Israeli forces fire at activists planting trees in southern Gaza

Published Monday 31/03/2014 (updated) 31/03/2014 21:16

 

(MaanImages/File)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli soldiers opened fire at Palestinian activists planting trees in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, witnesses said.

Activists told Ma'an that Israeli soldiers stationed in watchtowers near the border town of Khuzaa shot at the activists, who were planting olive trees to mark Land Day east of Khan Younis.

Gaza Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said there were no injuries.

The activity was organized by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

DFLP official Talal Abu Tharifa told Ma'an: "Farmers planted olive trees in their own fields to tell the Israeli occupation that they must leave."

An Israeli military spokeswoman told Ma'an that the Palestinians in the area were "tampering with the security fence."

"Soldiers opened fire into the air" and the Palestinians dispersed, she said.

Land Day marks the death of six Palestinian citizens of Israel, who took part in a general strike in protest of an Israeli decision to confiscate privately owned Palestinian lands on March 30, 1976.

Israeli forces frequently shoot at farmers and other civilians inside the Gaza Strip if they approach large swathes of land near the border that the military has deemed off-limits to Palestinians.

According to OCHA, 17 percent of Gaza's total land area and 35 percent of its agricultural land were within the buffer zone as of 2010, directly affecting the lives and livelihoods of more than 100,000 Gazans.

IOF Opens Fire at a Demonstration East of Rafah Refugee Camp

Al Mezan

30-3-2013

On Friday, 30 March 2013, at approximately 12:00 pm, IOF positioned near the eastern separation fence opened fire toward civil demonstrations held in commemoration of Land Day, and organized by the Popular Refugees Committee in al Nahda “Jewish” neighborhood located in al Shawka town, east of Rafah. Demonstrators planted saplings during the protests. No causalities or injuries were reported.

Beit Hanoun: Celebrating the land and culture of Palestine

by Nathan Stuckey

29 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

Celebrating the land and life in Beit Hanoun - Click here for more photos

Today, Beit Hanoun celebrated Land Day.  It is true that Land Day isn’t really until tomorrow, but tomorrow is the Global March to Jerusalem, tomorrow, God willing, Land Day can be celebrated on the land from which the refugees were expelled 64 years ago.  Today, Land Day was celebrated on the land that Palestinians have managed to hold onto in Palestine.  Land Day commemorates the protests against the expropriation of Palestinian land which rocked Palestine in 1976.  Six people were killed, over a hundred injured and hundreds more arrested.  In Beit Hanoun we marched under the slogan, “A united land and a united people.”

About 50 people gathered in Beit Hanoun to commemorate Land Day with us.  People from the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative, the International Solidarity Movement, other foreign activists and people from all over Gaza marched with us.  We marched north out of Beit Hanoun toward the no go zone.  We were going to plant olive trees, bake bread, and dance debka.  The women wore traditional Palestinian dresses; some of the men wore traditional clothing as well.  We carried flags, posters, hoes, water and olive trees, these were our weapons today.  We didn’t actually enter the no go zone, we were working on land near the Palestinian police post near Erez crossing.  When we arrived people immediately set to work, planting olive trees, setting up a tent, preparing ovens to bake bread on.  The mood was festive, people sang in circles, children threw rocks into the water of a nearby ditch; bread was eaten the moment it was taken off of the oven.  While all of this was going on others worked the land, they planted olive trees and cleared weeds away from olive trees already growing on the land.  When we finished planting the trees young men gathered to dance debka and sing.

