Le Devoir Marco Bélair-Cirino.

Photo: Valerian Mazataud. Palestinian Mohammed Khatib.

Le militant Mohammed Khatib, qui a traîné deux compagnies québécoises devant la Cour supérieure, est arrêté par l’armée israélienne

Mohammed Khatib, un producteur de poulets palestinien qui accuse deux sociétés québécoises de crimes de guerre devant la Cour supérieure du Québec, a été fait prisonnier par l’armée israélienne à Bil’in, en Cisjordanie, dans la nuit de lundi.

Des dizaines de soldats israéliens auraient fait irruption aux aurores lundi dans le village de Bil’in, situé à l’ouest de Ramallah, en Cisjordanie, et ont appréhendé 20 personnes, selon le collectif de soutien aux droits du peuple palestinien Tadamon. «Deux cents soldats sont arrivés dans le village palestinien. Ils étaient déguisés et masqués ou maquillés. Il s’agit d’arrestations arbitraires», affirme la porte-parole de Tadamon, Sarah. Celle-ci appelle à la libération immédiate de ces derniers.

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Matt Kennard, guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 August 2009.

Photo: Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem under siege by Israeli police.

A couple of months ago I spent a fortnight in Palestine with the International Solidarity Movement – activists who help Palestinians non-violently resist Israeli oppression. The most pressing of many issues during my stay was the attempts by an Israeli settler company, Nahalat Shimon, backed by the Israeli courts, to cleanse East Jerusalem of its Arab population, focusing its efforts at that time on the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

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une action de solidarité pour la libération immédiate de Mohammad Khatib

vendredi 7 août, midi
Librairie Indigo
coin de rue Ste-Catherine et avenue McGill College
(métro McGill)
Montréal, Canada

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Un mois après avoir fait une tournée au Canada un important
militant palestinien est kidnappé par l’armée israélienne

Photo: Valerian Mazataud. Activiste Mohammad Khatib de Bil’in.

Lundi, tôt le matin, des soldats israéliens, le visage peint et portant des masques, ont envahi le village de Bil’in. Les soldats ont perquisitionné plusieurs maisons et ont arrêté deux enfants palestiniens et cinq adultes, dont Mohammad Khatib du Comité populaire contre le mur et les colonies de Bil’in.

En juin 2009, Mohammad Khatib a fait une tournée pan-canadienne pour parler du procès historique de Bil’in contre deux compagnies québecoises Green Park International et Green Mount International, toutes deux impliquées dans la construction de colonies israéliennes illégales sur les terres du village palestinien de Bil’in.

Le militant palestinien Mohammad Khatib a aussi parlé dans plusieurs importants médias canadiens et s’est exprimé publiquement dans onze villes canadiennes, avec Emily Schaeffer, une avocate israélienne qui représente le village de Bil’in, s’adressant ainsi à des centaines de personnes à travers le Canada.

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Bil’in Palestine issues urgent international action appeal, August 3rd, 2009.

Photo: Valerian Mazataud. Bil’in activist Mohammad Khatib.

At around 3am on Monday morning, a large military force wearing combat paint and masks invaded the West Bank village of Bil’in. Israeli soldiers raided several homes, arresting 2 Palestinian children, 5 Palestinian adults including Mohammad Khatib of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements. The home of another member of the Popular Committee was raided, but soldiers could not arrest him because he was not present at home.

Also Arrested were the three brothers Khaled Show gut Abd-Alrazic al-Khateeb (age 23), Mustafa Show gut Abd-Alrazic al-Khateeb (age18), and Mohammed Show gut Abd-Alrazic al-Khateeb (age 16); Abdullah Ahmad Yassen (age 18); Abdullah Mohammed Ali Yassen (age 16); Issa Mahmoud Issa Abu Rahma (age 40); This brings to 19 the number of Biliner’s currently in custody.

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photo essay by Yotam Ronen ActiveStills

Photo: Yotam Ronen: ActiveStills. Palestinian lands under Israeli occupation at night.

Bil’in, Palestine has become an inspiring example of popular resistance to many across the world, as the small village in occupied Palestine has engaged in a consistent struggle against Israeli colonization, through weekly creative protests against the Israeli apartheid wall which is set to annex an estimated 60% of Bil’in’s land.

In June 2009, Bil’in village launched a historical lawsuit in Montreal against Green Park International and Green Mount International, two companies registered in Quebec. Members of Bil’in’s Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements and Emily Schaeffer, an Israeli lawyer representing the village of Bil’in were present in Montreal for the first hearings and also toured eleven cities across Canada. Bil’in’s lawsuit is rooted in the fact that the two companies are constructing illegal Israeli colonies on Bil’in’s lands in the West Bank which violates both international and Canadian law, specifically the Geneva Convention.

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Jody McIntyre, Electronic Intifada, 31 July 2009

Photo: ActiveStills. Night demonstration in Bil’in, Palestine.

Over the last few weeks, the residents of Bilin have been subjected to constant night raids by the Israeli military, in retaliation to their weekly nonviolent demonstrations, now in their fifth year, against the Apartheid Wall, which has stolen over half of their land. So far, 17 youths have been arrested, some as young as 16 years of age, usually for their participation in the demonstrations. Many of the boys will not see their family again for months. With the situation getting critical, local activists of the Bilin Popular Committee called for a night demonstration to protest against the raids.

The village has become somewhat of a symbol of the Palestinian resistance, but they have often paid a heavy price for their spirit and resolve — the Israeli army respond to their non-violent actions with brutal force; tear gas, rubber-coated bullets, and live ammunition, in April of this year resulting in the death of Bassem Abu Rahma, a local resident.

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Georgia Straight, by Omar Barghouti and Sid Shniad.

Photo: Palestinian walking in lands under Israeli occupation.

For several decades, the world has watched in frustration as the crisis in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory deepened. Confused by the details of what is alleged to be a highly complicated situation and loathed to be attacked for criticizing Israel lest they be vilified as anti-Semites, people who would otherwise be expected to play an active role in striving for an end to Israel’s occupation, colonization, and system of discrimination in accordance with international law have chosen to focus their attention elsewhere.

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Al Jazeera Friday, July 31, 2009.

Photo: Palestinian boy killed by Israeli military forces in Gaza.

Israel has admitted to using white phosphorus during its war on the Gaza Strip earlier this year, but says it did so in accordance with international law.

The admission came in a 163-page document published by the Israeli foreign ministry on Thursday ahead of a UN report next week.

The Israeli army “used munitions containing white phosphorus” in Gaza, the document said, but it denied violating international law, saying it had not fired such weapons inside populated areas.

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DCI-Palestine submits alternative report to UN Human Rights Committee.

Photo: Darren Ell. Palestinian children in Rafah, Gaza Strip.

Ramallah, 30 July 2009 – On 29 July 2009, Defense for Children International (DCI-Palestine) submitted an Alternative Report to the UN Human Rights Committee which is scheduled to review Israel’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) (ICCPR) in October 2009.

The report focuses on the right to life (Article 6), torture and ill-treatment (Article 7), arbitrary detention (Article 9) and fair trial rights (Article 14) in the Israeli military court system which has operated in the Occupied Palestinian Territory for the last 42 years.

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