news from Ni'lin

News from Wednesday, off the RamallahRamallah wires:

"8 injured today, 1 guy approximately 21 years old got two shots in the head with rubber coated steal bullets and is in IC now.... braindead. So basically, his situation is hopeless. the army drove up into the village today, after 3.30, shot the guy and left again.  The army is trying to close the entrance of the village now."

Ma'an reports the incident here, with slightly different numbers.  Ha'aretz doesn't seem to have the story yet today.

Israeli army shoots, videographers shoot back

It seems that the world is watching as the Israeli army shoots bound prisoners and children, evidence of what one op-ed writer in Ha'aretz calls a "worrying and dangerous downward spiral" for Israeli army activity in the West Bank.

Many people will have seen or heard about the video of an Israeli soldier firing a rubber bullet at a bound and blindfolded Palestinian man at point-blank range.  The incident was caught on tape by a 14-year-old girl from Ni'lin, where the protest was taking place, thanks to the video cameras being distributed by Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem to Palestinians in the West Bank.  The video evidence has led to an investigation of the army officer involved (apparently it's his second investigation), but also to retaliation by the Israeli army against the girl's family.  The girl's father was arrested on July 23, according to Ma'an.

A new incident involving the fatal shooting of a child (aged 9 or 10, depending on the source) at a protest of the Wall in Ni'lin is also drawing attention.  An ISM report (warning, graphic photos) states that Ahmed Ussam Yusef Mousa is the seventh person under age 18 to be killed during a demonstration against the Wall.  Five other Palestinians, ranging in age from 21 to 62 years of age, have also been killed at protests, and many Palestinians and internationals have been arrested, injured by rubber bullets or shrapnel, and attacked with sound bombs and tear gas.

The increase of international media attention to these incidents is helping increase accountability on the part of the Israeli army, which is now, more than ever, being made to justify its actions in Israeli courts, and conduct proper investigations of soldier misconduct.  Amos Harel, the op-ed writer, says, "apparently, it also increases pressure on IDF officers, who are having difficulty keeping events in check", but I wonder if the international attention is also making them nervous.  As one blogger notes, "these soldiers make the choice whether or not to kill before Americans of the same age are even allowed to drink alcohol. They do not have the life experience to act with wisdom and there is nobody supervising them."

In other news, Ma'an reports that the PA says they're going to sue Ha'aretz for publishing this story, about how Abbas is "vowing to dismantle the PA if Israel frees Hamas prisoners for Shalit".

collapse of a cease-fire

Last Thursday evening, a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas/Islamic Jihad/Gaza was supposed to take effect.

Apparently, late Monday night/early Tuesday morning, the Israeli army stormed a residence near An-Najjar University in Nablus and killed two residents, one reportedly an Islamic Jihad member and the other either a member of Hamas (according to Ha'aretz) or a student (according to IMEMC), or both.  IMEMC also reports that five civilians were "kidnapped" by the Israeli army during the incident.

Ha'aretz also reports that late Monday night, a Qassam rocket was fired from Gaza into the Negev, which, if true, would violate the terms of the cease-fire.  I can't find anything to confirm that this happened, or whether it was before or after the raid in Nablus.

Then, later on Tuesday, Islamic Jihad seems to have claimed responsibility for three or four Qassam rockets launched by Hamas into Israel from Gaza.  Ha'aretz is reporting that the Qassams likely come in response to

"the wounding of a Palestinian civilian in northern Gaza on Monday, in a bid to show that Hamas will not stand by as Israel harms Palestinian civilians. The civilian, 68, appears to have been hurt by an errant IDF bullet,"

but the same article reports that

"Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the rocket attack, which it said came in response to the death of a senior operative during an Israel Defense Forces raid in Nablus early Tuesday. A Hamas operative who worked with the wanted Jihad man was also killed in the raid. The Israel Defense Forces said troops shot both men to death, and that the Jihad man was armed with a rifle. In addition, four explosive devices and a large quantity of ammunition were found next to the gunmen,"

which refers to the incident in Nablus on Monday night/Tuesday morning.

The Ha'aretz article says that "an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire agreement was struck between Israel and Hamas last week, but the deal extends to the Gaza Strip only, leaving the IDF free to operate in the West Bank," but Palestinians are reluctant to accept the division between Gaza and the West Bank, saying that the Israeli army can't have a truce with Gaza and still be at war with the West Bank.

So now Gaza's borders are sealed off again, even though open borders were supposed to be a feature of the truce.

