One Palestinian Village Obama Should Visit

by Sunjeev Bery: Amnesty International USA: 21 March 2013

Former prisoner of conscience Bassem Tamimi holds plastic and rubber-coated bullets fired by Israeli forces.

Yesterday morning, US President Barack Obama arrived in Israel to much fanfare.  He has said that he has come to listen.  One place he should start is the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh, located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

I visited Nabi Saleh last week as part of an Amnesty International research mission to the West Bank.  The village sits atop a hill, facing the illegal Israeli settlement Halamish.  The settlers of Halamish, like so many other Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), are backed by the lethal force of the Israeli army.

For protesting against the settlement, the residents of Nabi Saleh have paid a heavy price.  I spoke with village resident Bassem Tamimi, a man who Amnesty International previously declared a prisoner of conscience when he was imprisoned by Israel for involvement in peaceful protests.  During Bassem’s most recent jail term, his brother-in-law Rushdi Tamimi, 31, was shot by Israeli soldiers at another protest in November 2012 and died days later in a hospital.  In December 2011, another member of the village, Mustafa Tamimi, died after being hit in the face by a tear gas canister fired at close range from an Israeli military jeep.

 

The village of Nabi Saleh is home to some 500 members of the extended Tamimi family.  The villagers say that the expanding Israeli settlement of Halamish has blocked their access to a nearby source of water, a spring.  For holding weekly protests against this settlement, they have suffered greatly at the hands of the Israeli Defense Forces.

Israeli military law imposed in the occupied West Bank places sweeping and arbitrary restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly.  This makes any unauthorized peaceful protest by Palestinians a criminal offence. Palestinians engaging in such protests face arrest and excessive force from the Israeli military on a regular basis.

All of this becomes quite clear when visiting homes in Nabi Saleh.  Bassem Tamimi filled his hands for me with some of the plastic and rubber-coated bullets he has collected which were fired by Israeli forces in the village. Coatings aside, each bullet I examined had a hard metal interior.

Inside one of the Tamimi homes, a coffee table serves as an exhibit of used tear gas canisters and other spent munitions. And as I walked up and down the streets of this small community, residents had strung up countless more used tear gas canisters like Christmas tree ornaments.

The Tamimis have experienced this tragedy because they dare to protest against Israeli settlements. Since 1967, Israel has established some 150 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The settler population has now grown to over half a million Israelis.

In opposing the settlements, the residents of Nabi Saleh have international law on their side.  A policy of settling civilians in occupied territory –  such as Israel’s settlement policy –  is a serious violation of the laws of war. It can be prosecuted as a war crime under the statute of the International Criminal Court.

While in Israel and the West Bank, President Obama would be wise to listen to Bassem Tamimi and other Palestinians about life in the shadow of settlements and the Israeli army.  But listening is not enough.  The US government must actively support Palestinians in their opposition to these illegal Israeli policies.

That means that the Obama administration must insist on a complete freeze on Israeli settlement construction, instead of calling on Palestinians to resume negotiations with Israel first, as Obama did earlier today.  This would be a first step to the total evacuation of all Israeli settlements from the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem.

Without such a clear approach, the daily human rights violations and displacement that Palestinians face because of Israeli settlements will only get worse.  Israel’s new defence minister, Moshe Ya’alon, is reported to oppose any limits on settlement construction.  Israel’s new housing minister, Uri Ariel, is himself a settler.  Without significant international pressure, Amnesty International fears that the new Israeli government will simply continue building illegally on occupied land and using excessive – and sometimes lethal – military force against Palestinians who get in the way.

President Obama must move beyond diplomatic pleasantries during his visit to Israel and the West Bank.  He should bluntly address Israel’s settlement policy and the devastation to Palestinian life that lies in its wake.  Bassem Tamimi, the villagers of Nabi Saleh, and Palestinians throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories deserve no less.

Breaking News: Bassem Tamimi is free

Bassem Tamimi is free. He was released on Sunday, 10 February (Palestinian Time).

Bassem was arrested 4 months ago in the first BDS action in an illegal Israeli colony – a non-violent protest against Rami Levy supermarket.  At the time, Israeli occupation forces violently detained Bassem, breaking three of his ribs in the process. He was subsequently interrogated on participating in an unauthorized demonstration and assault of a police officer.

Bassem has previously spent one year in prison for his non-violent leadership of the popular resistance in Nabi Saleh and released in March 2012.  During his previous imprisonment he was recognised as a human rights defender by the European Union and a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International.

Bassem hugs his wife, Nariman.  Photo by Abir Kopty

Bassem with his wife, Nariman. Photo by: Keren Manor/ Activestils.org

Bassem with wife Nariman at welcome home party: Photo by Oren Ziv: Activestills

Bassem with his children.  Photo by Ashira Hakan

Welcome home party for Bassem: Photo by Ashira Hakan

Palestinian prisoner of conscience Bassem Tamimi speaks out

by Amnesty International: 2 November 2012

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 of 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 Salneh 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.

Palestinian Activist, Bassem Tamimi, Sentenced to 13 Months Imprisonment & 17 months Suspended Sentence

By Popular Struggle Coordination Committee: 29 May 2102

Tamimi was slapped with a longer imprisonment period than his alleged accomplice, who was convicted of more serious offenses.

Bassem Tamimi and wife, Nariman Tamimi, waiting at the Israeli military occupation court to hear sentencing.

