Category: Features - Page 14 - International Solidarity Movement

Child Abductions by Israeli Forces in Hebron, 4-11 Dec 2018

15th December 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

7 children were abducted on 3 different days in the Qeitun and Salaymeh neighbourhoods of al Khalil (Hebron) so far in December. ISM activists were present on these 3 occasions and this report contains video footage from all 3 incidents.

Location: Qeitun / Salaymeh neighbourhoods.

The area where these abductions occurred are in the centre of Hebron a short distance to the south to the Ibrahimi Mosque. Here, the two roads to Tareq Ibn Ziad shopping area are blocked by Qeitun Checkpoint and Salaymeh Checkpoint. Qeitun checkpoint is also know as Abu Rish Checkpoint. Salaymeh is also commonly called Checkpoint 160. To make matters confusing there are also other names and Palestinian and Israeli authorities have different numbering systems for them. For simplicities sake I call the checkpoints and the neighbourhoods to the south of them as “Qeitun” and “Salamyeh”

The town roads running south form the checkpoints are in a narrow part of the valley with one block (about 200m) between them. So the area is very small with steep hills ascending on either side.

Abductions:

4 December, 2018

There were two incidents on the 4th December, on the parallel streets leading from the checkpoints of Salaymeh (checkpoint 160) and Qeitun (Abu Rish).

Abductions by Israeli occupation soldiers by Salaymeh checkpoint:

Soldiers had entered the neighbourhood through Salaymeh checkpoint. One group stayed on the street and the other entered behind houses into back gardens from where they moved close to the school.
A small group of boys gathered by the school driveway after school.
International activists were present and observing the situation from within 5 metres.
No stones were thrown by any of the boys.
The soldiers on the street maintained the children’s attention while the other group entered the back of a garage between the school driveway and a neighbouring house.
The soldiers ran from the garage where they are hiding and ambushed the boys who were standing about 3 metres away.
Activists intervened challenging the soldiers about their actions and asking what the boys had done. 1 child managed to escape. but two were abducted and taken to Salayme checkpoint.

[Photos]

Abduction by Israeli occupation soldiers by Qeitun checkpoint:

Concurrent to the abduction at Salaymeh, Israel Border police entered the Qeitun neighbourhood.
They established up a “checkpoint” approximately 200 metres outside the “Alhajryt” Boys School checking IDs and body searching a Palestinian against the fence.
They then moved back towards Salaymeh before pushing down the street to capture someone. The only boy in the vicinity was standing outside the Alhajryt School with one of his teachers.
Again activists were close by when the ambush occurred. The child did nothing to justify his abduction.
The boy’s teacher refused to leave him and they were escorted together to the Qeitun checkpoint.
The following video documents this abduction:

5 December, 2018

Three Abductions at Qeitun

Border Police entered the area outside Quetun checkpoint, clearing the area of traffic.
Two of them took position at the intersection closest to the checkpoint. Once again this seemed to be to hold the children attention.
Another group of Border Police ambushed a group of children form behind in coordination with the first group who ran down the street. The second group seems to have set their ambush by entering through buildings from above the street.
The boys were taken to the Qeitun checkpoint.
The following videos shows the boys being taken away:

11 December, 2018

Abduction at Qeitun

Border police entered the Qeitun neighbourhood through a gate next to al Faihaa School and opposite the “bus checkpoint” by the Ibrahimi Mosque.
They proceeded through the olive trees to a factory building in the centre of the block and hid there for more than 30 minutes until the school children finished school.
After an unsuccessful attempt at emerging onto the street without being spotted near to Qeitun checkpoint they came out onto the cross street between Salaymeh and Qeitun.
They tried an initial sprint to the intersection but there were no children there.
They then wandered aimlessly around but were unable to provoke anyone to throw stones at them.
A man was randomly stopped, taken from his car, ID checked and body searched.
They then returned to the intersection with road from Qeitun checkpoint and managed to provoke a few small stones to be thrown.
The commander then ordered two of the soldiers to sprint down the road in another attempt to capture someone.
The only boy they could find was a 10 year old standing outside a shop holding the hand of his 4 year old brother. They were surrounded by adults.
Activists were on the street on both sides of the shop and witnessed no stones being thrown.
Activists tried to intervene and repeatedly asked for a reason for the boy’s abduction but were ignored as the boy was forcefully taken.
He can be heard calling, “Achi! Achi! [My brother. My brother!] as he is taken away. Leaving his younger brother without a family member.
The Border Police escorted the boy to he police station by the Ibrahimi Mosque via the same route they entered the neighbourhood through the gardens olive groves.
See the following video:

