ISM Reports: Israel to Deport Eight International Peace Activists. Appeal Denied

1) Prison beating _Tarek Loubani
2) Farmers, fences, guards and bullets_Joe P and John P
3) Protest camp / roadblock removal in Jenin_Jordan
4) Rafah: We will not give up our struggle_Liz W


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Prison beating

17 Jul 03
Tarek Loubani

(The following was scribbled on a piece of paper by Tarek and passed to
Huwaida via a lawyer during court proceedings for the deportation of 8
international peace activists on July 17. The hunger protest referred
to was begun on the evening on July 15.)

I had forgotten what love was. My world was one of anger, rage and
hate. As the 5 or 6 police officers each took a turn hitting me, all I
cold think of was hate. There could be nothing else. All of this started
when Captain Ya’kov (Yoki) Golan came into our room and asked if we
were on hunger strike. “We’re not eating” we replied. A few police thugs
swarmed the room and started to take anything. Capt. Ya’kov started to
talk about how we were nothing, to which I replied, “shut the hell up
and don’t you dare talk to us like that. You can’t break me. You can’t
break any of us.” “I’m not just going to break you; I’m going to
destroy you.” We all laughed.

We were strip searched 3 times in the next hour and then they came for
me.

”Where are you taking him?” The other seven protested on my behalf.
They cared more about me than I did. I came to terms with the fact that
I was going into solitary, and finally approached the police. “I’m
ready.” I declared melodramatically. That’s when the first hand came.
They grabbed my shirt and pulled me to the ground in front of the cell. I
did nothing. Even if I wanted to, I had lost track of all my
appendages. All I knew was that they were all limp. The hitting started, and I
filled the halls with screams of pain.

As I was up against the wall, with one man stomping on my leg, another
bending my arm and another two or three pulling and hitting elsewhere,
I caught a glimpse of the faces and entered that other world.

I can’t do anything now. The guards who were involved all smile when
they pass our cell. And all of this over the only act of resistance we
can do: going hungry. One thing hasn’t changed though: none of us will
be broken.

Tarek


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Farmers, fences, guards and bullets

Qalqilia
17 Jul 03
Joe P and John P

Jayyous report, July 16 and 17

July 16

At 4:00 pm we were informed by local residents that a family which
lives on the other side of the separation fence was unable to travel home
due to the construction of barbed-wire fencing stretching across the
road. The separation fence at this location is still incomplete and the
family had walked across it in the morning to purchase food and go to a
doctor. Because the fence cuts just in front of the family’s home and
the only other way that they would have access to the house would require
an hour walk over very difficult terrain, the Israeli government
promised to make a special gate for the family. Unfortuantely the family
discovered no such gate has been installed.
Ben, Michael R., and John P. went to investigate the matter. As we
approached the new barbed wire fence we noticed that some children (under
10 years old) were pulling up stakes to the fence. The construction
workers later noticed this and called in their special security guards to
deal with the situation. As we were leaving the area, along with most
of the children engaged in that activity, we began to hear gun shots
from the direction of the fence toward the village. We began heading back
to the area to find a number of small children running away toward us.
One of the children of the family, a young man of about 16 years old,
stopped us in our tracks and told us not to continue. He said that he
did not want us to be at risk and that because of this new incident it is
he \"who wants to die\". Gun shots rang out for a few minutes longer
then later faded. No injuries were reported.
The military evidently showed up some time later and told local
residents that a palestinian from the village had fired upon the security
guards. We strongly disagree with that statement as we were only a block
away from the incident and heard no shooting from our direction.
However, the military did use the excuse to shoot over one family’s house on
the northeast permiter of the wall around 7:30 pm.. The house sits
immediately along the wall and the soldiers attempt to keep the family away
from it.
Meanwhile Joe P., Renae, and Michael D. were escorting a farmer to
his land on the other side of the fence. He had not visited or worked on
this land since October out of fear of beatings and detention from the
private civilian security company which have become common. Upon
arriving on the land and viewing the scarred landscape that the security wall
created the man wept.

July 17:

