17 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
“The Israelis hope that that the young people leave, the old people die, and then they can confiscate the land and the houses” says Sami, an activist working in Al Baqa’a, a windswept valley situated a few kilometers east of Hebron.
Atta and Rodni Jaber at their house in Al-Baqa'a, near Hebron
The Jaber family’s experiences of living in Al Baqa’a are similar to many other Palestinians in the area, in that their ordinary family faces extraordinary pressure on a daily basis from the Israeli military and nearby settlers.
Rodni Jaber is the mother of three daughters and a son. Dressed in a bright pink jumper and a floral headscarf, she is cheerfully voluble and keen to tell her family’s story.
“We have had our house demolished twice, this our third house on the land. We lived in a tent for six months and after that we got a court decision to live in this area within 150sqm, so we started to build this home.”
Rodni and Atta Jaber work as farmers growing grapes, raspberries and tomatoes in the milder months and radishes and turnips in the winter. Neat lines of cauliflower grow next to their stone house situated halfway up the hillside facing west towards Al Bwayre and the illegal Israeli settlements and outposts of Al Bwayre mountain.
The family owns 31 dunums of land (1 dunum = 1000 msq). Despite having papers dating from the era of the Ottoman Empire proving that the family owns the land, their house still has a demolition order in place.
“We went to the court, and we have a postponement by the Israeli military to destroy this house” says Rodni. “We are not here legally – by Israeli law – but they let us live here for the moment.”
Around 900 Palestinians live in Al Baqa’a valley. Many of the houses in the area are subject to demolition orders as the Israeli authorities and the settlers attempt to make life impossible for the Palestinians in the area to expand Israeli settlements. Local residents and activists claim to have in their possession a map on which red lines outline areas in Al Bwayre and Al Baqa’a valley that have been designated by Israeli engineers as places for the construction of 500 new housing units for Israeli settlers. Much of the land is currently inhabited by Palestinians and will need to be cleared to make way for the proposed development.
In addition to experiencing house demolitions and harassment from the military, the Jaber family has been subjected to repeated attacks by Israeli settlers from nearby Al Bwayre and Qiryat Arba settlements and various outposts.
The Jaber family's house in Al-Baqa'a Valley
The family’s house and land was attacked by settlers around a month ago. The Israeli military arrived in jeeps but declined to intervene as the settlers attempted to set fire to the house. Rodni Jaber explains:
The soldiers were there just to protect the settlers. The settlers told us to leave the house and said ‘this is our land’ . They even began to complain to the soldiers asking them to kick us out of the house saying that ‘the land is for Abraham and not for them’, putting pressure on the soldiers…They [the settlers] tried to burn the house and I began to push them to stop, I even called the Israeli police to come and see what the settlers were doing. All the family fled as we were afraid of being burned in the house.
They failed to set fire to the house. This was just one incident in a long line of attacks on the family over the years; “I lost a baby [because I was attacked by settlers]. I was 4 months pregnant at that time and they attacked me and I lost it. I have been attacked many times by the settlers and I have been in hospital many times.
Nine or ten years ago an ‘operation’ happened on the highway here by the Palestinian resistance against the settlers. After that, the settlers gathered in Qiryat Arba and came here. They broke the door, entered the house and burned it…I left without shoes and wearing my pajamas. The settlers kicked my family out for three days….The soldiers then occupied the house for 40 days. We got a high court decision to return – when we came back to the house everything was broken. At that time settlers also went to my brother’s family [who lives near the house] and they shot him in the stomach – he survived but he has a plastic stomach now.
Al Baqa’a residents live under full Israeli civil and military control in Area C, so how do they protect themselves when the soldiers stand-by and facilitate settler attacks on the family?
Rodni stated that “The chief of police has been to the area and said ‘If something happens just call me’. We got a paper from the DCO (District Coordination Offices) saying that the Israeli soldiers have to protect this house. We got this when we were attacked in 2001. But they don’t do anything – it’s just paper…Most of the Palestinian people in this area are from my family so we try to protect each other. If they attack a house they try to go to the house to protect it.”
