Welcome, Tuesday 06 January 2009, 05:24

The Situation in Jayyous The Ecumenical Accompanier in Jayyous has put 25 of his 150 photos of the uprooting as it happened on his website: http://www.chris-on-the-bike.de/eappi_uprooting01.htm http://www.chris-on-the-bike.de/eappi_uprooting02.htm He and Palestinian landowner, Tawfik Salim, whose land is in question at Jayyous/Zufin, were at Kedumim settlement and Tawfik was being escorted by an IDF jeep to go and report to the police at Kedumim police station the damage to his trees. Christoph was not allowed in because he "is not family". (He is an international on a passport and visa which allows him into Area C i.e. the settlement ! One wonders idly whether he is now a closed military zone himself, cf. previously an Israeli bus..!) The Palestinian surveyor who surveyed the land yesterday has to prepare his map/plan and in about three days present it to the army (DCO). Then Tawfik must go again to Kedumim DCO to see the documents there and assess the ownership situation. An Israeli film maker in Jayyous yesterday says the remaining trees may be bulldozed next week as the IDF is confident settlers own the land. In which case we shall either be demonstrating in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv or in Jayyous with violent bulldozers, non-violent olive trees, violent arrests, violent tear gas and non-violent demonstrators. (I recall the first ever demonstration against the Wall, which took place ironically in Jayyous: Day of Solidarity Against the Wall in December 2002, where the army used rubber bullets to disperse the crowd, with absolutely no violence preceding that). Tony Blair is here next week so we (Israelis and Palestinians) shall try to make our case to him. There is absolutely, I repeat, absolutely no way that 300 settlers in the settlement of Zufin should be allowed to develop a new extension to their settlement (2,100 units, according to BIMKOM as reported by Akiva Eldar in Haaretz: see attached) and call this NATURAL EXPANSION!!!. It is patent land grab and what the villagers of Jayyous always feared, once their land was placed on the other side of the fence, in an enclave between the fence and Green Line. Campaigners in Rhode Island, USA (sister city of Jayyous and Qalqilya) are campaigning, lobbying congressmen and church leaders and trying to make their point to the U.S. State Department, embassy and consulate. They tell me that "(The American Embassy told us to call the American Consulate; the consulate told us they don't deal with Israeli affairs and to call the Bureau of Near East Affairs, the BNEA told us that both the consulate and the embassy certainly do deal with these issues and that is who we should call...... our goverment at work!)" In Holland, the Netherlands Palestine Committee working together with A Different Jewish Voice and the 'Netherlands-Arab Foundation' receiving support from United Civilians for Peace (a collaboration on Palestine of 6 important NGO's) are working on a mission to Jayyous within the next few days, in the hope to interest the media in covering their trip. They are also members of the European Coordination of Committees on Palestine, therefore hoping to involve their sister organizations throughout Europe. For the Rhode Island campaign, Susanne Hoder: apassionforpeace@yahoo.com (+401-245-7208) For the Dutch campaign: Sonja Zimmermann: s.zimmermann@planet.nl +31-71-5227500 / +31-6-10936505 For local onsite details: Christoph Glocke (EA): 0547-337857 or 059-359963 or 09-2900191 (gocke@mail.com) Abu Azzam (Sherif Omar) (English speaking farmer of Jayyous, well known in Holland, having even met with the Dutch Government on one of his three recent visits, including to the ICJ/The Hague): 0547-369771 or 09-2900116 Abdul Latif (Palestinian Hydrology Group, in Jayyous): 0522-515642 - 09-2900177/09-2900169 or 02-6715198 or 0547-366393 EMERGENCY CALL TO SAVE THE LAND OF JAYYOUS Dear Friends, Many of you may be familiar with the Palestinian farmer Sharif Omar from the West Bank village of Jayyous. Sharif was among the Palestinian delegation to the Paris ESF in 2003 and was also present at our ECCP pre-meeting prior to the ESF. Last February he was one of the guest speakers at our activities in the Hague during the ICJ hearings, and during the recent Netherlands Social Forum, from 26-28 November, he was once again among us. In his function as chairman of the organization of farmers affected by the Wall, he has also been a frequent guest in many other European countries and has received broad media coverage on many occasions. Aside from being a heart-warming speaker, through our intensive contact with him he has become a very dear friend! Until recently, Sharif's main focus in reference to the situation in Jayyous, was the separation of the farmers from their land, and therefore from their means of existence, since the erection of the Wall. However, during his November visit he informed us of a new threat: Israel was now planning to expropriate the land of himself and his colleagues for the purpose of building a complete new settlement!! No sooner did he return to Jayyous, we received the shocking information that the bulldozers have already begun their work. In our contact with Jayyous on Thursday (11/12) we have learned that by now more than a hundred olive trees have been uprooted. WE, in the Netherlands, are taking emergency action and make