Palestine-Israel, The joint struggle persists in spite of intensifying repression

mashriq / arabia / iraq | community struggles | news report Tuesday January 18, 2011 14:52 by Ilan S. - AAtW; ainfos; Matzpen ilan at shalif dot com Tel Aviv

As a backlash resulting from the mounting international opposition to Israeli atrocities and the continuation of the occupation, Israeli racism surges into the open. And in spite of jail verdicts for Palestinian and Israeli activists, the joint struggle is even expanding. The ongoing struggles in Araqeeb, Beit Ummar, BIl'in, Hebron, Hebron's southern mountains, jail solidarity, Lod, Ma'sara, Nabi Salih, Ni'ilin, Sheikh Jarrah and Tel Aviv are just the more visual ones. [Italiano]

Araqeeb

Already the ninth destruction of the village, repression of the villagers and supporting activists is intensifying... and the struggle continues.

Beit Ummar

The village was invaded during the weekly demonstration. During the demonstration against the occupation on Saturday, five Israeli army jeeps invaded the village of Beit Ummar and took violent crowd control measures. The army used rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas during clashes with youth inside the civilian areas of the village.

BIl'in

About 20 Israelis and a similar number of internationals joined the Palestinian demonstration against the wall and occupation in BIl'in. Following two mega demonstrations, this demonstration was back to the usual size, but the determined demonstrators weren't deterred. Since the stinking water cannon was waitingd for us behind the gate, the demonstrators went to the northern part of the fence and confronted the soldiers behind it. Then the water cannon was moved, and the demonstrators went back to the road leading to the gate which the soldiers had already come through to confront them. After a stand-off between the soldiers and the demonstrators at the front, accompanied by gas canisters shot directly at demonstrators who tried to advance from behind to join their comrades at the front, the soldiers shot large quantities of gas that forced the demonstrators to retreat. Then the shabab took over, fighting the stink cannon, gas and rubber bullets with stones... and gradually most of us returned home. Some of us continued to the Sheikh Jarrah (where we also met AAtW people who had already participated in the Ma'sara noon demo).

A 13-year-old child was injured along with one Israeli and one Dutch activist. Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.

Hebron

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1922450474569...ments

11-1-11 - on the day Jonathan started his prison term, we had a similar critical mass ride in the center of Tel Aviv . It was the same route we had two years ago when Jonathan was detained and arrested for now. About 100 comrades converged at the city square and joined the ride - a few on foot. We chanted for Jonathan, for Abdallah from Bil'in whose term in the concentration camp was extended till March 2011, against the occupation and against fascism in Israel.

http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=x92e2 Pi3BZc

Jail Solidarity

"The final verdict of Abdullah Abu-Rahme, Bil'in, after more than a year in custody, will be announced in the Military Court of Appeals in Ofer [concentration] camp this Tuesday, January 11, at 10AM.

Please send your full name, ID\passport number (+ nationality) and phone number to s. Monday at 12:00 if you wish to join."

And the military "judge" extended Abdallah's jail time with another half a year.

Lod

"I know there's the critical mass on tuesday, and i think we should all be there.
But just in case there is someone who is not planning on going, cause she doesn't have a bike or casue she maybe lives in Lod,
i wanted to let you know there will be another protest in Lod this Tuesday, plus a music show afterwards (we're going weekly!).

1800 near the tent, Helen Keller st., corner of Hamasger st.

Sherut taxi from the Tel Aviv bus station (near lines 4,5) takes you 5 min walk from there
(you go straight on Sokolov st. in lod till it becomes Hellen Keller)"

Ma'sara

Nabi Salih

This week the army resumed nighttime raids in Nabi Salih. During the weekly Friday demonstration, the village was attacked with excessive amounts of live ammunition and tear gas. A curfew was declared prohibiting residents from leaving their homes for a twenty four hour period. Despite the recognition of unarmed demonstrations as a legitimate form of protest by the European countries, Israel is pushing forward with its campaign of harsh military repression.

This past Friday the army was in streets of the West Bank village of Nabi Salih long before sixty Palestinians along with Israeli and international supporters gathered for the weekly demonstration against the occupation. Early Friday morning, army jeeps were seen driving up and down the streets of the small village informing residents that a curfew would come into effect in the afternoon and anyone on the streets would be a target of arrests or worse. Earlier this week, the army raided Nabi Salih twice in the middle of the night. This was part of a strategy of repression which has escalated to a fever pitch in recent days.

