1-Non-violent protest against the Israeli "Apartheid Wall" is met with
tear gas, clubs and rubber bullets in Jayyous village.
2- 52-year-old English humanitarian worker Angie Zeltzer arrived
Sunday evening at Ben Gurion Airport, and was denied entrance to
Israel.
3- INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST SEEKING JUSTICE IN ISRAELI COURT
FACES DEPORTATION
4- Almost Armchair Travel
5-International Solidarity Movement - Media Advisory
6-Jenin Victims Narrate Israeli Atrocities in Extraordinary Book
1-Non-violent protest against the Israeli "Apartheid Wall" is met with tear gas, clubs and rubber bullets in Jayyous village.
Jayyous, Qalqilia, Dec 29, 2002 --
Up to 500 Palestinians, supported by more than 100 internationals, converged on the village of Jayyous today after two separate marches passed through several villages in the Qalqilia district in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. The rally was to demonstrate clear opposition to the building of Israel's so-called "security fence", better known as the "Apartheid Wall". Instead of following the "Green Line" separating Israel from the Palestinian West Bank, the wall in fact reaches up to six kilometers into Palestinian land, confiscating valuable Palestinian agricultural land and water.
As the Palestinians and internationals passed through northern and southern Qalqilia, in the village of Ezbet Salman demonstrators were confronted by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) soldiers who used tear gas against the marchers. Nevertheless, the marchers continued to Jayyous, where they rallied in a schoolyard. After speeches denouncing the wall, Palestinian farmers and internationals tried to march together to their fields where Israeli contractors were preparing the wall foundation on confiscated land only 200 meters from the village.
They were met by private security guards employed by the wall contractor who were crouched in a firing position with Uzi rifles at the edge of the village. Together with Israeli soldiers, they attempted to bar the marchers' path out of Jayyous. The demonstrators tried to negotiate their passage to the fields. Despite tension, the demonstration remained peaceful until an Israeli Border Patrol jeep forced its way through the crowd from the rear. The Israeli soldiers and security guards brandished truncheons to create a path the demonstration.
Shortly thereafter the Israeli soldiers threw a concussion grenade into the crowd, followed by rounds of tear gas. In the chaos that followed, young men began to throw stones at the Israeli soldiers. Two Palestinian men were shot in the groin and leg with rubber bullets. Mustafa Shawkat Samha, a local Palestinian journalist with a Palestinian press pass, was forcibly detained by Israeli Border Police on the suspicion of throwing stones, despite the insistence of many people who saw him during the clash that he did not throw any stones.
After dark fell 20 soldiers in five army jeeps drove through the village of Jayyous announcing a curfew. The soldiers entered at least three homes, in one case by kicking in the door, demanding to see IDs. In one home, it was reported that Israeli soldiers attacked and injured a mother who had intervened to stop the soldiers from beating her young son.
According to a report by the Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network (PENGON), the entire planned Apartheid Wall, which has begun to go up in the Qalqilia district, will effectively annex 10% of Palestinian land in the West Bank. In Jayyous alone 72% of local land will be lost. The land in the Qalqilia area is some of the most fertile in the West Bank, and contains important water aquifers.
For more information on-the-ground, please contact Radhika at 052 574 754, Patrick at 067 628 514 or 052 371 338, and Issam from Jayyous at 059 778 185. ============================================================= 2- 52-year-old English humanitarian worker Angie Zeltzer arrived Sunday evening at Ben Gurion Airport, and was denied entrance to Israel.
She came in order to testify in a criminal trial against a settler from Kiryat Arba who assaulted her, cursed her and spat at her face, when she photographed him throwing stones at Palestinians in Hebron and injuring a young boy badly. She decided to fight the deportation order. Her lawyer, attorney Shamai Leibowitz, filed a petition in the Tel Aviv district court. The authorities realized that soon a judge might issue an interim injuction, sobeforethe judge on duty could be found - the Ministry of Interior officials tried to force her onto an airplane. She was assaulted by the Head of the Immigration Police in the airport, wrapped up in a blanket, and forcefully dragged to an Austrian Airlines airplane. She screamed for help, and tried to resist but they violently threw her onto the airplane. She continued shoutingfor help, and the pilot refused to take off. The pilot ordered the government officials to take her off the airplane. Weeping and crying she was brought back to the cell at the airport. Meanwhile, at 20:00, the judge on duty finally issued a stay of the deportation, and scheduled a hearing for Tuesday, December 31, at 11:30 AM at the District Court in Tel Aviv. The judge hearing the case will be Judge Ruth Eliaz. ============================================================== 3- INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST SEEKING JUSTICE IN ISRAELI COURT FACES DEPORTATION
International Women's Peace Service FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: IWPS Hares (+972)(0)9-251-6644 Shamai Leibowitz 064-414-505; 03-670-4170
HEARING IN TEL AVIV DISTRICT COURT, 11:30 A.M. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2002
Angie Zelter, a founder of International Women's Peace Service- Palestine was stopped at the airport on Sunday when she attempted to comply with an order to appear as a witness in an Israeli court proceeding. Zelter, a British citizen, was to appear at the trial of Frank Karmel, which was scheduled for December 31 at the Russian Compound court in Jerusalem. Ms. Zelter was attacked by Karmel, a settler from Avraha Avino in Hebron on August 29, 2001, while attempting to stop teenage Israeli girls from throwing stones at an elderly Palestinian man. Karmel hit Zelter on the head, wrestled a camera off her neck and smashed it to pieces, spat at her and verbally abused her as she witnessed and photographed the attack on the Palestinian man.
