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THE OTHER ISRAEL

February 6, 2003

[x] Plans for Saturday 15, world day against Iraq War
[2] Saturday - solidarity vigil with 12 refuseniks, Yesh Gvul
[3] Saturday Evening, Memorial Rally to mark: 20 years since Peace Now activist Emil Grunzweig was murdered
[4] Campaign against wave of anti-Arab house demolition inside Israel - on the ground as well as by protest letters.
[5] Tree Planting Sunday-Stop the Great Land Grab of 5763
[6] A Colonel who talked too much & Gush Shalom Akiva Eldar's version in Ha'aretz
[7] Supreme Court routinely rejects appeal re deportation of Fareg Ibrahim please send a protest
[8] Publicity campaign: Free the Prisoners of Conscience!
[9] Petition for education in Palestine
[10] Gaza woman, 65, crushed to death as IDF razes stepson's home
[11] 'Yassin's hudna, and the army's broken promises' Ha'aretz article + link to Ta'ayush report

[x] Plans for Saturday 15, world day against Iraq War

While we prepare this billboard, a meeting is taking place - at the initiaative of Ta'ayush, in which Gush Shalom, the Women's Coalition for Peace and others are represented - to organize an Israeli event aas part of the worldwide protest against the impending Iraq War. The idea, not yet definite, could include a morning demomstration in Nazareth, and one in the evening in Tel-viv, possibly linked by a cavalcade.

[2] Saturday - solidarity vigil with 12 refuseniks, Yesh Gvul
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: "peretz kidron"

We're off to support the refuseniks who are paying the price of their refusal to help in the repression.

This Saturday, 8.2.2003, we'll be on the hillside overlooking Prison #6, in solidarity with 12 refuseniks currently in jail for following the call of conscience.

Meeting place: Bet Oren junction (old Haifa-Hedera highway) at 12:30.

Transportation:
Jerusalem (Binyanei Haumma) - 10:00
Tel Aviv (Arlozorov/Namir) - 11:15

Peretz

Yesh Gvul, 02-6250271

[3] Saturday Evening, Memorial Rally to mark: 20 years since Peace Now activist Emil Grunzweig was murdered
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: yariv oppenheimer

WE REMEMBER EMIL GRUNZWEIG AND CONTINUE THE STRUGGLE

Memorial Rally to Mark Twenty Years Since the Murder of Emil Grunzweig, Peace Now activist

Twenty years have passed since Emil Grunzweig was murdered by a grenade thrown into a group of Peace Now demonstrators, standing opposite the Prime Minister's office. The grenade was hurled at the end of a large demonstration against the War in Lebanon, and dedicated specifically to the firing of the then Minister of Security, Ariel Sharon for his responsibility for the war itself, and specifically for the massacre at Sabra and Shatila.

We will hold a memorial rally to mark this tragic political murder, and to reconfirm our dedication to continue the struggle against unnecessary violence and war and in favor of democracy and peace.

We will re-hand a memorial plaque, originally placed at the site of the murder by the Municipality of Jerusalem and later destroyed.

Speakers include those who led the fatal demonstration twenty years ago.

Place: The Bank of Israel(opposite PM's office)
Date: February 8, 2003
Hour: 7:00 PM

Yariv Oppenheimer, Peace Now Spokesman www.peacenow.org.il

[5] Tree Planting Sunday-Stop the Great Land Grab of 5763
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: "Rabbis for Human Rights"

Our Friday tree planting on the land of the Nassar family next to Neve Daniel has been postponed because the Nassar family's lawyer wishes to first sue the trespassers.