A cousin of the family was attacked last week as he rode a donkey in the valley; settlers hit him on the head with metal piping. He was hospitalized and his wounds were stitched up, luckily he was not badly injured.
How does the family cope with the psychological pressures of the constant threat of attack? Rodni smiled and stated, ” I am very strong…and if something happens I think ‘Al Hamdillilah’ (By the blessings of God).
If the family’s experiences are often terrifying and brutal, they are also occasionally absurd. In 1998 Rodni’s son Raja’ was born. A few days after his birth, settlers attacked the house; one settler made a complaint to the police that someone called ‘Raja’ had put a knife to his chest, threatening to kill him.
“After that [several days later] the soldiers came to arrest my son – who was 40 days old” said Rodni. “They heard about my son ‘Raja’ and they came and asked ‘where is Raja’. I showed him my son who was 40 days old, I showed them his birth certificate because they didn’t believe he was Raja’.” But the incident did not stop there as Rodni said, ”
They said that Raja’ should come to the court – at the age of 50 days I had to take him to court. They said ‘where is the defendant Raja’ I showed them my son… the judge ruled that when he reaches 16 years old he will have to come to back to court!”
Surely when the case comes to court and it becomes apparent that Raja could not even sit up or support the weight of his own head at that time of the incident, let alone threaten to harm anyone, the situation will go beyond parody. Rodni laughs and agrees it will be extremely embarrassing for the Israelis but the ruling still stands; Raja is 12 years old now and in four years time he will have to go to court and explain his role in the incident.
As Rodni talks, her husband Atta returns from work, wearing a woolen hat against the Autumn chill. He talks eloquently about Palestinian history and recounts his memories of Al Baqa’a Valley during the Six Day War in 1967.
“I was five years old when they occupied the West Bank, I still remember that day. The Israelis bombed the people and the Jordanian army here and they killed maybe 150 people in that time. Everybody had put white keffiyehs out as white flags to show that this is a peaceful area.”
A ruined house destroyed by the Israeli military in Al-Baqa'a Valley
As well as talking about the area’s history and the threat from settlers and the Israeli military, Atta described the mundane challenges of daily life in Al Baqa’a valley.
” We have a lot of problems in this area; there are no schools to send our children, we don’t have any clinics or hospitals. We don’t have water – the settlers have water 24 hours a day. We connected pipes to the settlement after we had submitted a lot of applications with the Israeli administration and water companies. In 1998 we applied to the company to have water but Israel prevented this. Under the Geneva Conventions it says that you are responsible for those that you occupy, but they want to transfer us from this area even though we have been the owners of the land for hundreds of years.”
Atta and Rodni refuse to be daunted by the problems they face. When asked about what the future holds for their family, Atta evades directly answering the question and replied in broader terms.
“It is not just my future, it is about all Palestinians’ future. Their tragedy and suffering becomes greater everyday.”
Alistair George is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
13 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On November 12 a young teenage girl was being detained at the main checkpoint in Hebron. When internationals were notified she had been detained for more than an hour without any obvious reason.
The girl was on her way home with a friend when she passed the checkpoint and soldiers refused to hand her back her ID. When activists from the International Solidarity Movement got to the checkpoint, the two soldiers in question refused to give any further information or explanation. As a crowd of people was gathering one of the two soldiers said that he had a bad headache and that the people were driving him “crazy.”
After some minutes several military vehicles and heavily armed soldiers showed up and tried to move the internationals to the side, with the commander taking the leading role in pushing the activists when they asked for an explanation. The girl was handed back her ID after approximately three hours of waiting at the checkpoint. No explanation was given, but it appeared that the refusal to hand back her ID was a retribution for her participation in the demonstration against restrictions being imposed on Palestinian teachers which was staged earlier in October this year.