However, when she arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday afternoon, Zelter was told that she was not allowed to enter Israel for "security reasons" and that there was no record of her pending court case. She was detained and placed in a holding cell at the airport police station and told that she would be immediately put on a flight back to Britain. The UK consulate, which has followed the case of Frank Karmel, intervened to stop the deportation temporarily. However, late Monday afternoon, Karmel's attorney accepted a plea bargain. Zelter was told that there was no longer any need for her to testify, and she would be summarily deported. Police attempted to physically put her on a plane back to London, but Zelter argued so profusely that the flight crew refused to have her on board. Zelter then contacted attorney Shammai Leibowitz who filed a petition to stay the deportation order so that Zelter can witness the plea and sentencing of the person who attacked her.
Zelter was anxious to appear in court in order to spotlight the impunity with which settlers routinely flout Israeli and international law. Most cases of violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank are not prosecuted; even murders of Palestinians by settlers have been dropped for "lack of evidence." Zelter hoped, by vigorously pursuing the prosecution of this incident, to encourage others to hold Israeli settlers, who are living in Palestine in violation of international law, accountable under Israeli law for the violence they routinely perpetrate in an effort to drive Palestinians from their land.
When she was attacked by Karmel, Zelter was volunteering with the Christian Peacemaker Teams, an international human rights organization. Since then, Zelter helped to found IWPS, which is supporting local efforts toward nonviolent peacemaking in the Salfit District, a fertile area which has the second highest settlement population in the West Bank. "Angie cooperated with Israeli security forces to ensure protection for Palestinians during the recent olive harvest, so it is ironic that she is now being called a security threat," said Arik Asherman of Rabbis for Human Rights, which works closely with IWPS. Zelter's long-time peace work is the subject of a documentary currently being produced for British television. Israeli authorities have refused to tell Zelter or her attorney what the "security reasons" for her being denied entry are.
Zelter's appeal will be heard in the Tel Aviv District Court on Tuesday, December 31, 2002 at 11:30 a.m. Hopefully, this will enable her to be in Jerusalem for the Karmel plea hearing at 2:00 p.m. END ============================================================== 4- Almost Armchair Travel Annie C. Higgins
I took a tour of the Palestinian territories over a six hour time span, quite swift considering the state of roads and roadblocks in the West Bank and Gaza. I did it the easy way, almost like armchair travel, but from one hospital bed to another at the Jordan Hospital in Amman, where many Palestinians are brought for treatment that they cannot get in Palestine.
Upon my arrival I heard news from Jenin, which I had left the day before: the Israeli Army dropped bombs on a house, killing `Alaa Sabbagh and `Imad Nasharte, both active in the resistance, and leaving a newborn infant fatherless. As I was told, an unmanned surveillance plane had been hovering above to target the house, and then the house was attacked from the air.
But I was visiting people who were more fortunate, people whose existence itself remains a form of resistance.
My first stop was with `Imad Jabbarin whose legs were badly injured when an unexploded landmine left behind by Israeli invaders exploded in the street outside his house. This took place in June 2002 when the destroyed area of the Jenin Refugee Camp was being cleared. I recalled the emphatic declaration of a foreign member of a team examining the remaining materiel in the Camp: "We found absolutely no evidence of the use of landmines!" `Imad is making great improvement. By November he was able to take a sitting position in bed, and had used a wheelchair once.
A young boy about eight years old from Nablus sped in and out of the room in a wheelchair, calling a brief hello. I was to see him frequently, but just as a flash. His childhood was slightly revised, but still constituted of action and play.
A mother from Nablus invited me to visit her son in an isolated room. We donned masks and gloves before entering. Her son, Nidal Sharif, was resting quietly but his Palestinian instinct of hospitality was instantly activated, and he greeted me, offered me a chair, and a part of the orange he was eating. He had been shot in several places, but most dangerous was the bullet that entered at the bridge of his nose. He was conscious and alert, which was an excellent sign, but he needed special attention.