The planting in the Tulkarem area, Sundaay,will take place as planned - dependent on the weather and the state of the closure in the area. We will plant in one of the villages which is likely to lose lands, water, etc., because their lands are between the wall and the Green Line. We will leave Liberty Bell Park at 8:00 and from the Rosh HaAyin train station at 9:00. Please call me at 050-607XXX

B'Vrakha,
Arik

[6] A Colonel who talked too much & Gush Shalom Akiva Eldar's version in Ha'aretz

Akiva Eldar, Ha'aretz 6/2/2003
[translated from the Hebrew printed edition by Adam Keller]

The arrest of Palestinian farmers by soldiers in the south Hebron region, described in this column a day before yesterday, was not an exceptional occurrence. Last Thursday, Hebron was invaded by infantry and tanks in numbers never seen before in that city since the beginning of the Intifada. On the same day, a full curfew was imposed on the city, too. On the evening of the same day, both channel 1 and Channel 2 of Israel TV repeatedly broadcast interviews with the commander of one of the invading forces - a lieutenant colonel identified by his first name, Eran, and by his function, commander of the "Shaham" Battalion.

Somebody had forgotten to tell this young officer that you should not tell the whole truth on TV; for example, not to reveal that such severe measures are not taken only out of direct operational needs, as the army and the political echelon officially claim. Speakers for the government of Israel repeatedly expressed their "rejection, with a feeling of disgust" of any assertion by human rights organizations or foreign governments that Israel is undertaking a deliberate policy of punishing innocent civilians. Yet here was Colonel Eran declaring:

"We intend to put strong pressure on the population to make it expel the terrorists from its midst".

The leaders of "Gush Shalom" did not need anything more. Many months ago, they have sent to IDF officers letters warning them that one day they may find in their postboxes a summons to the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague. The IDF was quick to deny any assertion of war crimes being committed by its men, and Attorney General riposted by warning the peace activists of a criminal prosecution in Israel.

This time, Uri Avnery and Adam Keller directed themselves to General Menachem Finkelstein, the IDF's Judge-Advocate General. "From reports of the IDF operation in Hebron, published in the Israeli and international media" they wrote "as well as from the reports of human rights organizations and from what we heard directly from Hebron residents, we get a grave picture of acts, most of which are clearly designed for the purpose of hurting innocent civilians and severely hamper their daily life."

The letter describes how the streets of Hebron were blocked to traffic by digging up the roads and piling mounds of earth at distances of about a hundred metres from each other; the closing down of five local radio and TV stations; the invasion by soldiers of civil offices of the Palestinian Authority, dealing with civilian issues vital for the population; causing severe damage to computers and furniture at the PA offices and welding shut the doors; total destruction of Hebron's municipal vegetable market, with its more than a hundred stalls; and the destruction of 22 homes, leaving hundreds of people homeless.

"The combination of the explicit words of the officer and the testimonies from the ground clearly and unequivoally indicates a policy of collective punishment against a population of more than two hundred thousand inhabitants" write Avnery and Keller, noting that this is a grave violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention to which Israel is a signatory. They asked the Judge-Advocate General to make clear to the officer the severity of his acts and the consequences of taking public responsibility for the violation of International Law. Up to the time of publication, no reaction was available from the IDF Spokeperson.

[4] Campaign against wave of anti-Arab house demolition inside Israel - on the ground as well as by protest letters.
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: "Dani Grimblat"

During recent weeks the Israeli government has initiated a massive campaign of home-demolitions in Arab villages and towns throughout Israel. Houses have been demolished in Lod, Ramle, Jaffa, and the Negev (south), and there are demolition orders for houses throughout the country, which could be executed in the nearest future. As result of a long-range government policy of land confiscations and of preventing the approval of master plans for Arab towns in Israel, whole neighborhoods in these towns are defined by the authorities as "illegal" - a policy whose aim is to strangle the development of the Palestinian community in Israel.

A struggle is going on at these very moments against the demolition of 4 houses in the village of A'ara. These houses were built on land belonging to people of A'ara, but which was declared "military zone" during the 1950's. Following a hard struggle in 1998-9, when the government intended to confiscate these lands, an agreement was reached in 2000 between the government and the local authorities, according to which some of these lands, including the land on which the houses in danger of demolitions are located, would be returned to the local authrities in A'ara and other nearby towns. This agreement was signed by the heads of the local authorities as well as by two ministers, but the minister of interior witheld his signature, thereby preventing its implementation.