Roadblocks, closures and checkpoints restrict daily life for Palestinians living in Hebron. These restrictions are the result of the approximately 500 Jewish settlers occupying the city center. There are five settlements inside the city mainly located in the area of the Old City and other settlements on the outskirts of Hebron. This has divided the city into two pieces known as H1 and H2. While H1 remains under Palestinian control, H2 is under Israeli control. Up to 4000 soldiers are present in H2 as a way of “protecting” the approximately 500 settlers that are illegally occupying the city center where currently half a million Palestinians live. Many international organizations have argued that these roadblocks and checkpoints could be removed without compromise security.
Consequences of these restrictions have badly affected many Palestinians who have been forced to move and close their business. Beside economic consequences, Palestinians have also lost many parts of the Old City which holds great cultural value since large parts have been closed down by the military or been destroyed by Israeli settlers. Families living in the area as well as school children on their way to schools regularly suffer from harassment from both settlers and military. Peacekeeping organizations beside ISM have maintained a presence in the area as a way of observing and de-escalating violence committed by the Israeli soldiers as well as Zionist settlers with little or no success.
It is part of a broader Israeli agenda which aim at forcing people to leave in order to expand Israeli illegal settlements inside the city.
Emma Evertsson is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.
5 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
For over a week now, ISM activists have been continually harassed, and on one occasion assaulted, by Israeli soldiers who have frequently demanded that internationals to hand over possessions of their passports. This ongoing situation has occurred within the ‘H2’ zone in the city of Hebron, which is notorious for its intense and illegal Israeli military presence due to a small number of Israeli citizens who have illegally invaded and occupied a historically significant part of the city.
Harassment of international observers at checkpoint - Click here for more information
According to Israeli law, soldiers have limited jurisdiction over internationals as internationals are governed by civil law (unlike the Palestinians who suffer under unjust military rule) and therefore only the Israeli police have the legal authority to demand an international or Israeli citizen to provide their passport for inspection. Despite this, the soldiers have continued to attempt to abuse their power, generally using tactics of intimidation and threats, in a vain hope that they will force the internationals to submit to their inflated sense of power.
This recent change of approach from the Israeli military towards internationals appears to have coincided with a strong international presence at a olive harvest within the ‘H2’ zone during which Israeli soldiers refused Palestinians’ their inherent right to harvest their own land. It also appears that the arrival of a new commander, who infamously boasted, “I am the law, I am god” has also contributed to what incredibly may be a deterioration in the treatment Palestinians and internationals. In his short period in charge the commander has revoked a long established agreement that teachers; pregnant women and others with health issues do not have to pass through the radiation emitting checkpoint and must instead submit to being searched every time. It appears this commander has ambitions of promotion beyond the rank of, “god” and recognises that the path to this within the Israeli army is inhumane treatment of Palestinians and any who dare support them.
ISM activists have remained firm in their support of Palestinians and compliance with Israeli law, recognising that as internationals they are able to resist elements of the occupation that Palestinians are simply unable to; also and perhaps most importantly, if internationals allow the soldiers to abuse their power with internationals, it will weaken their ability to support Palestinians in their struggle and potentially open the floodgates for further abuses of power against the Palestinians. Consequently over the last week to ten days it has been a daily occurrence that internationals are refused entry into the ‘H2’ and even at times out (via checkpoint 56).
On occasions ISM activists have chosen to take the longer route into the ‘H2′ zone when they have been refused entry through checkpoint 56 and at times even avoided the checkpoint completely similar to many of the teachers and Palestinians’ with health issues. This longer route is significantly less convenient for many, and ISM activists have been informed that it can add as much as forty five minutes onto a teacher’s travel time to and from work, which has some of them considering whether they can continue to provide their invaluable service to the children of Qordoba school.
When ISM activists have refused to take an alternative route into ‘H2’ they are frequently delayed for long periods of time until the police arrive to resolve what is an unlawful situation. Reports from ISM activists indicate that the police officers who arrive at the scene are also aware of the illegality of the soldiers request, and while they are eager not to explicitly state this in front of international activists, it is clear from their gestures that they do not believe the soldiers requests are necessary.
