Category: Hebron - Page 39 - International Solidarity Movement

Israeli Border Police question Palestinian children

10th August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

What started and should have ended a few hours ago as a scuffle between two boys ended up with a Israeli Border Police action that once again demonstrated the racism and oppression that Palestinians face in an occupied city.

Close to Ibrahimi Mosque, an Israeli settler boy and a Palestinian boy got into a fight. It isn’t very clear who started it, but according to the Palestinians who witnessed it, blows were exchanged on both sides. They broke the fight up, and the Palestinian boy went home. The incident happened in view of the Border Police, who initially did not do anything.

After the fight ended, however, the Israeli boy called his father, who showed up with his automatic weapon and demanded to speak to the Border Police.

Led by their commander, the military went into a Palestinian courtyard and interrogated Palestinians they came across. They took two boys and forced them to go to the Israeli child and his father, who declared they are innocent. Only then were they let go.

The Border Police then came entered a Palestinian shop and looked for children. They interrogated other boys they came across, demanding information. They went to another home, and a father brought his child to the commander and the settlers who were observing.

Despite the fact that a fight broke out between two kids, it was the Palestinian kid who was intensively searched for and it was other Palestinian kids who were interrogated and brought down to the settlers.

Had the circumstances been reversed, such an intensive search for an Israeli boy who hit a Palestinian, whether in a fight or not, would not have taken place. This is life for the Palestinian people in Hebron, a city under occupation.

Israeli soldiers enter a Palestinian courtyard, looking for a Palestinian boy who fought with an Israeli boy.

Two Palestinian boys are taken by Israeli Border Police officers to the Israeli settler boy and his father.

Another Palestinian child is brought to the Border Police for questioning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azypLTH_pPE

Israeli Border Police bring two Palestinian boys over to the Israeli settler boy and his father.

Israeli Border Police interrogate two Palestinian boys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az0zyVKhx3E

Israeli Border Police talk to the father of another Palestinian child at a checkpoint.

Israeli military destroys six homes in Umm Khaeyr

9th August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Umm Khaeyr village, occupied Palestine

On the morning of August 9, 2016, ten Israeli military jeeps each filled with five soldiers, arrived in the village of Umm Khaeyr. It was 6:30, and most people were still in bed. The soldiers made the people sit down, and did not let them move.

Then they destroyed six houses, three of which were built with funding by the European Union.
According to Bilal, one of the villagers who took us around, the homes were destroyed for allegedly having been built without permits. Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank are very rarely given permission to build homes, even though it is in their own land.

One of the houses was inhabited by an elderly woman and her children. They now live in a shack.

Shockingly, one of the homes had an EU sticker on it, it could not have been more clear that it was built with international assistance.

According to Bilal, the commander told him “everywhere I see this paper, I will demolish without reason”.

As traumatic as this demolition was for the community, it was not the only one they experienced. Such actions are terrible at any point in time, but especially during the winter, when it is cold outside.

One winter, Bilal asked the soldiers how will the women and children whom they made homeless survive.

The answer he heard was short and cruel.

“It is not our business”.

Bilal’s own house had been demolished two years ago.

Fuming, he told us “I worked for this house. The settlers are paid to live here”.

Israeli soldiers not only demolish people’s homes, but also last year destroyed an oven that the villagers use to make bread.

Umm Khaeyr is literally only meters away from the settlement of Carmel. We could see the homes just beside us, most of them nice looking buildings with red roofs. Most were in an area that is surrounded by barbed wire.

According to Bilal, the settlers sometimes come down from their red roofed homes and harass the villagers. In 2012, the settlers stole ten goats.

He described another incident when they came down from the settlement, and beat up some women- then accused the women of assaulting them. Fortunately, the villagers had a camera with them and filmed what took place. The soldiers released the women- and the settlers, although there was video evidence showing them committing assault- and then fined the women one thousand shekels.

