[GushShalom] Army and police violence - while the politicians skirmish
Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)
info at gush-shalom.org
Mon Mar 22 00:45:21 IST 2004
GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 - www.gush-shalom.org/
Tel-Aviv - March 21
The Israeli media were absorbed today by the struggle inside the Likud
about Sharon's Gaza Disengagement Plan. The fact that another 6
Palestinians got killed in that same Gaza seemed less important. And that
meanwhile on the West Bank the army used excessive force against
farmers - who cares?
The villagers were accompanied by Israeli and international activists
when they resisted nonviolently the uprooting of their olive trees, their
livelihood - removed to make way for the Wall.
It is a fact that we ourselves start getting used to a daily toll of at least
wounded Palestinians. But when we heard that Itay was shot in the eye
there started frentic phonecalls. Itay Levinsky (20) is one of the Israeli
anarchists, our partners in the anti-Wall coalition. These young
anarchists are paradoxically utterly disciplined and effective in organizing
a daily presence where on that moment the struggle against the creeping
wall is taking place.
So, this evening all of us whom the call reached in time were once more at
the Defence Ministry. Among the 150-strong anti-wall scene were also
youngsters of the newly-founded left-Zionist Yachad Party. Anarchists
and Zionists, all shouted it out until they didn't have a voice anymore:
"Get out of Gaza and the West Bank" "Killing doesn't bring anything but
killing" "No bullets against demonstrators!" "Democracy is not built on
the dead body of demonstrators!" "Sharon murderer!" "No to
Bulletocracy" - but for the anarchists it seemed it wasn't enough. They
started marching, still chanting slogans, in the direction of the busy Ibn
Gvirol Street. And when they sat down on the road, blocking all the traffic,
the police cars which had been circling around the group all the time
("Load you guns; we are demonstrators!"), immediately pounced and the
Tel-Avivian passers-by were feated to a scene of police brutality against
non-violent protesters, just like on TV. Seven were arested.
Photos soon on our website
As background the messages circulating today.
[] Immediate protest at Defence Ministry + Haaretz report (Gush Shalom)
[] Maariv shows the pictures (Dorothy Naor)
[] Several injured and arrested at Kharbatha Bani Harith (ISM report)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[] Emergency alert sent in the afternoon to the activists list
-----------Forwarded message follows-------
From: Gush Shalom <info at gush-shalom.org>
Emergency protest today, Sunday March 21, at 7pm Defence Ministry
Kaplan Tel-Aviv - Israeli demonstrator Itay Levinsky among 25 wounded
at Ghirbata Village; meanwhile in Gaza 6 more Palestinians killed
STOP TRIGGER HAPPY ARMY
DOWN WITH OCCUPATION
Sponsored by Gush Shalom, Ta'ayush, Anarchists Against The Wall, and
anybody else who cares to join. For more, read the Haaretz download - or
phone to:
Adam Keller: +972-(0)3-5565804 / +972-(0)56-709603
David Nir: +972-(0)52-991379
Liad Kantorowitz: +972-(0)67-724519
Eyewitnesses:
Raz Avni: +972-(0)51-946044 / Francesca Katz: +972-(0)64-494030
Haaretz Internet - Last Update: 21/03/2004 12:37
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/407022.html
More than 25 hurt during anti-fence protest near Dir Kadis
By Arnon Regular and Tsahar Rotem, Haaretz Correspondents, and
Haaretz Service
More than 25 people were wounded, one of them an Israeli protester hit in
the eye, when IDF troops fired rubber bullets at Israelis and Palestinians
demonstrating against the West Bank separation fence near the village of
Dir Kadis close to Modi'in, Israel Radio reported.
Many of the injured were wounded in the upper body and face, it said.
Regulations require security forces firing rubber bullets to aim only at the
legs of demonstrators.
Raz Avni, an Israeli demonstrator who witnessed the incident, said "The
soldiers were firing rubber bullets at people who were lying on the ground,
who had come unarmed, who weren't doing anything, who had come to
protect their land."
Military commanders in the area said that the troops had "exercised all
possible restraint," making extensive use of tear gas and percussion
grenades, and only when protesters began throwing stones in great
numbers after about an hour did the soldiers resort to rubber bullets.
Anvi told Israel Radio that the soldiers fired indiscriminately at the upper
bodies of demonstrators. "They aimed at us. They pointed us out, even
thought we shouted at them with a megaphone in Hebrew. About a half
hour after we arrived, as we were lying on the ground because they were
shooting rubber bullets, the fellow was wounded in the eye."
Anti-fence protests in the area began two weeks ago. On Thursday a 10-
year-old boy was injured in clashes between protesters and security
forces guarding the fence construction site.
