From the Dirty South

i'm in the south, in a village called beit ummar. we're plotting and acting and plotting some more. i can't say a lot about it now but there is news coming in the future.

once again, this week, israeli forces have attacked palestinians in nablus, this time assassinating one. following clashes with invading israeli soldiers and palestinians fighters on wednesday, the following morning, fadi qafaishah, 32 the local leader of the main fatah military wing, the al aqsa martyrs brigade, was shot dead. during the assassination, six other palestinians were injured, two sustaining serious injuries. the palestinian fighters claimed to have injured or possibly killed invading soldiers with a roadside bomb that struck an army jeep. while israeli forces were entering the area, palestinian freedom fighters engaged the armed soldiers with stones, hurling rocks at the jeeps, hummers and other equipment as it entered the city. as always, though the soldiers were inside of heavily armoured transports and in absolutely no danger from the stones, the opened fire. when opening fire, firas qaddoumi, 21 was shot in the leg, fursan, his 18 year old brother was also shot. in addition, 20 year old majdi said wawi was shot in the chest and a red crescent volunteer attempting to evacuate an injured palestinian was also shot. majid an nida, 40 years old was atempting to move a palestinian who had been shot when he himself was shot in the neck. during these clashed, one 20 year old, hussam hirzallah was arrested.... here's a photograph of fadi's funeral procession held in nablus:

on wednesday, israeli forces invaded jenin refugee camp once again this week, but this time they were met with resistance from fighters of the al-quds brigade, the armed movement of islamic jihad. this is the third incursion into jenin camp this week, and the occupation's army has met with palestinian resistance every time...also near jenin occupation soldiers invaded the office of imprisoned palestinian legislative council member ibrahim dahbor, before also breaking into a printing press and destroying equipment in fahma, also near jenin.

on wednesaday in nablus, occupation forces kidnapped four palestinians after breaking into many homes in balata refugee camp and ain beit al ma refugee camp..also on wednesday, in tulkarem, north of nablus, undercover israeli special forces invaded tulkaream refugee camp and kidnapped a member of the al aqsa martyrs brigades. the special forces wore palestinian keffiyehs and opened fire when their target entered the area. during this time, 13 year old ayman was shot in the abdomen and anan was shot in the neck...

the following day, on thursday, occupation soldiers kidnapped three palestinians in anin village west of jenin and jalqamus village southeast of jenin. after leaving the area, the soldiers launched incursions into the villages of arraba, kafr ra'i and fahma all near jenin and open fire at palestinian homes, constructed military blockades at the entrance of the three villages and established checkpoints in the areas

in gaza, the resistance is also going forward. the abu ali mustafa brigades, the military wing of the popular front for the liberation of palesstine launched two mortars at an israeli military position east of dier al balah in central gaza on wednesday. in the ash shuja'iyyah area, also on wednesday, the nassar slaah addin brigades, the military wing of the popular resistance committees attacked an armoured military bulldozer that was destroying structures in the area to make way for a temporary military road. the brigades planted a bomb near the dozer and partially destroyed it...also in gaza on wednesday, the al qassam brigaeds, the military wing of hamas, launched two home made rockets at a grouping of israeli military vehicles just east of ash shuja'iyya. in only six days of incursions into this area of ash shuja'iyya, twenty one palestinians have been murdered and more than eighty injured.

as august ends, the tolls of the occupation are being calculated for the month. Below are some figures according to the reports from august:

Tolls from the Occupations - Month of August 2006
Palestinians Murdered	Women Murdered	Children Murdered
52	6	14

Palestinians injured	Women and children injured
190	62
Palestinians kidnapped	Women kidnapped
220	10

Palestinian Homes Demolished	Partially Demolished Homes	Completely Demolished Homes
61	15	46
Palestinian Houses Occupied and converted into Military Positions	Damaged, Burned, & Uprooted Olive trees	Hectares of Palestinian land stolen for settlement expansion and or the construction of the apartheid wall.
15	500 +	2,293

Numbers from September 29th, 2000* - Present
Palestinian children killed	Palestinian women killed	members of the legal Palestinian security force killed (police, intelligence, security)	Palestinians assassinated in extra-judicial killings	Palestinian patients killed trying to pass through Israeli military checkpoints	Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers	Palestinian journalists killed	Palestinians Murdered (Total)
862	295	360	471	144	59	10	4,418

(in addition to the 4,418 palestinians murdered, israel also killed 6 foreigners during this time period, 2 of which were activists with ISM.)

*The begining of the intifada

Some more Facts from the Intifada
Injured palestinians	Of those Injured, those which are permanently handicapped
37,430	7,550

Palestinians arrested	Palestinians still being held in Israeli jails	Palestinian women still being held	Palestinian children still being held
50,000 +	10,100	114	335

Palestinian houses completely destroyed	Olive trees damaged, burned and uprooted	Hectares annexed by Israel (since March 29th, 2003)
7,754	1,000,000 +	299,400 +

Here are a few links:

12 year old palestinian boy near us shot by israeli settlers

settlers attack again in hebron

so that's all i can stomach for right now..we have an action tomorrow and it should be good. we'll be in touch.

all my love from occupied palestine, the village of beit ummar, the west bank:

Michael

Assassinations Near Home

the two men assassinated this morning in balata have been identified as Ibrahim Neba and Hani Hashash. these men were killed in cold blood, without a trial and without an attempt to arrest. this is israel's democracy. below are two pictures,

one of Hani lying dead on the ground,

and the other of the two men's funeral this afternoon in balata camp.

the details that have emerged is that the two men survived the missile strike but were murdered by israeli machine gun fire. after their death, israeli soldiers sent dogs in to search the house, and these dogs reportedly mutilated the bodies of the deceased. prior to their murder, israeli forces fired tear gas into the family home and many family members were treated for gas inhalation. IMEMC has done some reporting.

these men bring israel's assassination count in the last 24 hours in the west bank to 3. late last night, israeli special forces entered ramallah in an unmarked white van and assassinated Ala al-Aradi in front of french ISM workers and a palestinian activist who happened to be in the area in search of a late night snack. the israelis opened fire on an unarmed 25 year old while civilians were walking the streets. anyone could have been hit by their fire, but luckily none were.

all three men assassinated between 10pm and 6am were fighters with the al aqsa martyrs brigades, the military wing of palestinian president abbas' fatah party.

during an israaeli incursion in the west bank city of jenin,a 64 year old man was shot an killed...in a village near jenin earlier today, a dunum olive field was demolished by israeli bulldozers...we just heard that two days ago, in beit furik, a village in nablus were we work weekly, an israeli setter murdered a 12 year old boy by shooting him with his rifle. settler violence against palestinian civilians in the west bank seems to be increasing...they are attacking civilians, children and internationals.

father away in gaza, nine palestinian civilians were injured, two seriously, after the israeli air force fired missiles at a group of resistance fighters east of Gaza City. in addition, three family members from the same family were kidnapped in rafah, gaza

the next few days i will be in the deep south, in settler country of the palestinian west bank. the palestinians have a series of demonstrations against the wall so we'll be doing some good ol' direct action. look forward to some blockades, sabotage and a general sense of mayhem. wish us luck.

all my love from occupied palestine, ramallah:

michael

Ali Mustafa Lives on & Balata is Struck

as has been said of many rockets this week, this message is dedicated to the martyrdom and memory of abu ali mustafa, 1938-2001. you are not forgotten.