Each time the police have arrived to such an incident, ISM activists have handed over their passports without resistance and often their details (i.e. name, nationality, passport number etc.) have been recorded. However, although it has generally been the case that the police officers have shown a lack of support for the soldiers position, clearly both the soldiers and the police form part of a larger illegal and unjust structure within the West Bank, and consequently on some occasions the police have attempted to intimidate ISM activists by claiming that soldiers have the authority to arrest internationals who refuse to show their passports. This is also illegal according to Israeli law. On a couple of occasions the police officers have handed over possession of international’s passports to the soldiers, who have then retained the passports for significant periods of time, illegally and without any genuine explanation.
On Tuesday 1st November the situation reached a new level of illegality and harassment. At approximately 11 AM a lone ISM activist attempted to pass through checkpoint 56 on their way to their apartment where they were staying. This activist appears to have been the attention for much of the soldiers’ harassment particularly when travelling alone, which has led activists to questions whether this is due to the activists ethnicity (Black British). Although the soldiers are aware of the identity of all the ISM activists and have seen their passports and recorded their details on several occasions, once again the soldiers demanded that they be given possession of the ISM activist’s passport, refusing to accept that close inspection (although they do not have the authority to demand this either) was sufficient. The activist denied this illegal request and consequently the two soldiers controlling the checkpoint refused to allow the activist to travel freely to their destination. In addition the soldiers refused to call the police and suggested that the activist simply would have to exit the checkpoint. Aware that often the only effective weapon against the abuses of Israeli authorities, both committed against internationals activists, but most important Palestinian civilians, is the scrutiny of international eyes via the camera lens, the activist called two of his colleagues to come and record the incident.
Once two other ISM activists arrived to the checkpoint (from their apartment within the ‘H2’ zone) with their videos camera aimed, the ISM activist being refused entry again attempted to show the soldiers his passport and valid visa, but the soldiers continued to deny them entry. The soldiers were then asked to call the police so the situation could be resolved according to Israeli law, but the soldiers also refused this, appearing eager to simply punish the activist for daring to resist their attempt to abuse their power as they feel entitled to do with innocent Palestinians.
Under the gaze of the cameras the ISM activists then attempted to make their way to the apartment, with the soldiers unwilling to resolve the situation legally. At this point the two soldiers began to physically prevent the activists from making progress, with both becoming aggressive and violent as they pushed the activist towards a nearby wall. Under threat from the soldiers the activist instinctively raised his hands to defend himself and attempt to remove himself from the grip and the force of the two soldiers. Perhaps indicative of the deception used by the Israeli government, the two soldiers who were clearly the aggressors in this situation, attempted to claim that they were under attack and had been assaulted by the lone activist. This type of blatant manipulation of the facts appears to be a common theme through much of the Israeli government propaganda about this illegal occupation.
The soldiers then claimed that they would call the police to report this factious assault and ordered the activist to remain beside the checkpoint until the police arrived. Naively believing that the soldiers were for once being honest the activist followed this instruction without resistance, recognising that soldiers have the right to detain internationals for three hours while the police arrive to an incident. It later emerged that the soldiers had not actually called the police, who on several occasions drove past the incident along with T.I.P.H (temporary international presence in Hebron) who were equally slow and ineffective in their response, which it seems they frequently are.
The police arrived approximately two and a half hours after the incident began, following a call from an ISM activist requesting their presence at the incident. During this period of detainment there was change in the soldiers presence at the checkpoint, with a notoriously hostile and aggressive soldier arriving (one who had previously kicked this activist while he had been travelling alone) and consequently the situation, the harassment and the assault escalated.
