Thursday, November 21, 2013

Israeli forces capture two Palestinian fishermen and seize their boat off Gaza

21st November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Ammar Asad al-Sultan (left) and Mohsen Zayed. (Photo by Rosa Schiano)
Ammar Asad al-Sultan (left) and Mohsen Zayed. (Photo by Rosa Schiano)

On Sunday, 17th November 2013, two Palestinian fishermen were captured by Israeli naval forces, who also confiscated their boat, in Gaza waters.
Ammar Asad al-Sultan, age 19, and Mohsen Zayed, age 25, were on a small fishing boat, or hasaka, without an engine, about one mile off the coast of Soudanya in the northern Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces released them about 3:00 am the following day.
Ammar Asad al-Sultan lives in an area called Salatin, in the north of the Gaza Strip.
“We went fishing at 5:00 pm,” he said there Tuesday. “Around 6.30 pm, an Israeli gunboat approached our boat and the Israeli soldiers opened fire into the water. We tried to quickly pull our nets in order to escape, but we could not.”
Without a motor, the two fishermen could not escape. “I’m 25, and I have never experienced something so terrifying in my life,” Moshen said. “I was afraid of losing my life.”
The Israeli soldiers forced the two fishermen to undress and jump into the water. “It was very cold,” Ammar said. “It was freezing. They told us to jump into the water and swim 30 meters towards the Israeli gunboat.”
On board, the Israeli soldiers brought the fishermen to the bow of the boat, cuffed their hands and feet, and covered their heads. A soldier asked them their names. The gunboat didn’t go directly to Ashdod, but moved south before doubling back and and reaching the Israeli port of Ashdod.
“In Ashdod, two soldiers took us to a small room,” Mohsen said. ”They removed the handcuffs. Then, a military doctor checked our health, blood pressure and temperature. Then we were kept handcuffed again for about 30 minutes in a room, before they separated us and we were questioned individually. They removed the handcuffs and the hood from my head, and asked me about my family, my work, everything about my private life, how many children I had. Then an investigator asked me which political party I support. And he asked me how many brothers I have. ‘Eight,’ I replied. ‘You are a liar,’ he told me. ‘I’m not,’ I said. He insulted me and said, ‘You have nine brothers.’ I told him one of my brothers died when he was five years old, so I had not counted him.’”
After the interrogation, soldiers handcuffed the two fishermen, covered their heads and took them to another room. Ammar said soldier asked him to undress, then he checked his body with an explosive detector alarm able to detect weapons and even gunpowder. “The investigator, whose the name was Jamal, asked me why I was fishing in the forbidden area,” Ammar said. “Then he showed me a printed map and told me to mark my home. He asked me about my brothers and their work, and if I knew someone who works for Hamas. He said, ‘One of your brothers works for Hamas. We follow his steps every day.’ I told him that I don’t know anyone and my brother is not working for Hamas. The investigator told me, ‘I know everything happens in Gaza. We are watching at you. We could attach you, because your brother works with a terrorist organization.’ Then he told me to tell my brother to stay away from certain people because the whole family will be in danger if he is not be far away from them. The investigator repeated the same things 10 times. Then the soldiers handcuffed me.”
Two Palestinian fishermen paddle off the Gaza seaport. (Photo by Charlie Andreasson)
Two Palestinian fishermen paddle off the Gaza seaport. (Photo by Charlie Andreasson)
Israeli forces took the two fishermen to the Erez checkpoint before releasing them.
Their families depend on their fishing, they said. Without their boat, they don’t have any other means of subsistence.
Ammar’s father said this is the third time he lost his fishing nets. Israeli soldiers confiscated them, along with other boats. He went into debt to afford them.
“I call on the international community to allow us to live like people in the rest of the world outside Gaza,” he said. “I appeal the world to stop these crimes and help the fishermen of Gaza, especially the fishermen of the north of the Gaza Strip. Our children need clothes and shoes. Children do not know our problems. They do not understand why cannot have what they need. Now the winter is coming and I have no money to buy them new clothes.”
This is the second Israeli attack on Palestinian fishermen in only a week, as well as the second consecutive attack against fishermen on a boat without an engine one to two nautical miles off the northern coast of the Gaza Strip. Israeli forcesseem determined to prevent fishermen from accessing waters in the northern Gaza Strip. The actual limit imposed by Israel on waters north of Gaza is not six nautical miles, but one to two.
Background
Israel has progressively imposed restrictions on Palestinian fishermen’s access to the sea. The 20 nautical miles established under the Jericho agreements, between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1994, were reduced to 12 miles in the Bertini Agreement of 2002. In 2006, the area Israel allowed for fishing was reduced to six nautical miles from the coast. After its military offensive “Operation Cast Lead” (December 2008 – January 2009) Israel imposed a limit of three nautical miles from the coast, preventing Palestinians from accessing 85% of the water to which they are entitled under the Jericho agreements of 1994.
Under the ceasefire agreement reached by Israel and the Palestinian resistance after the Israeli military offensive “Operation Pillar of Defense” (November 2012),  Israel agreed that Palestinian fishermen could again sail six nautical miles from the coast. Despite these agreements, the Israeli navy has not stopped its attacks on fishermen, even within this limit. In March 2013, Israel once again imposed a limit of three nautical miles from the coast. On 22 May, Israeli military authorities announced a decision to extend the limit to six nautical miles again.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Gazan farmers and fisherfolk call for food sovereignty and an end to Israeli attacks