At the beginning of January 2003 owners of 4 houses in A'ara were given notice that their houses would be demolished within a month. Since then, many people of the A'ara area, together with the activists from throughout the country, have been visiting the houses to express solidarity and defend the homes. Activists of "Ta'ayush - Arab-Jewish parternship", have joined this struggle and are maintining a 24-hour a day presence at the houses in danger of demolition.

Last Monday we were informed that the demolition order which has expired on the 27th of January, has been renewed on the 25/1/03 without informing the house owners, for another period 30 days ( until the 25/2/03). People are now in a protest tent and do not consent to the demolition of houses. Others are coming to show support by staying in these houses at a time when the police is liable to come at any moment to demolish them. We appeal to you to come and help us to prevent the demolition.

1. If you are in Israel. PLEASE COME TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT any amount of time, during the day or night (sleeping arrangements available) against the demolition. If you plan to come, please call Dani at 052887XXX, to check on the best time for you to get there. Also, if you may need a lift, or might be able to give a lift to others, please let Dani know. We are also asking for the help of foreign citizens who are in Israel to come and show their support as internationals.

2. Please sign up for the emergency list, of people who are ready to come on a very short notice to A'ara in case of urgency. If you have not received a phone call concerning this, please call Yael 055910XXX to sign up.

3. If you know any influential people, e.g., reporters or Knesset members urge them to help or to go to Wadi A'ara to demonstrate solidarity. Please, write letters of protest to the Israeli authorities\embassy or consulate in your country.

Ariel Sharon
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister,
3 Kaplan Street, P O Box 187,
Kiryat Ben-Gurion, Jerusalem 91919
Fax: +972 2 651 2631
Telex: 25279 MPRES IL
E-mail: rohm@pmo.gov.il

Uzi Landau
Minister of Public Security
Ministry of Public Security (Police),
Kiryat Hamemshala,
PO Box 18182,
Jerusalem 91181
Fax: +972 2 584 7872

Meir Sheetrit
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice,
29 Salah al-Din Street,
Jerusalem 91010
Fax: +972 2 628 8618
E-mail: sar@justice.gov.il

Eli Yishai Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister
Ministry of Interior,
2 Kaplan Street,
PO Box 6158,
Kiryat Ben Gurion,
Jerusalem 91061
Fax: +972 2 670 1628
E-mail: sar@moin.gov.il

Elyakim Rubinstein
Attorney-General/Legal
Advisor to the Government
Ministry of Justice,
29 Salah al-Din Street,
Jerusalem 91010
Fax: +972 2 628 5438

[7] Supreme Court routinely rejects appeal re deportation of Fareg Ibrahim please send a protest
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: "lawyers Shamai"

Nine months ago, the Minister of Interior decided to deport Fareg Ibrahim, an Arab-Egyptian married to an Israeli woman, and father to a one-month-old baby, Camela. Since June 2002, he was held in custody, without being accused of any crime. All his requests to be released on bail were denied. According to Israeli judges, Arabs must remain in prison awaiting their deportation.

Fareg has been living in Israel 6 years. He is a hard-working man, committed to his family. He was not involved in any criminal activity whatsoever. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Interior, implementing their policy of deporting as many Arabs as possible, decided to tear him away from his wife and child and deport him to Egypt. He filed a petition, through his attorney Shamai Leibowitz, to the Supreme Court.

On February 5, a 3-judge panel of the Israeli Supreme Court decided to reject the petition.

The State attorney Mr. Reutman told the judges that he believes Fareg is a security threat. There is not a shred of evidence to support that false statement. Attorney Leibowitz asked the State attorney: "Can you show us any evidence that shows he committed an offence"? The State attorney replied: "no". "Did you conduct any interview with Fareg before concluding he is a "security threat" ? The State attorney replied "no".

