Protesters shot in clashes at Ofer

5th June 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al Khalil Team | Al Khalil, Occupied Palestine

On the 5th of May, clashes between Israeli occupation forces and young Palestinians, took place in the Palestinian village, Ofer, located just south of Ramallah. Between 3:30 pm. and 8 pm. the area bordering up to the incarceration facility, Ofer Penitentiary was heavily tear gassed by the Israeli military and border police.

Protesters running from tear gas
Protesters running from tear gas

This area constitutes the arena of weekly protests, by Palestinians against the imprisonment of minors.

Ofer Penitentiary has at several occasions been the center of attention due to the extraordinary amount of under age-prisoners, they hold. Further more human rights organizations has accused the place of violating the Rights of the Child and the UN Standard Minimum Rules.

Prison in Ofer
Ofer Penitentiary

The Israeli occupation forces unloaded hundreds of tear gas canisters throughout the day as well as rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition. One Palestinian got shot in the leg with live ammo. Two others were injured, as occupation forces hit them with tear gas canisters.

Gas masked protester
Gas masked protester

The first one fell, with an open wound in his stomach, and the soldiers fired another round of teargas at the spot, making it difficult and dangerous for medics to reach the young man. With the help of protesters however, the man was dragged out of the fog of cs-gas and brought to the nearest hospital before he suffocated.

Medic monitoring the protest
Medic monitoring the protest

Jerusalem Day: Palestinians met with extreme violence

On Sunday 17th May 2015, I witnessed some of the most violent and painfully blatant acts of Apartheid since my time in Palestine. I went to Al Quds for the annual ´Jerusalem Day´, to document the racist chants, commonly known to occur. ‘Jerusalem Day’, or ‘Yom  Yerushalayim’ is a zionist celebration of the 6 day war in ’67, when Israel claims to have reuinited Jerusalem. Having ethnically cleansed West Jerusalem in 1948, Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since ’67, which had previously been under Jordanian control. The day consists of thousands of hard line Israelis, many of them young men, marching with flags through the muslim quarter of the old city, chanting racist and abusive slogans such as ‘Death to the Arabs’, and forcing shops to close their doors for the day.

Naively, I expected a relatively uneventful day, videoing marchers as they passed through the street. In reality, the day consisted of an abusive demonstration of the Zionist apartheid state and the ethnic cleansing upon which it is founded.

We arrived at Damascus gate just after 2pm to a crowd of young Israelis waving Israeli flags and, closely watched by soldiers, a small group of Palestinians and internationals waving Palestinian flags. All seemed tense. Throughout the city were swarms of zionists, dancing, chanting and celebrating their deemed ‘ownership’ of this city. Their loud chants through the Old City and choice to gather at Damascus Gate (The entrance to the muslim quarter), was a nod towards the provocative nature that this day would inevitably take.

Over the course of an hour, I witnessed a number of arrests. Although all separate to each other, they all had a common thread; they were all arrests of Palestinian men, and all included acts of violence shocking even within the context of the abusive occupation. I saw the first of these arrests only once the man’s head was locked in the arms of two soldiers. I burrowed under the arms of the soldiers and pulled the man away, a group of us successfully dearresting him. As he ran, the soldiers grabbed him again, holding his arms behind his back and squeezing at his chest. The man collapsed. His body fell to the ground between the soldiers, and as people rushed forward to perform CPR, the soldiers pushed them back, not allowing them to reach him. Eventually the man was carried away to hospital. We heard no news as to how he was later in the day.

Pushed against some close by metal railings, another man was grabbed by around 6 soldiers and thrown to the ground, before being stamped on and kicked as he lay there handcuffed. Just below the same railings, an Israeli soldier throttled another Palestinian man. Whilst his two hands were round the mans neck, other soldiers swarmed in and pushed him to the ground, hitting him in the face. He too was taken off by paramedics. An older man who looked in his sixties, whose arrest I didn’t see, was carried by his four limbs through the crowd by police.

