Category: Hebron - Page 104 - International Solidarity Movement

Settlers move into the Rajabi building in Hebron

13th April 2014 | Hebron Rehabilitation Committee | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

On Sunday 13 April 2014 in the early afternoon, Israeli settlers with assistance from the Israeli occupation forces started moving into the so-called Rajabi building in Hebron. After seven years of litigation, on 11 March 2014, the Israeli Supreme Court handed over the building to the settlers despite previous court rulings that said that the relevant purchase documents and power of attorneys had been forged.

Early this morning, the Israeli Minister of Defence Moshe Ya’alon approved the settlers to move into the building. As a result, three families entered the building later the day and started preparing the building for occupation. The settlers were observed cleaning the house, bringing in pieces of furniture and fixing the windows. The occupation forces provided the settlers with power generators and water tanks to help them in their efforts as the building is not connected to the electricity or water grid. According to Israeli sources, the settlers are to hold a Passover Seder dinner on the site during the upcoming holiday and ten more families are to move into the building after the end of the Passover.

Local Palestinians voiced their fears that the creation of a new settlement will cause further violations of their rights and violence against them. During 2007 and 2008, when settlers were dwelling in the building, the community witnessed multiple attacks by the settlers as well as routine house searches and arbitrary detentions by the occupation forces. Following their eviction by the Israeli police and army in December 2008, the settlers went on a rampage torching Palestinian property and assaulting Palestinians.

HRC staff contributed to this report.

Israeli forces arrest two ISM activists and two Israeli activists at demonstration in Hebron

12th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday afternoon in al-Khalil (Hebron), approximately 70 people attended a demonstration outside the Rajabi building where four protesters were arrested, two ISM activists and two Israeli activists.

Many different Palestinian groups working against the occupation organized the demonstration. The protest began after afternoon prayers in Hebron, many Palestinian activists, internationals, Israeli activists and members of the press attended the protest outside the Rajabi building. Demonstrators started by chanting against the occupation and the illegal settlements, while Israeli forces blocked the march and began to aggressively push activists who tried to non-violently resist.

Israeli forces threw one stun grenade into the crowd of demonstrators, clearly trying to disorientate and frighten those present. Shortly after this, an Israeli soldier reached into the crowd and grabbed a Swedish ISM activist, violently pulling him away. A Danish ISM activist tried to prevent the arrest and was also arrested by Israeli soldiers. The Danish ISMer was pushed to ground and soldiers grabbed hold of his backpack to drag him towards Kiryat Arba police station. Two Israeli activists then tried to intervene, which is when they were also taken away. The demonstration continued for more than two hours and there were no further arrests, and no serious injuries.

The two ISM activists were held in Kiryat Arba police station for six hours, although they were repeatedly threatened with deportation, they were eventually released after signing conditions to stay out of Hebron for two weeks. The two Israeli activists who were arrested were released at a similar time, signing the same conditions.

The Rajabi building case has continued for a number of years, culminating in a court decision this March, forcing the owner of the building to sell it to settlers. The Israeli Ministry of Defence must approve of the settlers moving in before they can officially live in the building, a decision is expected any day now. If the settlers move in to the house, it will function as a new outpost for the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba, expanding it dramatically. The Palestinian families who live in this area already face many problems from settlers, if they move into the Rajabi building this violence and harassment is expected to rise.

Young family threatened by house demolition

8th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Idhna, Occupied Palestine

After just three weeks in their new home, the Slemiah family from the village of Idhna have received a demolition order from the Israeli army. The newly built house is on land which has been owned by the family for centuries, and the family has now been forced to pay large sums of money to organise many legal documents for the upcoming court hearing.

Wesam Slemiah (28), Ansar (22) and the children Line (2) and Laith (4) live in the outskirts of the city of Idhna, west of Hebron in the West Bank. Wesam borrowed money from his cousin to be able to build the house, and the land he was buliding on has been owned by his family for many years. Shortly after moving in, they received a demolition order from the Israeli army saying that the land did not belong to them. This is something that also has happened to many of their neighbors in the past six years.

In order to prove ownership of the land, the family has had to pay large sums of money to different authorities. Altogether, the costs exceed one month of income for the family. They now have all the papers necessary to prove their ownership, and on 24th April their documents will be taken to a court for further decisions.

