by International Women’s Peace Service: 19.04.2013
Human Rights Report No.464
Human Rights Summary: Use of cruel and unusual punishment in An Nabi Saleh
Date of incidents: April 19 2013
Place: An Nabi Saleh
Witnesses: IWPS, ISM, Anarchists against the Wall, Community of An Nabi Saleh
IWPS arrived in An Nabi Saleh at 11 am, one hour before the demonstration was scheduled to start. At 11:30am, two Israeli Military jeeps were stationed at the main road and a group of four soldiers were observed walking on foot through the village.
Over a hundred gathered at An Nabi Saleh for their weekly demonstration against the occupation. The community of An Nabi Saleh was present with people from all ages alongside national, international activists and media. At 12 pm, following the afternoon prayer, there was a short speech that commenced the march through the centre of town down the main road. At the main road three Israeli Military Jeeps were stationed along with a large white “skunk-truck” equipped with a long range hose and a bulldozer apparatus in front.
Chanting and singing, the crowd walked 300 meters past the gas station before pausing to set up defensive barricades with rocks. Two rock lines were set up before the Jeep and Skunk truck came forward removing the barricades, shooting several cans of tear gas and spraying the crowd with a sickeningly foul-smelling liquid.
The crowd quickly dispersed and the truck and Jeep continued to drive the length of the village drenching each house and the street with the foul smelling liquid and tear gas as a form of collective punishment which is prohibited under international law. Furthermore, such attacks on private homes are unnecessary and dangerous to the families inside. Numerous people were soaked; many reported feeling ill from the overwhelming smell. By 2pm the jeeps and skunk-truck had parked at the surveillance-tower crossroads. The demonstration had dispersed into small groups of 4 to 10 people being met by similar numbers of Israeli soldiers on foot, regularly shooting tear gas.
Report written by: Alex
Report edited by: Meg and Sylvia
Date of report: April 19, 2013
I don’t know what to write, say, do. Last I checked – this morning, the number of martyrs in ghazze was over 90. We were either on the street or at hospital with Rushdie. When there’s a hundred martyrs, among them children, babies, sometimes a whole family wiped out, sometimes several children from one family burned/crushed/blown up/.. it’s seems almost selfish to talk about one martyr. Still.
This evening, Rushdie died. After rollercoaster at fkn ramallah hospital. Rushdie, Nariman Tamimi’s brother, the second martyr in less than a year in Nabi Saleh, Rushdie, relative of pretty much everyone here.
I could try to describe who broke down in which way, who needed medical aid, who needed to be carried away, who is still …. in ways I can’t describe. But I’m spent. I should look up what happened in Gaza and here (reports kept coming in off serious injuries, arrests, etc. in WB) but I’m worn out for tonight. Idon’t know any more. It’s all too much, been too much a good while ago. There’s no break, seems keep coming at this community here, people barely manage to get back on their feet when the next fucked up blow comes. Allah yer7amak, ya Rushdie, u Allah ya3tu alsabr 3ala a7lak.
I’ll repost what I wrote earlier about what happened here Saturday. One correction: we are not sure whether the wound on his forehead was from butt of rifle or from being dragged after getting shot, or perhaps beaten or… there’s different versions. we’ll not know cause no one could film as they were shooting life like hell.I held him in my arms trying while Nariman, Naji Tamimi and Hilme fought with the soldiers who wanted to arrest him and shoot at anyone coming close. I claimed he was my brother so they wouldn’t stop me/shoot me. I held him and asked how he was. He said he couldn’t see.
He was in ICU for two days, but “fine”, “stable”, until this afternoon when it was discovered way too late that he wasn’t, he had three temporary cardiac arrests, perhaps internal bleeding, he was too unstable to transport to Hadassa hospital, everyone had to wait for him to either die or get stabilized, we then heard he was stable, people were preparing the transfer, the transportation, and then came the news. his family has talked to him earlier today. the way the hospital dealt with things….. I‘ll write about that later. I’m tired. It hurts so much to see strong people, people i love, in this much pain AGAIN. i’ll stop here.
Nabi Saleh yesterday
what is happening these days in the rest of Palestine is no comparison to the ongoing massacre in Gaza, but as a friend said today “we’re in war and the West Bank is included” – in the sense that they army is using much more violence here. Several people and groups are trying to gather how many people were seriously injured and arrested on this side, it’s hard to know. i’ll post something about that in a bit.
