Author: ISM Media - Page 54 - International Solidarity Movement

School Children bombarded with teargas by soldiers in Al-Khalil

April 14, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Al-Khalil (Hebron), occupied Palestine

Israeli occupation forces shoot huge amounts of tear gas at school children near Al-Salaymeh checkpoint in Al-Khalil. Soldiers further confiscate the car keys of every Palestinian driver in the area.

Soldiers invade Al-Khalil, bombarding the city with tear gas and stun grenades. Tear gas is seen in the background. — Soldiers invade Al-Khalil, bombarding the city with tear gas and stun grenades.

Around 8am soldiers shot tear gas and stun grenades at school children near Al-Salaymeh checkpoint. Forcing the children back with tear gas, the soldiers moved closer to the schools, while continuously throwing tear gas and stun grenades. At one point the soldiers tried to enter a school, but the principal convinced them not to. As protests erupted, the soldiers closed off all traffic, while confiscating the keys of all Palestinian drivers.

Several of the young children were visibly scared, but thankfully no one was seriously injured, although many suffered the effects of excessive tear gas inhalation. The press was told to leave several times.

The soldiers retired behind the checkpoint around 10.30am.

Protesters Attacked by Israeli Forces in Ras Karkar

April 12, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Ras Karkar, occupied Palestine

This Friday, protesters from the villages around Mount al-Risan and were gassed by Israeli forces as illegal settlers watched on. Shortly after prayers finished, between 20 and 30 soldiers and border police surrounded protesters, shooting rounds of teargas directly at them. Some Israeli forces descended through the hills through the olive groves, others stood with illegal settlers and watched on as Palestinians and internationals were attacked.

Medics attended to a man whose hand was burned by a gas canister.

In 2018, settlers invaded land atop al-Risan Mountain, which overlooks the three villages Ras Karkar, Kafr Ni’ma and Kharbatha Bani Harith. Since then local Palestinians have gathered in a valley below the mountain every Friday to non-violently protest the theft of their land, trying each week to get past occupation forces who now keep them from accessing it.

Soldiers invade Al-Khalil; fire live ammunition at protesters

April 5, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Al-Khalil (Hebron), occupied Palestine

Israeli occupation forces storm into Al-Khalil and fire live ammunition at protesters after bombarding the city with tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber-coated steel bullets.

Around 1pm soldiers invaded Al-Khalil through checkpoint 56. The soldiers fired stun grenades at protesters. Immediately following the stun grenades, the soldiers fired tear gas into the street–forcing the protesters and press personnel to move. As the tear gas disappeared, protests continued. The Israeli soldiers then proceeded to shoot protestors with rubber-coated steel bullets while continuing to fire stun grenades at protesters.

At one point the soldiers switched from rubber-coated steel bullets to live ammunition. For approximately an hour soldiers fired live ammunition and stun grenades at Palestinian protesters until eventually retiring behind the checkpoint, which was closed to the public at this time.

The protests arose again and the soldiers fired several rounds of tear gas and shot rubber-coated steel bullets. During the invasion they also threw stun grenades at the press.

Join ISM: Training in Dublin, Ireland, April 27, 2019

ISM Ireland is offering a day of pre-training for prospective volunteers who are interested in joining the International Solidarity Movement on the ground in Palestine. All volunteers are required to participate in training before joining activities in Palestine.

Attending the training session in Dublin will give you a chance to get a first impression of ISM and the kind of work we do, receive training, connect with former volunteers and have your questions answered. It is a chance to learn about how Palestinians are working against the occupation and how we as internationals can work in solidarity with them using a variety of tactics.

Attending the training is not a commitment to go to Palestine, although many who have attended the training in the past have decided to go.

The training will take place on April 27, 2019:
Time: 10:30-16
Venue: Jigsaw, 10 Belvedere Court, Dublin 1, D01 E726

To sign up for the training, please contact ism.dublin@protonmail.com

URGENT ACTION ALERT: Behind The Fence, They Sing of Freedom

A call for international human rights defenders to come to Palestine mid May (May 13 – May 19th) 2019 to support the cultural boycott of the Eurovision Singing Contest in Tel Aviv.

The Situation

Whilst the colonization forces prepare historical Palestine for the upcoming Eurovision singing contest, the stage is also being set for further oppression and genocide of the Palestinian people.

In the recent months Israel has escalated it’s bombing campaigns in Gaza and executions and harassment of Palestinians in the West Bank.

In this atmosphere of death, Israeli officials force millions of Palestinians to live in squalid, oppressive conditions, and Palestinian civil society cries out for a total boycott of Israeli products, institutions and cultural bodies, absurdly, a singing contest will bring tens of thousands of visitors to Tel Aviv.

Soon, Israeli customs will face packs of tourists as the international community floods in to attend the Eurovision, and participate in the farce, If they can get through Israeli customs, that is. Human rights activists who try to enter historic Palestine are usually subjected to harassment and abuse and are often refused entry. There are too many things Israel does not want them to witness document and show the world.

Your Role – if you are able to enter Palestine

As someone coming to Palestine to work in solidarity with the popular non violent struggle to end the occupation, your work will involve monitoring and intervening in human rights abuses against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, reporting on incidents of settler and military violence perpetrated against Palestinians, resisting land annexation and home demolitions, attending demonstrations and responding to needs and requests as they arise.

Your Role – If you are denied entry

Israeli Apartheid governments have consistently interrogated, harassed, denied entry, black-listed, and forcibly deported would-be human rights monitors making it impossible for them to witness and expose Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. These deportation attempts can be resisted and challenged in Israeli courts.

Having international human rights defenders in detention and/or going through the court system during the Eurovision song contest is an opportunity to draw attention to the host’s war crimes and crimes against humanity, reminding the world that Israel has much to hide.

Contact us prior to your journey and we will do our best to provide legal support in this event.

We ask that you answer the call to come and bear witness, to support the Palestinian campaign for boycott divest and sanctions, to intervene, to act.

For more information, contact us at ismtraining@riseup.net