From news at ckln.fm Wed Jan 1 13:02:47 2003 From: news at ckln.fm (ckln NEWS 88.1fm) Date: Sun Feb 8 02:52:05 2004 Subject: [Dryerase] Action Updates: Gaza, Qalqiliah and Bethlehem (December 29, 2002) Message-ID: <3E133B57.5A047FD6@ckln.fm> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Action Updates: Gaza, Qalqiliah and Bethlehem (December 29, 2002) Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 15:30:42 -0500 (EST) From: Jaggi Singh To: jaggisingh2003@yahoo.com ACTION UPDATES: Gaza, Qalqiliah and Bethlehem (December 29, 2002) [The following reports provide basic info about some recent actions involving the ISM. More detailed reports will be posted in the coming days by on-the-ground ISM activists.-- Jaggi (ISM volunteer in Beit Sahour)] 1) Rafah-Mawasi (Gaza): IOF soldiers shoot at Palestinians attempting to deliver food and medical supplies; Palestinian photographer injured in the head 2) Jayyous (Qalqiliah District): Palestinian farmers attacked by private security and soldiers in march against Apartheid Wall; Curfew imposed in Jayyous 3) Bethlehem: March to Bethlehem-Jerusalem checkpoint to take place on New Year's Eve; Rally demands an "Open Jerusalem" ----- 1) IOF Soldiers shoot at Palestinians attempting to deliver food and medical supplies Today (December 29, 2002) more than 50 Palestinians, as well as 17 internationals, attempted to deliver food and medical supplies to Mawasi, a Palestinian town behind a checkpoint that is surrounded by illegal settlements, near Rafah (Gaza). The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) placed roadblocks on the way to the checkpoint, and demonstrators weren?t able to remove them. In response, demonstrators emptied two ambulances full of medical supplies and carried it themselves. At the Rafah-Mawasi checkpoint, soldiers responded by firing rounds of live bullets without warning. Still, many Palestinians tried to cross the checkpoint, including two elderly women from Mawasi who had not been back to their home village for almost two years. One Palestinian photographer, who works for Associated Press, was wounded in the head by shrapnel, and was hospitalized. He is in stable condition. Demonstrators plan to return again to the checkpoint to try again to deliver the supplies. For info on-the-ground, please contact Kristen at 067 341 268 or 059 357 526. 2) Palestinian farmers attacked by private security and soldiers in march against Apartheid Wall Up to 500 Palestinians, supported by more than 100 internationals, converged on the village of Jayyous today (December 29, 2002), after two separate marches passed through several villages in the Qalqiliah district in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. The rally was to demonstrate clear opposition to the building of Israel's so-called "security fence", better known as the "Apartheid Wall". A large section of the wall is being constructed in Qalqiliah district. During the marches through district villages, demonstrators were confronted by soldiers who used tear gas against marchers. Still, the marches continued to Jayyous, where speeches were given denouncing the wall at a local school. From there, Palestinian farmers and internationals tried to march to the local fields, near where the wall is being built. Private contract security for the wall were already present, armed with loaded and pointed M-16 rifles. Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) soldiers attacked the demonstrators -- who couldn't even leave Jayyous for the local fields -- with tear gas, percussion grenades and rubber bullets (there were also reports of live bullets). After opening fire, many children threw stones at soldiers. One man was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet, while one Palestinian journalist, with a media pass, was arrested on the suspicion of throwing stones. Private security also attacked demonstrators with batons. Later, at least five army jeeps, accompanying over 30 soldiers on foot, drove threw Jayyous trying to impose curfew. There were reports of soldiers entering homes, and demanding to see IDs. There is one report of soldiers attacking a mother in her home who intervened in support of her young son. According to a report by the Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network (PENGON), the entire planned Apartheid Wall, which has begun to go up in the Qalqiliah district, will effectively annex 10% of Palestinian land in the West Bank. In Jayyous alone 72% of local land will be lost. The land in the Qalqiliah area is some of the most fertile in the West Bank, and contains important water aquifers. For more information on-the-ground, please contact Radhika at 052 574 754 or Patrick at 067 628 514 or 052 371 338. 3) March to Bethlehem-Jerusalem checkpoint to take place on New Year's Eve On Christmas Day, hundreds of Palestinians and international supporters intended to march to the Bethlehem-Jerusalem checkpoint, in opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and to demand open travel to Jerusalem. The checkpoint march was postponed, mainly due to inclement weather. At the demo, one organizer promised that before next Christmas, a march would be organized to the checkpoint. A march is now being organized before next year. On New Year's Eve (December 31, 2002), local Palestinian groups are organizing a march to the Bethlehem-Jerusalem checkpoint, demanding an end to occupation, and an "Open Jerusalem." The march will begin at the Ministry of Education Junction in Bethlehem, and will depart for the checkpoint at 3pm, expecting to arrive at 4pm. At the checkpoint, there are planned prayers, as well as the lifting of balloons. For more info about the march, please contact the Rapprochement Centre 02 277 2018 or the Arab Educational Institute 02 274 4030. From news at ckln.fm Wed Jan 1 13:02:26 2003 From: news at ckln.fm (ckln NEWS 88.1fm) Date: Sun Feb 8 02:52:05 2004 Subject: [Dryerase] Updates and Reports from Occupied Palestine (December 23-26,2002)] Message-ID: <3E133B42.5E3A2D59@ckln.fm> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: 2) Updates and Reports from Occupied Palestine (December 23-26,2002) Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 18:25:53 -0500 (EST) From: Jaggi Singh To: jaggisingh2003@yahoo.ca Included below are the following reports and releases: 1) The forced detention of ISM Nablus co-coordinator Omar Al-Titi (with update) 2) IOF tanks shell civilian homes in Rafah (with update) 3) Palestinian and international solidarity activists to defy Gaza checkpoint (postponed) 4) Palestinian Land Defense Communities to oppose the Apartheid Wall 5) IOF soldiers strip Palestinian men in public in Qalqiliah 6) IOF denies Palestinian farmers access to fields 7) Nablus Incident Report (December 26, 2002) 8) Qalqiliah Incident Report (December 26, 2002) 9) Hundreds march in Christmas procession in Beit Sahour (includes photos) 10) Bethlehem to Rafah, Christmas 2002 (dispatch by Kristen Ess) The above reports were written between December 23-26, 2002, in occupied Palestine. -- Jaggi ---------- 1) [NOTE: A separate e-mail has more info about this case.] The forced detention of ISM Nablus co-coordinator Omar Al-Titi; location unknown [UPDATE (December 24, 2002, morning) - According to ISM members in Nablus, Omar Al-Titi has been moved, and his location has not been confirmed. ISM members and supporters in Nablus and elsewhere are actively engaged in support work for Omar, to determine his location, and to negotiate his release. Included below is yesterday's incident report about Omar's case.] INCIDENT REPORT, December 23, 2002 The forced detention of ISM Nablus co-coordinator