profound need to separate herself from the Palestinians who, if she saw her own image in the mirror, she would resemble. But there is a desperate need among some Israeli Jews of Arab origin to say: We're not like them. We're better than them. This phenomenon, of course, is not restricted to Israel.
This happens in all societies in which there are waves of immigration and the penultimate ethnic newcomer seeks to distinguish itself from the most recent wave, which is at the very bottom of the social status pyramid. In this country, Germans said the same about Italians and the Irish and all of them said the same about African-Americans and even about Jews. You always bash the guy who's one rung below you.
18 December 2010: Sevilla hate Arabs
Sivilia clearly hates Arabs and leftists. But she reserves her greatest scorn and most apoplectic rage against what we might call race-mixing: Jewish women dating Arab men. The language she reserves for such women is the harshest of all you'll see in her Facebook profile. In this, she is embracing the campaign of far-right nationalist rabbis against racial mingling between Jews and Arabs, including the field of sexual relations, commerce (no employment of Arab men by Jewish businesses), and housing (no renting to Arabs).
It doesn't seem that Sivilia herself is religious (after all, one of her Facebook Likes is The Land of Milk, Alcohol, Honey and Drugs). But her own prejudices overlap quite comfortably with those of the nationalist religious right and therefore it's comfortable for her to take up religious imagery and phrasing in her comments. As a Mizrahit, she considers herself not religious, but traditional. In other words, someone for whom religion is comfortable without it turning into full-fledge Haredi-style religious observance.
In September 2010, she writes in Facebook:
Happy [Yom] Kippur to all. Surely, all the kids are going to the main drag (or downtown) to throw stones at Arabs.
In November 2010, Sevilia is released from her army service (which she appears to have served in the Border Police if I'm correct). This commendation to her from a friend sounds much more ominous in light of the accusations levelled against her:
At this wonderful time, the citizens and State of Israel thank you for your service and the sense of security you provided us.
In December 2010, the accused torturer writes on her Facebook page:
Fuck the world, another incident in which two Arabs stabbed [Jewish] girls, right by my house! Fuck your mothers you sons of whores!! Sons of whores them and anyone who likes them. May God repay them.
When a Facebook Friend writes:
Any [Jewish] girl who goes out with Arabs should die.
Sivilia replies (and again keep in mind the acts of torture she's being charged with):
You just now figured this out?? They should flay the skin from their bodies and cast them in the Dead [Salt] Sea.
In January 2011, the accused transfers to a private (civilian) company used by the Israeli State to provide security in the Territories.
Here she will continue with the same duties she performed while in the Border Police. She completes a special course, is equipped with a weapon and writes the following:
Completed the special course. Now back to the Territories with a vengeance!
In February 2011, Sivilia is still consumed with matters of love and death between Jewish girls and Arab men. She recommends that a documentary created by an Israeli group which warns that the Arabs are using sex as a weapon to overwhelm Israel's Jewish population.
She declares the video should be distributed as widely as possible through social networking sites:
Every daughter of a whore who goes out with Arab men, they should torture her body!
I have no more curses left in me. The most important thing is that they [Jewish women] should suffer before they kill them.
On February 27th, the security contractor writes of her pride in being called a Nazi while doing checkpoint duty:
Yesterday, someone called me a Nazi. From my point of view, good job!
On April 27th, she curses the Sheikh Jarrah activists because they disrespected her:
God take [kill] these leftists.
When a friend responds that even God doesn't want them. Sivilia says well, He promised me that he would consider it.
In his article, Ido Kenan notes that the investigation against her had no bearing on the security work she performed. Just a day before charges were filed against her she was about to take an IDF fitness test, which she presumably needed to pass in order to perform her duties. Just a week before charges were filed she's still doing duty at checkpoints.
