• Under settler terror, Palestinians tear down and flee their village
    By Basel Adra. May 25, 2023
    https://www.972mag.com/ein-samia-settler-violence

    The 27 Palestinian families who lived in the small village of ‘Ein Samia, located northeast of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, finally made the painful decision to leave their homes of more than 40 years after months of escalating Israeli settler violence. Some of the families said they were moving west to the village al-Majeer, while others told +972 they didn’t yet know where they were going.

    On Tuesday, in the now depopulated village, I saw dozens of residents, most of them women, under the blazing sun, destroying their houses with their own hands. I had never witnessed anything like it, and I wasn’t sure what to say to them. (...)

    #Nettoyage_ethnique #Ein_Samia

    • Haggai Matar. @Ha_Matar
      6:41 PM · 25 mai 2023
      https://twitter.com/Ha_Matar/status/1661774572901810176

      The Israeli government is stepping up its steps to deepen apartheid. Over the past two weeks, these include new initiatives (that have not yet been approved) to: double the number of settlers in the West Bank, outlaw the Palestinian flag and persecute Palestinian students in uniseverely cripple Israeli human rights organizations, and annex historic sites in the West Bank.

      The government is also supporting the construction of a new settlement on the lands of Burka, although it is deemed illegal even according to Israeli law.

      Meanwhile, over the past days settlers have attacked 2 more Palestinian villages, Burka and Ein Samia, unstopped by the army. In the latter, this has led the residents of the village to flee and tear down their own village, as @basel_adra reports here : https://www.972mag.com/ein-samia-settler-violence

      These are dangerous escalations to be taken seriously. They are also a continuation of previous polices, such as Gantz and the “government of change” outlawing Palestinian human rights organizations, or...

      the Supreme Court (the so called “bastion of democracy”) green-lighting ethnic cleansing in Masafer Yatta and Khan ak-Akhmar.

      It’s crucial to act against these government actions, and also to remember that they are a part of ongoing apartheid, and that we must take on the entire system – not just its current incarnation.

  • A tale of two protests: Dispossessed Palestinians vs. privileged Jewish Israelis
    Gideon Levy | Oct. 14, 2020 - Haaretz.com
    https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium.highlight-a-tale-of-two-protests-dispossessed-palestinians-vs-priv

    It’s all there, in two brief videos. The first: a young Tel Avivian in a bikini at the beach, prohibited under the lockdown. A policeman approaches and very politely asks for her name, so he can write her a ticket. She refuses. The policeman – his name is Amit – tries to cajole her, saying that if she refuses to identify herself, he’ll be forced to arrest her. The woman stands up and starts to walk away, pointedly ignoring the officer. “You’re not putting handcuffs on me,” she says. The policeman tries again to persuade her, but right before she walks away dismissively, he handcuffs her and makes the arrest.

    The moment goes viral. It broke the Israeli internet: a Jewish policeman arresting a young, innocent Jewish woman in a bikini. Fascism has arrived. The end of democracy. Citizens are being abducted. Political arrests. Dictatorship. Totalitarianism; tyranny; Pinochet on the beach, Mussolini on the sand.

    The beach girl was soon released, of course. The police posted a video showing the moments leading up to the arrest, and the storm died down a bit. Perhaps fascism is tarrying on its way to the beach in Tel Aviv, but it’s definitely in transit. After all, the officer placed steel handcuffs on the young woman.

    The second video: Palestinian farmers from the village of Burqa are on their way to harvest olives on their own land. A group of settler thugs, clubs concealed in their shirts, ambushes them in the grove. “I am the king of this land. God gave it to me, and you are on our land. I am the son of Allah, and you are his slave,” one of the thugs from the illegal settlement outpost Oz Tzion barks, in a nauseating lordly tone. Neither the army nor the police are there, but after years of fear and cowering, the harvesters try to protect themselves and their property.

    A group of young Palestinians from Faz3a, an organization that was established to protect the farmers, escorts them to the grove, and as if by a miracle they succeed in driving the settler bullies from their land by throwing rocks at them. The settlers also throw stones, including at Ohad Hemo of Israel’s Channel 12 News, who is reporting on the incident.

    Hemo documented a daily occurrence during the olive season. For the Palestinians the harvest, a beautiful and moving agricultural and family event, has for years been a battle. Thanks to Hemo’s dedication, Israelis were exposed for a moment Tuesday to this reality. It certainly disturbed many good Israelis, who were ashamed by the sight, but no one took to the streets banging pots in protest. If there was a mini-storm, it was because Hemo was injured and people were worried about him. Nobody talked about fascism, tyranny, the end of democracy. This was not about the handcuffing of a Jewish woman on the beach.

    Protest vs. protest. The protest of the dispossessed, rightless Palestinian farmers who are trying to fight for the last remains of their property and their dignity, and the protest of privileged Jewish Israelis, who want to have a different prime minister and who lament the end of their democracy. One protest stirs up emotions, while Israel ignores the other. But they are intertwined. It’s impossible to demand democracy without demanding democracy for everyone. There is no such thing as democracy that is not for everyone. Israeli fascism is in Burqa, not yet on the Tel Aviv beach.

