For two days, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) bombed and shelled civilians in the Gaza Strip. Five Palestinian civilians including 3 children were killed. 52 civilians including 6 women and 12 children were wounded. Many of the injuries remain critical, some have amputations. 2 members of the Palestinian resistance were also killed in the attacks.
Four of these deaths and 38 of the injuries resulted from an Israeli attack on a football playground in al-Shoja’iya neighborhood East of Gaza City, many of whom had gathered for a funeral close to where the attack took a place . Some civilian facilities were also destroyed or damaged.
11th November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Thousands of fundamentalist Israeli tourists from around the world arrived into Al Khalil (Hebron) on Friday, camping overnight in the centre of the city for a Jewish religious holiday. One Palestinian was punched and kicked and hundreds were denied access to daily life as settlers invaded the old city for five hours.
The thousands of Israeli tourists, who gathered in al-Khalil for two days, were gathered for the Zionist holiday, Abraham Day.
For the duration of the zionist visit, movement was even more restricted than usual for Palestinians – considering that in Al-Khalil there are already 113 checkpoints, roadblocks and closures. In the hilltop Palestinian neighborhood of Tel Rumeida, Palestinians were not allowed to walk their regular route down a gradual slope, as a Jewish cemetery is situated there. Residents, including one pregnant woman, were ordered by Israeli soldiers to walk down a dangerously steep hill.
Palestinians and international activists were not permitted to enter the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque. When asked if this meant that only Jewish people had rights in the area, an Israeli policeman blocking the route replied “yes”, confirming the apartheid agenda of the Israeli authorities. The only two remaining Palestinian shops in the area were forced to close down for the two days of the zionist visit, and a checkpoint at the entrance to the Palestinian souq was completely shut down, making access very difficult.
The zionist visitors on the other hand were accommodated fully in their movement during their time in Al-Khalil and were in fact facilitated on tours of the souq. On Saturday morning, the souq was invaded by groups of over twenty soldiers on several occasions in preparation for these tours. Heavily-armed soldiers pointed guns through doorways and down alleyways in the market, intimidating shopping Palestinian families and children. Soldiers were then stationed in doorways and alleyways along the main path of the souq and remained there for many hours, blocking Palestinian access and once again, restricting movement.
After these preparations had been completed, the tours commenced. A tour for Israeli settlers happens every Saturday in the souq, on a much smaller scale – these are ostensibly regular guided tours, providing information about the area. The majority of the groups this Saturday however, seemed to aim only to be as loud and obnoxious as possible, obstructing Palestinian life and claiming that the souq should be a Jewish area.
Between the hours of one and five, hundreds of settlers were led repeatedly through the market, accompanied by over 30 soldiers each time. The groups were highly disorderly, shouting and chanting pro-Israel slogans and often threatening and yelling abuse at Palestinian shopkeepers and international observers as they passed. Several observers, Palestinian and international, were attacked for recording the disrespectful behavior of the crowd – cameras were grabbed, knocked to the ground and damaged. One Palestinian man was punched and kicked for trying to film as the group passed by him in the souq.
Merchandise and fresh produce were purposefully damaged and Palestinians were stopped from walking past the tour groups, or were forced to squeeze through the narrow gap between the wall and the crowds of sometimes aggressive zionists. One group’s guide pointed at a Palestinian flag in the souq and stated that it was “a flag of foreign anarchists and outside forces.”
There is a history of settler violence and restriction of movement for Palestinians in Al-Khalil, a city which is divided into Palestinian zone H1 and Israeli controlled H2, which includes the old city. The latter still has a majority Palestinian population of around 30,000, with around 700 Israeli settlers. The huge Israeli army presence within the city is justified by the presence of these settlers, whose residency is illegal under the Geneva Convention which states that “transfers of the civilian population of the occupying power into the occupied territory, regardless whether forcible or voluntary, are prohibited.”
An ex-Israeli soldier who was stationed in Al-Khalil claimed to Breaking the Silence that the mission statement of his unit was “to disrupt the routine of the inhabitants of the neighborhood”. This aim is being continually fulfilled by settlers, zionist visitors and the Israeli army. Despite this, the Palestinian population remain steadfast in their homes and continue to resist the occupation. While zionist tourists paraded through the souq one shopkeeper responded by waving her keffiyeh and blowing a trumpet in response to the harassment.
