On Sunday November 19, Palestinian activists joined by international supporters held a non-violent demonstration at Qalandia checkpoint near Ramallah in solidarity with the people of Gaza against the ongoing Israeli attacks and the Beit Hanoun massacre.
Around 50 protesters unfurled banners, and used red paint spattered dolls to symbolise the killing of innocent children carried out by the Israeli army during their current offensive into Gaza, which according to BBC reports has killed over 400 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
The protesters were careful not to disrupt the traffic flow of Palestinian vehicles passing through the illegal checkpoint (all checkpoints are illegal under international law). Around a dozen soldiers quickly mobilized in order to deal with the apparent threat posed by the peaceful demonstration. The soldiers’ presence created a confrontational situation in which the demonstrators continued to voice their opinions face-to-face as they chanted slogans in protest.
The peaceful protest then turned ugly as soldiers began jostling with demonstrators and a uniform was inadvertently smeared with red paint. At this point the soldiers completely overreacted in trying to arrest a Palestinian American woman. Demonstrators were assaulted as the soldiers showed no restraint. The woman was chased for around 25 metres before being bundled to the ground by the Israeli soldiers, but in a classic de-arresting maneuver four of the demonstrators locked arms and thwarted the soldiers attempts. Aware of the international media presence, the Israeli border police commander decided to call off the attack.
At this point the demonstrators began chanting with renewed vigour and the soldiers retreated to their original position. However, it soon became obvious the soldiers were perturbed at their unsuccessful attempts to make an arrest when they began needlessly throwing sound bombs at the demonstrators, injuring an American protester in the process.
Having stated their point, the demonstrators collectively left in defiant mood as it was clear at this juncture the Israeli border police had decided to deal with the peaceful demo violently.
On Friday the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution condemning Israel’s massacre in Beit Hanoun in Gaza last week. Some 156 countries, including the 25-member European Union, voted in favor. The United States, Israel, Australia, Nauru, Palau, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia voted against.
His panic-stricken little face lights up when he receives the information that we’ll escort him home, sending him skipping merrily down the road on an errand to buy potatoes. This is the Palestinian Authority controlled area of Hebron, and as we cross through Tel Rumeida checkpoint to the other side in order to wait for the Palestinian boy’s return, we soon discover the source of his fear.
We are confronted by around 100 ultra-orthodox Jews, who are gathered in Hebron to mark ‘Hebron day’, one of whom shouts “You know that Jesus is gay?”. None of us really react to this arbitrary taunt, however it does serve to focus the crowd’s attentions squarely on our small group of human rights workers. Another shouts “What are you doing here?”
“Tourists” I reply, believing this to be the safest response under the circumstances. The crowd then begins chanting in Hebrew “We killed Jesus, we’ll kill you too!” — we are quickly designated the ‘other’. The mob mentality takes on an oppressive and ugly turn; now almost a single entity justifying almost any excess as long as it is directed towards the ‘other’. The crowd edges forward “You love Palestinians” one of them shouts, spitting in a human rights worker’s face.
The first stone had been cast: saliva rains down on us and people jump above one another to be able to deliver their contempt. We are shoved and kicked repeatedly, and even though it is apparent that events are spiraling dangerously out of control, the soldiers who are standing just a few feet behind us at the checkpoint choose to look on impotently as the attacks intensify.
A man lunges from the crowd, smashing Tove, a 19 year old Swedish girl across the face with a bottle. She immediately collapses to the ground clutching her bloodied face in horrified terror. At this point the soldiers come forward and motion at the settlers, in a “ok… that’s enough guys…” motion, amid clapping, cheering and chanting from the crowd.
As Tove lay on the hard concrete floor, blood oozing from her wounds the crowd re-groups, fed by curiosity and growing in energy “We killed Jesus, we’ll kill you too!” I now felt a growing sense of apprehension as awareness dawned of the mob’s evil intent and the soldiers’ unwillingness to intervene in any meaningful way.
A religiously dressed Orthodox Jew then adds insult to injury by posing with a thumbs-up gesture over Tove’s bloodied face. The sight of this was so obnoxiously contemptuous I never gave the guy the satisfaction he sadistically craved by taking his picture. The decision as to whether I should have taken that picture has been discussed over and over by people I know, though I feel the impact of sharing that disgusting image I have etched in my mind, can serve no purpose other than that of breeding hatred.
