January 20 – Israel deported Irish and US activists on January 18 after they were abused and denied sleep while in custody for over 24 hours. The two were arrested on January 16 together with other two US activists who were later released after a renowned young settler trespassed the home of the Abu Hamam family in al-Khalayel on the outskirts of al-Mughayyir (east Ramallah). On the same day, Israeli forces killed 14 year old Muhammad Saad Sami Naasan in front of al-Mughayyir mosque, right after prayer.
Kevin Mc Gibbon, 59 from Lurgan (Ireland) and based in Bournemouth (England), said that he and a US activist were held at a police station for 24 hours while being denied food, water and access to a bathroom. They were held in handcuffs and ankle manacles during custody and while transported to prison, strip-searched and verbally abused. This is of course little compared to the torture Palestinian prisoners face in Israeli jail. Mc Gibbon recalls being transferred to Ben Gurion immigration facility: “The TV was turned up really loud and if we managed to doze off we were wakened again by loud shouting.
“I was interrogated with a lawyer present and was accused of trying to strangle a donkey but the questioning soon moved to my Instagram,” he added. “The decision to deport me was political and no crime was committed. I was deported to Heathrow airport in London even though I was told I would be deported to Luton airport where my vehicle is parked. Immigration refused to tell my friend where I was being flown to and they just hung up the phone on her.”
Mc Gibbon concludes: “The motivation for all this criminal behaviour is to remove internationals from the Abu – Hamam family so settlers can attack them and clear them from their valley.”
On the morning of January 16, the four activists non-violently prevented a settler on his donkey from going closer to the family’s home. This settler regularly comes to harass the family. Israeli forces then raided Abu Hamam’s property for three hours, taking the security cameras and forbidding Palestinians and internationals from eating. All four internationals were arrested under false accusations of assault of a minor and conduct to violate public peace while one was accused of use of poison to commit a crime and two were accused of animal abuse. Two US citizens were later released, showing the arbitrary conditions of the arrest.
The day after, January 17, Israeli forces arrested Hadaya Abu Naim, 37, a Palestinian woman from the Abu Hamam family, who was visiting her relatives in the al-Khalayel area of al-Mughayyer. The arrest took place after a teenage Israeli from the nearby Chavat Shlisha outpost blocked the car she was driving towards her family residence. She was later released.
Ahmed John Sarkis, a US activist also arrested on January 16 and later released with a ban preventing them to enter the West Bank, said: “I came here to do what small amount I could to help with the peaceful resistance against the illegal erasure of these Palestinians by the occupation and settler movement. What I wasn’t prepared to witness was the limitless kindness, hospitality and courage of a wonderful family who deserve every chance to have a full and happy life in the face of such a desperate and violently fascistic league of heartless bullies.”
These arrests come amid an ongoing campaign of intimidation against the Abu Hamam family, who have faced months of coordinated attacks by Israeli forces and settlers. Recently, settlers have continued to graze on Palestinian lands around the house, letting their sheep eat the olive trees and stealing water while aided and abetted by the Israeli army. The same settler that trespassed prior to the arrests has been terrorizing the Abu Hamam family, as well as their Palestinian neighbors daily. This settler has destroyed and stolen parts of the fence of a neighbors property multiple times to forcefully allow his sheep to destroy the family’s olive groves.
“When I see Palestinian families watching their homes being demolished, I see my ancestors who sat on the roadside while RIC and bailiffs demolished their homes 150 years ago, leaving them to starve to death. My family line are genocide survivors. I concluded empathy without action is worse than not caring at all,” said Mc Gibbon. “And so, when I saw ISMs urgent call for volunteers in the summer, I felt compelled to go, to say to Palestinians you are not alone, people care deeply and people feel deeply the injustice you’re enduring. But most of all I am inspired by Palestinian faith, strength and dignity in the face of decades of unashamed evil, violence and power.”
On December 30, three international activists were surrounded, thrown to the ground, handcuffed, and forcibly taken from Abu Hamam home. They were held for hours at a military base without being traceable before being transferred to a police station. One of them was injured in a settler attack on December 7, resulting in injuries to the family’s matriarch, 59-year-old Fadda Abu Naim, 13-year-old Riziq Abu Naim, and four international solidarity activists.
On December 18, Israel deported two US activists, Irene Cho and Trudi Frost, after they spent a week in jail challenging their unlawful arrests and deportation orders. The two were arrested on December 12 at the Abu Hamam property after Israeli forces served a one month long military area order encompassing an area which did not include the Abu Hamam residence, where the activists were staying. Several military raids took place the following days as the forces looked for solidarity activists. Meanwhile, settlers are allowed to roam the area, attacking and harassing Palestinian communities with complete impunity.
On December 21, Israeli forces threatened the family with demolishing their house if they did not stop having internationals in their home. While the army was raiding Abu Hamam’s house, just a few meters down the valley, a group of international activists was being chased by armed settlers, in an attempt to intimidate them and prevent them to continue their solidarity work in the al-Khalayel area.
These attacks by settlers and soldiers are intended to forcibly displace the Abu Hamam family from their land as part of the implementation of the Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. In this case, displacing the family will also facilitate Israel’s creation of a line of settlements and settlement outposts all the way from the East Ramallah area to the South Nablus area, and from there to the Jordan Valley.