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TUESDAY:

this morning, i was awoken early in the am with news that the israelis were invading the camp. israeli special forces launched an incursion into balata refugee camp assumingly for the purposes of assassinating some fighters with the palestinian resistance. during the strike, special forces, backed by american-made apache attack helicopters used machine gun fire and also fired at least five missiles into the densely populated area that we call home. these missiles could have easily hit our home, or the homes of our friends and neighbors... the ISM press release is really short so i'll paste it below:

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

This morning, two Palestinian resistance fighters were killed by Israeli military during an incursion into Balata refugee camp just outside of Nablus. Another young man was shot in the stomach and is, according to sources at Rafidia hospital, in critical condition. Hani Al-Hashash, 22, and Ibrahim Neba, 23, were chased up on the roof by Israeli special forces who broke the door and entered their home at about five o'clock this morning. As the military opened fire, one of the men attempted to defend himself and shot two soldiers, injuring them slightly.

The two resistance fighters attempted to escape by climbing up to the roof. An Apache helicopter then backed them up against a wall before firing several rounds of bullets into their bodies. Hani Al-Hashash died from a bullet to his brain and Ibrahim Neba incurred several fatal wounds to the neck, stomach and chest. Five to six missiles were also fired from the helicopter, breaking two water tanks and making several large holes in the roof of the building."

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ma'an news also covered it including pictures of one of the martyrs, someone who was likely a daily sight in my walks through the camp.

that's all i got...somone else was assassinated in ramallah and on and on and on.

all my love from ocupied palstine, ramallah:

michael

News before I Head Sout

there were intense battles with israeli forces in the camp last night around 12:30. we could hear m-16 fire as well as return fire for some time. i spent part of last night with the neighbor kids. we played a game with popsicle sticks. we each had a handful and each turn we would bet a certain number, and flip a coin. if we were right, someone would pay us that number of sticks, if we were wrong, we would pay the same number. the kids were sweet, when i would run low on sticks, they would give me some of theirs so i could keep playing. later we went into the older girl's room. on the walls were scandalous pictures of arab pop stars, and in the middle, the shahid poster for the three men killed in the siege of the nablus muqata.

israelis launch incursion into aqabat jabar refugee camp in jericho, details to come soon...i visited this camp about a month and a half ago...i hope the friends we made are ok.

this morning, in a series of incursions, israeli occupation forces kidnapped ten palestinians including five minors. in the village of al khader, south of bethelem, the occupation kidnapped three supposed fatah members, and also kidnaped a forth ma in dura village southwest of al-khalil (hebron). in 'azzun, a village east of qalqilliya, occupation forces kidnapped five palestinian minors at 1:30am. those detained were 15, 16, 17, 14 and 16 years old. in addition, occupation forces kidnapped a 35 year old man after invading his home in az zababida, south of jenin. during these incursions, occupation forces report being fired upon by fighters of the palestinian resistance in the cities of ramallah and jenin.

in gaza, four members of the palestinian executive force were murdered by isreli air fire in the shaja'iyyeh district, east of gaza city. they were killed when an american-made apache attack helicopter shelled the area killing the four men and injuring 18 others, 8 of which sustained serious injuries. this brings the number of palestininan killed in gaza, over the last 72 hours to eight.

the israeli committee against house demolitions (ICAHD) has issued their biannual report on house demolitions in jerusalem and state that from january to july 2006, 47 palestinian structures were demolished in palestinian east jerusalem. 31 of these structures were palestinian homes and 16 were "pirate gas stations." most of the bulldozed homes were legally built, though some were built without permits. though east jerusalem is palestinian controlled, the residents must seek permission from israel to build there; since israel rarely gives such permits for palestinians to build on their own land, israel considers the homes illegal. i consider demolishing people's homes illegal.

i'm heading south for a few days to take care of some coordination business.

talk to y'all soon.

from occupied palestine, with love, from balata refugee camp:

michael

Back from the Villages with a Bit of Time

just got back from the villages of cousin, beit iba and beit wazan helping to plan for the olive harvest after ramadan. the villages have similar problems, their land is close to jewish only settler roads and so when they approach their lands, soldiers shoot at them, arrest them or otherwise force them to leave. some of the land is one the east side of the road, some on the west, but since the road has been built, they can not cross it. in other areas, farms are split by beit iba checkpoint, and in other areas, military roads segment the land. in one area of beit wazan, their main fields are approximately 150 meters from a newly constructed israeli army observation tower, so when they approach to farm, they are shot at. we are making plans to assist them.

i'm reading the news online, waiting on the rest of the crew who are writing segments of reports. so i'll spend a few minutes reading and relaying it back to y'all. let us start with news from the resistance before we do news from the occupation.

sunday, the izzedine al qassam brigades, the military wing of the hamas movement, launched two home made (qassam) rockets, as well as one rocket-propelled grenade at an israeli military convoy. the projectiles targeted two makava tanks. in a separate incident, the qassam brigades launched two home made rockets at third tank in the eastern region of the ash shukaeyah, the site of much israeli violence over the last 24 hours....also on sunday, the abu ali mustafa brigades, the military wing of the populart front for the liberation of palestine shot an israeli soldier positioned on a tank within an israeli military position east of al maghazi area of gaza. the abu ali mustafa brigades have been especially active this past week as they commemorate the 5th anniversary of their assassinated leader and name sake, Abu Ali Mustafa. over the last 2 days, nablus has been plastered with posters bearing ali mustafa's face, the face of other martyred leaders, and below them, the masked faces of the mustafa brigades.

moving on to the occupation, there has been another significant arrest. israel has kidnapped yet another member of the palestinian parliament from his home in bireh village near ramallah. approximately 20 military vehicles were involved in the incursion to arrest mahmoud mesleh, a democratically-elected parliamentarian. in addition, israel has announced that they are extending the detention of mahmoud al-ramhi, the forth ranking member of the palestinian legislature, and the secretary of the palestinian parliament. he will be held for at least an additional two weeks. since israel began its campaign to topple the elected government of palestine in late june, they have arrested 64 members of the hamas movement including eight government ministers and twenty nine members of parliament.

moving to gaza, there has been a great deal of violence in gaza since the israeli's launched "operation summer rain," in response to the arrest of one israeli soldier by palestinian fighters. since the operation began, less than two months ago, there have been 202 palestinians murdered, including 44 children. during this time, 1 israeli soldier has been killed and 26 israeli soldiers and civilians injured. the number of palestinian civilian injuries is literally incalculable since 1-20 are injured every night during air strikes. since june 28th, the israeli occupation army has launched more than 267 air strikes, and they have closed karni, the main crossing for food and humanitarian supplies, and they have closed rafah, the main crossing for people. during the air strikes, the israeli army has demolished approximately 120 homes, workshops and greenhouses, and damaged another 160. according to the united nations development project, the cost to the electrical networks alone is at least 1.8 million US dollars. since the israeli offensive is ongoing, many repairs have been delayed, and at present, more than 1,000,000 people have limited access to electricity and water.