Omar Al-Titi Around 3pm this afternoon, the ISM Media Office learned about the forced detention of Omar Al-Titi, a coordinator active in the Nablus-area. Omar, along with several internationals involved with the ISM, were trying to cross an army checkpoint in the Nablus-area. The Israeli Occupation Forces were holding more than 20 young Palestinian men while checking their identity cards. Omar was handcuffed by the soldiers, and then blindfolded. He was placed in an army vehicle and driven away to an undisclosed location. His forced detention was witnessed by at least six internationals, including Lyn Cohen of Los Angeles, a Hebrew-speaker. Omar's detention location has now been confirmed. He is being detained in an occupied house in Mesakken Shabiya on the outskirts of Nablus. There is a presence of internationals outside the house, who are still trying to negotiate his release. At one point, the internationals observed Omar outside the house, still blindfolded and handcuffed and accompanied by IOF soldiers. His handcuffs were briefly removed so that he could urinate. ISM support people in Nablus are actively working on Omar's situation. An update will follow when there is more news. For info on-the-ground in Nablus, contact Ceri Gibbons 059 385 551. To contact the ISM Media Office, phone 02 277 4602. [Prepared by Jaggi Singh, ISM volunteer in Beit Sahour. 7:15pm.] ---------- 2) IOF tanks shell civilian homes in Rafah City [UPDATE (December 24, 2002, morning) - The ISM Media Office has just spoken with Henrik Dahl in Rafah City. At least 15 ISM members are strategizing their next steps in a meeting. He also reports that several more houses were dynamited in Rafah. The original incident report from yesterday is included below.] INCIDENT REPORT, December 23, 2002 IOF tanks shelling civilian homes in Rafah City (Gaza) [NOTE: Not for public distribution until more facts and details are confirmed.] The ISM Media Office has received a call at approximately 7:45pm from Henrik Dahl, a Swedish international in Rafah City (Gaza). He just escaped a house, along with 4 Palestinians and two other internationals (a Brit and an Italian), that collapsed after being hit by Israeli Occupation Forces tank shells. Henrik and other members of the ISM are staying in Palestinian homes in Block J of Rafah City. The homes are being demolished to permit the building of Israel's Apartheid Wall. He reports that an entire block of homes is slated for demolition, and several homes were demolished in the past few days, but the home he was staying in was not in the line of demolition. The IOF tanks fired their shells, three in total according to his telephone report, without warning. Henrik Dahl can be reached by phone at 055 811 735. The ISM Media office can be reached at 02 277 4602. [Prepared by Jaggi Singh, ISM volunteer in Beit Sahour. 8:11 pm.] ---------- 3) [NOTE: This action was postponed by protest organizers. They intend to challenge the checkpoint in about a week to deliver the food and medical supplies.] MEDIA ADVISORY For immediate release December 25, 2002 PALESTINIANS AND INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY ACTIVISTS TO DEFY ISRAELI CHECKPOINT IN GAZA Tomorrow - Thursday, December 26, 2002 -- a group of Palestinians, on the initiative of the Palestinian Popular Refugee Committee in Rafah (Gaza Strip), will attempt to cross an Israeli Occupation Forces checkpoint at Mawasi in order to deliver emergency food and medical supplies to a village surrounded by illegal Israeli settlements. The delegation will be accompanied by more than 15 international observers (from Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and the United States). The action will begin at 9am at the Palestinian Popular Refugee Committee Center in Rafah, and expects to be at the Mawasi checkpoint by noon. The checkpoint is surrounded by IDF guard towers, and live bullet rounds have been reported to be shot at others that try to cross the checkpoint without IDF authorization. Contacts in Rafah: Tom 056 903 720 or Ben 067 361 681 - 30 - ---------- 4) MEDIA ADVISORY For immediate release December 26, 2002 PALESTINIAN LAND DEFENSE COMMUNITIES OPPOSE THE APARTHEID WALL MARCHES AND RALLY TO TAKE PLACE IN QALQILIAH DISTRICT WHEN & WHERE: Sunday, December 29, 2002. Marches begin at 9am in both K. Jbarah (North of Qalqiliah District) and Hablah (South of Qalqiliah District), converging on Jayyous at approximately 12pm. CONTACTS: Issam Nofal (059 778 185) - Coordinator the Land Defense Committee in Jayyous; Radhika Sainath (052 574 754) or Patrick Connors (067 628 514 and 052 371 338) BACKGROUND: The National, Local and Land Defense Communities in Qalqiliah District of occupied Palestine are organizing a landmark "Day of Solidarity" with local people and farmers, who are suffering from the construction of Israel's so-called security fence, better known to Palestinians as the "Apartheid Wall". The wall, which is being constructed within Palestinian territory, divides villages and fields, and is affecting Qalqiliah District adversely. The first stage of wall construction will effectively annex 10% of Palestinian land in the West Bank. Two separate marches will begin at K. Jbarah and Hablah, and pass thru several towns and villages before converging on Jayyous for a major rally, focusing on the legal status and the facts surrounding the construction of the apartheid wall In addition to local villagers and farmers, invitations have been extended to Palestinian ministries, Palestinian non-governmental organizations, and members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, as well as members of the Israeli Knesset, members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and representatives of various legal organizations. -30- ----------- 5) INCIDENT REPORT - IOF soldiers strip Palestinian men in public in Qalqilya (December 25, 2002) December 25, 2002, approximately 1pm -- ISM member Usama Qashoo reports from Qalqilya that Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have been stripping Palestinian men to their underwear at the main checkpoint into the city. He reports that incidents have occurred yesterday and today. Qalqilya is currently under its fifth day of curfew (meaning house arrest for all residents). For more info and updates, please phone Usama at 052 366 944 or 059 837 611. ---------- 6) INCIDENT REPORT - IOF denies Palestinian farmers access to fields (December 24, 2002) December 24, 2002 - International ISM activists in the Tulkarem area of Palestine report that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), as well as the border police, refused to let Palestinian farmers access their fields. The fields are within the "Green Line" (1967 cease-fire border), but on the other side of the "Apartheid Wall" that is currently being constructed by Israel to seal off the West Bank. At least 4 internationals accompanied more than 10 Palestinians (representing 5 farmers), as they removed recently placed roadblocks near the construction site of the Apartheid Wall, around the village of Atil. IOF soldiers and the notorious Israeli border police soon appeared. They refused access to the farmers, and with pressure from activists, only allowed farmers to go to their fields on donkey cart, expressly forbidding tractors or vehicles. For more info, please phone Patrick at 067 628 514 or 052 371 338. ---------- 7) NABLUS INCIDENT REPORT - December 26, 2002, 11:35am - The ISM Media Office has received a report from Nablus (the southwest side of the city) from ISM members. They are reporting that there has been sporadic gunfire by Israeli Occupation Forces soldiers from within an occupied