Author: ISM Media - Page 395 - International Solidarity Movement

Child arrests continue in Hebron

20th April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine

UPDATE: Child arrests in Hebron continue today as a 15 year old Palestinian boy, Az Dweik, was arrested in the morning. He was allegedly carrying a knife around the Ibrahimi mosque and taken to the Kiryat Arba police station. The Israeli authorities regularly falsely accuse children and adults in Hebron of carrying weapons as a pretext to arrest or detain them (including tragically in the case of Mohammed Salayme who was killed in 2012). 5 eyewitnesses say they saw Az`s face and wrists covered in blood whilst in custody of the soldiers. He is currently being detained at Ofer prison near Ramallah. In the afternoon Muhammad Almayele, 9 years old, was thrown to the ground near Shuhada street by three soldiers before being held in an an army base for one hour. A soldier told us that “The reason we scare them is so that they don’t come here again.”

Muhammad Almayele , 9 , being arrested by soldiers

By Team Khalil

Ahmed Ibn Bilal Abu Rumeileh, a 12-year-old boy from Hebron, was today arrested in the Old City and detained for over an hour before being released. Ahmed was riding his bike through Bab Al-Baladia when six Israeli soldiers stopped him and arrested him, seemingly completely at random. Ahmed was blindfolded and taken to Beit Romano army base on Shuhada Street, where he was detained for around 45 minutes.

He was then driven in a military jeep to checkpoint 56 where he was eventually released into the custody of the Palestinian police, who registered Ahmed’s details and completed some paperwork before taking him home to his family. Upon questioning by international activists, Israeli soldiers claimed that Ahmed had been arrested due to throwing stones at the Israeli military in the morning, however Ahmed denies this. The Israeli occupation forces regularly accuse children and young men of stone-throwing and use this as an excuse for arrests, which often happen at random.

Ahmed’s arrest comes as part of a series of increasing arrests and detentions of minors in the Old City of Hebron in recent months. “Occupied Childhoods”, a report on child-arrests compiled by the Hebron Christian Peacemaker Team is available here.

In March 2013, UNICEF released a damning report in which it harshly critized the “ill-treatment of Palestinian children in the Israeli military detention system [which] appears to be widespread, systematic and institutionalized”. You can read this here.

You can also see recent testimonies from Palestinian children imprisoned by the Israeli military.

Settlers harass Palestinian residents of Hebron as soldiers watch on

20th April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine

By Team Khalil

Hashem Al-Azzeh, activist and resident of Tel Rumeida (a neighbourhood in Israeli-controlled H2 Hebron) was today attacked by Israeli settlers who broke into his brother’s house and attempted to force their way through his garden.

Hashem caught the settlers leaving the house at around 11am, and when he questioned them about their presence on his premises, they replied that God had given them this land, according to the Bible. Quickly several other settlers arrived on the scene and soon around 20 settlers, in addition to 20 settler children, occupied Hashem’s front porch as well as the path leading up to it.

The settlers tried to force their way through Hashem’s garden and backyard, but he managed to stand his ground and insisted that it is illegal for them to pass between the Palestinian houses. After approximately 20 minutes, around 10 soldiers arrived at the scene, after a nearby guard had previously been alerted by Hashem’s children.

The soldiers, who had just been woken up, mostly merely stood around watching and seemed at a loss about what to do. They did not confront the trespassing settlers and did not tell them to leave and stop harassing Hasehm. However they stopped the two Palestinian workers who had been decorating the house from working and confiscated their ID cards. A Swiss journalist who arrived at the scene to document the incident was refused access and removed by the army despite presentation of his official press card. A German activist was also removed from the scene after being repeatedly insulted and pushed by settler children with the soldiers looking on.

After around 45 minutes, the settlers seemed to get bored of discussing with and insulting Hashem and international activists, and gradually returned to their homes in an illegal settlement which is located just above Hashem and his brother’s houses. After they had left, the Israeli police arrived on the scene and asked Hashem some questions about the incident, however it is highly unlikely that there will be any legal consequences for the settlers who enjoy virtual impunity (http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44412#.UXLrWKJIimg)

The police also registered the construction workers’ details and said they needed a permit to continue working in the house. They will most likely be arrested if they attempt to return without a permit, which is next to impossible to obtain.The house that the settlers broke into belongs to Hashem’s brother, who currently lives in another part of Hebron but plans to move back into his house the coming week. Hashem has been overseeing refurbishments during the last 10 days.