ma'an featured a very interesting article, hamas member and spokesperson for the palestinian government, dr. gazi hamad, responds to the dire situation in gaza through self criticism of the palestinian people and the hamas government. it's worth a read, it's short.

an article written by an american friend we met in balata about life in the camp.

i just added, with the help of steve, a new section of links called 'direct action in palestine.' these three organizations are for international activists to join with palestinians to fight the occupation. check them out and if you have questions about them, ask me. i now know organizers and participants in all of them.

also, we added a link to the community website for balata refugee camp, my current home. this was a project started by a few internationals a few years back to document life in the camp. it contains video documentaries made by camp residents, in english. as well as photographs and other such things. i highly suggest you check it out.

here is a picture of Mountasir, the 15 year old martyr from the demonstration at yesterday's incursion. the picture shows him in the morgue, draped in the flag of islam. you can see a man hands outreached in prayer for the young boy.

here are two more pictures of unnamed palestinian demonstrators also shot by israeli forces yesterday. the boy in the red i met earlier in the day. he greeted me warmly and allowed me to take some photos of him. in the picture attached you can see the pool of blood soaking through the left side of his shirt near his ribs.

so i depart now, back to the camp to finish our work for the day. who knows what tomorrow brings for the people her and for us. it has been a difficult few days with 2 hot at the flying checkpoint in iraq burin, 2 shot at the checkpoint near assira and 23 shot yesterday in nablus. we have seen a lot of violence and i am sure there is a great deal more to come.

people have been asking what they can do to support the palestinian people...if you listen to the palestinian people, they want you to tell the people of america and europe what is going on. that is their only requst. to tell their story.

so tell it.

all my love from occupied palestine:

michael

Media Attacked... Media Lies

marhabba habibbis,

so i got almost 10 hours of sleep and i'm refreshed mostly so i'll run through the news and then get to some gripes and complaints.

so i'll try to go through the news, i skipped a day or more, so this is the news in the last 24 hours...

in a village south east of qalqillia, israeli forces arrested a 19 year old early in the morning...israeli forces arrested a 21 year old university student from the nearby village of bita at hwarra checkpoint as he was traveling from his home to al najah university...in gaza israeli forces entered the ash shorka neighborhood east of rafah and arrested four palestinians of the ab shammalah family...

in jabaliya, gaza, israeli attack helicopters fired missiles at the home of ziad tanbourah. the missile strike destroyed the building completely ad also damaged several neighboring homes.

early sunday morning, two hamas activists were killed in an israeli air strike in gaza. israeli forces launched an incursion from the ash shujaeyah district, to the east of gaza city. this incursion amounted to machine gun support for the air strike, where at least three missiles from fighter jets were fired towards the earth. one man, walid al harazin, 24 was injured from the shelling and gun fire and bled to death awaiting medical transport, which israeli forces blocked for more than one hour. the other martyr was tariq hillis, 21. the air strike also seriously injured five other people, including a photographer from reuters, and a second journalist. their car, clearly marked PRESS in 3 languages on all sides and roof, was struck by a missile shot from an american-made apache attack helicopter, if you think i'm making this shit up, check it out:

the attached picture shows the 'unclear' markings on the reuters car...

...in the same neighborhood of gaza. near the fathi ash shakaki mosque, a mother and daughter were injured by a helicopter-fired missile.

in an interview in thew washington post, israeli army chief of staff dan halutz has announced that israel has drafted a list of 15 persons living in the gaza strip to be assassinated without trial. this lists amounts to a "death list," reminiscent of a bad action movie, and in the same interview, halutz claimed that extra-judicial assassinations are the best way to "combat terrorism." you can read the washington post article for yourself.

in some good news, the two fox journalists have been released, despite the demands of the kidnappers not being met. the group holding them has said that they are being released because the journalists have 'willingly excepted islam.'

in more good news, governmental sources have told the deputy chief editor of al ahram newspaper that a prisoner exchange between israel and hezbollah, as well as a prisoner exchange between israel and the palestinians will occur in the next two to three weeks at the most. the palestinians and hezboillah have been offering a prisoner exchange since both peoples arrested israeli soldiers in late june and early july. if israel had simply listened then, it could have saved the lives of over 1,400 lebanese and over 200 palestinians. but we all know that israel wanted these wars and they needed the prisioners for justification.

from the BBC:

"The US State Department has launched an inquiry into whether Israel misused US-made cluster bombs in Lebanon during the recent conflict... Cluster bombs spray large numbers of bomblets over a wide area - which can remain unexploded and endanger civilians long after they are fired....US-made weapons have been found at many of 300 sites in south Lebanon hit by cluster bombs, according to the UN."

and from the resistance:

saturday: the al quds brigdes, the military wing of the islamic jihad movement launched one home made rocket at ashkelon...the al aqsa martyrs brigades, the military wing of fatah joined forces with the abu ali mustafa brigades, the military wing of the popular front for the liberation of palestine in the shooting of one israeli soldier at the kissufim military position. the soldier was shot as he was posted in an observation tower. the soldier was hit, but not killed, ands israeli fores responded with machine gun fire and supported by apache attack helicopters

sunday: the al aqsa martyrs brigades, the military wing of fatah once again joined forces with the abu ali mustafa brigades, the military wing of the popular front for the liberation of palestine in an attack on an armoured personnel carrier in the ash shujaeyeh district while israeli forces were launching an incursion into the neighborhood...on the same day, the abu ali mustafa brigades launched two mortars at the israeli army position at kissufim...

from yesterday...i have been very disappointed at the way AP and reuters reporters have described the siege. ISM was there all day, we arrived before, and stayed longer than almost any reporter and we have a very clear picture of the days events. to show one point of disagreement we can check out the attached reuters photograph and caption:

"Israeli soldiers walk behind a resident during a standoff between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants at a fugitives' hideout Saturday in the West Bank town of Nablus Saturday Aug. 26, 2006"

there are two BIG problems with this caption. one, the incursion was not 'a standoff between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants at a fugitives' hideout.' there was no standoff, it was the israelis attacking, palestinians demonstrating with stones, and the very occasional gun shot from palestinians far away from the house. these fighters responded to the military presene, they were not in the house engaged in a 'standoff.' that is a lie. secondly, it was not a "fugitive hideout," it is a 3 story apartment building housing 17 families, 8 of which share the same name. it is a low income housing building, not a "hideout." no one inside was found to be a fighter. lastly, and most importantly, the israeli solider in the picture is not simply 'walking behind a resident,' the soldiers is using the resident as human shield. this tactic is illegal by international law and while israel has been accused of using human shields countless times, they always deny it. yesterday, i saw and documented the use of human shields on at least 2 occasions, utilizing a group of 6 palestinian men, and a second group of 17 famiies consisting of men, women and children. look at the picture and see for yourself:

israeli human rights group documents israel's use of human shilds last month.

israel bans the use of human shields:

israeli high court rules that the use of human shilds is illegal.

the last picture is of one side of the main building partially destroyed. all of the small homes surrounding this building were completely demolished so that wrecking equipment could reach the tall building to destroy it.

