Category: Features - Page 34 - International Solidarity Movement

Israeli forces attack peaceful demonstration in Bethlehem [VIDEO]

23rd July 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Bethlehem, occupied Palestine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vztesR-sh08

Israeli forces attacked a peaceful demonstration in Bethlehem this Wednesday, using tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets on the crowd of around 200 Palestinians. The demonstrators were protesting the new access restrictions introduced by Israel at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque. Palestinian leaders had called for a ‘day of rage’ in response to the changes.

Demonstrators marched down Hebron Road towards Rachel’s Tomb, chanting and holding signs. When the group reached the checkpoint gates, they were immediately attacked with tear gas and sound bombs. While most demonstrators subsequently fell back, Palestinian youths responded by throwing stones at the Israeli soldiers and police, who in turn responded with rubber-coated steel bullets and more tear gas.

There were several arrests as Israeli forces harassed Palestinian activists and journalists near the checkpoint. A busload of tourists arrived at a nearby hotel during the clash, and were hit by a volley of tear gas. Israeli forces twice used a Venom launcher attached to the top of an armoured vehicle to fire tear gas into the crowd.

A group of demonstrators held two prayers in the middle of the road, close to the checkpoint, despite Israeli police firing tear gas at other protesters. These prayers were performed as an act of solidarity with worshippers in Jerusalem, who cannot pray at Al-Aqsa mosque due to the new restrictions introduced by Israel this week.

As well as harassing journalists and activists, Israeli occupation forces checked the IDs of random demonstrators and illegally demanded to photograph journalists’ passports.

Farmers protest damaging movement restrictions

19th July 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Deir al-Ghusun, occupied Palestine

Around 150 farmers in Deir al-Ghusun held a protest last Sunday against Israel’s travel restrictions, which were preventing them from accessing their fields.

Farmers protest movement restrictions in the West Bank

The apartheid wall runs near the town, meaning that farmers require travel permits from the Israeli army in order to travel the short distance from their homes to their fields. The Israeli army have been refusing to renew permits for the farmers for three months now. If this continues, the locals estimate that within two months no one will have a permit. One farmer at the demonstration used to have 14 permits for him and his workers, but now has just one. This means that he is forced to work the land by himself, a difficult task for a man of his age.

Two soldiers guarded the gate as members of the press interviewed the farmers. Israeli activists held signs reading ‘Agriculture is our livelihood, we want our permits back!’, and tried to engage with the soldiers.

Israeli activists protest movement restrictions of farmers in the West Bank

After around two hours, the local military commander arrived in a large Jeep with several escorts, and talked to several demonstrators through the gate. Eventually, five farmers with permits were allowed through. When they returned, the demonstrators dispersed.

Local military commander arrives to speak with demonstrators

Shortly after, in a meeting at the local municipality building, the mayor explained to activists and residents what the outcome of negotiations had been. He said that soldiers had promised to begin renewing applications within the next week, but that all 1,800 applications made in this municipality had to be re-submitted, with farmers paying the necessary administrative costs. Those present expressed skepticism at this promise, and agreed that demonstrations would continue if the promise was broken.

Activists and residents discuss the outcome of negotiations with the local mayor

The effect of the wall on the local economy has been devastating. Where it used to take two minutes for a farmer to reach his land, it now takes thirty – if he manages to acquire a permit. One farmer at the demonstration has olive trees only 40 meters from his home, but it takes him four hours to reach as he must travel by foot, with his olives, through a checkpoint.

While agriculture permits are free, farmers do have to pay administrative costs. Large areas of farmland are now barren a result of the time, money and permission required to reach them. Across the West Bank, in areas of land adjacent to illegal settlements, Israel has refused to grant permits whatsoever due to undisclosed “security issues”.

Soldier locks the gate on the fence separating farmers from their land

The situation in Deir al-Ghusun is mirrored in towns and villages throughout the West Bank, with thousands of farmers affected. The requirement for Palestinian farmers to obtain permits to travel to land located just meters from the wall is despite the fact that the wall is built two kilometers inside Israeli-recognized Palestinian territory.

Explosions and arrest in Old City of occupied al-Khalil

18th July 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Israeli soldiers have arrested 19 year old Ahmed Fayez in Hebron’s Old City. The teenager was working with friends when soldiers approached the group, demanding to see their IDs. When Fayez showed his, he was arrested and taken towards Beit Romano military base. He was not seen being taken into the base itself, but rather was taken to Shuhada street, where he was last seen.