But here what happened yesterday in Nabi Saleh. I’ve never heard so much life ammo being shot before – the video cut out some parts. When Rushdie brother of Nariman Tamimi, Jiji Tamimi, Noura, Shukri, Shaker, etc., nephew of Naji Tamimi among others, uncle of نعم انا جهاد and Waed Tamimi and Tamimi Ahed among others, cousin of Bilal Tamimi and Manal Tamimi among others was shot, they shot life like crazy. Tamimi Rawan Tamimi first tried to continue filming but they kept shooting. everyone kept crouching. Helmy took the camera and got up and was shot at immediately. Nariman – who was at home, actually counting her blessing that nothing serious happened for on Friday – came out running, grabbed the camera and ran down, while they kept shooting around her (video doesn’t make that clear). She only realized it’s her brother when she arrived.
Then hilme and Naji made it down in spite of threats. The soldiers kept pointing guns, shooting and wanting to arrest Rushdie. He had a head wound, while lying there, he said he couldn’t see, now we can. we thought the wound was from another bullet, but it was actually from the butt of a rifle, they hit him in the head when he was shot.
You can see how much his family had to fight and risk to get him away from the army and to hospital. He’s ok, in the sense, he will survive. he’s in the ICU, the bullet entered his leg (he says he can’t feel his leg) and went into his intestines. his family is at the hospital (again), waiting for news, while everyone is hoping no one will get arrested tonight. Interesting how much soldiers tried to hide their faces from the camera …
Once again, Bassem Tamimi is being held solely for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of expression and assembly. We believe he is a prisoner of conscience and should be released immediately and unconditionally.
”
Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Programme Director
Thu, 01/11/2012
The Israeli military authorities must end their campaign of harassment, intimidation and arbitrary detention against a Palestinian activist in the occupied West Bank, Amnesty International said.
Bassem Tamimi, who has been detained since his arrest at non-violent protest against the encroachment of Israeli settlers onto Palestinian land last week, faces a further prison sentence after appearing before the Ofer Military Court on Wednesday.
“Once again, Bassem Tamimi is being held solely for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of expression and assembly. We believe he is a prisoner of conscience and should be released immediately and unconditionally,” said Ann Harrison, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International.
Tamimi was arrested on 24 October following a non-violent demonstration in a supermarket in Sha’ar Benjamin settlement north of Ramallah. More than 100 protesters had gathered to call for an end to the occupation and a boycott of all Israeli products.
He faces charges of assaulting a police officer, participation in an unlicensed demonstration, and activity against the public order.
If convicted of either of the latter two “offences”, he will also have to serve one or more suspended sentences from a previous trial: two months for participation in an unlicensed demonstration, and 17 months for “activity against the public order”.
After viewing footage of the protest, the military judge ruled that he should be released to house arrest for the duration of legal proceedings. The military prosecution is appealing this decision, and he remains at Ofer prison.
Tamimi was previously sentenced in May 2012 to 13 months in prison for his role in organizing regular non-violent protests against Israeli settlements in the West Bank. At the time, Amnesty International considered him to be a prisoner of conscience, and called for his immediate and unconditional release.
The establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank violates international humanitarian law.
Violent arrest
According to eyewitness and media reports, as the protesters left the supermarket on 24 October they were beaten by Israeli police and security forces who also fired stun grenades.
Bassem’s wife Nariman Tamimi attended the protest and told Amnesty International: “The police were brutal during the arrest. They threw Bassem on the ground and pressed him down while putting the cuffs on his hands. Anyone who tried to approach them was beaten up. The police seemed scared and nervous. They wanted to make arrests fast.”
Despite the police use of unnecessary and excessive force, the military prosecution has charged Bassem Tamimi with assault, based on the testimony of one police officer who alleges that the activist hit him on the hand.
Amnesty International spoke to witnesses and reviewed numerous videos from the protest, and found no evidence that he or the other protesters used violence. Tamimi is committed to non-violent resistance and has a long record of peaceful protest. Another Palestinian protester, now released on bail, faces similar charges.
Tamimi managed to contact his wife after his arrest.
“He still had his phone with him, he told me that he was in a cell somewhere, and he said that he felt like there was something broken in chest, he said ‘I cannot move or breathe and I am very tired’. Then they took the phone away so we could not talk more,” she told Amnesty International.