Thus, without even questioning Fareg and without presenting any evidence, they labeled him a "security threat" and the judges accepted that baseless accusation.

The judges, Justice Aharon Barak, Shlomo Levin and Eliyahu Matza, did not request to see any evidence. They disregarded the most fundamental right, namely that before such a drastic step is taken, the authorities must question Fareg and offer him the right of a hearing.

Fareg himself is willing to go through any investigation or interview. He has nothing to hide. However, the Justices of the Israeli Supreme Court are unwilling to intervene.

Fareg was not given a fair trial. In a few days, an innocent man will be torn away from his wife and one-month old baby and a travesty will be committed. In the name of so-called "judicial" proceedings, these judges will destroy a family.

Please fax the judges and ask them to review their decision again:

Justice Aharon Barak - fax 972-2-6759703
Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein fax 972-2-6285438

And if you don't have a fax, please send it by post to: The Supreme Court, attn [...], Jerusalem, Israel

Shamai Leibowitz, Attorney-At-Law
Arlozorov St. 21
Ramat Gan ISRAEL 52481
Tel: 972-3-6704170
Fax: 972-3-6704173

[8] Publicity campaign: Free the Prisoners of Conscience!
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: ybronner@post.tau.ac.il (Yigal Bronner)
Subject: Free the Prisoners of Conscience!

Dear friends and supporters of the conscientious objectors,

The abuse of the conscientious objectors continues. The Israeli military is sentencing them to repetitive prison terms, with no end in sight. We must step up the campaign to release these courageous prisoners of conscience.

Below is a short petition we plan to publish in Israeli press soon. Please read and sign by sending a message to conscienceobjector@yahoo.com

Mention your name, first and then last in the subject of the message. In the message ad title and institutional affiliation, if applicable.

Please spread the petition widely. We need as many signatories as possible.

Please note: The success of this campaign depends to a large extent on the funds we gather to support it. Placing an ad in a leading daily is very expensive. PLEASE, in addition to signing, contribute towards covering the cost ($10, $25, $50, $100, $200... $1,000).

Information how to contribute follows the petition.

Free the Prisoners of Conscience!

The State of Israel has been consistently abusing a group of young men who have refused to be conscripted on grounds of conscience. While religion continues to be a reason for exempting young men from army or national service, conscientious objection is considered a serious crime. Despite the fact that these objectors have announced their willingness to serve the state through some kind of civil service, the military, led by Menachem Finkelshtein the head military prosecutor, is punishing these young men again and again for the same "offence."

It seems that there is no limit to the abuse: eleven young men have been sitting in jail for terms that just keep getting longer, and there is no end in sight. Finkelshtein wants to try them over and over again, until they break or give in. As far as he is concerned, these men can rot in jail forever. Finkelshtein has also created a committee of "experts" whose job it is to determine that not one of the young men is a "true" conscientious objector; every single one, the committee proclaimed, is lying and thus deserves to sit in jail.

These prisoners of conscience refuse to serve in an army that systematically violates the human rights of the Palestinian people. Yoni Ben-Artzi, the most veteran prisoner, has sat in jail for almost 200 days. By contrast, the soldier who killed a 95-year-old Palestinian woman was sentenced to 35 days in prison.

Names of the prisoners days in jail

Yoni Ben-Artzi, 196 days; Dror Boymel, 166 days; Uri Ya'acobi, 134 days; Haggai Matar, 112 days; Yoni Yekhezkel, 111 days; Matan Kaminer, 84 days; Hillel Goral, 70 days; Noam Bahat, 70 days; Adam Maor, 70 days; Shimri Tzameret, 38 days; Avshalom Ben-Zvi, 21 days

We, the undersigned, demand an end to this abuse and the immediate release of these prisoners of conscience.

Again, to sign email: conscienceobjector@yahoo.com

To contribute, please pay online or send a check.

