Category: Features - Page 112 - International Solidarity Movement

Arbitrary use of closed military zone orders in Hebron

22nd November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

After being allowed back to their legally owned apartment in Tel Rumeida in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) on Thursday, international human rights defenders were kicked out from their home for the third time by Israeli forces the following day.

Internationals kicked out from their home Photo credit: Human Rights Defenders — Internationals kicked out from their home
Photo credit: Human Rights Defenders

The draconian restrictions of the ‘closed military zone’ orders had been slightly lifted on Thursday with no new order issued.

Israeli forces preparing the paper to kick out internationals from their home

The lifting of the closed military zone orders gave the impression that Palestinian residents could, for the first time since weeks, be able to pass the street without being detained while Israeli forces would check their IDs and names on a list of ‘residents’. The international solidarity activists returned to their legally rented house on Thursday afternoon. After only one day, police and soldiers came into the house on Friday afternoon ordering them to leave immediately. The order Israeli forces showed to the internationals was clearly only a photocopy without an official stamp or signature. When the internationals showed their rental contract, the police officer started yelling at them and threatened them saying if they ‘don’t leave within ten minutes, [he] will use force’. Due to the threat of physical violence – that was used on internationals before when they were illegally evicted from this apartment – they decided to leave.

Photocopy of a military order with handwritten dates

Two days later, on Sunday, when attempting to go back to their house, Israeli forces showed the internationals an order dated to the end of the week. When internationals then requested to be allowed to go to their apartment, as this order was not in place at that particular time, they were ordered to wait for no reason. A few minutes later, a jeep with more soldiers drove up and one of them was clearly seen holding a pile of papers, writing something on one of them. He then handed the paper to a soldier that presented it to the internationals as a new closed military zone ‘order’ for that day. It was obvious that soldiers are now having blank copies of ‘closed military zone’ orders that they can fill in arbitrarily with any dates.

Closed military zone order for the end of the week

Since 1^st November, the Israeli forces have been bringing new ‘closed military zone’ orders, renewing them every day. Virtually every Palestinian passing in any direction has to undergo humiliating, degrading and violent bag- and body-searches at gunpoint as well as ID-checks. The area covered by that order was deliberately designed to encompass only Palestinian residents and international human rights defenders while excluding the neighbouring illegal Israeli settlement, thus entirely exempting Israeli settlers from these tactics.

Night raids continue in al-Khalil (Hebron)

22nd November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On Tuesday, 17th November, several groups of soldiers raided houses in the Wadi al-Hurriya neighborhood of al-Khalil (Hebron), an H1 district legally outside of Israeli control. From 7.30pm, Israeli forces were present in the area, divided into groups of 7-12 soldiers and entering every house and business on designated streets. At some of the residences they entered by force, violently smashing through doors. They checked every I.D card of the residents and also, according to soldiers who confronted the ISM volunteers, searched for weapons. Later in the night they informed the volunteers that they were looking for weapons and collecting data in order to prevent potential stabbings: “yes, some people are scared. But some people have reason to be scared.”

Soldiers on street while the unit searches Palestinian house with flashlight

Each group of soldiers patrolled different streets and dark alleys, checking each house and entering with backpacks, mapping equipment, bullet-proof vests, and cocked machine guns. On entering houses, 2-3 soldiers remained outside to “secure” the entrance, periodically pointing guns at passers-by and preventing vehicle and pedestrian passage through the streets.

Israeli forces take over streets of Wadi Al-Hurriya, stop and search cars

The raids lasted until at least 12.30am, after which one unit was witnessed occupying the second floor of a Palestinian house – the other half of which was inhabited by a Palestinian family – and could be heard setting up sleeping equipment. According to the soldiers questioned on site: “no, we are not inside a Palestinian house, they are not living in this house.” The residence is located within 500 meters of an army base and checkpoint bordering the H2 restricted area of al-Khalil.