Encroachment of settlers
Bassem Tamimi is from the West Bank village of al-Nabi Saleh, 21km northwest of Ramallah.
In July 2008 Israeli settlers from nearby Halamish began to use the Qaws spring, which is on al-Nabi Saleh land and used to irrigate crops there and in the nearby village of Deir Nitham. In February 2009 settlers began to build structures on the spring site.
The Palestinians complained that settlers were building on private Palestinian land, and that the work damaged other property including trees. Israeli police routinely close Palestinian complaints against settlers due to “lack of evidence”.
Israel’s Civil Administration, the military body which controls most of the West Bank, prohibits Palestinians from visiting the Qaws spring site in groups and on Fridays, while settlers are allowed unfettered access.
Ongoing demonstrations
Weekly demonstrations began on 9 December 2009. Every Friday residents of al-Nabi Saleh and solidarity activists gather around noon in the village centre and march peacefully towards the spring. They have been met repeatedly with unnecessary and excessive force by the Israeli army including the use of stun grenades, pepper spray, batons and guns.
Demonstrations are dispersed as soon as they begin and are usually not allowed to reach the spring. The Israeli army raids the village regularly, usually during the night, and conducts house searches and arrests, including the arrest of children under the age of 15.
Israeli military laws in place in the West Bank impose sweeping and arbitrary restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, requiring people to obtain advance permission from the Israeli military for any proposed gathering of 10 or more persons “for a political purpose or for a matter that could be interpreted as political”.
Nariman Tamimi told Amnesty International that in al-Nabi Saleh and all areas where there is popular resistance, police use extreme violence, noting that “there is nothing [to the protests] except that you chant and express your opinion.”
As one of the organizers of the al-Nabi Saleh protests and a coordinator of the village’s popular committee, Bassem Tamimi and his family have been the target of harsh treatment by the Israeli army.
Since the demonstrations began, his house has been raided and ransacked numerous times. His wife has been arrested twice and two of his children have been injured – Wa’ed was in hospital for five days after he was hit in the leg by a rubber bullet and Mohammed was injured by a tear-gas canister that was shot directly at him and hit him in the shoulder.
Bassem Tamimi has been arrested by the Israeli army 11 times to date, though he has only once been convicted by a military court – on charges that Amnesty International believes were unfounded.
Four people, including Bassem Tamimi, the head of the Popular Committee of Nabi Saleh, were arrested by Israeli police today as Palestinians staged a peaceful direct action in an Israeli supermarket near the illegal settlement of Shaar Binyamin, north of Ramallah, calling for a boycott of Israeli goods. Two Palestinians were injured and removed in ambulances. Before he was arrested, Tamimi’s ribs were reportedly broken.
Two of those arrested were international human rights activists. One is an American and the other is from Poland. The American activist was dragged away by four Israeli officers.
Starting at around ten this morning, Palestinians and international activists gathered in the parking lot of Rami Levi supermarket, which is frequented by Israelis from the surrounding illegal settlements. The activists entered the market and walked up and down the aisles, holding Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) placards and waving Palestinian flags.
Demonstrators left the market voluntarily when the Israeli army arrived on the scene. As activists exited the building, about forty police, border police and soldiers were waiting in the parking lot. There, the Israeli authorities attacked the demonstrators and fired sound bombs at them.
Even though the demonstrators remained non-violent, soldiers punched, dragged and choked them. As one Palestinian man was pulled away from the soldiers by other demonstrators, to prevent his arrest, his walking stick was taken away as he lay on the ground – following this, he could not walk without assistance. A sound bomb was thrown just metres from the head of another Palestinian man who was already unconscious following attacks from the authorities.
Bassem Tamimi is the head of the popular committee of Nabi Saleh, a village that has suffered drastically from the creation and expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank. Halamish settlement was created less than 1km away from Nabi Saleh, stealing a great deal of the villages’ land, as well as a spring that provided a vital water source for the village. Tamimi was released from prison in April of this year after spending 13 months in an Israeli prison for being accused of “taking part in illegal gatherings.” He was released on bail in April in order to take care of his elderly mother who had suffered a stroke.
The action today aimed to highlight the BDS campaign (www.bdsmovement.net ), which calls for a boycott of Israeli goods.
The status of the detained demonstrators is currently unknown, they remain held in the police station of the illegal settlement of Shaar Binyamin.
