Category: Features - Page 132 - International Solidarity Movement

Palestinian lawyers went on hunger strike in solidarity with Mohammed Allan and to protest against administrative detention

20th August 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team |Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Last Tuesday Palestinian lawyers went on a hunger strike. Hatem Shahin, vice-president of the Palestinian Bar Association for lawyers, explains why thirteen of the Association’s members decided to take this radical step: “The main goals are to break the isolation of the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike as well as to send a message to the entire world. Palestinian voices need to be heard”. Therefore the Palestinian lawyers gathered in central Hebron to carry out their action.

IMG_030ff1-min — The lawyers form a human chain around the poster of Mohammed Allan

Whereas the immediate motivation for the strike is the grave situation of Mohammed Allan, it is also a protest against the illegal practice of administrative detention. Administrative detention allows Israel to detain almost exclusively Palestinians without charge or trial for a maximum of six months which can be renewed indefinitely. The alleged high security risk of the concerned prisoner to the Israeli settler-colonial state is emphasized to legitimize the application of administrative detention. This practice “is the most extreme measure that international humanitarian law allows an occupying power to use against residents of occupied territory” as the prisoner support and human rights association Addameer puts it. Under international law administrative detention should only be used “against protected persons in occupied territory for ‘imperative reasons of security’ (Fourth Geneva Convention, Art. 78)”. However, Israel applies this procedure frequently ever since the Nakba of ‘48 which resulted in the construction of the Israeli state. Administrative detention leaves the prisoners and their families and friends in a prolonged state of uncertainty and isolation. “We do not feel respected as human beings because of this treatment”, expresses former administrative detainee Badran Jaber. “We live lonely in front of the occupying power”.

One day after the solidarity hunger strike was started by the Palestinian lawyers, the news is received that Israel’s High Court suspends the detention of Mohammed Allan. His health severely deteriorated which led him to be hospitalised in Barzilai Medical Centre in Ashkelon, southern Israel on Friday the 14th of August. After a medical examination it was found that Mohammed Allan now suffers from brain damage. Given his current medical condition, he does not pose a security threat any more and thus administrative detention is not legitimized according to the court’s ruling. However, it is unclear whether the brain damage is permanent and, should his medical condition improve, whether administrative detention will be re-applied.

Mother and brother of Mohammed Allan embrace after the court's ruling — Mother and brother of Mohammed Allan embrace after the court’s ruling

The news of Mohammed Allan’s release has been met with enthusiasm, relief and a sense of victory by supporters within occupied Palestine and beyond. However, critics also point out that the attainment of freedom through the application of extreme damage to oneself can hardly be called justice. Furthermore, the interest in Mohammed Allan’s struggle should not deviate attention from the 180 Palestinian prisoners who are on hunger strike since the 11th of August 2015. Therefore, because of the uncertainty of a potential re-application of administrative detention should Mohammed Allan’s health improve, the continuing struggle of Palestinians inside Israeli prisons and the ongoing illegal occupation of Palestine, the road to justice is still a long way ahead.

ISM spoke with lawyers, supporters and a former administrative detainee in Hebron. Watch the video below.

Israeli forces demolish homes in Wadi Joz, occupied East Jerusalem

19th August 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | East Jerusalem, Occupied Palestine

Update 22nd August:

The lawyer of the Totah and Totanji families has been in touch with Israeli Authorities, and has found out, that there is no demolition order on the Wadi Joz neighborhood. There has only been given a cleaning order on Wadi Joz, so the wave of home demolitions is illeagal according to Israeli law. The lawyer will now take the case to court, and hopefully there will be no more demolitions in Wadi Joz.

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Wave of home demolition worsens in Wadi Joz

Nureddin Amro sitting on the rubble of his home, which was demolished on March 31st this year (photo credit The Washington Post)

On Wednesday August 19, at 5:30 AM, Israeli occupation forces began demolishing a three-story home of the Totah and Totanji families in the Wadi Joz neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.

“A large number soldiers and policemen are blocking main road in Wadi Joz right now. There is no electricity because they demolished the neighbor’s house and the power network. They kicked the families and people into the street, in the middle of this hot weather, showing no humanity. Stated Nureddin Amro, a resident of the Wadi Joz, “They want to confiscate the entire neighborhood”.

On March 31, 2015 Israeli forces demolished most of Nureddin Amro’s house and that of his brother, Sharif Amro, both of whom are blind and live with their families, including 7 children under 14 years of age and their mother who is 79 years old. There was no demolition order against the houses and no prior notice. Israeli forces barely waited for the family to leave the rooms that were going to be demolished and physically attacked the family. Some property belonging to the Totah family was also destroyed that day. Since then, the Amros and Totahs have lived in constant fear of further demolitions. Other homes in the neighborhood are also slated for demolition.