Last week, in response to a petition filed on the villagers' behalf by the
Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the army told the High Court of
Justice that it would halt work in the Dir Kadis area temporarily and
reconsider the fence's route in that area. Nevertheless, the bulldozers
began work Thursday morning as usual - and the matter is expected to go
back to the High Court.
[] Maariv shows the pictures
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: Dorothy Naor <dor_naor at netvision.net.il>
Date sent: Sun, 21 Mar 2004 21:52:09 +0200
Send reply to: dor_naor at netvision.net.il
Guess what Folks! The news reports have tended to term
Palestinian attempts to defend their property "violent
demonstrations" or "riots."
Yet the pictures tell a different story: people lying on the ground,
defenseless being beaten by soldiers, soldiers standing with rifles
and battons raised over the heads of supine people, and the rest.
The largest number of pictures that I've seen are in today's Hebrew
Ma'ariv on line (keep scrolling down for the whole story and all the
pictures), but Ma'ariv is the sole source to state that the number of
injured was 120.
Other sources that I've heard list the number in the 30s, bad enough.
The story is not pretty, nor is what is happening. And just what
kind of human beings will these soldiers turn out to be after beating
innocents defending their property? Dorothy
Hebrew: http://www.maariv.co.il/channels/1/ART/672/177.html
English:
<http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=4
924>
[] Several injured and arrested at Kharbatha Bani Harith protest
-----------Forwarded message follows-------
From: International Solidarity Movement <ism-alerts at palsolidarity.org>
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT
Sun March 21, 2004
For Immediate Release
VIOLENT REPRESSION OF AN ANTI-WALL DEMONSTRATION
Several people injured and arrested during the protest in Kharbatha
Bani Harith [Kharbatha Bani Harith, RAMALLAH] Today, Sunday,
March 21, 2004, during a demonstration against the Wall in
Kharbatha Bani Harith, 37 people are reportedly injured due to use of
excessive violence by Israeli army to disperse the crowd. Around 30
of them were reportedly shot with rubber-coated steel bullets in the
upper part of the body, 5 of whom injured in the head including a 14
year old Palestinian boy and an elderly Palestinian women. Another
one of them, Etai Lewinsky, an 20 year old Israeli citizen, was shot
between the eyes by a rubber-coated metal bullet and was taken to
hospital.
This morning, the residents of Kharbatha Bani Harith attempted to
stop the bulldozers from destroying more farmlands in their village.
They were joined by international and Israeli activists in their protest.
The Israeli army allowed the crowd 15 minutes to leave before
charging them violently, using tear gas, batons, sound grenades and
rubber-coated metal bullets shot directly at the nonviolent protestors.
This is the second violent repression of an anti-wall protest in this
village.
The villagers in the area of Budrus stand to lose thousands of
dunums of land, including olive groves. The planned route of the
wall will eventually turn the cluster of villages around Budrus into a
prison for its residents, cutting them off from Ramallah, where most
education and health facilities are located.
For more information, please contact:
Anwar Nazne (local contact): +972.52.877.230
Abu Ahmed (local contact): +972.67.924.952
Erik (ISM volunteer): +972. 66.556.749
ISM Media Office: +972.22.77.46.02
NB: links and contact information re ongoing struggle
Against the Wall / Refusniks / Vanunu
--
ðåëçåú éåîéåîéú áëôøéí îàéîéí ò"é äçåîä ìúàí òí
àééáé 064-604172 isichel at netvision.net.il
àøé÷ 050-607034 info at rhr.israel.net
Day to day presence at villages threatened by route of wall.
Contact: Ivy Sichel 064-604172 isichel at netvision.net.il who set's up a list
for people who can come at short notice, or: Arik Asherman 050-607034
info at rhr.israel.net
--
Refuser news:
Constantly-updated list of all presently jailed refusniks:
English - http://www.yesh-gvul.org/english/prison/
Hebrew / òáøéú - http://www.yesh-gvul.org/prison/
For the latest news about the five:
http://www.refuz.org.il/News.html
NB:
Letters of support to
Noam Bahat / Haggai Mattar / Matan Kaminer
AGAF BET
Ma’asiyaho Prison
P.O.B 13
Ramla
Israel
Adam Maor / Shimri Tzameret:
Hermon Prison
P.O.B 4011
KFAR M’RAR
Israel
--
List of international vigils on day of Vanunu release (April 21):
http://www.nonviolence.org/vanunu/
http://www.vanunu.freeserve.co.uk/
Instead of sending flowers - an online option (paypal) for your welcome
gesture:
<http://www.peaceispossible.info/thankyouvanunu.php>
Online petition for the unconditional release of Vanunu
http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/freemordechaivanunu/
--
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\\Gush Shalom's history & action chronicle
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