One of the first ISM activists who had arrived at the scene to support their colleague eventually had to leave in order go on a school patrol (helping young school children to travel home safely in the face of often vicious settler attacks) and attempted to pass checkpoint 56 and exit ‘H2’. The soldiers are generally less likely to check the ID of Palestinians as they exit ‘H2’ and almost never ask to see the passports of internationals travelling in this direction as they are travelling into the ‘H1’ zone where Israeli citizens have yet to attempt to illegally invade and occupy.
However on this occasion the soldier who is notorious for his hostility towards Palestinians and internationals, decided that he wanted the ISM activists to hand over possession of his passport before he could exit the checkpoint. When he was refused permission, to abuse his power further the soldier became violent and forcibly prevented the ISM activist from progressing into the city; chasing him beyond the checkpoint; screaming with M16 in tow and then pushing the activist against a wall. So as not to further provoke, what can only be described as an unstable and volatile soldier, the activist made his way back through the checkpoint and he too was then detained along with his fellow ISM activist as both waited for the police arrive to the incident. A third ISM activists was also later detained simply for attempting to take a mobile phone from one of their colleagues who had been detained. Both this third ISM activist and another were aggressively pushed as they attempted to make any type of contact with their colleagues.
During this period activists from CPT arrived and attempted to investigate what was occurring. They too were treated with hostility and distain, but remained firm in their determination to document what was occurring, which meant they were frequently assaulted as the soldiers arbitrarily pushed them away and insisted they stand on a particular piece of the road along with other ISM activists who were also now present and recording the incident. As the minutes and hours passed by, another group of internationals who appeared to be having a guided tour of the city also stopped at the incident and were suitably horrified by what was occurring. Despite the fact that they were at least fifteen internationals documenting the incident, the soldiers appeared oblivious and even escalated their violence against the ISM activists detained.
Whilst being observed by a large crowd of internationals, one of the soldiers decided that they wanted to illegally search the ISM activist that they had originally detained. At this point the activist had been detained for over an hour and had peacefully and calmly remained in the same position, clearly presenting no risk. The activist refused the attempt by the soldier to humiliate him in front of the crowd by searching him, explaining that they had previously passed through the metal detector. The activist attempted to compromise with soldiers by saying that they we were willing for their bag to be searched but would not submit to a full body search until the police arrived, and they had legal authority to perform such a search if the circumstances warranted it. With their authority challenged the soldiers again resorted to violence, attempting to push and pull the activist away from his colleagues to a nearby wall. The activists was able to resist non-violently by holding onto a metal railing, while all present were horrified at what they were witnessing and demanded in vain that it end.
Eventually the soldiers relented, undoubtedly realising that in order for them to exert their will in this situation they would have to use a level of force which they were not comfortable using in front of such a large international audience.
Soon after about six more soldiers arrived on the scene which seemed to frighten many of the internationals who had gathered and they were hurriedly ushered away by their guide, leaving their best wishes with the three activists who were being detained. Perhaps the reduced level of scrutiny encouraged the soldiers to once again behave in manner which can only be described as inhumane. The third ISM activist who had been detained simply for attempting to take a mobile phone from her colleague, after standing directly in the hot midday sun for about thirty minutes, attempted to move less than half a metre to find some shade. As soon as the ISM activist attempted to move she was approached by a soldier he began to aggressively push her back, refusing to listen to her plea to stand in an area with less direct sunlight while she was being detained for a reason hard to comprehend. Anxious about the safety of his colleague who had been suffering from the flu for the last few days, and appeared unsteady under the force of the much larger and stronger soldier, another of the detained activists stood beside his colleague to ensure she was okay. The solider then turned his attention to the male ISM activist and violently grabbed him by the throat and again attempted to aggressively push him backwards.
By the time the police eventually arrived there were four people being detained, three ISM activists and one Palestinian man, who appeared to have been detained simply for daring to speak to the ISM activists as he walked past. On their arrival the police spoke to the soldiers present before asking for the passport of the first international detained. Initially it seemed as though the police officers were suggesting that soldiers would be arresting this international, but eventually after the commander of the soldier’s was called to the incident the international was arrested for allegedly assaulting a soldier and was escorted via a police car to a local police station, with two police officers and two soldiers accompanying him. The three other detainees were released without any further issue, clearly indicating that they were being held without just cause.