house. At one point, Palestinian medical officials, two internationals, as well as 11 Palestinians were forcibly locked inside the house. The medical officials - from the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC) -- entered the house at dawn to assist injured persons inside, along with the two internationals. After interventions by ISM members outside, everyone inside the house was allowed to leave. According to ISM members on the ground, the IOF is undertaking active operations in the city of Nablus, including the old city. There are also reports of more incidents involving gunfire. For more up-to-date information on the ground in Nablus, please contact Susan at 059 877 091 or Saif at 067 328 536. ---------- 8) QALQILIAH INCIDENT REPORT - December 26, 2002, 11:09am - The ISM Media Office has just received reports from ISM members in Qalqiliah (the eastern part of the city). They are right beside Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) soldiers who are shooting rubber bullets at schoolchildren who are throwing stones from a distance. There are more than fifty children, estimated to be between six to ten years old, who were in school buses. The soldiers have already shot tear gas as well as percussion grenades at the kids. The shooting incident is occurring near a block of homes. The soldiers arrived with a bulldozer and are accompanied by dogs that are going thru the houses. A group of internationals have positioned themselves in front of the homes, while others are positioned beside the soldiers. They are fearful that the soldiers will attempt to demolish the homes. Qalqiliah is now in its sixth day of curfew. Several tanks, APCs and jeeps have imposed curfew in areas of the city, including the eastern part of Qalqiliah where the above incidents took place. Up to fifty Palestinian men were forced to lie down on the street, in the rain, and they have now been crammed into two vehicles. For more information on the ground in Qalqiliah, please contact Roba at 067 768 257 or Usama at 052 225 703. ---------- 9) Hundreds march in Christmas procession in Beit Sahour [NOTE: Three photos from the demo have not been attached to avoid taking up too much memory. If you want the photos as an attachment (about 3 megs), just e-mail jaggi@tao.ca requesting them.] BEIT SAHOUR, PALESTINE, December 25, 2002 -- Despite a constant downpour, about 500 residents of Beit Sahour, Beit Jala, and Bethlehem, as well a significant contingent of international supporters, marched from Shepherd's Field to a church courtyard in Beit Sahour. The candlelight procession is an annual event in the area since 1991, and a focal point for opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The demonstration was led by a banner reading, "Imprisoned in my land: Stop the Israeli Apartheid Wall", referring to the so-called "security fence" - an 8 metre high wall, including roads and sensors on either side - that Israel is building to seal off the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The wall will effectively annex 10% of Palestinian land in the West Bank. Other lead banners, carried by local children, read: "Bethlehem is sad on Christmas day" and "Jerusalem is our capital forever". The Bethlehem-area, including the neighboring towns of Beit Sahour and Beit Jala, has been under a virtual 24-hour curfew (meaning house arrest) imposed by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) for at least the past month. The curfew was lifted by the IOF a few days before Christmas. It's expected that the curfew will be re-imposed in a few days, as the IOF continues its search for so-called "terrorists" in the area. In past years, the procession from Beit Sahour has marched to the Bethlehem-Jerusalem checkpoint, demanding to be allowed to travel freely to the Palestinian capital. In 2000, a few months into the second intifada, at least 8000 people marched to the checkpoint. This year, organizers cancelled the checkpoint challenge, due to the low numbers, and the inclement weather. This year's procession was a mix between Christmas street party and political rally. Arabic Christmas carols were blasted out of improvised sound systems, and many participants wore Christmas hats, while the speeches, banners and slogans denounced the Israeli occupation. One march organizer, in ending the demonstration, promised that before next Christmas, a challenge would be organized against the Bethlehem-Jerusalem checkpoint. Earlier, on Christmas Eve afternoon, about 400 protesters gathered in Manger Square in Bethlehem, near the Church of the Nativity, for another rally against the occupation. The protest included a large delegation of Israeli peace activists and refuseniks. Meanwhile, in protest against the curfew that was only recently lifted in Bethlehem, Palestinian authorities refused to put up the traditional Christmas tree in Manger Square, and decorations were noticeably absent all over Bethlehem and the surrounding area. [Attached photos: 1) Lead Banner; 2) Banners in front of Candlelight Procession; 3) Beit Sahour children light candles. For the photos, just e-mail jaggi@tao.ca.] -- Reported by Jaggi Singh (jaggi@taol.ca) in Beit Sahour, Palestine ---------- 10) Bethlehem to Rafah (Christmas 2002) At the last minute, at the end of the day before Christmas Eve, the Israeli government announced it would lift its curfew of Bethlehem. This was another move in the endless game of Israeli propaganda, and one that was expected. Thousands of eyes were on Bethlehem, the West Bank city that has been under curfew and reinvasion for the past month. For the second year in a row the Israeli government did not allow President Arafat to move the 13 miles from Ramallah to Bethlehem. There is a chair inside the Church of Nativity with a photo of Arafat and a kaffiyeh sitting on it. The entire West Bank remains under curfew and reinvasion. The Israeli military did not leave Bethlehem, just remained out of site of the cameras. They occupied five high buildings throughout the Bethlehem area, using them as watchtowers and sniper posts. Israeli military jeeps drove through the streets and around the camps. The night before Christmas Eve, Israeli soldiers took 8 Palestinians from their homes and dumped them in Israeli detention for interrogation. The next night it was seven. On Christmas night Israeli soldiers abducted ten Palestinians. The Israeli military government is holding over 8,000 Palestinians hostage in its prisons. Today, the day after Christmas, the Israeli military took over Manger Square again. They began shooting and firing gas. They were yelling from their jeep loudspeakers that curfew was re-imposed. Some of Bethlehem's residents resisted by throwing stones for two hours. Last week in Bethlehem's Azzeh refugee camp, 50 Israeli soldiers stormed into a sleeping household, one that has welcomed me as their sister and daughter for the past year. One of the son's, living on the second of three floors, went to his door. He called out, "I'm unarmed, I'm opening the door now." He's telling me this, everyone in the family has told me the way it went for them, saying, "I didn't know, you know, they could have shot me right then. We don't ever know if they're gonna kill all of us." The Israeli soldiers ran into the house and demanded that everyone come outside. They put their guns in the backs of the family and pushed at those who live on the upper floors. They searched the blankets that the babies were wrapped in. One of the women is pregnant. One son has a mental disability. The mother and father are elderly. The entire family was forced to stand in the camp allyway with their hands on the