Category: Features - Page 104 - International Solidarity Movement

Farmers protest closure of gate blocking them from accessing their land

18th of December, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm team | Deir al Ghsoon, occupied Palestine

Hundreds of farmers protested on the morning of the 18th of December against the closure of an agricultural gate, which led Israeli commanders to agree to reopen the way. In 2002, 3200 dunumns of farmland got cut of from the rest of the two Palestinian villages of Deir Al Ghsoon and Al Jarosheyyah by building of the Israeli apartheid wall. Ever since, farmers have to cross one, out of two, agricultural checkpoints in order to get to their lands. The process of getting through the checkpoint takes a lot of time and not all farmers manage to get a permission to cross.

Farmer Abdullah Ghaner arrives at 6 o’clock to the checkpoint every morning in order to be among the first half of the farmers to cross the checkpoint. The soldiers are supposed to open the gate at 7 o’clock, but farmers often complain that opening hours are unreliable.

“When, and even if, we get through is depending on the mood of the soldiers”, says Abdullah.

He and his family own 16 dunnams of land on the other side of the Apartheid wall. The farm has been property of the family for three generation, and Abdullah is hoping to pass it on to his daughter. “We are born farmers. By enclosing our land they are trying to demolish her heritage !”, he says.

This part of the wall doesn’t in-circuit any settlement or military base. The only thing between the wall and the green line is Palestinian farmland. “This piece of land has not been surrounded by the wall for security reason, they surrounded it in order to steal our land”, Abdullah explains.

Yesterday, soldiers told the farmers that they would close checkpoint 623, one of the agricultural checkpoint leading to the farmland. Closing the checkpoint would be devastating for Abdullah and the 300 farmers that are dependent on this checkpoint for making a living. “What can we do ? he asks. We are farmers, we can only shout. They are soldiers, they can shoot”.

It it is not even certain that the farmers affected by the closure will get permission to enter the other checkpoint. Even if they do, the lack of roads on the other side of the apartheid wall will force them to walk for hours in order to reach their lands. It would take Abdullah 1,5 hour of walking from the other checkpoint to reach his land. That means he would only be able to work for a few hours on his land before having to return back to the checkpoint, in order to get there before the soldiers close it.

Yesterday morning farmers and Palestinian activists together with politicians gathered to protest Thursday’s announcement to close the checkpoint. After demanding the checkpoint to remain open, and threatening to take this decision to court, Israeli commanders agreed to leave the checkpoint open. For the farmers, this is a small but important victory. But the future of the checkpoint is still uncertain and farmers will not be satisfied until the apartheid wall has been removed, and the farmers guaranteed unlimited access to 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.

Israeli soldier checking trash-bins before allowing the care-taker to dispose of the trash just five meters past the military gate

School-children walk past soldiers and infamous settler Ofer on their way to school

A school-boy looks on as his teacher is body-searched by Israeli forces right outside the school

Israeli forces body-searching elderly man at gunpoint

Israeli forces body-searching teenage boy

Israeli forces aggressively body-searching teenage boy

Teenage boy empties his pockets before body-search by Israeli forces

Teenage boy aggressively body-searched by Israeli forces

A group of school-children looks on as Israeli forces body-search a teenage boy

Palestinian youth body-searched at gunpoint by Israeli forces

Two boys watch Israeli forces body-searching their father

“ We need our children ”

December 17th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al Khalil team | al Khalil, occupied Palestine

On Thursday, December the 17^th, 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.

Solidarity tent for the martyr's families — *Solidarity tent for the martyr’s families*

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.

Crossing the Al Tayba checkpoint near Tulkarem in the morning. Photo credit : ISM

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.

Attack on Khadouri university continues

16th of December, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm team | Tulkarm, occupied Palestine

Today, on the 16th of december, Israeli forces, yet again, entered the center of the campus at Khadori university, leaving several students injured.

“I am so afraid! The situation here is so bad, the soldiers open fire at anybody” says a student, who wishes to be anonymous, as he wipes away tears from his face caused by the tear gas.

According to medics on the ground, several people were injured during this afternoon raid on campus, both by live ammunition and rubber coated steel bullets. ISM-activists estimate that more than 200 students suffered from inhalation of the tear gas, some of whom needed medical attention.

Earlier this morning, at the outskirt of the campus, a student was shot with live ammunition on his left foot by the Israeli soldiers.

As we have reported earlier, the attacks on the university started in October, when Israeli soldiers from the nearby checkpoint begun entering the campus. The Israeli forces have also caused severe damage to the university buildings. Multiple windows have been shattered. The greenhouses located close to the military training area have been badly damaged by the tear gas canisters and were put on fire, last week, by the Israeli soldiers.

Almost every day, students witness Israeli soldiers using a small military training field, built on the university ground in the 90’s, as a base from which they sit and aim at students. Since october, ambulances are parked on campus every day, being ready to take the next injured student to the hospital. To this date, Israeli forces have injured more than 400 students.