The police arrived and an American girl who witnessed the event was taken into a police van and asked to identify who had attacked our group. Meanwhile the remaining police were telling me and another Englishman that if we didn’t move away from the scene we would be arrested as we were blocking the street. We remained.
A Jewish settler medic came to the scene about 15 minutes after the attack and immediately began asking us why we were in Hebron, telling us pointedly we had no right to be there. He refused to help Tove as she lay bleeding in the street .
Eventually Tove was helped onto a stretcher by some soldiers, amid jeers and clapping from the crowd. We escorted the stretcher through the jeering crowd to a military vehicle in which Tove and a close friend were transported to the hospital in Jerusalem.
As I walked back down the street I witnessed the police open the door of a van and release one of the attackers. Upon seeing this the crowd then began jubilantly celebrating his release. We were later told by the police that they had not even taken the names of those who were identified as having attacked us, and that one of the main assailants had simply told the police that he was due at the airport in two hours to fly back to France.
Two Englishmen and I then spent another half an hour or so escorting Palestinian women and children from the checkpoint to their homes. In doing so it is our aim to protect the Palestinians in such situations by deflecting the attention and hate away from them.
It was getting dark but the streets were still busy. We escorted one group of three boys, the oldest of whom was 9 or 10. We were followed closely along the street by a dozen or so Orthodox Jews who hissed and berated the Palestinian boys in Arabic with obscenities I am grateful of not understanding. “You like protecting the animals?”, they taunted us in English — “Nazis!”.
We reached some steps and turned off the main street and began to climb, the little boys nervously glancing back to see if we would be pursued. A couple of hundred metres further on the older boy made it clear they were OK to continue alone now. I asked the oldest boy if they were sure, he forced a smile and shrugged his soldiers in defiance as if to say “no problem this stuff happens every day”. He seemed so strong, but as I put my hand on his shoulder and looked into his teary eyes they gave out another message and I saw pain and fear.
I wanted to tell him that the world wasn’t really like this. But for him and the people of Tel Rumeida it is.
Earlier in the day at least five Palestinians, including a 3-year old child, were injured by Jewish settlers, who rampaged through Tel Rumeida hurling stones and bottles at local residents. Palestinian schoolchildren on their way home were also attacked. The Israeli “Defense” Force, which was intensively deployed in the area, did not intervene to stop the settlers.
On Saturday 18th November a group of Israeli and international human rights workers met up with Palestinian farmers to plow fields in the shadow of an illegal Israeli outpost near the village of Tuwani. The joint Israeli-international accompaniment hoped to discourage Israeli settler attacks, by splitting into four groups and plowing simultaneously so that the effort of the farmers would be too much for the Jewish settlers to sabotage.
Armed with a recent court decision guaranteeing the villagers the right to work their land and the duty of the Israeli military to protect them from settler attacks, the Tuwani farmers feverishly plowed in an attempt to complete as much work as possible before the anticipated arrival of Jewish settlers.
Around two hours into the plowing action, a man appeared high up at the illegal Israeli outpost (Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, many outposts are illegal under International and Israeli law). He descended into the valley, taking pictures all the while, as a few human rights workers went to head him off and ask him the reasons for his presence. The settler remained mute, (even though as a South African, his English was more than adequate) and proceeded to wander around taking pictures of both Palestinian farmers and international volunteers whilst the plowing continued.
A short time later a settler driving a 4×4 vehicle came hurtling through the fields. The male occupant also started taking pictures of the farmers and then began attempting to obstruct the tractor’s progress by careening haphazardly around the fields in his vehicle.
Another Jewish settler then came running through the fields accompanied by three dogs. He singled out a tractor and began weaving about in front of it in an attempt to impede its progress, before jumping onto the front of it causing the driver to stop. He then proceeded to jump off and run around to the side of the tractor and fling himself to the ground feigning injury.
Observers, including the eight soldiers, looked on in bewilderment at this farcical performance as the poor confused driver pleaded his innocence. As human rights workers arrived at the tractor, the “injured” settler sprang to his feet and attempted to punch the Palestinian tractor driver, but the human rights workers held him back. He then began blundering around aimlessly in anger before attacking me with his walkie-talkie. After being restrained by a couple of soldiers he again began his angry blundering, before flopping to the ground after an apparent relapse of his tractor injury.
