- 13 juni 2012
Court extends detention of Al-Kaimery, al-Kawasmi and Basboos a third time
The detention of three local boys has been extended once again by the Jerusalem Magistrates Court today. Muhannad al-Kawasmi (18), Ahmad Basboos (20) and Alaa’ al-Kaimery (20) will be held in Maskubya Prison in West Jerusalem until their next court appearance.
The boys’ lawyer, Muhammad Ramzi Mahmood, states that the judge ordered a ban on publication of the boys’ charges, which remains undisclosed to them and their families.
Al-Kaimery, al-Kawasmi and Basboos were taken by Israeli forces during a dawn raid on their family homes two weeks ago. The boys’ parents have been permitted only once visit to them since their arrest. Al-Kawasmi suffers from medical problems after losing his eye in clashes that took place in Silwan in 2010.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27209 9 sep 2012, 00:04 , Respect -
Maria 14 juni 2012
Shops bulldozed in Beit Hanina
Israeli bulldozers demolished several shops in the Palestinian district of Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem on Thursday 14 June.
The shops, belonging to the Edris family of Jannet Adan neighborhood of Beit Hanina were demolished by Municipality bulldozers, were the second site of destruction that day.
700 square meters of retail buildings belonging to Sal’a neighborhood resident Aziz Ja’aibes were also demolished, leaving the five families the businesses it supported with no income.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27237
9 sep 2012, 09:43 , Respect -
Maria 14 juni 2012
Five youngsters released after 18 long months behind bars
Court rulings saw five Palestinian children from Silwan released from Israeli detention on Thursday, 14 June.
Muaz al-Shyukhi, Suhaib al-Rajabi, Hani Shweki, Luai al-Rajabi and Muhammad Nasser Abu Nab (aged 16) were released after a year and a half of imprisonment on charges that remain unclarified and unproven.
The Central Court of Jerusalem judge criticized Israeli police for the conduct throughout the boys’ legal processes: that basic legal procedures were not following during investigation and evidence-gathering, and that officers displayed a clear motive in seeking conviction at any cost.
Discrepancies between investigation recordings and evidence given during the boys’ trials was also highlighted.
The five boys faced charges of throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at a police car, a settlers’ building and were blamed for burn wounds suffered by an Israeli soldier. Most of the boys were aged 13 or 14 when they were originally arrested, and held for two months without charge before the trial commenced.
They were then separated from their families for a year and a half after sentencing, contributing to serious problems in the boys’ family and educational life. Each boy faced abuse from prison officers during their jail sentence, and a disregard for their basic human rights.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27239
9 sep 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 17 juni 2012
New settler tourism and sewage facilities to be built in Ein al Daraj
The Jerusalem City Planning Committee announced this week that a new tourism centre and sewage facilities servicing Israeli settlers in the Ein al Daraj neighborhood of Silwan are scheduled for construction.
The scheme is spearheaded by settlement conglomerate Elad, which owns the majority of residential and tourism settlements throughout Silwan. The move was supported by the Israeli Antiquities and Parks Authorities and the Jerusalem Municipality.
The plan comprises construction of a main tourism building covering 200 square meters, connected to two already existing, already annexed buildings. Sewage infrastructure exclusively servicing the center will be built. It is intended that the site become a new center of Zionist tourism in East Jerusalem.
Land seizure began in Ein al-Daraj in 1995, when settlers successfully had the area closed off for archaeological excavation and development. Local residents’ lives were thrown into disarray as the excavations blocked their access to the primary water source in the area, land used for agriculture and recreational areas for children. The area is now the exclusive domain of Israeli settlers and Zionist tourists.
The geography and its historical narrative have been carefully changed by settler groups, seeking to erase the centuries of Palestinian history and replace it with a story that fits with the religious arguments that uphold Israel’s expansion. One of the elders of Silwan’s community have commented that “God wouldn’t accept any holy ceremonies on stolen land or stolen water.”
http://silwanic.net/?p=27234
9 sep 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 19 juni 2012
The Israeli bulldozers demolished shops in Bet Hanina after demolition in Jabal al Mukaber
The Israeli bulldozers demolished shops under the protection of armed forces, the shops belongs to the Edris Family in Jannet Adan’s area in Bet Hanina. It was after they demolished a 700 meters shop in the Sal’a area that belongs to the citizen Aziz Ja’aibes even though they knew it feeds 5 families.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27257 9 sep 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 19 juni 2012
A new settlements’ project in Silwan
The brigade committee of planning and building confirmed yesterday 6th of Nov. on a new center of Tourism and a new antiseptic for the religious Jews in Silwan in the Ein area (Eim al Daraj).
Ela’ad’s organization applied for that request while being supported by the Antiquities and Park authorities and sponsored by the Israeli government and the municipality of Jerusalem? the Palestinians knows the formality of these meetings, they are only ways to execute what is already agreed on against the Palestinian locals.
