wednesday, during ground invasions and air strikes, occupation forces have killed THIRTEEN palestinians in gaza. there were tank invasions in southern gaza, east of khan younis as well as in gaza city, while fighter jets carried out air strikes in east gaza city.
nine men were killed in gaza city. Nafiz Mahmoud Hillis, 27 and Ahmad Ayyad Hillis, 18, both fighters with fatah's al-aqsa martyrs brigades, were killed in clashes with occupation soldiers in eastern gaza. in the shaja'iyya neighborhood of east gaza city, occupation fighter jets fired missiles at a car, killing four palestinians. Ra'ed Fannouna, and Sami Manasra, both fighters with islamic jihad's al-quds brigades were killed, along with three civilians: Hazim Ziad Jundiyah, 25, Deib Said Jundiyah, 9 and Yousef Manasra, 20. the men were killed when their car was hit with at least one missile.
in the same gaza neighborhood, occupation ground forces used tanks to shell an area, killing one man. Anan Ar'er, 25, a fighter with hamas' al-qassam brigades was killed in the shelling. after the shelling, fighting broke out between occupation soldiers and palestinian resistance fighters. in these clashes, Yousef Khalil, 20, a fighter with hamas' al-qassam brigades was killed. another man also died wednesday from injuries he sustained on monday when occupation forces attempted to assassinate him in northern gaza. Zakaria At Tatar, a fighter from islamic jihad's al-quds brigades died in the hospital.
in southern gaza, dozens of tanks invaded the khuza'a and abasan areas of khan younis and killed four palestinian fighters and injured approximately 40 others. Diyaa Abu Daqqa, Hussam Abu Ta'eimah, Mahmoud Ash Sha'er, and Mahmoud Abdul-Fattah, all fighter with islamic jihad's al-quds brigades were killed in the fighting. during this fighting, at least three other palestinians were injured.
palestinian fighters associated with fatah's al buraq army, hamas' al-qassam brigades, the popular resistance committee's nasser salah addin brigades, and islamic jihad's al-quds brigades participated in the clashes in khan younis. according to the brigades, occupation soldiers were injured and possibly killed including one soldier shot by the qassam brigades east of khuza'a. palestinian media reports that no soldiers were killed but that two were injured.
before leaving khuza'a, occupation forces captured approximately 200 palestinians and transported them to a military base south of the gaza strip. additionally, during the invasion, thousands of square meters of agricultural land was bulldozed.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
pictures from Askar camp incursion #1 of 2
blog entry describing the incursion into Askar refugee camp:
occupiedlove.blogspot.com/2006/08/battles-in-askar-camp.html
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blog entry showing AP and Reuters pictures of Askar incursion:
http://occupiedlove.blogspot.com/2006/08/news-in-brief-and-askar-pictures.html
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occupiedlove.blogspot.com/2006/08/battles-in-askar-camp.html
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blog entry showing AP and Reuters pictures of Askar incursion:
http://occupiedlove.blogspot.com/2006/08/news-in-brief-and-askar-pictures.html
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Army Demolishes Homes in Askar Refugee Camp
August 15th, 2006
www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/08/15/askar/
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Today, August 15th 2006, at approximately 1 am, soldiers of the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) launched a military incursion into the Askar Refugee Camp (population 15,000), in the Nablus region. During the military operation, two homes were bulldozed, at least four homes were occupied, seven people were reported injured, one woman died due to being blocked from reaching a hospital in time by the army, and at least five were arrested.
The incursion lasted approximately ten hours, and ended around 11am. The siege utilized a large military force including three armoured bulldozers, over twenty military jeeps, three armoured troop transports and at least seven hummers. During the attack, two homes were completely demolished by bulldozer, and four homes were occupied by the IOF and used for military purposes. This process included using the windows of homes as sniper positions. While such operations were ongoing, families were forcibly removed from their homes and made to congregate in the street or in neighbours´ homes. Also, during the assault, many automobiles were smashed and shot, while at least one was burned. Following the incursion, the electricity was cut in the entirety of Askar Camp.