The police were then called to investigate the alleged assault, shortly followed by two zealous settler paramedics who began hurling abuse at all and sundry rather than examining the alleged injury. A Jewish settler then said to me “They’re suffering in Egypt, they’re suffering in Lebanon, they’re suffering in Iraq, why do you come here?”, “So you admit these people are suffering then?” I asked. He then turned and walked away. The “injured” man was then helped onto a stretcher and carried off up the hill, as police, soldiers and human rights workers discussed the incident.
Although the soldiers acknowledged the comedy aspects of the incident and the police implied the Palestinian farmer probably wouldn’t be charged, he was still required to attend the police station the following day to provide a written statement. An Arabic speaking Israeli promised to accompany the driver to the police station in an attempt to corroborate the accuracy of his statement.
With around two-thirds of the plowing complete the day can be said to have been a partial success, however, whether the crops are left to grow and be harvested unmolested by settlers is another question entirely.
A critically wounded Palestinian youth is hospitalized at Beilinson, allegedly after Israeli soldiers shot at him for protesting their treatment of women. Heitham Yassin, 25 years old, has been under heavy sedation and on a respirator since the November 4 incident.
Yassin’s doctors have told a lawyer for the family that he has undergone two abdominal surgeries, and that he also has pelvic injuries and peritonitis.
The Israel Defense Forces Spokesman’s Office stated, “The incident in question is being investigated by the division.”
Attorney Moied Kabhah says he is still waiting for the full particulars from the doctors, including the number and type of bullets that hit Yassin.
Yassin lives with his parents in Algeria, but came a few months ago to visit the village of his birth Asira al-Shimaliya, north of Nablus. On the Saturday in question, he took a taxi from Nablus back to the village in the early afternoon. Access to five villages in the area is limited by a military checkpoint open only to residents of those villages and special permit holders.
Passengers sharing the cab with Yassin told human rights watchdog B’Tselem that their taxi, with four men and five women passengers, arrived at the checkpoint after an hour’s wait. The driver collected the identity cards of all nine passengers and gave them to the soldiers.
At that time, following procedure, the women got out of the cab. According to the witness accounts, one of the soldiers instructed the women to pat their chests and stomachs in a sort of physical security check. Some or all of the women refused. Some witnesses say the soldier ceded the demand and only examined bags, while others say the soldier cursed the women and yelled at them.
After the women, the men got out of the cab and Yassin was the first to step up to the check, about two meters from the soldiers. The soldier instructed Yassin to pull up his shirt, which he did, while walking closer to the soldiers. At that time, the men heard him ask the soldier in English why he told the women to touch themselves. Another witness believes he told the soldier he could not instruct women to touch themselves.
According to witnesses, the soldier did not answer, and just yelled at him and pushed him. Yassin kept talking. One witness heard Yassin say, “Don’t hit me.” The soldier pushed him again and then apparently Yassin pushed back. The soldier yelled and cursed and hit Yassin on the arm and pointed his gun at him. At this point, two soldiers who had been searching the taxi joined the first soldier and also pointed cocked guns at Yassin.
One witness said Yassin then pushed the soldiers away as they tried to catch him and then they hit him. One soldier fired shots into the air and then at the ground. Another witness reported one soldier fired into the air while the other shot down at the ground, whereas the third soldier pointed his rifle at the other standing men.
According to the witnesses, one soldier shouted in Hebrew, “Stop, arms in the air.” However, Yassin – who doesn’t speak Hebrew – continued to walk forward and then the soldiers shot at him. Then Yassin fell to the ground. According to the eyewitnesses, the soldiers held him, hurling him face down on a cement block and handcuffed him.
All three witnesses say the soldiers beat Yassin for five minutes in the back and head with their fists and their rifle butts and kicked him, also in the head.
After about ten minutes, a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance, summoned by another passenger, arrived on the scene, but the soldiers refused to allow the medical team access to Yassin. An Israeli ambulance arrived shortly thereafter and transferred Yassin to a hospital in Israel.
A number of military officers arrived at the checkpoint and questioned the witnesses for about fifteen minutes.