that's all from me...off to the villages in a bit. catch y'all later.

all my love from occupied palestine, balata refugee camp:

michael

The Seige in Nablus Today

spent the day dealing with heart breaking scenes, bullets flying, grenades being launched, and one dead 15 year old.

we got awoken by a call at 6:00am, and it is now 10:00pm and we are still not done so i'll rehash it tomorrow. for now know that i am ok, shaken, and sore but safe. i just wrote a press release that i'll paste the link to. please send it around, post to indymedia or whatever it is you do with information.

in brief, the israeli army invaded a nablus neighborhood today. demolished many homes, shot and injured over 20 demonstrators, and killed one, a 15 year old boy named Muntasir. we spent the day documenting, photographing, escorting people, helping evacuate injured, negotiating with soldiers, dodging bullets and other flying objects...you know the usual ISM day.

as i write, the iman at the mosque is recounting the days events and asking people to assemble in the streets tomorrow to protest the attack and mourn the young martyr.

the palestinians put up a good fight too...though this is not the focus of the press release so i'll hit in in brief. when we got there, we narrowly missed a huge explosion detonated by palestinian fighters. we were about 50 meters from the blast designated to strike advancing military jeeps...the shabab attacked the army with stones, the army responded by shooting them...one died, many more shot and injured. later in the day, very briefly, some palestinian fighters shot at the israeli military, the military shot at them but hit nothing. this happened about 12 hours after the siege had begun, after Muntasir had been martyred, after the soldiers had been shooting at unarmed demonstrators all day and shooting grenades into a civilian home. when the armoured american-made bulldozer tried to exit the area, palestinians on the rooftops dropped chairs, windows, doors, tables and huge rocks on it. to combat the invading army, some threw stones, others bottles, and on two occasions, small bombs.

the scene was indescribable. bulldozers just wrecking without mercy. soldiers shooting kids. snipers in people's homes. soldiers shooting from the windows of schools. a baby being carried to an ambulance then the ambulance being blocked from leaving. people crying over their homes. bombs, grenades and armoured things that looked nearly tank-like.

i can't recount the news but its been heavy all over.

al aqsa martyrs brigades goes reacts to an israeli incursion right near us...detonates a car bomb, engages in armed clashes, claims to have injured 6

below are some ISM nablus reports we worked on the last few days, please do read:

today's press release and some of my pics..more to come in an ISM nablus photo series

2 shot at a checkpoint right near us while we were at the demolition

our report from thursday's action at the iraq burin flying checkpoint

the weekly beating in bil'in...all of ISM nablus was injured except for me

that's all i can do for right now...maybe some more tomorrow if i have time. my head's just not with me...i have a head ache from all the machine gun fire and explosions, i need sleep and food.

all my love from besieged and occupied palestine, nablus, the west bank:

michael

Ju'uma Dosen't Stop the Seige

the photo series is now online, here is a permanent link or just scroll down to find it.

i went to ju'uma today in balata, and then read the news. today is a holiday, like saturday for the jews and sunday for the christinans so no work.

2 ism reports from jewish settler violence in hebron. (One | Two)

onto the news...since last night, about 12 hours ago:

three palestinians from ya'bad, east of jenin were arrested on the charge that they were members of the islamic jihad movement..two palestinians were arrested near ramallah for unknown charges...in nablus israeli forces arrested one in the old city on the charge that he was an activist with the popular front for the liberation of palestine...

and in my home, balata, israeli forces arrested mahmoud atta abu subiha, 20 years old. his home was raided in thew night after israeli forces launched large simultaneous incursions into nablus, rafidia, and balata camp. when the military entered balata camp, palestinain fighters engaged them by detonating explosive devices and firing from their positions. no one was killed i the clashes, though the noise was heard throughout the camp.

in gaza, israeli fighter jets bombed a home in jabalia refugee camp from the air injuring eight palestinians. the israelis claim that the house belongs to a leader of the al aqsa martyrs brigades. an additional five palestinians in the area were injured from the same blast. later, an additional three palestinians were injured from an israeli bombing in gaza city.

there are more calls for an open ended strike beginning september 2nd if back wages are not paid to palestinian workers. they have not been paid in almost seven months following the US's and europe's sanctions of the new government. the strike has the endorsement of the union of teachers, the union of health workers, and the union of public sector workers.

the fate of the captured fox news crew looks more dim than ever. their abduction, by a previously unknown faction, has been condemed by every palestinian party, faction and leader. palestinian prisioners in israeli jails have launched a solidarity campaign to seek the release of the journalists. they issued a letter urging the kidnappers to release the men unharmed without condition. the journalists have stated that they are in "fairly good health," and have been given clean clothes, food, water and bathrooms.

from the resistance...the nasser salah addin brigades, the military wing of the popular resistance committees have reportedly attacked a group of the israeli army's engineering unit in the east of al maghazi in central gaza Strip. they report to have shot one soldier, injuring him. the a quds brigade, the military wing of islamic jihad claims to have launched one home made rocket at ashkelon this morning. the abu ali mustafa brigades, the military wing of the popular front for the liberation of palestine have reportedly once again teamed up with the al aqsa martyrs briades, the military wing of fatah, and ambushed an israeli armoured personal carrier with an RPG in a northern district of gaza.

"The factions all said they were retaliating for 'the ongoing Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people'. The Salah Addin Brigades said the latest aggressions were the assassination of Yousef Abu Daqqa and Mustafa Hassan Mansour in the Gaza Strip and the failed assassination of the Jenin leader of the Al Quds Brigades, Husam Jaradat, in Jenin...The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades and the Al Aqsa Brigades said they were retaliating for the Israeli bombardment of houses in the Gaza Strip and marking the fifth anniversary of the assassination of Abu Ali Mustafa, the leader of the PFLP."

that's all for now...

all my love from occupied palestine, balata refugee camp, nablus region:

michael

p.s. as i was spell checking this, the power went out all over the camp. fuck this occupation

Photo Series 02: Nablus, Assira Shamilyia, Iraq Burin

3 pictures from nablus:

this is the residential area of nablus's city center. it is planted in the mountains with settlements and military bases above it. on the left side is a large community garden. i am experimenting with the black and white filter on my camera and i like it a lot. oh, by the way, since i have been posting pictures, they are all taken with a manual setting. i'm doing it old school, with shutter speed, f stops and all, no more automatic and flash for me.

this is the near center of nablus, taken from the open window of a shop. this is not as busy as the city gets since it is a small street after rush hour, but on rush hour it is akin to NYC's times square, with taxis bumper to bumper, vendors in the street and tons and tons of people.

this is another shot of a small street in the center of nablus. i took the picture through a window that was shot by israeli soldiers. you can see the bullet hole.

3 pictures of the village of assira shamilyia:

this is assira from a roof top. pretty self explanatory.

this is from the same rooftop. it shows 5 young boys playing in a pile of nuts. they were fighting to collect the nuts and the oldest one, feeling triumphant, held up his child's version of the holy qur'an for me to photograph,

this is one of the sons of a man named kanon. he was very quiet and affectionate, but when i took out my camera, he turned his hand into a gun. before that, he spent the afternoon in his fathers arms, and flying a makeshift kite over the wall. in the background in kanon, and his youngest boy.

