Author: ISM Media - Page 15 - International Solidarity Movement

Gaza genocide: landmark ruling against Israel

29 January 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | The Hague, Netherlands

On Friday, January 26, after a two-week tense wait, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered the ruling on the genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel. In a landmark decision, the ICJ accepted SA’s case and asserted that there is indeed a plausible risk of genocide in the brutal attack on the besieged Gaza Strip. The ICJ ordered Israel to take “all measures within its power” to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire (as has been ordered previously in other cases, such as the case brought by Ukraine against Russia).

By finding ‘plausible’ that genocide is being committed in Gaza, the ICJ asserted its jurisdiction to rule in the case. Six provisional measures were then ordered by the Court, which included that Israel must prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, prevent and punish public incitement to genocide, and immediately allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. The Court also ordered Israel to preserve evidence of genocide and to submit a report to the Court in one month.

Reactions to the case have been mixed. On the one hand, this is a landmark case that has dealt a huge reputational blow to Israel and its Western allies. As a representative for Amnesty International stated, the ruling “sends a clear message that the world will not stand by in silence as Israel pursues a ruthless military campaign to decimate the population of the Gaza Strip and unleash death, horror and suffering against Palestinians on an unprecedented scale.”

The ruling also places Israel in a very difficult position, with legal experts believing it will now be harder for Israel to wage war in Palestine. Failure to comply with the orders will only increase public sentiment that is, on the whole, in favor of Palestinians, and may draw criticism of Israel from allies like the EU, who stated that they expect a ‘full, immediate implementation’ of the provisional measures. As such, the case can be seen as an ‘important step’ that could prevent further suffering and harm to Palestinians.

Legal experts have also affirmed that the only way to implement the measures imposed by the court is effectively only via a ceasefire.

On the other hand, many prominent Palestinians and allies viewed the case as a disappointment, noting Israel’s flagrant disregard for international law and the need for an immediate ceasefire. As Mohammed el-Kurd tweeted:

“The ICJ has failed to implement South Africa’s first and most important requested provisional measure: “the State of Israel shall immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza. Not shocking, but stings nonetheless.”

Meanwhile, others questioned the legitimacy of the case given that international law seems to be, increasingly, something that is only upheld when convenient to Western states and their allies. Whilst this is a legally binding Court ruling, it is questionable whether these measures will be implemented and who will enforce them. Far from providing a definite ending to the genocide in Gaza, as many hoped, the ICJ case may be best seen as another step in the growing international movement aiming to end Israel’s abuses in Palestine.

Non-Stop Killings and Incursions in the West Bank

27 January 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | West Bank

By Diana Khwaelid

The Israeli Occupation forces killed four Palestinians in the West Bank in 4 days, during incursions in several cities from January 12 to 15.

Since October 7, 2023, the West Bank has witnessed large-scale Israeli incursions, involving storming cities, villages and camps, and carrying out assassinations and arrests of Palestinian youths. Tulkarem in particular has witnessed many more such operations than ever before.

Tulkarem

On January 12, the IOF stormed the village of Zita, northeast of the city of Tulkarem, at about 20:30, opening fire on Palestinian youths and killing a young student, Khaled Zubaidi. He was 19-year-old and from the village of Zita, a student of Telecommunications Engineering at Palestine Technical University Kadoori. Two others were injured.

Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps have witnessed continuous incursions in the past months too.

Funeral of Khaled Zubaidi, 19, in Tulkarem. Credit: ISM

Nablus

The same week, the Israeli army stormed the city of Nablus, and opened fire indiscriminately on Palestinians in the street. An elderly man was wounded after he was shot in the abdomen, a 15-year-old Palestinian child suffered a head injury and was taken to the hospital, and a young Palestinian man, Abboud al-Shami, was arrested.

Al-Khalil

On the evening of Monday, January 15, the IOF stormed the town of Dora, south of Al-Khalil. There, they opened fire, killing a young man and a young girl, Mohammed Abu Saba, 22 and Ahed Mohammed, 23. Both were residents of Dora, and were killed merely because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Occupation forces injured nine others, four of whom seriously, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Tulkarem, Nablus

On the evening of Monday, January 15, Israeli forces opened fire on a Palestinian from the village of Beit Furik, in Nablus. The shooting happened near the Annab checkpoint connecting Tulkarm and Nablus, in the northern West Bank.

At that time, when Israeli occupation forces closed the road, barring citizens from entering and leaving both Tulkarm and Nablus, an Israeli soldier stopped a car carrying Fares Khalifa of the Nur Shams camp, an officer in the Palestinian Preventive Security Service and a liberated prisoner who spent 8 years in Israeli occupation prisons.

Khalifa refused to get out of the car, violating the soldier’s orders. After examining his Palestinian ID, the Israeli soldier forcibly removed Khalifa from the car, handcuffed him, and shot him, according to eyewitnesses who were in the area. Khalifa died instantly.

At the time of Fares Khalifa’s shooting, his family in the Nur Shams camp was still grieving the death of their other son, Farsan. A former prisoner of the occupation forces, he was released and deported to Gaza, where he was killed in the war a few weeks ago.

Continued Israeli incursions that are increasing in intensity, in conjunction with the continuation of the genocidal attack by occupation forces on Gaza, have left many Palestinians in a constant state of sadness, fear and tension, as they continue to confront a considerably more dangerous time than the country has witnessed in many years.

Fares Khalifa, 37, killed near Tulkarem. Credit: WAFA.