20th November 2013 | Corporate Watch, Tom Anderson and Therezia Cooper | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Palestinians demonstrate outside UNSCO – 20/11/13. (Photo by Corporate Watch)
Palestinians demonstrate outside UNSCO – 20/11/13. (Photo by Corporate Watch)
On 20th November 2013, hundreds of farmers and fisherfolk gathered outside the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East (UNSCO) in Gaza City to demand that the international community take action to prevent the Israeli military’s attacks against them and to end the occupation.
One fisherman told Corporate Watch, “We are only looking for our daily food and a livelihood. We want to ask the UN to pressure the Israeli occupation not to attack us. We are just trying to earn a living for our families.”
(Photo by Corporate Watch)
(Photo by Corporate Watch)
Saad El-Deen Ziada, Farmer and Fishermen Coordinator for the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, said, “This demonstration was the start of a Palestinian and international campaign to access our lands and control our water. To achieve what we call food sovereignty.
“We want to send a message to the international community and the General Secretary of the United Nations that it is time to stop the Israeli attacks against Palestinian farmers and to activate human rights law. International human rights law gives us the chance to sanction the occupation government and to support the Palestinians to stay on their land. The international community must deal with the situation as a political issue and not a humanitarian one. First of all we need to end the Israeli occupation. We condemn the international community’s silence at the crimes we are subjected to.”
Several of the speakers at the demonstration also emphasised the importance of the international campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli apartheid.
A delegation from the demonstration delivered a letter to a representative of Ban Ki-moon articulating the protesters’ demands.

(Photo by Corporate Watch)
(Photo by Corporate Watch)
(Photo by Corporate Watch)
(Photo by Corporate Watch)
Palestinians and internationals deliver a message to the international community – 20/11/13. (Photo by Corporate Watch)
Palestinians and internationals deliver a message to the international community – 20/11/13. (Photo by Corporate Watch)
(Photo by Corporate Watch)
(Photo by Corporate Watch)

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Israeli forces attack, detain 2 fishermen off Gaza coast

Published Tuesday 19/11/2013 (updated) 20/11/2013 05:13
An Israeli naval ship sprays a Palestinian fishing boat with a water
cannon off the coast of the Gaza Strip. (David Schermerhorn)
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- In the third such incident in less than 10 days, Israeli naval forces opened fire on two Palestinian fisherman near the Gaza Strip and subsequently took them into custody on Sunday afternoon.

Israeli forces encountered the fishing vessel 1.5 nautical miles from shore, northwest of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza. They opened fire on the fishermen and then surrounded the boats, demanding the two fishermen swim to their boat, according to a report by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

While the fisherman swam towards the gunboats, Israeli forces continued spraying the water with bullets, and they confiscated the boat's 10 nets.

Ammar As'ad Abdel Malek al-Sultan, 21, and Muhsin Akram Diab Zayed, 24, from al-Salatin neighborhood in Beit Lahiya were detained and taken to the Israeli city of Ashdod for questioning. Around 3 a.m. on Monday morning the pair were released via Erez crossing back into the Gaza Strip, but Israeli forces kept their boat and belongings.

A Palestinian Center for Human Rights report strongly condemned the incident, saying that "the continuous attacks against Palestinian fishermen ... violate their right to sail and fish freely in the Gaza waters."

The report also noted that "economic and social rights of fishermen have been violated by the illegal naval blockade imposed by Israeli authorities on the Gaza waters since June 2007."

