Author: ISM Media

Nabi Saleh: Over 15 protesters injured when Israeli army opened fire

By Mia and Rosa

17 June 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

A woman is carried after being shot in the leg with a rubber-coated steel bullet - click to see more photos

Tear-gas, skunk water, and rubber-coated bullets were fired against demonstrators in Nabi Saleh on Friday, June 15, injuring over 15 individuals.

In the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh some 150 persons gathered following the Friday prayer to demonstrate against the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Halamish, the settlers’ theft of spring Ein al-Qaws that used to provide water to the whole village, and the Israeli occupation at large.

A woman shows her bandaged arm after being shot with a rubber-coated steel bullet - click to see more photos

Among the protesters were people of all ages and genders, Palestinians, Israelis, and international activists. The march began in the village and proceeded down the road towards the illegal settlement. The Israeli Occupation Forces immediately targeted the crowd with rubber-coated bullets, after which they began using skunk water trucks, sound bombs, and tear-gas grenades.

Over 15 men, women, and children were injured by the steel-cored bullets. Several others suffered tear gas inhalation and required treatment.

When the demonstration proceeded towards the occupied water spring, the IOF shot excessive teargas from several directions at the unarmed young demonstrators. The protest lasted at least 8 hours.

Mia and Rosa are volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Kufr Qaddoum: two boys arrested and beaten before weekly demonstration

By Tete Telsen

17 June 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Prior to the weekly demonstration in Kufr Qaddoum last Friday, June 15, two young Palestinian boys were detained and beaten by Israeli soldiers. At least three others were injured by tear gas canisters during the peaceful protest that ensued.

Shortly after noon on Friday, Israeli soldiers kidnapped two 10 year old Palestinian boys. While being held by the Israeli military, the two boys were repeatedly kicked in their backs by soldiers. They were then released and taken home by adults from the village.

The weekly occurring demonstration began following the Friday noon prayer with speeches and music. The Israeli military immediately began shooting sound bombs and tear gas. Some protesters replied with stone-throwing. At around 2:30 p.m., Israeli soldiers began illegally shooting tear gas canisters at head level and lower. Three men were shot by the canisters. The military evacuated Kufr Qaddoum around 3 p.m..

Prior to the protest some 20 children were playing near the area were the demonstration is held. They were throwing stones in trees and playing. Israeli soldiers arrived a half hour before the demonstration began and abducted two of the boys, aged 11 and 9 years old.

The other children ran back to the village to ask for help. When Palestinians and International Solidarity Movement volunteers arrived on scene, the boys had already been released. The two young boys related that they had been kicked in their backs by the soldiers.

The weekly demonstration began as usual around 1 p.m.. The people of Kufr Qaddoum spoke to the Israeli army through a loudspeaker, stating that they were holding a peaceful demonstration and that the soldiers should go away. The military replied with tear gas and sound bombs.

Before ending the protest, Israeli soldiers shot tear gas canister at head level and into the ground to make the canisters bounce. Ashraf Shtaiwi was hit in his stomach, Mojahid Barham in his shoulder, and Bashar Shtaiwi in his arm. All were treated in an ambulance by medics. Several others suffered tear gas suffocation and were also treated in ambulance.

Kufr Qaddoum is a village 12 kilometres west of Nablus home to almost 3 thousand people. Since 2003, the road which connects the village to Nablus was blocked to Palestinian access by Israel. The inhabitants are thus obliged to take an indirect and much lengthier route. The annexed road prompted the weekly demonstrations but Kufr Qaddoum is also protesting the ongoing land theft by the adjacent Jewish-only illegal settlement of Qedummim. The Friday demonstrations began in July 2011 and continue to today.

Tete Telsen is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Hebron: three arrested in women’s march on Shuhada street

By Nina Larsson

17 June 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On June 13th, 20 Palestinian, Israeli, and foreign women dressed in traditional Palestinian clothes attempted to walk the central street in the West Bank city of Hebron but were violently attacked and dispersed by the Israeli military. Six individuals were arrested; 3 international, 2 Israeli, and one Palestinian journalist.

At three o’clock in the afternoon on Wednesday, 20 women managed to enter the closed Shuhada street in H2 area of Hebron. Symbolically dressed in traditional Palestinian clothes, the women aimed to bring attention to the apartheid politics of the Israeli military occupation and the oppression that Palestinian women face on a daily basis. Palestinians are not allowed to walk on Shuhada street in the centre of their city, while Israeli settlers from the local illegal settlements can walk freely.

The procession had just begun when an Israeli settler assaulted the women. Shortly after, Israeli military violently blocked and harassed the women. When several men joined the group they were violently attacked by Israeli police, one of them thrown into the ground. When women attempted to prevent the arrest of a man among them, soldiers attacked them too. One female International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteer was pressed to the ground and prevented from standing up. Eventually she was dragged to her feet by two soldiers, who forcefully marched her off to an Israeli military jeep and detained her.