While in the village, we saw two army helicopters fly overhead, and later heard a loud BOOM far off in the distance. The village is evidently close to a military training ground. Bilal said that sometimes the choppers land very close to people in another village, and their propellers cause dust and dirt to fly everywhere, including on people whom they land close by.

Despite the demolitions and harassment that they face on a regular basis, neither Bilal or the other villagers plan to give up. They will in most likelihood try to rebuild, even though they know the structures will probably be knocked down again sooner than later. Even as we speak, many other of the buildings in the village- homes as well as buildings where animals are kept- have been given papers that state their demolition is imminent also.

However, they will not be chased away.

“I will stay here, I will not leave this area. This is my land”.

Palestinian flags fly over two of the homes that were demolished today by the Israeli military.

Bilal points to the ruins that used to be a home of a family until this morning, when bulldozers came and knocked it down.

Settler Harassment and Water Shortages in Beit Ummar

8 August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Beit Ummar, occupied Palestine

Settler Harassment

The difficult situation of Beit Ummar, from Abdullah’s point of view

Ealier today we visited Abdullah Braigheith, a 54 year old farmer, who with his family are facing the risk of getting their agricultural water tank demolished, any day from now. This is their livelihood, without the water for crops they will lose their income. Abdullah and his brother already had to cut down on their production this year; they went from planting 30 dunums* last year to only 5 dunums this year. This leaves the family facing severe economic problems, and the father can’t pay for his kids’ education in university. They are now fearing losing around 3000 dunums of their land, because the settlers want to connect the settlements Gush Etzion and Beit AlBarakeh to make one settlement. Even though they are surrounded by settlements from all sides, they will not leave their land. This is not only due to the fact that they will lose their income, but the land is also their pride and identity.

Thirty five of the family’s apricot trees were cut down by the settlers. The family filed a complaint to the Israeli police, who did nothing to help. Afterwards, the settlers took revenge by setting three of their tractors on fire.

The family went to the Israeli military, who told them to file a complaint. Abdullah asked the military for a video of what happened, since there are military cameras all over the area. The soldiers refused to let them even see the video, because of ”security reasons”. The purpose of the cameras is not to protect people like Abdullah and his family, but instead the settlers who attack them and their property.

The family were not able a complaint since the soldiers did not allow them to see evidence that would make such an action possible. According to Abdullah Braigheith, using Israeli military courts to get justice is futile because the courts are set up to protect the victimizers, not the people who are wronged.

“It’s their own court, we can do nothing about it”, Abdullah said.

Water Shortage

About one year ago, four water tanks were built in Beit Ummar, a project to develop Palestinian water resources and agricultural lands in the West Bank. It was built with funding from the European Union, USAID, UAWC and other NGOs without permission from the Israeli authorities, because they knew that they most likely would not get a permit to built them if they did. Usually they would not receive demolition orders, but they all did, and the farmers, including Abdullah Braigheith, have all been going in and of court since. This meaning that they are now not only dealing with a huge water shortage and harassment from settlers, but are now also using huge amounts of money in court. The fact that even projects like this, funded by the European Union and other NGOs, are under demolition orders, shows how impossible it is for the people living in Beit Ummar and the rest of the West Bank to receive help.

Since the Oslo Accords in 1995, Beit Ummar was put in the calegory which covers 60 % of the West Bank, called Area C, which is completely under Israeli civil military control. In these areas, Israeli settlers have higher privileges which are at the expense of the Palestinian population here. This is clear when you look at the fields in Beit Ummar, where Palestinian farmers are either not able to actually use most of their land, or their plants are dying because of the shortage of water.

Close by, you see the settlers’ fields which are green. The difference is very clear.

Palestinian domestic consumption is on average 70 litres per person per day, with Israeli domestic consumption being on average 300 litres per capita per day. A gross inequality exists, however, between Palestinian communities and illegal Israeli settlements*.

*B’tselem, The Gap in Water Consumption Between Palestinians and Israelis, (2007). Available from: http://www.btselem.org/english/Water/Consumption_Gap.asp.

One of the settlements; Beit Al-Barakeh, right next to Abdullah's land. — One of the settlements; Beit Al-Barakeh, right next to Abdullah’s land.