The scheme is to build a building over a land space of 200 Meters that will be a ring That will connect 2 buildings that were taken over by the settlers in the past, and to build a path between Ein Silwan (The Foka Ein) and the antiseptic rooms according to the Jewish, it will be a new location of tourism and a new spot of observing and explorations.
The taking of Eim al Daraj area in Silwan was at 1995 and they closed it as an excuse of Archeology excavations and developing the area, something that didn’t benefit the locals of Silwan, and prevented them to access the fountain that was the main water source for the locals and especially for cultivation And a place that the children can Enjoy and now it is blocked as a result of the new project that Is giving an exclusive access only the Jewish people and the tourists.
They changed the landmarks of the town and the historical story of Ein Silwan to make it fit the sacredness of the Israeli story while forcing new facts.
One of Silwan’s elders commented :” God wouldn’t accept any holly ceremonies over a stolen land or stolen water”
http://silwanic.net/?p=27260
9 sep 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 24 juni 2012
Silwan welcomes home prisoner Anwar Samih al-Abassi
Palestinian prisoner Anwar Samih al-Abassi was released from Israeli custody on Sunday 24 June, after five months in detention. A large crowd of relatives and friends greeted Abassi on his return.
One told Silwan that “people here in Silwan enjoy welcoming their prisoners home in the biggest celebration possible: it sends a message to the occupation forces that we honour the prisoners as our heroes, and our love stands as a candle in the middle of their dark cells.”
Abassi was accused by undercover Israeli officers of throwing stones during clashes in his neighborhood of Ras al-Amoud. During his incarceration he was regularly beaten, and transferred between Askalan, Eshel, Rimon and Maskobiye prisons.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27406
9 sep 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 26 juni 2012
Court extends detention of young residents of Silwan
The detention periods of several young residents of Silwan and Wadi al-Joz were extended by an Israeli court yesterday.
Kayed al-Rajabi (34) of Baten al-Hawa) and Nael Abu Sirya (27) of Al-Thuri were arrested on 12 June but remain in detention without charge, with their next court appearance scheduled for 26 June.
Muhammad and Muhannad al-Kawasmi, Shareef al-Rajabi (17), Alaa al-Kaimari of Silwan and Ahmad Basbous of Wadi al-Joz will remain in detention until at least 27 June.
The boys’ lawyer Mohammad Mahmoud of Al-Damir legal organization says that while state prosecution has publicized the charges it intends to press, the process has yet to go forward in the Central Court.
The detention of Tarek al-Rajabi, Muhammad al-Ja’ba, Abed al-Rahman Ka’kur and Muhammad Basbous was also extended by the Central Court judiciary, and were due to face trial on 24 June alongside Muhammad Abu Sanad and Maswade.
The number of arrested Palestinian youth in Silwan and the surrounding region is on the rise, with many residents noticing an increase in Israeli forces patrolling the streets at night.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27336
9 sep 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 26 juni 2012
Municipality arrests two men for home improvements
Jerusalem Municipality workers in Silwan backed by Israeli armed forces
Two Jerusalem Municipality officers, backed by armed Israeli forces, forced entry to a Silwan resident’s home today and placed him and a laborer under arrest.
Khaled Shweki and a local handyman were carrying out home improvements on his family house when they were arrested by Municipality workers. Shweki was released some hours later, while the laborer remained in custody.
The arrests occur amidst a climate of Israeli authorities attempting to clamp down on Palestinian residents of Silwan performing any type of restoration on their homes, claiming that such acts are illegal without a permit.
Some 350 Israeli settlers live in Silwan, who have no difficulty building, restoring and extending their homes, while the neighborhood’s 55,000 Palestinian residents are the subject of a campaign to gradually change the demographic makeup of the area, creating a Jewish majority.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27339
9 sep 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 27 juni 2012
Young member of Odeh family turns self in
Israeli forces arresting Shadi Odeh (Ramah’s brother)
A young resident of Silwan, wanted by Israeli intelligence, has turned himself in to police. Ramah Odeh, 20, turned himself in yesterday, 26 June, after being pursued by Israeli officers for several days on suspicion of belonging to an underground cell known as The Third Group.
Odeh’s lawyer Muhammad Mahmoud states that twelve people from Silwan are accused by Israeli intelligence of forming the cell, comprised of three sub groups. The cell, in which Odeh is accused of membership to the third sub group, is alleged to have been involved in throwing nine Molotov cocktails at Israeli military jeeps in Silwan on 15 May.
