Author: ISM Media

Settler harassment at Khan al-Luban [Update: Video added]

By Stephen Alexander

11 November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Friday, the house at Khan al-Luban, south of Nablus was trespassed by settlers from the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Levona. The settlers attempted to destroy the water supply at the house.

Settlers film and take photos at Khan al-Luban Friday
Settlers from the Ma’ale Levona take photos and video at Khan al-Luban

Earlier in the morning, house-owner Khalid al-Hamed, his two sons and two international activists spent some hours lifting rocks out of a pit outside the house where the major water pipes are. Settlers have previously thrown those rocks down into the pit attempting to break the pipes.

At around 12:15 one settler arrived and filmed this activity from the road.

Later, at around 14:15, the same settler returned with three others. The men filmed and photographed the house. They also made threatening moves towards the international activists.

One of the settlers, who was armed with an automatic pistol, then located the only other functioning water supply to the house and grounds and tried to destroy it by pulling the pipes from the wall. He also attempted to break the tap. The water supply for the house is an outside tap that sits around 50 meters up the hill from the house. Settlers have previously attacked and damaged the water supply and the other buildings on the property.

The settlers left the immediate area as the homeowner arrived on the scene.

Minutes later, two Israeli military vehicles arrived containing five soldiers. They continued to harass Khaled who was visibly distressed about this latest intrusion to his home and the damage caused. This harassment lasted another 45 minutes until the soldiers finally left, having taken no action.

For more background information on the situation at Khan al-Luban see here.

Stephen Alexander is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement.

Photo Essay: Demonstration in Nabi-Saleh

by David Langstaff

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).

Settler attacks Palestinian man in Hebron – Israeli soldiers look on

9th November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Police take photographs of injuries at Checkpoint 56 in Hebron
A 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.

(This attack follows a recent arrest of Imad by the army only a couple of weeks ago, see: https://palsolidarity.org/2012/10/3-arrested-as-palestinians-attacked-by-settlers-and-soldiers-in-tel-rumeida/ )

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:

https://palsolidarity.org/2012/10/settlers-attack-and-injure-palestinians-harvesting-olives-in-tel-rumeida/

https://palsolidarity.org/2012/10/3-arrested-as-palestinians-attacked-by-settlers-and-soldiers-in-tel-rumeida/

https://palsolidarity.org/2012/11/palestinian-collapses-while-detained-at-checkpoint-during-eid-holiday-in-hebron/

https://palsolidarity.org/2012/11/colonizers-ruin-olive-trees-in-hebron/

By Team Khalil

2 Internationals hit by tear gas canisters at the Bil’in weekly demonstration

By Vicky Blackwell
Photographs by Vicky Blackwell

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’in
The demonstration arrives at the wall in Bil’in
Palestinian activists managed to reach the wall-gate in Bil’in before the army attempted to disperse the crowd using tear gas and sound bombs
Soldiers behind the wall
Soldiers observe the protest from behind the wall
Clouds of tear gas shot at the protestors in Bil’in
A protestor attempts to scale the wall
A protestor sits near to the wall in Bil’in
“The occupation will not remove us from our land” – Bil’in
The Italian activists injury from being stuck by a tear gas canister
A 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).

Settlers destroy olive trees in Hebron

November 7th 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Several olive trees and one apricot tree were destroyed on the morning of November 5th in a section of Khalil (Hebron) called Jales Mount, which is near the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba.
Rashed Zaroo showed the damage to internationals that afternoon. He explained that the land is owned by his father and uncle Fayez, before that his grandfather acquired the land in the early twentieth century. The trees were planted forty years prior and were some of the strongest in a large grove that produced olives and fruit. Five months ago Shakel Zaroo was attacked and gassed by settlers that he caught damaging his property. In addition five hundred square meters of the Zaroo family land was confiscated to build the Route 60 settlers highway.
The neighboring families’ land has seen even more devastation, the Abu Rmela and Abo Sunina families had approximately 400 olive trees burned by settlers last year. The land was so unsightly that the Israeli government brought heavy equipment to remove the debris and then redistribute the uneven ground caused by the massive uprooting.
These practices come under the protection of the Israeli army. The illegal settlers who live in Hebron are of the most dangerous fanatics in all of the West Bank.
There is a spiritual link between these trees and the Palestinians and  the right to live with dignity on their land has been violated by the occupying forces. The trees are rooted in this land both physically and culturally.
by Team Khalil