“When I cried out to the soldier to let me go, I heard someone shouting behind me, ‘not let you go, let you die, in jail you will die,’ I couldn’t see if it was a soldier or a settler’, the detained female volunteer said, who emerged with a bruised eye from the soldier’s violence.

6 were detained, 3 women and 3 men. Several others were injured by the soldier’s brutality. Israeli soldiers prevented journalists from filming and a settler broke the camera of one observer.

“I did not really understand what was going on, everything happened in a rush. I just could not believe how violent they were. When pushing me into the ground, they kicked me in the head and hit me with the bottom of a rifle”, said another ISM volunteer.

When asked why he believes he was targeted by the Israeli military, he replied, “because of the colour of my skin. I am a bit too dark for their liking.”

Another ISM volunteer who was present said, “we were not shouting or anything, just walking, and suddenly we were surrounded by soldiers with machine guns. When some among us were violently dragged by soldiers onto the ground, I was shocked. One girl was bleeding. For what? All we were doing was walking.”

3 of the 6 detainees were released within a few hours. The 3 remaining were arrested and arbitrarily accused of attacking and injuring soldiers. They were held handcuffed and imprisoned for over 24 hours. In court the three international and Israeli participants were freed from charges of attacking soldiers, but convicted for preventing soldiers from arresting. The final court decision prevents them from entering Area A and Hebron city for the following 3 months. If the conditions are broken they are sentenced to pay an amount of 5000 shekels. The 3 declared that they may appeal the decision.

The illegal Israeli settlement on Shuhada street is occupied by some of the most radical settlers in the Palestinian West Bank. Shuhada has been closed to Palestinians since the killing of 29 Palestinians in the Ibrahimi Mosque by settler Baruch Goldstein in 1994. As a result of the massacre, Palestinians were forced to close down their stores, schools, houses, and mosques in the area. Further restrictions were imposed on Palestinians the following years. In the central parts of Hebron, Palestinians face daily harassment by Israeli settlers and soldiers.

Nina Larsson is an International Solidarity Movement volunteer (name has been changed).


20 Palestinian detained children started a hunger strike in Hasharon prison

13 June 2012 | Palestinian Information Center, Gaza

Twenty Palestinian children, detained in Hasharon prison, launched on Tuesday June 12, an open hunger strike protesting the harsh prison conditions and the prison administration’s neglect of their demands.

A 17-years-old child Ahmed Lafi, who was one of the strikers, told the Ministry of the prisoners in Gaza that 20 detained children started an open hunger strike to protest the bad and deteriorating living conditions in the prison, where they are not allowed to visit each other and are deprived from their study.

He also revealed that “the prison administration continues to torture and humiliate the child prisoners even after the agreement signed between the strike leadership committee and the prison administration.”

Ahmed Lafi also stressed that the prison administration holds in solitary confinement every prisoner trying to demand his rights amid the bad conditions he witnesses in the jails.

He pointed out that Israeli intelligence use the most extreme torture methods to extract confessions from the children in violation of all international conventions and rights of children.

There are 190 Palestinian children under the age of 18 in occupation jails in very harsh conditions. These minors are treated the same way as adult prisoners; insufficient food, search raids on their rooms by intelligence officers, provocations, medical neglect and denial of education.

Issa Amro, coordinator of Youth Against Settlements, arrested at border on way to speaking tour

15 June 2012 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Issa Amro, Coordinator of Youth Against Settlements, was stopped last night by Israeli authorities at the Allenby Bridge. He was arrested and taken to Hebron police station, where he was interrogated for hours on suspicion of involvement in organizing the women’s action that took place in Hebron last Wednesday, at the segregated Shuhada Street.

Amro, was traveling to Italy for a speaking tour organized by the Italian Peace Association to meet Members of the Italian Parliament and Senate, and municipality representatives from different Italian cities.

Issa Amro, a prominent popular resistance activist in Hebron, was arrested several times in the past by the Israeli army for participating in activities to protest the occupation practices in Hebron. Throughout the past few years, Youth Against Settlements has been leading the global campaign to re-open Shuhada street, Hebron’s main commerce center that was closed to Palestinian movement in 1994.

Last Wednesday, approximately 15 Israeli and International women dressed in Palestinian traditional clothing walked through Shuhada Street in silence protesting the policy of preventing Palestinian women from accessing the street. The women were shortly stopped by Israeli soldiers and attacked by both soldiers and settlers. Five activists and one journalist were arrested during the action. Later that day, a Palestinian man was also arrested on suspicion of “conspiracy” related to the same action. All seven were released throughout the next 24 hours, three on condition of a 90 day restraining order from area A and the Hebron area.