Back in a regular room which has about seven beds, I met Nidal Jirmi from Nablus whom I found to be the uncle of a young woman I had met in Balata Refugee Camp in June. She was the one whose little girl had dancingly approached the soldier and his gun as he kept us in a room while his comrades searched the house. The soldier had smiled, but Shirin called the little girl back. Later the guard very thoughtfully had another soldier bring a wastebasket for one-week- old Mujahid's diaper. Mujahid, of course, means "one who struggles" as those in the resistance do. The soldier who shot Shirin's uncle had not been in the same thoughtful mode as our guard.
Jenin Refugee Camp was also represented by Rami Wasfi Ibrahim whose mother had been allowed to accompany him to Jordan since he is a minor. Most of these journeys are made under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority, but many patients wait months languishing in hospitals without treatment, until the permission comes through.
The city of Jenin's representative was Jamal Rabi` al-Qutt, a delightful boy who would be in high school had he not left school to support the family by taking a wheeled cart around the streets to find customers with his bright charm. His injury at the hand of the Army had cost him his hand. He would jokingly hold up his handless forearm and pretend it was a microphone. He had more verve and joi- de-vivre than I have seen from some people who haven't suffered so much as a scratch.
Another young man, older than Jamal, had also been wounded in the arm. His entire forearm was gone, and he had written his feelings about the Army's skill on the cast where his elbow should be: "You are all dogs, and my life is torture/kullukum kilaab wa- hayaati `adhaab." Yet he too had high spirits, and could joke and engage in fun conversation with everyone in the ward. He happily took up the job of distributing the extra pastries that I had brought. When I was offering treats, I made sure to offer an apple, rather than an orange that needed peeling, to those with only one hand.
The shiny-haired boy from Nablus continued to zip in and out in his race car wheelchair.
My heart was stolen by a youth from Tulkarem whose head was in a device that seemed to orbit at eye-level with a steel band. Its purpose was to get his vertebrae back into the correct position. Oh, such patience in that face, but also a clear longing to be free of metal, and lying down, and this imposed abnormality. Ahmad Muhammad `Awde had been shot by a tank's sniper while returning from high school. The bullet entered the back of his neck and exited from the front. He was not throwing stones. He is a top student who loves school, and had attended with the other students in spite of the Army's illegally imposed curfew. Now in the Jordan Hospital, he wanted more than anything to eat normally, instead of being fed by a tube. His mother motioned me to keep my bag of fruit out of sight. But he had dreamt of eating his favorite foods, and that was some relief. He had spent seven days in Kfar Sabi` Hospital in Israel before being transferred to Jordan.
`Attaf Thabit from Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus had taken shrapnel in both legs, with one still in need of treatment. He was to go to Iraq within the week. Nobody else seemed to find this an unusual destination, and they spoke of specialists there.
I tried to calm a local hero, schoolboy Jihad Abu Layl of Jenin Refugee Camp who had lost an arm. I reminded him of his friends back home, and how they had deputized me to say hello. He was not to be consoled, and the doctor in Intensive Care reminded him there were other patients who needed attention, as well as some quiet on the floor.
Hamid Rashid Qufayshe from Khalil/Hebron joined Mahmoud Abu Shamali of Gaza, both recovering from the effects of Israeli snipers' excellent aim. Mahmoud Abu Sahlul of Khan Younis in Gaza, temporarily blinded, was hoping to regain his sight. In the bed next to him was a boy from the village of Sile near Jenin who had lost an eye, but was moving about energetically with his new perspective.
Many patients were accompanied by family members, mostly parents because the majority of the wounded are so young. It is like a military hospital, except that none of them are soldiers. I am reminded that Palestine does not have a formal Army to defend against this unrelenting, formidable foe. In traditional Arabic poetry, war is a mill, grinding away lives. In contemporary metaphor, Palestine has been called a fire whose fuel is its youths. There is no formal Army to protect them.
Dr. Annie C. Higgins specializes in Arabic and Islamic studies, and is currently doing research in Jenin, Occupied Palestine.
Annie Higgins in Jenin, Occupied Palestine tel: + 972-67-540-298 ============================================================== MEDIA ADVISORY For immediate release
December 31, 2002
PALESTINIANS AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY ACTIVISTS TO DEFY ISRAELI CHECKPOINT IN GAZA
Sunday, December 31, 2002 -- a group of Palestinians, on the initiative of the Palestinian Popular Refugee Committee in Rafah (Gaza Strip), will attempt to cross an Israeli Occupation Forces checkpoint at Mawasi in order to deliver emergency food and medical supplies to a village surrounded by illegal Israeli settlements.
