Palestine-Israel, The joint struggle continues with intensified confrontations

mashriq / arabia / iraq | community struggles | news report Wednesday November 02, 2011 01:15 by Ilan S. - AAtW, ainfos, Matzpen ilan at shalif dot com Tel Aviv

The settler colonialists intensify their assaults both in the occupied West Bank and within Israel. The olive-pickers are assaulted by settler colonialists with partial backing of State forces in spite of the participation of Israeli activists. International support for a Palestinian State alarms the settlers and their reprisals are channeled against the Palestinians. The social struggle against neoliberal capitalist piggery continues and the State tries to divert attention by intensifying terror in the Gaza Strip. [Italiano]

In spite of the half-split in the social struggle as the students' leadership tries to pull it to the parliamentary quagmire, nearly 100,000 marched and converged Saturday night in the town square of Tel Aviv for a long gathering with speeches and entertainment by top-quality artists. The locations of joint struggle against the separation fence and occupation were as usual.

Beit Ummar

Saturday 29 Oct: "Settler threw stones on the joint demonstration participants. One suffered head injury and few did not enjoy the tear gas thrown on them.
John Brown Pictures - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=179993965420337
Video - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=179836238769443
John Brown - http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=179836238769443
PalestineSolidarity - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=...K43t0

Bil'in

Friday 28 Oct demo was similar to other "regular" ones. No special theme, no special political guests from Ramalla, no special international delegation... Just 15 Israelis with the anarchists against the wall initiative with similar number of internationals joined few dozen people of Bil'in at noon, in the long march towards the separation wall with Palestinian flags, and a large banner painted with the images of the martyrs Baseem and Jawaher Abu Rahma - both killed by the army while participating in a Friday demonstration, and the usual chants, (with an added one for the release of Ashraf Abu Rahmah - brother of the two martyrs, arrested at the previous demo whom the Military Court Orders the Indefinite Remand, on a trumped up stone-throwing charge. This despite testimonies and video evidence to the contrary. Ashraf is the brother of Bassem and Jawaher Abu Rahmah, both killed by the army while demonstrating peacefully in Bil'in). On the way, near the location of the demolished separation fence, we have seen the the renewed memorial tomb for Basem who was murdered there with a tear gas canister.

When we arrived at the separation wall - bordering the Abu Lemon oaks groove preserve, we saw the Israeli soldiers who were looking at us from behind the wall - waiting a bit for a good excuse for showering us with tear gas. After a short time when we were chanting, but no one was throwing stones, they availed of the excuse that the spools of barbed wire "protecting the wall" had been touched and they started the tear gas shower. First we retreated a bit, but as the wind was blowing along the wall strongly enough, after a while it dispersed the tear gas and we returned... to repeat it in response to the following volleys - till the end of the demonstration was declared.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=313518031995900&set=a.102244519789920.5280.100000131186902&type=1&theater

Not far away, at the end of the fence of spools of barbed wire, some participants managed to remove some of the barbed wire and iron rods.

Issa Mahmoud Abu Rahma, a 41-year-old resident of Bil'in, was wounded in his right hand by a teargas canister. Dozens of participants suffered various levels of teargas effects.

Haitham Al Khatib - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2400226198031....20161
Israel Puterman - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9x6Crg6eqM

Ma’sara

Friday 28 October 2011 - New Israeli military tactic: Head-butting
The Israeli military violently obstructed a peaceful demonstration against the Israeli separation wall in Al-Ma’sara, near Bethlehem, today.
Around 25 Palestinians and a similar number of international observers and some Israeli activists marched from the village at 12:20 PM today and attempted to reach olive groves on Palestinian land just outside of Al-Ma’sara in time for this year’s olive harvest. A line of thirteen soldiers, backed by reinforcements in three armored vehicles, pushed and shoved protesters, including a small Palestinian boy, in order to prevent them from leaving the village.
As demonstrators attempted to walk around the line of soldiers, one officer snatched a Palestinian flag from a protester and then head-butted him.
Mahmoud Alaaelddin, President of Al-Ma’sara local council and member of the Popular Resistance Committee, said “Every Friday we try to go to our land and the soldiers always prevent us from going. They don’t care if there are children at the demonstration; they use more and more violence every Friday.”
After being prevented from peacefully marching to Palestinian land, protesters chanted, sang and remonstrated with the Israeli military for around 30 minutes. The protest dispersed at 1:00 PM, with Mahmoud Zawahra, member of al-Ma’sara’s Popular Committee of Resistance, alerting the soldiers of their continued persistence.

“Next Friday we will come with more people and we will fly kites with Palestinian flags. And for the hundredth time we tell you – you are not welcome here. You are killers and occupying forces,” he said.

