Author: Yara

Pedestrian caught between H1, H2, and Israeli military

22 August 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

In Al Khalil, commonly referred to as Hebron, international observers received a call about a man being beaten by Israeli military between the H1 and H2 areas of Hebron. H1 is an area densely populated by about 120,000 Palestinians, while H2 has been taken over through military violence by illegal Israeli settlers.

Witnesses say the man had been detained for about an hour and was pushed against the wall repeatedly. When international observers showed up, the soldiers claimed that the man had refused to be searched although he carried no items on him except a small coin pouch and a cell phone.

The following is a video account of the soldier’s and man following the arrival of international observers.

Many injured in Hebron house demolition

22 August 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

At 10pm Sunday August 21st the Hasan Ali Darwish Al-Qawasmi house in the Abo Ktelah district was raided and later destroyed by Israeli soldiers. Around eight armored vehicles surrounded the house and at least 40 soldiers were blocking every entrance. The Israeli soldiers had arrived at the house at 8 pm. They told family members that it would take 20 minutes but three and a half hours later they remained in occupation of the house. A row of 14 soldiers blocked the main entrance to the house. Female family members stood in front of them and demanded that they be allowed back into their home.

A family member accounted that Israeli soldiers had already arrested their husbands and were also guilty of the imprisonment of seven brothers and the death of two other brothers of one particular woman. This woman arrived at the house with her baby in her arms to defy and stand up to the Israeli soldiers. After a while the army emerged from the house with a blindfolded and handcuffed man who looked as though he had been beaten.

The soldiers took him away in a jeep. The Israeli soldiers informed the family and other bystanders that a suspected “suspicious object” was in the home that needed to be disposed of, which coincidentally meant exploding a section of the house. Everyone was pushed aside in preparation for the explosion, which took place in the yard of the house. The massive explosion smashed all the windows and damaged a neighbor’s home.

During the raid clashes between Palestinians and the army started, leaving at least 30 injured with the possible rumor that of the injured, one was killed. Details have yet to be confirmed.

The army was shooting a large amount of tear gas directly at protesters and according to witnesses they probably also used rubber coated steel bullets. The Israeli soldiers fled at around midnight and the protestors went to inspect the damaged house. Once being allowed back into the home the family members found their home torn apart. Sofa chairs had been ripped open, picture frames had been smashed and glass lay everywhere. Their home had been destroyed.

Witnesses said that 10 days ago another member of the Al-Qawasmi family had been arrested. On the night of August 20th Israeli soldiers arrested 10 other people in this same neighborhood. This frightful scene concluded with an elderly female relative, who had been trapped in the house during the raid, being carried out on a stretcher by Palestinian ambulances. The ambulances also tended to severely injured protestors.

Night of Israeli violence: Al Aqsa Mosque barricade, house demolition, gang beating, arrests

22 August 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Just after midnight on Monday, August 22  the Israeli military took the opportunity to trap 1500 Palestinian youth inside al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, blow up a house in Hebron (injuring 30 people in the ensuing riots), and arrested a member of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin.

In Jerusalem, thousands of Palestinians gathered to protest the Israeli escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip. Starting from the Bab Al ‘Amoud (Damscus Gate) area and marching toward Salah El Deen Street, the protesters suddenly found themselves under attack by Israeli soldiers after the latter claimed that a soldier had been stabbed. Israeli soldiers and border police closed off the Bab Al Amoud area and Salah El Deen Street and kidnapped several Palestinian youth who were taken to the Al Maskobiyya interrogation center, west of Jerusalem. They also ttacked Palestinian medics and ambulances in the area.

The protesters continued their march into the Old City, prompting hundreds of policemen to break into several homes and cause damage in the area. The protesters ended up inside al-Aqsa mosque, where policemen trapped them inside, closed off the mosque, placed ladders on walls surrounding the mosque, and provoked protesters and those who were simply there to pray and worship during the last ten holy days of Ramadan.

In another incident in Jenin, Israeli soldiers surrounded the Freedom Theater at 2 am, closed off the area, and arrested Mohammed Naghnaghiye, the security guard and technician of the theater. On the way out, they fired live ammunition to disperse the crowd of Palestinians who had gathered.

This is the third attack on the Freedom Theater by the Israeli military this month.

This comes following a daytime attack by a gang of 15 masked settlers of a 10 year old Palestinian boy near Ramallah, outside the settlement of Ramat Migron. The boy is in the hospital being treated for deep wounds.

50 arrested during pre-dawn sweeps in Hebron

21 August 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Just before dawn today, Sunday August 21, IDF forces raided the towns of Hebron and Bethlehem in the West Bank. Preliminary reports indicate that up to 250 people have been arrested in Hebron, including at least 70 Hamas leaders. Twitter feeds on the ground speak of occupation forces closing all entrances to the city and stationing themselves in the streets. Later reports finalized the count to approximately 50 Palestinians being arrested, as others were released.

No statement has been released by Israel concerning the reason for the raids and arrests. A group of ISM activists stationed in Hebron have rushed to the scene, as have ISM activists in Nablus.

At approximately 1:30 am, 40 soldiers raided four family homes on Ein  Sarah St.  alone and around. According to the International Middle East Media Center,over 100 military vehicles and jeeps entered Hebron from 4 entrances, and raided 6 villages in addition to Hebron City, breaking into homes and occupying the streets, from which Palestinian security services were conspicuously absent  The soldiers moved from home to home in  4 jeeps, a transport carrier (presumably for those arrested), 2 Land Rovers (thought to be Shabak) and two regular cars. Soldiers were carrying live ammunition but met no resistance to the arrests.

In one household they failed to find the person they were looking for so they arrested his 60 year old father instead.

B. Jabal , a local resident, described why he felt the arrests had taken place.  “This is collective punishment for the Palestinians in response to the recent shootings in Eilat.  We want peace, and our leaders want peace , but the Israelis keep killing and destroying our houses and destroying trees,” he said.

Gaza was surprisingly quiet tonight, given that it is has been under seige for the last 3 days; apparently, the occupation forces spent the night gearing up to sweep through the West Bank. So far, it looks like the only rationale behind the offensive may be the targeting of Hamas leaders, in retaliation for Thursday’s attacks in Eilat; this retaliatory gesture is surprising, however, since not a shred of evidence exists to tie Thursday’s attacks to Hamas.

Locals in Hebron also reported that a 17 year old Palestinian was run over and killed by a settler near the illegal settlement of Qiryat Arba.  Israeli forces also assaulted and detained a Palestinian man during a raid on the home of the Mufti of Bethlehem, in the refugee camp of Duheisha. So far, 2 Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli gunfire in Bethlehem. Details have yet to be confirmed.

Gaza strikes: Destroying just to destroy

20 August 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

Israeli attacks on Gaza are not limited to trying to kill people.  Sometimes, they bomb things just to destroy them, pointless destruction.  On the morning of August 19th, 2011 Israeli warplanes bombed Kateeba.  Kateeba is a large unfinished building near Al Azhar University.  It has a giant green lawn, one of the few green spaces in Gaza, and is a popular place for people to hang out at night.  They pass the evening talking, smoking, and enjoying the green grass and the cool air.  Kateeba doesn’t have walls, just five unfinished floors.  You can see through the entire building, it is empty.

The bomb penetrated the top two floors before exploding.  Windows were shattered for hundreds of meters around. The mosque next door had its windows shattered, windows were shattered at Al Azhar University, windows were shattered in all of surrounding apartment buildings.  The green lawn is covered in rubble.  Perhaps Kateeba will remain standing as just another windowless memorial to Israeli attacks on Gaza.