Contribute Online: To make a credit card contribution to support the prisoners of conscience, go to www.refusersolidarity.net and click on the DonateNow button on the left hand side of the screen. Under Allocation, select "Shministim Petition". Fill out the form and the donation will be used to pay for the ad and petition in support of the objectors.

Contribute by Check outside Israel: You can also write a check made out to "Refuser Solidarity Network", write "Shministim" in the memo line, and mail it to:

RSN
PMB 206
2859 Central St
Evanston, IL 60201

Contribute by Check in Israel: You can also write a check made out to "Yesh Gvul" and mail to:
Bronner
PO Box 8384
Jerusalem 91083

Thank you for your support!

[9] Petition for education in Palestine
----- forwarded message follows-----
From: aei@p-ol.com

PETITION TEXT

To be addressed to international educational bodies and authorities.

Dear Sir / Madam,

Restrictive measures which collectively and over prolonged periods target the civilian Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza, such as the present curfews and closures, are completely unacceptable and should be lifted immediately.

The undersigned emphatically support the rights of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza to go to their schools and institutions of learning, and to conduct their normal duties of daily life.

Also in order to strengthen a long-term prospect for a just and stable peace in the region, we request you to do everything in your power to put appropriate pressure upon the Israeli government in accordance with the demands of international legality including the right of education.

Name:
Profession:
Email address:

Copy and send the signed petition to: aei@p-ol.com or +972-2-277.7554 (fax) - background info at request

[10] Gaza woman, 65, crushed to death as IDF razes stepson's home

Ha'aretz, Wednesday, February 05,

Gaza woman, 65, crushed to death as IDF razes stepson's home

IDF forces Wednesday demolished the home of a Palestinian militant in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and his 65-year-old stepmother was crushed to death inside after apparently failing to hear warnings to leave the premises, Palestinian security officials said. In the West Bank, troops killed a Palestinian policeman in a raid on his base in Qalqilya. Witnesses said the man was shot as he and others fled. According to Israeli military sources, he had refused orders to halt.

In southern Gaza, witnesses and medical officials said 13 Palestinians were wounded by IDF tank fire on Khan Younis refugee camp. Military sources said nearby settlements had come under fire but had no information on Israeli tank fire.

The overnight violence broke out hours after Palestinian security officials in Gaza said they were trying to rein in militants to forestall Israeli military strikes.

Palestinian media have published warnings by Palestinian Authority security officers, threatening to take action against militants who try to fire Kassam rockets or mortar shells at Israeli targets, Israel Radio reported Wednesday.

Palestinian security officials said the family home of Baha Saeed, a militant from Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, was blown up by the IDF, and that the body of Saeed's step-mother Kamila, 65, was found under the debris. She had apparently not heard IDF warnings to leave.

"She was partly deaf and apparently she was not aware of what was happening," said Khaled Saeed, one of Kamla's stepsons. "Israeli troops were acting in a brutal way, they got us all out of the house so fast and in an aggressive manner, they gave no chance for us to see who was out and who was in," he said, adding that three of his brothers were detained by troops.

The army said it was investigating the report of Kamla Saeed's death. But military sources said the demolition took one and a half hours during which troops scoured the house to make sure it was empty and kept onlookers at a safe distance.

Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire with soldiers in the opening minutes of the IDF incursion into al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip but resistance soon died down, the sources said.

Also in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians fired 10 mortar shells at IDF outposts and Gush Katif settlements overnight Wednesday. There were no injuries or damage.

Israel last launched a major raid in the Gaza Strip on January 25, killing 13 Palestinians, in a response to rocket and mortar bomb attacks on settlements in the area and on communities in southern Israel. Saeed killed two Israelis in an attack on the settlement of Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip shortly after the intifada began in late 2000. He was shot dead during the assault on the settlement.

In the West Bank city of Qalqilyah, IDF troops raided a special forces headquarters, killing a 20-year-old policeman and lightly wounding another. The IDF also continued to operate in the West Bank city of Hebron. Troops sealed Tuesday Palestinian stores that remained open despite the curfew on the city. Soldiers welded together the doors of the Cairo-Amman bank, but later opened them.