cement wall. It was 2 o'clock in the morning, a winter night. The Israelis took one of the sons. He wears glasses, writes poems, laughs out loud, makes good coffee, listens to music. He's a student. Israeli soldiers blindfolded him and bound his hands. They stuffed him in the back of a jeep. The kids were calling out goodbye. He is in an Israeli prison now, without charge. The father and all of the sons in the family, save for two, have been abducted in this way. His mother is sobbing throughout all of this. It's enough. A soft-spoken man who used to live in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip until the Israeli military demolished his Block O house in order to build their separation wall, tells me, "You know really," he pauses for a long time, "I'm afraid now that we are just all wanted." The night before Christmas Eve the Israeli military demolished thirty houses in Rafah. Tanks fired into the houses, the families ran out, and the bulldozers ripped through. There was not even a half second of notice. Kristen Ess Occupied Palestine 26 December, 2002 From news at ckln.fm Wed Jan 1 13:03:34 2003 From: news at ckln.fm (ckln NEWS 88.1fm) Date: Sun Feb 8 02:52:05 2004 Subject: [Dryerase] [Fwd: Photo Essay - Dheisheh Camp (December 27, 2002); In memory of KifahKhaled Obeid] Message-ID: <3E133B86.E5CDFDAC@ckln.fm> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Photo Essay - Dheisheh Camp (December 27, 2002); In memory of KifahKhaled Obeid Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 16:19:50 -0500 (EST) From: Jaggi Singh To: jaggisingh2003@yahoo.ca [If anyone can host this photo essay on their website, please get in touch, and I'll send you a zip file (a little more than a meg). I wish the photos were larger, but I needed to shrink them to save space. Stay in touch all. Happy New Year. -- Jaggi (in occupied Palestine)] ------- Photo Essay - Dheisheh Camp December 27, 2002 In memory of Kifah Khaled Obeid [To view the photos, go to http://www.palsolidarity.org. Click on Bethlehem Area reports on the main page, and then click on Photo Essay.] [NOTE: This essay is posted (December 29, 2002) on the day that another Palestinian boy, 8 year-old Abdel Karim Salameh, was killed by Israeli soldiers in Tulkarem; like Kifah, he was shot while throwing stones. The day before, a 9-year old Palestinian girl, Hanneen Abu Suleiman, was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers, according to Palestinian sources, while playing outside her house in Khan Younis (Gaza). Israeli army sources claim that Palestinians in the area had earlier fired at an army outpost, and that soldiers fired back.] By Husam Qassis and Jaggi Singh DHEISHEH REFUGEE CAMP, near Bethlehem, occupied Palestine (December 27, 2002) - Curfew was lifted today, or at least people were ignoring it, probably because the sun finally came out after a week of cloudy skies and rain, and the temperature was a lot warmer. This afternoon, Husam Qassis, 18, an activist in Beit Sahour, and Jaggi Singh, a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) from Montreal, visited the Dheisheh Refugee Camp beside Bethlehem. Dheisheh Camp is located just beside the main road, connecting Bethlehem to Hebron in the south and Jerusalem to the north. It was created in 1949, and is one of the scores of camps that provided humanitarian relief to the more than 750,000 Palestinian refugees that fled their villages just before and after the creation of Israel in 1948 (there are two other refugee camps in the area as well: Aza and Aida). The Dheisheh camp was supposed to be a temporary solution, but more than half-a-decade later, it still exists, and has slowly transformed from tents and dirt roads to today's dense concentration of low-rise buildings and narrow laneways. Dheisheh could almost be considered a poor neighborhood of Bethlehem, except that camp residents consistently refer to their villages of origin in Palestine, which shapes their identity, even generations later. Several camp residents knew enough English to tell us, in approximately the same words, "We dream to go back to our villages." Dheisheh is home to more than 10,000 refugees, who originate from the de-populated Arab villages west of Jerusalem and Hebron. On a clear day, some of these former villages are even within sight of the camp. The villagers were forced out by the incursions of the Haganah, the Zionist underground militia that was incorporated into the Israeli Defense Forces in 1948. Today, the 10,000 residents of Dheisheh occupy an area of less than half a square kilometre. Until the Israeli army withdrew in 1995, the camp was surrounded by a barbed wire fence, and occupation soldiers controlled entry to and from the camp, creating a military-enforced ghetto. Military incursions during this period were frequent. When limited Palestinian autonomy was granted in 1995, one of the first acts of camp residents was to remove the fence enclosing the camp, leaving just the main entry gate as a reminder of the former Israeli presence (the gate was painted over in Palestinian colours). Over half the residents of Dheisheh are children. There are severely limited playgrounds and open spaces, and most of the kids play in the narrow laneways of the camp. The economy of the camp was previously based on remittances from residents who would work on a temporary basis in Israel, usually in construction or service jobs in restaurants and hotels. With the outbreak of the second intifada, work is now impossible in Israel, or even in other areas of occupied Palestine due to the imposition of checkpoints, roadblocks and curfews. Most of the camp's residents are financially supported through extended family networks and Islamic charities. The temptation to migrate to a nearby Arab state or beyond -- to work in the service or construction sectors -- is very strong; but all the residents we talked to considered staying in Dheisheh as a basic act of resistance against Israeli colonialism. Dheisheh is a renowned center of resistance to Israeli occupation - like Balata and Jenin -- and consequently it has been the target of frequent Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) attacks. Dheisheh had its own uprising three months before the start of the 1987 intifada. The residents of Dheisheh feel sold out by the "peace process" efforts of the Palestinian Authority, which has yet to adequately address their right to return to their home villages. According to the brochure for Ibdaa, the only cultural center in the camp: "Dheisheh camp and the Palestinian refugees in general have remained alienated from the beginning of the peace process; its dreams and reality have been ignored in the negotiations for a Palestinian state. This has heightened the sense of frustration felt in the community and renewed the refugees' resolve to continue the struggle against the occupation." During our visit to Dheisheh, we were accompanied by Nizar Alayasa, whose family is from the destroyed Arab village of Zackariah, which was near Jerusalem. He works in the cultural center, mainly with children, teaching them computer skills. Several children he has taught were killed in incidents with Israeli soliders, mainly rock-throwing [the case of Kifah Khaled Obeid is described in more detail in caption 9 below]. We asked Nizar if he thought he would ever return back to his village of origin. He replied, like many others, "I dream of it every day." We then asked about what he thought about the people who've settled in the place of his parents and grandparents. His reply (in the original English): "Maybe we can live together, but only with freedom. We don't want soldiers, checkpoints or curfew. Just respect." [The photos in this essay were taken on December 27, 2002 by Husam Qassis and Jaggi Singh. The extended photo captions are included below.] [To view the photos, go to http://www.palsolidarity.org. Click on Bethlehem Area reports on the main page, and then click on Photo Essay.] PHOTO CAPTIONS: 1) A view of Dheisheh, atop Dheisheh's highest point. 