The Odeh family of Silwan is commonly targeted by Israeli intelligence, with Ramah Odeh’s uncle Mousa Odeh currently serving five months in prison and his cousin Muhammad Odeh nine months.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27402
9 sep 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 27 juni 2012
Parents of youth summoned for investigation
Investigations summons were issued to the parents of three youth from Silwan yesterday, 26 June. Residents report that the summons were issued as Israeli forces entered Silwan in heavy numbers, surrounding settlements and strategic locations throughout various neighborhoods.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27400
9 sep 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 28 juni 2012
Israeli group “cleanses” the Umayyad Palace in new move to re-write Old City’s history
The Umayyad Palace
Israeli volunteers commenced a large-scale clearing operation of the Umayyad Palace near the south-western corner of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City on 28 June. The operation, billed as a “cleansing of the holy places”, was conducted under the auspices of Israeli authorities, who claim that the remains of the Umayyad Palace complex, built as the Jerusalem seat of the Umayyad caliph of the Islamic dynasty, is in fact part of the Jewish Temple Mount.
The historical Umayyad Palace has been appropriated by right-wing Israeli groups into an exclusively Jewish history of the area. These groups seek to rebuild the Second Temple of the Old City, in the process destroying Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, and re-writing the non-Jewish history of Jerusalem.
The Umayyad Palace complex, Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock are increasingly the site of confrontation provoked by Israeli extremist groups and even military squads. In 2000 Ariel Sharon, then-Prime Minister of Israel, forced his way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, accompanied by armed guards who fired live ammunition on Palestinian Muslims present. The attack is today widely viewed as having triggered the Second Intifada.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27499
9 sep 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 30 juni 2012
15-year old beaten by officers at Dung Gate
Israeli officers after arresting a child and attacking several more at Dung Gate
Israeli forces arrested a 15-year old boy from Silwan after beating him near Dung Gate entrance to Jerusalem’s Old City. Muhammad Minzer Baidoun was physically assaulted by Israeli officers, who claimed Baidoun was supposed to be serving a house arrest term.
Baidoun’s parents reject the claim, saying their son has received no such sentence.
Dung Gate is a site of common harassment for Palestinian youth due to Israeli officers’ presence there, with many children often ambushed and beaten.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27408
9 sep 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 2 juli 2012
Young Silwan man seized by Egyptian police, held in Suez
A young man from Silwan has been arrested by Egyptian authorities for unknown reasons and is currently being held in Suez. Majed Said Ayash, the brother of the martyred Milad Ayash, was traveling from Cairo where he studies at 6th of October University to Palestine when he was stopped by police on 22 June. He has since remained in police custody in Suez, reportedly under poor conditions.
The Israeli and Jordanian embassies in Cairo have both refused consular assistance to Ayash. What is his citizenship?) No political party has taken responsibility on the issue, which is complicated by Ayash’s Jordanian passport and Israeli tarvel document .
Ayash’s father reports that his son, who suffers from poor health, is being poorly treated by Egyptian police, who have not provided adequate food or water. Suez police state that they are awaiting a decision from Egyptian state security regarding whether Ayash will be deported overland via the Taba border crossing or to Lyd airport.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27451
9 sep 2012, 09:44 , Respect -
Maria 5 juli 2012
Israeli police evict Palestinian shops from Damascus Gate of Old City
Israeli police, in coordination with the Jerusalem Municipality are evicting Palestinian clothing shops in Damascus Gate, the main eastern entrance to the Old City.
Eyewitnesses state that a huge force of armed police, border guards and special units blocked off adjacent roads and raided the shops, confiscating their wares.
Witnesses also said that Israeli forces preventing shop owners from accessing their work place, refusing to answer questions about the eviction.
Armed forces occupied the walls of the Old City and the roofs of nearby houses, ensuring that the incident was not filmed.
The shops belong to the Al-Syuri, Abu Ermele, Ja’bari and Salaime families. The raid was reportedly approved by the High Court in February 2010 and represents a wider plan by the city Municipality to diminish Palestinian residence, commerce and history in the Old City.
The 230 square meter space covering the entrance to Damascus Gate has been a common site of Israeli armed force violence inflicted upon Palestinian residents, with the same shops targeted in an arson attack only a week ago. Ultimately, the Municipality would like to excavate the Old City’s very foundations in order to further its Judaization of the area’s history.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27496
- 29 mei 2012
Silwan welcomes home released prisoner Imad al-Abassi
The people of Silwan welcomed home released Palestinian prisoner Imad al-Abassi this week, with a host of activities taking place within Silwan and around the country.
Al-Abassi has just served a 10-year sentence in multiple Israeli prisons after being charged on 2002 with firing a gun at an Israeli police station in Jerusalem and at an Israeli settlement in Ein Silwan which was a police station, later came under control of Israeli settlement organization Elad as part of a deal.
Al-Abassi was welcomed by the people of Silwan in a series of ceremonies: on Mukabber Mount, at the entrance to Ein Aluza , and near his family home.