She notes that the company she works for is called Civilian Intelligence (Modiin Ezrahi), one of several Blackwater-like Israeli companies with whom the Israeli government contracts to provide security in the Territories. This is part of the increasing privatization of the Occupation, which allows Israelis to see it as less a formal function of the State and its military, and instead as a more normal, day-to-day civilian process.
Thanks to Dena Shunra for research and translation assistance in preparing post.
http://fwd4.me/00j3 14 apr 2012, 07:53 , Respect -
Maria 3 mei 2011
Ofer military court sentences Palestinian boy to month in prison
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Israeli Ofer military court near Ramallah city has sentenced 14-year-old Palestinian boy Yazin Jamal Dandan to thirty days of actual prison time in addition to USD 600 in fines.
Dandan's father was forcefully removed from the courtroom when he attended Tuesday, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said.
Dandan was arrested Nov. 1 and has since been detained at the Rimonim prison in the northern 1948- occupied Palestinian territories.
http://fwd4.me/00iW 15 apr 2012, 23:55 , Respect -
Maria 3 mei 2011
IOA exiles Jerusalemite woman from Sheikh Jarrah zone for 5 days
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) decided on Monday to exile a Jerusalemite woman called Maysoun Al-Ghawi from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood for five days on allegation of assaulting Jewish settlers.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) had detained Ghawi at Qalandiya checkpoint, north of occupied Jerusalem, as she was with her three-year old daughter and a relative on her way back home after a visit to a relative of hers in Kafr Akeb town.
She was detained in a small room at the checkpoint and searched by a female soldier before she was allowed to phone her husband to immediately come to pick up his daughter Sarah because the mother would be taken to an interrogation center.
The Israeli interrogator displayed to Ghawi edited videotaped scenes showing her along with residents from Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood attacking some Jewish settlers who had already seized by force Palestinian homes in the same area.
Ghawi affirmed to the Israeli officer that these tapes were manipulated and untrue and showed one side of the story, and that the settlers were the ones who started to harass and assault children from the neighborhood and unleash their dogs on them.
She told him that the settlers seized her home, but she does not get near them or harass them, although they constantly provoke her and her family.
In a separate incident, another Jerusalemite young woman called Su'aad Shyoukhi was kidnapped at dawn Monday from her home in Silwan district.
Four other young men were also kidnapped from different neighborhoods in the same district.
Among the kidnapped men were two brothers from Ein Al-Lawza neighborhood. They were taken at dawn to an unknown destination.
Eyewitnesses also reported in another incident that the Israeli troops at Qalandiya checkpoint prevented Palestinian citizens from Ramallah city from heading towards Jerusalem.
http://fwd4.me/00gf 16 apr 2012, 16:28 , Respect -
Maria 5 mei 2011
Teen sentenced for stone-throwing
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- An Israeli military court sentenced a 14 year-old boy on Tuesday to a 14 month prison term for throwing stones, a detainees center reported.
Teen Yazan Jamal Dandan, from Jerusalem district town Abu Dis, is being held at Israel's Ramon prison, and was also fined 2,000 shekels (US$ 587) the center said.
The boy's father told Ma'an "that this is totally unfair to my child," and expressed his anger at being prevented from seeing his son.
He appealed for human rights organizations to apply pressure for the release of his son.
Ramallah detainees center said that Yazan was detained by Israeli authorities on November 4, 2010.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=384819 17 apr 2012, 10:23 , Respect -
Maria 20 apr 2012, 09:35 , Respect -
Maria 6 mei 2011
Israeli occupation steps up measures in the W.B. in response to reconciliation
WEST BANK, (PIC)-- The Israeli occupation has stepped its military measures in the West Bank, through reinstating road blocks and repeated raids of Palestinian villages and towns over the past few days.
The IOF have reinstated the Shavi Shamron and Ennav roadblocks on the road connecting the northern West Bank cities of Nablus and Tulkarem. The soldiers manning the roadblocks stopped cars, searched them and examined identification papers of passengers, causing long queues, according to eyewitnesses.