Ha'aretz reports that it's because of the Qassams, but now IMEMC is reporting that "Israeli media sources reported on Tuesday that an senior political official in Israel, close to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, stated on Tuesday that Israel received an Egyptian guarantee to keep the Rafah Border Terminal closed until achieving a prisoner swap deal."

This "prisoner swap" may or may not refer to Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by militants in Gaza 2 years ago.

The reporting is sort of confusing on this...

"On Tuesday at noon, Mubarak and Olmert met in the Egyptian resort of Sharm Al Sheikh, and held talks on the prisoner swap deal between Israel and the Palestinian Resistance, the truce, and the Egyptian role in stopping the flow of arms into the Gaza Strip via the Sinai Peninsula.

"Additionally, an Israeli official stated that the prisoner swap deal was not part of the truce agreement. This statement contradicts the statements of several Israeli officials who claimed that the truce deal included the release of the captured soldier Gilad Shalit.

"The official added that Mubarak vowed to help in pushing forward the prisoner deal, and stated that Egypt vowed to keep the Rafah terminal closed until the issue of Shalit is resolved."

And in other news, a border police officer shot and killed himself with an M-16 at Ben Gurion.  The man was reportedly a member of the Druze community.  No other details are forthcoming at present.

absurdities

Irish Church Leaders told to remove crucifixes

Thursday, 1 May 2008

Irish religious leaders visiting the Middle East were unable to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem this morning after a security official at the checkpoint ordered them to remove their crucifixes from around their necks and leave them at the checkpoint if they wanted to go down and pray at the Western Wall.

The local bishop accompanying the delegation, Dr Munib Younan, told the officials the request was a breach of a protocol agreed between the Israeli government, the Christian leadership in the city and the Jewish Rabbinate, and that it would be a humiliation if the church Leaders had to remove their crucifixes in order to go down and pray at the wall. There was a discussion for some time. The security official at the checkpoint confirmed with his superiors and returned and ordered the Church leaders to remove their crucifixes if they were to go to visit the Western Wall.

Dr Munib Younan, then told the Israeli soldier that this was a humiliation for the church leaders and we cannot undergo this humiliation for our Bishops and Church Leaders from Ireland to undergo this humiliation, so the Bishops turned away bearing with them the prayer that they had written out and which read:

" On our pilgrimage of Hope and peace, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem" signed by, The Primate of the Catholic Church, The Primate of the Church of Ireland, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church and the President of the Methodist Church.

The matter was expected to be discussed later between the Church leaders and Israeli officials at a scheduled meeting at the Israeli Ministry of foreign Affairs including their Religious Affairs Department.

IDF threatens to close orphanages in Hebron, affecting 6000 children

This is off the CPT newswires… CPT is Christian Peacemaker Teams, an international organization who maintain a presence in the Palestinian towns and villages that are most threatened by Israeli incursions and human rights abuses.  CPT Hebron is, for lack of a better word, hard core.  Hebron, where Israeli settlements not only loom on hilltops but occupy buildings in the heart of the city, and where the settlers themselves are some of the most radical and violent, is a difficult place to live.  CPTers often accompany Palestinian children walking to school to protect them from settler attacks, and observe checkpoints to either discourage or at least witness and document abuse of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers there.  The CPT Hebron info on the website is sort of outdated, but they've been there since 1995, and they put out a frequent bulletin through their Yahoo Group, CPTHebron.

 

CPTnet
29 March 2008
HEBRON: Sunday, 31 March 2008, Day of Prayer for Hebron's orphans

Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron is calling for Christians around the world to make Sunday, 30 March a day of prayer for the orphans of Hebron. On 25 February 2008, the Israeli army raided all of the buildings and institutions funded by Islamic Charities and gave orphanages and boarding schools until 1 April to evacuate students. On 6 March 2008, the Israeli army again stormed storage buildings of Islamic Charities, confiscating food, children's clothing, and kitchen appliances used to prepare meals for the orphans. These centers house, feed and educate 6000 children in Hebron.

Christian Peacemaker Teams will visit the orphanages and will resist the forced expulsion of children if the Israeli army carries out the order.

Pray for the children of Hebron and for all of those affected by the actions of the Israeli army. Pray that the Israeli civil administration will rescind the order.

To learn more about the Israeli army confiscations from Islamic Charities here are links to recent articles:

Gideon Levy, " Twilight Zone / When charity ends at home"

Khalid Amayreh, "Palestinian Orphans protest after their facilities are raided by Israeli troops"

Oakland Ross, "Hunkering down in Hebron"  

 

last Wednesday's events

There's a good article about the events in Bethlehem on the IHT.

