Injured at a demonstration

I had a tear gas canister ricochet off my head yesterday in Bil'in. I suffered some first degree burns but no concussion.

Bil'in Responds to Army Commercial

The Israeli cellphone company Cellcom put out a ridiculous ad about Israeli soldiers skipping their patrol to play soccer by the apartheid wall. The commercial closes with a voiceover saying, "We all just want to have fun."




Bil'in: The Palestinians in Bil'in who actually live on the other side of a wall separating them from their farmland made a response video.

Buy a Tree to Replace Ones Destroyed in Settler Attacks

The brothers Abdullah, Hamad, and Mohammed Soleiby are a family of Palestinian farmers living in Beit Omar, a village in the Hebron area. The vast majority of their farmland lies in the Saffa valley, just below the illegal Bat ‘Ayn settlement. Bat ‘Ayn is home to some of the most vicious settlers in the West Bank, including the Bat ‘Ayn militia, infamous for their attempted bombing of a Palestinian girls’ elementary school in 2002. The Soleiby family is regularly attacked by these vicious settlers, who throw stonesand in April beat 81-year old Abdullah Soleiby over the head with a rock, breaking his skull.

Vast portions of the Soleiby’s land have been destroyed in settler attacks. A series of fires in April burnt many of their fruit trees and grapevines. On June 19 settlers set fire to the land again, and on June 22 they cut down another 125 trees. On July 13, 30 more acres of land were burnt. These fields are the family’s primary source of income, and the attacks have destroyed their livelihood, creating emotional strain and financial crisis. The military has exacerbated the situation by repeatedly declaring the area a “Closed Military Zone,” illegally denying the farmers access to their land.

The Soleiby family needs your help. They are trying to raise enough money to replace the destroyed trees and erect a fence around the land. For $7 you can buy the family a new fruit tree to replace the ones destroyed by settlers. By helping them put down new roots you can help this family rebuild their lives, and resist these brutal attempts to ethnically cleanse them from their land.

Don’t let the Soleiby’s down! Pass this message on to everyone you know, and encourage them to donate a tree to replace the ones destroyed by settlers. All donations go through the Palestine Solidarity Project. To donate go to http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/donate/.

10 Arrested in Defiance of Continued Closure in Saffa

Late Saturday morning, Beit Ommar village residents, along with activists from Israeli organizations’ Ta’ayush and Anarchists Against the Wall (AATW) and a large group of international activists, including several from Palestine Solidarity Project, entered farmland in the Saffa area in order to challenge the continued illegal use of temporary closed military zone orders in the area. These orders put a financial strain on the farmers whom are often unable to harvest their land, and provide no protection against settler attacks on the land (which the military claims is their reasoning for establishing a permanent presence in the area).

After over an hour of intense negotiation with the commanders of the military unit revolving around accompanying the farmers and their family while they pick to protect against further settler attack, several family members of farmers were allowed to enter the land but without Israeli or international accompaniment. Ten Israeli activists sat down in opposition to this decision, and were later arrested by border police and released two hours after being taken to Gush Etzion police station. Despite the arrests, the event was calm, with no injuries or violent repression by the soldiers to report.

Activists were also challenging the lack of protection against settler attacks on the land and on the farmers who harvest the land, which soldiers stationed in a temporary outpost below the Bat ’Ayn settlement have promised to provide. Earlier in the week, settlers had set fire to roughly 160 dunums of land (40 acres), including several valuable fruit trees. Combined with the cutting of over 125 trees in June, and an earlier fire, in the last month settlers have destroyed nearly all of the land that provides income for 125 extended family members. While dozens of Israeli and international activists have been arrested during that month accompanying the farmers, not a single settler has been arrested for their crimes. Saffa farmers have also been under threat of physical attack by settlers, as there have been incidences of injury on several occasions in the past three months, including a vicious attack in early April that left 81 year old Abdullah Soleiby with a cracked skull.

Updates!

Friday: I was in Bil'in on Friday for the normal demonstration against the wall. Once again the Israeli Army saw fit to spray us with a massive amount of chemical "skunk" from one of their trucks while delivering the normal amount of tear gas. Members of the Bil'in Popular Committee wore yellow ponchos with yellow hats and masks. It was both funny and functional!


Saturday: Maria and I went with around 30 Israeli and international activists to the village of Saffa (she wrote the above post about it so I wont go into that many details)

Sunday: Sunday at noon was the court deadline for two houses in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah to vacate to the settlers. A large number of international activists, community members, and Israeli activists converged on the houses in a show of defiance against the eviction. Lots of press showed up (including the BBC) and at least two diplomatic missions sent representatives (Sweden: who is now the rotating president of the European Union, and the Czech Republic). Over the course of the day, a number of police vans drove by and honked their horns at us as a way of intimidating the people out front. At night, a large number of people did home stays at the houses. These will continue indefinitely until the eviction order is rescinded or until the police try to force the families out. Maria has chosen to remain with the families for a while.

Monday: I took part in a large meeting in Bil'in with the Popular Committee, Israeli activists (including several folks from Anarchists Against the Wall), and a big group of international activists (including ISM). We addressed the large number of army raids and arrests that have occurred over the last three weeks in Bil'in and discussed strategies to resist and stop them.

Army Invades Bil'in Again-One arrested, One injured.

On July 17 at 2am, jeeps full of soldiers invaded the village of Bil'in. After arresting Muhammed abde al fatah burnat (age 21) the soldiers tried removing him by foot to the military outpost. International and Palestinian activists blocked the path of the army units, demanding his immediate release. The army responded by hitting activists with their rifles, throwing percussion grenades, and spraying chemicals in activists' faces. Additional army units arrived to dislodge the activists from the path of the arrested boy. These soldiers began chasing activists and trying to arrest them.

In the process of being chased, one of the Palestinian activists was injured. He suffered a deep gash on his leg that may require stitches and some minor lacerations on one of his arms.

The village of Bil'in has had 60 percent of its farmland confiscated by the apartheid wall and has had weekly demonstrations for the last 5 years. Recently, it has been under constant raids from the army and over 15 boys have been arrested in the last three weeks.

Building a Bedouin School from Tires and Mud

Sorry for not doing my posts in order, but I haven't had time to write about the Bedouin School we helped build last week out of tires and mud. The project was one of the most enjoyable thing I've done in Palestine. We spent the day standing barefoot in a pile of dirt, slinging mud at a wall of tires. It felt good to be doing something physical and proactive.

This video tells the full story.