    And so it’s impossible to relate too seriously to the protests near the prime minister’s Balfour Street residence. If people in Burqa can’t harvest their olives because of fascism and the Balfour Street protesters don’t care, the Balfour Street protest is not an anti-fascism or pro-democracy movement, as it purports to be, despite all its fine words.

    As long as military tyranny reigns in Burqa, supported by violent and wild militias, Israel will not be a democracy, even if the protest at Balfour Street achieves its goals and Benjamin Netanyahu is sent to prison, to the joyful cries of the protesters.

    So demand democracy for everyone, or don’t talk about democracy at all.

    #Isrelmanifs

  • Several arrested for attacking demonstrators at anti-Netanyahu protests across Israel
    Josh Breiner, Noa Shpigel, Bar Peleg, Nir Hasson, Almog Ben Zikri | Jul. 26, 2020 | 8:26 AM
    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-thousands-expected-in-anti-government-protests-across-israel-1.902

    Israel Police said on Sunday morning that they had arrested at least three people for assaulting anti-government protesters as thousands demonstrated in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence, calling for his resignation over his corruption charges and what they call a faulty handling of the coronavirus crisis.

    On Saturday, over five thousand protesters massed in front of Netanyahu’s official residence on Balfour Street, which has become the epicenter of the protest movement. They were forcefully dispersed by police in the early hours of Sunday, using water cannons and mounted units.

    Police said that a Netanyahu supporter was detained for spraying mace at a protester in central Israel. The 34-year-old man from the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan remained in custody overnight and police said they will be asking to extend his detention on Sunday.

    During the police interrogation, the man confessed and regretted the act, although he said he actually used window cleaning liquid rather than pepper spray. His motivation was anger about the damage to the country’s symbols, he said, adding that he had been influenced by the incitement that exists on social networks

    Another counter-protester was arrested on suspicion of stabbing an anti-government demonstrator in the neck at the Sha’ar HaNegev junction in southern Israel. The police said they would ask that he remain in custody, adding that they are working to bring to justice those who were also involved in the incident.

    A third person was also arrested in Jerusalem, and five others detained on suspicion of attacking a demonstrator on Lincoln Street, near the prime minister’s official residence. According to eyewitnesses, the attack was carried out by five men with a helmet and a glass bottle.

    In addition, police said that 12 anti-Netanyahu protesters had been arrested overnight for “various offences related to disturbing the peace.” Protests were also held in Caesarea in front of Netanyahu’s private home, and at some 250 intersections throughout the country. One man was also detained for tearing up protesters’ signs in Caesarea.

    A group of some 20 right-wing activists participated in a counter-protest nearby, raising concerns of further clashes between anti- and pro-Netanyahu groups. On Thursday, a counter-protest by Netanyahu supporters drew some 200 Likud activists nearby, joined by a few dozen members of La Familia, an extremist organization of fans of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team. Six ant-Netanyahu demonstrators said they were violently assaulted by members of La Familia.

    According to eyewitnesses, a demonstrator wearing a pink bandana was attacked by five men dressed in black on Lincoln Street, Jerusalem. The witnesses reported that the five beat him with a helmet and smashed a glass bottle on his body. An eyewitness at the scene called the police.

    Meanwhile, two other anti-Netanyahu protesters testified that they were attacked by three right-wing activists after they left the demonstration. According to one of them, “Three young men asked my friend: ’Are you [with] Bibi or against Bibi?’ He didn’t answer, and then one of them started beating him. Then he came in front of me and punched me in the face and threw my glasses down the road.”

    ’It’s important for him to be there’

    The protesters that were attacked in junctions in central and southern Israel both recount being there with children, and being attacked without provocation.

    at the Sha’ar HaNegev junction in Nir Am, in southern Israel said they were attacked by at least ten people

    Nir Sa’ar, the man who was stabbed in the neck, said he was participating in a peaceful demonstration with several friends and their families, including children, when five vehicles arrived. Sa’ar said that about 15 men disembarked and began to encircle them.

    They arrived “to make chaos, they came down and started to tear posters,” and beat and spit at protesters, says fellow protester Ishai Loz. “They took out some sort of sharp object. We tried to just get the kids out of there. My friend was stabbed in the neck. I took a blow to my chest, a little cut, and I’m getting an X-ray now.” According to Loz, the same group threw punches as well.

    K. was protesting with his son and a few friends at the Aluf Sadeh interchange in central Israel. “My son asked to stay and stand close to the road with his friends and their parents,” he told Haaretz. “All of a sudden, a car passed and sprayed gas towards him and his group of kids,” he said.

    “[The car] slowed down, opened the window, sprayed, and hurried away. There were police, but they didn’t manage to catch the car... The brave kid, he understands what happened there. This is his second protest there, it’s important to him to go,” he added.

    Netanyahu blasts ’anarchist’ and ’Bolshevik’ media

    In a Facebook post, Netanyahu accused Channel 12 News of inflating the number of attendees of the protests against him in its reporting, calling it a “Shameless propaganda arm of the anarchist left to bring down the right-wing government and its leader.”