There were at least eight injuries during the assault according to the manager at Rafidia hospital, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC). Rafidia hospital reports treating four individuals, two of whom were shot by rubber coated metal bullets, and two of whom were shot by live ammunition. The PRCS reports treating two individuals, one shot with rubber coated metal bullets, and one hit with shrapnel in the back. In addition, the UPMRC treated one woman who was injured in her eye by shrapnel from a concussion grenade. The nature of the other three injuries are unknown.
During the early hours of the operation, an elderly woman of the Tibi family had a heart attack, and because her ambulance was prevented from reaching the hospital in a timely manner, she died upon reaching al-Watani hospital. After the woman was transported via ambulance, the IOF prevented the family from arriving to the hospital to view the body. After the woman was evacuated from the house, the IOF occupied the home, and used it as a firing position. From this occupied house, IOF soldiers fired live ammunition and threw concussion grenades at international activists and unarmed Palestinian youths.
All of the arrests were from the Annadi family. During the incursion, the mother, three cousins and nephew of a man named Murad were arrested and transported to an unknown location. Murad is an employee of the Palestinian Authority.
Seven international ISM activists, two Palestinian ISM activists and one Palestinian volunteer with the UPMRC joined with the people of Askar to provide support during the incursion. During their work, the IOF assaulted the internationals, attacked them with concussion grenades, and fired live ammunition in their direction on four separate occasions. The ISM activists were able to de-arrest five men, four by negotiation and advocacy and one by physical intervention.
Such incursions are a frequent occurrence in the villages, towns and camps around Nablus. Approximately forty days ago, the IOF came into Askar Camp and assassinated one man.
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.
during the incursion, ISM activists were told that an elderly woman was trapped in the top floor of her home. her door had been blocked by a taxi cab that was thrown by a bulldozer. the home sustained structural damage and the woman was unable to use the stairs or exit her home.
ISM activists negotiated with the soldiers and were eventually able to assist Palestinian medics to evacuate the woman from her house.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
ISM, factional violence & "Freedom Summer 2007"
ISM: Freedom Summer 2007 Campaign:
“We need you now more than ever!”
June 19th, 2007
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/06/19/summer-campaign-presence-needed/
I
Salaam for everyone.
It is no secret what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank now. As Palestinians, we have been through worse situations. In 1982 something like this conflict also happened in Lebanon between the Palestinians. Also in 1999, there was a conflict between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, most of the Hamas people were put in prison.
Because we have been through this before, we know that we must get through it again, together as one people, Palestinians.
Recently, this conflict appeared with Palestinians fighting for control in the Gaza Strip.
Some think it is a conflict of who wants the control and power in the Gaza Strip, others think that it happened because some people want to fight the corruption in the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, others still think it is a result of pressure from other countries.
The result of this conflict is that Gaza is under the control of Hamas and the West Bank is under the control of Fatah.
As Palestinians, we believe that Hamas and Fatah are not representing the will of all the Palestinian people and because of this, we come to the big question. Why is Gaza under control of Hamas and the West Bank under Fatah if we do not feel they represent all the Palestinians?
The answer to this question is that nobody can deny that we are still currently under occupation. Because Hamas and Fatah are the only strong military groups in Palestine, it is easier for them to enforce their will upon the entire population. All of this happened while we are under occupation. The history of the Palestinian people shows, and we teach this in ISM training, that the majority of the population wants to live honorably and in a non-violent way. Even if part of the population supports military resistance to the conflict, it is only because we see the violence and injustice of a military occupation on a daily basis.
We must know that the Fatah and Hamas groups are part of the Palestinian people and as I wrote above, sooner or later they will sit together and they will solve the differences between them. This is the only way, they have no other choice because we will never become a divided people.