After several hours waiting in the police station, with limited information being given to the arrested British activist or his concerned colleagues who spent time outside the station ( unaware of whether the ISM activist was actually being detained there) and also made several phone calls to the police station, the ISM activist was eventually informed he would be spending the night in police custody and would be taken to the immigration authorities to be deported the following morning. The activist was interviewed, had their finger prints and photographs taken and after having many of their belongings removed, locked away in a cell for the night.
The following morning at approximately 8.30am two officers entered the ISM activists cell and after strip searching him and then hand cuffing his wrists and ankles, escorted him to a court in Jerusalem via a high security police van. During the journey the activist shared a small metal compartment with a Palestinian man, who it perhaps wouldn’t be too presumptuous to suggest was be held unjustly and would undoubted receive significantly more severe treatment than the international activist with whom he shared a seat. Once at the court the activist spoke with a lawyer provided by the ISM. The lawyer explained that the prosecutor had initially suggested they would attempt to have the activist deported, but the lawyer was able to effectively argue that there were no legal grounds for this. The lawyer suggested to the activist that he should agree to the new terms demanded by the prosecution, which were that the activist could not return south of Jerusalem for fifteen days. After being informed that although there was video evidence of not only the innocence of the activist, but also the various assaults committed by the soldiers, this was insufficient to stand against the word of a police officer. The ISM activist decided to sign the agreement for fear that the demands would be made even more severe (e.g. a six month ban form the entire West Bank).
5 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On Thursday November 3rd at dawn, 8 military jeeps with around 25 soldiers and one bulldozer arrived at Um Alfagara. The bulldozer immediately began to demolish six pylons built for bringing electrical wires from the nearby village of Attwani to Um Alfagara. The bulldozer worked a couple of hours, guarded by the Israeli Occupation Forces until the six pylons were torn down and destroyed.
Destruction in South Hebron village – Click here for more images
Um Alfagara is a small village with 150 inhabitants in the South Hebron Hills on the edge to the Jordanian dessert and beside a large area declared to be a permanent closed military area used as a shooting practice range by the Occupation Forces. There is no access to water except from the wells belonging to the villagers and no electricity except from the electricity provided by a small windmill producing just about enough for the villagers to charge their phones.
A new project for bringing electricity is the latest attempt to ease the life for the villagers who mainly stand the poor conditions in their village in order to protect their land against land grab both from the Israeli Occupation Forces and from the settlers in the neighboring settlement Ma’on. The project received the second demolish order on the electric poles around one month ago.
A local coordinator in the area answered when asked why the Occupation forces demolished the pylons, “The occupation has tried for many years to make life as hard as possible for the citizens in the South Hebron Hills in order to force people to move to the major cities so that settlers can steal our land for good. The policy used against the inhabitants in the South Hebron Hills are very similar to the suppression of the Bedouin population”
The Israeli Civil Administration is planning to expel Bedouin communities living in Area C as soon as January 2012, claiming that the Bedouins do not have rights to the land on which they live and that all Bedouin construction has been done without permits. Demolition orders have been issued against most Bedouin structures. Um Alfagara lies in Area C, under full Israeli military and civil control.
Attwani the neighboring village, inhabited by around 300 Palestinians, managed last year in the month of Ramadan to implement electricity and running water. The water is brought in by the neighboring settlement and was finally approved by the District Coordination Office after some months, but the electricity pylons have been destroyed several times. Two pylons on each side of Road 316 have been destroyed many times, but since the villagers of Attwani rebuild the electric pylons every time, it seems that for a while the Occupation Forces stopped harassing the villagers and destroying their pylons until recently.
