Resistance fighters survive IOF air raid

[ 30/08/2009 - 11:01 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Palestinian resistance fighters survived an Israeli air raid at an early hour on Sunday that targeted their position east of Gaza city, local sources said.

They told the PIC reporter that an Israeli F-16 fired at least one missile at the group of fighters in Sha'af area but no casualties were reported.

The sources noted that the missile destroyed two rooms in the area and damaged nearby buildings causing panic among citizens, but the resistance fighters, affiliated with the popular resistance committees, managed to escape unharmed.

Israeli occupation soldiers invade Bil'in overnight, kidnap two Palestinians

Published yesterday (updated) 30/08/2009 12:24

 Bethlehem - Ma'an -

Dozens of Israeli occupation soldiers raided the Ramallah-area village of Bil'in early Saturday and kidnapped two Palestinians, according to a local official and an Israeli spokesman.

"Two houses were raided simultaneously by at least 40 soldiers," said Iyad Burnet, head of the Popular Committee Against the Wall, who added that the operation occurred at about 3:30am.

He told Ma'an over the phone that the two young men, Ashraf Mohammad Jamal Tofik Al-Khatib, 29, and Hamru Hisham Burnat, 24, were seized from their homes for participating in weekly anti-wall protests.

Approached by Ma'an, an Israeli military spokesman confirmed that two "wanted" Palestinians were indeed arrested in Bil'in overnight, but said he was unable to immediately confirm why.

And while Burnet said it was news to him the army was looking for the two young men, he speculated that they were detained for participating in the protests there. Most so-called wanted Palestinians know they are on "a list, a very big list," he said, because the military films the demonstrations each week. "Everyone who is arrested in Bil'in was [arrested] because of the demonstrations."

Meanwhile, Burnet charged in a separate statement that during the raid arrestee Al-Khatib's brother, videographer Haitham, was "repeatedly forcibly moved and hit, and threatened with arrest unless he stopped filming," even though he was filming inside his own home.

Soldiers declared the house a "closed military zone" but did not produce any military order, Burnet said.

The Popular Committee released a video purporting to show Ashraf's arrest and soldiers' ill-treatment of his brother, the videographer, during the operation.

Day after 'Elders' visit, three injured at anti-wall rally

Published yesterday (updated) 30/08/2009 16:45

-Archive] Bethlehem - Ma'an -

Three Palestinians were injured and dozens suffered tear-gas inhalation at a demonstration against the illegal Israeli Land-Grab, Apartheid Wall, at Bil'in village on Friday.

The protest came a day after the arrival of the Elders, a delegation of leaders brought together by the anti-apartheid activist and former South African president Nelson Mandela.

In a statement, the Ramallah-area chapter of the Popular Committee Against the Wall identified three Palestinians it said were lightly injured: Rani Burnat, Omar Attamemi, and Zuhdya Al-Khatib.

Soldiers opened fire with CS gas and at least one live shot into the air in response to an attempt by villagers to reach land owned by Bil'in that was seized by the Israeli military for a nearby settlement, the statement said.

Israeli occupation soldiers invade Bil'in, kidnap two Palestinians

Saturday August 29, 2009 22:57 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Israeli occupation soldiers invaded Bil’in village, near the central West Bank City of Ramallah, on Saturday at dawn, broke into a number of homes and kidnapped two Palestinians.

The Friends of Freedom and Justice Committee in Bil’in reported that at least 40 soldiers invaded the village and broke into the house of Ashraf Mohammad Al Khatib, 29, and kidnapped him, before breaking into the house of Hamru Hisham Burnat, 24, and kidnapping him.

International Peace Activists, present in the village, attempted to intervene and challenged the soldiers, but were unable to set the two kidnapped residents free.

The soldiers pushed the activists around, pointed their guns at their faces, and claimed that the village was declared a closed military zone. The soldiers failed to present any official document regarding declaring the village a close zone.

The Committee reported that Haitham Al Khatib, who was filming the soldiers after breaking into his home, was pushed around by the soldiers and was repeatedly hit before the soldiers threatened to kidnap him unless he stops filming.

The invasion was carried out from three directions; through the neighboring villages of Kofr Ni’ma, Saffa, and through the gate of the Annexation Wall.

Bil’in village is a leading example of active nonviolent resistance against the Wall, and is frequently targeted by the army.

On Thursday, the Elders delegate, including former U.S. President, Jimmy Carter, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, visited the village and observed the devastating effects of the Annexation Wall and settlements built on Palestinian lands.

Carter pointed to the other side of the Wall where the illegal Israeli settlement of Modi’in Illit is built and said that “This is not Israel, this is Palestine”, and added that “settlements must be dismantled to allow the restoration of justice”.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu saluted that Palestinian nonviolent resistance, and that that “Ghandi, was just a simple man, but he led a successful nonviolent resistance in India”.

Tutu added that simple people such as Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela led the struggle for civil rights and liberty in the United States. And that simple people in Bil’in are leading nonviolent struggle that will lead them to freedom.

He further said that the experience of South Africa, and the struggle that abolished the racism regime, proves that injustice can be uprooted.