In a statement, the Israeli army that the "vessel in question had left the permitted sailing zone and its occupants were arrested after not heeding the instructions of security forces."

It added: "The vessel was towed by the navy to the naval base at Ashdod, at which point the men on the boats were taken for questioning. As a pre-condition for the return of their boats, they are required to sign on a waiver committing to comply to instructions from security forces in the future."

The attack follows a similar incident on Nov. 10, when Israeli naval forces attacked and detained two fishermen 3 nautical miles off the coast, with one fisherman sustaining bullet-shrapnel wounds to the abdomen from Israeli gunfire. On Nov. 9, Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian boats as well and confiscated a number of items, but did not detain any fishermen, who fled.

The Gaza Strip has been under a severe blockade imposed by the State of Israel since 2006.

Palestinian fishermen are only allowed to go 3 nautical miles from Gaza's shore, even though Israeli-Palestinian agreement previously settled on 20 nautical miles. Israeli naval forces frequently harass Palestinian fishermen who near the 3-mile limit, as well as those inside the zone.

There are 4,000 fishermen in Gaza. According to a 2011 report by the International Committee of the Red Cross 90 percent are poor, an increase of 40 percent from 2008 and a direct result of Israeli limits on the fishing industry.

The Israeli blockade has severely limited the imports and exports of the Gaza Strip and has led to frequent humanitarian crises and hardship for Gazans.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Israeli navy captures two Gaza fishermen, including one injured by gunfire

13th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

An Israel naval gunship cruises near the Gaza seaport on Wednesday, 13 November. (Photo by Rosa Schianp)
An Israel naval gunship cruises near the Gaza seaport on Wednesday, 13th November. (Photo by Rosa Schiano)

On the morning of Sunday, 10th November, brothers Saddam Abu Warda (age 23) and Mahmoud Abu Warda (age 18) were captured by the Israeli navy in Palestinian waters off the Gaza Strip. They were released later in the evening and their boat was confiscated.  Mahmoud was injured by a bullet in the right side of his abdomen.
We went to visit the two young fishermen in their home in the town of Jabaliya, in the northern Gaza Strip.
In the absence of electricity, the house was dark like most homes in Gaza Strip, which is stifled by the siege and a severe fuel crisis. Without electricity, water could not reach the house’s plumbing system.
“We cast our nets into the sea at a distance of about 500 meters from the forbidden fishing area,” Saddam told us. “We were far away from the Israeli gunboats.” The two fishermen were on a small boat, or hasaka, without an engine.
Saddam told us that an Israeli gunboat approached their boat. The soldiers shouted for them to leave in less than five minutes. “We had to cut our nets in order to flee,” Saddam said. “The soldiers came closer to us and started shooting at our boat.”
Without a motor, the two fishermen could not escape. The Israeli soldiers ordered the two fishermen to undress and jump into the water. Meanwhile, they continued to open the fire. “I was shocked,” Saddam said. “I could not move. They were shooting, and I thought I would be killed.”
As we listened to Saddam, F-16 fighter jets rumbled overhead at low altitudes, a constant threat in the darkness.
“I shouted, asking the soldiers to stop shooting and save our lives,” Saddam said. According to him, another Israeli gunboat reached them and attacked the fishermen using water cannons. The two fishermen jumped into the water. “Three Israeli gunboats surrounded us, our boat was now far away, and the water was cold,” he added.  The soldiers told them to swim to the forbidden maritime area. “I was scared. My brother was away from me, and the soldiers kept firing. He was wounded. He could not swim. I reached him to save him. His blood was everywhere in the sea. Two Israeli dinghies reached us. The soldiers took my brother Mahmoud and closed his wound to stop the bleeding. They didn’t take me, too. They left me in the water. They told me to swim the marker that delimits the maritime area allowed by Israel, then took me. They covered my head. I could not see anything. They pointed a gun at my head and cuffed my hands and feet. They hit me, kicking me on the back. Then I fainted for about an hour. I don’t remember anything more.”