UPDATE, November 22nd: Tove has been released from hospital and will return home soon. The Jerusalem Post has reported Swedish government dissatisfaction with the Israeli investigation into the attack on Tove:
“The Swedish government is dissatisfied with Israel’s investigation of an attack in the contentious West Bank city of Hebron that left a Swedish activist with a broken cheekbone, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
“We’re concerned that this hasn’t been followed up, and we intend to speak to the relevant authorities and ask for more information about the incident,” said Petra Hansson, a spokeswoman for the Swedish Foreign Ministry. ”
UPDATE, November 21: Tove is still in hospital where she will remain for the next few days before returning to Sweden to receive ongoing treatment there. As well as a broken cheekbone Tove has a fractured skull and damage to her eye muscles. A complaint was filed with the police in Kiryat Arba where eye-witness statements and photo evidence was submitted. However, according to a report by Israeli human rights group Yesh Din 90% of complaints filed against Israelis to the “Samaria and Judea District” police were closed without indictments being issued.
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A 19-year old Swedish human rights worker had her cheekbone broken by a Jewish extremist in Hebron today. Earlier the same day at least five Palestinians, including a 3-year-old child, were injured by the settler-supporting extremists, who rampaged through Tel Rumeida hurling stones and bottles at local residents. Palestinian schoolchildren on their way home were also attacked. The Israeli army, which was intensively deployed in the area, did not intervene to stop the attacks.
Tove Johansson from Stockholm walked through the Tel Rumeida checkpoint with a small group of human rights workers (HRWs) to accompany Palestinian schoolchildren to their homes. They were confronted by about 100 Jewish extremists in small groups. They started chanting in Hebrew “We killed Jesus, we’ll kill you too!” — a refrain the settlers had been repeating to internationals in Tel Rumeida all day.
After about thirty seconds of waiting, a small group of very aggressive male Jewish extremists surrounded the international volunteers and began spitting at them, so much so that the internationals described it as “like rain.” Then men from the back of the crowd began jumping up and spitting, while others from the back and side of the crowd kicked the volunteers.
The soldiers, who were standing at the checkpoint just a few feet behind the HRWs, looked on as they were being attacked.
One settler then hit Tove on the left side of her face with an empty bottle, breaking it on her face and leaving her with a broken cheekbone. She immediately fell to the ground and the group of Jewish extremists who were watching began to clap, cheer, and chant. The soldiers, who had only watched until this point, then came forward and motioned at the settlers, in a manner which the internationals described as “ok… that’s enough guys.”
The extremists, however, were allowed to stay in the area and continued watching and clapping as the HRWs tried to stop the flow of blood from the young woman’s face. Some, who were coming down the hill even tried to take photos of themselves next to her bleeding face, giving the camera a “thumbs-up” sign.
At this point, a HRW was taken into a police van and asked to identify who had attacked the group. The HRW did this, pointing out three Jewish extremists who the police took into their police vehicles. However, the extremists were all driven to different areas of the neighborhood and released nearly immediately. When one of the three was released on Shuhada Street, the crowd that was still celebrating the woman’s injuries applauded and cheered.
A settler medic came to the scene about 15 minutes after the attack and immediately began interrogating the internationals who had been attacked about why they were in Hebron. He refused to help the bleeding woman lying on the street in any way.
Five minutes after the settler medic arrived, the army medic arrived and began treating the injured woman. When she was later put on a stretcher, the crowd again clapped and cheered.
Police officers at the scene then began threatening to arrest the remaining HRWs if they did not immediately leave the area, even though they had just been attacked.
The injured woman was taken to Kiryat Arba settlement and then to Hadassah Ein Keren hospital in Jerusalem.
HRWs were later told by the police that they had not even taken the names of those who were identified as having attacked the HRWs and that one of the main assailants had simply told the police that he was due at the airport in two hours to fly back to France.
The incident was the latest attack by extremist Jews in Hebron. The small group of Khannist settlers in Tel Rumeida regularly attack and harass Palestinians in the area. The violence sometimes spills over to the international human rights workers who accompany Palestinians in an attempt to protect them from settler attack.
The settlers in Tel Rumeida encourage Jewish tourists to come to support them, as a way of making up for their small numbers. Today, hundreds had come from tours in Israel for a special event — many from overseas: France, England and the United States.
For more details and photos contact:
Tove – 054 747 9225
ISM media office 02 2971824 or 059 943 157