5 pictures from the village of iraq burin:

this is the view from our friend's roof in iraq burin. it is taken from the perspective of the speaker he has attached to broadcast the muslim call to prayer into the valley from his rooftop, which is the highest point in the area. in the distance, you can see the villages of tell and sara, and over the far mountains, is 'palestine 48,' what is now called israel, past the 1967 green line. most of the trees that you can see are olive trees that the villages will try to harvest after ramadan.

this is a close up of the israeli settlement on the mountain top above the village. you can see the military observation tower, the satellites for communications and maybe the fence thew surrounds it. the buildings with red roofs are homes, and everything else is for the military. this is why settlements are not civilian areas, they are bases for the military, and secondary, small places for israelis to live. very few people live in them, and the west bank is pock marked by these large areas, with few people. in the foreground is a home in the village, proudly flying a tattered palestinian flag. because the settlement needs 'security,' the area between the village and the settlement is off limits to palestinians, though it is legally their land. this is the area that is problematic to farm for olives. when palestinians go to this side of their land, the settlers and soldiers often shoot at them.

this is a road in the village. across the road is a series of hamas flags, and if you look carefully, directly in the center on the mountaintop you can see the military observation towers and infrastructure of the same israeli settlement. it covers both sides of the mountain top, and while israeli citizens live there, the military uses it as a base to detain palestinians, and dispatch both soldiers and vehicles for incursions into the villages

these children i saw when i was on our friend's roof. i was photographing the israeli settlement above them, but when they saw the camera, they began to pretend to throw stones for the benefit of my camera. what you see is simulated stone throwing.

this is a man on his donkey, walking up the mountain-side road of iraq burin. there are not many taxis, and no busses in the villages, so people often use donkeys for personal and commercial trasport.

Our Battles in Iraq (Burin)

quick summary of the news from today before we get to my day...

'from 15 August to 21 August 17 palestinians were murdered, 61 injured and 99 arrested. 920 human rights violations were recorded during the week documented'...2 from jenin arrested in an incursion...in Qalqilia and the town of Azzoun, east of Qalqilia, israeli forces arrested 12 Palestinians, including a member of the municipal council government. this incursion utilized about 20 military vehicles...

"A leader of the Al Quds Brigades in the West Bank narrowly escaped death on Wednesday evening when Israeli Special Forces carried out a targeted assassination attempt in the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Eyewitnesses said that Israeli Special Forces infiltrated Jenin refugee camp in a civilian vehicle - believed to be a white "Passat" car - and opened fire on Husam Jaradat, 43, as he was standing in front of a shop. Jaradat was seriously injured by several bullets that lodged in his head. A large contingent of Israeli troops then entered the camp to back up the Special Forces, who then withdrew from the camp...Jaradat has survived several recent assassination attempts, the latest being two weeks ago when two Al Quds Brigades' leader in Jenin, Muhammad 'Atiq and Amjad Al 'Ajami, were killed by two missiles launched by Israeli Apache planes on the camp."

in gaza:

Israeli forces kidnapped a Hamas leader and killed his brother in a violent raid on the southern Gaza Strip...The Israeli forces also killed an Islamic Jihad activist on Wednesday evening...the Israeli forces seized Mr. Abu Daka, a lecturer at the Islamic University in Gaza and Hamas leader, from his house in 'Abasan, a village east of Khan Younis early on Thursday.. Israeli Special Forces, reinforced with tanks and military vehicles on the ground, and with helicopters and drones flying overhead, targeted Abu Daka's house and killed his brother Yousef, 47.. an armed clash took place late Wednesday evening between a group from the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, and Israeli forces near the eastern edge of 'Abasan...According to eyewitnesses, members of the group launched mortars at Israeli targets to the east of Khan Younis...The Israeli army said that they fired missiles at armed Palestinians who were targeting them on the eastern edge of Khan Younis. The Israeli army confirmed that there were casualties.

they said they would, i said they would, and damit, they did:

"Dozens of armed Palestinians blew a large hole in the wall between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Thursday...[they] gathered near the Rafah Crossing and detonated a large explosive device at the border wall by the Salah Addin gate...The angry gunmen threatened to explode dozens of explosive devices and cause many gaps in the border wall if "all parties do not work on returning Rafah Crossing to operation and ending the crisis of citizens stuck at the Crossing". The gunmen called on the Europeans and Egyptians to work seriously on opening the Crossing and ending the suffering of the people, particularly the humanitarian cases, students and the citizens whose visas have expired. The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and their military wing, the Salah Addin Brigades, threatened several days ago to "open the crossing by their special way" if the Israelis and Europeans did not ensure the Crossing returned to full operation."...

A crossing opened via "their special way."

so from my life...last night i spent time in the village of salim, with a friend, his brother and their family. their father was a hero of the first intifada, now he works for the palestinian authority's preventative security forces. in the firt intifada, beginning in 1987, the father was 'a wanted' and spent most of his time fighting, and hiding in a cave located in the desert-like environment of the jordan valley. last year a sweedish man filmed his story. we met with the father and saw a segment of the film. we were shown the cave where he spent his nights. he drank from a nearby stream, and received food delivered by a friendly header. this was his life during the intifada. with children at home, he lived in a cave, sleeping on the ground, cooking on rocks to avoid being assassinated by the israelis.

today was a hard day. we had plans to go to the village of assira qabilya to plan for the olive harvest. so we went, the four men of the group and we met with the residents. the village is about 5 miles away, but it took us over 2 hours to make the journey because of hwarra checkpoint. when we got the the village, we found out that all of our contacts in this village are leftist, PFLP folks, so we were in good company. our main contact was an amazing women who did not wear hijab among us and hung a sterling silver handala figurine from her neck. we gathered the information we needed about the coming olive harvest, had tea, coffee and lunch, and discussed 'the life,' politics, work and our lives in general. most of the people we spoke with were awaiting the return of their loved ones from israeli jails. some had served 6 years, some 2 years...they showed us the beautiful art their loved ones had made in the prison, and we saw pictures of them before their capture. most were jailed for political activity. they were not fighters, at least no more than the general population.

after lunch, and a short tour through the village, we received a call from a contact in the village of iraq burin. he told us that there was a flying checkpoint that had been established near his home in iraq burin. now, iraq burin is only 3-4 miles away from the village of assira where we were, but in order to reach it we have to drive around the settler-only roads, back through hwarra checkpoint and such. this journey is long. if you look at it on a map, the villages are directly in line, iraq bring being just north of assira. but since we had to go around the jewish-only areas, it took some time. since we could not be there quickly, i called the other ism folks in balata, and sent the three other women to go ahead of us. while we were in the early stages of our journey, in received a call from the women. they told me that 2 boys had been shot at the checkpoint, in front of their eyes, one in the foot and one in the back.

this meant that we had to hurry. we drove quickly. about half way there, we had to pass through an underpass that goes under a jewish-only road. when we approached the passage, we saw an israeli hummer and a few israeli soldiers on patrol above. we made eye contact, and the soldier pointed his m-16 at us, and followed our car with his rife until we were out of sight. i tried to look directly at him to show him that we were not scared. i was scared, but i looked at him as he aimed his american-made machine gun at my face.

