Category: Features - Page 98 - International Solidarity Movement

TAKE ACTION to end the closed military zone in Hebron

19th January 2016 | Action Alert

12470005_10208237102503766_898742008_o — Updated map of the closed military zone – photo by Youth Against Settlements

ISM is currently working to expand the campaign to put pressure on Israeli authorities to heed the demands set forth in the Action Alert, which over 35 organizations have now signed calling for an end to the closed military zone in Tel Rumeida, Hebron and for Israeli authorities to abide by international law and the dictates of human rights in the city. Palestinian residents in Tel Rumeida have now been living under a closed military zone for over two months. Palestinians have been forced to register in order to be allowed into their homes; all others, including Palestinian family members, human rights defenders and members of the media are barred from the area by Israeli forces, even as settlers from the adjacent illegal Israeli settlement can walk the neighborhood unimpeded. Since January 17th local Palestinian activists and residents of Tel Rumeida have been nonviolently protesting outside Shuhada checkpoint, calling for an end to the closed military zone.

protest tent wm — Palestinians and international supporters gather every day outside Shuhada checkpoint

We call on all those who believe in human rights, justice and freedom for the Palestinian people to please help in whatever ways you can. Together, we are stronger! We will continue to post updates on the campaign, any new developments in the situation and more actions you can take. Please also let us know if you have any other ideas for actions to help raise awareness and put pressure on the Israeli government to end the closed military zone.

gathered, waiting (w boys) wm — Palestinians gather outside the recently renovated Shuhada checkpoint, waiting for Israeli forces to determine whether they are permitted to enter Tel Rumeida

There are many ways you can take action now:

Join our Thunderclap campaign and share it with your contacts via Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other social media platforms
Call on organizations you work with or are affiliated with to add their names to the Action Alert, and to issue brief statements detailing why the organization is supporting this campaign and why you find it important. Please send all requests to sign and statements to palreports@gmail.com for publication. Please also contact us for versions of the Action Alert in languages other than English and Arabic – we currently have translations available in German, French, and Dutch, and will update this page as more become available.
Organize an event, such as a demonstration, presentation or other campaign to raise awareness on the situation in Hebron and mobilize support in your area
Contact media outlets in your country and call on them to report on the situation of the closed military zone, in Hebron and Palestine in general
Join our second Twitterstorm and social media action day on the 1st of March. and tweet with the hashtag #EndHebronMilitaryZone. This google document includes a list of sample tweets to use during the Twitterstorm, which we will continue to update. Please DO NOT use these tweets or tweet with the hashtag #EndHebronMilitaryZone before the time of the Twitterstorm!
Write a message to your elected representatives (MEPs, members of congress or whichever position is the equivalent in your country) using the sample text included below, and encourage your friends and contacts to the same
If you are based in Europe, call on your EU representatives to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement until Israel complies with international law
Organize a delegation to visit Hebron, see the situation for yourselves and talk to Palestinians about the restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation. Seeing the conditions in Hebron with your own eyes offers an understanding of the occupation that one cannot get from reading about it. If you want to organize a delegation you can contact the ISM in Hebron at palreportskhalil2012@gmail.com and we will help you and answer any questions you might have.

Thank you for all your support!

tel rumeida wm — Young Palestinian man body searched by Israeli forces in Tel Rumeida

Sample text for message to representatives:

Since the 1st of November 2015, the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron, Palestine, has been declared a “closed military zone.” The zone was specifically designed to include Palestinian neighborhoods while excluding adjacent illegal Israeli settlements. Palestinian residents were forced to register with the Israeli military or else risk being barred from their own homes, while Israeli settlers are free to roam the streets without being stopped. Any Palestinians not registered as residents, international human rights defenders and media are all barred from the area. These restrictions of movement constitute collective punishment, considered illegal under international law.

In the city of Hebron, Palestinian and international human rights defenders are constantly targeted by Israeli forces and settlers from the illegal settlements inside the city for their efforts to document the situation. Meanwhile since the beginning of October over 160 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers, many in incidents Amnesty International has said may amount to unlawful, extrajudicial executions.

As Abed Salaymeh, a Tel Rumeida resident directly impacted by the closed military zone explained, “soldiers and settlers are making life for the Palestinians intolerable to force them to leave their houses voluntarily. This is a crime under international law. They are targeting activists to silence the truth and stop the truth from reaching the whole world.”

We [or I] call on you to act now for the immediate ending of the closed military zone and the restriction of movements imposed on Palestinians in Hebron. It is time for the international community to take action and call on the Israeli government to comply with international law and especially with the Geneva Conventions in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

Ongoing sit-in protest at Shuhada Street checkpoint in Occupied Hebron

18th January 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | al-Khalil, occupied Palestine

Today marks day 12 of an ongoing sit-in protest at check point 56 at the entrance to Shuhada Street and the Israeli occupied part of the city. The peaceful protest began on 7th January when a local woman, Wafa’ Sharabati, 38, was arrested at the checkpoint due to a discrepancy with her ID while trying to pass. During the arrest she was harassed by Israeli forces who claimed that she was a ‘troublemaker’ and threatened to put a knife in her bag.