10,000 refugees live within less than half a square kilometer. The camp is on the slope of a hill. 2) One of the entrances to Dheisheh. This gate was the only entrance and exit during direct Israeli Occupation Forces' direct control of the camp. In 1995, when the camp was put under the Palestinian authority, the barbed wire and fences surrounding the camp were taken down. This gate remains as a symbol of the Israeli occupation. It has been painted in the Palestinian colours. 3) Another view of Dheisheh from beside the entry gate. 4) Children playing outside the gates, beside the main road; one of the few open spaces near the camp. 5) Graffiti outside the camp. Loose translation of Arabic graffiti (on left): "Greetings to a martyr! -- Ibrahim Wahadnah. The Cobra Group." Throughout the visit to Dheisheh, residents made reference to martyrs, referring to anyone who died fighting against the Israeli occupation. 6) Another graffiti. 7) Arabic graffiti on right (loose translation): "With the people until victory" (with logo of the PFLP) 8) Arabic graffiti on left (loosely translated): "The blood of Muhammed Durra comes at a price." Muhammed Durra was the boy who was killed by IOF bullets on September 30, 2000, as he hid behind his father crying in fear, in an image that has come to define the second intifada. Arabic graffiti on the right is the signature of Fatah. 9) A stencil of Kifah Khaled Obeid. This stencil is painted all over the walls of the camp, and beyond in Beit Sahour and Bethlehem. Kifah, 13, was a resident of Dheisheh, who died from a bullet wound while throwing stones at IOF soldiers at a checkpoint near Bethlehem last November. Kifah was a student at the Dheisheh boys school, active in summer camps, and was a member of a soccer team. At Ibdaa, the local community center, he was beginning to learn how to use computers [his teacher was Nizar Alayasa, see caption 18 below]. The day before he died, five children were killed in Gaza as a result of an unexploded bomb left by the IOF. The next day, Kifah and other schoolkids decided to march to the Bethlehem-Jerusalem checkpoint to protest the killings. They held a banner reading (roughly translated), "The smile of a child is stronger than Israeli weapons." The kids also threw rocks at the soldiers. Kifah was shot in the chest with a live bullet fired by an IOF soldier. He died on arrival at hospital, and was buried the next day in the Cemetery of Martyrs at Dheisheh. 10) Arabic graffiti in black (loosely translated): "Fatah youth is a place for struggling, not for being quiet." Red graffiti: "We die standing, not on our knees" -- People's Party." Stencil of Kifah Khaled Obeid on wall. 11) Main road of Dheisheh. 12) Dheisheh laneway. 13) Residents of Dheisheh. Nizar pointed out that their home was that of a martyr. 14) Dheisheh children. 15) Dheisheh children. 16) Dheisheh children. 17) Dheisheh child. 18) Nizar Alayasa, a worker at Dheisheh's Cultural Center, Ibdaa. He is at the highest point at Dheisheh, which is built on the slope of a hill. 19) View from the hill in Dheisheh, with main road below. 20) Another view of Dheisheh. 21) View from Bethlehem of the settlement of Gilo (with skyscrapers). Gilo is considered by Israel to be a "neighborhood" of Jerusalem, although it was built on land illegally occupied after 1967. Most of the illegal settlements around Jerusalem are called "neighborhoods" by Israel. One settlement in particular, Ma'ale Adumim, will effectively cut the West Bank in half, and is being considered for annexation into Jerusalem. 22) Another view of the Gilo settlement. Many of the residents of Dheisheh originate from de-populated Arab villages near Jerusalem. 23) Main road to Hebron. Dheisheh is on the left. 24) Rubble of Palestinian Authority buildings in Bethlehem, down the road from Dheisheh. The buildings were hit by two missiles from Israeli F-16 fighter planes, during the re-occupation of the West Bank in the spring. 25) Another view of the rubble. 26) Rubble with graffiti. From news at ckln.fm Wed Jan 1 13:03:56 2003 From: news at ckln.fm (ckln NEWS 88.1fm) Date: Sun Feb 8 02:52:06 2004 Subject: [Dryerase] [Fwd: (Nablus, Palestine) In the Home of Mohammed Ramadan] Message-ID: <3E133B9C.804F4E29@ckln.fm> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: (Nablus, Palestine) In the Home of Mohammed Ramadan Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 22:15:27 -0500 (EST) From: Jaggi Singh To: jaggisingh2003@yahoo.ca [For previous reports, e-mail jaggisingh2003@yahoo.ca. This report may include some typos. Please correct. Happy New Year everyone. -- J] In the Home of Mohammed Ramadan by Jaggi Singh NABLUS, PALESTINE (December 31, 2002) -- Nablus is a city under siege. The West Bank's largest town is the primary target for the Israeli Occupation Forces' (IOF) increased campaign against so-called militants and terrorists. It's a campaign that, in effect, collectively punishes all Palestinians for being Palestinian. During the current siege, which has lasted for more than a month, no Palestinian vehicles have been allowed to enter or leave the city. Army checkpoints are more aggressive, and in many cases Palestinians are forced to wait an entire day before getting through, with at least several men targeted for arrest and detention every time. Curfew takes effect nightly at 6pm, allowing the IOF to undertake its self-described "operations" within the city's neighborhoods and refugee camps. The incursions involve tanks, APCs -- occasionally Apache helicopter gunships -- and the IOF's special Paratroopers brigade. Homes are invaded, and residents held hostage, while soldiers try to locate and kill Hamas or Tanzim militants nearby. Armored bulldozers have dug up rubble and earth to create roadblocks within the city, and the same bulldozers are also active destroying the homes of militants at all hours. The city's basic infrastructure is falling apart, although during the day, life maintains some normalcy: markets stay open, workers are busy making additions to already over-crowded apartment blocks -- or rebuilding demolished homes -- and children fill the streets at play. Curfew is sometimes imposed during the day too, although when the IOF tried last week, in the center of Nablus, it was defied by residents, who resisted bullets, APCs and tanks with stones and firebombs. One youth was killed in that "incident". Nablus and its adjoining refugee camps -- including Balata and Askar -- are centres of resistance to the Israeli occupation. According to military sources cited by Ha'aretz, Nablus is the town most densely populated with men on Israel's "wanted" list. I met one of those "wanted" men, in his home, last night in Nablus. Mohammed Hashem Ramadan is 19. He is a physical education student at Al-Najah University. Mohammed lives in the crowded Askar refugee camp, in a small apartment home with his father, mother, two brothers and four sisters. The family is from the wave of refugees who fled Jaffa in 1948. Last Thursday night (December 26), while Mohammed was staying overnight at a friend's house studying for an exam, IOF special forces soldiers invaded his family home for one of their "operations". Before entering the Ramadan house, the more than 40 soldiers, according to eyewitnesses, first shot themselves