Main Witness to Testify Tomorrow in Trial of West Bank Protest Organizer, Bassem Tamimi

by Popular Struggle Coordination Committee : 23 October 2011

Islam Dar Ayyoub, the 14 year-old who incriminated Tamimi after being unlawfully interrogated, will take the stand tomorrow at the Ofer Military Court. Tamimi has been incarcerated for seven months, in which only one witness testified.

When: Monday, October 24th, 2011 at 9:30 PM
Where: Ofer Military Court*
* Entry to the military court must be coordinated with the Israeli army’s spokesperson’s office in advance.
Media contact: Jonathan Pollak +972-54-632-7736

The Military Prosecution will resume making its case against West Bank protest organizer from Nabi Saleh, Bassem Tamimi, at the Ofer Military Court tomorrow morning. Fourteen year-old Islam Dar Ayyoub – one of two main witnesses against Tamimi – is scheduled to give evidence to the court tomorrow, despite a motion by the defense to delay it. The defense has requested the postponement, as procedures by the boy’s own defense team to rule his testimony inadmissible, have not yet concluded.

Islam Dar Ayyoub, also from Nabi Saleh, was taken from his bed at gunpoint on the night of January 23rd. In his interrogation the morning after his arrest, Islam alleged that Bassem and Naji Tamimi organized groups of youth into “brigades”, charged with different responsibilities during the demonstrations: some were allegedly in charge of stone-throwing, others of blocking roads, etc.

During a trial-within-a-trial procedure in Islam’s trial, motioning for his testimony to be ruled inadmissible, it was proven that his police interrogation was fundamentally flawed and violated the rights set forth in the Israeli Youth Law in the following ways:

1. Despite being a minor, he was questioned in the morning following his arrest, having been denied sleep.
2. He was denied legal counsel, although his lawyer appeared at the police station requesting to see him.
3. He was denied his right to have a parent present during his questioning.
4. He was not informed of his right to remain silent, and was even told by his interrogators that he is “expected to tell the truth”.
5. Only one of four interrogators present was a qualified youth interrogator.

The audio-visual recording of another central witness against Tamimi, 15 year-old Mo’atasem Tamimi, proves that he too was questioned in a similarly unlawful manner.

Tamimi has been behind lock and key for the past seven months, in which only one out of over twenty prosecution witnesses have testified before the court. On September 25th, Major Michelle Dahan, who was commander of the military forces in the area and in charge of suppressing Nabi Saleh demonstrations, admitted to having dispersed demonstrations that were entirely peaceful, and alleged that Tamimi ordered youth to throw stones based on the fact that he saw him on rooftops during demonstrations.

Background
Bassem Tamimi is a veteran Palestinian grassroots activist from the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah. He is married to Nariman Tamimi, with whom he fathers four children – Wa’ed (14), Ahed (10), Mohammed (8) and Salam (5).

As a veteran activist, Tamimi has been arrested by the Israeli army 11 times to date, though he was never convicted of any offense. Tamimi spent roughly three years in administrative detention, with no charges brought against him. Furthermore, his attorney and he were denied access to “secret evidence” brought against him.

The Age in Australia on Nabi Saleh and the “Fight over West Bank settlements”

Ruth Pollard: The Age: October 7, 2011

A Jewish settler carries her husband’s M-16 rifle after attending an arms training session. Tensions are rising on the West Bank between Palestinians and settlers. Photo: New York Times

IT IS a battle that is fought on Palestinian-owned land and in Arab villages all over the occupied West Bank. Young olive trees are ripped from the ground, older trees are burnt or hacked to pieces, mosques are set alight and villagers attacked.

Palestinians say there has been a recent surge in settler violence, and that the Israel Defence Forces are either ill-equipped or unwilling to put a stop to the hostilities.

Grainy video of the attacks is now regularly posted on YouTube — either to condemn or praise the acts of violence.

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In a recent fight between settlers and a Palestinian farmer and protesters near the settlement of Anatot, settlers are heard to chant “death to Arabs” and call female protesters “sluts”, saying: “All of these women f— Arabs.”

In this incident – on September 30 – a settler is seen attacking the crowd with a knife, protesters and villagers are punched to the ground, and throughout the ensuing mayhem, there appear to be barely any soldiers in the area to keep the peace.

When the soldiers do come, village leaders say, they either stand by and watch the attacks or provoke further violence rather than protecting people and property.

