Palestine: Bullets flying
Today I went back to the village of Nabi Saleh, for the first time since I was here in December of last year.
The illegal settlement of Halamish is built on Nabi Saleh land, and in 2009 the village spring was also stolen by the settlers. This act was the final straw for the village, sparking a massive show of unity and defiance, and meaning the beginning of their regular demonstrations. Since then, every Friday, the villagers have tried to walk to the spring. And as a result of the resistance, there has been a crackdown on the village by the army. People are regularly arrested, wounded and some are even killed.
So who still lives here despite all of that??
Well, Nabi Saleh is home to the excellently named and extensive Tamimi family:
It is home to a variety of young Tamimis, boys and girls, who attend the demonstration every week, despite being gassed and shot at.
It is home to strong women who are absolutely key to the resistance here - always at the front of the demonstrations, they appear fearless.
It is home to Bassem (below) and Naji Tamimi - except when they are imprisoned for organising demonstrations.
It is home to the young Tamimi men, who throw stones to stop the army invading their village - except when they are arrested in the middle of the night, stolen from their beds.
It was also home to Mustafa Tamimi, until he was killed on the 10th of December 2011 at the Friday demonstration. Shot directly in the face with a tear gas canister fired by an Israeli soldier, he was killed on International Human Rights Day.
Today, all the Tamimis were out on the streets and the tear gas was free-flowing as usual - the Israeli military are oh-so generous in sharing it. Must be rather expensive for them, but they're just such a giving military. Like all gift-givers, they even get rather offended when people try to offer it back to them! (a good trick of the shabab is to throw back the tear gas canisters after they've been shot)
A 15 year old boy, Waed Tamimi, was shot by the Israeli military in his side with a rubber-coated steel bullet at the demonstration today - luckily, he wasn't too badly hurt and was able to be treated in the village by Red Crescent paramedics. These kind of injuries happen regularly to the youth of Nabi Saleh, who are trying to protect their land and their families.
A little later, we heard at least 30 rounds of live ammunition fired by the Israeli army at the demonstrators - the CRACK is unmistakable. We didn't dare go up the road towards the sound because it's rather hard to see the bullets coming (unlike tear gas which is nice and obvious). The word for "live fire" is the same as "snake" or "viper" in Arabic, which seems apt. No one was hurt today (more by chance than by intention I suspect), but the use of live ammunition so freely is ominous.
However, Nabi Saleh is a village which isn't going anywhere, despite Israel's best efforts. The Tamimis still live here. They will continue to resist the occupation as long as it takes.
Today I went back to the village of Nabi Saleh, for the first time since I was here in December of last year.
The illegal settlement of Halamish is built on Nabi Saleh land, and in 2009 the village spring was also stolen by the settlers. This act was the final straw for the village, sparking a massive show of unity and defiance, and meaning the beginning of their regular demonstrations. Since then, every Friday, the villagers have tried to walk to the spring. And as a result of the resistance, there has been a crackdown on the village by the army. People are regularly arrested, wounded and some are even killed.
So who still lives here despite all of that??
Well, Nabi Saleh is home to the excellently named and extensive Tamimi family:
It is home to a variety of young Tamimis, boys and girls, who attend the demonstration every week, despite being gassed and shot at.
It is home to Bassem (below) and Naji Tamimi - except when they are imprisoned for organising demonstrations.
It is home to the young Tamimi men, who throw stones to stop the army invading their village - except when they are arrested in the middle of the night, stolen from their beds.
It was also home to Mustafa Tamimi, until he was killed on the 10th of December 2011 at the Friday demonstration. Shot directly in the face with a tear gas canister fired by an Israeli soldier, he was killed on International Human Rights Day.
Today, all the Tamimis were out on the streets and the tear gas was free-flowing as usual - the Israeli military are oh-so generous in sharing it. Must be rather expensive for them, but they're just such a giving military. Like all gift-givers, they even get rather offended when people try to offer it back to them! (a good trick of the shabab is to throw back the tear gas canisters after they've been shot)
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| Halamish settlement visible in the background. |
A 15 year old boy, Waed Tamimi, was shot by the Israeli military in his side with a rubber-coated steel bullet at the demonstration today - luckily, he wasn't too badly hurt and was able to be treated in the village by Red Crescent paramedics. These kind of injuries happen regularly to the youth of Nabi Saleh, who are trying to protect their land and their families.
A little later, we heard at least 30 rounds of live ammunition fired by the Israeli army at the demonstrators - the CRACK is unmistakable. We didn't dare go up the road towards the sound because it's rather hard to see the bullets coming (unlike tear gas which is nice and obvious). The word for "live fire" is the same as "snake" or "viper" in Arabic, which seems apt. No one was hurt today (more by chance than by intention I suspect), but the use of live ammunition so freely is ominous.
However, Nabi Saleh is a village which isn't going anywhere, despite Israel's best efforts. The Tamimis still live here. They will continue to resist the occupation as long as it takes.
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