Category: Features - Page 114 - International Solidarity Movement

Eye-witness account of a murder: ‘They didn’t want her alive, they want her dead, they meant to kill her”

16th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On 25^th October 2015, 17-year old Dania Arsheid was gunned down by Israeli forces in front of the Ibrahimi mosque in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) and left to bleed to death. One of the shopkeepers nearby the Ibrahimi mosque witnessed the events leading up to this ruthless murder and agreed to make a statement.

After school finished around 1:20pm on that fateful Sunday, Dania was on her way from the Palestinian souq (market) in the Old City of al-Khalil towards the Ibrahimi mosque. She passed the first revolving gate and the metal detector without any problems – the metal detector did not indicate any metal objects. When passing the second revolving door, soldiers at the nearby checkpoint at the entrance of the mosque called for her to come there. Upon hearing this, the witness, who owns a shop, just meters away from the revolving gate, decided to go through the checkpoint to make sure that the girl was okay.
Dania passed yet another metal detector at the checkpoint at the mosque entrance and put her bag on the table there, as requested by the Israeli forces. They searched her entire bag but they were not able to find anything. Regardless of that, Israeli forces kept asking Dania ‘where is the knife’ over and over again – completely ignoring her answer that ‘there is no knife’. When one of the soldiers suddenly shot a bullet between her feet yelling at her, she raised her hands and moved back down the stairs. Nevertheless, the soldiers continued questioning her aggressively about a knife – even though she had her hands raised and her bag had been searched with no knife found; and Dania repeatedly asserting that she did not have any knife.

After the first shot was fired, more and more soldiers arrived to the checkpoint, so that it was impossible to tell how many of them shot the 6-7 fatal bullets at Dania – a girl who had her hands up in the air, who had been searched extensively and who had at no point posed any threat. Immediately after she was gunned down, Palestinians in the area – including the witness – were forced to move back through the checkpoint into the souq. The soldiers pointed their assault rifles at the witnesses pushing them out of the area and immediately afterwards closed off the checkpoint for anyone to enter and exit for about an hour.

The first ambulance arrived about 15 minutes after Dania was gunned down. “They didn’t want her alive, they want her dead, they meant to kill her”, explains the witness, stating that they could have easily arrested her. At no point after her body was perforated with bullets was any first aid provided, and the shooters left her lying on the ground slowly bleeding to death. Instead of giving first aid, Israeli forces proceeded to block the view so nobody but them would be able to see the 17-year old school-girl bleed to death.

“She came [to the checkpoint] and didn’t do anything – and then she was killed.”

“When soldiers see a camera they come to you like a beast”

16^th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Since the beginning of October Israeli soldier- and settler violence has increased sharply and resulted in even further restrictions on Palestinians’ everyday lives in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). Imad Abu Shamsiyyeh, a volunteer with the Palestinian organization Human Rights Defenders, has been documenting the growing harassment, intimidation and violence by soldiers and illegal settlers alike. Since the extrajudicial execution of Hadil Al-Hashlamoun on 22^nd September, Israeli forces have redoubled their aggressive targeting of anyone trying to monitor and report on Israeli crimes.

In the days since two young Palestinians were ruthlessly gunned down in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood of the H2 area of al-Khalil (Hebron), the already intolerable situation has worsened significantly. As of the 30th October all residents of Tel Rumeida have been forced to register with the Israeli army as they declared this Palestinian neighbourhood – in contrast to the adjacent illegal Israeli settlement – a ‘closed military zone’. Imad Abu Shamsiyyeh and Human Rights Defenders called on residents to refuse to comply with these inhumane and arbitrary new military rules. But with the recent wave of extrajudicial executions and growing violence in Tel Rumeida, fear in the community has been so high that “for our survival there was no option, only to register” articulates Imad. For Palestinians the developments in Tel Rumeida exemplify “a new technique to transfer [Palestinian] families and expand [illegal Israeli] settlements”. Every time Palestinians leave their house, they are subjected to ID-checks, bag- and body searches. For relatives and would-be visitors of Tel Rumeida residents, passage through the checkpoints is denied. Often relatives find a way to sneak into the area where they then are at high risk of being arrested. Imad vividly illustrates that the Israeli forces “gave me the number 36, its just like in prison. They try to make you a number, you’re not a person”. Residents are forced to endure all this, and in addition, despite the legal requirement for law enforcement who would restrict anyones passage to produce a currently valid military order with a map showing clearly what areas are restricted, none of the residents has ever been shown such an order. abeen shown an actual military order.