The settlers’ attack is clearly an attempt to intimidate Hashem, his brother and their families and forms part of a long series of attacks and violence against Hashem. Over the past 15 years, Hashem’s house has been invaded and turned upside down by settlers and soldiers several times, with furniture and equipment smashed. He has had bullets shot at and inside his house, narrowly missing him and his family. Hashem has been threatened, intimidated and beaten up by settlers, of which the scars on his face bear witness. His wife has suffered two miscarriages due to being beaten by settlers. His children are also regularly attacked, beaten up and have stones thrown at them. The fruit trees in his garden have been poisoned, and he has been prevented from harvesting his olives due to settler attacks.For an excellent report on settler violence across the West Bank, click here : http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/ht/a/GetDocumentAction/i/32678

Arrest and abuse of ill 16-year old in Urif

21st April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Urif, Occupied Palestine

By Team Nablus

An innocent 16-year-old boy was abused and arrested on Tuesday April 16^th in Urif, despite his grandfather and uncle rushing to show documents that he is seeking medical attention for a possible cancer diagnosis. He was wrongfully accused of stone-throwing as he was leaving his uncle’s home.

Twelve soldiers had arrived in the village at around noon and were forcefully entering houses and shooting rubber-coated steel bullets down two main streets in Urif. They entered five different houses and in the fifth house, randomly attempted to take a boy in his last year of high school. His family protested and the soldiers moved on.

Stones were thrown in protest at the Israeli jeep invading the village, and the 16-year-old boy, who had been visiting his uncle and whose illness causes him to walk slowly, was taken in retribution for the stone-throwers. The boy’s hands and legs were bound, he was blindfolded and soldiers ignored his uncle and grandfather hurriedly showing medical documents about his diagnosis.

Stone-throwing resumed in protest as the jeep drove away with the ill 16-year-old. The boy reported that for every stone thrown at the jeep, he was kicked by the Israeli soldiers who were yelling at him in Hebrew. He was then taken to the Huwwara military compound, where again his uncle and grandfather followed with medical documents, trying to inform the Israeli military that there were serious concerns for the boy’s health.

The boy nonetheless spent the night in the compound and the next day was driven four hours to Salem prison, north of Jenin in the West Bank. He stated that he was put in a room full of arrested children, all between the ages of 12 and 17. He was released at around 6 pm and returned to his family in Urif.

Urif is a village in the Nablus governorate that regularly faces attacks from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar, widely considered to be one of the most radical. While solidarity activists were visiting after the arrest, settlers could be seen at the top of the mountain and were said to be disturbing a local school. In addition, a tree planting event held on Saturday, April 13 was met by six Israeli jeeps and farmers were harassed during the action.

Furthermore, in the past ten years, 7000 Palestinian minors between the ages of 12-17 have been arrested by Israeli military forces according to a February 2013 UNICEF report. The same report says that Israeli detention of children regularly violates the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child and the UN Convention Against Torture. Among these violations are that children are almost never informed of their rights, are held in isolation for days, and banned from seeing their families as required under the Geneva Conventions. Another report from April 2012 by Defense for Children International states that 75% of 12-17-year-old Palestinian detainees by Israel suffered from mistreatment during arrest, interrogation and detention, based on 311 testimonials between 2008 and 2012.

Twelve-year-old arrested and blindfolded in Hebron

20th April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine

By Team Khalil

You can also see recent testimonies from Palestinian children imprisoned by the Israeli military.

Activists remove section of apartheid wall in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners

17th April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah, Occupied Palestine

This Palestinian Prisoners Day, the 17^th April 2013, Palestinian and international activists cut down a fenced section of the Israeli apartheid wall in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli occupation jails. A section of around ten metres was torn down near Ofer prison, where Palestinian prisoners can be tried in military court or held by Israeli forces.

Army arrive as protesters cut down Apartheid Wall. Photo by Hamdi Abu Rahma

Protesters wearing surgical masks conducted a swift and efficient action against the Wall – a symbol and physical expression of apartheid – aiming to send a message to the Israeli authorities that the Palestinian people will “never agree to have Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.”

After around ten minutes, one Israeli army jeep arrived in the buffer zone behind the separation barrier and a single sound grenade was thrown at protesters, who left shortly afterwards, having completed their action.

Protesters wore shirts with the image of Bassem Abu Rahma of Bil’in, who was also protesting the cause of prisoners on 17^th April, four years ago when he was killed by Israeli forces.

Palestinian prisoners are treated brutally under the Israeli occupation. Many are mistreated or tortured during detention and arrested on false or fabricated charges. Others are held under administrative detention laws, which mean that they can be imprisoned indefinitely without charge or trial. According to Addameer, there are currently 4,936 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails, including 178 administrative detainees, many of whom are held in Ofer.