23rd July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Nablus, Occupied Palestine
Tonight 23rd July 2013, the Israeli army invaded Nablus and shot large amounts of tear gas canisters and sound bombs at Palestinian youth trying to push back the invading forces.
At around 2:45am, Israeli army invaded Faisal Street, the main artery that crosses the city from East to West. Some Palestinian youth were already in the city centre, enjoying the nights of Ramadan, and others joined them after the army invaded. Together, they responded to the invasion by throwing stones at the soldiers who rapidly shot tear gas canisters and sound bombs at them.
Stationed in groups of three or four along the street, Israeli soldiers continued shooting at people during an hour and a half. A group of international activists living in Nablus went to the area where the shooting was happening and when they made clear that they were internationals and there were unarmed civilians in the area, Israeli soldiers pointed at them, threw a couple of sound bombs and shot several tear gas canisters directly at them.
During the time of the invasion, Israeli forces shot numerous tear gas canisters low and directly at people. Two Palestinians and an international activist were hit by the canisters. The soldiers reportedly arrested one man from a car in the city centre.
Every week the Israeli army comes and often raids different parts of the city of Nablus, ransacking houses, arresting people, firing sound bombs and gas canisters.
According to the Oslo agreements, Nablus is in Area A, which means that both security and civil administration should be the role of the Palestinian Authority. Once again last night, the Israeli army ignored these agreements.
17th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine
Update 21th July: Mahmoud Tamimi was released from hospital and needs to stay at home to complete his recovery.
Update 19th July:Mahmoud Tamimi is still recovering at the hospital. The injury in his leg is still open due to artery bleeding and will require stitches today.
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On Tuesday, clashes between residents of Nabi Saleh and Israeli forces resulted in one boy injured with a rubber coated steel bullet in the leg and a man injured with live ammunition, also in the leg. The latter underwent surgery and is still recovering at Ramallah hospital.
Mahmoud Tamimi being carried away after he was shot (Photo by Tamimi Press)
Yesterday in the evening, just before Iftar (breaking of the fast), confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinian youths from Nabi Saleh erupted. Israeli forces shot tear gas canisters, rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition at villagers, resulting in two people injured.
Mahmoud Tamimi, 22 years old, was shot with a live ammunition bullet in the leg when he was trying to help Mohammad Tamimi, 10 years old, who had been shot with a rubber coated steel bullet in the leg while standing on the hill side where the confrontations were taking place.
After he was shot, Israeli soldiers prevented villagers from aiding Mahmoud and evacuating him to hospital. Bilal Tamimi, a villager who went to the scene to document what was happening, was beaten up and had his camera broken by Israeli soldiers.
Mohammad and Mahmoud were eventually taken to Ramallah hospital. Mahmoud underwent surgery and is still at the hospital while Mohammad was released yesterday and is currently recovering at home.
The village of Nabi Saleh has been demonstrating against the theft of their natural spring and the occupation since December 2009. Israeli forces violently suppress the weekly Friday protests by shooting tear gas canisters, skunk water, sound bombs, rubber coated steel bullets and even live ammunition at protesters. Two people have been killed, Mustafa and Rushdi Tamimi, and many others severely injured. Bassem Tamimi, Mohammad’s father, has spent 17 months in Israeli jails, merely for being a prominent activist at the protests. Nariman Tamimi, his wife and Mohammad’s mother, was arrested at a demonstration on the 28th of June. She spent three days in jail and was accused of entering a closed military zone. Nariman is currently on partial house arrest on Fridays and has the next military court hearing in September.
Israeli soldiers preventing people from aiding Mahmoud Tamimi after he was shot (Photo by Tamimi Press)Mahmoud Tamimi receiving medical aid before being evacuated by ambulance (Photo by Tamimi Press)
22nd July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
On Saturday the 20th, whilst taking his sheep out to graze on his land, 56 year old Abd Al-Karim Ibrahim Al-Jabari was stopped and harassed by settlers and soldiers before being taken for questioning to the police station in Givat Ha’avot, an illegal settlement in occupied Hebron.
