Palestinians construct new protest village in south Hebron

(MaanImages/Stringer) 

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=563453

HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Palestinians and foreign solidarity activists on Saturday set up a new protest village in the south Hebron hills, and vowed to remain there despite Israeli forces moving to dismantle the structures.

Early Saturday, activists set up steel-framed tents near the Palestinian village of al-Tuwani, calling the encampment "Canaan".

Younis Arar, coordinator of the popular committees in the southern West Bank, told Ma'an that soldiers assaulted the 30 activists who had gathered in the area.

"We began building the tents and were surprised when a large force of the Israeli army began attacking us and destroying tents and hitting us ... We will try and build Canaan village again," Arar said.

A military spokeswoman said soldiers evacuated illegal structures, and responded with riot dispersal means when around 100 Palestinians "rioted" in the area.

A Ma'an reporter said three journalists were detained, and the military spokeswoman said five Palestinians and five Israelis were arrested for entering the area after it was declared a closed military zone.

Yatta popular committee spokesman Ibrahim Rabee told Ma'an the protest camp was a stand against Israeli policies in the region.

"We are establishing Canaan on our land after our homes and water wells were demolished, and our people displaced," he said.

The south Hebron hills lies in an area of the West Bank under full Israeli military control, and its residents say Israel does not allow any building permits and demolishes homes and infrastructure, while supporting Israeli settlements in the area.

Just south of al-Tuwani, Israel has established a closed military zone where the state wants to evict eight Palestinian villages to make way for a army training ground.

The Canaan protest camp is the fifth such initiative in recent weeks.

In January, the Bab al-Shams village was set up in an area where Israel plans to build the "E1" settlement, severing the West Bank from Jerusalem.

Then, locals established the al-Karamah (Dignity) village in Beit Iksa, northwest of Jerusalem, which is set to be tightly encircled by Israel's separation wall.

A week later, activists set up the Al-Asra, or prisoners, protest village in the village of Anin, northwest of Jenin.

Last Saturday, Palestinians established the "Al-Manatir neighborhood" encampment in an area of Burin village that activists say is slated for confiscation by a neighboring settlement.

Israeli forces have moved to evacuate each of the camps and dismantle their structures.

Diplomacy in action- for peace & Palestine

letter I just sent my elected leaders via congress.org

Dear President Obama,

As your second term is to begin soon, people are hoping your second inaugural address will help steer this nation in more positive and productive directions.

Personally I hope that you will clearly and firmly voice support for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, for I am quite convinced that ending the Israel-Palestine conflict will have positive ramifications world wide. 

While your wife is shopping for an enchanting inauguration ball gown to wear to help visually convey the dignity of your office as well as reflect her own personal beauty, Palestinians are also using fabric to reflect the dignity of Palestine's struggle for peace and justice.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces tore down the tented village Bab al-Shams (Gate of the Sun), set up to protest Israel's plans to build the "E1" settlement on Palestinian land.

But the story continues- as it has for over sixty years- as another tent village for Palestine has appeared, northwest of Jerusalem, a tent village named al-Karamah (Dignity).

A fully secular two state solution to once and for ALL end the Israel-Palestine conflict must be based on full respect for international law and basic human rights, including but not limited to the Palestinian refugees right to return to original homes and lands as promised by the international community in 1948 when Israel achieved statehood.

DIPLOMACY IN ACTION The United States Office of International Religious Freedom has the mission of promoting religious freedom as a core objective of U.S. foreign policy:"Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries" http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/

I think it is obvious that people should not have their homes destroyed and their land usurped and their freedom curbed and their ability to work sabotaged and their basic human rights denied because they have  been deemed the "wrong religion" by Israel....  American tax payers should not be forced to help fund Israel's investments in Jewish 'housing', in both Israel proper as well as in the illegally occupied territories.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
American homemaker & poet

Palestinians set up new tented protest village northwest of Jerusalem

Palestinian activists on Friday established a new tented protest village
northwest of Jerusalem. (MaanImages/HO)

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=557212

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Palestinian activists on Friday established a new tented protest village northwest of Jerusalem, the second such initiative against Israeli settlement building in as many weeks.

Activists set up three tents and a small building in the area near Beit Iksa, naming the village al-Karamah (Dignity).

Locals said around 400 Palestinians performed Friday prayers in the open area.

Saed Yakrina, an activist from nearby village Beit Liza, said the camp was "a message to Israel and all democratic societies that we are human, and we want peace."

Activists from across the political spectrum, mainly from nearby villages, have gathered and will sleep in the tents overnight, he told Ma'an.

Beit Iksa, surrounded by Israeli settlements, is set to be entirely encircled by Israel's separation wall, cutting it off from Jerusalem.

Israeli authorities ordered the confiscation of 500 dunams of the village's land three weeks ago, and do not permit any new building in the town, Yakrina said, noting that Israeli settlements were still expanding.

"We are looking for a life without checkpoints, walls and settlements," he said.

Israeli forces immediately shut down the military checkpoint at the entrance to Beit Iksa to prevent more activists and supporters from accessing the protest site, witnesses said.

On Wednesday, Israeli forces tore down the tented village Bab al-Shams, set up to protest Israel's plans to build the "E1" settlement on the land, severing the West Bank from Jerusalem.

Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouthi on Friday said Bab al-Shams and al-Karama were a new dimension in the Palestinian struggle and that more protest villages would be established.

"The spirit of popular resistance which Bab al-Shams disseminated is being strengthened today in other areas including Izbat al-Tabib and Beit Iksa," the secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative said in a statement.

A rally was held in Izbat al-Tabib in the Qalqiliya district of the northern West Bank on Friday to protest Israeli plans to demolish a school in the village.

The rally showed that popular resistance against Israel's occupation is spreading, Barghouthi said.