Today’s demolition comes just after the largest-scale destruction of Palestinian dwellings in nearly three years.

Wadi al-Joz is located directly outside the Old City of Jerusalem in a vulnerable area with three demolitions in the last two-and-one-half weeks. Land near this neighborhood was already annexed by the Israeli authorities to create a national park encompassing an illegal Israeli settlement.

Resources:

Article by Nurredin Amro in Washington post : https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/israel-wrecked-my-home-now-it-wants-my-land/2015/07/31/79808fca-36cf-11e5-9d0f-7865a67390ee_story.html?tid=pm_opinions_pop_b

Background about home demolitions:

House demolitions in International Humanitarian Law (Diakonia) : http://www.diakonia.se/en/IHL/Occupied-Palestinian-Territory/Administration-of-Occupation/House-Demolitions1/?_t_id=1B2M2Y8AsgTpgAmY7PhCfg%3d%3d&_t_q=demolition&_t_tags=language%3aen%2csiteid%3adfed4c1a-bbd8-450f-954a-02cff1abcc09&_t_ip=188.225.141.1&_t_hit.id=Diakonia_Web_Models_Pages_ArticlePage/_892c51bc-720c-4908-8bb4-fa9627473a2d_en&_t_hit.pos=1

East Jerusalem: Key Humanitarian Concerns (UN OCHA, August 2014): http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_jerusalem_factsheet_august2014_english.pdf

Palestinians demonstrate against the sale of the Presbyterian church and new settlements near Beit El Baraka

15 August 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Beit el Baraka, Occupied Palestine

Since two months concerned Palestinians demonstrate against the sale of the Presbyterian church in Beit el Baraka to right-wing activist Aryeh King. Beit el Baraka is a site on the road connecting al-Khalil/Hebron to al-Quds/Jerusalem and near Al Arroub refugee camp. Aryeh King is said to refurbish the church and the surrounding area in order to establish a new illegal settlement.

A Palestinian child protests in front of Israeli soldiers near Beit El Baraka

Today was the 16th demonstration against the sale of the church and the threat of a new settlement. Twice a week they march on the road leading from Beit Ummar to Beit el Baraka and the church. The group of protesters consisted of men, women and children explicitly identifying as Palestinian Christians or Palestinian Muslims. They carried banners and Christian crosses and chanted slogans to defend the right of Palestinians to their own land.

Israeli soldier confront a nonviolent Palestinian protestor near Beit El Baraka

There was an excessive army presence and the many soldiers outnumbered the non-violent protesters by far. As the group marched towards the Presbyterian church their passage was blocked by the army. When they crossed the street in order to continue the demonstration and the march in the fields the army speeded to further block the movement of the demonstrators.

Beit El Baraka residents plan to continue their nonviolent protests in the coming weeks.

No weaponry was used and the peaceful protesters retreated to Beit Ummar and the surrounding villages. They will be back the coming weeks to continue to resist new illegal settlements that enable to annex Palestinian land beyond the internationally recognised borders (the ‘Green Lines’) of Occupied Palestine and ‘48.

Illegal settlers burn infant alive in attack of a Palestinian house in the village of Duma

1st August 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Duma, Occupied Palestine

Hebrew graffiti that was spray painted on the family home. It reads "revenge." — Hebrew graffiti that was spray painted on the family home. It reads “revenge.”

At 2:30 in the morning, on Friday July 31st, a group of settlers came into the village of Duma to set fire to a family’s home with molotov cocktails while the family was sleeping.

According to the village’s mayor, Abu Alam, the villagers woke up suddenly in the middle of the night by the screams of their neighbors. In 15 minutes, the whole house was set on fire with the family inside. Within 3 minutes, both parents and 4 year old, Ahmad, managed to escape running out the street while they were burning in flames.

One of the rooms in the house, completely destroyed by the fire.

The mother’s first reaction was to rush after her 1 and a half year old baby, Ali Dawabsheh, grab him wrapped between his blankets and run out the house with him in her arms. But to her great shock, in the panic and confusion of this terrible act of violence, only once she was out the house she realized that Ali was not her arms.

The neighbors of the village quickly reacted by trying to turn off the flames with hoses and any means possible and ran into the house to try to rescue the baby, but the flames had gone out of control and their child could not be saved.

In the room of baby Ali, with photos of him.