In it, the reporter, Isabel Kershner, talks about the funerals yesterday and the display of unity, as members from all political factions gathered at the Mosque of Omar in Manger Square to pray and pay their respects to the dead.  She also talks about the circumstances of the men's deaths, and speaks to several individuals about their reactions.

Talking with co-workers yesterday, I also felt the need to record how people were expressing their reactions to Wednesday's assassinations.  Below is a piece that I wrote with the help of two co-workers.  It is intended to give a deeper view into why these men's deaths are mourned so fervently by so many people, and the sense of shock and loss experienced by the community.  This is not an official response from Diyar or the church here, but my personal interpretation of the responses that a few of my co-workers were sharing with me, regarding last Wednesday's assassinations.

*****

I thought it might be important to record local reactions to the shootings in Bethlehem on Wednesday.

People here are mainly sad.  One of the men who was shot, Muhammad Shehadeh, was an icon in Palestinian society, and the men's funerals in Bethlehem yesterday drew thousands of mourners.  It was Shehadeh's house that was demolished last week, and his nephew who was taken into Israeli custody.

Shehadeh is a symbol of the resistance movement because Israel had been chasing him since 1989.  He had become a legend, someone who Israel couldn't catch.  He appeared on television and radio after the demolition of his house, saying that he was sad that his house had been demolished, but he was also optimistic, saying that he knew the Israelis were looking for him, but that he was running to stay alive.

So people are sad, not only because he was an icon of the resistance movement, but also because he was a prominent member of society.  A co-worker explained that in Arabic culture, there are the "big men" of the town, historically the leaders of clans, who are traditionally generous, listen to people's suffering, and help people in need, without expecting things in return – they are motivated my community-mindedness, and people are loyal to them, because they are loyal to the community.  So it is even worse that these men were killed because a "collaborator" tipped off the Israelis to their whereabouts, in betrayal of the men and the sanctity of the community.  These "big men" are even more important in a context where the government and police/military forces are seen to be doing little or nothing to protect and care for the citizenry.  The men are seen to believe in Palestine and to have a sort of visionary leadership that governmental officials are not seen to possess.  Most people think that the PA and the Palestinian military are around just for show, and who can blame them for thinking so, when they do not protect the citizens from Israeli incursions?

Finally, people are sad because of the circumstances of the deaths yesterday.  As my co-worker tells it, the men had just bought some hot, fresh bread from the bakery on the street near the Freres School, near to the house of another co-worker and about a 5-minute walk from mine.  This is so intimate, so familiar, that many people feel like the shooting could happen to anyone.  It happened in the center of one of the old neighbourhoods of Bethlehem, on a street that everyone knows, outside one of the town's favourite bakeries.  It really seems to have affected people deeply.

So this is the other side of the story.  People admit that there are bad things about Islamic Jihad, and that none of the men were without fault, but people revere them as symbols and as pillars of the community, and mourn them as such.  That they were killed rather than captured makes them martyrs in the eyes of many, and solidifies their status as symbols of the Palestinian resistance movement.

 

 

more killing in Bethlehem

Yesterday evening Israelis came into Bethlehem and shot four men riding in a car near the Freres School -- close to the house of a co-worker and about a 5-minute walk from my house.

The story is here.

One of the men had been on the run for almost 20 years, and recently started popping up on the radio and on TV.  A co-worker says that a "collaborator" probably found out that he was around, and called the Israelis, who came in and shot him.

I only started hearing about collaborators -- people who sell information to the Israelis, either to make money to support their families, or as part of a bargain to get themselves off the "wanted" list -- this week, when I saw the film "Paradise Now" for the first time.  I'm sure I must have heard about them before, but maybe this is the first time I've consciously thought about them, and what it means to be one.  If you haven't seen "Paradise Now", I'd recommend it.  It's about two seemingly normal guys in Nablus who get called up for a suicide mission, but it's also about the structures of militant organisations (the ones in charge sending others off to their deaths, eating sandwiches while the chosen bombers are filming their testimonies) and debate among Palestinians as to whether or not suicide bombs help or hurt the Palestinian cause for independence and self-determination.

So today in Bethlehem there's a general strike -- the only shops that are open are the pharmacies.  People say that it'll last until Saturday.  We shut the front gates to our offices today so that it looks like we're closed, but I think everyone came into work.