These arrests were all at the entrance to Damascus Gate, watched over by a group of Zionists who were left to stay in the area. The agenda of the police and military at the scene, was to clear the area and road leading to it of any Palestinians. All Palestinians were moved to a side street, by police on horses charging through the crowds. Palestinians were pushed shoved and pulled away from the gate, many of whom had shopping bags and were with their children.

One elderly man passing through was thrown forwards onto his face by two soldiers. I next saw him as his bloody mouth was tended to by paramedics. Another was grabbed by a number of soldiers, and thrown with such force onto his back, he traveled a meter or so passed me before landing. A Palestinian man who attempted to stop a young zionist from pulling a scarf from a Palestinian woman, was pushed down the steps by two soldiers, as the zionist boy and his friends watched on. The woman, reclaimed her scarf and sat on the spot holding a Palestinian scarf in one hand, gesturing the peace sign with the other.

At around 7pm, what looked like tens of thousands of Zionists marched to Damascus Gate and on through the muslim quarter of the Old City. Largely consisting of young men, they chanted in Hebrew, directed at any Palestinian watching from the side. An older man next to me held a Palestinian flag, as the Zionists threw broken sticks from their flags at him. Later, standing among a small group of press at the side of the square, I found myself on the receiving end of sticks, as the crowd took any opportunity to attack onlookers. Press were hit with sticks, and dragged by police away from the gate. One police officer rugby tackled me from behind, as sticks were thrown from overhead. The crowd hurled abuse, as the soldiers watched on, many laughing along to the chants. As a Palestinian man nearby shouted back to the crowd, he was abruptly arrested and pulled away by soldiers.

 

The scenes witnessed at Damascus Gate on Sunday were not however the full extent of the day. A family we later visited whose house has just been demolished in East Jerusalem, had their area surrounded by Israeli flags, with people chanting ‘Death to the Arabs’ outside their window. Their 8 children, who were too afraid to leave the house, are daily witnesses to hatred inflicted towards themselves and their families.

Jerusalem Day to me was Zionism personified; the racist apartheid state that Israel is unashamed of.   There were violent attacks on Palestinians by soldiers, police, and Zionist marchers alike. The soldiers and police supported Zionist youth as they hurled verbal abuse at passers by. Palestinian shops were forced to close as Zionists banged on their front shutters. Palestinians were made to move from the Muslim quarter to watch from afar as Zionists chanted hatred towards them – inciting ethnic cleansing and death to the Arabs.

This day was not one of watching on the sidelines as a group marched through the street – this day was a new awakening for me as to the systematic violence the Israeli state relies on. The city was turned into a playground for the new generation of right wing Zionists, as they were taught the abuse that’s accepted against all those not waving the same flag.

Recollection and memory, Al-Nakba continues

15th May 2015 | Karam (Muhannad) | Ofer military prison, Occupied Palestine

The following post is written by the medic that was present on the scene on May 15th 2014, during the killing of Mohammad Odeh and Nadeem Nuwwarah as protesters commemorated al-Nakba near Ofer Military Prison.

During Nakba day commemoration, Birzeit’s student council were trying to gather students to go to Ofer, but it seemed that no one was interested. I decided to go by myself, so I gathered some friends and went to Ramallah and then to Ofer.

En route to Ofer, I received a call saying “a kid got shot with live [ammunition]..it’s bad.” I then asked the driver to hurry. We arrived to Ofer and there were many people. Three Israeli soldiers were standing up the hill 120 meters away with the rest of them standing 500 meters away in the field across. There was teargas and rubber bullets, which was normal. Nothing I’m not used to.

Two kids were going back and forth throwing stones at the three soldiers, even though they kept missing the soldiers they continued to try because they are kids. I went down to open my bag and I looked back to see if it’s safe and I could see the two kids coming back.

I can still remember the two kids, and two flags. One green and the other black, one was for Hamas and the other was the Nakba flag.

