Author: ISM Media - Page 14 - International Solidarity Movement

Swedish Human Rights Defender on Hunger Strike after Denied Entry and Detained by Israeli Authorities

23 February 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv, February 21, 2024 – Israeli authorities at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport have denied entry to a Swedish foreign national and Palestinian human rights defender arbitrarily citing “Public security or public safety or public order considerations”. Samira Khoshbakht, 42, a textile artist and craft teacher working with children, has started a hunger strike in protest of their detention after being denied entry to Israel/Palestine. Samira’s phone was taken, they have not been allowed to contact the Swedish embassy and are now held in a moldy cell.

Samira has stated: “Amidst the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Palestinians in the West Bank endure daily brutality from Israeli settlers and soldiers. The media coverage of these violations is highly deficient, only a small fraction of the most extreme cases are reported. Just in the past few months, sixteen whole communities have been displaced. Therefore, the presence of human rights activists is crucial. Israel’s imprisonment and deportation of international human rights defenders under the guise of terrorism are unjustifiable actions. In accordance with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, Israel is obliged to protect and promote our work. Our contribution is to observe and document what is happening on the ground and we are determined to continue doing so.”

Israel controls all access points to the Palestinian territories it occupies. Being denied entry by occupation authorities entails interrogation, forcible deportation and most often a ban on returning. In an extension of the oppression of Palestinian human rights, Israeli authorities continue targeting human rights defenders who speak out against its violations of international humanitarian law. Israel has denied entry to UN Special Rapporteurs on the occupied Palestinian Territories (oPT) since 2008. Lately, Israel has refused to extend the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the oPT’s visa. At the end of November 2023, human rights defender Allison Russell, a Scottish-born Belgian citizen, was arrested and then deported due to her work in reporting the ongoing attacks of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. Far more brutal consequences for those that Israel wants to silence are implemented in the Gaza strip, where Israel has carried out targeted executions of journalists, outspoken academics, human rights defenders and their families.

We demand the immediate release of detained human rights defender Samira Khoshbakht and the cessation of tactics of violence and harassment against human rights defenders on the ground.

Contact email: info@ism-sweden.org

Illegal Settlers Attack Shepherding family in Masafer Yatta

21 February 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Masafer Yatta

On Tuesday, February 20^th, armed illegal Israeli settlers attacked a shepherding family and their sheep near the villages of Al Jawaya and Tuwani, in Masafer Yatta. The settlers reportedly let their dog loose on the sheep, injuring three, discharged a weapon, and hit a child.

Shepherd Hamze Shawaheen reports that 2 armed assailants dressed in army fatigues (believed to be from Susiya or another nearby settlement), came upon him and his family mid-morning. They beat and pushed to the ground one of his sons and many of his sheep, and then sent a dog among them to harm and break up his flock. Hamze attempted to film, but they pointed a gun at him and threatened to shoot him. He states they fired a weapon towards the herd, but no gunshot injuries were noted. The settlers threatened to come for him and his flock, stating: “We have a picture of you and we will come for you all the time, because you called [for help].”

Hamze chose to graze his sheep in different fields later in the day, and with solidarity activists present. That afternoon, three settler vehicles pulled onto a nearby rise and waited. Hamze believes that were activists not present, they would have attacked him again.

Settler vehicles pulled onto a nearby rise while shepherd was grazing. @ISM

He states these attackers are known to him, though he does not know their names. He offered a photo taken when one came in a tractor and attempted to run over his sheep. He states that they have harassed him and his sheep on a near-daily basis, and that they assaulted him twice physically. No charges have been brought against his assailants, though he himself was arrested and held for 6 hours after one altercation. Hamze denies any wrongdoing or physical aggression towards the settlers. Until now, none of his family have been seriously injured, but the settlers have killed 2 of his sheep, one pregnant with 2 unborn baby sheep.

A photo taken from Hamze when a settler came in a tractor and attempted to run over his sheep.

Violence like this has grown common in the South Hebron Hills since October 7th, whether at the hands of settlers or military reservists. It is difficult at times to differentiate them as settlers increasingly wear military uniforms and soldiers and police appear to defer to them during confrontations. They have attacked Palestinians’ livelihoods by attacking their flocks and destroying cultivated lands. And they have assaulted and threatened children and adults, displacing and terrorizing entire villages.