into two nearby homes, firing several machine gun rounds inside the apartments and on the roof, shouting for Mohammed to give himself up. After realizing their mistake, these "elite" soldiers entered the Ramadan home, again, using sound bombs, and then shooting just above where family members would usually sleep. The family was forced out of the house, into the cold street. Mohammed's mother was hit by soldiers on the neck and shoulder. Mohammed's father, Hashem, 50, was handcuffed and beaten, but not before he was especially humiliated, forced to pull down his pants in front of his family, to prove he wasn't hiding a bomb. For four hours the family, including the young children, waited on the street, at gunpoint, while soldiers inside searched the house for where Mohammed might be hiding. The soldiers left, empty-handed. Mohammed was back home last night -- four days after the army raid -- when I visited. That morning, an IOF commander at the nearby Huwarra Base phoned his father to pressure him to give up his son. The commander said he'd be phoning back at 8am today for an answer. I entered the home last night with other members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), whose help had been requested by the family after the IOF home invasion. They hoped that the presence of internationals in the house would preempt another raid, and buy some time to help the family make some difficult choices. The modest Ramadan home was full of kids, relatives and visitors, all anxious and worried, although the children were delighting in practicing English with their guests ("What's your name?" was a favourite question). At times, the adult relatives would show tears. Almost immediately, noticing my camera and notebook, Mohammed's father, Hashem, led me around the house. Systematically, he showed me practically each and every bullet hole, many of which I photographed (including the injury to Mohammed's mother). There were traces of bullets everywhere -- the entry door, beside the beds, at closets (whose doors were ripped off), and in the kitchen. A television was shot out, as well as the water tanks on the roof. Hashem quietly described the soldiers to me -- their faces were totally covered by black masks except for their eyes. Through a translator, he told me that the soldiers threatened to kill him while he was kneeling on the ground handcuffed. An uncle -- a local soccer coach and an accredited FIFA assistant referee -- spoke proudly of his nephew's soccer skills as a fullback defender. A cousin, who studies business at Al-Najah, specifically spoke to me about the perception of Palestinians abroad. Practicing her English, she said, "Do you see Palestinian[s] as terrorists? Do you see what Israelis do to Palestinian people? Write about us to the outside." Mohammed seemed embarrassed by all the attention, and mostly stayed in his room, listening to friends, cousins and uncles. I was able to chat with him too, through a translator. He's tall, athletic and broad-shouldered -- perfect for a soccer fullback -- and quite shy. I asked him how he was feeling, and he just shrugged. Was he angry? His reply, after I repeated the question in different ways: "Sure I'm angry." He opened up somewhat when we talked about soccer. His favorite team is Real Madrid, and we went back and forth naming players, and expressing degrees of approval or disapproval -- Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo, Roberto Carlos; he really liked Roberto Carlos. I tried to get an idea of why he might be a wanted man. Again, just a shrug. His mother, and all the relatives, insisted he basically went to school, played soccer, and stayed at home, and had no associations with political groups. Saif, a Palestinian activist with the ISM in Nablus, who's from Askar, put it to me this way: "Every male between 15 to 55 is wanted; [the IOF] don't need a reason." There was some argument about whether the targeted males started at 15, or were even as young as 12. But there was no argument that if you're a male and Palestinian, you'll be wanted by the IOF some time for some reason. Everyone was speculating about why the IOF might want Mohammed. There were two main theories: either a case of mistaken identity, or that the IOF want to use him for information on others through the pressure of family separation and forced detention. Again, Saif remarked, "At least during the first intifada, they'd try to make sure they got the right person; now, if they're not sure, they just arrest or kill both people." When I left for the night, it was still unclear what decision Mohammed and his family might make. They were expecting a call from the IOF commander the next morning, and feared for another raid on the house. Several ISM international activists stayed the night. By the next morning, the decision was made. What I never appreciated from my brief discussion with Mohammed was how upset he felt at the humiliation and terror to which his family was subjected. The family considered the option of helping Mohammed go into hiding, or even openly defy the IOF with the help of ISM activists. The latter option could mean a certain amount of media attention on Mohammed's case and, potentially, force the IOF to publicly justify their home invasion and detention. In the end, Mohammed decided to turn himself in, to spare his family any further humiliation or anxiety. The family too rationalized the decision, thinking that at least in prison, they would know he's still alive. To go into hiding as a "wanted" man means eventual murder at the hands of the IOF. As promised, the IOF commander at Huwarra phoned at 8am sharp today. Mohammed's father, supported by the presence of ISM internationals, requested the small dignity of allowing his son to say good-bye at home, and meeting the IOF at the base. The commander said he'd phone back in 15 minutes. Exactly 15 minutes later, the occupation commander phoned, and agreed to meet Mohammed at a location just outside the Askar camp, but not near the base. Mohammed said goodbye to his younger sisters, kissing each one tenderly. Susan -- a long-term ISM activist in Nablus, who's seen many traumatic situations -- found herself breaking down as the sisters began to cry. Accompanied by his father, mother, sister and older brother, as well as several internationals, Mohammed walked through the Askar camp to his rendez-vous with the Israeli Occupation Forces. Camp residents came out to say their farewells, repeating the Arabic phrase "deer baaluk" [take care], shaking his hand, or kissing his cheeks. A camp procession began to follow Mohammed to his destination. The IOF commander maintained contact with Mohammed's father by cell phone, and when he got within sight of the IOF -- who had arrived in several armored military jeeps and an APC -- the rest of the procession was ordered to stop. Many of the children who were following were ready with rocks in hand, but they stayed behind as Mohammed proceeded ahead with his father, mother, as well as the internationals whom he wanted with him as protection. As Mohammed got even closer to the IOF soldiers, he was ordered to walk ahead alone. He kissed his father good-bye and, finally, kissed his mother two times on each cheek before walking up a hill to meet the soldiers. Before arriving, he was ordered to lift his shirt, and drop his pants. In his underwear -- and within sight of his family and friends -- Mohammed was asked to turn around. Mohammed Hashem Ramadan, 19, was placed in a jeep and driven to the IOF's Huwarra Military Base south of Nablus. He will be held and interrogated there until the IOF decides to hold him in administrative