Category: Features - Page 104 - International Solidarity Movement

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.

Tanweer cultural centre in Nablus raided at night, equipment stolen and damaged

15th of December, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Nablus, occupied Palestine

On the night of the 10th of December, the Israeli forces raided the Palestinian cultural Centre Tanweer, near the old city of Nablus, and stole hardwares, wifi keys and a laptop after searching the whole centre. The organisation lost all of their data from the raid.

When the volunteers arrived at 11 am the next day, they found the door broken and everything spread on the floor. Volunteers from the centre have been working on getting the place back into shape since then, but much of the furniture and computer equipment have been severely damaged. The Rachel Corrie computer room, established in 2011, was as well raided and the computers are at the moment unusable. The team is thinking of launching a fundraising campaign to help replace the lost equipment.
The volunteers’ coordinator has been arrested around three weeks ago during a night raid, as well as about seven of the organisation’s volunteers. Tanweer is not involved in any political activism; it’s a cultural center working to educate the youth from the old city of Nablus and therefore the volunteers don’t understand the reason for this targeting of their work.

The coordinators, along with Palestinian volunteers, organise activities, support classes, computer courses and any cultural events. “You attack a cultural center, it means that you don’t want people to be enlightened”, said Mustafa Azizi, one of the volunteers.

Night raid in Tanweer Center in Nablus. Photo credit : Ziad Ameireh.

ISM calls for internationals to volunteer in Palestine

14th December, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement | occupied Palestine
Today, Palestinians are facing an enormous amount of pressure in their lives due to the growing violence of Israeli forces. Israeli politicians have fueled the motivation to kill Palestinians by making open statements encouraging Israeli citizens to become executioners.
Since the beginning of October, Israeli occupation forces have started to exceed their abuse of power by carrying out a series of extrajudicial killings of Palestinians, in a manner that is completely unjustified and, in most cases, constituting crimes of war.
In addition, Israeli forces are applying measures of collective punishment towards the families of Palestinians who are killed in this unlawful manner. In many cases, the army does not return their bodies to their families, preventing them from carrying out their funerals. Furthermore, Israel has been demolishing the houses of these families, leaving many people homeless.

When you come to Palestine, there are many things you can do.

In Al-Khalil (Hebron), we need volunteers to continue walking children to school and monitor the three checkpoints were the children cross two times a day, on their way to school and back home. Our presence there is crucial because we witness and document what we see and can show the world what is happening on the ground. We do our best to prevent Palestinians from being harassed, and more importantly, to show them we are there in solidarity with them.

One of our volunteers walks a group of children to school in al-Khalil

In Jerusalem, you will document human rights violations and report them in the media. You will be present in checkpoints such as Qalandya, the Shufat Refugee Camp, and nearby villages. You will monitor violence from settlers and police in the old city during the day, and the monthly settler march were settlers roam in the streets of the old city at night. During these marches, Palestinians are forced to close their shops and face the danger of being attacked.

In the area of Jerusalem, you will also monitor schools and hospitals. In addition, there are many child arrests that need to be covered in the media, where you will visit the families and write their stories. In Jerusalem there are also many home demolitions and evacuations that you will need to document and report in the media.
In Tulkarem, which has recently seen regular violent attacks from the Israeli army towards university students inside the campus while they are studying and attending exams, we need volunteers on the ground to continue documenting these crimes of war and create awareness on the situation. Watch video of army’s incursion here.

Furthermore, in Tulkarem, the army is threatening to permanently close gate 623 that gives access to farmers to their land, in other words, to their sustenance for living. This gate needs international human rights defenders to monitor on a daily basis from 7:00 to 8:00 in the morning.
In Nablus, several houses have been demolished since October. We need to continue being present and reporting on these human rights violations when they arise. You will visit the families who suffer from being left homeless, and write their stories.
In the city of Ramallah we receive calls from prisoners’ families to attend military court hearings, in the Ofer military prison. We believe that being present in these hearings can put pressure on the Israeli authorities and decrease their abuse of power when giving sentences to Palestinian political prisoners.
Moreover, all throughout the West Bank, in cities and villages, the popular committees organize regular demonstrations were the ISM is called to participate.

As ISM is a Palestinian led movement all our actions are initiated on invitations from or initiative of Palestinians following their lead and wishes.
When you come to Palestine, try to bring your computer with you and a camera, as you will need it for the media work. To plan your trip to the West Bank, please read our traveling information.
We ask our volunteers to commit for a minimum of two weeks after completing our two day training, but keep in mind that we always prefer to have volunteers stay for longer periods of time.
When you decide to come to Palestine to join us, or if you have any further questions, please write us to palreports@gmail.com.
In solidarity,
ISM Team

ISM volunteers raising Palestinian flag in front of the Apartheid wall.