after a few minutes, we reached hwarra checkpoint. normally, to go north through hwarra, is no problem. you walk through a cage-like maze, then pass through a turnstile, and you're out. there are no soldiers to talk to and no ID checks. this is because the israelis do not care who enters nablus, they only care who leaves. hwarra is like a one one trap, you can pass through, but you are unable to exit. anyway, today was different. when we approached hwarra, we saw a great deal of military jeeps, hummers, armoured personnel carriers (APC), and other assault vehciles on guard. also, we saw soldiers patrolling the road, their guns trained on the hundreds of people waiting to cross out of nablus to go south. after we passed through the fences, our ID was checked by a few soldiers. after that, we got into a taxi. we drove no more than 10 feet and traffic stopped. the israelis had established a checkpoint, inside of the checkpoint. the cars were being stopped, people were being searched, IDs were being checked and so on. so hwarra checkpoint, which is normally 1 awful checkpoint, was turned into 3 checkpoints...for triple the oppression.

this is not even to speak of the mass of people waiting to cross out from nablus. this crowd was at least 600 people. the military was preventing people from even entering the terminal, to keep out of the sun. instead, all the waiting palestinians had to stand in the mid day sun for hours, the entire time, an apache attack helicopter circled overhead.

The crowd made to wait in the sun outside hwarra checkpoint.

when we finally reached the flying checkpoint at iraq burin, the cars were stopped for nearly a quarter mile on the winding mountain road. the shooting had stopped, the israelis had not shot anyone in nearly an hour. so we exited the taxi, said our 'shukran, masalam' (thank you, goodbye), and we walked along the road, next to the waiting cars towards the soldiers. when we approached, the 8 or 9 soldiers present started to scream at us and point their guns. we raised our hands to show we were peaceful and walked towards them slowly.

The flying check point at Iraq Burin.

An Israeli sniper postioned near the checkpoint.

we spent the rest of the day on that road, from about 1:00 until about 8:30. in that time we fetched water for the people who had been waiting over 9.5 hours (from 11-8:30), we negotiated with soldiers to let people pass, we physically escorted people through the soldiers who threatened to shoot, we entertained the children, and we documented the closure. luckily, there were no more shots fired that day.

when the line was nearly gone, we counted the cars, there were over 40. this means that when we arrived, there were probably more than 150.

on many occasions, we forced the soldiers to allow people without cars to assemble on the street to be checked and pass. we disobeyed their order to deliver water. we helped to successfully negotiate the passage of three whole bus loads of women going to a wedding...

....it was a good, but long day.

tomorrow i go to ju'uma in balata....should be a blast.

i have no more energy to write. in the next day or so i hope to post (with the help of steve) another photo series, so check the blog for it soon.

my love to you all.

from occupied palestine, nablus:

michael

Commemorating Abu Ali Mustafa

You can now view our report on israeli economic exploitation in the nablus area.

since i last wrote...

the night before last, israeli forces launched a raid in our city, nablus, and arrested 4 people, one of which was an 80 year old man. israeli forces claim that the raid on 80 year old rawhi sufan's home was in an attempt to persuade his 26 year old son fuad to surrender. the logic is that if the father is arrested, the son will turn himself in. the other arestes were all between the ages of 20 and 24. the palestinian resistance detonated approximately six improvised explosive devices in an attempt to repel the incursion. no israelis were killed or injured in the explosions. the al aqsa martyrs brigades of the fatah party claimed responsibility for two of these explosions...in the same day, israeli forces arrested 9 other palestinians in other parts of the west bank. three of the nine arrested tuesday morning are said to be wanted...also on tuesday morning, israeli forces launched a large incursion into jericho, including the use of 30 military vehicles. two additional men were arrested, aged 21 and 22, and are said to be members of islamic jihad..also on tuesday, five additional palestinians were arrested in tulkarem, 4 of which were university students at al-najah in nablus

also on tuesday, three palestinian fighters in gaza, affiliated with the islamic jihad movement, were killed. they were targeted by israeli artillery fire east of kissufim road, north of khan younis in southern gaza. after they were killed, the israeli army telephoned the palestinian authority liaison office to inform them of the the presence of the bodies. immediately after the assassination, israeli forces invaded the khuza'a area east of khan younis. this israeli offensive utilized more than 20 armored vehicles with support fire from israeli tanks and attack hellicopters...in a separate incursion on tuesday in gaza, israeli forces shot and injured a young man before arresting him and his two brothers in the suburb of shujaiah. this incursion utilized over 50 military vehicles, displaced from the israeli settlement of nahal oz. during the incursion, israeli forces also bulldozed an outpost for the palestinian authority's national security services and a number of olive and citrus trees east of shujaiah. while the incursion was ongoing, some residents were forcefully removed from their homes, which were converted into firing positions for israeli special forces..also in jabalaya, in gaza, israeli f-16 fighter jets leveled a home and injured one person with a missile strike

early this wednesday morning, israeli forces launched incursions all across the west bank and arrested 12 palestinians ion the ramallah raid two "hamas members" and two "fatah members" were arrested,in the nablus area three "fatah members" were arrested, in jenin and bethlehem, four "islamic jihad members" were arrested, and in tulkarem, a 17 year olf boy was arrested in an incursion with no details given

From Maan:

"Israeli forces released on Monday a Lebanese greengrocer bearing the same name as the secretary general of Hezbollah. 53-year old greengrocer, Hassan Nasrallah, was captured by Israeli forces three weeks ago during an elite military operation in the Lebanese town of Ba'albek...In addition to the capture of Hassan Nasrallah, a father of eight, his son Bilal was also captured, his brother-in-law, Ahmad Salih Ibrahim, and two other Lebanese men, Hassan Younis Breijah and Muhammad Ali Deib. All five were sheltering in the greengrocer's house during the Israeli raid. The five men were tied up and dragged to the mountains for an hour; then an Israeli helicopter flew them to Israel for interrogation."

in commemoration of the 5th anniversary of the israeli assassination of PFLP secratary general abu ali mustafa, and in response to continuing crimes in gaza, units of the palestinian resistance launched three home made rockets at the nahal 'oz, just north of the gaza strip. if you remember, nahal 'oz is the israeli settlement that was used to launch the tuesday incursion into the shujaiah area of gaza. the groups that have claimed responsibility for rocket attack on nahal 'oz are ayman juda, a unit of the al aqsa martyrs brigades, and the abu ali mustafa brigades, the armed wing of the popular front for the liberation of palestine (PFLP)...in a separate action, the abu ali mustafa brigades, fired two mortar shells at an israeli military base located in the east of the al-magazi refugee camp in central gaza. this attack was also in retaliation for the israeli gaza offensive and to commemorate the assassination of their former leader, ali mustafa...in another act of resistance to occupation, the al-qassam brigades of hamas shot an israeli soldier in the east of the al-shaja'iyyah district of gaza city. this attack is a continuation of hamas'"operation loyalty of the free" which was launched as a reaction to the israeli invasion of gaza. throughout this nearly 2 month campaign, hamas and other resistance groups have attacked invading israeli forces, and have limited their responses to within the occupied gaza strip and have not attacked civilian population centers through the use of suicide bombings and such. You can read the qassam brigades day by day communiques (in english), documenting their attacks and casualties, (here and here)

in lebanon, israel has once again violated the ceasefire by dispatching soldiers inside of the lebanese border. near the village of shama, on monday night, israeli press reports that three hezbollah fighters were killed by israeli soldiers. it appears as though the hezbollah fighters discovered the israelis in the area, engaged them with gunfire, and were killed.

