July 7 | International Solidarity Movement | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Every Saturday, illegal Jewish settlers from around the West Bank take a “tour” of the busy souq (market) in Old City of Hebron, the busiest market street in the area since the closure of Shuhada Street. Local Palestinians believe that the Israeli authorities facilitate the tour as a deliberate method of intimidation, making life intolerable and unsustainable for them in order to prompt displacement.
On the tour, current and prospective settlers are given a skewed history of Hebron which disregards and contradicts the documented history of peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Jews in the city before 1948. Instead, it identifies the land’s heritage as solely Jewish. As shown, the settlers are escorted by numerous Israeli soldiers and Border Police officers, who randomly detain Palestinians for ID checks and prevent free movement in the souq during the duration of the tour.
Military and police can also be seen on the rooftops of Palestinian homes, many of which are now empty as a result of forced evictions for surveillance purposes. Palestinians living in the Old City are under constant threat of home invasions by the Israeli military and Jewish settlers, further contributing to displacement and the theft of Palestinian property.
February 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
The Old City, Al-Khalil, occupied Palestine
I have spent about 30 days in Al-Khalil this year. A short stay by ISM standards, and nothing compared to the tens of thousands of people who call this place home. Despite this, I already feel that the city has got under my skin. The beauty of Al-Khalil creeps up on you. First impressions can be rough; the soldiers, the police, the armed settlers, the wire and halogen lamp monsters that are the checkpoints, but after a while you begin to see it. The limestone brickwork glowing in the sunlight, the echoes of conversation that bounce up and down the tunnels of the old city souk. It creeps out and makes itself visible. The more you look for it, the more you see. Places have energy and tell stories, but these places would be nothing without the people.
The occupation: horses hate it too!
Above all else it has been the people of Al-Khalil that have made this place beautiful for me. The smiles as warm as the sun on the buildings, the shouts of “welcome!”, “ahlan wah sahlan!” and the endless offers of coffee make it hard to go anywhere fast, but they make your heart sing. Some people call Ireland the land of a hundred thousand welcomes, but I think that Palestine is more deserving of that title. There is so much beauty in the warmth and openness of the people here, but there is beauty in the daily acts of resistance against the occupation too.
There is a deep and dignified beauty in the story of Abdulraouf Al-Mohtaseb, an Al-Khalil shopkeeper who refused to sell his shop and family home to settlers, even when offered 100 million US Dollars. There is a beauty in the fact that day in, day out he opens his shop, right in plain sight of settlers & border police and greets everybody with warmth and respect.
There is beauty in the fact that Leila, a member of the Palestinian Women’s Embroidery Co-operative, keeps her shop open every Saturday when her street is invaded by occupation forces and extremist settlers. Shop keepers, local activists and internationals all band together; cooperating to ensure that no violence is enacted against the residents of the old city during this time.
Palestinian children watch as tear gas floods the streets of Qeitun outside of their school
There is beauty in the fact that whenever an act of harassment, oppression, or injustice occurs in H2, there is a good chance that Imad Abu Shamsiyya, or one of his comrades in Hebron Human Rights Defenders will have trained their camera lens on the perpetrator and victim. Despite violence against them and threats on their lives, these activists fearlessly capture the violence and oppression that the Israeli state tries so hard to hide.
Palestinians marching towards a gate that closes off Shuhada Street, Feb 22, 2019
Finally, there is beauty in the bravery, rage and defiance of the Palestinian youth who turn up to defend their communities from the regular Israeli army invasions of Al-Khalil. Say what you want about tactics of resistance, definitions of non-violence, pacifism. Seeing boys no older than 15 face down an attack from one of the most advanced armies in the world, armed with nothing but stones, their experiences and courage is a beautiful sight. It’s a sign of the future and reminder to the oppressor that resistance is woven into the fabric of life here in Al-Khalil.
I don’t want to romanticise the oppression of the occupation, or try to paint a picture of it through rose-tinted glasses. However, places like Al-Khalil usually only grab international attention when an injustice or an atrocity occurs. Yes, they occur regularly, but there is so much more to this place than violence and oppression.
Come to Al-Khalil and look for the beauty. Before long you will begin to see it everywhere. Come to Al-Khalil to work with all its wonderful residents to build a world in which they can direct their creative energy at something better than an occupying force.
February 24, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Al-Khalil, occupied Palestine
ISM were monitoring the checkpoint at Salaymeh this morning when they witnessed a soldier throwing a concussion grenade at children on the H1 side of the checkpoint.
This morning the ISM team in Al-Khalil were monitoring the checkpoint at Salaymeh.