In a controversial ruling by an Israeli Military Court earlier today, Tamimi, a grassroots organizer from the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, was sentenced to 13 months imprisonment, which he had already served. Tamimi’s alleged accomplice, who was charged of the same charges and was convicted also of charges that Tamimi was acquitted of, was only sentenced to 12 months imprisonment as part of a plea bargain.

In addition, the judge, Major Eti Adar, also sentenced Tamimi to a suspended sentence of 17 months, which will be activated in the event that he is convicted of committing incitement, solicitation to throw stones, stone-throwing, accessory to stone-throwing, attempted stone-throwing or actions against public order within the next five years. If convicted of having participated or organized unpermitted marches within the next two years, a suspended sentence of 2 months will be added to his punishment.

See here for a transcript of the sentencing hearing (Hebrew)

On hearing the sentence, Tamimi said, “The military court, being an instrument of occupation, sent a clear message today that Palestinian political prisoners are better off confessing to what they have not done than go to trial. I was acquitted of the bulk of the indictment against me, but served more time than my friend who chose to plead guilty to all the charges in a plea-bargain. Has I confessed to what I was not convicted of, I could have returned to my family earlier.”

The hefty suspended sentence imposed on Tamimi for “actions against public order” – a charge Tamimi was neither convicted of nor charged with – as well as for “incitement”, in fact represent an attempt to literally remove Tamimi from the sphere of political activism. The two offences are defined by military law in a manner that can be interpreted to include any political activity under the Occupation. The offence of actions against public order is defined as “Committing an act which harms or may harm public peace or public order” (Article 247 of the Order regarding Security Provisions [Consolidated Version]), while incitement is defined as “Attempts, orally or otherwise, to influence public opinion in the Area in a manner which may harm public peace or public order (Article 247B1 of the Order regarding Security Provisions [Consolidated Version]).

Tamimi was arrested in March of 2011, indicted on protest-organizing related charges, and has spent 13 months in jail before he was granted bail last month. Tamimi was convicted on May 20th, a move that stirred harsh criticism by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, who said that “The EU [...] is concerned at the use of evidence based on the testimony of a minor who was interrogated in violation of his rights”

The court acquitted Tamimi of incitement – the central charge brought against him, which included allegations of military-like activity – but convicted him of organizing and participating in illegal marches as well as of solicitation to throw stones.

The bulk of the indictment against Tamimi was based on the testimonies of three youth from the village, aged 15, 19, and most heavily on that of a 14 year-old. The judge ruled the statement given by the 14 year-old, Islam Dar Ayyoub, is unreliable and could not substantiate a conviction. The court therefore acquitted Tamimi of the incitement charge, that included allegations, supported only by  Dar Ayyoub’s testimony, that Tamimi had formed battalions who lead the demonstrations.

In regards to the 19 year-old’s statement, the judge ruled after viewing the recording of his interrogation, that the transcript of that was handed to the court was mendacious, and that the interrogators put words in his mouth, leading him to incriminate Tamimi.

The conviction, therefore, was based on the testimony of the 15 year-old, which the judge ruled is credible despite clear video evidence to the contrary. The audio-visual recording of his interrogation proves that he, too, was questioned in an unlawful manner, told to implicate others and was led to believe that doing so may earn him a more lenient treatment by the court. The boy was told, numerous times, “Tell us what happened [...] and who in the village incited you to throw stones. [...] (shouting) you were incited! You…. you are a young boy, incited by people. Grownups, we know. It’s the grownups who incite you, right?”

Tamimi’s trial has become the center on international interest and subject to criticism on the use of military justice to repress civil resistance to the occupation and on the treatment of minors. Following his arrest, Tamimi was recognized as a human rights defender by the European Union and pronounced a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. His verdict today was attended by a dozen diplomats, including the British, Spanish, Dutch, Slovenian and Cypriot Consul Generals, as well as the representative of the European Union. Diplomats from Germany, Sweden, Ireland the USA and the UN were also in attendance.

During the course of Tamimi’s trial, new evidence has emerged, including first hand verification given by a military commander of disproportional use of force by the army in response to peaceful demonstrations, as well as police admittal of systematic violations of Palestinian minors’ rights during police interrogations, when a police interrogator who questioned both material witnesses against Tamimi, said on the stand that in his 25 years as an officer, he cannot recall a single time in which a Palestinian minor was allowed the presence of his parents during questioning.

Amnesty Calls for the Immediate Release of Bassem Tamimi

By Popular Struggle Coordination Committee: 2 March 2012

In a statement released today, Amnesty International pronounced Palestinian protest organizer, Bassem Tamimi, a prisoner of conscience and called for his immediate and unconditional release from Israeli prison.

After nearly a year in Israeli jail, standing trial for charges pertaining to protest organizing in his west bank village of Nabi Saleh, Bassem Tamimi was named prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. In its statement the organization called for Tamimi’s immediate and unconditional release. Tamimi’s next court hearing will take place this Sunday, March 5th, 10:30 AM at the Ofer Military Court.

See here for Amnesty’s full statement.

“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.

“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”, the organization’s press release added.

Amnesty International: Israel must release Palestinian prisoner of conscience, Bassem Tamimi

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT

2 March 2012   AI Index: MDE 15/008/2012

Photo by Oren Ziv - Activestills

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