It was reported later from residents who were in contact with ISM that furniture and property was damaged on the night. This is typical of night raids on Palestinian houses, and in other incidences money and other property has also been stolen. While these raids have been used extensively in the al-Khalil district in recent weeks as part of a tactic of intimidation, it is unclear as to whether the policy of raiding the H1 district and squatting family homes will continue.

Israeli forces and settlers increase efforts to force Palestinians out and silence observers

21st November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Monday 2^nd November 2015, Israeli forces again attempted to prevent international observers from monitoring a checkpoint in a flashpoint location in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). Settlers from the illegal settlements in al-Khalil physically attacked internationals while soldiers where standing idly by watching.

As on every morning, international observers were on their way to checkpoint 55, dividing Shuhada Street into a small stretch where Palestinians are allowed to walk, and the former main Palestinian market which is now a ghost street emptied of Palestinians, who are prohibited from entry. On the way there, the three international observers were stopped by soldiers while walking past another checkpoint. Soldiers ordered them to pass through the checkpoint, even though that was in the opposite direction to where they were going. The Israeli forces at first refused to give a reason for this order and then explained that it was, ‘a rule’ and that, ‘they say so’.

School-children climbing the stairs to their school

A official order for a ‘closed military zone’ was in place the day before, but had expired today. Still, Israeli soldiers claimed that the internationals did not live in the area and therefore were not allowed to be there. At one point, soldiers grabbed one of the ISMers by his arm, saying that they were going to arrest him. When reminded that, as soldiers, they were, according to the Israeli law, not allowed to arrest internationals, they refrained from the arrest and instead noted down his passport number. During the whole discussion, internationals were repeatedly threatened with arrest, for no reason.

Israeli soldier writing down passport number of an international

When the internationals were finally allowed to proceed to the checkpoint close to Qurtuba school, after about 15 minutes, the soldiers there prevented them from standing at the checkpoint, stating that, ‘their existence is a provocation’. Thus, not being allowed to stand close to the checkpoint, the internationals were forced to walk up and down the street, accompanying the school-children towards their school.

Children gathering before passing down the stairs in the afternoon on their way home from school

In the afternoon, Israeli forces arbitrarily decided to forbid internationals from going up the stairs to the school, forcing them to remain at the bottom of the staircase. Due to their fear of being attacked, all the children left the school together with their teachers – and were allowed to pass through Shuhada Street on their way home, contrary to the previous day, when soldiers denied them their right to go there on their way home. Right after the children had passed, the infamous, violent settler, Anat Cohen, drove up in her car, trying to knock down one of the internationals with her car. She then – in plain view of a group of four soldiers – physically attacked the two internationals, hitting them in the face several times, punching them and trying to break their cameras. Even though the internationals asked the soldiers to intervene, they merely stood by, watching. An elderly settler man pushed one of the internationals, and another one tried to grab the camera from her hand. Throughout the whole attack, the settlers present, as well as settlers from the nearby illegal settlement watching from their windows, insulted the internationals calling them ‘Nazis’ and telling them to, ‘go to Auschwitz’. Requests by the internationals to make a complaint against the violent attack were ignored.

Watch a video of the attack:

The soldiers, in the morning, occupied with harassing and intimidating international observers, let school-children pass up the stairs to the school and kindergarten without harrassing them any further. While female teachers were allowed to pass without being stopped, male adults coming down or up the stairs were stopped and ID-checked by the soldiers. With the escalation of violence and harassment against Palestinians in recent weeks, the way to school for the children has become increasingly intimidating and dangerous, not only for the school-children, but also their parents and teachers.

Once again, Israeli forces raid Nablus homes

19th november 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara team | Tell, occupied Palestine

Early morning today, November 19th, at around 1:30 am, Israeli forces raided approximately twenty homes in the village of Tell, Nablus, destroying furniture, televisions and other household items. Mohammed, 73 year old citizen of Tell, describes that soldiers were shooting tear gas, live ammunition and stun grenades, injuring two youths by live ammunition after clashes erupted in the area.