From the settlers’ point of view, it is often the peace activists who arrive without warning and provoke the violence.

David Ha’ivri, a prominent settler leader, said the recent violence in Anatot was a classic example of “a group of left-wing activists provoking a fight in a quiet civilian community, then using that fight to paint themselves as the victim”.

“This is an event that went for many hours, and yet they have edited the footage down to just a few minutes – they were not innocent bystanders, they went at their own expense to someone else’s home to start a fight,” Mr Ha’ivri said.

?The tiny West Bank town of al-Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah, has become a weekly flashpoint for such clashes, as settlers from Halamish and its outposts try to seize the al-Qawas Spring and the land around it.

The spring lies on land that belongs to the nearby Palestinian village of Deir Nidham. In July 2008, settlers began to use the spring and in February 2009 they started to renovate the area. Palestinians filed complaints with the police about the work, which was undertaken without permit on privately-owned Palestinian land, and which caused damage to trees and other property, the human rights group B’Tselem said. All the complaints were closed on grounds of “offender unknown” or “lack of evidence”. The matter now rests with the High Court.

“Almost every week we smell tear gas,” said Bashir Tamimi, head of the village of 550 residents. “Settler violence is increasing — they are chopping down trees, damaging roads. After [Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud] Abbas went to the UN, it appeared that the Israeli government let the settlers loose, and allowed them to do whatever they wanted.”

In response to what many saw as an escalating situation, al-Nabi Saleh, with the help of the Palestinian Popular Committees, has equipped a group of its younger residents with video and stills cameras to document the violence and destruction.

The Age attended the weekly Friday protest at al-Nabi Saleh, where a few dozen villagers and protesters attempted to walk to the spring, only to be met with extraordinary force from the Israel Defence Forces.

First a large truck sprayed a foul-smelling liquid towards the protest – known as “skunk”, it can induce vomiting and sickness – and then the tear gas canisters began to rain down. Dozens and dozens of them, fired indiscriminately into the crowd and the assembled media, hitting demonstrators and dispersing tear gas throughout the village. One young man was carried unconscious to a waiting ambulance.

From the demonstrators’ side, some protesters hurled rocks at the soldiers. The battle went on for hours.

Nabi Saleh welcomes political prisoners home

Video by Bilal Tamimi

Military Court Rejects Motion to Release Bassem Tamimi

by Popular Struggle Coordination Committee: 12 October 2011

A judge at the Ofer Military Court ruled yesterday that Palestinian protest organizer, Bassem Tamimi, will remain in prison indefinitely, until the end of his trial. The judge denied a motion filed by Tamimi’s defense lawyer, adv. Labib Habib, to revisit a prior decision to hold Tamimi until the end of legal proceedings.

The motion to release Tamimi was filed nearly seven months after his arrest, and while only one witness was heard by the court in his case during that period. The defense argued that with the trial being conducted at such a slow pace, Tamimi will not receive a fair trial or a chance to fight for his innocence. With only one of 24 prosecution witnesses heard in seven months, the duration Tamimi’s trial is expected to exceed the anticipated sentence, even in case Tamimi will be convicted by the court.

The defense also pointed out the fact that three hearings were canceled so far at the fault of the prosecution, including one to which their witnesses did not show up and another to which the wrong witnesses were summoned by the prosecutor.

Tamimi’s lawyer also argued that the one testimony that was heard (click here for a summery of the hearing), that on a military commander who was in charge of dealing with the Nabi Saleh demonstrations, was based on hearsay and speculation.

The judge, however, decided to deny Tamimi’s motion, and ordered him to remain in custody. In his ruling, the judge determined that not enough time has passed and that the motion was premature, despite the delays in the trials. The judge also noted that since Tamimi’s alleged accomplice, Naji Tamimi, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, a reasonable time to file a motion to revisit Tamimi’s remand decision will only be a year after his arrest.

Nabi Saleh Celebrates the Forthcoming Release of Local Prisoners and Honors Those Who Remain in Custody

by Popular Struggle Coordination Committee: 14 October 2011

Some 80 protesters in Nabi Saleh’s weekly demonstration honor the village’s political prisoners and attempt to reach the confiscated spring. 

The weekly protest in Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah, was held in honor of three local political prisoners who are planned to be released following the prisoner exchange deal achieved last week. In addition to celebrating the forthcoming release, the demonstration also marched pass the house of another local prisoner who will remain in prison, and promised to continue the struggle until all political prisoners are free.