as far as our work, we continue to visit villages daily to survey their situtation and to plan for the olive harvest which will start towards the end of ramadan this fall. the ISM will accompany farmers to their lands and assit their harvest. this is necessary for a number of reasons. first, the farmers are regularly arrested, attacked and killed by israeli soldiers while the harvest their yearly crops. secondly, armed israeli settlers regularly beat and shoot palestinian farmers due to disputes between land ownership. despite the fact that palestinians only harvest within the west bank, and do not harvest inside of israeli settlements, the israelis still seeks to expand their areas of control by expelling palestinians from areas that border their settlements. gangs of settlers often descend on the villages, armed with machine guns and force the palestinians to leave. the third reason we assist the olive harvest has to do with the israeli DCO, the district coordination office. the DCO is like an intermediary between the palestinians and the israali state, though the DCO is a part o the israeli military structure. the DCO provides farmers with 3-7 days A YEAR in which they are ALLOWED to harvest their crops. many farmers openly defy this system of permission and control by farming before and/or aftert the assigned DCO dates. most farmers require at least 20 days to complete their harvest, so even if they work within the assigned DCO dates, they must violate the conditions to finish the harvest. ISM provides international protection for farmers seeking to defy the DCO dates, and to ensure the safety of farmers from israeli soldiers and militant israeli settlers. 2 years ago, in a small village we visited yesterday, an israeli settler attacked a palestinian farmer, breaking both of his arms and pulling the man's eye from its socket. this is simply one of the more haneous stories of violence. every village experiences arrests, and attacks during their harvest.

if anyone is considering joining the palestinians in their fight for freedom, the olive harvest is a great opportunity to plug in. the campaign will likely begin around the middle or end of october, and continue throughout november. if you can travel here to help, or know someone else who can, please do. the solidarity is desperately needed.

in about 20 minutes we will travel to three villages west of balata camp. we will speak with the community representatives, gauge their immediate needs and make plans for international accompaniment. later today, around diner time, we will attend a protest in a village to the east of the camp. the protest is to be held at the home of a palestinian martyr, killed at hawarra checkpoint on his way to work. eh was shot and killed by the israeli army as he was traveling to deliver food. we will go to his house with local youths, and join the community in solidarity to commemorate the needless death.

so i go and we talk again soon.

all my love from occupied palestine:

michael

Assira & Palestine Moves Closer to Coup

marhabba habibbi,

today, with the help of steve the blog master we have made a small photo series, 9 pictures, of my last week or so here in palestine. you can find the photos in the previous post.

i spent the morning in the village of assira shamlia near nablus. we are planning for the olive harvest soon after ramadan, and the villages are prevented from farming their land by the israeli settlers and the israeli military.

the man we met with told us the stories of their troubles with the military as they try to farm their biggest crop, olives for olive oil. even though this is uncontested palestinian land, inside of the west bank, the farmers must receive orders from the israeli state (through the DCO). the DCO tells the farmers which days they can farm their land. most families are given 3-4 days A YEAR in which they can go to their fields and pick the olives.

the military shoots at palestinians as they cross the mountain to their fields, kill their pack animals, seize and destroy their harvested crops, close the roads....the palestinians have no market for their olives. before the intifada they were able to export them to israeli, as well as jordan, lebabon, syria and egypt. since the palestinain intifada began in 2000, israel has punished the palestinians by not allowing them to export their products. so in order to cross the israeli border into the countries (palestine has no borders on its own), the farmers must have permission in the form of permits and pay prohibitive taxes and fees. these fees and permits prevent the farmers from exporting almost entirely. the israelis stop the crops at the border, and often destroy them on the spot.

the palestinians are even prevented from shipping their crops to the nearby palestinian cities such as nablus, jenin and tulkarem. farmers attempting to use the roads and checkpoints to send their products are stopped. no one without a permit is allowed to pass with a vehicle, and no one is given permits. since the roads are not allowed, the palestinians often walk or use donkeys to cross the mountains to transport their crops. this is a 20km trek, and while the physical hardship is difficult, it is nearly impossible since israeli forces occupying the mountain overhead shoot at the travelers, and dispatch military personnel to prevent their transit.

the situation in assira is like that of many palestinian villages. their economy is strangled by the israeli occupation, and the military regularly enters the village for harassment and arrests. in assia, a calm farming village, the military enters the area almost nightly. sometimes they arrest palestinians, but often times they simply play loud music, shoot into the air, or throw concussion grenades.

when the olive harvest begins, ISM will accompany farmers' families to their fields, and try to prevent the military from disturbing the harvest. our hope is that with an international presence in assia, and other villages, the farmers will not be killed or arrested.

so what's in the news.....

let us start out with the good news shall we? "Hours after Israeli TV announced the reinforcement of Israeli forces in the occupied Golan Heights, in case of war, the Israeli Minister of Internal Security, Avi Dichter, called on his government to withdraw from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights in return for a true peace treaty. (Maan)" this is indeed good news. the israeli occupation is not only a palestinian issue. israel is currently occupying the syrian golan and the lebanese bekka valley. israel did occupy the egyptian sinai but withdrew from there a few years back. if isreal were to wiothdrawal from the golan, this would be a move in the right direction and a move towards an israeli state not based in military occupation and land expropriation.

now to the bad news...

today, monday, israel announced the arrest of 10 palestinians in the west bank...the biggest arrest was once again from within the government, where for a second day in a row israel has kidnapped a senior member of the government, yesterday it was the deputy prime minister, this time it was the parliamentary secretary-general, named m ahmoud al-ramahi. he is the forth ranking member of the legislature. i do believe that israel is attempting to overthrow the palestinian government, by destabalizing it and returning power to abbas' fatah party

..in tulkarem israeli forces launched an incursion and after conducting house to house searches arrested five fatah activists, though according to israeli sources the intention of the raid was to kidnap 2 members of the al-aqsa martyrs brigades...one fatah activist was arrested in hebron...four activists with the popular front for the liberation of palestine were arrested in rujeeb, east of nablus, this incursion utilized over 10 military vehicles as well as ground forces...a young man was arrested near bethlehem after the military launched a small incursion to the city late sunday night...in a refugee camp in northern ramallah, israel forces entered the camp and arrested three palestinian women. this brings the number of kidnapped palestinian women this month to 9....in al-khalil (hebron) israeli forces raided an islamic charity and partially destroyed its office...in the middle of the night israeli forces invaded the village of al zawia west of tubas and arrested two young boys, one 15 years old and the other's age is unknown

as we speak, or rather "as i type," israeli army has surrounded the home of a 'wanted' person in qalqillia....the general secretariat of the palestinian teachers' union announced this afternoon that palestinian schools will not open on september 2nd unless the teachers receive their back pay. the union has asked all employees to strike in solidarity. like most palestinians working for the (quasi) state, the US/EU sanctions of the democratically elected palestinian government has prevented their salaries from being paid. so if palestinian kids can not go to school this year, and they spend their days in the streets engaging tanks with stones, thank the united states; it is because of the us-initiated sanctions that the salaries are not being paid. way to go us.