The final ceremony was marred by a settler security guard attempting to disrupt the celebration by driving their Jeep through the proceedings.
Young men threw stones at the Jeep, breaking the windowpane and fixing a Fatah flag to the car.
The settler guard remains uncharged by police for his actions, despite the fact that Palestinian committing a similar crime would have received the maximum penalties.
http://silwanic.net/?p=26912
8 sep 2012, 22:55 , Respect -
Maria 30 mei 2012
Segregation and discrimination in Municipal services of Jerusalem
Palestinian residents of Jerusalem pay taxes to the Municipality but receive no public services in return
Institutional discrimination continues in Jerusalem especially in Silwan as Municipality rubbish collection workers continue to collect waste from Israeli settlers in in Silwan, while ignoring the mounting piles of garbage of tax-paying Palestinian residents. Palestinian residents of Silwan are forced to burn their garbage, with Municipality workers stating that they have no order to collect their waste on their weekly rounds. Meanwhile, the City of David settlement in Wadi Hilweh district of Silwan is serviced by both public collection and private waste disposal companies.
http://silwanic.net/?p=26956 8 sep 2012, 23:21 , Respect -
Maria 30 mei 2012
Detention of three Silwan youth extended, details of case withheld by court
Muhannad al-Kawasmi has experienced Israeli arrest multiple times, and lost his eye in clashes in his neighborhood two years ago
The detention of three youth from Silwan was extended by the Jerusalem Magistrates Court until 3 June this week, with prosecutors’ request for more time to investigate charges against them granted. Muhannad al-Kawasmi (18), Ahmad Basboos (20) and Alaa’ al-Kaimery (20) will be held in Maskubya Prison in West Jerusalem for another week in response to the prosecution’s request for a further 10 days.
The boys’ lawyer, Muhammad Ramzi Mahmood, is known for his work in the protection of children in the state legal system with Damir organization. He states that the judge ordered a ban on publication of the boys’ charges.
Ahmad Basboos
Al-Kaimery, al-Kawasmi and Basboos were taken by Israeli forces during a dawn raid on their family homes. A fourth boy, Mansur Shyukhi was taken from his workplace in Silwan. Al-Kawasmi suffers from medical problems after losing his eye in clashes that took place in Silwan in 2010.
http://silwanic.net/?p=26964
...Read more 8 sep 2012, 23:22 , Respect -
Maria 31 mei 2012
A Silwan Story: Palestinian Child Arrested, Abused by Israeli Authorities and Barred From Finishing 9th Grade
Someone is pounding on the door. It is 3:45 a.m. The pounding gets louder. The father goes to open the door, and immediately they enter: two men dressed in civilian clothes, flanked by police officers bearing heavy guns. They go straight towards the boy, who has pulled on a baggy sweatshirt and stepped out of his room, snake their hands under his arms, and take him. “He will only be gone for a few hours,” they say. “Don’t worry.”
Outside the house, the boy’s hands are tied with plastic packaging bands and he is pushed into the police car. He does not understand much Hebrew, but he knows enough to understand the officer who leans close to him and whispers:
“Fuck your mother.”
30 days later, after being beaten with a chair, held in solitary confinement, taunted with a knife, forced to stay awake, and otherwise abused, the boy is released from prison. He now has trouble falling asleep at night, and when he does he often has nightmares which feature his interrogators. And his punishment continues: He is under house arrest, indefinitely, and is not allowed to go to school. He is afraid that he will miss the end of his 9th grade year.
Suhaib Alawar, 14 and a half years old, is from Silwan, an East Jerusalem village directly South of the Old City. Silwan is home to a large and largely poor Palestinian population that is gravely underserved by state and municipal bodies (There are about 50,000 people living in Silwan. There are a total of eight elementary schools. There are zero public playgrounds). It is also inhabited by a small-but-visible Jewish settler population supported by Israeli governmental funds and services.
Houses and other structures in Silwan are built without permits, because Palestinians are virtually never granted building permits (for example, in the neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh, Silwan, pop. 5,000, there are under 20 recorded cases of permits being granted to Palestinians since 1967).
There is sporadic violence from the Palestinians towards the settlers and police, mostly in the form of rock throwing youth, and heavy-handed responses from the police and army.
In all of these ways, Silwan is a microcosm of the Israeli Occupation of the Palestinian Territories writ large. There is one phenomenon, however, whose ubiquity sets Silwan apart from most places in the West Bank and East Jerusalem: child arrests.
In the middle of the night, on March 5th, 2012, Suhaib was arrested without warning, along with four other boys from Silwan. He had already been arrested twice before, the first time when just after his thirteenth birthday. Both times the police claimed that he was “throwing rocks.” 14 minors were arrested in Silwan in the month of March 2012 alone, according to Saleem Seam, a Palestinian activist from the Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan, an organization that provides services and psychological care to youth in Silwan.