Medic pressing against Mohammad Odeh’s chest after he was shot with live ammunition. May 15th, 2014 - photo by AP
Medic pressing against Mohammad Odeh’s chest after he was shot with live ammunition. May 15th, 2014 – photo by AP

I searched inside my bag to find something that to this day I can’t remember what it was I was looking for. Suddenly I heard a shot. One shot and it was live ammunition. I jumped to the left and went down even though I know it was live and live travels faster than the sound it projects. But it was the natural accustomed reaction. Two seconds is all the time it takes for the sound to disappear. I look to my left and he was falling. Mohammad was falling to the ground. I ran to him as he was two meters away.

I was able to reach him before he hit the ground. I looked at him, checking his body. I saw a hole in his chest and I put my hand on it to apply pressure and stop the bleeding, basic first aid training.

He held my hand and looked at me trying to say something but he didn’t have the time. I screamed for an ambulance and asked for help. Two people came to help me carry him. The ambulance was 10 meters away, the man next to me was saying “Mohammad stay with us.” That’s how I knew his name.

We put him in the ambulance and returned to where we were.

I began to tell myself he is alive and he was shot in the lung and fainted, that’s why there was no blood only a hole. Only one spot of blood was on my hand. I tried to convince myself that he is alive. He is alive.

I knew though. I knew something was wrong. I became a ghost walking in Ofer back and forth towards the soldiers. News started to arrive about two martyrs. Nadeem and Mohammad. I started asking about Mohammad Abu Al Dhaher and the other Mohammad who was shot before I arrived. I started calling my friends at the hospital asking them to confirm the name.

Mohammad Odeh being carried to a nearby ambulance. Ofer military prison, May 15th, 2014 - photo by AP
Mohammad Odeh being carried to a nearby ambulance. Ofer military prison, May 15th, 2014 – photo by AP

Twenty minutes later, my friend who worked at the hospital called and said “it was Mohamad Abu al Dhaher. The last one you put in the ambulance.”

I stayed in Ofer. I didn’t know what to do, I wrote their names on the wall and stayed there, but I wasn’t really there. I was a ghost.

Two hours later I went to the hospital, I’m not even sure if it was two hours later. I had lost track of time at that pont. I couldn’t feel it anymore. It’s as though the whole world had stopped at that moment. I arrived to the hospital and entered inside. There were tons of people gathering. Friends, journalists..but I couldn’t look at any of them.

Afterwards, a group of protesters had marched to the hospital coming from Ramallah after they closed down the shops in honor of the martyrs. I stood in the middle of the street as they all passed by me. I didn’t know where to go, or what to do. Journalists that were asking for interviews were saying “we heard you were the last one next to the martyr.” I went away. I couldn’t say anything. I tried to find a place where I can’t see anyone, so I went behind a car and stopped for a few minutes trying to understand but I couldn’t. Everything began to flash but I couldn’t remember. I began to breathe fast and wasn’t able to move my face. People gathered around me in attempt to take me inside the hospital but I resisted and began to call out the name of a friend that can take me out. Someone knew her and after a while she arrived and tried to take me inside the hospital. I asked her to take me out of there and she did.

That’s when my trip began.

I still remember his masked face, I never remembered his face because I only saw his face on posters, a week later.

3 minutes. 3 minutes is the time we had. They always told us that our job as medics is to keep the patient alive until the ambulance arrives. But this time, even 3 minutes weren’t enough.

It has been a year now but it still feels like yesterday. Everyone has forgotten and it’s only his family that is living in torment. Today I realize that he is gone and nothing that we could have done would have stopped it. Nothing.

The only thing that we should do is keep fighting for them and for ourselves, until we find justice. Until every soldier is held accountable for their crimes.

The dead are gone…and the living are hungry.