[11] 'Yassin's hudna, and the army's broken promises' Ha'aretz article + link to Ta'ayush report

Akiva Eldar

Ha'aretz
4 February 2003

From what Sheikh Ahmed Yassin told the Palestinian journal Al Manara, one learns that Ariel Sharon has succeeded in confusing the Palestinians. A week after Israeli voters defeated their peace camp and strengthened the right, the Hamas leader offered them a hudna, a truce. He proposes an end to attacks on Israeli civilians - not including the settlers - for 10 years, in exchange for what he calls an end "to the racist actions against the Palestinian people." A week ago, that declaration from Palestinian organizations might have added a few important Knesset seats to Labor and Meretz.

Why did he take the hudna out of mothballs after Sharon's victory - and while there are alerts about a possible kidnapping of soldiers as hostages for a prisoner exchange? The answer might be found in his criticism of the Islamic attacks on September 11, 2001. "They acted on behalf of the West and the United States and against the interests of the Muslims," said the Islamic extremist from Gaza about Osama bin Laden's operations from Afghanistan. And, added Yassin, "the attacks intensified the Israeli pressure on the Palestinians."

He said in the interview that he has been receiving many envoys from neighboring Arab states. Apparently, the messages carried by those envoys are about the need to rehabilitate the image of Islam in the eyes of the West.

It's also possible to identify the distress of a commander losing soldiers in what Yassin said. According to reports provided to the Egyptians and Western agencies, the Palestinians lost 72 people (according to Israel, "only" 46) and 691 were wounded, in January alone. They believe that the enormous number is part of a quiet reform in the rules of engagement. They say the army prefers to see crowded Islamic cemeteries rather than crowded Israeli detention camps.

Yassin doesn't appear to believe that Sharon will go for the hudna that the prime minister rejected last year. The sheikh said Hamas accepted the invitation to the Cairo talks "on the assumption the Palestinian resistance would continue everywhere" - meaning also inside Israel. Meanwhile, the next round of the Cairo talks have been postponed to the end of the week instead of resuming tomorrow as originally planned. The participants were asked to use the time to come up with answers to the key question: Will Sharon turn their declaration of a cease-fire into a victory declaration about "defeating terrorism" and use it as proof that he doesn't need the Road Map to reach his goal. On the other hand they understand that if the talks in Egypt don't yield a cease-fire, Sharon will celebrate a victory "since I told you there's nobody to talk to."

The plowing ban

This time the settlers weren't on their own. This time it wasn't the police that avoided a confrontation with the thugs in tzitziot. It was the Israel Defense Forces that oversaw the theft of Palestinian lands in south Mt. Hebron on Saturday, preparing the groundwork for Transfer. The soldiers acted in direct violation of a court order from December 19, 2002, which ordered the army to allow the Palestinians to plow their fields in the area.

One of those farmers, Mohammed al Nuaja, described the events in a sworn affidavit given to attorney Shlomo Lecker. Nuaja told Haaretz the following:

"For two months we've been seeking authorization from the Civil Administration in Hebron to plow our lands near the settlement of Susia. Last week Major Tarek Shanan and our lawyer, Shlomo Lecker, told us we could plow the land on Saturday. On Saturday at 10 A.M., when I was already in the field, Tarek called my cellphone and said we could start working. An hour later he showed up, accompanied by a soldier who videotaped the area. He promised that if we did not finish that day, he would allow us to continue the following day, and said it was important the settlers get used to seeing us come in and out of our land. They left about 15 minutes later, and we continued plowing.

"A little after 12 P.M., an armed settler showed up with a walkie-talkie, threatened us and told us to leave immediately. A soldier on duty at the settlement, who spoke with Tarek before, told the settler we had permission to plow. The settler ignored him and said `Who's Tarek? I decide around here.' The soldier refused to cooperate with the settler and the settler called on his walkie-talkie to someone and I heard him summoning more soldiers. Meanwhile, I called Tarek and asked for his help. He said he would speak with the army and come.