Both parents and their son Ahmad were immediately taken in a villager’s car to the Hospital of Rafidia in the city of Nablus, while the fire truck arrived from the village of Burin 40 minutes later, as well as an ambulance from the village of Akraba. When the firefighters finally entered the house they found the baby had died burned in his cradle.

What used to be the crib of baby Ali, now completely destroyed.

Because of this the mayor is now discussing with the Palestinian Prime Minister, Rami Hamdallah, the need to create a fire station in Duma since the nearest fire station is in the village of Burin, 40 km away.
Duma is a village surrounded by illegal settlements with a very violent history. Abu Alam explained to ISM that there is a well-known group of terrorists coming from settlements who in many occasions have attacked farmers and shepherds. Furthermore they have attacked the village, burned cars, cut down numerous olive trees and have been writing graffiti in Hebrew. He has no doubt that they are behind last night’s arson attack.

This is not a one-time attack on the village and the Palestinians but a recurring result of the settlers’ violence and harassing against the village. It is a continuous attempt from the terrorist settlers to create fear and insecurity among the villagers as well as throughout the whole Palestine. Being attacked in your own house sends the message to the Palestinian villagers, that there is nowhere they can be safe.

It is important to note that whenever Palestinians go to the Israeli authorities to complain on these abuses, the authority gives no answers. This given the fact that all the settlements and surrounding roads are filled with surveillance cameras, which means Israeli authorities are fully aware of all these incidents of violence. Nevertheless, these authorities never prevent nor give a response to these attacks.

houseeeee — Benjamin Netanyahu’s press release, in which he expresses his sympathies with the attacked family, sounds extremely hollow and hypocritical when the Israeli government openly supports the continuous expansion of illegal settlements. It is created in an attempt to make the attack seem like a one-time incident, when in reality it is a result of the continuous occupation of Palestine.

PRESS RELEASE: SUSIYA – New Standards for US Foreign Policy on Israel?

22nd July, 2015 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee | Ramallah, Occupied Palestine

New Standards for US Foreign Policy on Israel?

U.S. State Department Urges Israel to refrain from demolishing Palestinian village, Susiya in the West Bank. Fears a deterioration in standard of policy of indigenous displacement.

In a US State Department press briefing, last week, John Kirby specifically referred to Israel’s intent to demolish over half the indigenous Palestinian village, Susiya, in the West Bank. “We strongly urge the Israeli authorities to refrain from carrying out any demolitions in the village.” Kirby said, warning that “Demolition of this Palestinian village or of parts of it, and evictions of Palestinians from their homes, would be harmful and provocative.”

“Our continuous battle to support the struggle of the people of the village of Susiya has been going on for years accompanied with local and international campaigns under the slogan “Save Susiya from Demolition and Eviction.” Says Yasser Saleh of the Popular Struggle Coordination committee (PSCC), “we invite everybody to stand with us in this campaign either by attending the village of Susiya and to resist the demolition with it’s people, who are under the threat of eviction at any given moment,or by protesting at Israeli embassies in your countries and raising awareness about Susiya and Palestine.”

Susiya, which has been fighting a 20-year legal battle of survival with the state of Israel, is not the only Palestinian village under Israeli military control. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that there are Over 11,000 outstanding demolition orders against Palestinian structures in Area C of the West Bank, which covers over 60 percent of the West Bank. The lives of approximately 300,000 indigenous Palestinians are impacted. These orders target the most impoverished and vulnerable populations, who are also exposed to daily attacks by Israeli settlers and the army itself, with very little possibility of redress.

Signalling new US approach to the facts on the ground, Kirby added that “Such actions have an impact beyond those individuals and families who are evicted” and stated that the US State department is “concerned that the demolition of this village may worsen the atmosphere for a peaceful resolution and would set a damaging standard for displacement and land confiscation particularly given settlement-related activity in the area.”

The European Union foreign ministers have added their voice to the growing concern over Israel’s policy in the occupied West Bank, yesterday, in its latest statement on “The Middle East Peace Process”, stating that “ The EU will continue to closely monitor developments on the ground and their broader implications”, specifically calling for a “halt [to] plans for forced transfer of population and demolition of Palestinian housing and infrastructure in the Susiya and Abu Nwar communities.”

Saleh welcomes the US State Department and EU statements, but maintains that words are not enough and hopes to see action being taken. “The PSCC appreciates the statements made by the US state department and the European Union. We invite them to take concrete steps to put pressure on the occupying regime to prevent applying it’s policies and procedures against the Palestinians in general, and against the eviction and demolition of the village of Susiya in particular.”

For more information:
pscc.media@gmail.com
052- 5339054