Summary:

All four incidents on these three days, 4th, 5th, and 11th December 2018 have several things in common:

The Israeli Border Police and the Israeli occupation soldiers all acted with the intent of abducting Palestinian school children.
Once they had succeeded they left the area immediately showing that this was their objective from the beginning.
The presence and behaviour of the soldiers and Border Police was provocative and invited an excuse for abduction.
None of the children abducted on these days was throwing stones. Nor was there any significant unrest or stone-throwing on any of these 3 days.
International activists were close at hand on each occasion abductions occurred.
One boy was 14 but the rest were younger.
The children were never accompanied by a parent of family member and no attempt was made to locate one.

Conclusions:

The abduction of innocent children especially in these circumstances is violations of natural justice, humanitarian and international law.
If the intent of these abductions was intended to be one of deterrence then it can only be construed as a form of collective punishment or psychological intimidation in order to subdue any form of resistance to Israeli occupation.
If this was a civil matter the Palestinian authorities would work with the children as in any other country deal with such issues.
The root of the problem is the occupation itself. The systematic oppression of the Palestinian people whom the children are part of is the problem that needs to be addressed.
The abductions yet are another aspect of this systematic oppression that perpetuates itself as long as the occupation continues.
The injustices of these arbitrary abductions only reinforces the resolve of Palestinians to resist the occupation and fuels reactions from the Palestinian youth who endure such things.

The slow genocide of Palestinians continues in Asira Al Qibliya

13th December 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Asira Al Qibliya, Nablus, occupied Palestine

“This is the line,” Oussam Khalifa Ahmad illustrates as he takes us on a tour of his threatened land. “We are now passing into (Area) C.” Depending on where you look, some of the land has already been stolen. We can only observe for a limited amount of time. If we stay too long, we’re told that we will be attacked by the settlers, who’s housing we can see not far above us.

Settlements overlooking Asira Al Qibliya

For Palestinian landowners like Oussam, the Oslo Accords which solidified the cantonization of the West Bank, were a disaster. Tacit support or ambivalence for the Oslo peace process may be found in the urban regions, but not one villager looks kindly on the so-called agreement today. There is nothing surprising about his circumstance. His land is under threat by the Israeli courts, despite him having the proper documents. He also experiences frequent trespassing by nearby settlers who act with impunity. Oussam points up at his olive trees, burned from last Summer, to clarify exactly what that means.

Oussam’s documents proving land ownership

This true story is one in thousands in the West Bank. We could talk about the road the villagers attempted to pave down to the main highway, construction now stalled by the Israeli government.

Construction stalled by Israeli gov’t for Palestinian road

We could illustrate the intimidating settlements overlooking the entire village, only a half a kilometer up the hill. Or, the monthly attacks by armed settlers, the hateful graffiti, destruction of property, bodily injuries to the villagers; Israeli soldiers aiding in all of it, firing on those who would dare protect their neighbors from harm, or their property from damage.

Graffiti in Hebrew on a wall in Asira Al Qibliya

We could talk about the direct theft of this village’s water, a common theme across the aqua-heavy West Bank. The spectacle of Israel’s control of the West Bank’s water is exhibited by allotted tanks, sitting on top of each Palestinian household, or business, throughout the occupied land. Let’s talk about the spring of water that was taken in the latest land-grab, candidly aided by the US government. We are taken to a water tank by Hakima, another villager and local landowner. The water tank is guarded by perimeters made of metal and stone, with a manned watchtower a few meters ahead.

Inside one can see the “USAID” sign. “This project is a gift from the American people to the Palestinian people…”

Last year the US government launched a “$10 million dollar project” to “improve access” to water for Palestinians. However, Hakima tells us that USAID projects such as these have a rather different effect when it comes to “improving access” to water. For example, Asira Al Qibliya received their USAID “gift” four years ago. “There was no (water tank) here four years ago,” she says, “then the USAID brought the water project here for us and built all this. Now the Israelis say they need ‘security area’ for the settlement.” She says that in addition to the US taking many more hectares of land- much of which were her own- to build this reservoir, it has enabled the settlements to expand even more. Hakima recalls that they were much better off when they used their own natural spring, which ran down to the village. Now, due to the spring’s redirection of water for settler use, the well has been dry for five years, which gave them no choice but to rely on the USAID water tower.