12509841_10153541510569145_6326203974295153941_n — Israeli forces detaining Wafa’ Sharabati

The family, joined by other locals and activists, staged a sit in afterwards protesting the arbitrary arrest and harassment as well as the increased difficulty passing the newly renovated checkpoint and the closed military zone. The checkpoint leads into the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood which Israeli authorities declared a closed military zone on November 1, 2015. The closure forced all residents to register and be assigned numbers in order to pass to their homes, and to add to the restrictions, no visitors of any kind, family, friends, media or human rights defenders have been able to enter. ISM and many other organizations are now calling on the international community to act and put an end to the closed military zone.

10644905_10153541508779145_4310940689251540379_n — Families peacefully protesting after the arrest

Since the initial sit in, an ongoing protest tent open to all has been established to show solidarity and support until the closed military zone comes to an end. The tent is set up and visited daily, despite the cold weather, from morning until night by local residents, youth, activists, and even tourists. Members of international organizations such as Interfaith Peace Builders from the U.S. and the UK Political Council, as well as local ones such as, Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, have also visited to learn about the situation. Any individuals or groups who wish to attend to show support or learn more are welcome to join.

tent set-up wm — Local youth set up the protest tent in the morning

886246_10153157144831829_8560271305963985853_o — Day 5 at the tent (photo by Youth Against Settlements)

tent at night wm — Gathering around the fire at night

Life inside the Shuafat Refugee Camp, East Jerusalem

January 18th 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | East Jerusalem, occupied Palestine

A few days ago, the ISM went to the Shuafat Refugee Camp to learn about the situation and living conditions for its Palestinian residents.

Buildings at the entrance of the Camp — Residential buildings at the entrance of the Camp

Built in 1965 with the aim of relocating the Palestinians who were living in the Moroccan Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem (today’s Wailing Wall area), Shuafat Refugee Camp has a population that is estimated between 60.000 to 80.000 Palestinians. These numbers are only an estimation since the Israeli Municipality, which is responsible for the Camp’s administration, has not carried out any census of its residents.

But the Municipality’s negligence of the Camp is further seen in the everyday life lack of basic services such as picking up the garbage in the streets, and insufficient water and power supply, giving way to frequent water shortages and power cuts. All this happens regardless of the fact that Palestinians living in the Camp pay all their taxes, which are equal to the tax amounts that Israeli citizens pay. In contrast, all Israeli resident areas and illegal settlements in Jerusalem receive these services without interruption; having no water shortages or power cuts, and enjoying perfectly clean streets.

Streets have garbage everywhere, as the Municipality neglects collecting the garbage from the streets — The Municipality neglects collecting the garbage from the streets

The situation inside the Shuafat Refugee Camp only worsened when in 2004 the Israeli authority built an Apartheid Wall that completely surrounded the Camp. Only two entrances connect the Camp to the outer world: the Shuafat checkpoint, which connects to Jerusalem, and the Anaata entrance, which connects to the West Bank.

On many occasions, when there are confrontations between the Palestinian youth of the Camp and the Israeli forces, the army closes both entrances, locking up the entire population of the Camp, only adding more pressure to the already existing everyday life difficulties.

View to the surveillance tour, inside the Camp — View to the surveillance towerr and checkpoint, once you enter the Camp

The schooling system is poorly covered for the Camp’s children. UNWRA established two schools inside the Camp, one for boys and another for girls. But these schools only have classes between 1st and 6th grades, and cannot provide education for all the Camp’s children. Every morning, many children need to exit through the Shuafat checkpoint to go to other schools in East Jerusalem. A school bus service runs every morning, but again it does not have the capacity to serve all the children, and many of them have to take a ride with a car, a taxi or walk between 30 minutes and one hour, depending on how far their school is located.

This situation for the children is very difficult since the checkpoint in the morning is very congested, as other people need to cross to get to work. There are even times when waiting to cross the checkpoint can take more than an hour.

Another aggravating problem is the refusal of ambulances to enter the Camp when there are accidents or people injured from clashes. Residents usually call the Israeli ambulance service, as the Palestinian Red Crescent has only 5 ambulances for all Jerusalem and is too busy to arrive fast enough. But the Israeli ambulances say they do not enter the Camp without Israeli police officers. Instead, they wait outside the Shuafat checkpoint for the injured person to be delivered by members from the community or family in any way they can, cross the checkpoint and place him or her inside the ambulance. Carrying injured people in an unprepared and inappropriate way has resulted in many people dying under these circumstances.