The electricity villagers seek is not only useful for getting light in night but also for charging phones and cameras that are essential for documenting the violation by settlers and the Occupation Forces. Though attacks by settlers have eased a bit, there is still a high risk factor of settler violence in the area of Um Alfagara and Attwani. The settlers from the outpost Havat Ma’on have a long history of violence. The last severe attack was June 2011.
Aida Gerard is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name changed).
3 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
The streets of Tel Rumeida are locked-down and divided; physically occupied by a forceful Israeli military. For the Palestinian community living in this part of H2, Israeli-controlled Hebron, military occupation is an inescapable intrusion into everyday reality. The existence of an estimated 500 Israeli settlers is facilitated by up to 4000 Israeli soldiers stations in Hebron. Grey, austere watchtowers gaze over streets in which Israeli soldiers and military vehicles are stationed at regular intervals, frequently stopping Palestinians as they walk through their own neighbourhood to demand they prove their identity. Those wishing to travel into H2 from Palestinian-controlled H1 must pass through metal detectors and checkpoints, where they may be arbitrarily harassed or detained by bored Israeli soldiers.
Movement around H2 is severely restricted. In some streets Palestinians are allowed to walk but not drive, forcing them to manually lug heavy supplies such as gas canisters and food. Even ambulances are not allowed to drive through certain areas. Palestinians are forbidden from passing through some streets by car or by foot; the main street linking north and south Hebron has been closed to Palestinians; turning a 5 minute journey into a 45 min trek through alternative roads.
However, despite the enduring hardship in Tel Rumeida, resistance to the Israeli occupation remains strong. The ‘Study and Challenge Centre’ is located on Palestinian land that is surrounded by four Israeli settlements – the closest of which is only metres from the rear of the building. It faces south Hebron, overlooking steep, dusty terraces, planted with olive trees and cratered by old archaeological digs of excavated Roman artifacts. The centre is a hub of nonviolent resistance and its existence is a testament to the spirit that exists in a beleaguered community under occupation.
The ‘Study and Challenge Centre’
The property that houses the centre used to belong to a Palestinian family who were forced to vacate the premises in 2004 by the Israeli authorities, who claimed that the owner’s Jerusalem identity prevented him from living in the area. The Israeli military took over the property in 2004 and turned the house into a detention centre, fortified with barbed wire.
The campaign to reclaim the house began in 2006. After local Palestinian activists had gained approval to rent the property from the lawful owner in Jerusalem, dozens of people, including local Palestinians and international activists, started to go to the house to re-occupy the land; maintaining a presence, removing the barbed wire and dismantling a military tent. The large numbers of people attempting to reclaim the property forced the Israeli military into negotiating and, with the services of an Israeli lawyer, the activists took their claim to court. After three months, an Israeli court ruled in favour of the protesters and the house was taken back by the Palestinians.
Palestinian control of the house remained perilous as the local Israeli settlers fought back. Badia Dwaik, the 38-year old Deputy Director of Youth Against Settlements (YAS) explains; “The settlers went crazy, they started to attack the house and us physically. Groups of 100-200 settlers came and made speeches full of lies”. The activists arranged a 24-hour presence at the house to protect it from attack or seizure by settlers. As Dwaik says, “It was tough and exhausting but we didn’t give up. The home became safer although the settlers still attacked; they burnt a sofa, stole a laptop and broke the gate a couple of times.”
As the Palestinian activists consolidated their control over the house, they started to consider how best to use the property to serve the community. It was agreed that it would become an educational centre for local people, run by volunteers.
The centre now trains people in Tel Rumeida to use photography and video cameras to record violence by settlers and the military, as well as documenting their daily lives under occupation. As local activist Tamer Atrash says, “The camera is our weapon.”The centre also offers English classes, painting, gardening workshops and shows films.
YAS (Youth Against Settlements)
The property also functions as the base for the Palestinian nonviolent activist group, Youth Against Settlements (YAS). Badia Dwaik is keen to stress the distinction that exists between the work done by the educational centre and activism by YAS, although both make use of the property.