The Jabari House (Photo by ISM)
Abd Al-Karim’s land is located between the two illegal settlements of Kiryat Arba and Givat Ha’avot. When he took his sheep out to graze on his land yesterday morning, he was stopped by settler security guards from the nearby settlement of Givat Ha’avot who subsequently called the Israeli occupation forces. He spent several minutes discussing with the soldiers, who refused to believe that he is the owner of the land and insisted it was Jewish land, as the settlers had told them. A soldier said to Abd Al-Karim: “This land and this house is mine and I will get you out of it”. The soldiers then decided to take him to Givat Ha’avot police station for further questioning. Abd Al-Karim, who speaks Hebrew, heard the soldiers say to each other that they wanted to handcuff him and then push him out of the jeep whilst driving. However, he managed to calmly insist and persuade them that there was no need for him to be handcuffed or blindfolded.
When they arrived at Givat Ha’avot police station, a police officer who knows Abd Al-Karim and his situation scolded the soldiers for bringing him there, confirmed that he owns the land, and told the soldiers to take him home again, which they did. Abd Al-Karim explained that the soldiers who arrested him are Shabbat reinforcements from another brigade that is not normally stationed in Hebron and therefore do not know the Jabari family and their situation.
Israeli settlers tried to pave this road through the Jabari land and straight to the Givat Ha’avot settlement above (Photo by ISM)
After Abd Al-Karim was arrested, his son continued discussing with Israeli soldiers and asked them to stay to protect them from settlers, who were gathering in a tent set up on the Jabari family’s land which serves as a synagogue. However the soldiers refused to stay and said they would only come back after a one-hour coffee break. They also prevented international activists from filming the scene. Two hours later, the soldiers still hadn’t returned, leaving the Jabari family vulnerable to settler attacks. Abd Al-Karim explained that this has happened many times before.
The Jabari family used to live where Givat Ha’avot settlement now is, and they owned two more houses that were demolished. They have been living in their current house for 16 years.
The Jabari family has suffered countless attacks by both settlers and soldiers over many years. The settlers regularly come to harass and attack the Jabari family when they are out on their land grazing sheep or tending to their trees. They also steal vegetables from their land before the Jabari family can harvest them. In the past, settlers have often thrown rubbish, stones and empty alcohol bottles into their garden. Abd Al-Karim says he has recorded about 1,500 incidents since 2001. Everyone in his family has been arrested at some point or other. They have filed countless complaints at the police station, which has only led to further aggression and arrests by the Israeli military, who are seemingly trying to crush their spirit of resistance and defiance. Abd Al-Karim believes that his family is more vulnerable to settler attacks than their neighbours because they refuse to back down and insist on continuing to enter and use their land.
Israeli settlers built this prayer tent right in the middle of the Jabari land and made a path to it (Photo by ISM)
A few years ago, a couple of thousand settlers entered the Jabari family’s property and prayed outside their house. The settlers have said many times that they intend to take over the Jabari’s house and land.
Once, settlers were throwing stones at one of Abd Al-Karim’s sons. Soldiers came and twisted his arms behind his back and told the settlers to continue throwing stones at him. He was hit in the face by a stone and badly injured.
Two years ago, during Ramadan, soldiers would come to several houses in the neighbourhood just a couple of minutes before the call to prayer for iftaar (breaking the fast). They would force the whole family to move into one room and lock them inside, with all the food prepared and ready outside. The Jabari family’s neighbours were locked inside a room for 24 hours without food or water and were only released for iftaar the next day, meaning they had to fast for 48 hours. They were at the mercy of the soldiers to let them out to use the toilet.
When they soldiers attemped to do this to the Jabari family one day, Abd Al-Karim argued with them and refused to move into a room. The soldiers nevertheless entered their house and watched them break their fast. They then demanded to be shown around the house, but again Abd Al-Karim refused and insisted on calmly drinking his coffee and smoking a cigarette. He told them to go look around the house on their own, but refused to have his break ruined. The soldiers checked the house and left after an hour. Abd Al-Karim says he is proud that he refused to be locked into a room like his neighbours and that the soldiers could not force him.
As the Jabari family was sitting with ISM volunteers telling their story, a settler entered their garden. Abd Al-Karim and his son reassured the worried internationals and explained that this settler was an old friend and came to visit them regularly. They offered him coffee and cigarettes, and told stories of how they already used to play together as children. “We’re not against Jews or Israelis living here. All we ask of God is to live in peace with our children.”
21th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
On the evening of Sunday, July 14, in the old city of Hebron two Palestinian children named Mohammed and Ahmed, both aged 13 years old, were arrested. Though joining a wave of child arrests in Hebron during the last weeks, the arrests of the two boys stand out because of the massive number of soldiers and police actively participating.