Checkpoint from the souq to the Ibrahimi Mosque closed down, severely restricting Palestinian movementPalestinian shopkeepers look on as soldiers and Zionist tourists pass byPalestinian boys look down on Zionist tour groupSoldiers and Zionist tourists invade the Palestinian souq
Ellie Marton is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed)
9th November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Palestinians rallying for the weekly demonstration against the Israeli occupation and the confiscation of land and water resources by Zionist settlers. More than 100 Palestinians and solidarity activists from around the world turned out in support.Palestinian children at the rally holding photos of a Palestinian political prisoner.Marching against Israeli occupation and settler encroachment.Palestinian children participating in the march.Israeli military forces respond to the march by spraying demonstrators with “skunk water,” a synthetic liquid which gives off a putrid smell that can remain in a victim’s clothing for up to five years.Israeli military forces used massive amounts of tear gas against Palestinians and solidarity activists throughout the entirety of the demonstration. In addition to tear gas and “skunk water,” the Israeli military fired rubber-coated steel bullets and sound grenades at demonstrators, and at several points used live ammunition.Demonstrators attempt to construct a barrier to protect them from the repression of the Israeli military forces.Demonstrators try to evade tear gas as the standoff with the Israeli military drags on.Backpack of demonstrator protesting Israeli apartheid policies in occupied Hebron (al-Khalil).
9th November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Police take photographs of injuries at Checkpoint 56 in HebronA group of soldiers and international activists surround Imad after the settler attack
On Thursday in Hebron, Palestinian activist Imad Al Atrash was beaten by an illegal Israeli settler whilst two soldiers watched, without intervening.
Imad reports that he was walking through an olive grove in Tel Rumeida when a man from a nearby illegal settlement shouted abuse at him. Imad called for a nearby Israeli soldier to witness the abuse, but two soldiers merely watched as the settler began attacking Imad, at one point using a stone as a weapon. Imad suffered blows to the head, back and leg. Following this, his attacker fled the scene.
A group of soldiers who then arrived at the scene denied that it was possible for CCTV footage of the attack to be reviewed. The two soldiers who had witnessed the attack would not provide their names or military identification numbers, to ensure that they could be called to provide evidence against the settler. Impunity for settler violence is compounded by soldiers refusing to testify against the Israeli attackers, or testifying falsely. According to the Geneva Convention of 1949 and the Hague Convention of 1907, ‘in any area under military occupation, responsibility for the welfare of the population falls on the occupying power’, an obligation which Israel is clearly neglecting.
Imad required medical attention and was taken to a hospital in Hebron, where he was monitored for three hours. There has been a long history of settler attacks on Palestinians in Tel Rumeida, where some of the most extreme Zionist settlers in Hebron are based. The violence is often random and extreme – for example, in the last month alone, there were attacks by settlers and soldiers in Tel Rumeida during the olive harvest. See:
9th November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Today, during the weekly demonstration against the separation wall in Bil’in, 2 international activists were struck by tear gas canisters shot by the Israeli army. One Italian activist was struck by a canister in the leg and an American activist was struck by a canister in the foot.
The demonstration started as usual and marched through the olive groves towards the separation wall. There, lies a path running parallel to the wall with razor wire on either side of it. The peaceful demonstration marched up the path next to the wall to a gate at the top, where the army was waiting on the other side and used tear gas and sound bombs to disperse the protest. The protest then moved away from the wall towards the olive groves when the army started firing excessive amounts of tear gas at the protesters, it was at this point that an Italian solidarity activist was struck in the leg with a tear gas canister. Many people also suffered from inhalation of the gas.
Around an hour after the start of the demonstration, people started to leave and head back to the village. It was at this point, when it was clear that people were leaving the demonstration to return home, that the army fired many more rounds of tear gas at the few remaining people in the field. It was then that the American solidarity activist was struck in the foot with a tear gas canister (luckily the footwear of the protester prevented any significant injury).
The weekly demonstration starts in Bil’inThe demonstration arrives at the wall in Bil’inPalestinian activists managed to reach the wall-gate in Bil’in before the army attempted to disperse the crowd using tear gas and sound bombsSoldiers behind the wallSoldiers observe the protest from behind the wallClouds of tear gas shot at the protestors in Bil’inA protestor attempts to scale the wallA protestor sits near to the wall in Bil’in“The occupation will not remove us from our land” – Bil’inThe Italian activists injury from being stuck by a tear gas canisterA mark showing where an American activist was struck on his shoe by a tear gas canister
Vicky Blackwell is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
