Besieged Gaza, Occupied Palestine–The Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel, University Teachers’ Association and The One Democratic State Group condemn in the strongest possible terms the criminal Israeli attack against innocent Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. More than 7 people have been killed within the last 6 hours, including 7-year-old child Ranan Arafat. Charred bodies of injured children are pouring in to Al Shifa hospital and the other depleted hospitals around the Gaza Strip. This heinous crime also comes one week after the re-election of Barak Obama for a second term. Tel Aviv claims to have been given the green light to annihilate as many Palestinians in Gaza as possible.
Gaza has been enduring Israeli policies of extermination and vandalism since 2006. We reiterate our condemnation of the international conspiracy of silence and Arab impotence in the face of these continuous Israeli crimes. We note that not a single action against Israel has been taken by any Arab country. Will the Arab Spring stand aside and watch while we are being butchered? Empty rhetoric will no longer be accepted. Words of condemnation have to be translated into action!
We also reiterate our call on all civil society organizations and political parties to boycott Israeli embassies and compel their governments to sever their diplomatic ties with Apartheid Israel. This time, Apartheid Israel must not get away with its crimes against the innocent civilians of Gaza. All students and academics should stand in solidarity with their Palestinian colleagues and peers. We ask, what more does the international community need to see to be convinced to act than the dozens of dead corpses of children in Gaza? It is left to civil society and people of conscience to stop the ongoing massacre in Gaza.
Inaction has led us to this point.
ACT NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!
One Democratic State Group
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
For two days, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) bombed and shelled civilians in the Gaza Strip. Five Palestinian civilians including 3 children were killed. 52 civilians including 6 women and 12 children were wounded. Many of the injuries remain critical, some have amputations. 2 members of the Palestinian resistance were also killed in the attacks.
Four of these deaths and 38 of the injuries resulted from an Israeli attack on a football playground in al-Shoja’iya neighborhood East of Gaza City, many of whom had gathered for a funeral close to where the attack took a place . Some civilian facilities were also destroyed or damaged.
11th November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Thousands of fundamentalist Israeli tourists from around the world arrived into Al Khalil (Hebron) on Friday, camping overnight in the centre of the city for a Jewish religious holiday. One Palestinian was punched and kicked and hundreds were denied access to daily life as settlers invaded the old city for five hours.
The thousands of Israeli tourists, who gathered in al-Khalil for two days, were gathered for the Zionist holiday, Abraham Day.
For the duration of the zionist visit, movement was even more restricted than usual for Palestinians – considering that in Al-Khalil there are already 113 checkpoints, roadblocks and closures. In the hilltop Palestinian neighborhood of Tel Rumeida, Palestinians were not allowed to walk their regular route down a gradual slope, as a Jewish cemetery is situated there. Residents, including one pregnant woman, were ordered by Israeli soldiers to walk down a dangerously steep hill.
Palestinians and international activists were not permitted to enter the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque. When asked if this meant that only Jewish people had rights in the area, an Israeli policeman blocking the route replied “yes”, confirming the apartheid agenda of the Israeli authorities. The only two remaining Palestinian shops in the area were forced to close down for the two days of the zionist visit, and a checkpoint at the entrance to the Palestinian souq was completely shut down, making access very difficult.
The zionist visitors on the other hand were accommodated fully in their movement during their time in Al-Khalil and were in fact facilitated on tours of the souq. On Saturday morning, the souq was invaded by groups of over twenty soldiers on several occasions in preparation for these tours. Heavily-armed soldiers pointed guns through doorways and down alleyways in the market, intimidating shopping Palestinian families and children. Soldiers were then stationed in doorways and alleyways along the main path of the souq and remained there for many hours, blocking Palestinian access and once again, restricting movement.
After these preparations had been completed, the tours commenced. A tour for Israeli settlers happens every Saturday in the souq, on a much smaller scale – these are ostensibly regular guided tours, providing information about the area. The majority of the groups this Saturday however, seemed to aim only to be as loud and obnoxious as possible, obstructing Palestinian life and claiming that the souq should be a Jewish area.