Infamous illegal settler Ofer Yohana (עופר אוחנה) arrived around 7.20am, greeting the soldiers warmly and began conversing in Hebrew while looking in the direction of the activists. He then began to film and harass activists, insinuating that they were pedophiles for greeting the students on their way to school.
After 15 minutes of harassing activists, Ofer then turned his attention to the children on the H1 side of the checkpoint. He stood directly in front of the checkpoint on the H2 side so as to antagonize the children on their way to school. He began to film the children on the H1 side, provoking a reaction from them.
Some children threw stones in Ofer’s direction after 5 minutes of him filming them. This in turn caused a soldier to leave his post without wearing his helmet and move round to the H2 side of the checkpoint so he could toss a concussion grenade in the childrens’ direction. We captured the incident on video here:
The children then scattered in different directions with several of the younger girls screaming when the concussion grenade exploded. Thankfully none of the children were hurt by the grenade exploding, although some were left visibly shaken, with some children standing close to activists not wanting to cross the checkpoint.
He then returned to his vehicle and departed after 30 minutes of bullying children and harassing activists.
February 22, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Al-Khalil, occupied Palestine
This afternoon Israeli occupation forces attacked a non-violent demonstration organised by Palestinian civil society and attended by locals, internationals and Israelis.
Occupation forces invading Bab Al-Zawiye, Al-Khalil
Protestors demanding an end to the illegal occupation of Al-Khalil were attacked by Israeli soldiers and border police who fired tear gas, stun grenades and other “less-lethal” weapons as they stormed the Palestinian H1 area of the city.
During the course of this invasion, the Israeli occupation forces directly targeted members of the press, who were recording their attacks on nonviolent demonstrators. Footage of this can be seen below. If you look carefully you will notice that a child was caught up in the attack. He was very near the checkpoint, directly in the line of sight of the soldiers. Despite his presence the soldiers showed no restraint.
The occupation forces invaded the Bab Al-Zawiye area of Al-Khalil for over two hours, raiding homes, stopping and searching people and cars, and attacking Palestinians. It has been reported that one person was shot in the leg, and one Palestinian man was abducted by the army. ISM activists managed to film the abduction, although the whereabouts and safety of the man are currently unknown.
It is important to note that this morning, a group called Im Tirtzu staged a rally in the occupied part of Al-Khalil to celebrate the fact that the UN Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) had been forced out of the city by the Israeli government. Im Tirtzu, which has been described by the Israeli court system as a fascist organisation, demonstrated freely in the H2 area of Al-Khalil. Even though they have a record of inciting violence against Palestinians and regularly engage in Islamophobic rhetoric, they experienced no violence or restriction on their movement from Israeli occupation forces. Sadly, this type of collusion between occupation forces and the most radical streams of the Zionist movement is all too common. This is the reality of life under occupation.
Against imperialism, from Palestine to Venezuela
Despite the occupation forces’ efforts to stop the demonstration, hundreds of people took to the streets and resisted together. It was a beautiful sight to see Palestinians on the streets together with their international and Israeli comrades, calling in unison for an end to the illegal and immoral occupation. Moments like this give us a glimpse of what can be achieved when we work together to confront tyranny and violence. Let’s keep working, lets keep dreaming, lets keep fighting. End the occupation.
One of the more dangerous checkpoints for Palestinian children in Al-Khalil exists outside the Qurtuba school–which is juxtaposed immediately adjacent to the Beit Hadassah settlement. Another independent observer group, EAPPI, had been peacefully monitoring this checkpoint until last week–when their head offices announced that their team would also withdraw from Hebron following a targeted campaign of harassment by the right-wing fascist group Im Turtsu.
To fill this void, ISM volunteers have been monitoring the Qurtuba checkpoint in mornings and afternoons to provide an international presence to ensure the safety of Palestinian schoolchildren. As a result, ISM has become the target of harassment by these illegal settlers. On Thursday, this ordinary verbal abuse escalated to physical assault when Anat Cohen–a particularly violent settler with a history of attacking peaceful observers–assaulted ISM volunteers at the Qartuba checkpoint.
ISM captured the assault on video:
Minutes after Cohen assaulted the ISM volunteers, she called the police. When the local Hebron Police arrived, they detained the ISM volunteers and informed them that Cohen was pressing charges against the ISM volunteers for assault.
The ISM volunteers vehemently deny these accusations, and they have video evidence clearly showing that the only physical violence that occured was when Cohen assaulted the peaceful ISM volunteers, who were simply observing the checkpoint to ensure the safety of the schoolchildren.