One of the organizers received a phone call.  Apparently the Israeli’s had called the Palestinian police in the nearby police station, they were threatening to shoot us if we did not leave the land.  They didn’t claim that we were in the no go zone, such a claim isn’t necessary in the eyes of Israel, shooting Palestinians doesn’t really need an excuse.  We had no weapons, there were women and children with us, yet soldiers 500 meters away in concrete towers embedded in a giant concrete wall were threatening to shoot us.  It wouldn’t be either the first time the Israeli’s have shot at us, nor the first time they Palestinians simply for being in the range of their guns.  Many people have been shot on their land in the north of Beit Hanoun.  Israeli threats did not force us to leave the area, as one of the young men said, “This is our land, let them shoot if they want to, this is our land and it is our right to be here.”  We left when we were finished singing and dancing.  On the way back to Beit Hanoun we shared juice and cookies, the rewards of a day of being on the land.

 Nathan Stuckey is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.

Updated on March 31, 2012

Gaza residents commemorate Land Day at Nahal Oz border crossing

ISM Gaza
30 March 2010
Palestinians in Gaza came out in large numbers for demonstrations commemorating Land Day, including one at Nahal Oz border crossing, east of Gaza City. In attendance were around 300 Palestinians and three ISM members. Unlike other demonstrations on Tuesday, no injuries were reported. However, several demonstrators reported nearly being hit with “warning shots” of live ammunition.
As Palestinian and international demonstrators approached the Nahal Oz border, they were met by Israeli military waiting on the other side of the crossing. Activists, including a large group of women, carried banners condemning the Occupation and the Siege on Gaza. The group paused about 300 meters away from the border, where speeches were made about the significance of Land Day. As the demonstration progressed, two jeeps, two tanks and two vehicles used for soldier transport arrived. Five soldiers in firing positions were visible outside the vehicles.
A group of over 100 young people advanced further to about 150 meters form the border where they stopped and chanted anti-Occupation and anti-Siege slogans. A smaller group of about 50 youth continued across the ‘buffer zone’ towards the border fence waving Palestinian flags.
Israeli forces responded by firing over 30 live bullets over a period of about half an hour. Even though these were “warning shots,” usually fired high in the air by the military, many bullets came uncomfortably close to the demonstrators. One journalist who stayed away from the front lines of the demonstration reported nearly being hit in the head with one of these live bullets.
The demonstration was one of six across Gaza organized by the Popular Campaign for the Security in the Buffer Zone, an umbrella organization that includes organizations representing farmers and Gaza residents living near the border, and also a number of political parties.

Updated on April 1, 2010

IOF assaults on Land Day demos: 4 youths shot at close range

In Gaza

March 30, 2010

Four non-violent demonstrators were shot at close range with live ammunition by Israeli soldiers during six simultaneous protests throughout the Gaza Strip commemorating “Land Day”.
Three of those injured come from Khoza’a, a village east of Khan Younis in Gaza’s south. The fourth, from Deir al Balah, was participating in a peaceful demonstration east of Meghazi, central Gaza.
The Khoza’a demonstration neared the border shortly after 12 noon. Israeli jeeps stopped along the Green Line border, their number increasing quickly. Israeli soldiers exited their jeeps and assumed sniper positions on a raised dirt mound and along the border fence.
Jemah Najjar, 22, was the first to fasten a Palestinian flag to the border fence in today’s demonstration. He was also the first injured in the Khoza’a region, roughly 10 minutes after he had placed the flag on the fence, he estimates.
Israeli soldiers repeatedly opened fire on the very visibly unarmed demonstrators, without any verbal warning, nor without warning shots in the air.
Pieces of the IOF bullet which struck Jemah Najjar are still lodged in his head. He will require an operation to remove them, if it is possible.



Walla’a Najjar, 18, was shot just above the kneecap by an IOF soldier at close range.
“I saw the soldier who shot me. He didn’t give any warning, just shot me right away.”
Walla’a Najjar is fortunate that the bullet did not hit an artery, although as it was he was bleeding heavily. Doctors say his leg has been fractured by the bullet. Palestinian medics confirm that in their experience Israeli soldiers routinely aim for the upper thigh area where an artery lies. If not treated quickly, victims can bleed to death from an artery injury.