In ISM, we have the respect and protection of ALL the Palestinian factions. In the last few days, I had a lot of phone calls from Europe and the United States, asking if we are still having the summer campaign or not. My answer was, “yes we need you now more than ever!” We do not want the internal Palestinian problems to overshadow the daily injustices of the occupation.
That’s why we need you here for the summer campaign, to show solidarity at demonstrations against the wall which is confiscating land and destroying livelihoods, to video tape and intervene in settler attacks against Palestinians, to monitor detentions and abuse at checkpoints, to document what you witness through reports, photography and video and to create fun projects for children. The Popular Committees in the regions have requested your presence here in Palestine because you are still very much needed.
We hope that the conflict between Palestinians will end soon but we need the non-violent resistance to continue until the occupation ends.
All of you are welcome in Palestine.
I LOVE YOU ALL
Hisham
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/04/17/freedom-summer-2007/
pictures from roadblock removal in Izbat Tabib #3/3
blog entry on the action in Izbat Tabib village:
http://occupiedlove.blogspot.com/2006/07/road-block-of-qalqiliya.html
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http://occupiedlove.blogspot.com/2006/07/road-block-of-qalqiliya.html
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Road Block Removed in Izbat Tabib
July 15th, 2006
www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/07/15/izbattabib/
by Michael
Today in Izbat Tabib, in the Qalqiliya region, over 250 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists successfully removed a land mound road block in order to open a crossing for commercial and pedestrian traffic. Despite the military and border police’s excessive use of tear gas and sound grenades, activists were successful in holding a non violent demonstration, and worked in solidarity to remove the concrete blocks, boulders and gravel with their hands.
Izbat Tabib is a small village of 300 inhabitants near Qalqiliya. It was established in 1920 and in 1948 it received an influx of refugees from Tubsur, which stood where Raánana is now. The residents of the village are all recognized as refugees (by UNRWA) but the village is not recognized as a refugee camp by Israel. The Israeli government has issued demolition orders for most of the buildings in the village which has motivated the community to organize.
Around 11am, residents of Izbat Tabib along with supporters met for a rally which was disturbed, when two Israeli border police armored jeeps drove through the area provoking the crowd. Following the rally, the attendees marched through the village towards the road block, and though several tear gas rounds were fired into the village, after a brief pause the marchers proceeded peacefully.
The marches reached the earth mound road block and quickly began dismantling the site. Some used hoes to chop rocks and move dirt, while others used small rocks to dig and shovel. While some were digging, others attached straps to the hefty concrete barriers and joined together in large groups to pull the barriers down. Though it took several hours to clear the large concrete blocks, they were successfully dragged away through the strength of many. The demonstrators worked together for hours to remove the rocks, shovel the dirt and drag the concrete blocks until the road block was opened large enough to allow for car traffic. When they were finished, several cars triumphantly drove through the road block.
During the action, approximately 30 Israeli soldiers and police stood watch and occasionally harassed the crowd. In order to prevent military violence a large team of internationals formed a human wall between the soldiers and the road block. This helped to prevent the soldiers from firing into the crowd in order to disperse the demonstrators.
After the road block had been removed, the soldiers began to move quickly towards the workers and opened fire with sound bombs and live ammunition. The soldiers attempted to frighten the demonstrators by aiming some machine guns at the demonstrators while other shot into the air. Despite their efforts, the demonstrators remained steadfast and slowly returned back to the village having accomplished their goal. During the military assault, one international activist was injured when shrapnel from a sound grenade struck him. Despite the Israeli military’s attempts to prevent activists from reaching the action through the use of ‘flying’ checkpoints, Palestinian supporters were able to reach the action and work in solidarity.