At 6:15 am, Joe P. and John P., along with a palestinian friend, met at
the gate for our morning watch. We observe the gate for a few hours
every morning to monitor that people are able to cross to their farmlands
without harrassment, detainment, or beatings. We noticed that the
contstruction company was beginning to do work immediately in front of the
gate causing concern amongst us that travel would be restricted. We
approached one of the workers and he informed us that the work would only
take 30 to 60 minutes and that travel would then be able to resume as
\"normal\". We became increasingly concerned upon seeing that a mound of
dirt and rock growing in front of the road and that a very deep ditch
was also being made on the other side. Several farmers with donkeys were
\"allowed\" through the gate after much difficult navigation. At one
point an Israeli vehicle (workers with the company) came down the road
toward the construction site and the workers filled in the ditch and
flattened the ground so to allow it to pass. Once through the gate, the
ditch was redug and the mound of rocks put back in front of the road. A
moment later, palestinian vehicles came down the road and were prevented
from continuing. They were told that they would not be able to cross
this area for at least 4 days. This was obviously longer than the 1 hour
we were told it would take. In response to our questioning of why the
time schedule changed they said that the military told them to close the
road for that amount of time.
The security guards were still \"allowing\" the Palestinian farmers to
cross on foot or donkey to their lands. However, they did require the
Palestinians to lift up their shirts (to show that they were not
carrying any explosives) and to show identification cards (both of which they
have no authority to do). This gate, it should be mentioned, is not an
international border and the guards are mere civilians. A number of
tractors began to pile up waiting for word whether or not they would be
able to go to work on their fields.
Around 10:00 am, to our surprise, WGBH of boston showed up on the
scene. They were evidently driving through the area doing a story about
the security fence and happened to come down the road where we were. They
jumped out of their car and went to the fence and began questioning the
security guards about why the gate was closed. The security guards were
thier usual obnoxious seleves and began yelling at them to leave the
area. The reporters interviewed a number of the farmers waiting to cross
with their tractors, as well as joe and john.
Shortly afterwards we notified Sharif, the local coordinator of the
Land Defence Commitee in the Qalqilya district about the closure of the
gate. He contacted captain Ramy Qaroat, the local military commander of
the Israeli military and he agreed to meet him at the gate to see what
was going on. Apparently the military did not give the construction
company orders to close the gate. Ramy told Sharif that the gate would be
open by morning. Ramy further promised to \"look into the matter\" of a
gate not being installed for the family on the other side of the wall.

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Protest camp / Roadblock removal in Jenin

Jenin
17 Jul 03
Jordan Flaherty

Yesterday, International volunteers from seven countries returned to
the
village of Arrabony to set up a protest Camp near the site of last
week’s
arrest of four international activists from ISM-Jenin. From this
location,
they will continue to support local protest against the devastation
caused
by the Apartheid Wall.

Since arriving, activists have continued to document the effects of
Wall
construction in the area. They have also started an informal summer
camp
for area youth. Tomorrow, they will join with residents of the Berqin
Valley to remove a roadblock from their main road. More roadblock
removals
and other actions will soon follow.

Yesterday a group from the protest Camp visited the village of Taibeh,
where
at least 650 Dunums of land (1 Dunum = 1,000 sq. meters) has been
confiscated by the Israeli military, and six houses have been
destroyed.
Three of the homeowners received one weeks notice that their homes
would be
destroyed, while three received no notice, as the destruction was an
\"accidental\" result of explosions related to Wall construction. None
of the
homeowners internationals met with reported being offered any
compensation
for the loss of their homes or land. A village cemetary was also
forced to
relocate as a result of Wall construction.

North of Arrabony, Wall construction has continued through the night.
Activists at the protest Camp also found that several homes in Arrabony
have
been shaken as a result of explosions related to Wall constuction, and
will
be staying in the area of these homes to attempt to protect them from
destruction.

International volunteers also visited the Jenin refugee camp today,
where
last night at least 12 jeeps and one Armored Personel Carrier entered
the
camp at 3 am to arrest a 27 year-old teacher. It has also been
reported
that 10 tanks entered into the village of Al-Yamoon last night, and
that
early this morning soldiers fired at people crossing the checkpoint at
the
village of Abaa, east of Jenin.



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Rafah: We will not give up our struggle

Gaza
16 Jul 03
Liz Walters

We have joined the wonderful peace and justice work going on here in
Rafah,
located in the southern most part of Gaza.

The long term coordinators, Mohammed and Laura, have been through a
great deal
in recent months. They have witnessed the suffering and death of many
Palestinians living in Rafah. They have experienced the murder of
Rachel C,
the journalist James T, and the shooting of Tom H. For them and for us
the
murder of the internationals must be understood in the context of the
daily
assault on Palestinians.

Here in Rafah the Iraeli military is omnipresent along the Eygptian
border.
They have carved out a space for themselves of more than 100 meters of
land
measured from the new wall which separates Eygpt and Rafah. The space
the
Israelis have \"claimed\" stretches for miles along the Rafah side of
the
border.

Never mind that hundreds of family homes, gardens and orchards are on
this
space! The Israelis say anyone on the space of land they want, must
depart.

Every home and tree and plant in the path of this targeted area has
been or is
scheduled to be demolished. Also, before the June 30, 2003 cease fire,
snipers
in the watch towers along the border shot civilians. On the street
where the
demolition is taking place now, 39 Palestinian men women and children
have
been murdered by snipers. Nearby Tom and James were shot.

The Rafah Governorate notes that since September 28, 2000 the Rafah
community
has expereienced the worst campaings of Israeli hatred and violence and
discrimination. Here are some of the awful statistics:

Murders and maimings in Rafah by the Israeli military and staff:
238 martyrs, 46 of them children
2350 injured
110 disabled

Homes lost:
917 homes demolished -- as a result 1154 families including 6610 people
became
homeless
380 homes partially destroyed
2576 homes along the border suffering from daily Israeli indescriminate
shootings and shellings

Destruction of 154 stores
Destruction of two mosques
Destruction of two best water wells in Rafah

During our stay here we are priviledged to be able to stay with
families
living in homes which are next on the Israeli demolition list. Today
one
family member said to me, \"Everything looks bleak. We are in grave
trouble.
The Israeli occupation will not end soon. But we will not give up our
struggle
for freedom and for a Free Palestine.\"

Respectfully submitted,
Your sister, Liz Walters


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