Hani Najjar, 17, also has bullet shrapnel in his body. “The Israeli soldier was lying on a dirt mound across from us. He fired at me without warning.”
The bullet, fired from a distance of roughly less than 50 metres, hit below Hani Najjar’s knee. He will need an operation to remove the multiple pieces of shrapnel deeply embedded in his flesh. He had planned on attending the demonstration and continuing on to his nearby high school.
Fellow protestors carried the injured roughly half a kilometer to a place which ambulances could access. The border region is notoriously dangerous for all, including medics who under international law should have unheeded access to the injured. But through experience, medics in Gaza know they cannot reach victims in the border regions.

Mohammed Ot’ti, 21, from Deir al Balah, was in a demonstration further north along the border, east of Meghazi camp, central Gaza.
Ot’ti was the first to place a flag on the fence in his demonstration and was shot immediately after by an Israeli soldier, at close range.
“Last time they shouted at us and mostly fired in the air,” Ot’ti said, referring to last week’s demo in Waddi Salqqa. “This time, they didn’t say anything or give any warning. They just shot me.”
Like the others, Ot’ti says when he is healed, he’ll resume going to the demonstrations.


Mahmoud Az Zaq, co-coordinator of the Committee Against the Buffer Zone, said: “The Israelis should have fired warning shots, but instead they just shot directly at the youths”
Ma’an news reports that an Israeli military spokesman said an investigation showed “soldiers operated in accordance with accepted dispersal procedures,” in regards to the IOF violence against unarmed protestors.
To commemorate Land day, the Committee Against the Buffer Zone and the Local Initiative from Beit Hanoun organized 6 protests, in Rafah, Khoza’a, Meghazi, Karni, Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya.
Land Day remembers the murder of six Palestinians 34 years ago who were themselves protesting the Israeli annexation of Palestinian land.
Today’s protests are the latest in demonstrations growing in frequency and numbers, protesting the Israeli-imposed “buffer zone” and calling for the rights of Palestinians to work and live on their land, without threat of being shot or abducted by Israeli soldiers.
In May 2009, Israeli planes leafleted “buffer zone” areas re-iterating the Israeli imposition of a 300 metre off-limits area, within which anyone is subject to Israeli fire. In reality, Israeli soldiers shoot up to 2 km on farmers and civilians on their land, including children and women.
In Land Day commemorations yesterday and today, Palestinians throughout occupied Palestine tended olive and fruit trees, dressed in traditional Palestinian clothing, danced Dabke and showed the Palestinian spirit which until now has not been quashed by Israeli brutality.

IOF Open Fire on a Peaceful Assembly east of Khan Younis, Three Injured

30-3-2010

Al Mezan

At app. 12:30am on Tuesday 30 March 2010, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) opened fire on a peaceful assembly for the 'Popular Campaign against the Buffer Zone'.  The demonstration was organized on the commemoration of the Territory Day, which is 31 March. Hundreds of protesters gathered east of Khuza'a village,  100 meters away from the separation fence, east of Khan Younis. As a result, three persons were injured. Al Mezan identified their names as follows:

 

1. Joma'a Ramadan An-Najar,17, shot by a bullet in the head and his medical status is described as critical;
2. Hani Riyadh An-Najar,17, injured in the legs; and
3. Walaa Faried An-Najar, 19, injured in the right thigh.

The demonstrators left the area immediately. Ambulances arrived and carried the injured persons to the European Gaza Hospital for medical treatment.

IOF Open Fire on Palestinians east of Al Maghazi Refugee Camp; One Injured

30-3-2010


Al Mezan


At app. 11am on Tuesday 30 March 2010, several people gathered in the east of Al Maghazi refugee camp to celebrate the Territory Day, which is on  31 March. Several delegates from different areas went there as a popular protest against the 'buffer zone', near the eastern borders between the Gaza Strip and Israel. The IOF, which are usually positioned near the separation fence, opened fire on the protesters. As a result, Mohammed Hani Al 'Ati, 21, was injured in the right leg. He was admitted to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Dier Al Balah for medical treatment.

