All posts tagged west bank

Palestine’s Front Line: The Struggle for Susiya

ygurvitz, Flickr

Israel’s Supreme Court recently postponed hearing an appeal filed by community leaders of Susiya, a small and embattled village situated in the dramatically rolling terrain of the the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The struggle to save Susiya affirms the broader nature of life under an asphyxiating stripe of martial law: while the Israeli government employs both its formal—military—and informal—settlers—forces to further its colonial project, the indigenous inhabitants of the land exert laborious efforts to secure their existence.

Because Susiya has been dealt the unlucky fate of being where an illegal Israeli settlement was established in 1983, Regavim, a rightwing Israeli settler advocacy group, filed a petition protesting the court’s decision to delay the hearing and called on Israeli occupation forces to immediate implement pending demolition orders.

It differs little from hundreds of communities and villages across the West Bank: its residents live under the ever present threat of the military violence and settler attacks that characterize life under occupation. But in recent years, by executing popular struggles that draw the attention of media and activists, the village has chalked up several successes against the state’s attempts to forcefully dispossess them of their land.

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[Video] International Women’s Day Protest at Qalandia

Annie Escobar - From the moment we arrived at the International Women’s Day protest at the Qalandia checkpoint, we could’t hear ourselves think.

The Israeli Defense Forces had already activated a sound bomb- a loud, persistent and painful noise that feels like a hammer pounding a nail into your eardrum. They were already launching tear gas canisters into the crowd and “skunk water” was being sprayed (a putrid, carcinogenic liquid with a smell that won’t leave for weeks).

We soon realized that our plan to shoot many interviews with women wasn’t going to happen.

And yet.

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Week in Review, Feb 24th

Gaza celebrates scheduled release of Khader Adnan

Gaza celebrates scheduled release of Khader Adnan / theIMEU, Flickr

A victory for Khader Adnan (?), a fuel crisis in Gaza, new settlement construction in the West Bank and more in this week’s top #Palestine stories.

Continue Reading “Week in Review, Feb 24th” on Storify…

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The Jab’a Accident and the Infrastructure of Occupation

Roads and barriers in the West Bank

Roads and barriers in the West Bank / michael.loadenthal, Flickr

Yousef Munayyer - When I heard the tragic news last week about an accident involving a school bus near Jab’a that left several young Palestinian school children dead I was devastated by the details and began to think about how scared those children must have been and how difficult life will be for the families of those involved going forward. It is sad and horrifying any time innocent people, especially children, die or get injured.

I remembered taking the school bus on a daily basis here in the States from elementary school all the way through high school. Our buses always stopped at railroad tracks, even when there was no trains in sight or approaching. It was a policy to stop and have the bus driver open the door and look both ways. At the time, it seemed like an over-cautious waste of time to me but I know it reflects the utmost need to protect society’s most valuable assets; it’s children.

So as I continued to listen to the details I went from being sad, to confused and finally, to angry. Something didn’t make much sense to me.

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Week in Review, Feb 17th

Love Palestine

Love Palestine / reway2007, Flickr

Love for Palestine on Valentine’s Day, Khader Adnan’s appeal rejected, a tragic bus crash in the West Bank and more in this week’s top #Palestine news stories.

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