In addition to these intolerable inhumane conditions that beset the daily lives of Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida, Palestinians and internationals alike are confronted with extreme hardships and violence when documenting the ongoing atrocities by the Israeli army and illegal settlers. Imad explains that before the implementation of these new draconian measures both Palestinians and internationals were filming and documenting the everyday violence around Tel Rumeida, but now soldiers, “when they see the camera they come to you like beasts”. Soldiers have repeatedly damaged cameras and confiscated electronic devices during nightly house raids. Both Palestinian activist groups – like Human Rights Defenders and Youth Against Settlements, as well as international human rights observers have been targeted by the Israeli soldiers and police explicitly for documenting and exposing Israeli crimes. Being an activist, Imad and thus also his entire family are at even greater risk of becoming the direct target of violence.

On Saturday, the 7^thof November large groups of Israeli settlers wandered the streets of this “closed military zone” escorted by Israeli soldiers. Soldiers commonly ‘temporarily’ confiscate Palestinian homes for “military purposes”, during which time they routinely lock up all of the family members in one room. On Saturday, when 70-100 settlers took over the roof of the Shamsiyyeh family home, threw rocks at the property, and deliberately destroyed the familys water pump and pipes, the family was luckily not home at that time. “The most scary is that settlers are more free to walk the area with their guns. It makes us scared for our children”. The danger brought by these illegal settlers roaming unchecked with M16s slung casually about their shoulders and with the endorsement of the military now prevents Palestinian children in this neighbourhood from being able to play outside any longer, and confines them to stay inside the house all day. The same evening, while the Shamsiyyeh family was peacefully sitting in their living room together they were suddenly startled by the sound of three bullets fired at their house. They were forced to hide in their kitchen for an hour, after Imad saw masked soldiers surrounding their house.

Settlers on the roof of the Shamsiyyeh family home Photo credit: Imad Abu Shamsiyyeh — Settlers on the roof of the Shamsiyyeh family home
Photo credit: Imad Abu Shamsiyyeh

Some families have already left the neighbourhood as they see no other option to keep their families safe from the constantly increasing aggression of soldiers and settlers. Settlers face no consequences whatsoever when targeting and abusing Palestinian families and internationals, and in fact if anyone should even think to defend her/himself even verbally against this violence, generally s/he is arrested or shot . Imad clarifies that “sometimes there is no difference between internationals and Palestinians when they come to report”.

Still, Imad insists that it is essential to resist the illegal Israeli occupation and inhumane practices and continue the efforts to report on them. Although the Israeli forces do whatever they can to silence the truth, it becomes increasingly urgent that the world stops turning a blind eye on this ongoing massacre.

Four homes demolished in Israeli collective punishment

14th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Nablus, occupied Palestine

Three storage house with demolished first floor in Al Dahia, Nablus. — Three storage house with demolished first floor in Al Dahia, Nablus

Early Saturday morning, November 14th, four homes belonging to Palestinians accused in the killings of two illegal settlers were demolished. Three of the houses were located in the Nablus area belonging to the families of imprisoned Samir Zahir Kusa, Kerem Lufti Razek and Yahia Haj Hamed.

The house demolitions are a part of a series of punitive measures by the Israeli government with the declared rationale being “prevention” of future attacks. The unlawful collective punishment, however, is breaking international law by meting out vengeance on the entire family, regardless of the fact that they haven’t been found guilty of any crime.

The case of the demolition of Kerem Lufti Razek’s home on the densely populated Al Rawda College Street, Nablus, clearly exemplifies the collective impact of the punitive measure. At 1am on November 14th, Israeli forces entered the neighborhood, forcing the residents to leave their homes, and confiscated their mobile phones to avoid video footage showing the incident. They then put up temporary checkpoints enclosing the area, and at 2:30 am started demolishing the house of Kerem Lufti with explosives.

Not only was the second floor belonging to Kerem Lufti, his parents, two brothers and one sister completely destroyed, leaving only bricks and broken walls, but also the first and third floors of the house were severely damaged and are now unsuitable for living. In the neighboring houses all windows were broken and critical structural elements were extensively damaged by the force of the blast.

Demolished home of Kerem Lutfi Razek in Al Rawada College St, Nablus

Simultaneously, Israeli forces entered the Al Dahia-neighborhood of Nablus where the family of imprisoned Samir Zahir Kusa until tonight was resident. In this case, the first floor housing the wife of Samir and their three children was completely reduced into a dusty pile of rubble and broken walls, while the two upper floors housing the family of a cousin and a brother were seriously damaged as well.

Lower floor of Samir Zahir Kusa's home reduced into rubble and broken walls — Lower floor of Samir Zahir Kusa’s home reduced into rubble and broken walls

Samir Zahir Kusa, Kerem Lufti Razek and Yahia Haj Hamed were detained on October 5th as suspects in the drive-by killing of two settlers from the notorious illegal Yitzhar settlement, Naama and Eitam Henkin, in the Nablus district on October 1st. After the detention of the men, the judge’s decision of demolition was temporarily suspended but was reissued earlier this month. In Silwad village near Ramallah the house of Maad Hamad, who is accused of killing an Israeli settler on June 29th, was the fourth home to be demolished this morning.