Palestinians may hear this question from many international journalists and activists from the outside- “what reason did they give for taking your land? Why did the settlers attack? Was it in response to..? Is there any legal reason they..?” Colonial governments tend to have pretexts for stealing land, or killing native populations, so the “why” turns into a triviality by default.

The name of this village is Asira Al Qibliya. The village is home to internationally infamous settler attacks. The names of the surrounding villages are Burin, Madama, Urif, Ana Bus, and Uara. They all have similar stories, and so do each of the 30,000 residents comprising of those villages.

This situation is nothing new, however one may wonder exactly how many more dunhams Israel can take before there is nothing left. Or, considering the well-documented discriminatory practices of water usage between Palestinians and settlers, how long before massive drought sweeps the Palestinian natives? How many more homes can be destroyed until most of the population is rendered homeless? If it’s hard to imagine a tipping point for the West Bank, one need only to look at Gaza, which the UN and NGOs alike say will be unlivable in about a year. One should not make any mistake, the occupation of the Palestinian territories is genocide.

Insidious colonial strategy

7th December 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Deir Samaan, Salfit, occupied Palestine

In the area of Salfit, harassment by settlers is a regular occurrence. They come to the villages, often late at night, to graffiti messages of hatred, and also vandalize cars and property. New settlements are being established frequently and are rapidly expanding.

Farris is a university teacher living in the village of Kufr al-Dik. He drove us to his land of Deir Samaan, a beautiful olive grove with panoramic views, and a complex of Roman ruins at it’s heart. It’s only a stone’s throw from his village, but we had to drive 15 minutes extra, as the occupation’s gate to the village’s main entrance has been closed for three weeks. This is a common practice of collective punishment inflicted by the army. Farris and the rest of the village were perplexed as to why they were being “punished” just now.

Up until now, it’s still possible to access Farris’ land, but one must pass the brand new constructions of Leshem, and an array of JCBs and cranes. Leshem appeared in 2010, and now hugs the west edge of Deir Saaman. It is the newest of many illegal settlements that now surround him. This year a further 1200 units were added.

“Leshem means Holy Rock in Hebrew. I think they used this name because I have a Roman castle on my land. They used bombs, a lot of bulldozers, and a lot of time to build Leshem. Construction has been constant since 2010 until now, and I suffer for this. There is a lot of dust because of this, so during the olive harvest I cannot collect the olives until the rain comes.”

Alei Zahhav intrusively overlooking the ruins of Farris’ land

Alei Zahhav, a settlement on the East side of Farris’ property, was established in 1983. It has now joined up with Leshem to the North, creating a large crescent of houses that have eaten into his land. “On the other side of the settlement, I have another piece of land with 300 olive trees. Now, because of the new constructions, I cannot come to my land because the road was closed. I need to go around the whole valley, and then more than 3km off road, through the valley, which is very bad for the car. So a lot of time is wasted and I have to get a tractor which is expensive.”

Alei Zahhav pinching the border of Farris’ land

He tells us that another huge impact from the Alei Zahhav settlement is the emptying of its sewage directly into the fields, which runs down the valley into his land. “Aside from being disgusting and affecting the trees, it is attracting many wild boars which are destroying everything I plant.”

In the midst of the interview a Settler nonchalantly strolled through the middle of Farris’ private property. Farris tells us that many of the ornately carved Roman stones have been destroyed by settlers. They often enter, vandalize the ruin, and also swim in his well occasionally.

The crescent has now expanded around to the South side of the property, with a new double fence, only a few weeks old, completely surrounding him. He was recently notified that he’ll soon be locked out from his olive trees and will have to obtain permission from the Israeli military to pass through. Based on previous cases, it’s likely he’ll only get permission for a few days a year to harvest olives.

“I opened a new agricultural road to come to my land because they destroyed the previous one. Now they’ve constructed a fence, which means that I will need a permit to come to my land. I have here 170 olive trees, and I recently planted 200 trees of other kinds. The restrictions mean these will be destroyed.”

“Israel is annexing everything from the green line to the Jordan Valley. That is a big finger which cuts across the middle of the West Bank” he explains.

It’s clear that the settlements are being strategically planned and positioned.

“If you go to the high mountain and look around, to the West you will see Kafr Qasim, that’s the green line. From there the Israelis put settlements as a finger in the middle of the West Bank. All the mountains in that line have settlements on top, and they’re near to each other. If there is an Israeli city in the middle of the west bank there is no state of Palestine.”

