Category: Features

Israeli occupation forces suppress peaceful protest with rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition

20th August 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara-team | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine

Israeli occupation forces suppressed another non-violent demonstration on Friday the 18th of August, in the village Kafr Qaddum, in the occupied West Bank. The weekly demonstrations protest the closure of the main road connecting the village with Nablus, which is the main city in the area.

The blocking of the road was enforced, to “secure” the nearby illegal settlement Kedumim, thus prohibiting Palestinians from using the main road to Nablus. Kedumim illegal settlement is currently being expanded further.

Smoke from burning tires rising at the demonstration

Within the first 30 minutes of the demonstration the Israeli forces were firing both live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets at protestors. This went on for two and a half hours, before the army retreated and the participators of the march went home. Throughout the demonstration the Israeli forces circulated the area with a drone, filming the participants of the protest. Additionally, the soldiers were carrying cameras on their bodies.

Palestinians demonstrating the illegal land theft

Apart from keeping files on individuals supporting the popular resistance, such pictures can serve as ‘evidence’ against Palestinians for the participation in ‘illegal’ demonstration.

While it was not the case this particular Friday, the occupying army has been raiding houses regularly in the early hours on days of demonstrations, taking pictures of all young men in the given homes.

Israeli forces in Palestinian civilians homes

During this Friday’s demonstration however, various homes were raided, as Israeli soldiers made their way unto balconies and rooftops of strategically located houses, to control the protest. This is a common protocol for the Israeli army, and an intrusion the local residents can do nothing about.

Protest against house demolition in al-Walaje

19th August 2017 | International Solidarity Movement | Al-Khalil team, Occupied Hebron

Friday 18th of August, the villagers from al-Walaje, a village near Bethlehem, were peacefully protesting the demolition orders of 22 houses in their village. The residents received the demolition order last month.

Friday protest in al-Walaje against house demolition

The Israeli forces want to demolish the houses in order to expand the construction of the apartheid wall, and build new settlements on the villagers’ land. Farmers from the villages have lost access to their olive fields due to the apartheid wall, and they are forced to apply for permission to access their own land for the olive harvest. In this case they are granted permission for only a few days to harvest their fields.

One of the houses with a demolition order

The residents of al-Walaje have been facing repeated harassment and house demolitions in the previous years. Just last May, two jeeps and 16 soldiers from the Israeli military went into the village at 3 AM, and demolished four houses. The military closed off the entrances to the village, preventing people from entering or leaving. The residents were not given any previous warning, and people were not able to defend themselves or pack their belongings. Residents tried to protect their houses, but faced violence from the soldiers, and several Palestinian men were arrested. The 11th of August, the Israeli military raided the village at night, photographing and video-recording residents, claiming that they were searching for a wanted individual.

Young woman protesting against the demolition orders and the Israeli occupation

Earlier the same week, residents in al-Walaje resisted a house demolition, by peacefully standing in front of the house and refusing to move. The Israeli forces decided to call off the house demolition until further notice. The villagers protest regularly against the Israeli occupation and land grabbing. Usually the peaceful protests are violently dispersed by the Israeli occupation forces.    

 

Children from al-Walaje participating in the Friday protest

 

Israeli army restrict international access to Kafr Qaddum during confrontation

17th August 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus-team | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine

Israeli occupation forces blocked international access to Kafr Qaddum on Saturday, before apparently attacking Palestinian demonstrators for the second time in two days.

Israeli force searching Palestinian cars

The Israeli military set up a road block at the entrance to the village, which has seen weekly demonstrations for several years, searching cars and checking IDs. Internationals who attempted to enter were detained for three hours with their passports confiscated. No reason was given for their detention, other than that the village was ‘dangerous’.

Israeli forces inspecting Palestinian cars

Kafr Qaddum, a small town in the Nablus area, has seen biweekly demonstrations for 6 years, since Israel blocked off their main access to Nablus in order to facilitate settler travel. The roadblock has doubled the length of journeys into Nablus, including for ambulances which are forced to take a 13km detour.

Supporting Fayzeh

15th August 2017 | Supporting Fayzeh | occupied Palestine

Many of you know Fayzeh and Issa Souf from the West bank village of Hares. Fayzeh has been recently diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer. She has been hospitalized for the last month and has began receiving chemotherapy. Issa and Fayzeh’s dedication, generosity and kindness have touched and given hope so many people. Now, their friends who have received so much from them over the years are trying to do all we can to support them through this challenging time. We invite you to send prayers, encouragement, and support through this group. We have also created a fund to support the family with the expected related expenses and to try to support them in whatever way we can in this time. You can send money via paypal by going to https://palsolidarity.org/donate/ and clicking “Support Fayzeh Souf”.