A Paletinian demonstrator gets arrested by Border Policemen during the protest at the Rami Levi Supermarket
A demonstrator gets first aid help after being injured by a sound grenade at the protest
by Popular Struggle Coordination Committee: 24 October 2012
Photos by ActiveStills
Activists called for the boycott of occupation and its products. Four activists were detained and several injuries due to soldiers’ brutality
This morning, more than 100 Palestinians, joined by number of international activists staged an action protest at the entrance of Rami Levi’s supermarket in Sha’ar Benjamin settlement north of Ramallah, to protest occupation and settler terror. They entered the market and walked up and down the aisles chanting for freedom and waving Palestinians flags. As activists exited the building, about forty policemen and soldiers were waiting outside, they attacked physically the demonstrators and fired stun grenades at them, causing several injuries, two of which were taken by ambulance to the hospital. Four people, including Basim Tamimi, the head of the Popular Committee of Nabi Saleh, were beaten and arrested by Israeli police. Tamimi’s ribs were broken and several Palestinians were injured. Protesters called for the boycott of occupation and all its products, and stressed that “as long as there is no justice to Palestinians, Israeli and settler daily life can’t continue on as normal.” Two of those arrested were Palestinians including Bassem Tamimi in addition to two international activists, an American and Polish. The protest was part of Popular Struggle Committees’ actions to protest the occupation and settlers terror against Palestinians. Last week about 50 Palestinian activists blocked the Apartheid Road 443 (known as Modi’in, which passes on West Bank lands, connecting Tel Aviv to Jerusalem). The road was blocked for about 30 minutes to Israeli and settler traffic.
Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories: Israel must release Palestinian detained for organising peaceful protests against expanding Israeli settlement
Palestinian human rights defender Bassem Tamimi is a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for his role in organizing peaceful protests against the encroachment onto Palestinian lands by Israeli settlers, and should be released immediately and unconditionally, Amnesty International said today.
Bassem Tamimi was arrested on 24 March 2011 and charged days later with “incitement and support of a hostile organization, organizing and participating in unauthorized processions, incitement to throwing objects against a person or property” and other offences. Bassem Tamimi denies the charges. He is currently detained in Ofer prison while his trial continues.
Bassem Tamimi, aged 44, is married with four young children. He has repeatedly affirmed non-violent principles in his defence of villagers against the construction of settlements on occupied territories which violates international law. In a statement in court on 16 November 2011, Bassem Tamimi said:
“International law guarantees the right of occupied people to resist Occupation. In practicing my right, I have called for and organized peaceful popular demonstrations against the Occupation, settler attacks and the theft of more than half of the land of my village… I organized these peaceful demonstrations in order to defend our land and our people… The military prosecutor accuses me of inciting the protesters to throw stones at the soldiers. This is not true. What incites protesters to throw stones is the sound of bullets, the Occupation’s bulldozers as they destroy the land, the smell of teargas and the smoke coming from burnt houses. I did not incite anyone to throw stones, but I am not responsible for the security of your soldiers who invade my village and attack my people with all the weapons of death and the equipment of terror.”
Before his arrest, Bassem Tamimi had been organising weekly protests against the encroachment onto village lands of al-Nabi Saleh near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank by a neighbouring Israeli settlement, Halamish – Neve Tzuf. The protests began in December 2009 – a few months after the settlement began to expand rapidly despite a temporary settlement construction freeze announced by Israel following US pressure – and have been largely peaceful.
The Israeli army has repeatedly used excessive force in countering these demonstrations, as a result of which the organizers reiterate instructions for Palestinian demonstrators to adhere to non-violent methods. Occasionally, individual protestors have engaged in throwing stones at soldiers. One such protestor, Mustafa Tamimi, was shot in al-Nabi Saleh on 10 December 2011 by a high-velocity tear gas projectile fired at his head at close range from an Israeli military jeep. He died the next day in hospital.
At another hearing on 19 February 2012, Bassem Tamimi said:
“International law gives us the right to peaceful protest, to demonstrate our refusal of the policies that hurt us, our daily life and the future of our children… I do not know and do not care if they [the settlements] are permitted by your law, as it was enacted by an authority I do not recognize…True justice would not have me stand here before this court at all, let alone while I am imprisoned and shackled. This case is baseless and made up with the sole goal of putting me behind bars.”