The progression of annexation and dividing of the West bank

There are now 24 settlements in the Salfit area and only 18 Palestinian villages. Ariel, at the top of the valley from Farris’ land, with a population of around 20,000 is one of the largest settlements in the West Bank. “They want to make Ariel a city, all the settlements you can see refer to Ariel”.

Just bellow Ariel is a huge Israeli industrial area called Barkan. Palestinians have suffocating restrictions on what they can build. For example, they are prohibited from building industrial facilities. Whereas Israel has managed to flaunt International laws, and even Israeli laws, to establish these massive industrial zones, thus giving Israel evermore control over the region, and the Palestinian natives.

Barkan employs many Palestinians. At a time when unemployment is very high in the West Bank, the Palestinians take the work out of necessity, receiving much lower wages than their Israeli colleagues. Working for your illegal occupier is beyond humiliating, and gives rise to intense frustration. It’s not surprising that this forces people over the edge at times.

For land owners there is not always a choice. The accumulated obstructions and violent interventions take away the capacity to earn a living, forcing younger generations into accepting the low wages at Barkan. Traditional ways of village life are eroded, land is left untended, and therefore open to settler land-grabbing, as per Israeli law, and against international law. The objective is obvious, frustrate the occupants into leaving, or act out so as to be thrown into prison or worse, leaving the land empty.

Sewage and waste from all settlements, and the Barkan industrial complex, is emptied on to the fields of Palestinian farmers. This is causing a big loss of income, there are also significant cancer clusters within the villages of the valley below.

“I hope the Israeli people change their government because their government are terrorists to the Palestinian people. They don’t want peace, they lie all the time saying they do want peace, they lie about everything. They lie just to make the people keep wanting them. If the government wanted peace it would take ten minutes to do, we can start with 1967, but the Israeli government wants to take all of the land.”

After School in Hebron, A Journal – 6 boys detained by Israeli forces in 2 Days

5th December 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine [Updated December 6]

For two days running, Israeli occupation soldiers and Border Police ambushed young children aged 10-14 years after school in Hebron.

Tuesday, 24^thDec. 2 boys were detained at Salaymeh checkpoint after being ambushed by a group of soldiers sneaking around in gardens and through a garage before bursting out behind the boys who were standing in a driveway. The boys were not throwing any the stones but were just randomly grabbed by the soldiers as they ambushed them. ISMers were only meters away and security camera footage confirms that the boys were merely standing in the driveway at the time. Two of the boys were aged 11 and one 10. One can only imagine the terror young boys experience when suddenly kidnapped by soldiers of the occupying army!

A border policeman abducts a young boy from the street after ambushing children near Hebron School. (Photo Christian Peacemaker Teams)

The Israeli Zionist forces are renowned for their cruelty even to minors: imprisoning children as young as 12 through their military courts and prisons system in which there are no rights for Palestinians. The youngest ever Palestinian child prisoner was released just days ago after a three-year prison sentence from 12 to 15 years of age.

The inhumanity of Israel is fully understood by Palestinians growing up under occupation. Collective punishment and psychological cruelty through torture and macabre tactics such as withholding bodies of Palestinians who have been killed or died during imprisonment are universally understood by Palestinians and well documented by international as well as local observers/researchers. …and there is no justice system to protect Palestinians.

Imagine what goes through the mind of a 10-year-old child suddenly grabbed by an armed solder from an occupying army and dragged from his neighbourhood! Fortunately, the boys were released after being detained for more than an hour inside the checkpoint.

Today also (December 5), 3 boys were abducted aged 14, 11 and 9. The boys attend two of the local schools and were kidnapped from the street around 300 metres from Qeitun checkpoint. They were standing in the street talking about 3 metres from an ISM activist when they were ambushed by Israeli Border Police.

The two younger boys were released later today, but the 14-year-old was taken away. According to the headmaster of the Hebron School, Khalil Abu Sunaineh, the older boy could face up to 6 months imprisonment. The military court does not need to give evidence to support any accusation on the grounds that it is “classified information”. There is a 98% conviction rate.

The headmaster showed us pictures on the wall of the school hallway, over 70 pictures taken over the last two years show child arrests, tear gas, concussion grenades both inside the school and on the street outside. They are the tip of the iceberg. He has been at the school for 14 years!

A gallery of soldier invasions of the school, abductions, concussion grenades and tear gas in the school and on the street outside.