During the last six years, two houses in the area have been demolished. The families usually have to pay the charges for the bulldozer to destroy their homes. If they do not have the money, Israeli forces confiscate their ID’s to force them to pay. This has happened to a neighboring family to the Slemiah family, their house has been demolished twice. Partly with money from the UN, that family managed to rebuild their house, a project which ISM took part of, and today their third house is still standing.

As well as demolitions orders that are extremely costly when the case goes to court, many structures used to house sheep and other animals have also been demolished by the Israeli military. Residents in the area also speak of night raids from the Israeli army, and reoccurring harassments that are making everyday life extremely difficuly. The house raids have been occuring in the village since the start of the First Intifada [1987].

Wesam has been forced to stay home from his job since the demolition order arrived. The Slemiah family is worried about what will happen to their new home, and are frightened that the Israeli army could arrive at any moment. When an ISM activist asked Wesam and Ansar what they think of their future, they answered: “There’s an occupation here, what can we do?”.

Six shelters demolished by the Israeli forces in the Palestinian village of At Tuwani

3rd April 2014 | Operation Dove | At-Tuwani, Occupied Palestine

On April 2 the Israeli army together with some Border Police and District Coordination Office (DCO) officers demolished six shelters made of concrete in the Palestinian village of At-Tuwani.

At 9:20 am a convoy made up of one bulldozer, two army Jeeps, three Border Police vehicles, and two DCO cars entered the Palestinian village of Al Mufaqarah. The convoy passed through and reached the hills surrounding the gravel road that connects the Palestinian village of Al Mufaqarah to the village of At Tuwani. The area is Palestinian private land, cultivated with wheat and olive trees. On those fields the Palestinian owners from At-Tuwani in the past three years had built shelters made of concrete, in order to have a backing place during the harvest seasons when Palestinian families work hard for entire days under hot sunbeams.

Under the directions of DCO officers six shelters were demolished by the bulldozer; two of those were already completed and two others still under construction. On March 2, a DCO officer had come to the area and took pictures of the shelters but no demolition order was delivered.

At 10:10 am the convoy left. Palestinian inhabitants of Al Mufaqarah, the owners of the shelters, B’tselem operators and international volunteers were present on the place.

At-Tuwani and Al Mufaqarah villages are located in Area C, under Israeli military and administrative control. That means that all the constructions must be approved by the Israeli administration. Israel denies Palestinians the right to build on the 70 percent of Area C, which is about the 44 percent of all the West Bank, while within the remaining 30 percent a series of restrictions are applied in order to prevent Palestinians from the possibility of obtaining permits (source: OCHA oPt).

While the Palestinian and Bedouin villages of Area C suffer from Israel’s ongoing policy of demolitions and threats, the nearby outposts and settlements continue to expand. The Israeli illegal outpost of Avigayil since three years has been expanding in south-east direction with new houses and a fence that annexes always more Palestinian land. The Israeli illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on is always expanding despite continuos complaints from Israeli activists and International volunteers who fornish proofs of the works. The Israeli settlements of Ma’on and Karmel are expanding in particular since the Israeli government’s planning commitee approved the construction of 5170 new units in West Bank settlements in the spring of 2013. In the beginning of February 2014 a new fence was built around the south-eastern side of Ma’on, annexing even more meters of Palestinian owned land.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Video of the incident: available soon on www.tuwaniresiste.operazionecolomba.it

[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]

Demonstration against settlement expansion in Hebron

30th March 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

At noon today approximately 50 protesters held a demonstration outside the Rajabi Building, Hebron, in protest of the recent court decision to let settlers take over the building. Settlers taking over the house would mean a huge expansion of the illegal settlement of Kyriat Aba. Heavily armed soldiers from the Israeli army monitored the non-violent demonstration.

A court decision earlier in March is forcing the owner of the building to sell it to settlers. If the Israeli ministry of defence will approve the settlers moving in, the new outpost will make it possible for the settlement of Kiryat Arba to expand dramatically. The demonstrators wanted to raise awareness of this issue.

An ISM member attending the demonstration describes it as peaceful: “The Israeli army was there, with an ambulance, jeeps and many fully loaded guns. The demonstrators were showing signs in Arabic and English, and chanting against the occupation and the expanding settlements. It was really bizarre being so surrounded by soldiers, just because some people wanted to express their opinion in a peaceful way”.