By Karam (Muhannad)

Action alert: Susiya village at high risk of demolition

11th May 2015 | Operation Dove | At Tuwani, South Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine

POPULAR STRUGGLE COORDINATION COMMITTEE
AND
 POPULAR STRUGGLE COMMITTEE OF SOUTH HEBRON HILLS
CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE
IN SUSIYA VILLAGE

Susiya village, South Hebron Hills
Susiya village, South Hebron Hills

Where: Susiya Village, South Hebron Hills

When: From now, permanently

What: Popular Struggle Coordination Committee and Popular Struggle committee of South Hebron Hills has just opened the “Solidarity tent” and invites you all to bring your solidarity and your support in order to save Susiya village from the eviction plan. Internationals are also invited to document and to spread the information about the situation in Susiya.

Why: In 1986 the village of Susiya was declared archeological site, its land expropriated and inhabitants were evicted and forced to move in their nearby agricultural land where on 2012, Israel’s Civil Administration distributed demolition orders to over 50 temporary structures. In 2014 the residents of Susiya, represented by Rabbis for Human Rights, sued for a request to freeze the demolition order’s implementation. In 2015, on May 5, the Israeli High Court rejected that request, allowing the demolition of the village.

Now the threat to be evicted and deported again, becomes more imminent for the inhabitants of Susiya.
Please come to participate at the initiative.

Contact: 059 9330164, Hafez al-Hreini
Contact: 054 992 5773, Operation Dove

Read more about the background and the current situation in Susiya here.

UPDATE: Shepherds in Salem

7th May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwarra Team | Salem, Occupied Palestine

Update 14th May:

The wheat is not ready for harvest yet. The call for people to help the shepherds and farmers on their land is postponed until next Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd. Please come in numbers as the Israeli forces are making it harder and harder for them to live of their land.

*******

The farmers and shepherds of Salem, near Nablus, are asking for you help. They are being beaten, humiliated and pushed off their land. They are asking you to join them on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th to help them save their harvest.

Mahfouda - shepherd from Salem who's worked her land for 40 years
Mahfouda – shepherd from Salem who’s worked her land for 40 years

In the village of Salem, near Nablus, the wheat is ready for harvesting. Once the crop has been collected, the sheep and goats will graze on the leftovers in the field and the shepherds will then milk them in order to make cheese and butter. The animal’s droppings are dispersed on the land; a perfect cycle is created.

However, Israeli occupation forces have forbidden the farmers from harvesting the wheat and forbidden the shepherds from crossing the road that cuts through their land, dividing it in two. See report written by the International Women’s Peace Service here.

Shepherd from Salem
Shepherd from Salem

Harassment happens on a daily basis and many of the shepherds can recount life-threatening stories. This is the case with Rabih, for instance.  Only five days ago, as he was taking his sheep out to graze and was accompanied by his young nephew who was going out into the fields to work for the first time in his life; Israeli soldiers arrived. They pointed their guns to his brother’s head, threw his nephew to the ground and attacked Rabih with the butt of an M16 rifle.  They ordered Rabah to take his clothes off. When Rabih refused they beat him and took him away blindfolded and handcuffed and threw him out hours later in the middle of the countryside. “I am getting used to being humiliated”.

Rabih and his mother from Salem
Rabih and his mother from Salem

Shepherds and farmers are asking for a large number of people to accompany them on Friday 15th and Saturday 16th May. From early in the morning, they will attempt to work a part of their land to the east of Salem that the occupation forces are preventing them from using. A call out will be made on the mosque’s megaphone to gather as many people from the village as possible.

These dates are coordinated with the 67th anniversary of Naqba day, when the ethnic cleansing of Palestine started. in 2014, 67% of Palestinians were registered as refugees or Internally Displaced Persons, according to UNWRA. Until today, they have not been allowed to return to their homes. Those who have been ‘lucky enough’ to not be pushed out are living either as third class citizen within the now called state of Israel, or under military occupation inside the West Bank and Gaza. Many Palestinians live from their land and it is part of the whole zionist expansion plan to grab more and more of it by whatever means possible.

Come and work with the farmers and shepherds of Salem, along with many others from the village, to help repossess their stolen land. Extra presence throughout the whole harvest season is also being called for as the attacks and threats are ongoing.

For more information, you can get in touch with ISM: palreports@gmail.com