International Solidarity Movement Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.
The J’abri family- struggling to survive
from Sons of Abraham, 27 April 2007
HEBRON– On Friday April 27 2007 around 16:30 a settler in a white jeep was driving on the security road near “Giv’at Ha’avot” not far from Kiryat Arba (Where the police station of the Hebron district is located). The settler was driving on the security road upon which there was a high court decision 10602/02 stating that in routine days the road should be barred to settlers. The mentioned land plot is well known for many years to be owned by the J’abri family. Into this land plot settlers from Hebron invaded several years ago and constructed a staircase passageway ascending to “Giv’at Ha’avot” and also an illegal settlement (one of the unauthorized settlements in the Sasson report) called “Chazon David”.
Although the acknowledgment by the State, the Civil Administration and also the Legal Consultant Office of the Judea and Samaria, in the illegal status of those invasions, and the existing promise to demolish those structures, no action had been taken so far. In addition, in a letter from the Legal Consultant Office of the Judea and Samaria from the 2/07/03, it was determined that the J’abri family, the owners of that property, are entitled to full freedom of movement on their land and in addition the settlers shall be forbidden to use the emergency road during routine times.
At the afore mentioned day a settler came along and halted on the emergency road near the home of the detained Abdul Karim J’abri. The settler, armed with an M-16 rifle, stepped out of his car and began to walk towards Udai J’abri (son of Abdul Karim J’abri) who was collecting grass at that time. The settler assaulted Udai and pushed him to the ground. Udai’s brother Alla, approached the settler and shoved him away in order to distance him from his assaulted brother. The father who was watching all this from a distance of several tens of meters began to walk towards his son and also Sleiman J’abri arrived in order to support Udai and Alla. Sleiman took Udai and Alla J’abri into his home in order to distance them from the settler. At this stage the settler began to shoot at Abdul Karim J’abri. Next the settler shot at Sleiman, all this while several children were standing near the entrance to the house. It should be noted that while this entire shooting event took place none of the Palestinians was armed neither with hot nor cold arms, and neither even as much as raise a stone against the settler. Both father and son did not even approach the settler.
The army forces that heard the shooting arrived at the scene within several minutes followed by the police force. The soldiers tried to force their way into the J’abri’s family house in order to pull out all the inhabitants. During the entry Sleiman pleaded them not to enter lest they frighten the little children. One of the soldiers hit Sleiman and ultimately the soldiers entered the house and pulled Alla out. The same soldier that bit Sleiman was seen later to pass a loaded cartridge to the settler instead of the one he emptied before. The policemen told the father Abdul Karim he had to come along with them, and later on he was told that he was detained at the police station along with his son Alla, in order to file a complaint against the settler. But when already at the police station they were announced that in fact they are both actually arrested. Abdul Karim was next taken for investigation: during it he recognized in there one of the soldiers that arrived towards the end of the event in order to detain Alla. He certainly saw none of the events sequence. It became clear by then that the police had no intention whatsoever to seriously investigate the shooting by the settler, and, in fact, he was not at all detained, and also direct evidence such as the cartridges from the shooting were not collected by the policemen. Later on, Sleiman found and collected two of the cartridges from the shooting of the settler. The detention of the father in fact prevented from him from filing a complaint against the settler. The father and his son had been in arrest since Friday.
It is important to note that this event did not come by surprise: For years the family had suffered from violence and bullying by the Hebron and “Giv’at Ha’avot” settlers. Invasions to their property and causing serious damages are quite familiar to them. The family had previously filed several complaints at the police station however so far those did not result in anything. The family also tells that the settlers had trespassed into their property time upon time and drove on the emergency road with their vehicles, although the High Court ruling and a memorandum from the Legal Consultant Office of the Judea and Samaria. The family had been routinely threatened and assaulted.
Details of the detainees:
Abdul Karim IbrahimAbduk Hak J’abri
I.D. 904613148
Abdul Karim, the family’s father, has 7 sons and 6 daughter His eldest is 24 and the smallest is an year and the half. The family is ill fated: Four of his sons, including the eldest, carry a severe genetic disease and are dwarfs. Therefore, even his eldest son, Annan, cannot share in the support of the family. The father is unemployed and is dependent for several years on the relief provided by humanitarian organizations. The only asset owned by the family is a modest herd and the plot adjacent to their home.
Health Status: A decade ago the father underwent an operation in the spinal column and is limited in exerting physical effort.
Alla Abdul Karim brahim J’abri
I,D. 851900985
Alia is 19 and one of Abdul-Karim’s sons. The family maintains that Alla is somewhat retarded and cannot read nor write and not even count properly. Therefore Alla cannot help with the family and shepherds together with Alla in the pasture. No other clinical problems aside the mental retardation are known.
The family intends to file a complaint at the police by the 30/4/07 on those recent events and to present to the police the cartridges they had found. So far they refrained from file a complaint after seeing what had happened with Abdul Karrim