Suhaib was released from detention on April 5th but has remained under house arrest and is indefinitely barred from attending school. Last week, I went with Saleem to visit Suhaib and to hear his story. I am an Israeli, and I wondered about going to see someone who had recently suffered such serious abuse at the hands of other Israelis.
I was greeted enthusiastically by Suhaib’s grandmother, who offered lemonade and coffee and brought me into the living room where Suhaib was waiting. He smiled hesitantly and held out his hand. I was mostly struck by how he looked: like a fourteen-year-old boy.
I asked him to tell me what happened.
Suhaib nodded, took a sip of lemonade, and began, the words spilling swiftly from his mouth. After the police stormed into his house and arrested him, along with the other boys, he was moved into the police car and then to a facility called Room 4.
(Suhaib: “The interrogator asked me if I knew why it was called Room 4. I said I did not, and so he told me that it is called Room 4 because this is where you Arabs leave on all fours, crawling like a baby after we’ve finished with you”). There, the interrogators handcuffed Suhaib and hit his head, both with fists and with keys, calling him names and taunting him as their blows rained down. He was then made to sign a document in Hebrew stating that he had not been physically abused. Suhaib, who cannot read Hebrew, and signed the document.
According to Israeli Human Rights group B’Tselem, the Israeli law known as the Youth Law mandates that a minor’s parents be present during any interrogation (this same law also forbids arresting children in the middle of the night and enacting violence against them while they are held). Suhaib told me that his father was not called in until 11:00 the next morning. When his father arrived, he was cautioned not to talk directly to his son. The investigation proceeded: they asked Suhaib a number of questions, all of which he declined to answer. Then, all the detectives left the room.
“I took the chance, and told my father that I had been beaten. I think that they were listening, because they came in right away and told my father to leave, and that the investigation was finished. I asked if I could go too, and they laughed. My father left, and the men started hitting me again, and saying that my mother is a whore. They left me in the room without food until midnight.”
Suhaib’s interrogation continued for the next ten days, during which he eventually found out he was accused of teaching other boys how to build Molotov Cocktails, which he denied. During these ten days, Suhaib was kept in a room that stank of feces and rotten food. He was hit with a chair and threatened with a knife. He was also told that if he did not admit he was guilty he would be “taken to an electric chair to help him.”
On the fourth day, Suhaib was put into a police car along with another boy “to be taken to the electric chair.” The two exchanged some of their experiences and advised each other on what not to say. Video footage of this conversation was shown to him on the 10th day and was used as a confession. Suhaib continued to deny that he was guilty.
The detective extracted sentences from the conversation in the car, and forced Suhaib to sign the statement. After signing, Suhaib was held for twenty more days. During this period, he was moved into a cell with adults. “They were regular criminals, some of them were rapists and some were drug addicts, and they tried to beat me also.”
He was then moved into cell of his own, where the floor was wet from a small toilet which was overflowing with excrement. Next, he was moved back with another one of the boys. There the guards prevented them from sleeping.
“Whenever we would fall asleep, they would start banging on the cell door and screaming ‘Wake up, boys! You’d better watch out for the rats!’ Or they would point laser pointers at ours eyes until we woke up.” During the whole time he was held, Suhaib was not allowed to see his family again, and the police allowed him to call his parents only twice.
After 30 days, Suhaib was released, having lost over 20 pounds during his detention. He was sentenced to house arrest at his grandmother’s house and his family was required to post a deposit of 50,000 Shekels (about $15,000) in case he violated the conditions of his house arrest. One of those conditions was that Suhaib, who should be in 9th grade, was prevented from returning to school.
“I like studying history,” Suhaib told me, smiling slightly, “and I want to be a human rights lawyer when I get older.”
The right to education is enshrined in Article 26 of the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights. Access to education is a sine qua non of democratic and liberal societies. The fact that Suhaib’s punishment includes his being barred from school indefinitely — in a neighborhood in which dropouts rates are, according to Saleem Seam, “astronomical” — raise a number of grave questions.
Are the arrests in Silwan aimed at remedying the violence present among many youth living in Israeli controlled territory, or are they part of a larger strategy to frighten the Palestinian population of Silwan in particular and East Jerusalem in general into submission?
In other words, is the purpose of these arrests to reform violent youth, or is the arrest itself the purpose, to terrorize the village’s youth — whether violent or not — and to make an example out of a few so as to deter the collective? Whether Suhaib is guilty or not, will any efforts be made to investigate the horrible stories this fourteen-year-old boy has told of his 30 days in prison? If investigations are pursued, will their results be taken seriously, or will children continue to be arrested and abused en masse in Silwan? And, most immediately, will Suhaib be allowed to return to school and finish his 9th grade year?