YAS originated as a response to the repeated attacks by settlers on Palestinians in the area. As Dwaik says; “The main problem here is the settlements. They steal land and push us into a corner until we leave. We had to target them in our work as they use settlements as an excuse to continue the occupation and control the population. They divided the streets [in Hebron] and broke the social life with checkpoints and gates to protect settlers.”
In 1994 American-born Baruch Goldstein fired on Palestinians in Hebron’s Ibrahimi mosque whilst they prayed, killing 29 and injuring a further 200. Atrash describes the massacre by Goldstein as a “turning point” in shaping the divided and fearful environment for Palestinians in Tel Rumeida today. After the attack, the Israeli military closed many of the Palestinian shops in the area and divided the streets. Hebronis now divided into H1 (under Palestinian control) and H2 (in which an estimated 40,000 Palestinians, and 500 Israeli settlers, live under Israeli control). As Atrash says, “The victims were punished.”
Dwaik continues; “It is an apartheid situation – the electronic gates, the checkpoints, the security – all happened after the massacre.” The Ibrahimi mosque now has separate spaces for Muslims and Jews; the Jewish section is the only synagogue in the world containing a Qu’ran.
YAS organize demonstrations against the checkpoints and the Israeli presence in the area. They run a program hosting internationals, who stay with local families that live close to Israeli settlements, to show them the impacts of occupation in Tel Rumeida. The group also organizes olive harvesting in the area, which is not just about economic necessity but is also a form of political defiance as settlers and the military attempt to disrupt Palestinian attempts to tend their own land. Crucially, YAS stages events protesting against the closure ofShuhuda street, the principal thoroughfare and shopping district in the area. .
Although YAS originated in Hebron, it now has groups and actions in Ramallah and Nablus. Overall the YAS has around 70 members and attracts hundreds to its demonstrations and actions. Dwaik says that older people are involved in the group’s activism, however they “focus on the youth as they have energy and they are the future.” The organization says that they welcome activists from all Palestinian political parties.
YAS adopts a strictly nonviolent approach to its activities and provides training in nonviolent resistance. “Nonviolence is more difficult to deal with than violence. You have to control yourself, it is not easy. We are already surrounded and occupied, it is not possible to carry guns. Nonviolence is difficult and may take a long time but violence would create a violent community” said Dwaik. Nonviolent tactics help to recruit Israeli and international peace activists to their cause and the strict adherence to nonviolent principles combats the Israeli narrative that Palestinians resisting occupation are ‘terrorists’.
Dwaik also points to several examples of successful nonviolent resistance in other countries such as Egypt, South Africa andSerbia- in which Otpor!, a nonviolent youth movement, played a significant role in the peaceful overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic’s regime in 2003. YAS has established links with Otpor!, with the latter providing training to YAS activists in nonviolent resistance tactics.
Despite the work done by the educational centre and YAS, intimidation and harassment by the Israeli military and settlers continues. Attempts to pick olives on Palestinian land in the area a few days ago were disrupted by the Israeli security forces, who detained a group of Palestinians, confiscated their identity cards and filmed them for around 20 minutes. Soldiers pushed and shoved Palestinians and international observers and then unlawfully forced people who had been picking olives to leave the area.
On the same day, settlers walked onto the land and attempted to intimidate Palestinians as they picked olives. Baruch Marzel, a prominent extremist Israeli settler, provoked outrage by standing on a Palestinian flag in the olive groves. A recently painted-over Star of David and anti-Palestinian graffiti remains visible on the rear walls of the building and the property’s water supply was deliberately cut earlier.
However, Dwaik claims that the work done in reclaiming the house and the subsequent success of the educational centre and YAS has helped reinvigorate the once divided Palestinian community in Tel Rumeida – “Now we have created a life here”. Atrash continues;, “We want our rights, we will never give up and we don’t use violence. We can prevent Israeli expansion in this way. The house is a living example.”
Alistair George is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
