Israeli Occupation Forces violently attack Nabi Saleh demonstration (12th April 2013)

Video by Bilal Tamimi

Video by David Reeb

 

Weekly demonstrations in Nabi Saleh resume after two weeks of solidarity marches in Aboud village

Video by David Reeb

Photo by Tamimi Press

Photo by Haim Schwarczenberg

Photo by Tamimi Press

Photo by Haim Schwarczenberg

Photo by Hassan Daboos

Photo by Hamza Burnat

Photo by Tamimi Press

 

Nabi Saleh documentary: Thank God It‘s Friday

 Photo of Mustafa Tamimi, a villager from Nabi Saleh who was killed by Israeli occupation forces with a tear gas canister fired at his face from point-blank range.

Thank God It‘s Friday is Nabi Saleh‘s biggest film debut

By Andrew Beale : Palestine Monitor: February 17, 2013

Thank God it’s Friday probably had the most successful film debut in the village of Nabi Saleh, which premiered on February 2. The village’s cultural center was filled beyond capacity, and seats were hard to find amid an excited, cheering crowd.

The documentary has been in the works for two years and focuses on the ongoing struggle to reclaim the land of Nabi Saleh, much of which was stolen by the neighboring settlement of Halamish. It features interviews and footage of Nabi Saleh residents as well as the settlers living in Halamish.

Belgian filmmakers Jan Beddegenoodts and Niel Iwens collaborated on the project. Beddegenoodts said he was inspired to make the film after attending a demonstration in Nabi Saleh.

“The first time I was in Nabi Saleh, in April 2011, the protests were really violent. It blew my mind,” he said.

The film’s title is a reference to the fact that demonstrations take place in Nabi Saleh every Friday. The demonstrations are marked by intense repression from Israeli security forces, who frequently use skunk water, tear gas, rubber bullets, and even live fire.

Including the settlers was an important part of the project for Iwens and Beddengenoodts because it visually demonstrates the difference between Nabi Saleh, a village suffering from occupation, and Halamish, a settlement bolstered with funding from the Israeli government

During the production of Thank God it’s Friday, Nabi Saleh resident Mustafa Tamimi was killed by Israeli occupation forces with a tear gas canister fired at his face from point-blank range. Almost a year later, another villager Rushdi Tamimi was killed by Israeli soldiers’ live fire. The film features interviews with Mustafa’s family after his death.

“It was really hard seeing his mother witnessing how he got killed, and it was really hard to see how the settlers considered it an accident, when he literally got shot to death,” Iwens said.

Including the settlers was an important part of the project for Iwens and Beddegenoodts because it visually demonstrates the difference between Nabi Saleh, a village suffering from occupation, and Halamish, a settlement bolstered with funding from the Israeli government.

“The first time I went (to Halamish), I was blown away by the contrast,” Beddegenoodts said. “You can see it already from the way it looks from the outside. It looks alien in the Palestinian landscape.”

It’s clear, watching the film, that the settlers in Halamish are not particularly bothered by the damage done by their illegal occupation of Palestinian land.

In one of the film’s most powerful segments, two teenagers in Halamish discuss spending Friday relaxing by the pool, while in the background soldiers can be seen storming up the hill towards Nabi Saleh.

“While the people from Nabi Saleh were focusing on resisting the occupation, the people in Halamish got comfortable,” Beddegenoodts said. The filmmakers hope the film will draw international attention to the problems posed by settlements.

“I think it stays a really obscure news item for most people, and we hope to change this,” Beddegenoodts said. “In this time, in this period of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Thank God it’s Friday can show people why (settlements are) the main obstacle to a solution.”

Although they do not yet have a distributor, the documentarians are committed to showing their movie as widely as possible in order to show the world what is happening in Nabi Saleh.

“We tried to reach out as far as we can with our documentary, especially in the countries where they haven’t got so much knowledge about the conflict,” Iwens said. “I hope after seeing the conflict, the way that things are now, they will start to ask questions.”

Beddegenoodts and Iwens also want to see justice for the death of Mustafa Tamimi, but they do not believe this is likely to happen under the Israeli regime.

“What should be done is a very firm internal investigation, but an internal investigation on the side of Israel almost always results in the excuse of a ‘security issue,’” Iwens said. “There is almost no hope for a proper investigation. What should be done will never be done in this matter.”

Although justice is unlikely to come from Israel, Beddegenoodts and Iwens believe in the power of the people of Nabi Saleh to achieve justice through their struggle.

“I still believe in the people of Nabi Saleh,” Beddegenoodts said. “We must keep faith and hope that change is possible.”

Video: Nabi Saleh calls for the release Samer Issawi and all Palestinian political prisoners

video by Israel Puterman

Photos & Video: Nabi Saleh village continues resistance to Israeli occupation and apartheid

Photos by Haim Schwarczenberg/video by David Reeb: 2 February 2013

Video and photos: Nabi Saleh protests continue; one person hit in head with teargas canister as IOF open fire

Photos by: Oren Ziv and Tweet Palestine/Video by David Reeb: 25 Januray 2013

Video by David Reeb

A Palestinian boy aged 16 or 17 years receiving medical treatment after being hit in head by a tear gas shot by Israeli forces, during a weekly demonstration in the village of Nabi Saleh, West Bank, January 25, 2013.

  Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org. Photo by: Tweet Palestine

 

Photo by: Tweet Palestine

 

Photo by: Tweet Palestine

IOF at spring – Photo by: Tweet Palestine

IOF open fire on Nabi Saleh residents, injuring one resident in face with rubber coated steel bullet

11 January 2013

Video by Israel Puterman

Video by David Reeb

Nabi Saleh legal victory: Israeli High Court tell illegal settlers to remove illegal structures from spring

Settlers removing illegal structures near Nabi Saleh

By YONAH JEREMY BOB Jerusalem Post: 06 Jan 2013

State tells High Court that settlers begin removing recreational structures near disputed Nabi Salih well.

Spring near West Bank village of Nabi Saleh Photo: REUTERS

Settlers have begun removing illegally built recreational structures near the disputed Ein al-Kis well in the Nabi Salih area, the state informed the High Court of Justice during a hearing on Thursday.The state said it would provide a progress update on the removal of the structures within 30 days.The hearing was one in a series involving a June 2011 petition against the well, filed by Yesh Din on behalf of the villagers of Nabi Salih and Deir Nidam, for removal of the recreational area that residents of the Halamish settlement built nearby. An earlier petition against the well was also filed by Yesh Din in December 2010.According to Yesh Din, the controversy started about three years ago, when Jewish settlers from the West Bank settlement of Halamish attempted to take over the well by turning it into a tourist and recreational site and by building illegal structures around it.

Yesh Din said that recently a new pool was excavated near the well, whose walls were lined with concrete, ignoring the impact on any potential archeological finds.

In the first petition, Yesh Din said the land was private Palestinian land and the new recreational facilities were an attempted land-grab, preventing Palestinians from accessing their land.

Following Yesh Din’s filing of the first petition, the settlers and the state responded by having the site declared an archeological site in March 2011.

According to Yesh Din, the March 2011 response by the state also recognized an obligation to guard the status quo on the land, to comply with Israel’s obligation under international law to preserve historical sites.

That announcement led Yesh Din to withdraw its first petition, under the rationale that the declaration of the area as a historical site meant an end to the illegal building.

But Yesh Din eventually filed the current petition saying that the settlers were building again, harming the archeological site and violating their earlier commitment with their recreational construction.

Besides the case before the High Court, the controversy has led to weekly demonstrations by the Nabi Salih villagers, frequent altercations between the villagers and the IDF, and even some deadly incidents.

Eventually, the IDF started to prevent Palestinian villagers from approaching the well, as well as a newly created security zone near the well.

In November 2012, during Operation Pillar of Defense, Rushdi Tamimi was killed while the IDF was trying to do crowd control of an anti-war demonstration.

The Tamimi family is one of the most important in the village, and includes protest leader Bassem Tamimi, who has been arrested repeatedly by Israel, and Mustafa Tamimi, who died after being hit in the face by a tear gas canister while chasing an IDF jeep during a protest in December 2011.

At an earlier hearing on September 5, 2012, the court issued an interim order prohibiting the Halamish settlers from doing any additional building in the area of the well.

Recently, the settlers filed a formal request to build recreational structures around the well, but the request was denied.

According to Yesh Din, the state itself said in hearings related to the current petition that the settlers had failed to prove that they owned the land where they wished to build.

It also said that the land was outside the designated area for building relating to the Halamish settlement.

Yesh Din attorney Shlomi Zachariah praised the state for starting to enforce the law “regarding the illegally built structures” that were pushing more “Palestinians off their land.”

Zachariah criticized the state for what he called the delay in enforcement, but added it was “better late than never.”

Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this article.

Video: First Nabi Saleh protest for 2013

4 January 2013

Video by Israel Puterman

Video by David Reeb

IOF arrest 2 Palestinian men, 1 Palestinian child and 2 Israeli activists; spray “skunk” at houses (4 Jan 2012)

4 January 2013

video by Sam4Palestine

video by Sam4Palestine

Israeli Occupation Forces arrest Othman Bazzar from Ramallah. He was beaten and fainted. A Palestinian ambulance workers were able to eventually treat him. According to a report from an Israeli activist who was arrested at the same time, he was unconscious and the ambulance workers were not able to rouse him. He was then apparently taken to hospital (not sure where). Also arrested were two other Israeli activists and a 15 year old child from Beit Rima (next to Nabi Saleh) and another man from Beit Rima.

Hilmy, one of the photographers for Tamimi Press was also shot at close range with two rubber coated steel bullets. Will update once again, when we have more information on Othman and the other arrests.  The IOF also sprayed “skunk” deliberately at Palestinian homes in order to try and intimidate village residents.