Volume [8]
No. [2]
December 2011
December 2011
University Student
Documents Violent Attacks and
Resistance Outside Nablus
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Volume [8]
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No. [2]
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December 2011
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December 2011University Student
Documents Violent Attacks and |
Previous Editions |
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ISM Turns Ten
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| As one of the co-founders of the International solidarity movement (ISM) I often refer to ISM as my first baby. Well, my first baby is now an independent unruly and uncontrollable ten-year-old and I am one proud Mama. But I am one of ISM's many proud Mamas (some of whom are male). For a movement to come into existence it needs to be a vision shared by hundreds or thousands of people who find an opportunity to come together and make it happen. In truth ISM has hundreds of co-founders, and only few of us have been acknowledged. |
There is a word in Arabic, Nawal, that means a deep wish that
is
fulfilled. ISM is one of my Nawals and I proud and grateful to have had
the opportunity to take part in its birth. Now, more than ten years
later it is obvious that ISM has a life of its own, independent from
any of us that were involved in its beginning. This is the one of the
sources of my pride in the movement and there are many. I would like to
name a few: |
Eid in Sheikh Jarrah
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ISM has maintained a daily presence
at the al-Kurd residence in Sheikh Jarrah since August 2009 when
Israeli authorities paved the way for Israeli settlers to occupy the
front part of the family home. On the first night of Eid al-Adha, on
November 6th, 2011, three international volunteers camped in a make
shift area just outside of the residence, located in the same area
where the ISM tent was before it was burned to the ground by the
settlers just two months ago. |
Thirteen al-Kurd family members spanning three generations gathered to celebrate the Muslim holiday. In tradition, gifts were given to the children and the women of the family. All enjoyed a dinner of lamb, salad, mansef (a local dish of bread, yogurt, and meat), and burma for dessert. And as always in Palestine, plenty of tea and coffee was prepared and enjoyed.After staying the night I had more time to talk with Nabil. He showed me the blankets he’d been forced to hang to prevent water, vomit, and human waste being tossed at the family from the windows of the house occupied by illegal Zionist settlers. They were hung between the areas where his children used to play and the greatly reduced patio space just outside his family’s entrance. The metal gate that once separated the space was torn down by the settlers. The swing and seasaw that his children once enjoyed were also dismantled by settlers and now lie unusable in the back of the house. | |
The Global March To Jerusalem
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| The dream of every nonviolent
resister is to see a vast ocean of unarmed volunteers exercising their
rights in defiance of authorities trying to stop them. However inspiring it may be to watch the villages of Bil’in, Budrus, Beit Ammar, Ni’lin, Jayyous, Biddu and others defy Israeli forces week after week to defend against the confiscation of their land, everyone imagines what it would be like if all of Palestine and beyond were to do this in a single united effort. Now, with the models of Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab uprisings to inspire oppressed peoples around the globe – including Americans in the Occupy movement – Palestinians and their allies appear to be making their move. On May 13, 2011, two million Egyptians gathered in Tahrir Square and chanted, “We are going to Jerusalem.” That was their intention, but Cairo is not walking distance to Palestine, and the Egyptian government shut down all transportation. Nevertheless, on May 15, thousands of Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese congregated on the Lebanese-Palestinian and Syrian-Golan borders and peacefully tried to overcome the obstacles and enter. |
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University Student Documents Attacks and Resistance Outside NablusBy Mara Chinelli, October 2011 |
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| I spent a month with ISM in
Palestine during the summer of 2011. Overall I spent my time with ISM
in Hebron, Sheikh Jarrah, Nablus, Burin and Iraq Burin. Being in these
places further revealed to me the different ways in which illegal
Israeli occupation affects each city and village in the West Bank. Burin Over the course of July, there were four instances of attacks on Palestinian olive groves in Burin. Jewish settlers instigated three of them, while Israeli soldiers perpetrated the one that a few of us documented. I visited the village on Saturday July 30th to report on the fire that took place the previous day. |
On July 29th, 2011, settlers
from an illegal settlement occupying
Palestinian land set fire to a valley of olive trees in the village of
Burin. They torched approximately twenty dunums (about six or seven
hectares) of land owned by five Palestinian families. Witnesses stated
that approximately thirty-five settlers came down from the hill
attempting to attack the Palestinians who tried to put out the fire. A
few of those settlers shot live ammunition at the villagers, but no
Palestinians were harmed. Local witnesses also mentioned that twelve
Israeli military Jeeps occupied the village throughout the day,
stifling movement within Burin. At one point, several young Palestinian
men attempted to block the streets in order to prevent the Jeeps from
reaching the center of the village. However their efforts to resist
were in vain. The Israeli occupying forces set up a flying checkpoint
to prevent Burin residents from accessing their burning land.  |
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A Call For Volunteers |
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| The presence of activists reduces
the risk of violence by extremist settlers and the Israeli army, and
supports Palestinians’ right to protest the occupation, the apartheid
wall, and illegal settlements. International solidarity activists
engage in non-violent intervention and documentation, which is
support that enables villages and individual activists to maintain
their continued resistance. For this year's olive harvest we had a third of the volunteers that we had last year: no more than 20 at one time. This made it impossible to support the families in Nablus with their harvest to the extent we had promised. |
Now that the harvest is over, our
numbers have decreased significantly
to an average of 10 total, with only 5 long term residents. It is so
difficult with these numbers to maintain a basic presence in key the
areas al-Khalil, Silwan, Sheikh Jarrah, and Jiftlik in the Jordan
Valley, that it is an incredible strain to expend anyone for special
projects, such as to live with families in need of a continuous
international presence. |
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405 Vista Heights Rd. El Cerrito, CA 94530 510.236.4250 www.norcalism.org |