Ransacked home in the village of Tell, Nablus (photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/Tal.village.for.all/)

Furthermore, nine men were arrested without any charges and six men were asked to go to the Israeli security on the following day for security check. The nine men were all released six hours after the arrests.

“These random night raids are a way of scaring the people and demonstrating the occupier’s superiority” states Monther Ishtaya, the mayor of Tell village. He continues: “Also, the night raids are part of the training of new soldiers as well as for the newly appointed local leader of Shabak (Israel’s internal security service)”.

As the village Tell is part of area A, Israeli occupation forces have to coordinate – under the terms of the so-called ‘security coordination’ of the Oslo accords – their entry of the village with Palestinian Authority. According to the mayor, the reality, however, is that PA many times is either not informed or only informed shortly before Israeli forces enter the area.

According to the mayor, Israeli forces enter the village sometimes on a daily basis in order to check people on the street, do night raids and other so-called ‘security measures’. Since the beginning of October, 15 youths have been arrested, many of them sentenced for 6 months and/or forced to pay fines of several thousands shekels.

During the same night, in the village of Kafr Ad-Deak, Salfit, more than hundred Israeli soldiers invaded the village and raided and ransacked 15 houses in the As-Suqqiya area. In addition, they put up posters around the village stating that stone throwing will imply retaliation and punishment. Verbally the soldiers expressed to the villagers, that stone throwing would imply being shot.

Poster put up in Kafr Al-Deak threatening stone throwers (Photo credit: Murad Samara)

Israeli forces terrorizing Palestinian neighbourhood on a daily basis

19th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Monday, 16^th November 2015, Israeli forces raided and searched at least ten houses in the Abu Sneineh neighbourhood in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). Israeli forces entered several homes in the neighbourhood, trapping women, children, and whole families inside. This has been an almost daily occurrence in this neighbourhood.

Israeli forces on their way to raid yet another Palestinian house

A dozen masked Israeli soldiers entererd the house of Arafat Qafashea. On the first floor, they ransacked one room, breaking tiles on the floor. On the second floor, where the wife of Arafat was home alone, soldiers cornered her aggresively, questioning her about the location of her husband, and accusing him of being a Hamas activist – even though she kept telling them that he was at work as a taxi driver.

Israeli forces about to enter another house

Just two houses further up the street, Israeli forces entered another house, searching it – this time without breaking anything. Two internationals were invited into the house by the family but the soldiers would not allow them to join the family. Israeli forces stated that the reason the internationals were not allowed to enter the house was that they would be, ‘taking photos’. After some time, one of the soldiers admitted that a group of soldiers were ‘taking a rest’ next to the family’S home because they had ‘heavy bags.’ According to the residents, Israeli forces have repeatedly taken the house several times for several hours with groups of between a dozen and two dozens soldiers sleeping there – thus turning it into a military base.

Soldier sleeping next to a Palestinian family home

In other parts of the neighbourhood, groups of soldiers were having lunch, blocking the street from anyone walking past.

Israeli forces having a break in the streets

About 30 soldiers were also ‘resting’ in the street close to another Palestinian family home, completely blocking any possible passageway for the Palestinian residents.

Israeli soldiers sleeping on the street blocking the way

With a large number of soldiers in the neighbourhood, fears of further house-raids for families are running high and parents were calling for their children to “go watch TV and don’t be scared – the army is coming”.

Small Palestinian boy sorrounded by Israeli soldiers and machine-guns

Parents, worried about their children, fear that when they go to work the army might enter thire house, scaring their children and possibly wrecking all of their belongings. Furthermore, settlers from the nearby illegal settlements sometimes shoot live ammunition at Palestinian homes in this neighbourhood, breaking windows and endangering everyone inside the house or outside on the streets.