Around five minutes after today’s protest ended, a small group of Palestinian youths threw stones at the military, who responded by firing a tear gas canister, causing billowing gas to enter a house and garden at the edge of al-Ma’sara.

Demonstrations take place in the village every Friday in protest against the separation wall – illegal under international law – which has been used by the Israeli military to expropriate much of the village’s land since 2005. Work had ceased on the wall near al-Ma’sara in 2008 after an Israeli court ruling, but it is scheduled to re-commence on 1 January 2011.

If completed, the barrier will expropriate more Palestinian land and will result in the closure of the main road that links al-Ma’sara to nearby cities in the West Bank. Al-Ma’sara residents will be forced to take alternative routes, tripling the length of time it takes to drive from the village to Bethlehem or Hebron.

Alaaeldin says that over the past few years Israeli soldiers have come into the village late at night before the Friday’s protest; forcing entire families – including children – to stand in the cold, often for 2-3 hours.

According to Alaaeldin, the Israeli military “wants people to be afraid [to protest]. They say ‘we will arrest you, we will kill you ‘but more people come to the demonstrations and refuse to be scared.”

The Israeli military has not carried out such incursions into the village for three months, but Alaaeldin is concerned that they may start again as soldiers have taken advantage of the cold winter nights to harass people in previous years.

Nabi Salih

weekly demonstration, 28-10-2011.
Oct 21st the weekly joint demonstration was canceled due to the celebration of the release from prison people of the village in the "Gilad Shalit deal"
As "compensation" the Israeli activists were invited to celebrations party Thursday 27th Oct. evening.
A Palestinian youth throws back at the army a tear gas canister during the weekly demonstration against the occupation and the settlement in the West Bank village of Nabi Salih; on Friday 28.10.2011. http://www.flickr.com/photos/activestills/6289493946/

International communities http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.30216857646012...80298
Awad Abuzaid http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2678824609788....43469
Weekly Protests http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.26031641734851...36986
Haim Schwarczenberg - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2613654459940....14101
David Reeb http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSpGLXE0Lng
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Weekly-Protests-in-Palest...13190

Ni'lin

Protest 28-10-2011, Small in number but strong in spirit, today, protesters in Ni'lin were attacked by Israel Occupation Forces from behind the safety of the Apartheid-Annexation wall.
It was so much violent from the Israeli army. 7 people got injured and many others suffered from tear gas suffocation, but my village still continue mounting a strong will and determination and courageous. and the struggle is still on.

planxtysumoud http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYr4XuaFkkU

Kafr Qaddum demonstration, 28-10-2011

Demonstration against the closure of a road by Jewish settlers from the nearby illegal settlement of Kadumim on October 28, 2011.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.30218783312486...0298c

Sheikh Jarrah

The residents of Sheikh Jarrah are continuing their protest vigils in the neighborhood every Friday, protesting their violent evictions from their homes, the taking over of the neighborhood by the settlers, and the Judaization of East Jerusalem. They call upon each and every person who supports their struggle to join them. (Solidarity Sheik Jarrah is no more organizing the Friday demos.) Please make the effort and join them this Friday, October 28 at 3:00 PM for a vigil in support of their struggle. We will meet at the Sheikh Jarrah Garden, Nablus Road and Dahlmann St.

Friday 28/10/2011
Mario Savio - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.28104811526316...46057
Guy Butavia - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150382190977...92137
Israel Puterman - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsKhlMDDVFA

South Hebron hills

This week we will accompany Palestinians farmers and shepherds to their lands in several locations in South Hebron hills. Harassment of Palestinian farmers and shepherds in the area by both settlers and the army continues.

This coming Saturday, October 29 , we need as many activists as possible to accompany them and stand up for their rights. There is a direct link between the number of activists who come to accompany the farmers and their ability to harvest and work their lands.
30.10.11 http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150384232812...92137
Guy Butavia http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150385378237...92137

Walaja

Protest vigil on Friday
Guy Butavia - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150382168982...92137

Social Struggle

More than 60,000 (according to article in a daily before the demo, assessing the capacity of the square) converged at the Tel Aviv town square; many of them marched through the streets in a demo to reach it.
Tomer Peled Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150517326307...27500
People numbering hundreds to 3 thousands converged in 6 other towns.
Video of the eviction of the Jerusalem second squat of people already evicted from the tent camp and the first squat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULqAr-9qTYw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrY4pGHTvYw
Israel Puterman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ItTh-jfQR8
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See http://awalls.org
See Previous reports about the joint struggles of the Anarchists Against the Wall at: http://ilanisagainstwalls.blogspot.com