This needs to end –”this” being both the Israeli occupation of Silwan and East Jerusalem in general, and, meanwhile, the maltreatment of the children living under occupation, including nighttime arrests, physical abuse, separation from parents and, as in Suhaib’s case, barring children from school and from any chance at rehabilitation or creating a better life
http://silwanic.net/?p=26990 8 sep 2012, 23:22 , Respect -
Maria 2 juni 2012
Israeli state gives 4 million shekels to City of David “museum”
City of David excavation on Wadi Hilweh Street
The Israeli Ministry of Tourism and the Jerusalem Municipality have announced their intention to give 4 million shekels to the City of David settlement project in Wadi Hilweh towards construction of a museum at the site. The project is run by notorious settlement group Elad, who control not only the majority of Silwan’s settlements but also its archaeological sites, and intends to see the Judaization of the Palestinian community of Silwan.
The planned museum will be built on the land of Karain-Samrin on Wadi Hilweh’s main road. Plans also include the extension of one of Elad’s already existing dangerous tunnels underneath the homes and infrastructure of Wadi Hilweh’s Palestinian population. The tunnels have been constructed with the endorsement of the Israeli Ministry of Archaeology as part of the plan to increase the Jewish population of Silwan.
Included in the 4 million shekel budget is production of a film about the area. Skeptics point to the theme of the film – the role of place in the district’s history – as telling of the lack of a Jewish legacy there, thus rendering Elad and the Israeli state’s claim to Silwan false. Israeli groups, however, claim to have found a local well that was used to imprison the biblical prophet Jeremiah 2,700 years ago after prophesizing the destruction of ancient Jerusalem as punishment for the people’s sins.
Annexed land of Karain-Samrin taken by Israeli settlers
Israeli settlers invoke this story today, stopping short of ever attempting to prove its scientific reality, with many Israeli archaeologists rejecting the claim. The well in question dates to the Byzantine era and has no connection to Jewish history in the region, with one Israeli academic joking that “if Jeremiah was alive today, the settlers would have thrown him in jail because Jeremaih would never agree with thier action in Silwan”
In light of the newly allocated state funds, many residents have asked how the 4 million shekel will benefit locals, with many suspecting that the money is unlikely to be put towards even its stated goals.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27021
8 sep 2012, 23:23 , Respect -
Maria 3 juni 2012
Palestinians’ cars vandalised in mass settler attack
Settlers after the attack on the Imam of Ein Silwan mosque
Saturdays are frequently punctuated by violence in Silwan, with Israeli settlers invoking an ugly interpretation of the holy Jewish shabbat to wage violence on local Palestinians and their property.
On Saturday 2 June, a band of religious settlers numbering in their dozens on their way to Ein Silwan vandalised several vehicles belonging to Palestinian residents, causing serious damage such as destroyed tires and wrecked paint jobs.
Kamel al-Banna, one of the owners of the attacked vehicles, stated that despite pressing charges against the offenders, whose attack was caught both caught on tape and witnessed by settler security guards, police closed the file.
Many Palestinians of Silwan have come to dread Saturdays as large numbers of settlers and right-wing Israelis enter the neighborhood, verbally and physically harassing locals.
Police turn a blind eye to such disruptions, whilst Palestinian youth are frequently targeted for minor demeanors and false charges. Some two weeks prior, Israeli Police tried to arrest a Palestinian after Israeli settlers attacked the Ein Silwan mosque.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27037
8 sep 2012, 23:23 , Respect -
Maria 4 juni 2012
Silwan youths’ detention extended by 5 days
Muhannad al-Kawasmi
The Israeli courts have extended the detention of three young residents of Silwan by a further 5 days, following their arrest one week ago on secret charges.
Ahmad Basboos
Muhannad al-Kawasmi (18), Ahmad Basboos (20) and Alaa al-Kaimari (20) will appear before the court next Thursday, 7 June. It is expected that state prosecution will request another extension of their detention.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27044
8 sep 2012, 23:23 , Respect -
Maria 6 juni 2012
Israeli patrol harasses shoppers, and three are Palestinians arrested: justice?
Monument to Samer Sarhan was demolished by Israeli forces
Israeli forces arrested three young residents of Silwan in an unprovoked ambush on a shopping street on Wednesday 6 June. 23-year old Khader Ibrahim Sumran was taken from Al-Aqsa’s Sheikh Berekat released on bail as trial continues
Al-Aqsa Mosque cleric Sheikh Najeh Bekerat has been granted conditional release by an Israeli court while his trial continues, with the mosque’s Head of Records forced to pay a 3,000 NIS bail and sign over a further 5,000 NIS until the legal process’ conclusion. Bekerat has also been placed under a six-month ban on communication with all press and is not permitted to enter or approach Al-Aqsa Mosque, his place of work and worship, for a period of one month.