Approximately 90 minutes after the demonstrators had left the road block, the Israeli military used bulldozers to reestablish the obstruction and closed the entire crossing. When news of this reached the village, international supporters returned to the crossing and forced the military to allow pedestrian traffic through the crossing through negotiation, observation and accompaniment.
after removing the largest block and boulders from the center, participants began to dig away the dirt and rubble that remained. some used hoes and other tools, but the majority of demonstrators got right down in the dirt and used their hands, hats, shoes and other improvisations to help clear the area.
after the block and boulders had been removed, and the dirt had been partially dug away, the first car passed over the roadblock in a show of victory. once the car cleared the roadblock, others followed, and many Palestinians crossed the roadblock on foot, cheering.
here demonstrators continue to work removing the rubble.
shortly after this photograph was taken, occupation soldiers began to fire at the crowd. the crowd was hit with concussion grenades and soldiers fired live ammunition over the heads of the demonstrators to scatter, scare and confuse the crowd.
despite the fact that i was one of the designated photographers for the event, i took no pictures during the extensive shooting because like others, i noticed that the m-16's being fired were not modified with the rubber attachment, and thought it best to take cover when live ammunition was being fired.
in order to further confuse and scare the crowd, while some soldiers fired into the air and over the heads of demonstrators, others kneeled and aimed directly at the crowd. this stance, combined with the sound of bullets flying, gave the impression that the soldiers were firing INTO the crowd. this tactic worked to scatter the crowd quickly.
here demonstrators continue to work removing the rubble.
shortly after this photograph was taken, occupation soldiers began to fire at the crowd.
after the initial attack on the demonstration, many participants returned to the village and were pursued by soldiers who continued to fire at them. many marchers assembled in the yard of a local resident while the soldiers drove through the village, firing their guns and throwing concussion grenades.
on our ride home from the demonstration, i photographed a few elements of the military's presence int he area.
here you can see some wort of observation tower which is located near Izbat Tabib in the Qalqiliya suburbs
on our ride home from the demonstration, i photographed a few elements of the military's presence int he area.
here you can see a permanent, but small checkpoint.
on our ride home from the demonstration, i photographed a few elements of the military's presence int he area.
here you can see the watch tower and firing station adjacent to the second checkpoint we were stopped at.
on our ride home from the demonstration, i photographed a few elements of the military's presence int he area.
here you can see a third checkpoint. this one was a flying checkpoint that i photographed from the inside the van.
checkpoint #4 on our ride home, originally uploaded by michaelramallah.
on our ride home from the demonstration, i photographed a few elements of the military's presence int he area.
here you can see a fourth checkpoint. this one was a permanent checkpoint near Ramallah that i photographed from the inside the van.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
pictures from roadblock removal in Izbat Tabib #2/3
blog entry on the action in Izbat Tabib village:
http://occupiedlove.blogspot.com/2006/07/road-block-of-qalqiliya.html
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Road Block Removed in Izbat Tabibhttp://occupiedlove.blogspot.com/2006/07/road-block-of-qalqiliya.html
-----------------------------------
July 15th, 2006
www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/07/15/izbattabib/
by Michael
Today in Izbat Tabib, in the Qalqiliya region, over 250 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists successfully removed a land mound road block in order to open a crossing for commercial and pedestrian traffic. Despite the military and border police’s excessive use of tear gas and sound grenades, activists were successful in holding a non violent demonstration, and worked in solidarity to remove the concrete blocks, boulders and gravel with their hands.
Izbat Tabib is a small village of 300 inhabitants near Qalqiliya. It was established in 1920 and in 1948 it received an influx of refugees from Tubsur, which stood where Raánana is now. The residents of the village are all recognized as refugees (by UNRWA) but the village is not recognized as a refugee camp by Israel. The Israeli government has issued demolition orders for most of the buildings in the village which has motivated the community to organize.
Around 11am, residents of Izbat Tabib along with supporters met for a rally which was disturbed, when two Israeli border police armored jeeps drove through the area provoking the crowd. Following the rally, the attendees marched through the village towards the road block, and though several tear gas rounds were fired into the village, after a brief pause the marchers proceeded peacefully.