Amnesty International has previously documented the torture of Bassem Tamimi by the General Security Service, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, in 1993. After his arrest on 9 November 1993, he was subjected to violent shaking during interrogation. He suffered a subdural haematoma, as a result of which he lost consciousness for six days, during which he underwent life-saving surgery. He was subsequently released without charge on 6 December 1993 (see Amnesty International, “Under constant medical supervision”: Torture, ill-treatment and the health professionals in Israel and the Occupied Territories, Index: MDE 15/037/1996, August 1996, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE15/037/1996/en).
Background
Some 490,000 Israeli citizens live in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as a result of years of government-sponsored settlement construction. The establishment and retention of civilian settlements in occupied territory violates international humanitarian law. The “transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies” is considered a war crime under Article 8(2) of the Rome Statute of the ICC, “when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes.” Israel’s settlement policy is also inherently discriminatory and results in continuing violations of the rights to adequate housing, water and livelihoods for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli authorities continue to construct new housing and plan entire new neighbourhoods in settlements in East Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, adding to over 230 already existing localities.
Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Israeli authorities to put an immediate end to the construction or expansion of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and to take measures to evacuate Israeli civilians living in settlements in the West Bank. All Israeli settlers in the Gaza Strip were removed by the government in 2005. The establishment of settlements not only violates international humanitarian law, but also constitutes a serious violation of the prohibition on discrimination, as laid out in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to which Israel is a state party. The International Court of Justice found in July 2004 that the ICESCR is applicable in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The presence of Israeli-only settlements has led to mass violations of human rights of the local Palestinian population
by Popular Struggle Coordination Committee: 2 March 2012
This weeks’ protest in Nabi Saleh was held in solidarity with hunger-striking political prisoner Hanaa Shalabi. The village also celebrated the release of Naji Tamimi, member of the local popular committee released after a year in military prison.
Video by Israel Puterman
Naji Tamimi, member of the Nabi Saleh popular committee, was arrested by the Israeli army on March 6th 2011, and subsequently charged with “incitement”, “organizing unpermitted processions” and “solicitation to throw stones”, together with his cousin and fellow veteran activist, Bassem Tamimi. Returning to his village after a year in military prison, Naji Tamimi opened this week’s weekly demonstration in a speech held above the grave of Mustafa Tamimi who was shot dead by the Israeli army during a demonstration three months ago. Picture Credit: Yotam Ronen/Activestills
The demonstration then preceded towards the main road leading from the village to the nearby settlement of Halamish, built mainly on Nabi Saleh’s agricultural lands. Protesters carried signs and posters calling for the immediate release of Hana Shalabi, a woman administrative detainee who has gone on hunger strike. Israeli soldiers used tear-gas canisters, rubber coated bullets and the “skunk”, a water canon spraying foul smelling water, to disperse the demonstrators. Some clashes between the army and local youth took place in the outskirts of the village, following which the army invaded the village shooting large amounts of tear-gas canisters inside populated areas. One demonstrator was slightly injured by a rubber coated bullet shot at his arm from close range. He required medical treatment and was taken to the hospital. Picture Credit: Oren Ziv/Activestills
Hana Yahya Shalabi (30) from the Burqin village near Jenin was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange deal, after being held in administrative detention for over two years (Sep. 2009 to Oct. 2011). During her arrest she was sexually harassed, put in solitary confinement and was denied trial. No allegations were brought against her by the Israeli security forces. On February 16th 2012 she was re-arrested and put under administrative detention for six month along with several other Palestinian prisoners released in the Gilad Shalit deal. Hana began a hunger strike, inspired by the hunger strike of Khader Adnan, to protest administrative detentions and abuse during interrogations and arrests. Hana Shalabi and over three hundred Palestinians are imprisoned for long periods without any charges and are never brought to trial. As a woman, Hana Shalabi faces a great risk of humiliation and sexual abuse, and has already been harassed in the past. Her strike calls attention to the physical and mental violence suffered by Palestinian women and men in Israeli jails.
On Friday, 17 June, the Consuls from Malta, France, EU and Holland attended the non-violent demonstrations in Nabi Saleh to observe the village’s resistance to Israel’s ongoing occupation. In response to the non-violent demonstration, the Israeli Occupation Forces violently attacked village residents and supporters with teargas and rubber bullets.
Nariman Tamimi, Bassem’s wife said that “the police were brutal” during his arrest© Private
