International Solidarity Movement Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.
February 24, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Al-Khalil, occupied Palestine
ISM were monitoring the checkpoint at Salaymeh this morning when they witnessed a soldier throwing a concussion grenade at children on the H1 side of the checkpoint.
This morning the ISM team in Al-Khalil were monitoring the checkpoint at Salaymeh.
Infamous illegal settler Ofer Yohana (עופר אוחנה) arrived around 7.20am, greeting the soldiers warmly and began conversing in Hebrew while looking in the direction of the activists. He then began to film and harass activists, insinuating that they were pedophiles for greeting the students on their way to school.
After 15 minutes of harassing activists, Ofer then turned his attention to the children on the H1 side of the checkpoint. He stood directly in front of the checkpoint on the H2 side so as to antagonize the children on their way to school. He began to film the children on the H1 side, provoking a reaction from them.
Some children threw stones in Ofer’s direction after 5 minutes of him filming them. This in turn caused a soldier to leave his post without wearing his helmet and move round to the H2 side of the checkpoint so he could toss a concussion grenade in the childrens’ direction. We captured the incident on video here:
The children then scattered in different directions with several of the younger girls screaming when the concussion grenade exploded. Thankfully none of the children were hurt by the grenade exploding, although some were left visibly shaken, with some children standing close to activists not wanting to cross the checkpoint.
He then returned to his vehicle and departed after 30 minutes of bullying children and harassing activists.
