Category: Features
Farmers protest closure of gate blocking them from accessing their land
Photo story: daily harassment by Israeli Forces on the way to school
December 18th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al Khalil team | al Khalil, occupied Palestine
On Thursday, 17th December 2015, Israeli forces yet again body-searched every male adult – and also youth – passing Ziad Jaber school in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). Most female adults were also searched by male soldiers, a clear violation of their privacy. Various female students were also searched or had their bag searched.
These body-searches by Israeli forces are humiliating and often conducted aggressively with soldiers kicking the legs of the Palestinians and pushing them in the kneepit almost making them fall.
Not even children and youth – especially protected by UN-Conventions and international law, are exempted from these rigorous, frightening and humiliating searches. All of this hapens regularly both on the way to and from school thus also infringing on the children’s basic right to education.
“ We need our children ”
December 17th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al Khalil team | al Khalil, occupied Palestine
On Thursday, December the 17th, hundreds of Palestinians in occupied Al-Khalil (Hebron) gathered to protest against Israel’s policy of withholding the bodies of Palestinian martyrs killed since the beginning of October.
The peaceful demonstration started at Haras Mosque and continued towards Ibn Rushd roundabout with many martyr posters, signs, Palestinian flags and chanting. Many friends and relatives of the martyrs were present, mourning the loss of the more than thirty martyrs from Al-Khalil and more than 123 martyrs from all around the occupied Palestinian territory killed since the beginning of October this year.
The demonstration was organized by the movement “We need our children” (Bidna awladna). This movement was created recently on the initiative of the families of the martyrs in Al-Khalil to demand the release of Palestinian bodies, still being kept in Israel. This unlawful policy not only violates international law but also denies the families the right to mourn the loss of their husbands, sons, mothers and daughters. “Some of the mothers haven’t realized that their sons are dead. Some times the fathers try to call their sons on the mobile”, a brother of a martyr explains.
For the past two weeks a solidarity tent has been established near the Haras mosque in order to create a space for the families to mourn, share the pain and support each other. Not only the relatives waiting for the return of the martyr’s bodies are present in the tent, but also the relatives, who already received the bodies of their loved ones, attend the tent in solidarity, as the father of Dania (17 years) and Udey Irsheid (24 years) who both were killed by Israeli forces in the last two months.
The policy of withholding the bodies of killed Palestinians constitutes another measurement in the collective punishment against the Palestinian people, which is illegal according to international law.
Palestinian workers forced to cross overcrowded checkpoint everyday
17th of December, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm team | Tulkarm, occupied Palestine
In the early morning of the 17th of december, Israeli security guards kept parts of the al-Tayba checkpoint closed, causing tension and frustration among the waiting Palestinian workers.
Every morning, 8000 to 10 000 Palestinians have to cross the al-Tayba checkpoint, located in the outskirts of Tulkarm, to be able to go to work in Israel. For them, commuting to work is frustrating, time-consuming and dangerous.
One of the Palestinian workers that ISM-activists spoke to this morning explained that under normal circumstances, it would take him a maximum of one hour to go from Tulkarm to his work in Tel Aviv. But with the checkpoints, it adds multiple hours to his daily commuting. Every morning he leaves his home before three, and after spending several hours at the checkpoint, he arrives in Tel aviv at around 6-7 o’clock, just in time to start working. Not knowing how long it will take him to get through, or if he even will be allowed to cross at all, is for him worst part.
When the security guards open the checkpoint at 4 o’clock, workers have already been waiting for hours. All workers goes through four lanes leading to four separate turnstiles, that they have to pass one-at-a-time, before finally passing metal detectors and being ID-checked by the staff.
Workers also complain that the turnstiles often remain closed for no reason. Between 4:00 and 5:15, each turnstile was open for an average of 21 minutes. At one point, one turnstile was closed for 40 minutes, leaving the Palestinians to choose between climbing over to the next lain, risking to upset other workers, or having to go back to the entrance, and start the process all over again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCx9S5axBjQ
Many people suffer from the overcrowded checkpoint. The owner of a coffee stand located next to the entrance says that people get injured almost every day. According to Maannews, 2 Palestinians were squeezed to death at this checkpoint in 2014.
Even though Israel needs Palestinian workers, as they are cheap labor, the Israeli forces are still forcing workers to cross these deadly checkpoints everyday. The economical situation of the West Bank often leaves no other choice for Palestinians than to go and work in Israel, despite all the challenges they face as doing so.