After marching inside the villages, the demonstrators made an attempt to reach the village’s spring, which has been taken over by the adjacent settlement Halamish. However, as soon as the demonstration started heading towards the lands the army met it with great force, instantly shooting large amounts of tear-gas and rubber bullets at the demonstrators. Three protesters were slightly injured. 

Video by David Reeb

Nabi Saleh protest in solidarity Palestinian political prisoners sprayed with skunk

Video by Bilal Tamimi

Nabi Saleh marches in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike

This Friday, Nabi Saleh residents protest both the theft of Nabi Saleh land for the construcion of the illegal Israeli colony of Halamish and also express strong solidarity with Israel’s Palestinian political prisoners presently engaged in a mass hunger strike in Israeli jails in protest against the inhumane conditions imposed on them.

For more information on the hunger strike click here

Video by phanxty sumoud

Video by Tamimi Press

Video by David Reeb

A letter from Nariman Tamimi to the World

 by Diana Alzeer: 5 October 2011

On 27 September 2011 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons announced the start of a campaign of disobedience to protest an escalating series of punitive measures taken against them by the Israeli Prison Service. Today marks the 8th day of their hunger strike. A call for Solidarity actions around the world has been issued for this friday 7/10, to find your local solidarity action please check : https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=231330736923906

 Today outside a sit-in at the Red Cross in Ramallah I met with Nariman Al Tamimi from Al Nabi Saleh village.  Nariman is an ex-prisoner herself and the wife of the political prisoner ‘Bassem Al Tamimi’. As a resident of the village her family has been suffering from the Israeli occupation on a daily basis. In the space of 5 years she has been shot a total of 7 times, while her eldest son Wa’d who is 14 years old has been shot with rubber bullets over 10 times. Furthermore, their house faces the threat of immediate demolition by Israeli forces.

Due to her history Nariman has became a symbol of ‘somoud’- steadfastness- to many Palestinians. Despite the endless tragedies she is continually facing she never wavered from demanding for her and her people’s full legitimate rights.

Today from the sit-in in Ramallah, Nariman wished to send a message to the world urging them to take solidarity actions with the hunger strikers in Israeli jails.

“I want to tell the world about international law and all the human rights resolutions that are meant to protect human rights including the rights of prisoners of war. I would like to ask why these laws are not protecting our prisoners? Why are the human rights activists are not doing anything regarding the Israeli violations? Why is the world still silent?

All we want is to be able to see our sons, daughters, husbands, fathers and mothers. We want them to be treated according to International Law. We want to have our rights like anyone else around the world. I am sure the most of you heard about the Israeli captured militant ‘Gilad Shalit’, but I wonder if you heard about the 8000 Gilad Shalits in Israeli jails? Most of the them are civilians, including children and women. I call all human rights organizations and activists to take the side of justice and save our prisoners”

Statistics of Palestinian Political Prisoners:

-340 Palestinian children are being held in Israeli Prisons

-There are well over 120 women in Israeli prisons, 17 of these women are mothers. 2 of which gave birth in prison. The youngest female currently held is 12 years of age.

-The majority of these detainees are being held in violation of the IV Geneva Convention in prisons outside of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

(Source: Addameer, Human rights centre and prisoners support)

Say NO to injustice and take part of the solidarity actions with Palestinian Prisoners for more details:

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=231330736923906

Non-violent protest in Nabi Saleh attacked by teargas, rubber bullets, skunk from the Israeli military – 30 Sept 2011

video by Israel Puterman

video by David Reeb

Human Rights organisations B’Tselem & ACRI on the illegal suppression of protests in Nabi Saleh

video by planxtysumoud

Following their 12-9-2011 report documenting how Occupation Forces denied residents of Nabi Saleh their right to protest and the excessive force used to suppress the protests that did occur,  B’Tselem: the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories detailed their findings in the report at a press conference in Nabi Saleh to members of the media.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) addressed the Kafkaesque rules governing the permitting and policing of protests in the West Bank and prior to the presentations, two Nabi Saleh villagers; Abu Hossam Tamimi and Bashir Tamimi discussed popular resistance to the occupation in Nabi Saleh and throughout the West Bank.

To read the  B’TSelem report, Show of Force: Israeli Military Conduct in Weekly Demonstrations in a-Nabi Saleh, click here