The majority of Shuhada Street is ethnically cleansed of Palestinian presence and only accessible for settlers living in the illegal settlements in the heart of Hebron’s old city and international tourists. The once thriving Palestinian market connecting south and north of the city is now only “accessible” for Palestinians if they are arrested and brought to the military base there.

Immediately prior to the arrest, soldiers, border police and civil authorities had been conducting small detonations in a parking lot nearby. The purpose of these was unclear.

8th Kite Festival in Burin

18th July 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Burin, occupied Nablus

At the beginning of July the local committee of Burin invited to the town`s 8th Kite Festival of the City. The festival is kind of a tradition for this town, but has not taken place for the last three years, because the main organiser and head of the Burin Youth Committee, Target Organisation for Rural Development, Ghassan Najar was in prison, having been arrested for hosting the last Kite Festival in 2014.

Burin is a small village west of Nablus with 2,000 inhabitants.

Around 400 people participated in the festival, which saw the community organise food, water and music for the attendees, who gathered on a hill in the north of the village. Families from Burin, children form the Jordan Valley and also kids from the Balata refugee camp in Nablus were able to come together to spend a sunny day in the hills and to compete to see whose kite flew highest. The children brought colourful, handmade kites, the men danced and the women handed out delicious homemade treats. The atmosphere was full of peace and joy.

Every child got a medal as memento for this great day after the competition was over.

Some children proudly showing their medals

The main organiser, Ghassan, has been head of the Target Organisation for Rural Development for several years. This Committee is heavily targeted by the Israeli forces: 25 of the 40 members were once detained up to three years without a charge, laptops were stolen, their belongings were broken and relatives of the members threatened.

Military raids are common in Burin, as it is located directly next to the illegal Ariel settlement and surrounded by illegal military and settler outposts. Settlers are constantly threatening the farmers of the village when they go out to work on their land. A huge part of the land is not even accessible for the farmers, as entering the property which is close to the settlement is simply to dangerous. Settler violence is one of the major problems of the community: burned olive trees, stolen olives and harassment are part and parcel of the olive harvest season.

Violent clashes continue in Kafr Qaddum

15th July 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

A demonstration by locals in Kafr Qaddum once again turned violent on Friday as Israeli soldiers and border police showed up to block the march’s path. Around 150 Palestinians were attempting to march towards an illegal Israeli roadblock which cuts off the town from Nablus.

Israeli forces block path of peaceful demonstration in Kafr Qaddum

Palestinian children and teenagers responded by throwing rocks at the soldiers, who responded in turn with a volley of rubber-coated steel bullets.

Many local children were present at the clash, which saw extensive use of rubber-coated steel bullets

Locals attempted to block the soldiers’ line of fire by burning tires next to the road, and building a stone barricade. Shortly after, a skunk truck – a foul smelling chemically treated water used to spray on Palestinians- arrived but was not used. Soldiers used a commercially-available drone throughout the clash, surveying the situation and possibly taking photos of participants.

Local teenager hurls stone towards Israeli jeeps

Israeli border police, who had been waiting on a hill overlooking the demonstration, began to move downwards to confront the youths. When stones were thrown at them, they responded with more rubber-coated steel bullets, which narrowly avoided hitting the young children who were present.

Palestinian youths confront border police

Soldiers then attempted to disperse the march by firing a volley of teargas, but the wind blew it back towards them and away from the demonstrators. Realizing that teargas would be ineffective, soldiers and border police began firing their guns even more indiscriminately, from behind a protective barrier. Border police reinforced soldiers who had been observing from the hilltop, and began to fire at teenagers and children who were taunting them from the foot of the hill.

Border police fire at children and teenagers from behind a concrete barrier and wire fence

Border police fire on demonstrators from the top of a nearby hill

The town, located between Nablus and Qalqilya in the northern West Bank, has seen weekly clashes since 2003, when Israeli forces permanently blocked off the main road to Nablus. The introduction of this road block made a 1.5 kilometer journey to the neighboring village into a 15 kilometer journey, and a trip to Nablus 40 minutes instead of 15. Despite an Israeli court ruling in 2010 that the road block was illegal, it has still not been removed.