For immediate release
12 December 2012
International Solidarity Movement
Khuza’a Besieged Gaza
Gaza- Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas at unarmed farmers and international solidarity activists working in Khuza’a, a small village outside of Khan Younis located near the Israeli border. At 10:30a.m., the farmers arrived and began to plough approximately 100 meters from the separation fence while internationals lined up in between the border and the farmers. They were quickly met by an Israeli military jeep and transport vehicle. An Israeli soldier issued a warning in Arabic to leave the area and then fired two rounds into the air. The farmers and internationals remained calm and continued their work and the Israeli soldiers left the area.
At around 11a.m., approximately 20 Palestinians and farmers gathered around 300 meters back from the fence. Two military jeeps returned to the area. One soldier exited his vehicle and fired four shots in the direction of the farmers and activists. The fourth shot crossed the line of the activists and landed in the field being ploughed. Again, the Palestinians and internationals were not deterred. The Israeli jeeps left and the farmers finished working on this section of land and moved on to an adjacent plot.
Fifteen minutes later, two Israeli jeeps returned, one equipped with an automatic machine gun. A soldier fired three canisters of tear gas directly in front of the activists. He proceeded to shoot at the tractor, damaging its engine and bringing the work to a halt. An international was accompanying the driver aboard the tractor. The accompaniment team included participants from Spain, Italy, France, England, Scotland, Germany and the United States
Gazan farmers successfully ploughed and sowed wheat in adjacent plots, with the presence of internationals, during the two days prior to the incident. Though they were issued warnings by Israeli forces to stay 100 meters from the fence, they were not fired upon in a similar fashion. “This incident is a prime example of the military harassment and unpredictability of the Israeli occupation forces that farmers routinely face while working their land in Gaza,” said a solidarity activist from Spain. For a report from the previous days farming.
Residents from Khuza’a said they have not planted in this area, declared a closed military zone by Israel, for the past thirteen years. Formerly an orchard, Israeli forces bulldozed the field multiple times during military incursions and regularly shoots at farmers who attempt to work there. Farmers were under the impression that this area was now accessible after the November 21st ceasefire’s stipulations that Israeli forces would “refrain from targeting residents in the border areas” and to “stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip land, sea and air including incursions and targeting of individuals.” This is the optimum season for planting wheat and the Gazan farmers only have a small window of time in which to work before the land will be rendered unusable.
OMG they just go on and on and on, violating ceasefire after ceasefire, nobody can ever say there isnt enough proof of this yet it seems like nobody can do anything to stop the IDF murderers :(
RE: “This incident is a prime example of the military harassment and unpredictability of the Israeli occupation forces that farmers routinely face while working their land in Gaza,” said a solidarity activist from Spain. ~ ISM (from above)
MY COMMENT: There is a method* to the unpredictability (of the Israeli occupation forces that farmers routinely face while working their land in Gaza)!
* FROM ALISTAIR CROOKE, London Review of Books, 03/03/11:
SOURCE – http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n05/alastair-crooke/permanent-temporariness
ALSO SEE: Learned helplessness – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness
Gaza has no special status in terms of Israeli violations of frontiers or separation fences.
That is to say that for the last 20 or so years, the Israeli air force has been violating Syria’s airspace, often ‘buzzing’ Damascus on a monthly basis.
And, as is well known, Israel violates Lebanon’s airspace on a regular basis.
Israel refrains from violating the sovereignty of its neighbors only when that neighbor has signed a peace agreement with Israel. The catch, however, is that Israel only signs so-called peace agreements when the conditions are highly in its favor.
From the agreement with Egypt, the Jewish state received favorable natural gas contracts — at prices lower than the market prices and at a loss to Egypt — in addition to the annual monetary aid from the U.S. and the construction of several military facilities courtesy of Uncle Sam.
For its agreement with Jordan, Israel managed to cheat Jordan out of the waters of the Yarmouk River. Israel offered to purify and filter the water making it safe to drink at a lower cost to Jordan. However, Israel has been stealing more water from the Yarmouk and allowing less and less to go to Jordan.
There’s a bully in the neighborhood and he’s taking your lunch money with impunity.