In addition to these difficulties, the Israeli army and police sometimes enter the Camp to raid homes and arrest people who have any political leadership within their community. Just like in the rest of the West Bank, these arrest operations happen in the middle of the night with hundreds of soldiers, terrifying whole families and neighbors.

Another view of the Camp, seen through the checkpoint fence — A view of the Apartheid Wall that surrounds the entire Camp

It is important to note that the State of Israel does not provide citizenship to Palestinians living in Jerusalem, but instead gives them a permanent residence status, which Israel takes the right to revoke at any time by different means. One example would be if a Palestinian moves to live outside of Jerusalem for a certain period of time, he or she will lose the residency status and will not be allowed to live in Jerusalem anymore. Therefore, in fear of losing their residency right and at the same time not being able to afford living in other parts of an increasingly expensive Jerusalem, more and more Palestinians continue to move into the already overcrowded Shuafat Refugee Camp.

Israeli violence continues as Palestinians protests against the recent killing of Srour Ahmad Abu Srour in Bethlehem.

January 17th 2016 | InternationalSolidarity Movement | Bethlehem, occupied Palestine

This Friday, on the 15th of January, hundreds of Palestinians gathered on the main street of Bethlehem to protest against the recent killing of Srour Ahmad Abu Srour, who was killed by Israeli forces in nearby Beit Jala last Wednesday. Israeli forces fired tear gas, rubber-coated metal bullets and live ammunition at the protesters.

On Wednesday afternoon, 21-year-old Srour Ahmad Abu Srour, origanally from Aida refugee camp, was killed during protests against the Israeli military invasion of the western part of Bethlehem, Beit Jala. Palestine news network reported that 4 Israeli army jeeps entered Beit Jala and set up a flying checkpoint and started raiding homes and shops on the busy Al-Sahl street in Beit Jala. Srour Ahmad Abu Srour was hit in his chest by a live bullet, and later succumbed at Beit Jala public hospital. The director of the Red Crescent ambulance and emergency crew in Bethlehem, Mohamed Awad, said that many young men were injured by rubber-coated metal bullets or by suffocation due to the large amount of tear gas fired during the protest.

Every day since the killing of Srour Ahmad Abu Srour, Palestinians from Bethlehem have marched the streets in protests of Israel’s ongoing violence. On this Friday demonstration Israeli forces entered the streets of Bethlehem and fired hundreds of tear gas canisters towards the protesters. Protesters, passersby and residents of the neighborhood were severely affected by the amount of tear gas that was fired. One passerby was taken away from the scene in an ambulance due to the excessive inhalation of tear gas.

bethlehem4 — Tear gas on the streets of Bethlehem

bethlehem22wm — A private car is passing through the tear gas,fired by the Israeli soldiers.

2 injuries by rubber-coated metal bullets were reported, one of which was a journalist. One protester was shot in his lower leg with live ammunition, and was taken to hospital.

bethlehem3 — Blood from the protester who was injured in his lower leg by live ammunition

According to medics, 5 people were injured with rubber-coated metal bullets and 5 people with live ammunition during protests in Bethlehem with its surrounding villages. One medic was injured when a rubber-coated metal bullet was fired at the windshield of his Ambulance during protests in near by Em Rokbaa.

bethlehem5 — Medics standing in front of the ambulance with a broken windshield

Injured ambulance driver with the broken windshield in the background. — Injured medic with the broken windshield in the background.

Four shelters and one water tank destroyed in Tubas

January 16th 2016 | Jordan Valley Solidarity | Tubas, occupied Palestine

At 6 am on 14th January 2016 the Israeli occupation army entered Tubas area, with twelve jeeps and two bulldozers, destroying four shelters and a water tank.

In December 2015 the army gave the order for demolition of the shelters, obliging the owners to restore the land to the condition it was in before the construction, within the following 45 days. While the court process was ongoing and the deadline has not expired yet, the army raided the area and destroyed the shelters. Two of the four shelters were owned by Ali ‘Amabusi and Mahmoud Alidib Mashamani, both of them living in Tubas.

Military forces claimed the area as closed military area, but by law they are not permitted to enter Tubas and give demolition orders as it is Area A under the Oslo accords, and therefore under full control of Palestinian Authority.

In the morning a water tank was also destroyed. It was supplying water to the village of Yarza. The demolition left 100 people without water and with them farms and plantations, which are the main economy of the families.

The water tank was built with the fund of the Italian Christian Solidarity and the volunteers of Jordan Valley Solidarity in 2013-2014. Its purpose was a development project for the area, allowing people to return and help the ones who don’t have access to the water to grow plants and animals.

The water was provided from the city of Tubas and the village of Alibkea, but the pipe going from the tank to the village of Yarza was previously confiscated by the occupation army 8 months ago.