Solidarity activists, both Israeli and internationals, have been present in the area for many years, but settler and military violence against Palestinian civilians persists across the West Bank. Hamze believes that the only reason he can still graze his sheep at all is because of the presence of solidarity activists: “We must have activists with us every day. This means that when we want to go out, we must have activists with us, because the settler army is afraid of being photographed by cameras like you.”

Continued Settler Appropriation of Community Garden in At-Tuwani

17 February 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Masafer Yatta

Israeli occupation soldiers and settler army. @ISM

On February 14, for the second time in 3 days, a settler from an illegal outpost west of Ma’on settlement, entered At-Tuwani, in Masafer Yatta, to do illegal drilling and construction work in the Youth of Sumud garden. Five heavily armed and masked settlers in reservist clothing blocked Palestinians, who were with solidarity activists, from accessing their own land. A surveillance drone was also present (video).

Video of a surveillance drone. @ISM

The settler soldiers called for backup and were quickly joined by more masked settler soldiers and three active duty occupation soldiers, who further blocked access to the land, giving time for the settlers to complete their work.

When a member of Youth of Sumud asked the commanding soldier if he would make the settler leave his land, the officer answered: “No, and in fact you are the one disturbing the peace, so I will ask you to leave.” He then told him he could file a complaint with the police.

The soldier then showed a digital map of the area with a red circle over large parts of the Sumud garden and declared it a military zone for the next 30 days, which means Palestinians and solidarity activists cannot enter without facing arrest or violence.

A map showing the new closed military area ordered by the Israeli occupation forces, without a date. @ISM

Such digital maps are not reviewed by a judge and are not legal; this one did not even have a date. Israeli solidarity activists report they have seen them produced on the spot in the Jeep.

Finally the police came and, acknowledging the illegal digital map, demanded IDs from all Palestinians and solidarity activists present, and the settler soldiers together with the occupation army and police pushed Palestinians to the family home.

This is only one example of how Israeli occupation police, army, and settlers work together to commit illegal land grabs and settlement expansion, and to drive Palestinians from their lands and homes. There is a pattern of land grabbing in at-Tuwani and in Masafer Yatta, which has intensified since October: first the bulldozing of the garden, then the installing of Israeli flags and now these illegal construction works.

Yet the people of at-Tuwani and neighboring communities have been showing their steadfastness, as they resist daily oppression and colonization of their lands.

Activist from Youth of Sumud confronting the IOF. @ISM

Illegal settlers working on Palestinian land under the protection of settler army. @ISM

Israeli flag illegally installed in the Youth of Sumud garden, at-Tuwani. @ISM

Wadi Tiran: The Struggle for Shepherding

13 February 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Masafer Yatta

Settler sheep herding onto Palestinian oat field on January 12. @ISM

In the secluded village of Tiran, two shepherd families report increasing harassment by settler shepherds from the nearby outpost “Havat Yehuda”. Tiran is one of many hamlets south of Al Khalil (Hebron), known collectively as Masafer Yata. Like other villages in the area, Tiran is surrounded on all sides by both established settlements and vigilante outposts (usually a mobile home or bus with military escort) – illegal under international and technically Israeli law.

Though very used to settler harassment, the head of one family (who asks to withhold his name for safety), reports that harassment has increased dramatically since October 7th. Every morning, the settlers shepherd a large flock of sheep on the Palestinian land, and often onto his and his brother’s land, grazing their animals on the oats crop and stealing valuable grazing time needed for the Palestinian families’ own sheep and goats. This is part of a larger pattern, observed by Palestinian shepherds and solidarity activists in the area. Numerous encounters have been reported with military and sometimes settlers dressed in military fatigues. They tell Palestinian shepherds that they are not allowed to graze their animals on their own lands, and produce photographs of alleged ‘grazing permission’ and other military and court documents. Even when the military sometimes gives in, the shepherds lose valuable Spring grazing time in a typically arid environment while waiting for the settlers or soldiers to act.

Today, January 13, solidarity activists escorting children to school encountered a settler shepherd (pictured in film with ארץנו, “our land” sweatshirt) with her flock of sheep, waiting behind a hill and out of site of the villagers. After the kids passed, the sheep and sheepdogs turned onto the road and ran after the children quickly. When activists pointed out to the settler that her herd and dogs were chasing the children, she responded, “I know” and ran after the herd. In the included video, she is heard to shout, “!ללכת ,ללכת” (“go, go!”). After several minutes, the animals stopped and she shouted back “ok?” Activists stayed until the children were safely inside.