Over 300 Palestinians are expected to be at the checkpoint from the Rafah side, and another 100 from the Mawasi side to greet them. The delegation will be accompanied over 25 international observers (from Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and the United States).
The action will begin at 10am at the Palestinian Popular Refugee Committee Center in Rafah, and expects to be at the Mawasi checkpoint by 12:00 noon time. The checkpoint is surrounded by IOF guard towers, and live bullet rounds have been reported to be shot at others that try to cross the checkpoint without IDF authorization.
Contact in Rafah: Kristen (059 357 526 or 067 341 268) ====================================== 5-International Solidarity Movement Media Advisory
[Nablus, Askar Refugee camp, Monday Dec. 30, 2002]
The Family of Abu Bushar in askar Refugee camp is expecting their 19 year old sun Mahmoud to be arrested at any time after they have received a call from the military that they are coming to arrest him soon.
Three days ago, the army invaded the house looking for MOhammad and shot at the place that he is supposed to be sleeping at.
The army threatened that they would kill him if he does not trurn himself in soon.
ISM activists are staying with the family since three days.
Please act to stop an expected murder, call embassies and Israeli official bodies.
For more info call: Eden 067-361-694 (Staying with the Family) ============================================================== 6-Jenin Victims Narrate Israeli Atrocities in Extraordinary Book
Monday, December 30 2002 - Palestine Chronicle
Prof. Norman G. Finkelstein: "I am grateful to the editors of this volume for preserving the truth of Jenin's martyrdom for future generations - and, in doing so, redeeming in some small measure the suffering endured there."
http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=2002123005580064
SEATTLE (PalestineChronicle.com) - After several months of Israeli attempts to conceal the conduct of the IDF in the Israeli invasion of the Jenin refugee camp in April 2002, the most compelling, detailed and revealing account of the historic events will finally be available to the public.
The book entitled "Searching Jenin, Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion, 2002", is without a doubt, a must for anyone interested in Middle East history, politics and current events. The work, which includes final statistics of casualties, human and material losses, is by far the most comprehensive and exhaustive volume written on the issue.
"Searching Jenin," a collective effort of nearly 60 scholars, reporters, and activists, Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals, is edited by Ramzy Baroud, editor-in-chief of alestineChronicle.com, and includes a Forward by the highly-renowned scholar, Noam Chomsky. The book is being published by Cune Press in Seattle, and is a part of their Bridge Between Cultures project.
"I owe my greatest thanks to our commissioned reporters in Palestine,"said Ramzy Baroud, the editor of 'Searching Jenin", Many of them put their safety, and in some cases, their lives on the line to collect account after tragic account for this book. Because of their integrity and professionalism, they were able to interview many high profile figures that refused to take an interview with any other news agency."
Not only does the book include scores of telling accounts of residents who witnessed and survived the invasion, but it includes interviews with people such as the wife and the mother of Mahmud Tawalbe, the leader of the resistance in Jenin. Tawalbe was shot and killed by Israeli forces. The book also includes a detailed interview with the only eyewitness to the extra-judicial execution of Abu Jandal, the second in command of the Palestinian resistance in Jenin.
The courageous reporters who combed the streets of Jenin, interviewed medical personnel, resistance fighters, and even children, including an 8 year old girl named Rund, who complained that the army broke her only doll. Rund's father was later shot and killed by the army. They also interviewed an elderly widow who explained how she implored Israeli forces as they demolished her small home, burying her disabled son alive under the rubble. Her son's body was never recovered.
"We had so many obstacles to overcome, primarily the Israeli army's refusal to allow me entry into Palestine," stated Baroud. "For the past several months, the Israeli government has done everything in their power to cover-up their actions, including the barring of a UN investigation team to the area. Until now, the Palestinians are still unable to carry out their own official investigation due to the fact that the camp is still under a strict curfew. But in spite of all these hurdles, and thanks to the hard work and contributions of so many, the truth is going to come out into the light."
Baroud and Cune Press are ready for the anticipated controversy such a book will stir, which follows the recent release of the film documentary titled, "Jenin, Jenin", a film that was abruptly banned by the Israeli government. However, they both state that "Searching Jenin" will not simply add fuel to the controversy about the events in Jenin, but that it will prove to be the most revealing document to date regarding the atrocities last April that came to be a symbol of Palestinian resistance world-wide.
Ali Samoudi, the project facilitator in Jenin stressed, "The promotion of this important book is the collective responsibility of all who care about justice and truth. This book is dear to the hearts off all refugees in Jenin, because for the first time, we are narrating our own story."
For further information or to order your copy of "Searching Jenin" contact our managing editor, Suzanne Russ: Russ@PalestineChronicle.com
Ramzy Baroud is available for interviews and welcomes book reviews, he can be reached at: Ramzy Baroud <Editor@PalestineChronicle.com>
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