Although these roadblocks were never removed the traffic was allowed to go through without thorough examination of vehicles and passengers.
Meanwhile, and in a step reminiscent of the tight siege imposed on Nablus in the early years of the decade, the IOF completely sealed the roads leading to Nablus through the Zaatarah and Hawarrah roadblocks. Commuters reported that IOF troops conducted personal searches in cubicles setup for this purpose.
An eyewitness told PIC correspondent that the IOF soldiers stopped their car and started asking the passengers what they thought of the reconciliation, then they started telling them that a return of Hamas will mean more roadblocks and more harassment from the IOF.
http://fwd4.me/00tP 30 apr 2012, 08:27 , Respect -
Maria 6 mei 2011
Three Injured, Four Arrested as Troops Attack West Bank anti-Wall Protests
Ramallah PNN Three civilians, including a child, were injured, four arrested as Israeli troops attacked the weekly anti-wall protests taking place in Bil'in, Nil'in, al-Nabi Salleh, central West Bank, as well as al-Ma'ssara village in the south on Friday. This week protesters marched under the slogging of National Unity is not for Sale.
In Bil'in, one teenager was injured another one arrested as many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation during the weekly protests there. As is the case in every Friday for the past six years international and Israeli supporters joined the villagers after the midday prayers and marched up to the wall to protest. People carried a coffin written on it Division symbolizing the end of the Palestinian division.
Upon arriving at the gate of the wall, troops stationed there fired tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets at protesters, Mohamed Abu Rahma, 18 year old, was hit with a tear gas bomb in his leg. Troops also arrested Eyad Ra'ed al-Khatieb, 15.
In the nearby village of Nil'in, villagers along with their Israeli and international supporters, marched up to the wall where soldiers fired tear gas and sound bombs as well as live rounds at them. Many were treated for effects of tear gas. This week protest ended with clashed between soldiers and local youth.
In al-Nabi Salleh, one local woman and international supporter were injured when troops attacked the weekly protest against the wall and settlements. Today Israeli troops invaded al-Nabi Salleh in the morning and surrounded the village. Soldiers fired tear gas at the protesters as soon as they left the local mosque after the midday prayers. A 24 year old woman was injured in her leg by a tear gas bomb, for 15 minutes troops refused to allow the ambulance to take her to a hospital, witnesses told PNN.
After people ended the weekly protest soldiers detained a group of children and did not allow them to go home, when Nariman Tamimi, a local resident, tried to free the children soldiers beat her up.
Also on Friday In the village Al-Ma'sara village in the southern West Bank, international and Israeli supporters joined the weekly protest against the wall and settlements there and Israeli troops stopped villagers from reaching the construction-site of the wall.
Troops ordered people back into the village, protesters refused and had a set-in, after some time people left. As protester was walking back to the village, troops attacked them and arrested Mahmoud Zawahra, one of the organizers of the weekly protests and two Israeli supporters.
http://fwd4.me/00tG 2 may 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 7 mei 2011
Jerusalemite youths wounded in Silwan confrontations
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Violent confrontations were reported on Friday in a number of suburbs in Silwan town in occupied Jerusalem between civilians and the Israeli occupation soldiers.
Local sources said that the clashes were particularly violent in Batn Al-Hawa suburb where an Israeli military post is located, adding that 15 young Palestinians were injured with rubber coated bullets.
They said that a Palestinian home caught fire as a result of the abundant use of teargas bombs while all family members were treated for breathing difficulty.
The confrontations started after the Friday congregation as the youth burnt tires and closed roads.
Earlier on Thursday night, similar confrontations were reported in Shufat refugee camp in occupied Jerusalem after the Israeli occupation forces closed the roadblock in central Jerusalem.
Locals reported that the IOF soldiers fired teargas canisters and stun grenades at youths in the camp who were protesting the step. The young men closed the camp's main road using rocks and burnt tires.
http://fwd4.me/00vu