5-year-old Wadia arrested with his father, also blindfolded, by Israeli focers in Hebron (Photo by ISM)
The first boy, 13 year old Mohammed, was taken from his family home in the Israeli controlled H2 area of Hebron, home to 31,000 Palestinian people and approximately 500 illegal Israeli settlers. Allegedly the arrest was made because Mohammed threw a stone at Israeli soldiers patrolling the streets, though no evidence of this has been made public to international observers who witnessed soldiers invading Mohammed’s home and leading him away to Beit Romano Military base. The second boy, named Ahmed and also 13 years old, was taken from one of Hebron’s market streets, situated in H1, an area that is supposed to be controlled fully by Palestinian police forces. Sidestepping this agreement, the soldiers invaded H1, grabbed Ahmed and brought him with them back into H2, claiming he had thrown a tomato at a nearby settlement.
Both individual arrests were carried out by more than five Israeli soldiers, but as events rolled the number progressed to more than 30 heavily armed members of the occupying forces. The arrest of Ahmed led to outcries in the market, with Ahmed’s mother demanding the soldiers on the wall separating the two areas to give back her son. The soldiers responded by sending more than 30 soldiers to the wall, bringing with them both live ammunition and several teargas grenades, threatening to shoot these into the mass of assembled people gathered on the other side of the wall. The situation escalated as armed settlers joined the soldiers, harassing international observers.
Finally, an hour later, a visibly shaken Ahmed was taken through the mass of settlers and military personnel and released back into H1 to his waiting family. Mohammed had to endure further dehumanizing punishment as he was taken to the Police station outside Ibrihimi Mosque. This was where an Israeli police officer lied to internationals present, stating the boy would be released and that those present could “trust him”; in fact Mohammed was transferred to Qiryat Arba police station and held until his family could make their way there to pay a fine of 500 NIS for his release.
The city of Hebron has experienced a wave of child arrests during the last weeks, often violating Israeli military law stating that children under the age of 12 cannot be arrested, as in the case of 5-year-old Wadia[i]. Though both Ahmed and Mohammed are 13, Palestinians complain that this law, giving Israeli occupation forces the right to arrest children from the age of 12, is only ever enforced for their children and not for settler children. On Sunday night in Hebron this proved true, as settler children attacked internationals by throwing a stone on the scene before the eyes of Israeli soldiers without consequences.
20th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Qalandiya, Occupied Palestine
On the second Friday during Ramadan, hundreds of Palestinians from the West Bank crossed Qalandiya checkpoint to access Jerusalem and pray at the Al Aqsa mosque.
From the early hours of Friday, many hundreds of Palestinians from all across the West Bank queued at Qalandiya checkpoint, the main access to Jerusalem. Although the first prayer of the day was at 4am, Israeli authorities did not allow anyone to cross until that time, meaning that no one could access the mosque for the Fajr prayer.
Palestinian women waiting in the queue for Israeli soldiers to let them through the checkpoint (Photo by ISM)
Before 4am, women, children and people with special needs were already waiting at the “Humanitarian lane” located in the usual entrance to the terminal. A roadblock was set up across the road and Israeli soldiers behind the roadblock were gradually letting people go through.
In the mens lane, located on the opposite side, soldiers were also guarding the line behind the roadblock. However, all men between the age of twelve and forty were denied access and turned back. When asked, several Palestinian youths waiting near the roadblock said: “We cannot go to Jerusalem and pray at Al Aqsa just because we are Palestinians and under forty years old”.
Whilst women are allowed to go to Jerusalem without permits, men between the ages of twelve to thirty-five are still never granted access. Even access for those people that Israel claims to allow to enter freely is “conditional on individual security restrictions”.
During the Muslim holiday month of Ramadan, Israel authorities claim to make concessions to those who wish to visit the Al Aqsa compound. Friday is the holy day in Islam, making the four Fridays during Ramadan particularly important times for Palestinians to reach Al Aqsa mosque for prayer whilst they are fasting.
Palestinian youth waiting at the roadblock not being allowed to go to Jerusalem (Photo by ISM)
Although the Israeli authorities present this access as a generous concession, Palestinians should be able to access their own land freely and without requiring permission.
The Apartheid Wall splits the Palestinian capital, Jerusalem, from the West Bank. The city contains one of the most holy sites in Islam, the Al Aqsa compound, which is therefore unreachable for the majority of the Palestinian population. Although the 1967 borders show that East Jerusalem, including the old city and Al Aqsa are part of the West Bank, Israel unilaterally moved the border back over seventy kilometres, annexing East Jerusalem.