Apart from this shepherding interference, the head of household reports that settler violence and harassment of the two families’ homes have also increased since October 7th: the settlers came in the night, threatened to kill the families, damaged their water tank and farming machinery, entered their homes to take photos of family members, and completely destroyed the only road leading into the village with earth movers. Solidarity activists observed drones sent in during the day which the families say happens often. Like many rural Palestinian families, they say they are afraid of what will happen without solidarity activist presence; settlers have already driven another family who used to live close by from their home, as well as the entire village of Zanuta.

Sheep and dogs from Israeli settler chasing the children going to school. @ISM

UNRWA Aid Cuts: a Coordinated Political and Economic Attack

02 February 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Gaza

An UNRWA school turned into a shelter for displaced Palestinians, January 2024. @UNRWA

Mere hours after the ICJ ruling which found Israel is ‘plausibly’ committing genocide in Gaza and ordered it shall take “immediate and effective measures” to enable urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance into the besieged strip, the apartheid state started a timely orchestrated attack against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency For Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). This resulted in 15 Western countries suspending funding to the agency at a crucial time.

Let’s be clear, this is not only a vindictive act after the ICJ ruling and an attempt to deflect the attention from the genocide that Israel is carrying out, but also a political attack to rid of an institution which enshrines the right of return of Palestine refugees and their fundamental existence, which Israel wants the world to forget. Founded after the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe), UNRWA has granted “refugee” status to generations of Palestinians.

The aid cut from Western countries is another attack on the Palestinians and a continuation of the unhinged and unilateral support by Western allies for Israel’s genocidal plan and its will to eradicate the indigenous people of the land it stole. However, now with a legally binding ruling on the table, this action from Western governments could not only be in breach of the measures ordered by the UN court but also in violation of the Genocide convention.

As the largest aid organisation in Gaza, UNRWA is crucial to displaced Palestinians. It is now providing shelter to over 1 million displaced people, in addition to food and primary healthcare. In the context of Gaza where, after almost 4 months of assault by the Israeli occupation which resulted in the killing of over 26,000 people and injuring of over 65,000, the ramifications of UNRWA losing funding are dire, as it is providing humanitarian aid to 2 million Palestinians, nearly the whole Gaza population. UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini emphasized the heinous nature of these actions, stating that “Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment. This stains all of us.”
Around 15 countries announced funding cuts: led by the US (UNRWA’s biggest donor), Canada, Australia, UK, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Japan, and others followed suit. Meanwhile, France and the EU have announced they will review their funding to UNRWA in the coming period. Ireland, Norway, and Spain declared that they had no intention of suspending funding. Norway’s Foreign Affairs Minister Espen Barth Eide said that cutting funds amounts to collective punishment and Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, wrote on X that “famine is now inevitable”.

UNRWA employs around 33,000 staff, 13,000 in Gaza. UNRWA facilities in the strip have been repeatedly and deliberately hit by Israeli strikes, killing 372 displaced Palestinians sheltering there. 152 UN staff members were also killed during the attacks. The Agency has warned that humanitarian assistance will stop by the end of February if funds are not reinstated.

This has been the latest attack on the Agency by the Israeli government, with Netanyahu now openly calling for the “termination” of its mission. During a discussion at the Israeli Parliament in early January 2024, Noga Arbell, a former Israeli foreign ministry official, called for the destruction of UNRWA stating: “it will be impossible to win this war if we do not destroy UNRWA. And this destruction must begin immediately… UNRWA duties cannot be transferred, they must be cancelled.”

The Agency has not only a network of social services which, especially in Gaza, cannot be delivered by any other organisations, but has also a historic memory and a symbolic role in that it preserves the right of return of the Palestinians people. This is a right, however, which cannot be taken away from the children of the diaspora, with or without this institution. Dismantling UNRWA now will only serve to advance Israel’s strategy of starving and displacing once and for all Palestinians from their land. It is crucial to recognize that the the right of return of Palestinians is enshrined in international law and explicitly stated in UN General Assembly resolution 194:

“refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”

Therefore, any political and economic attacks to undermine UNRWA risk facilitating the execution of Israel’s plan, contrary to the internationally recognized rights of the Palestinian people.