detention -- ie. detention without trial -- for six months or more -- or order his release. There are currently more than 8000 Palestinians in IOF occupation prisons. [Written by Jaggi Singh (December 31, 2002) in Nablus. Jaggi is a writer and activist based in Montreal, and a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (www.palsolidarity.org). He is also a member of the No One Is Illegal campaign and the Anti-Capitalist Convergence (CLAC). There are a few digital photos related to this article, but they will not be available for download until mid-January. For previous reports from Palestine, or for copies of the photos, please contact the writer at jaggisingh2003@yahoo.ca.] From news at ckln.fm Mon Jan 6 13:11:22 2003 From: news at ckln.fm (ckln NEWS 88.1fm) Date: Sun Feb 8 02:52:06 2004 Subject: [Dryerase] [Fwd: Nablus: Palestinians defy IOF to clear roadblocks; part of anti-ApartheidWall campaign] Message-ID: <3E19D4DA.4E155940@ckln.fm> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Nablus: Palestinians defy IOF to clear roadblocks; part of anti-ApartheidWall campaign Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2003 07:52:38 -0500 (EST) From: Jaggi Singh To: jaggisingh2003@yahoo.ca Palestinians defy Israeli Occupation Forces to clear roadblocks Actions part of anti-Apartheid Wall campaign -- reported by Jaggi Singh NABLUS, OCCUPIED PALESTINE (January 5, 2003) -- Over 200 residents of the West Bank city of Nablus cleared a path through a large earth-and-rubble Israeli road blockade today, using shovels, picks, bare hands, as well as a bulldozer. The action was supported by more than 30 activists with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), as well as other international observers. The blockade on Jerusalem Road -- which is actually two separate wide and high mounds of packed earth, rubble, bricks and debris -- inhibits travel for residents of the Balata and Askar refugee camps into the city center of Nablus. The earth barriers were constructed by Israeli Occupation Forces' (IOF) soldiers three months ago, part of the low-intensity siege of Nablus and its surrounding areas. Today's direct action was supported by all the main political groups of Nablus, as well as local medical and education committees, and the Palestinian municipal authorities. Starting in the late morning, residents arrived at the blockade, known as Al Moqata, located right beside Palestinian Authority buildings destroyed by Israeli bombs last spring. Men, women and children all began to move away the earth and rubble, sometimes needing up to 20 people to push away large boulders. They were cheered on by singing and chanting onlookers. IOF forces, who strategically occupy the high ground around Nablus, stayed discreetly away from the action, although they were sighted watching the scene from atop the hills. The mood of today's action was exuberant, especially when an earth-moving vehicle arrived to help clear the blockade. Later, a bulldozer finished the task, allowing space for cars to move through a portion of the blockade, as well as helping residents to more easily access their own city. As of this evening, the new access point is being widely used by taxis and cars in Nablus. In the words of Saif Salem, a Palestinian member of the ISM in Nablus, "This action is helping to bring the city to life." Today's action is the second time within the last month that city residents have removed some of the symbolic tools of IOF occupation. Less than three weeks ago, Nablus-area residents removed a one-tonne iron gate that divided the city of Nablus into two on Amman Road (parallel to Jerusalem Road). The gate was torn from its hinges, and thrown over a cliff into a nearby ravine. It has yet to be replaced. The roadblock removals are important collective actions, but Nablus still remains a city very much under siege. There are checkpoints controlling access to and from the city, with no vehicles allowed to leave or enter without special permission. At the Huwarra checkpoint just outside Nablus, there are consistently long lineups of Palestinians waiting to enter or leave the city. Many people often wait the entire day in the open air. Within Nablus, a curfew is imposed each night at 6pm, while unannounced checkpoints are set up at various locations in the city. Ambulances often have difficultly crossing these arbitrary blockades. According to Ha'aretz newspaper, a ten-day old baby died in an ambulance after not being able to cross a checkpoint to the local hospital in the early morning hours of January 2, 2003. Meanwhile, as part of their almost nightly operations, IOF soldiers engage in home invasions and occupations as they attept to arrest or kill the hundreds of Palestinians on their wanted lists from Nablus. IOF tanks, APCs and jeeps roam freely at night, and home demolitions are a frequent occurence. THE APARTHEID WALL The blockade removals in Nablus are part of a larger ISM campaign called: "Imprisoned in our own land: Israeli Walls of Apartheid". The campaign focusses on the walls, barriers and restrictions to daily life under illegal Israeli military occupation. Most tangibly, the campaign targets the Israeli security and separation fence -- better known as the Apartheid Wall -- which is intended to physically separate the residents of West Bank and Gaza from Israel. Importantly, significant portions of the Apartheid Wall are being built inside the Palestinian side of the 1967 Green-line border, which will effectively annex and confiscate 10% of land within the West Bank. The first-stage of the wall is currently being built in the northern West Bank, in the Tulkarem/Qalqilya area. This first phase will be 115km long, and an average of 8 metres high. It will include electric fences, guard towers, trenches, cameras, sensors and security patrols. The wall just in this area effectively confiscates 2% of West Bank land in one of the most fertile areas of Palestine. In other areas, farmers will be cut off from their fields, while the city of Qalqilya will almost be encircled by the wall. Palestinian residents of the Qalqilya-area have already organized actions against the wall, most recently on December 29, 2002 in the village of Jayyous, where they were met by the tear gas, batons and live bullets of IOF soldiers and private security. The wall is also taking shape, brutally, in Rafah (Gaza), near the Egyptian border. Dozens of homes have been demolished -- often shelled with tank fire, or dynamited after forcibly removing residents -- so that the Apartheid Wall can eventually go up. In some cases, homes are demolished without warning. In Rafah, one of the basic acts of resistance has been for families, sometimes supported by internationals, to remain in their homes, in defiance of IOF orders to leave. Just south of Jerusalem, near Bethlehem, the Israeli government is completing a security fence in the area, part of the Apartheid Wall network. The fence is being constructed beyond the Jewish-only settlements of Gilo and Har Homa, that have already been illegally annexed as "neighborhoods" of Jerusalem. On New Year's Eve, about 1000 Palestinian residents of the towns of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, south of the fence, marched to the Jerusalem-Bethlehem checkpoint to oppose the Apartheid Wall, as well as to demand open access to Jerusalem and an end to the occupation. The anti-Apartheid Wall campaign continues in the upcoming months. There is a major demonstration and march planned in the Tulkarem area for this coming Thursday. For updates, consult: http://www.palsolidarity.org. [Written and reported by Jaggi Singh from Nablus. Jaggi