Five Palestinian teens blackmailed into accepting 15 years prison term and exorbitant ‘fines’ for a crime that never happened

December 13th, 2015 | The Hares Boys campaign| Hares, Salfit

The five boys from the village of Hares.

UPDATE: 05.01.2016

Congratulations! The campaign for the Hares Boys has marked the halfway point by collecting 75944.56 NIS (~US $19314.24). However, we still have a long way before reaching the 150,000 NIS by the deadline of 28 January 2016 in order to avoid having each boy’s sentence being prolonged from 15 years to possibly to at least 25 years in prison.

Please, keep sharing the campaign and ask the people who care to donate through paypal on our website – every contribution matters!

Do not stay silent in the face of what is not right.

*****

It is with great sadness and anger that we hereby inform you of the outcome of the Hares Boys case: the five teenagers are being sentenced to 15 years in prison and are to pay a total of NIS 150,000 (~US $39,000 or €35,000) to the Israeli authorities. Failure to provide the exorbitant sum would, it is implied, result in more years of prison added to the boys’ sentences.

Ali Shamlawi, Mohammed Kleib, Mohammed Suleiman, Ammar Souf, and Tamer Souf have been kept in prison for 2 years and 8 months and are now being sentenced for a crime that never happened. The five teenagers (16-17 years old at the time) from the village of Hares (Salfit governorate, West Bank, occupied Palestine) were kidnapped from their homes by the Israeli army in March 2013. The teens were accused of throwing stones at illegal settler cars, one of which drove under a truck that was parked along Route 5 near the village of Hares. The driver’s children were injured during the accident and one of them died two years later after pneumonia complications. The boys denied throwing stones but were forced to sign ‘confessions’ following torturous interrogations at the hands of Israeli secret services. There was never any evidence of the boys’ guilt but it is sadly a reality in the Israeli military court system that does not comply with due process and convicts Palestinians at a 99.7% rate.

After almost 3 years of routine hearings at Israeli military courts, where the boys were initially accused of ‘attempted murder’, they were told on 26 November 2015 that they are now being charged with manslaughter and are being sentenced to prison terms of 15 years, provided their families pay ‘fines’ of NIS 30,000 [US $7,750 or € 7,100] each by the deadline of 28 January 2016. Failure to pay the amount requested by the Israeli military court would, it is understood, result in each boy’s sentence being prolonged, possibly to at least 25 years in prison.

There is no other way to describe this situation the five teens and their families have endured other than as criminal activity on behalf of the Israeli system of ‘justice’. Pressing the families to agree to a court ‘deal’ and threatening them with harsher sentences if they don’t accept is nothing less than extortion. Demanding that families pay large sums of money as a ‘fine’ or a ‘compensation’ to the occupying power is nothing less than a demand for ransom.

On behalf of the Free the Hares Boys campaign we condemn such acts of injustice committed by the Israeli military court.

We invite local and international human rights organizations, the world’s democratic government institutions and people of conscience to stand up to this injustice inflicted on the Palestinian people by the Israeli occupation and to demand justice for the Hares Boys. Please consider contacting your country’s diplomatic representatives in Tel Aviv or occupied Jerusalem; the Israeli Ministry of Justice; your local politicians; asking them to intervene and condemn such injustice and disrespect for the rule of law. Organize events in your community to highlight the Hares Boys case and the situation of hundreds of other Palestinian children who are being kept in occupation prisons.

Do not stay silent in the face of what is not right.

Now, the Hares boys and their families are appealing for your support in order to collect the NIS 30,000 [US $7,750 or € 7,100] for each boy by the deadline of 28 January 2016. Please donate through paypal on our website, every contribution matters!

Further information and Contact:
Website: haresboys.wordpress.com Email: haresboys@gmail.com

Facebook: facebook.com/FreeTheHaresBoys Twitter: @HaresBoys

ACT NOW ! Put an end to the ‘Closed Military Zone’ in Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street, Hebron

December 13th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement | Action Alert

The undersigned organisations are calling on the international community to take immediate action regarding the continuous closure of the Tel Rumeida neighborhood and the part of Shuhada Street that has remained accessible to Palestinian residents since the Ibrahimi mosque massacre in 1994, in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). For more than a month, Palestinians and internationals have been denied access to this part of the city since the Israeli occupation forces have declared the area a ‘closed military zone’.