Mahmoud (left) and Saddam Abu Warda. (Photo by Rosa Schiano)
Mahmoud (left) and Saddam Abu Warda. (Photo by Rosa Schiano)

The two fishermen were transported to a medical center in the port of Ashdod. “When I woke up, I saw my brother beside me,” Saddam said. “Two soldiers then took me to a special room and interrogated me. They asked me why we were fishing in the forbidden area. I told them that we were 500 meters away from the limit, and that the soldiers forced us to swim until we reached it. An investigator asked me how my brother was wounded, since it was not by the Israeli soldiers. I told him my brother was wounded by Israeli gunfire. The investigator tried to convince me that Mahmoud was not wounded by the soldiers. Then I told him  that three Israeli gunboats were shooting over our heads and my brother’s blood was everywhere in the sea”.
The investigators then showed Saddam a map on a laptop, placing their boat in the forbidden maritime area. Investigators interrogated the two fishermen individually. Afterwards, the two brothers were detained in another room, and at the end of the day, were transferred to Erez, where they received another interrogation. “They asked me about my family, my neighbors, fishermen, and every detail of my life,” said Saddam. “Then they showed me a map and asked me about every house around my home. They also asked me how many boats I had.”
The Israeli port of Ashdod now holds three boats belonging to Saddam’s family. In the past, in fact, other members of the Abu Warda family had been arrested and seen their boats confiscated. Now they have none left.
After interrogation, the fishermen were detained in a cell for two hours before being released through the Erez checkpoint later in the evening.
Saddam’s family has 15 members. Fishing is their only source of livelihood. The other eight brothers are also fishermen. They don’t have any other source of income, and they don’t believe they will get their boats back.
Mahmoud showed us the wound on the right side of his abdomen. The bullet did not enter his body, but  brushed it.  Doctors in the Ashdod medical center closed his wound with two stitches. Mahmoud also told us of the physical and verbal abuse he received from Israeli soldiers. We asked him if he will return to fishing. “Of course,” he said. “We have no choice. We have to face the danger.”
What its fishermen earn only allows the Abu Warda family to survive. Sometimes, they return home without anything. Other times, what they earn only covers the cost of fuel.
The fishermen told us that they would like more support from the international associations, especially when they are in the north of the Gaza strip. There, attacks are more frequent and the majority of confiscated boats have been lost.
We continue to hope that one day the international community will break its silence and force Israel to stop attacking Gaza fishermen, and to release all their boats it has confiscated.
Background
Israel has progressively imposed restrictions on Palestinian fishermen’s access to the sea. The 20 nautical miles established under the Jericho agreements, between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1994, were reduced to 12 miles in the Bertini Agreement of 2002. In 2006, the area Israel allowed for fishing was reduced to six nautical miles from the coast. After its military offensive “Operation Cast Lead” (December 2008 – January 2009) Israel imposed a limit of three nautical miles from the coast, preventing Palestinians from accessing 85% of the water to which they are entitled under the Jericho agreements of 1994.
Under the ceasefire agreement reached by Israel and the Palestinian resistance after the Israeli military offensive “Operation Pillar of Defense” (November 2012),  Israel agreed that Palestinian fishermen could again sail six nautical miles from the coast. Despite these agreements, the Israeli navy has not stopped its attacks on fishermen, even within this limit. In March 2013, Israel once again imposed a limit of three nautical miles from the coast. On 22 May, Israeli military authorities announced a decision to extend the limit to six nautical miles again.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Israeli forces attack, detain Gaza fishermen near Beit Lahiya


Published yesterday (updated) 10/11/2013 22:50
(MaanImages/file)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Sunday detained two Palestinian fishermen off the coast of northern Gaza after firing upon them, a union official said.

The head of Gaza's fisherman's union said in a statement Sunday that Israeli forces detained Sadam and Mahmoud Saleh Abu Ward west of Beit Lahiya.

Israeli gunboats reportedly fired at the two fisherman late Saturday, causing them to lose their fishing nets.

They were detained while searching for their nets the following day, the statement said.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli army said that "soldiers identified a Palestinian naval vessel which crossed designated lines," and called out for the vessels to stop. When they did not stop, "warning shots were fired towards the vessels."

Under the terms of the current restrictions, Gaza fishermen are not allowed to enter waters more than six nautical miles from the shore, with naval patrol boats known to fire on those who step out of line.

The Gaza Strip has been under a severe economic blockade imposed by Israel since 2006. The blockade was imposed following the victory of Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian elections and the subsequent 2007 clashes between Fatah and Hamas, which left Hamas in control of the Strip and Fatah in control of the West Bank.

The blockade has severely limited the imports and exports of the Gaza Strip and has led to frequent humanitarian crises and hardship for Gazans. These have been particularly severe given frequently Israeli military assaults, particularly in 2008-9 and 2011, which killed around 1,400 and 170 Gazans respectively and led to major infrastructural damage.