He also told us that the soldiers and border police sneak around in the middle of the night mapping the neighbourhood and planning their ambushes. We’d witnessed this ourselves during the day. It was creepy enough in the daytime seeing soldiers just walk around in people’s gardens, exploring every alleyway, entering apartment buildings at will and ascending to the rooftops. It must feel violating to live under these circumstances.

Israeli forces justify their actions because some Palestinian children throw stones at them. To the uninformed this may seem a valid argument on the surface. However, it’s important to remember that the Israelis are the occupiers and have absolutely no rights under international law to defend themselves from the people they occupy. They are the aggressors. They are not civil enforcement officers of the Palestinian community.

This argument also holds no water because usually in any specific situation the Israeli forces are the aggressors who initiate conflict.

Even if we accepted this erroneous argument, the children who were detained on these two days were not throwing stones. To detain, or arrest and imprison them, for what someone else has done at any time at all is unjust and a form of collective punishment.

What justification can there possibly be for concussion grenades, toxic tear gas (228 tear gas rounds and 51 concussion grenades were fired in the Salaymeh / Qeitun neighbourhoods in 15 school days between November 4 and November 27, 2018 (including 34 tear gas rounds in one day!))? [Statistics from Christian Peacemaker Teams] This is on top of the usual intimidation, child abduction and invasion of streets and schools by armed soldiers in residential neighbourhoods!

Examples of tear gas being used in the Saleymeh / Quetun neighbourhoods.

These are children! Such actions are totally unacceptable on minors.

Do such actions promote peace? Do they not actually sustain and deepen the inhumane occupation of the Palestinian people?

Do they not also inspire rejection of the immoral occupation, and provoke further resistance against such oppression?

Fortunately, Palestinians usually choose non-violent resistance rather than violence, leaving Israelis with the moral predicament of enforcing the immoral and illegal occupation and the international community with the shame of their inaction.

Addendum:

These are part of a much larger continual attack on Palestine’s future by targeting children and their education: The following links show the extent of these attacks in just one week of November and other articles by Palestinian and international commentators are given for reference:

The ethnic cleansing of Palestine continues in Fasayil

5th December 2018 | International Solidarity Movement in coordination with Jordan Valley Solidarity, Nablus team | Fasayil al Wusta, Occupied Palestine

The ethnic cleansing of Palestine continues. Dunum by dunum, village by village, house by house, the people of Palestine face a slow, systematic genocide in their homeland. Two houses were demolished in the south of the Jordan Valley, in the village of Fasayil, on Sunday morning. The Israeli government did not issue a warning. The village of 1,300 people has been facing Israeli assaults on their land since the early seventies, with the construction of two settlements on either side, and a huge farmland in front of them, all less than a kilometre away.

But it was in 2010 that the Israelis came and virtually destroyed the entire village of Fasayil al Wusta. The residents have, since then, built the village back up.

Hassan Mohammed Hussein A´Zayed built a house for his son, who suffers from mental disabilities, and is sensitive to hot weather. “That house cost me 15,000 shekels to build, not only because of building materials, but because of the air conditioning (unit),” he said. The house only lasted one year before it was bulldozed on Sunday, the AC unit along with it.

A few metres in front of the newly destroyed house, one can see at least three other piles of rubble that used to be housing units, all belonging to Hassan. This was the seventh time a house of his was demolished. “They keep destroying them. Sometimes with warning, sometimes not. It´s a random policy. There´s no way of knowing what they´re going to do.” Hassan has 8 children.

Aeman Rashaeda, father of four, whose wife teaches at the nearby school, was the next to lose his house, on the same road as Hassan´s. When the Israelis approached him, they told him that it was forbidden to build, and that he was living in a closed military firing zone.

When the complete destruction of the village took place 8 years ago, 10 families immediately fled. This is a village that receives only 1500 litres of water for each household per week; that can never get a permit to farm or build; that cannot dig a well deeper than 150 meters, enforced by Israeli occupation law.

Before the 1967 invasion of the West Bank, this village shared water from a natural spring 4 kilometers up a nearby mountain. It has, since then, been surrounded by 3 Israeli wells – the water now privatised – controlled for settler use. 60 percent of the Jordan Valley has been closed by the Israeli occupation for “military firing and security zone(s)”, but it´s been well known for years to have actually been used for agribusiness. Pick any one feature of the military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, and you will find a policy of theft, of racism, of genocide.