an urgent appeal to all of you to please support us and do the same!! We need to get as many people as possible -and particularly prominents, hopefully politicians- on the scene in Jayyous immediately! Below you will find a summary of the action we are taking as suggestions as to what you may be able to do, in the hope that you may follow. Please keep in mind that any action must be taken immediately, within the next few days! Once the trees are uprooted it will be too late! Organizations whose support / collaboration could be pursued Jewish organizations in each country who are members of Jews for a Just Peace, anti-war movement, activist organizations, sympathetic political parties and individual politicians, trade unions, farmers organizations, NGO's. Prominents We are urgently phoning a long list of any prominent people with known sympathy to the Palestinian cause which comes to our mind. We already found a few who, in spite of their busy schedules, are willing to leave almost immediately for Jayyous given the urgency of the situation. We are contacting: politicians/cabinet members, churches, TV personalities, artists, trade unions, farmer's unions, representatives of important NGO's, etc. Even if they can only go for 1-2 days, as long as press coverage is arranged it will contribute in bringing attention to the situation!! Press Once one or more prominents have agreed to leave for Jayyous, the press should be immediately informed in the hope that the story with a 'prominent' will make it attractive for them. Aside from a general widespread press release it may be a good idea to telephone journalists personally, who may be sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and/or with whom you have had previous contact. One idea may be to find a journalist who is willing to make a diary. Polticians On the one hand, hopefully a number of (sympathetic) politicians can be found to go to Jayyous personally. Just as with the 'prominents', even if they could go for 1-2 days it would be a significant help. At the same time politicians -national as well as EU- must be pressured to immediately do everything within their possibilities to pressure Israel to halt the destruction! Hopefully it can be put on the political agenda of each country. Last week, while Sharif was with us in Amsterdam, he received news that 12 ambassadors had visited his land. Aside from the Dutch Ambassador, we have not yet been able to find further information as to which other countries were represented. Hopefully, each country can pursue this issue. The ambassadors should be asked what they had observed whether the bulldozers were already at work, and if not, if they would be willing to return and observe what is taking place presently. They should also be asked to make statements and pressure Israel to halt immediately (illegal according to International Law, in contradiction to the Road Map)!! General Mobilization We ask anyone who has the possibility to travel to Jayyous to do so. Any individual or delegation would be welcome, as there is no time to loose! There is already a peace camp on the land, including solidary Israeli's. We are aware that the Christmas vacation would be the most convenient time for many people to be able to travel. We also know that many solidary individuals will be going to Palestine as observers during the coming elections. Originally we were therefore planning to organize a support campaign for Jayyous during that period. However, after receiving news from Jayyous yesterday, it became clear that those dates will most likely be too late. That is why we are calling for immediate action now! We will monitor the developments continually as we have direct contact with Sharif, in order to keep ourselves, and you, informed on the situation. If it would still be of any use to arrive during the Christmas period and/or the election period, we will inform you, in the hope that more people will be able to be present during those periods. However, please keep in mind that given the situation as of yesterday, it is quite probable that it may by then be too late. We are hoping to arrange that one of goes to Jayyous in order to coordinate from there. If we are able to arrange that we will let you know. Please find attached a dossier on the situation in Jayyous for further information and for the purpose of informing press, politicians and prominents. We will try to send updates whenever relevant We would like to thank you very much for any support you are able to offer to the people of Jayyous. We would also like to ask you to please keep us updated on any action which you are able to take! Kind regards and solidarity, Aurora Netherlands Palestine Committee Last Update: We were surprised to learn that on Friday and Saturday (10+11/12) the bulldozers did not arrive. As it is obvious that Israel has not merely abandoned their plans, it is just a question of how long it will be before they continue. The suspicion is that they are waiting until after Chanuka (Wednesday), although there is no way of knowing for sure. That may give us a few extra days in order to mobilize, as it is of no use to send prominents and press while nothing is going on. We must continue to monitor the situation closely, and we will inform you of any new developments.   Contact Webmeister: fuad@exeterpsc.org.uk All text and graphics © Exeter PSC 2003-7, and/or their respective owners.