Abdullah standing at the water tank which is in the risk of getting demolished

Abdullah looking at one of the many dry fields

“Then the missiles started” – Destruction of three storey building in Surif leaves three families without a home

2nd August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Surif, occupied Palestine

At 10:30pm on the 26th of July the Israeli military entered the town of Surif, near Hebron, blocking all entrances and surrounding one house with tanks,bulldozers and dozens of soldiers. Surif was declared a closed military zone and electricity was cut out during the army’s entrance.

After raining live ammunition on the home for many hours the army took out one injured elderly woman, afterwards striking the 4 story house with air-borne missiles and finally demolishing it with bulldozers.

The attack lasted until 5:30 AM. During this time rubber bullets,tear gas and live bullets were shot at youths who appeared at the scene, 7 of whom were injured.

The target was Mohammad al-Faqeeh, a 29 year old who was not living in the house nor had been previously seen in the area. Following requests on the loud speaker for Mohammed to surrender, he appears to have fired shots from the building before it was shattered to the ground. His body was recovered from the ruins by soldiers and taken away in an army vehicle.

Bulldozer destroys family home already shattered by missiles — Bulldozer destroys family home already destructed by missiles

The Al-heeh family had been living in the building for 4 years. the father, Ibrahim, said luckily his pregnant wife and small children had been out when the army arrived and were informed by a friend of the situation, who called fearing the family were still inside the building. They are now staying with family and searching for a new home, a difficulty considering the lack of compensation and the loss of all their possessions.

Young boy stands in the ruins of his home of 4 years

Israeli forces hunt for Palestinian children in Hebron market

1st August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On Sunday, 31st July 2016, Israeli forces in the Old City souq, the Palestinian market, of occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), were searching for a group of three Palestinian boys. Claiming they were throwing stones, Israeli forces were searching for them in order to arrest and incarcerate them.

A group of Israeli soldiers went into the Palestinian market on the search for the children they claimed were throwing stones, stopping any child they encountered on their way, that more or less fit the age-group of around 10-14 years old. They stopped and questioned a 12-year old boy at Bab al-Baladiyya, one of the entrance and exit-points for the soldiers to enter from the illegal settlements located on Shuhada Street into the Palestinian market. Without any family or a lawyer present, the soldiers questioned the boy, first claiming that he was throwing stones and threatening to arrest him and take him to the police station. Only because of the intervention of a local, the boy wasn’t kidnapped by the Israeli forces, that eventually admitted that the video-evidence they have is not even showing him. Still, they claimed that he was there and thus were attempting to force him into giving information.

After they finally allowed the boy to leave, they arbitrarily stopped any child that fit their age group to question them about their whereabouts and where they were going, even entering a Palestinian shop to interrogate a child. After about half an hour, they gave up their search, but approached human rights observers to ‘justify’ their behaviour, showing them a video on a phone that showed a boy throwing small stones, at a securely fenced military tower, without any possibility of the pebbles even hurting anyone. Despite only one boy throwing these small stones, Israeli forces were out looking for all the three children in the video. Israeli forces ‘justified’ their search for the children to the human rights observers, stating that because of what can be seen in the video, they went out to look for ‘a boy in a white T-Shirt’ – despite the boy in the video clearly wearing a green T-Shirt. In spite of both these facts, they stopped and interrogated any child loosely fitting the age-group of around 10-14.

Israeli forces cornering children in the street for interrogation

In the evening, Israeli forces again entered the market, to stopp, harass and question children fitting this age-group, and another arrest of an arbitrarily picked child could only be prevented by the intervention of a local.

The fact that the arrest of any children under the age of 12 is ilegall even under Israeli military law that applies to all Palestinians in the West Bank, did not bother the Israeli forces. Despite the boy in the video clearly less than 12 years old, they went out to hunt down children that are below the legal age for arrest even under the apartheid military law, the orders in clear violation of not only international law, but even the racist and apartheid Israeli military law.