Hebron Action report+ Pat Deported

1. Non violence in Hebron. By May
2. Pat O'Conner deported today.
3. The War of the Roads.
4. Behind the fence.
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1. Non violence in Hebron
by May
15th Feb. 2005

It is a bright spring morning and twenty Palestinian men aged
between six and sixty have gathered to protest the
construction of the new settler bypass road inside their city. The
proposed road will join the Beit Hadassah and Tel Rumeida
settlements which occupy parts of the old city of Hebron and are
illegal under international law.
Media crews photograph and film the men standing in line proudly
holding their hand written banners. The youngest members present,
two small boys of around six struggle to display large Arafat
posters almost bigger then themselves. The march has not yet begun
when the IDF and Border police close in around the small crowd and
pronounce the protest banned. Repeated announcements from the border
police jeep echo that the demonstration is prohibited.
The protestor's discussion with the police becomes increasingly
impassioned as an elderly man demands the right to protect his
heritage. He leads the crowd into the ancient Palestinian grave yard
part of which will be destroyed by the roads construction. The two
small boys clamber over the grave stones nearly tripping over their
posters as they struggle to keep up with their father who calls back
to the crowd following behind.
"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"
Volunteers from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) who have
joined the demonstration enter the graveyard and are surrounded by
army and border police. The soldiers take up positions amongst the
trees and point their M16s at the crowd.
The elderly man falls to the ground on his grandfather's grave and
begins a passionate, plea to Allah his hands raised to heaven.
The cameras rush to film his prayers as the border police seize him
and drag him off bumping him over the grave stones.
The police shove the remaining protestors out of the grave yard
pushing some to the ground declaring it a closed military zone. Two
ISMers demand to see the papers stating the area has been militarily
closed. The police continue to be abusive but eventually produce a
tattered photocopy of the documents requested as required by Israeli
law.
"Why did you arrest a man for praying?" asks one ISM woman.
"We do not need to speak to these people. lets go!" says the head
policeman, then to the internationals, "You have two minutes to get
out of the area, or we will arrest you all!"
"Go or we will shoot you all!" says another policeman to the
Palestinians.
One Hebron man calls out to the soldiers "Shoot me! Shoot me! I have
only one life and I am not afraid of you, you Israeli army!"
Out of nowhere a battered bus pulls up and everyone jumps on and are
driven away from this 'closed military zone' the graveyard of Hebron
old city, the final resting place for generations of Palestinians.

This is a critical time for the Palestinian residents of the old
city of Hebron. Just yesterday a 15-year-old boy from the Al-Rojoob
family was shot dead by the Israeli occupation forces outside the
Ibrahimi Mosque. Eyewitnesses say the shooting was unprovoked.

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2. Pat O'Conner to be deported today

Pat O'Conner has been transferred to the detention centre at the
airport in Lod and will be put on the next plane to New York. Pat
has been in Israeli custody since he was arrested on January 24th as
he was on his way back from planting olive seedlings on the route of
the Apartheid wall. Pat used his time in Israeli detention to
compile interviews with Palestinian Non violent activists about
their experiences in Israeli jails. We hope to post them to you
soon.
ISM Media

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3. The War of the Roads
Palestinians to Protest Strangulation of their village

This Saturday February 19, residents of Kefar Kadum in Qalqilyia
district will be joined by Israelis and internationals on a march to
the locked Israeli gate at the entrance of their village.

Kefar Kadum and its four thousand residents are surrounded by the
settlement of Kedumim and the Kedumim Military Base. The settlement
uses the main road to Kefar Kadum as its own.

At the beginning of the current Intifada the Israeli military
installed a gate at the village entrance which they have closed
periodically. Two weeks ago the gate was locked and the villagers
told by the military that they would no longer be allowed to use the
road. Their village has become a prison.

This Israeli strategy is wide-spread throughout the occupied
territories, particularly in the area Israel plans to annex as the
Ariel settlement block. More and more roads that settlers have taken
over for their own use are being closed to Palestinians who are left
with `round about' agricultural roads as the only source of access
to their villages.

Another example is the village of Salfit which serves as a regional
center. Its main entrance has been confiscated by the settlement of
Ariel and its residents have been barred from it for the last four
years. An arrangement that now appears to be permanent.

Fore more information:
Samech 059-871913
ISM media 0547.621.592

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4. Behind the Fence
Settlers take over Palestinian land

For a month now, Eid Amer, a Palestinian farmer from Mas'ha bas been
losing his almond and olive trees on his 30 dunams that are enclosed
within the Elkhana settlement by the Israeli Apartheid wall.

His land is being leveled. Eid can no longer gain access to his
lands, but from behind the fence he can see the work going on, and
can see who is doing it.

Eid's story, like that of so many Palestinians, is Kafka-esque.
Eid's permit to access his lands expired December, 2004. He has not
been reissued a new one. He was told the Shabak (General Security
Service) has barred him from having one. This, despite his claims,
that he has never had any problems with security personnel.

He had attempted several times to go to the Ariel police station to
file a complaint about the leveling and uprooting of trees on his
land, but was not allowed into Ariel settlement. He finally managed
to get in on February 13 and filed a complaint with the Ariel police
[file 46]. He told the Police that he identified the settler
stealing his trees and land as Moshe Raid a settler from Elkana.
But since that time Moshe has been seen working, uprooting more of
Eid Amer's trees and leveling more of his land.

On West Bank land belonging to Tawfik Saleem and his brother from
the village of Jayuss that is situated on the "Israeli side" of the
fence, 700 trees were uprooted in past months as part of the plan to
expand the illegal settlement of Tsufim four kilometres away.
Settlers claim they purchased the land. This is vehemently denied by
the Palestinian owners.

Only 10% of Jayuss farmers have permits to accesses their land
beyond the fence.
For more information:
Eid Amer 052 245 2392
On Jayuss- Abu Azam 059-900116
ISM Media 0547 621 529