"A few minutes later, a group of soldiers showed up accompanied by an army jeep, followed by a settler's jeep. The settler spoke with the soldiers and the soldiers ordered us onto our tractors to follow them. When we reached the road, I saw Tarek and asked what happened. He said everything would be straightened out when we got to the nearby army base. When we reached the army base, soldiers were waiting with plastic handcuffs and rags. They cursed us, handcuffed us, blindfolded us, and threw us into a wadi. Every once in a while, someone came by and kicked us. Some soldiers competed over who could throw stones that would hit us. One of us has a piece of metal in his spine, and I asked for permission that he be allowed to sit in a more comfortable position. The soldiers laughed and asked if maybe we want them to bring us pillows.

"We sat that way from 1 P.M. to 8 P.M., when they told us they were letting us go and warned us the next time we went to the fields, they wouldn't talk to us, but simply shoot us. They told us that we should send people in the morning to the base to get the tractors. On Sunday morning we sent four people to the base at 8 A.M. to get the tractors. They were handcuffed and blindfolded until night time and told to come back the next day for the tractors.

"Now our lawyers say we should leave the matter to them, and not go back to the base. Meanwhile, we can't plow, and this morning, the settlers brought large trees - not saplings - and planted them on our land. Three settlers warned us that we have to guard their trees.

"I heard that the Civil Administration is saying that we were plowing our land in an off-limits area (indeed, that was the Civil Administration's official response to a query from Haaretz). That's a total lie! Do you really believe that after we've waited so long for permission to plow, we'd risk going into an off-limits area? We didn't do anything bad. They want to make us leave our lands. One of the soldiers said to me, `This isn't your land, it belongs to the Jews.' I told him we've been living here thousands of years, and he laughed and said, `but we came from the sea.'"

About 50 members of Ta'ayush, the Arab-Jewish cooperation group, were in the area on Saturday as human shields for Nuaja and his friends. The Ta'ayush people were rebuffed by the police and army after being promised that the Palestinian villagers would be allowed to plow their lands without being disturbed.

When the Ta'ayush people saw the tractors leaving the field in a convoy escorted by the army jeeps, one of the peace activists, Yigal Burner, called the Civil Administration to ask what happened to them. He was told the police were holding them, as is routine in such cases. A similar statement was made to Haaretz by the IDF Spokesman's Office. The spokeswoman for the Civil Administration, Talia Somekh, confirmed nine Palestinians were held at a military base, but suggested the explanation should be given by the army. The army spokesman's comments on Mohammed al Nuaja's statement have not reached the newspaper.

An article by Ta'ayush members Neve Gordon and Catherine Rottenberg including photos is available at http://oznik.com/news/030203.html

----- TOI-Billboard replaces the Gush Shalom Billboard - forwarding alerts & articles of a variety of sources. In order to receive full coverage of Gush Shalom's actions and statements subscribe to the Gush Shalom list by sending a request to info@gush-shalom.org

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[next three lines explain how Hebrew readers can obtain items in Hebrew from original senders] אנחנו שולחים ה"בילבורד" רק באנגלית לרשימה בינלאומית. אבל יש לך האופציה לבקש - מהשולח האוריגינלי - את הטקסט בעברית

Recently an archive of TOI-billboard messages was started at: https://www.angelfire.com/co3/alaqsaintifada/TOIarchive/index.html

-- You can protest against repeated and unlimited imprisonment of draft resisters by signing at http://www.petitiononline.com/091202/

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-- Via http://www.HelpPalestine.Org you can donate from remote locations used but valuable goods. "Help Palestine" offers to take care of selling & transporting - profits to be sent to Palestine Red Crescent Society.

The Other Israel peace movement magazine pob 2542, Holon 58125, Israel; ph/fx: +972-3-5565804; for free sample hardcopy mailto: otherisr@actcom.co.il http://members.tripod.com/~other_Israel/