Berekat was arrested by Israeli forces during a raid on his home in Soor Baher. The trial proved harsh for Bekerat, being preceded by a 10-hour investigation being finally being taken to court. He faces accusations of incitement by the Israeli prosecution, who in court screened recorded interviews with Berekat where, they claim, he incites Arab people to revolt against Israel.
Bekerat’s wife stated in an interview with Silwanic that her husband is denying all charges. She points to Berekat’s public speaking as awareness-raising, not incitement. “Israel is trying to intimidate my husband into thinking that it is not he nor any Palestinian’s right to even talk about the oppression East Jerusalem is facingSilwan following an attack by an Israeli patrol harassing a group of local youth outside a shop in Samer Sarhan Street (named after Sarhan when he was martyred by an Israeli settler guard in 2010) belonging to one of the boys’ families. When the officers failed to arrest any of the youth, they instead seized Khader Sumran a customer doing his shopping.
Ahmad Sarhan (29) and his brother Saleh Samih Sarhan (21) were arrested later that day at Salah al-Din Street police station when they attempted to press charges against the patrol for harassment. The two brothers’ father states that the patrol is notorious in the neighborhood for provoking residents. The two young men, however, have been detained and held as suspects alongside Khader Sumran.
Local youth responded to the arrests in anger, with Molotov cocktails being hurled at Israeli patrols in several areas of Silwan.
A neighbor of the Sarhan family states that the Israeli authorities have been targeting the family on account of their relation to the martyr, Samer Sarhan.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27108
8 sep 2012, 23:32 , Respect -
Maria 7 juni 2012
Ouda welcomes his son Ibrahim after being released from prison Ibrahim was arrested again after this photo was taken and is currently held in Israeli prison
Musa Ouda the Imam of Bir Ayyub Mosque and Al-Bustan Popular Committee was sentenced to 5 months in prison by an Israeli court on Thursday, 7 June. Local activist Zayed Zidani was sentenced to 4 months imprisonment to commence on 1 August during the holy month of Ramadan, while activist Ibrahim Abu- Thiab was issued a fine of 5,000 NIS and sentenced 50 days jail, which he has already served in prison and under house arrest more than one year.
The three men were arrested on 24 January 2011 and faced charges of attempting obstruct police work during a confrontation between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces in Bir Ayyub, with Israeli forces firing heavy amounts of tear gas at unarmed residents in the built-up residential area.
Sheikh Musa Aouda with Jimmy Carter and the Elders committee in the protest tent
Such clashes have become a near-daily event in Silwan as a result of armed Israeli settlers’ provocations, the threat of Municipality-sanctioned home demolitions, harassment from settlers’ private security guards and regular arrests and attacks by Israeli forces.Residents and human rights organizations have denounced the rulings on Ouda, Zidani and Abu-Thiyab, three local activists dedicated to their community, as a clear attempt to target Palestinian community leaders. Ouda, aged 53, has suffered sustained harassment by Israeli authorities for his social work. His family have also been repeatedly targeted, with one family member often held in Israeli detention at any given time.
Ibrahim Abu Ziyab in house arrest
Ouda told Silwanic that “for the residents of Silwan, just standing up for our right to survive is a very tough thing to do.” Zidani stated that “if the occupation shows no mercy to children, why would they show it to the elderly?”
Zayed Zidani at a community soccer match for children
The activists’ lawyer Muhammad Mahmoud states that an appeal will be launched against the ruling next sunday.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27152
9 sep 2012, 00:01 , Respect -
Maria 8 juni 2012
Al-Aqsa’s Sheikh Bekerat released on bail as trial continues
Sheikh Bekerat in Silwan protest tent
Al-Aqsa Mosque cleric Sheikh Najeh Bekerat has been granted conditional release by an Israeli court while his trial continues, with the mosque’s Head of Records forced to pay a 3,000 NIS bail and sign over a further 5,000 NIS until the legal process’ conclusion. Bekerat has also been placed under a six-month ban on communication with all press and is not permitted to enter or approach Al-Aqsa Mosque, his place of work and worship, for a period of one month.
Bekerat was arrested by Israeli forces during a raid on his home in Soor Baher. The trial proved harsh for Bekerat, being preceded by a 10-hour investigation being finally being taken to court. He faces accusations of incitement by the Israeli prosecution, who in court screened recorded interviews with Bekerat where, they claim, he incites Arab people to revolt against Israel.