The ‘closed military zone’, first declared on November 1st 2015, was designed to include Palestinian neighborhoods while excluding adjacent illegal Israeli settlements. This discriminatory closure is being upheld by continuously renewed ‘military orders’ that lack official signatures or stamps. Palestinian residents were forced to register with the army or else risk being barred from their homes, while Israeli settlers are free to roam the streets without being stopped.

“This is yet another step in pushing Palestinians out of Tel Rumeida and Shuhada street”, says Jenny, from the ISM team in al Khalil.

Such a restriction of movement clearly constitutes a collective punishment on the whole Palestinian community, illegal under international law. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva convention specifically states that “no protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.”

Tel Rumeida resident Abed Salaymeh explains : “soldiers and settlers are making life for the Palestinians intolerable to force them to leave their houses voluntarily. This is a crime under international law. They are targeting activists to silence the truth and stop the truth from reaching the whole world”.

International and local activists are increasingly at risk of direct attacks by Israeli occupation forces and illegal settlers, as they are specifically targeted for their efforts to document and report on human rights abuses.

Activists are denied access to areas by Israeli occupation forces and face unfounded arbitrary arrests, such as on the 3rd of November, the 26th of November, 27th of November, and most recently on the 28th of november; purely on Israeli forces’ accusations that lack any evidence. Human rights defenders, whose work the United Nations stressed as important, are increasingly threatened even inside their homes and offices or illegally kicked out of them.

The Israeli forces’ attempts to silence the Palestinian voice on the events goes hand in hand with the closure of Palestinian radio stations in clear infringement of the freedom of press and opinion, acknowledged in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948, article 19: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.

“It is important to document in order to expose Israeli crimes”, explains Imad Abu Shamsiyyeh, a Tel Rumeida resident.

These inhumane measures come after Israeli occupation forces gunned down Homam Adnan Sa’id, 23, and Islam Rafiq ‘Ebeido on the 27th and 28th of October in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood. While the Israeli government claims that both were ‘neutralized’ when attacking Israeli forces, many eye-witness statements refute this claim; CCTV footage has not yet been released by the Israeli forces. Since the beginning of October, a total of 112 Palestinians have been shot and left to bleed to death without medical aid in a similar manner in what Amnesty International refers to as ‘unlawful killings‘.

The outlined measures, restrictions, and human rights violations are focused primarily and exclusively on making the Palestinian voice – and in the long run the inhabitants of the area – disappear altogether.

The undersigned organisations call for:

An immediate end to collective punishment and the ‘closed military zone’ order in Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street;
Cessation of threats and harassment of Palestinian residents as well as foreign and local human rights defenders;
Removal of restrictions on movement throughout the Old City of Hebron;
stopping the imposed military law on Palestinian residents as they are civilians;
Suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement until Israel complies with International Law;
Removal of all illegal Israeli settlements from Hebron.
Reconsideration of the status of “charity” of the Hebron Fund, that allows people to make tax-free donations to an organisation funding the illegal settlement of Israelis in the city of Hebron
Cessation of unconditional US Aid to Israel until it complies with international law.
Release of the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, as provided in article 17 of the 1949 Geneva Convention I “[Parties to the conflict] shall further ensure that the dead are honourably interred, if possible according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged, that their graves are respected, grouped if possible according to the nationality of the deceased, properly maintained and marked so that they may always be found”.

Signatories :

BDS Slovenia

Christian Peacemaker Teams Palestine

Dominican Palestine Coordinating Committee

اتحاد لجان العمل الصحي Health Work Committees

Hebron Defense Committee

Hebron Rehabilitation Committee لجنة إعمار الخليل

International Middle East Media Centre

International Women’s Peace Service

Merton PSC

Middle East Crisis Support – Woodstock, NY

Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign

Newcastle Palestine Campaign

Operation Dove – Operazione Colomba

Popular National Conference for Jerusalem

The Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC) الاغاثة الزراعية

The Palestinian Farmers Union

The Popular Committee for Palestinian Refugees in Hebron District

Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees اتحاد لجان المرأة الفلسطينية

Unison Northumberland

Women’s Studies Centre امركز الدراسات النسوية في الخليل

Youth Center – Palestinian Medical Relief Society مركز تدريب الشباب المجتمعي

If your organisation wishes to support our call, contact us : palreports@gmail.com