yesterday, sunday, the hawarra checkpoint that we visit nearlry daily was once again the site of israeli violence. the army opened fire at the checkpoint, killing one man and injuring three. these men were unarmed workers attempting to cross. this is the third such attack at a nablus checkpoint this week.

four palestinians, two of which are children, were injured in an explosion near rafah in gaza. the explosion occurred on the site of the former israeli settlement of bedolah...israeli artillery fire in the north of gaza, near beit hanon has injured one...two palestinian men were injured from shrapnel from tank artillery that was shot just east of a central gaza refugee camp

following the violence, incursions and arrests, the palestinian resistance responded.

the umar abu sitta brigades, part of the abu ar rish brigades, a military wing of fatah, launching four home-made "AMRO" rockets at ashkelon...the al aqsa martyrs brigades, the military wing of the fatah movement, launched several home-made rockets at the kissufim and sofa military crossings..on road 60 near al khadir on the way to bebron, a military convoy was attacked with molotov cocktails and stones...in reaction to the arrest of several more members of the palestinian government, palestinian fighters with the ayman judah unit of the al aqsa martyrs brigades, as well as fighters of the abu ali mustafa brigades, launched homemade rockets at sderot, north of gaza...the quds brigades, the armed wing of islamic jihad engaged israeli troops with gunfire in the northern gaza strip. the brigades claims to have killed or injured some soldiers.

the popular resistance committees, a gaza-based resistance group, announced today that is the rafah crossing between egypt and gaza was not reopened quickly by israel, that their fighters would reopen the crossing by force. the rafah crossing is one of the largest, si not the largest entry-exist point in palestine, and israel has kept is closed, opening it occasionally for a long time. on at least two occasions in recent memory, palestinian fighters have attacked the apartheid wall there and blown holes int he wall to allow the passage of persons. maybe this will be a third time....

b'tselem, an israeli human rights organization, has issued a report documenting an upsurge in israeli violence during their gaza-lebabon offensive:

we must examine the palestinian resistance carefully at this time. their attacks have been non-strategic and largely persistent shows of willingness and retaliation. there have been no suicide bombings. there have been no armed attacks on settlements. there have been no stabbings, in fact, a near complete lack of civilian casualties. while a small number of israeli soldiers have been killed in gaza's war, and two have been killed in the west bank in the last 5 weeks, the resistance is restrained. their national government has been arrested. the israeli military is arresting nearly 70 people a week. the israeli military is still shelling gaza, they are still launching nightly incursions in the west bank, they have increased shooting civilians at checkpoints.....with all of this, the resistance is doing what? they are firing home made rockets at military and other non-civilian targets. they are attacking military installations, military crossings and militarized settlements.

nearly all of the factions have condemned the kidnapping of the fox news crew. nearly all of the factions have agreed to a long term ceasefire...and by nearly all i mean all except for islamic jihad... the factions have agreed to return the captured soldier in exchange for equally imprisoned soldiers of their own. they are being pragmatic and controlled. as they are assassinated and arrested daily, they are restrained. i do not know how long this calm will last without some israeli compromise. israel must show that it can be a partner in negotiations. they must give the palestinians some peace to expect any of their own. israel is shelling civilians, shooting civilians at checkpoints, and arresting them in their homes. despite all of this, the palestinian resistance is reacting with moderate means, and limiting their targets to non-civilians.

while we were in assira, six fighter jets, in formations of two, circled over our heads and seemed to be heading south. they flew very low and their engines grabbed the attention of all around. maybe they were heading south to gaza to ignite a field with missiles. maybe they were coming back from lebanon, their missile bays empty, heading to a base in the southern negev desert. maybe they were conducting surveillance of nablus and the areas around. we do not know. this is the power of the military. they act unilaterally and without answering to the occupied people. the people are not told what is happening over their heads, they must simply react when the bombs fall.

the photograph attached is a photo of a palestinian being arrested by israei troops in al-khalil

so its for me today. check out the photos at the blog and keep writing to me...i know school is starting and y'all lead exciting lives, but help a brother out and drop a line. the call to prayer is booming across the mountains, and i have some spell checking to do.

i love you all. keep ya heads up.

from occupied palestine, the west bank, nablus' old city:

michael

Photo Series 01: Nablus

These are some of my recent pictures in the nablus area:

the first image is alone, outside of a series. it is a view of nablus to the east. i took it from a roof top restaurant in what we have termed nablus's 'restaurant district.' in the foreground is nablus, and in the background you can see the moon hovering over an israeli military base, on a mountain, that overlooks the city.

the first series of from the beit furik checkpoint. i took these images while we spent the day at the illegal military blockade that prevents villagers from entering nablus, and simultaneously prevents residents of nablus from traveling east to the villages. we met many of the people so bu the end of the day they were eager to have their picture taken. the first two pictures are for ISM documentation, and the second two are simply portraits of men and boys waiting in the sun all day waiting to cross...i can't really photograph women directly

this is the people (men and women) waiting to cross at the checkpoint. when we arrived at the checkpoint, there were over 350 people waiting to cross, plus an additional 30 cars.


after our agitation we forced the military to create a second line only for women. this means that while the main line continues at its normal slow pace, we were able to open up a second line, so the checkpoint works doubly as fast. the women organized themselves and we just told the soldiers what was happening. all of the women were able to pass in under an hour, since they are not checked as closely as the men. you may notice that the women are passing through the car lane and not through the checkpoint itself. this in itself is an act of resistance. by having their IDs checked in the road lane, they circumvent the computer check and the single file procession through the metal turnstiles.

a group portrait of some men waiting in the male line

a portrait of a young boy waiting with the men.

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This second series of pictures is from the incursion in askar last week.

this is a shot from near the entrance of askar camp. in the foreground you can see one military police jeep and one army jeep, inside are approximately 10 soldiers. in the background, you can see an additional military hummer (left side) and a armoured military troop transport (right side). if you look at the ground around the vehicles in the foreground, you can see the rocks that the shabab threw in their attempts to repel the military, or at the very least, prevent them from advancing on foot.

this image shows a larger than typical ally within askar camp. a military jeep is blocking the passage of persons, while a military sniper has occupied the home on the right and is using the window as a shooting position. when we approached such situations, we would walk slowly past the jeep while they shot.

this image comes from streets minutes after the military withdrew. a car had been set on fire by the military, and after it had been partially extinguished, this boy reached into the backseat to save a copy of the holy qur'an from being burned. when he emerged from the car with the unharmed qur'an, he held it up triumphantly for me to photograph. the front half of the car was completely destroyed by fire, but the qur'an was saved.

this is an image of the roofs of askar camp at sunset. the mountains in the distance surround the palestinian villages of salim and dier al hatab