    He went on to write that the channel is pouring fire on the flames of the “Political protests that are organized and funded by leftist groups. [It’s] fake news on steroids.” He continued, “Almost all their programs, segments and analyses are used for unbridled Bolshevik propaganda against the prime minister.”

    “And of course, they don’t even say one word on the blatant threats to murder the prime minister and his family,” the prime minister added.

    Public Security Minister Amir Ohana said Saturday night that the protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must be limited. “We need to restrict the number of people, the location, maybe in a more open space,” Ohana told Channel 12’s Meet the Press program.

    “The Health Ministry said that this is a coronavirus incubator. If all the experts are saying that this hurts our efforts against the coronavirus, then we must limit it,” he said.

    His remarks come after it was reported that Ohana asked the police to examine the possibility of requiring protests held outside Netanyahu’s official residence to move to another venue, arguing that these events are harming the neighbors.

    Police representatives cited a Supreme Court ruling and told Ohana it wasn’t possible to prevent a protest from taking place or to require a license for it.

    Protests gain pace

    This marks the fifth week of the “black flag” protests, which call for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down in light of his criminal indictments for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. This particular wave of demonstrations began after the arrest of protest leader Amir Haskel.

    The protests were organized by multiple movements calling for economic relief and Netanyahu’s resignation: the Black Flags, Crime Minister, Culture Shock, Wake Up Israel and a number of new groups. These include the Women’s March, which was established over the past few years in Tel Aviv, and a number of LGBTQ activists, including the gay party line Cock Shock.

    Another central protest site is Tel Aviv’s Charles Clore Park, where a number of organizations are protesting the economic crisis. The protest is being held under the banner “Shaking them from their chairs,” and the organizers explained that they do not intend to take aim at the prime minister alone, and that they want the demonstration to remain apolitical.

    “The protest is socio-economic, where there will be shouts and roars to fix the conduct toward Israeli citizens. They will come to sound the cries of the nation,” the organizers said.

    Ahead of Saturday night’s protest, the organizers posted a call to police to behave with restraint. “We hope that contrary to previous demonstrations, in which the police did not allow protesters to disperse and exacted useless and unruly violence against them, which injured dozens of people, tonight the police will conduct itself responsibly.”

    The statement sought to remind the Israel Police that “it is your duty to defend your citizens, not to fill arrest quotas… We will on our part continue to fulfill our role: To throng the streets with beautiful, hopeful citizens who are unwilling to remain silent any longer.”

    Violence and arrests

    On Friday, a one thousand-strong demonstration took place in front of the Prime Minister’s Residence. Over the weekend, another group of protesters set up camp at the city’s Independence Park, which is located near Balfour Street. The group, which goes by the name FestiBalfour sought to establish a permanent camp that would support the protest and act as its cultural hub.

    Police sought to evacuate members of the group from the park following Thursday’s demonstration, but they later returned and remained there over the weekend.

    Some 4,000 people protested in Jerusalem on Thursday, calling on Netanyahu to resign over his corruption charges, handling of the coronavirus crisis and allegedly anti-democratic measures.

    This is the eighth protest in front of the Prime Minister’s Residence in two weeks. As of Saturday evening, 160 protesters were arrested during demonstrations, 55 of them on Thursday night. Thirty-five of them were released on the condition that they keep their distance from Jerusalem’s Paris Square and the residence, and 19 more were brought before a judge to be released with similar restraining orders.

    Two were released unconditionally, one of whom after he showed the judge a video of his arrest in which he did not resist, countering the police’s claims. Another protester was sentenced to house arrest until Sunday, on suspicion of attacking an officer.

    Fortifying Caesarea

    Also Thursday, Caesarea residents reported that security protocols around Netanyahu’s private house had changed: A fence was erected behind the homes on the street, and temporary barriers were put up that would allow security forces to close off the street.

    An activist who claimed he was walking on the house’s street was stopped by police Saturday afternoon. Police said he had entered “a sterile area” and that they had requested he leave a number of times, and only stopped him when he refused to do so.

    The activist, Gil Solomon of Caesarea, told Haaretz that he is still “trying to understand why they stopped me.” He added, “In the beginning, the security guard told me that these are the instructions of the government. After I began to question it a little bit, a police officer told me that it was the Shin Bet’s instructions.”

    He continued, “At the police station, when they questioned me, they told me that I was stopped on suspicion of bothering the police officer while he was fulfilling his duties. The officer wasn’t there when the argument happened. [The security guards] called for him. How did I get in the way of him carrying out his duty? He was literally carrying out his duty.”

    The Black Flags protest movement said: "This evening is a sharp and clear message to the convict Netanyahu that his time is up. This week, we received proof as to what the Netanyahu regime is: weakening the Knesset and democracy, suppressing the protest, incitement against broad segments of the nation, dealing with criminal matters and an endless campaign of lies.

    “The complete failure to deal with the coronavirus is on the convict alone. The citizens of the country deserve a prime minister who deals from morning until night with stopping the pandemic and rehabilitating the economy – not a convict who only looks out for himself.”

    #Israelmanif