The village was sealed by the army at all entrances at 09h00. Once the demonstration began marching to the confiscated land of the village at 12h30, the army simply opened fire on the unarmed demonstrators. One activist who was present on the ground said that “from that moment forward there were always 50-60 soldiers in the village; patrolling and taking over houses.”
Throughout the afternoon, soldiers would raid a house, lock themselves inside and the family outside. Anyone that was walking on the street was shot at with live ammunition. Additionally, soldiers used an excessive amount of poisonous tear gas on the village. Repeatedly, soldiers fired the “ringo" which shoots 64 tear gas projectiles in roughly 8 seconds. The ‘ringo effect’ leaves the entire village in a cloud of tear gas. This form of harsh collective punishment has not been used since the time of the building of the Separation Wall in Ni’ilin in 2008/2009
Three minor injuries were reported among protesters in Nabi Salih on Friday. However, the army claimed that one soldier was hit by a stone while video evidence (embedded below) clearly shows that the soldier simply tripped on the ground while firing live ammunition at demonstrators. No foreign or domestic media were present for the demonstration, leading many protesters to believe that the army escalated its violent campaign of repression precisely because of the media vacuum.

Friday 14.1.2011 protest - David Reeb's video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeFRT7zFDx4

Ni'ilin

Villagers conducted the Friday midday prayers at their lands near the wall and were joined by Israeli and international supporters. As soon as people reached the wall, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at them including shooting grenades directly at demonstrators, in violation of the low.

A 20-year-old local youth was hit in the head with a rubber-coated steel bullet. The young man, who preferred not to be named, was moved to a Ramallah hospital for treatment and released later.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNRNp4zGKag

Sheikh Jarrah

"Stop the settlement in the Shepard hotel! --- Stop the Judaisation of Sheikh Jarrah!

Stop the Discrimination of East Jerusalem!

This morning (Sunday) the Shepard hotel in Sheikh Jarrah was demolished as a part of the construction of a new settlement of 31 housing units in the middle of a Palestinian neighborhood.

The Shepard hotel is located on Mount of Olives road, in the north of Sheikh Jarrah to the direction of Mount Scopus.

Transportation from Tel Aviv to the demonstration leaves at 12:30 PM from the EL AL terminal near the Tel Aviv Merkaz central train station .

Comrades converged in the Sheikh Jarrah garden - few of us after a noon demo against the separation fence in Bil'in and Ma'sara. We marched to the Shepard hotel and did our statement there.

Israel Puterman's video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2W1-cPU868

Tel Aviv

On Jan 11 2011 Yonatan Pollak (one of the founders of the Anarchists Against the Wall) will begin a 3-month jail sentence for riding his bike in a protest against the criminal siege of Gaza. While the war criminals responsible for the siege go free and the siege continues, protesters like Pollak are jailed.

We say: Prosecute the real criminals ! End the siege of Gaza ! Free Yonatan Pollak !

Join us in a protest critical mass bicycle ride through Tel Aviv Tuesday Jan 11 at 7 pm from Rabin Square.
Please bring a bicycle with safety lights and reflectors.
If you arrive early at 6 pm with a blank T-shirt you can have it printed with a special design made for the ride.

And about 100 comrades came for the action - most of them with bicycles. We did the same route as two years ago and just at the end the police threatened with arrests they did not do.
Israel Puterman video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x92e2Pi3BZc

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Standing Up for Anarchy -- Against the "Israeli Democracy"
PinkBlack Block in the Demonstration tomorrow, Saturday.

19:00 in the entrance to Gan Me'ir

We will march tomorrow evening in the demonstration of the "democratic camp" to remind everyone that there was never a democracy here worth defending. We will not shed tears for the poor state of the state but rather scream and rumble against Zionist racism, murderous Capitalism and the oppressive Patriarchy.

Come in black and pink clothes, bring masks and whistles

About 20,000 participated in the demo - The biggest of the radical left since 1982th radical left protesting the Sabra and Shatila massacre in the First Israeli-Lebanon war.

A few hundred participated in the black block including veterans of the first antiauthoritarian anticapitalist organization in Israel Matzpen (6 comrades 20% of the peak membership of the 1980s)

Arrestees and de-arresting

Let's focus on what the media didn't cover from the demo yesterday in TLV: There was a man arrested for waving a Palestinian flag. Two others for bad behavior... The response to this arrest was: slowing down traffic. At the end of the big demo more than 200 people flanged to the streets and didn't get of the road till the police released the arrestees.

Israel Puterman Fascism demo in Tel Aviv Saturday 15-1-11 - video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJTZ_ixQE0w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj5sdG0pNcQ
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The ongoing education activity of the AAtW abroad:

Video of Gal Lugasi last week presentation at Minneapolis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgCvD_aDT10
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See Previous reports at: http://ilanisagainstwalls.blogspot.com