Background: In May 2001, When Fayzeh was pregnant with their first child, Israeli soldiers invaded Hares. Issa went out to bring his brothers children, who were playing outside, indoors. As soon as he stepped out of the house one of the soldiers shot him. Issa fell to the ground. The soldiers surrounded him, kicked him and yelled at him to get up, he tried, but he couldn’t move. The bullet was lodged in Issa’s spine and he remains paralyzed from the waist down.

Most people would not have survived. But with Issa’s emotional and physical strength and Fayzeh’ s devotion and care, Issa not only survived, but he and Fayzeh continue to contribute to their community and to anyone that comes in touch with them. Their home remained an open and supportive center for nonviolent activism. In the last ten years Issa has organised retreats and healing camps for children, adults and teenage female ex-prisoners.

When Fayzeh gave birth to Ward, their first son, Issa was already paraplegic. I remember how tall Issa used to be, but Ward only knows his father in a wheelchair. Issa and fayzeh wanted Ward to not miss anything because of Issa’s injury, so when Ward said he wanted a brother, Fayzeh got insemination treatment and gave birth to twins, a beautiful girl, Heba, and a beautiful boy, Hamudi. After that, when Heba said she wanted a sister, she repeated the treatment and gave birth to another set of beautiful twins, Bissan and Ibrahim. Ward is now 16, Heba and Hamudi 14 and Bissan and Ibrahim are now 7.

A few months ago Fayzeh began complaining of stomach pains. The hospitals in the West Bank do not have the equipment to do the necessary scans so It took another month and a half to get a correct diagnosis. This time, it is Issa that has not left Fayzeh’s side, though it has meant that they have both been away from the children more than they would like. We will do our best to keep you posted on how Fayzeh and the family are doing.

Click here for all the updates

Settler violence continues in occupied al-Khalil

 7th August 2017 | International Solidarity Movement | Al-Khalil team, Occupied Hebron

On the evening of Saturday 5th August, a group of 30 to 50 settlers aged between 15 and 30 years old from the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba entered the Palestinian neighbourhood Wadi al-Hussein from the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba and verbally and physically attacked Palestinians and vandalised the neighbourhood. A member of the Jabari family, a man aged 24 using a mobility scooter, was assaulted and injured by a group of settlers.

Groups of settlers on the main road near Palestinian families
Photo credit: Jabari family

The incident began around 9:30 pm on Saturday 5th August when a group of 30 to 50 settlers arrived on the streets of Wadi al-Hussein and started harassing locals. The settlers attacked a 24-year old disabled Palestinian man living near the Kiryat Arba settlement, pushing him off of his mobility scooter and beating him. The man suffered injuries to his leg from the attack. Even though the situation should have required intervention from the Israeli occupation forces, only the Israeli civil administration arrived at the scene.

According to the family of the Palestinian man, they had heard noises near their home and had run down to the street to see what was going on and to find their family member. The family was not able to locate the 24-year old, because the civil administration had transferred him after he was beaten by the settlers. In the street, the family was both verbally and physically assaulted by the settlers. The aggression continued until 2 AM and no Israeli soldiers were at any time present in the neighbourhood to protect the Palestinians living there.

Cars gather during settler attack in al-Khalil
Photo credit: Jabari family

As a result, the settlers had free access to the lands of the Jabari family and the rest of the Palestinian neighbourhood. During the hostilities, the settlers not only assaulted people physically and verbally, but also threw stones at Palestinian houses and cars. Thus, many Palestinian families were forced to stay inside their houses during this settler attack. No settlers were arrested after the hostilities and they were allowed to walk back freely to the settlement. It is likely that the attack was a response to the violence the day before on 4th August, in the same neighbourhood, in which four Palestinians and a settler girl were injured after a large group of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians with rocks.

The Wadi Al-Hussain neighbourhood lies next to the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba and suffers from frequent settler violence, daily harassment as well as restrictions imposed on the community by Israel. The Jabari family won a court case last month against the claims from the municipality of Kiryat Arba to pay “Arnona” taxes of 160,000 NIS on the basis that they live within the borders of Israel. Kiryat Arba municipality sent the bill to the family based on the claim that they lived within the administrative borders of the settlement. The Israeli court ruled on 27th of July that the “Arnona” claims were illegal and ought to be canceled. However, the family still struggles to protect their land against settlers, including against the illegally constructed outdoor synagogue named “Hazoun David” that was built on the Jabari family’s land. The settlers walk up to this synagogue twice a day and occupy the area, especially on Saturdays when they celebrate the Sabbath. The Jabari family is only one out of many Palestinian families living under these circumstances in occupied Palestine.