ISM Updates Arrests and Harrasment In Hebron

ISM Updates Arrests and Harrasment In Hebron, Resistance in Bil'in

1. Israeli Police in Hebron Arrest Fifteen Year Old Palestinian Schoolgirl 2. Israeli Military Flees from Non-Violent Protests Against Further Arrests; Bil'in Protests to Continue Tomorrow 3. Harrasment from police and military in Tel Rumeida

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1. Israeli Police in Hebron Arrest Fifteen Year Old Palestinian Schoolgirl

Today in Hebron, a group of human rights observers were posted near the Cordoba Palestinian school near the Beit Hadassah Israeli settlement. At about 1pm they noticed a 15 year old Palestinian girl (named Issra Mohammed Iseed) on her way home from school being roughly handled by an Israeli soldier. Three Israeli settlers (including a child of roughly eight years old) arrived and started to abuse the girl and the human rights observers - the settler child hit the Palestinian girl. Issra started to walk away, while requesting that the two human rights observers accompany her and call the police in the hope that they would uphold Israeli law and prevent the settlers from attacking them. The settlers continued to push and shove the Palestinian and the human rights observers. When the police arrived they instead arrested the Palestinian girl, as the settlers had demanded, taking her away to the police station in the Kiryat Arba settlement. Her lawyer, Yehya AbuZeina, is currently being denied access to the police station, and has so far been prevented from talking to his client.

After the police had taken her away, the group of settlers (which had grown to about twenty at this point) attacked the human rights observers, shoving and beating them. They destroyed an observer's video camera and hit another in the head, knocking his mobile phone down the street. The observers asked the military to protect them from the settlers. After this request, the military stood between them and the settlers, but eventually the three observers were taken to the police station - but not the settlers. Ben, a Canadian human rights observer said: "Issra asked us to call the Police to help protect her from the settlers, but instead they helped the settlers and arrested her".

Issra is currently being held in the Kiryat Arba police station, without access to a lawyer. After calls to their respective consulates, all three human rights observers were released with out charge later in the evening. The charges against Issra (if any) are currently unclear.

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2. Israeli Military Flees from Non-Violent Protests Against Further Arrests; Bil'in Protests to Continue Tomorrow

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

27th October 2005

Tomorrow, Friday at 1-00 PM the villagers of Bil'in together with Israeli and International supporters will hold another creative non-violent march to the construction site of the Annexation Barrier in solidarity with the non violent protestors in Israeli detention.

The villagers will carry a twenty meter long message in the spirit of the decisions of the International Court of Justice and march with their hands tied bearing the names of the non-violent protesters from Bil'in who are in Israeli detention. These arrestees are being accused by the Israeli authorities of damaging the foundations of the barrier.

Last Friday, villagers from Bil'in did what the U.N. and the international community have failed to do for more than a year. The villagers implemented the decision of the ICJ that the illegal barrier must be dismantled and removed metal posts that were to be used as a foundation for the Annexation barrier on their land.

In response in the Israeli military has been conducting arrest raids during the night in Bil'in, going house to house and rounding up activists known to participate in the non violent demonstrations, keeping the entire village sleepless in the process. On Sunday night the Israeli military distributed a leaflet in Arabic warning the villagers that they consider the damaging of the fence "violence against security property" and that "the daily lives of the villagers will be disrupted as a result of such acts".

Eleven Palestinian non-violent activists, including a sixteen year old child and three brothers from one family, have been arrested during theses raids. Only one of them, who was arrested by the soldiers in order to pressure his brother to turn himself in, has been released so far.

Yesterday, Thursday, a military force of about twenty Israeli soldiers in jeeps and on foot invaded the village for the third night in five days and began going house to house. Bil'in residents together with a few Israeli and international volunteers poured out of their houses surrounded the force and began singing and chanting (footage available upon request). The Israeli force subsequently withdrew from the village leaving behind a list of wanted Palestinian peace activists.

Abdullah Abu Rahme coordinator of the Bil'in Popular committee against the wall and settelmets said: " The Occupation forces arrest our children steal our land and use all their weapons against us but we will continue our non-violent protest until the wall falls"

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3. Harrasment from police and military in Tel Rumeida

October 27th, 2005

On Monday, October 24th at approximately 9pm, six Israeli soldiers tried to enter the apartment shared by the Tel Rumeida Project and International Solidarity Movement without a permit. When internationals refused entrance, the soldiers called the police, saying the internationals would be arrested for interfering with the soldiers' work.

Two Israeli police officers, Hussein Nabia and Rueben, arrived 20 minutes later and tried to convince the internationals to open the door. Upon refusal, the officer, Hussein Nabia, forced a neighbor living in the same building to come to the internationals' apartment to try and convince the internationals to let the police and army inside. The new Israeli High Court decision prohibiting Israeli security forces from using Palestinians as human shields expressly prohibits forcing Palestinians to pressure other individuals into abiding by the Israeli security forces' demands. The police were repeatedly informed that they were breaking the High Court decision, but continued their illegal behavior nonetheless.

After receiving multiple phone calls from concerned individuals, the police and army were forced to leave the internationals' apartment.

The Palestinian neighbor was then threatened by Nabia, who told him that he must move the internationals out of the home by Tuesday at 2pm and, if this was not done, the army and police would make life very difficult for the neighbor and his family.

The entire incident was filmed by internationals. On Tuesday, Nabia made four visits to the neighbor, continually threatening him to get the internationals out of the apartment and pressuring him to make a complaint at the police station saying that the internationals were staying in the apartment against his will.

At one point Nabia took out his videocamera and, filming the neighbor, screamed at him to say on film that he did not want the internationals to remain in the apartment. The neighbour remains very frightened.

The Kiryat Arba police have harassed the internationals in Tel Rumeida since they began living there two months ago. In September, the police and army issued five closed military zone orders against internations, keeping them under virtual house arrest for 104 hours. During the time that internationals were under house arrest, there were many reported settler attacks against Palestinians living in the area.

The Kiryat Arba police have repeatedly stated that they do not want internationals living in Tel Rumeida and tried to prevent the internationals from moving into their home on two occassions.

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