is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and is a writer and social justice activist based in Montreal. Digital photos from the action today in Nablus will be available soon. To get copies sent by e-mail attachment, please contact jaggisingh2003@yahoo.ca.] From news at ckln.fm Mon Jan 6 13:11:37 2003 From: news at ckln.fm (ckln NEWS 88.1fm) Date: Sun Feb 8 02:52:06 2004 Subject: [Dryerase] [Fwd: Nablus Protest Photos (January 5, 2003)] Message-ID: <3E19D4E9.40CD400B@ckln.fm> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Nablus Protest Photos (January 5, 2003) Date: Mon, 6 Jan 2003 11:47:54 -0500 (EST) From: Jaggi Singh To: jaggisingh2003@yahoo.ca Photos from the roadblock direct action in Nablus yesterday are now available online at: http://palestine.indymedia.org/news/2003/01/99769.php The original article is also linked at: http://palestine.indymedia.org/news/2003/01/99760.php -- J ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Palestinians defy Israeli Occupation Forces to clear roadblocks Actions part of anti-Apartheid Wall campaign -- reported by Jaggi Singh NABLUS, OCCUPIED PALESTINE (January 5, 2003) -- Over 200 residents of the West Bank city of Nablus cleared a path through a large earth-and-rubble Israeli road blockade today, using shovels, picks, bare hands, as well as a bulldozer. The action was supported by more than 30 activists with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), as well as other international observers. The blockade on Jerusalem Road -- which is actually two separate wide and high mounds of packed earth, rubble, bricks and debris -- inhibits travel for residents of the Balata and Askar refugee camps into the city center of Nablus. The earth barriers were constructed by Israeli Occupation Forces' (IOF) soldiers three months ago, part of the low-intensity siege of Nablus and its surrounding areas. Today's direct action was supported by all the main political groups of Nablus, as well as local medical and education committees, and the Palestinian municipal authorities. Starting in the late morning, residents arrived at the blockade, known as Al Moqata, located right beside Palestinian Authority buildings destroyed by Israeli bombs last spring. Men, women and children all began to move away the earth and rubble, sometimes needing up to 20 people to push away large boulders. They were cheered on by singing and chanting onlookers. IOF forces, who strategically occupy the high ground around Nablus, stayed discreetly away from the action, although they were sighted watching the scene from atop the hills. The mood of today's action was exuberant, especially when an earth-moving vehicle arrived to help clear the blockade. Later, a bulldozer finished the task, allowing space for cars to move through a portion of the blockade, as well as helping residents to more easily access their own city. As of this evening, the new access point is being widely used by taxis and cars in Nablus. In the words of Saif Salem, a Palestinian member of the ISM in Nablus, "This action is helping to bring the city to life." Today's action is the second time within the last month that city residents have removed some of the symbolic tools of IOF occupation. Less than three weeks ago, Nablus-area residents removed a one-tonne iron gate that divided the city of Nablus into two on Amman Road (parallel to Jerusalem Road). The gate was torn from its hinges, and thrown over a cliff into a nearby ravine. It has yet to be replaced. The roadblock removals are important collective actions, but Nablus still remains a city very much under siege. There are checkpoints controlling access to and from the city, with no vehicles allowed to leave or enter without special permission. At the Huwarra checkpoint just outside Nablus, there are consistently long lineups of Palestinians waiting to enter or leave the city. Many people often wait the entire day in the open air. Within Nablus, a curfew is imposed each night at 6pm, while unannounced checkpoints are set up at various locations in the city. Ambulances often have difficultly crossing these arbitrary blockades. According to Ha'aretz newspaper, a ten-day old baby died in an ambulance after not being able to cross a checkpoint to the local hospital in the early morning hours of January 2, 2003. Meanwhile, as part of their almost nightly operations, IOF soldiers engage in home invasions and occupations as they attept to arrest or kill the hundreds of Palestinians on their wanted lists from Nablus. IOF tanks, APCs and jeeps roam freely at night, and home demolitions are a frequent occurence. THE APARTHEID WALL The blockade removals in Nablus are part of a larger ISM campaign called: "Imprisoned in our own land: Israeli Walls of Apartheid". The campaign focusses on the walls, barriers and restrictions to daily life under illegal Israeli military occupation. Most tangibly, the campaign targets the Israeli security and separation fence -- better known as the Apartheid Wall -- which is intended to physically separate the residents of West Bank and Gaza from Israel. Importantly, significant portions of the Apartheid Wall are being built inside the Palestinian side of the 1967 Green-line border, which will effectively annex and confiscate 10% of land within the West Bank. The first-stage of the wall is currently being built in the northern West Bank, in the Tulkarem/Qalqilya area. This first phase will be 115km long, and an average of 8 metres high. It will include electric fences, guard towers, trenches, cameras, sensors and security patrols. The wall just in this area effectively confiscates 2% of West Bank land in one of the most fertile areas of Palestine. In other areas, farmers will be cut off from their fields, while the city of Qalqilya will almost be encircled by the wall. Palestinian residents of the Qalqilya-area have already organized actions against the wall, most recently on December 29, 2002 in the village of Jayyous, where they were met by the tear gas, batons and live bullets of IOF soldiers and private security. The wall is also taking shape, brutally, in Rafah (Gaza), near the Egyptian border. Dozens of homes have been demolished -- often shelled with tank fire, or dynamited after forcibly removing residents -- so that the Apartheid Wall can eventually go up. In some cases, homes are demolished without warning. In Rafah, one of the basic acts of resistance has been for families, sometimes supported by internationals, to remain in their homes, in defiance of IOF orders to leave. Just south of Jerusalem, near Bethlehem, the Israeli government is completing a security fence in the area, part of the Apartheid Wall network. The fence is being constructed beyond the Jewish-only settlements of Gilo and Har Homa, that have already been illegally annexed as "neighborhoods" of Jerusalem. On New Year's Eve, about 1000 Palestinian residents of the towns of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, south of the fence, marched to the Jerusalem-Bethlehem checkpoint to oppose the Apartheid Wall, as well as to demand open access to Jerusalem and an end to the occupation. The anti-Apartheid Wall campaign continues in the upcoming months. There is a major demonstration and march planned in the Tulkarem area for this coming Thursday. For updates, consult: http://www.palsolidarity.org. [Written and reported by Jaggi Singh from Nablus. Jaggi is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and is a writer and social justice activist based in Montreal. Digital photos from the action today in Nablus will be available soon. To get copies sent by e-mail attachment, please contact jaggisingh2003@yahoo.ca.]