The marches reached the earth mound road block and quickly began dismantling the site. Some used hoes to chop rocks and move dirt, while others used small rocks to dig and shovel. While some were digging, others attached straps to the hefty concrete barriers and joined together in large groups to pull the barriers down. Though it took several hours to clear the large concrete blocks, they were successfully dragged away through the strength of many. The demonstrators worked together for hours to remove the rocks, shovel the dirt and drag the concrete blocks until the road block was opened large enough to allow for car traffic. When they were finished, several cars triumphantly drove through the road block.
During the action, approximately 30 Israeli soldiers and police stood watch and occasionally harassed the crowd. In order to prevent military violence a large team of internationals formed a human wall between the soldiers and the road block. This helped to prevent the soldiers from firing into the crowd in order to disperse the demonstrators.
After the road block had been removed, the soldiers began to move quickly towards the workers and opened fire with sound bombs and live ammunition. The soldiers attempted to frighten the demonstrators by aiming some machine guns at the demonstrators while other shot into the air. Despite their efforts, the demonstrators remained steadfast and slowly returned back to the village having accomplished their goal. During the military assault, one international activist was injured when shrapnel from a sound grenade struck him. Despite the Israeli military’s attempts to prevent activists from reaching the action through the use of ‘flying’ checkpoints, Palestinian supporters were able to reach the action and work in solidarity.
Approximately 90 minutes after the demonstrators had left the road block, the Israeli military used bulldozers to reestablish the obstruction and closed the entire crossing. When news of this reached the village, international supporters returned to the crossing and forced the military to allow pedestrian traffic through the crossing through negotiation, observation and accompaniment.
this is the march as it reached the road leading to the roadblock
once the crowd reached the roadblock, demonstrators quickly went to work, not knowing how long occupation soldiers would wait until they attacked. so while some people dug, and other carried away small rocks, a group attached straps to one of the large concrete blocks, and with collective strength, pulled it down and dragged it away.
this was the first large block to be removed.
while the demonstrators worked removing the roadblock, more and more occupation soldiers assembled on one side of the mound. they brought with them hummers, military jeeps, armored transports and other machinery. every so often, they would get into firing formation and point their guns at the crowd., other times, they would casually stand around and joke.
some of the soldiers broke off from the group and took paths through the village to approach the demonstration from the sides and from the back.
here the second large concrete block is attached to the straps and participants begin to assemble into a line to attempt to pull the block free.
at one point a Palestinian offered to use his car to drag away some of the larger blocks. so the block was attached to the strap, the strap attached to the car's axle and the car pulled. after spinning its tires for a minute or two, Palestinian men piled onto the trunk and hood to give the car more weight and thus more traction. despite their best efforts, the car was unable to remove the concrete blocks. so with a sigh, the demonstrators untied the strap from the car and began pulling once again.
here you can see a family crossing the roadblock. this small gap between a concrete block and the wall is the only way to pass the roadblock besides climbing over it.
as the soldiers watched us work and made threatening movements with their guns, some of the soldiers broke off from the group and took paths through the village to approach the demonstration from the sides and from the back. when this detachment of soldiers began to circle around the demonstrators, an Israeli activist followed them and engaged them in discussion, attempting to humanize the demonstrators and prevent the soldiers from opening fire into the crowd.
wherever these soldiers went, this Israeli was next to them. because of his annoying actions, the soldiers eventually became frustrated and returned to their group.
after a portion of the roadblock had been removed, the soldiers became more aggressive and grooped themselves in what looked like a pre-attack formation. when the demonstrators observed this, many moved behind the roadblock for cover and were hesitant to stand atop the giant mound of earth.
the soldiers' gund did not have the extention tubes atathed to the barrels that would indicate the use of rubber-coated metal bullets, thus, when they aimed at the crowd, they were aiming with fully lethal ammunition.
because of this threat, activists from the ISM formed a human shield in front of the soldiers, preventing them from shooting at the crowd without first shooing a group of about 10 internationals from American, Austria, Ireland and other places.
during the time in which the ISM activists shielded, the crowd, the soldiers did not fire a single shot.
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