Bekerat’s wife stated in an interview with Silwanic that her husband is denying all charges. She points to Bekerat’s public speaking as awareness-raising, not incitement. “Israel is trying to intimidate my husband into thinking that it is not he nor any Palestinian’s right to even talk about the oppression East Jerusalem is facing.”
http://silwanic.net/?p=27112
9 sep 2012, 00:02 , Respect -
Maria 8 juni 2012
Imprisoned for civil disobedience against Israel’s new “apartheid” light rail system
Local youth Mosa Muhammad Abu Khder has been sentenced to 18 months imprisonment by the dsitrict Court of Jerusalem, following a lengthy trial and 9 months house arrest. Khder faced charges of throwing stones at the new light rail system in Jerusalem that exclusively connects Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem with predominantly Jewish West Jerusalem, serving no Palestinian neighborhoods. The rail system has come under heavy criticism by human rights groups and foreign governments, and has been the successful target of a divestment campaign led by Palestine solidarity activists.
Khder’s family have denounced the sentence as both disproportionate and unexpected, saying that it is likely the judge sought to make an example of their son. “It is an exaggerated ruling – no humans were injured, it was only a train doing a test run. The only damage caused was to a window.” The family plans to appeal the decision in the High Court. The family’s lawyer had initially requested that Mosa do community service in exchange for a prison sentence, a request that was agreed to by his parole officer but refused by the judge. With Mosa currently expected to begin serving his sentence in July, his family wait nervously for the next appeal, or this year’s Ramadan will be without him.
Khder was arrested on 4 August 2011 during the month of Ramadan along with 6 other youth from the same neighborhood, a few of whom have since been acquitted, while one other (Muhammad Abed Abu Khder, 16) received a 2 month sentence.
Mosa told Silwan the details of his arrest by Israeli forces: “[they] broke into our home to arrest me, then took me to Maskubiye police station. It was there I was accused of throwing stones at the train in Shuafat. The psychological pressure they exerted on me forced me to admit to their accusations. Several court sessions later I was released on a 3,000 NIS bail, and a 10,000 NIS guarantee. Then I was sentenced to house arrest.”
Mosa’s mother states that: “The whole thing has been very hard on the family’s situation. Arresting a young man puts his whole life on hold – he used to work with his dad which helped our family’s expenses a great deal. He helped me too, buying the groceries – now he can’t do any of that, it’s like we were imprisoned with him. Under the house arrest sentence the court ruled that one of his parents had to stay home with him at all times. Mosa suffered from depression during this period – the whole family suffered.”
http://silwanic.net/?p=27115
9 sep 2012, 00:02 , Respect -
Maria 8 juni 2012
Youth on trial for clashes outside City of David
A group of young residents of Silwan are currently on trial on charges of attacking Israeli settlements in Wadi Hilweh neighborhood of Silwan. Yazan Siyam and Ibrahim Raed Siyam both are 16 years old stood trial yesterday in Magistrates’ Court and are awaiting an outcome to their case.
The notorious City of David settlement in Wadi Hilweh is a perpetual flashpoint for clashes in Silwan, with hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned due to confrontations there; dozens injured; and a handful have lost their lives, now remembered as martyrs. Despite Palestinian attempts to press charges and seek justice, no settler has ever been arrested by Israeli authorities for the spike in violence brought to the neighborhood by the settlement project, built on annexed Palestinian land.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27118
9 sep 2012, 00:03 , Respect -
Maria 10 juni 2012
Israeli forces break in to Bir Ayyub factory, youth arrested
Israeli forces broke on last Thursday into a factory in Bir Ayyub neighborhood of Silwan near al-Bustan. Israeli forces arretsed Ahmad al-Damiri, 20 years old, who is working in the factory of Bir Ayyub , on charges that have not been revealed by authorities.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27142 9 sep 2012, 00:03 , Respect -
Maria 10 juni 2012
11 year old taken from playground by undercover officers for “investigation”
Undercover Forces kidnapping a Palestinian child in Silwan
Undercover Israeli forces, known as the Musta’rivem , kidnapped a young child from Ras Elamoud in Silwan yesterday, 8 June. Muhammad Ashour,11, was taken by Musta’rivem officers from the playground in Silwan . Ashour remains in custody, with police stating that he is “under invesatigation”.
A relative of Ashour told Silwanic that when they asked the Musta’rivem officers to reveal their identity, the officer replied that he is not bound by law to do so.
Police kidnapping of children and minors is an increasing worry for parents in East Jerusalem, with undercover units on regular patrol.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27149
9 sep 2012, 00:04 , Respect -
Maria 10 juni 2012
Detention of Silwan youth extended again; brother of detained arrested inside courtroom
The detention of three youth from Silwan was extended by Israeli judiciary for the third time on 7 June. Muhannad al-Kawasmi (18), Ahmad Basboos (20) and Alaa al-Kaimari (20) were ordered to be held for a further period as requested by the prosecution.
Muhammad Kawasmi ,brother of Muhannad, was arrested by Israeli forces inside the courtroom. Authorities have not revealed the reason for Muhammad’s arrest, as he was attending the trial as an observer in support of his brother.
http://silwanic.net/?p=27145