They Will Not Go Down: Celebrating Life and Land Day

This is an extraxt from a journal posted on the ISM webpage on 31 March 2009

Land Day in Gaza

Palestinian child holds sign

Gazan youth

Women in Gaza mark Land Day

Dabka in the fields

Land Day

In Gaza’s northern Beit Hanoun region, Palestinians, led by women, marched to land in the Israel-imposed “buffer zone” to tend the remaining trees and proclaim their right to the land. The area once flourished with olive, lemon, orange, guava and almond trees, in the years before Israeli invasions razed them to the ground, simultaneously razing history and life. Following Isreal’s latest bout of destruction upon Gaza, most sources cite 60,000-75,000 dunams (1 dunam is 1,000 square metres) of fertile, cultivable land as having been destroyed by Israeli tanks and bulldozers. In Gaza’s perimeter areas, the “buffer zone” annexes land to Israel, gobbling up rich soil which had served Gaza’s agricultural needs. As of the last attacks on Gaza, as much as 60 % of the agriculture industry has been destroyed by Israel, further rendering Gazans aid-dependent.

Yet, again despite the gravity of the bleak situation Palestinians are facing, all over Palestine, on Land Day their voices were loud in protest, in defiance, and in joy. Organized by Beit Hanoun’s Local Initiative, a group leading agricultural and social projects in the northern region, Land Day celebrants sang, danced Dabke, tended their trees, and celebrated being on their land. On any given normal day, most of the residents would hesitate to go to this border region area due to the Israeli soldiers’ shooting which routinely erupts dangerously close to anyone on the land.

Updated on April 3, 2009

March 30: Land Day in Beit Hanoun

Posted on Tales to Tell

Setting off the Beit Hanoun Land Day march

Today was Land Day, celebrated every year in Palestine, commemorating the Palestinian love of the land and also those people who have died for it. Our friend S from the Beit Hanoun Local Initiative invited us to join people in the Beit Hanoun area who were going to take direct action by walking into some farmland in their local stretch of border area - about 800 metres away from the Erez border crossing - and celebrate the day with dancing, bread-baking, and tending of a handful of young orange trees there (Israel has destroyed most of Gaza’s orchards.) Thankfully, nothing disturbed the festivities, except the sad sight of the destroyed houses there. Hope you enjoy the photos…

All dressed up ready to go

Beit Hanoun Local Initiative - the ones in the caps

Our friend S is the one with the hoe

Poem: I am a farmer, and this is my land...

Tending orange tree - Israeli checkpoint Erez in background

Dubke dance: S and K show them how it's done!

The audience

Singing traditional songs

Baking bread

...and the grass tastes good too

Smiling despite the destruction

MK Barakah calls Beit Hanoun on Land Day; urges continued struggle

Date: 30 / 03 / 2009 Time: 17:27

[Ma'anImages]

Gaza – Ma’an – Palestinian Knesset member Muhammad Barakah spoke to Beit Hanoun Land Day commemorators over the phone Monday, and encouraged them to continue their struggle for autonomy.

“We are struggling in a battle to prove our existence and to protect our confiscated lands,” Barakah told large crowds in the northern Gaza Strip town. He called for unity in the face of the latest Israeli policies to demolish homes in East Jerusalem and the continued blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Coordinator of the local initiative Saber Az-Za’anin called on ralliers to “remember those people who sacrificed their souls defending the nation and the land in A`rrabeh, Sakhnin and other Galilee areas: Khadija Shawahneh, Raja Abu Rayya, Muhsen Taha, Khader Khalaileh, Kher Yasin and Ra’fat Zuhdy.”

He thanked all who participated in the event, including several foreign peace activists, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) as well as dozens of local and charitable societies.

Land Day 09 Beit Hanoun