Planting olive trees as an act of resistance

21 January 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Umm Safa

Maher Sabah, a village leader, holding an olive tree during the day of work in Umm Safa. Credit: ISM.

On January 20, ISM volunteers joined with Israeli activists to work alongside villagers of Umm Safa, a village 30km north of Ramallah, planting olive trees and vines on part of the 200 dunums (50 acres) of the village’s communal land. Replacing some of the many olive trees destroyed by settlers is both an economic necessity and an act of resistance, clearly saying this is our land and we intend to stay on it.

As the day progressed and we came in view of the illegal settlement, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) turned up to disrupt this challenge to the Zionist settler colonial project. Immediately, they started pushing people around, shouting and pointing their weapons, demanding everyone leave the area, declaring it a “Closed Military Zone”. They seized gardening tools, uprooted some of the newly planted trees and seized mobile phones when they could.

After another jeep full of soldiers arrived, it became apparent they were going to escalate their violence. As we moved back, volleys of tear gas were fired at us whilst a military drone hovered overhead collecting intelligence (fortunately it did not eject a cloud of tear gas as we have experienced at previous confrontations). To avoid more serious violence from the IOF (like use of live ammunition) and/or arrests, the village leaders decided to stop the work and return to the village.

Umm Safa is one of the many Palestinian communities at the sharp end of ethnic cleansing. It is subject to regular violent attacks by armed illegal settlers – backed up by the IOF- from the nearby settlement of Ateret and its outposts.

The villagers’ land is being stolen from them in front of their eyes. Only one week ago, 14 dunums (around 3.5 acres) of land cultivated with olive trees was seized and cleared by settlers with IOF in tow, with the apparent intention of establishing a new outpost. Further pressure has been put on the community since 7^th October, with the Israeli army blocking the village’s only access road to the main road network with a locked gate and impassable earth mounds.

Despite the premature end to the day, the community had made a clear statement of resistance. Most of the olive trees had come through the confrontation unscathed, the tools and phones seized were left behind by the IOF, but, most importantly , the community’s determination and right to stay on their land had been unambiguously asserted.

Existence is resistance.

A video of the disruption caused by Israeli army can be found here.

When Shepherding Your Flock Becomes a Crime

16 January 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Masafer Yatta

Muhammed being led away by IOF soldiers. Credit: ISM.

For the villagers of Khallet Al Dabaa, in Masafer Yatta, shepherding is a traditional way of life. One which they have followed on their traditional lands in the West Bank’s South Hebron Hills since Ottoman times. For the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) however, it is apparently an existential threat and one which needs to be dealt with severely.

Yesterday afternoon (Monday 15^th January), Khallet resident Muhammed Debabse was with his flock on a hillside on village lands. It appears that, in response to illegal settlers from a nearby hilltop outpost taking exception to this, the IOF soldiers arrived soon after. They summarily detained Muhammed and took him away. His whereabouts were not known until the lawyer engaged by the family was able to establish that he had been taken to Kharyat Al Arba police station near Al Khalil (Hebron).

Anxious hours passed for his family until, at around 8pm, they received notification from the lawyer that Muhammed would be released but only on payment of a 1,000 NIS (£250) fine, a significant sum of money for the family. The fine being paid, Muhammed eventually returned home late in the evening, ten hours or so after being detained.

So what was his “crime”? The official letter (written in Hebrew only) which the police gave him on release did not specify any offence and only made reference to a “financial penalty”. In the eyes of the occupation however, any expression of ownership of the land by the Palestinians is an act of resistance and that’s the “crime” which Muhammed, along with his fellow villagers are guilty of.

Since the genocidal attack on Gaza began, the Israeli government has used it as an excuse to increase crimes in the West Bank and forcible expulsion of Palestinian from their ancestral land. Masafer Yatta has been no exception.

Urgent Call from Palestinian Prisoner Families

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) has been approached by the “Movement to Save the Prisoners” with an urgent request to highlight the current crisis faced by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Under the directive of the Kahanist illegal settler Itamar Ben Gvir, the Israeli Minister of Internal Security, Israeli prisons and detention centers holding Palestinian prisoners have been transformed into torture centers. In the last few months, seven Palestinian prisoners have been murdered by their jailers through torture and neglect.

Family members of the prisoners explain: “These crimes are continuing in light of Arab and international silence that gave the green light for the Israeli occupation to commit crime after crime against our prisoners. Moreover, these crimes occur with no punishments due to the absence of international accountability to those who ordered and committed them.”

Families of prisoners demonstrating in Ramallah. Credit: ISM.

Palestinian prisoners held by Israel have experienced brutal beatings, strip searches, threats of sexual assaults, denial of freedom to worship, pray and recite the Qur’an, deprivation of medical care, overcrowding, the reduction of already poor nutrition meals, starvation, the cutting of water and electricity, denial of warm clothes, and the deprivation of visits from family members, legal representatives, and humanitarian groups. Gaza prisoners face all these in addition to continuous torture where other prisoners hear their heart breaking screaming day and night. Some prisoners are missing and it is unknown if they are even still alive.

Family members of prisoners carry a banner that says. “The Movement to Save the Prisoners: Our prisoners are in danger. Let us be a light in their darkness!”

“While the world focuses on 136 Israelis held in Gaza they ignore 7,000 Palestinians held and abused by Israel. This discrimination is a grave injustice.” The ISM is passing the call of the families to you: “For all the free people, be the light of the prisoners’ darkness and their loud voice in all forums, they are addressing your consciences from the borders and edges of death.”