Between the hours of one and five, hundreds of settlers were led repeatedly through the market, accompanied by over 30 soldiers each time. The groups were highly disorderly, shouting and chanting pro-Israel slogans and often threatening and yelling abuse at Palestinian shopkeepers and international observers as they passed. Several observers, Palestinian and international, were attacked for recording the disrespectful behavior of the crowd – cameras were grabbed, knocked to the ground and damaged. One Palestinian man was punched and kicked for trying to film as the group passed by him in the souq.
Merchandise and fresh produce were purposefully damaged and Palestinians were stopped from walking past the tour groups, or were forced to squeeze through the narrow gap between the wall and the crowds of sometimes aggressive zionists. One group’s guide pointed at a Palestinian flag in the souq and stated that it was “a flag of foreign anarchists and outside forces.”
There is a history of settler violence and restriction of movement for Palestinians in Al-Khalil, a city which is divided into Palestinian zone H1 and Israeli controlled H2, which includes the old city. The latter still has a majority Palestinian population of around 30,000, with around 700 Israeli settlers. The huge Israeli army presence within the city is justified by the presence of these settlers, whose residency is illegal under the Geneva Convention which states that “transfers of the civilian population of the occupying power into the occupied territory, regardless whether forcible or voluntary, are prohibited.”
An ex-Israeli soldier who was stationed in Al-Khalil claimed to Breaking the Silence that the mission statement of his unit was “to disrupt the routine of the inhabitants of the neighborhood”. This aim is being continually fulfilled by settlers, zionist visitors and the Israeli army. Despite this, the Palestinian population remain steadfast in their homes and continue to resist the occupation. While zionist tourists paraded through the souq one shopkeeper responded by waving her keffiyeh and blowing a trumpet in response to the harassment.
Checkpoint from the souq to the Ibrahimi Mosque closed down, severely restricting Palestinian movementPalestinian shopkeepers look on as soldiers and Zionist tourists pass byPalestinian boys look down on Zionist tour groupSoldiers and Zionist tourists invade the Palestinian souq
Ellie Marton is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed)
11 November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On Friday, the house at Khan al-Luban, south of Nablus was trespassed by settlers from the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Levona. The settlers attempted to destroy the water supply at the house.
Settlers from the Ma’ale Levona take photos and video at Khan al-Luban
Earlier in the morning, house-owner Khalid al-Hamed, his two sons and two international activists spent some hours lifting rocks out of a pit outside the house where the major water pipes are. Settlers have previously thrown those rocks down into the pit attempting to break the pipes.
At around 12:15 one settler arrived and filmed this activity from the road.
Later, at around 14:15, the same settler returned with three others. The men filmed and photographed the house. They also made threatening moves towards the international activists.
One of the settlers, who was armed with an automatic pistol, then located the only other functioning water supply to the house and grounds and tried to destroy it by pulling the pipes from the wall. He also attempted to break the tap. The water supply for the house is an outside tap that sits around 50 meters up the hill from the house. Settlers have previously attacked and damaged the water supply and the other buildings on the property.
The settlers left the immediate area as the homeowner arrived on the scene.
Minutes later, two Israeli military vehicles arrived containing five soldiers. They continued to harass Khaled who was visibly distressed about this latest intrusion to his home and the damage caused. This harassment lasted another 45 minutes until the soldiers finally left, having taken no action.
For more background information on the situation at Khan al-Luban see here.
Stephen Alexander is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement.
9th November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Palestinians rallying for the weekly demonstration against the Israeli occupation and the confiscation of land and water resources by Zionist settlers. More than 100 Palestinians and solidarity activists from around the world turned out in support.Palestinian children at the rally holding photos of a Palestinian political prisoner.Marching against Israeli occupation and settler encroachment.Palestinian children participating in the march.Israeli military forces respond to the march by spraying demonstrators with “skunk water,” a synthetic liquid which gives off a putrid smell that can remain in a victim’s clothing for up to five years.Israeli military forces used massive amounts of tear gas against Palestinians and solidarity activists throughout the entirety of the demonstration. In addition to tear gas and “skunk water,” the Israeli military fired rubber-coated steel bullets and sound grenades at demonstrators, and at several points used live ammunition.Demonstrators attempt to construct a barrier to protect them from the repression of the Israeli military forces.Demonstrators try to evade tear gas as the standoff with the Israeli military drags on.Backpack of demonstrator protesting Israeli apartheid policies in occupied Hebron (al-Khalil).
