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