A 19-year old resident of Nablus witnessing the house demolition in Al Dahia stated: “If they destroy our homes, we will build a hundred new,” exemplifying that despite having to face brutality, violence, displacement and destruction, the Palestinian spirit of sumud endures.

Neighbouring home at Al Rawda College St. with damaged walls, roofs and windows

Israel is experimenting with dynamite (TNT) to demolish Palestinian homes, instead of the older procedure of using Volvo Excavators. The collatoral damage on neigboring houses was clearly visible. It is an extension of the collective punishment, which is illegal by international law.

Today released video of the Israeli army, promotes the new demolishing procedure to the world.

Demonstrations in Gaza violently met by Israeli Forces

14th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Team | Gaza, occupied Palestine

In Gaza today, November the 13th, protestors all over Gaza aproached the fence that encloses them in a small strip of land. In the Erez border crossing (Beit Hanoun), Nahel Oz (Shijaia), Karni border crossing, and Bureij and Abassan (Khan Younis) confrontations errupted, leaving at least 18 young men injured by Israeli snipers, teargas inhalation, and others by the direct impact of the gas grenades.

On the Israeli side, the number of dead and injured – once again – is zero, neither civilian population nor military personnel were injured. This proves that the protestors doesn’t represent any kind of threat for the Israeli forces.

Throwing_back_teargas — Protestors throwing back tear gas canister

Protestors_with_flag — Youths at demonstration in Gaza

IsraeliForces — Israeli Forces on top the Apartheid Wall

Teargas_in_sunset — Teargas being fired toward protestors

Internationals and Palestinian arrested in Bil’in demonstration

13th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Nablus, occupied Palestine

Update: 15th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Nablus, occupied Palestine

Italian acitivist Antonio Fresta photographed day after been arrested and beaten by the police.

Four human rights defenders arrested in Bil’in on 13th November when peacefully observing a demonstration against the apartheid wall have been let out on bail. All were held at the police station for approximate 10 hours, interrogated, photographed and fingerprinted. Embassies of the activists contacted the police station, providing assistance to detainees. Police was first reluctant to define reasons for the arrests. Main reason presented later was an accusation of the activists being on a “closed military zone”, despite the lack of signs signifying the area as one. In case of some of the detainees the police kept changing the reason presented for the arrest. Police has so far provided no evidence for the accusations.

As the video evidence clearly portraits, the Italian activist Antonio Fresta was repeatedly denied medical assistance by the ambulance personnel during the arrest. The police officers refusing the medics to approach or place Fresta on a stretcher were identified by their first names, Nikolai and Ruslan. Both were in border police uniform and appearing to be of higher rank. Fresta had the sim card of his phone confiscated and later returned by the police. Fresta’s credit card also disappeared from his personal belongins after they were taken by the police.

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Four human rights defenders have been arrested this afternoon at a demonstration against the apartheid wall in Bil’in. Approximately sixty villagers and supporters spread out throughout the valley and the human rights defenders were peacefully monitoring the situation when they were attacked.

Palestinian activist Mohammed Khatib, American Jewish Code Pink activist, a Finnish activist and Italian activist, Antonio Fresta, were arrested. Antonio was assaulted and repeatedly pepper-sprayed from close range in the face. They are presently still detained.

Italian brutally pepper-sprayed and arrested — Italian man brutally pepper-sprayed and arrested

At approximately 1pm two women, an American and a Scandinavian, were walking along the road near to the wall with 3 other people when Israeli Forces advanced and detained both of them. When Mohammad al-Khatib approached the Israeli forces to question why the women were being detained, he was also detained and arrested. The soldiers then shot several rounds of teargas across the valley, and ran after a Chilean and Italian filming nearby.

American woman peacefully participating in the demonstration arrested

According to Australian ISM volunteer Phoebe, who was also present at the scene, “there were just a few men throwing stones at the wall, far away from two jeeps, and far away from those they arrested, and then they seemed to come directly for our friends and arrest the first Palestinian who came near them.

“While moving away from the rain of teargas, the Italian was chased, beaten and pepper-sprayed repeatedly, before being arrested and dragged into a jeep by Israeli forces. Despite the fact that he did not resist arrest nor break any perceivable law in his actions, he was denied medical assistance from the nearby ambulance and has been taken directly into custody. The Chilean activist stated “We were running because they were shooting and I think Antonio fell. They sprayed him right in the eyes again and again. I told them we are not doing anything wrong, but then they kept going.”