Category: Hebron - Page 48 - International Solidarity Movement

Israeli army take control of street under Palestinian authority for illegal settlers’ visit

27th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

At around 11.30am on Tuesday 26 April, heavily armed Israeli occupation soldiers and border police started appearing in large numbers through Shuhada checkpoint (also called checkpoint 56). This area is H1 area, supposedly controlled by the Palestinian Authority, where Israelis have no legal authority. In blatant disregard of this fact they proceeded to walk down Bir Saba Street, stopping at each shop demanding all cars on the street were removed, but did not make the shops close as they usually do. At the same time the soldiers closed Shuhada checkpoint for registered resident Palestinians, who could neither leave or enter to reach their homes.

Soldiers demanding shop keepers move their vehicles from Bir Saba Street. Photo credit: ISM

The soldiers moved up and down the street, ensuring their demands were met and the cars removed. Where they could not find the owners, they broke into cars to search for explosives. While this was ongoing, more soldiers and border police arrived blocking off the road at the other end from the checkpoint. A sniffer dog was led up and down the street by the soldiers to also search for non existent explosives. The army rummaged around rubbish piles along the road, or made local shop keepers move rubbish for them to inspect, leaving a mess for the Palestinians to clean up.

Occupation soldiers searching for explosives outside local shops. Photo credit: ISM

Several hours later, having also made locals move off the road and sit on the pavement, the reason for this elaborate exercise was clear when a group of approximately 40 settlers, escorted by the same number of border police and soldiers, moved from the illegal settlement inside Shuhada checkpoint into Palestinian territory down the road to a clearly revered tomb, where they spent ten minutes or so. They were then escorted back into the illegal settlement, and followed by five subsequent groups of illegal settlers, again escorted by police and army.

Illegal settlers escorted by occupation soldiers and border police to the tomb in H1. Photo credit: ISM

Local and international activists were present at several points along the road to monitor and photograph events, and any incidents. When the settlers walked past several of them took photos and/or filmed the activists along the road, for unknown reasons. One settler asked where the internationals were from, and welcomed them to Israel. Not only was this factually inaccurate and a disregard of the Oslo agreement, but a highly insensitive and conflictual comment, made on Palestinian territory.

At three o’clock the “tours” were finished and all the settlers escorted back through the checkpoint into H2 area, where large groups of Palestinians live under Israeli military control. A day of trading was lost for the local shops keepers; not to mention that an Israeli incursion into a Palestinian area is illegal and unacceptable.

Release of a cold-blooded killer illustrates the racism of Israeli society

23rd April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Yesterday, Elor Azraya, a soldier in the Israeli army, infamous for the extrajudicial execution of Abed al-Fattah al-Sharif in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), has been released to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Pessach with his family.

21-year old Abed al-Fattah al-Sharif was lying on the ground incapacitated after what Israeli forces claim was a knife-attack by him and Ramzi al-Qasrawi against Israeli soldiers stationed at Gilbert checkpoint in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood of occupied al-Khalil. In a video that was captured by human rights defender Emad Abu Shamsiyyah, who has since been receiving death threats from settlers, Elor Azraya can be seen cocking his gun and executing the unconscious Abed al-Fattah with a shot in the head. With blood and brain matter starting to seep from the wound in his head, it is obvious that Abed al-Fattah was still alive when executed in cold-blood by Elor Azraya.

*** WARNING*** the following video contains extremely graphic material. A soldier is seen executing one of the Palestinian men at 1:52. Video-credit: Emad Abu Shamsiya

The neighbourhood of Tel Rumeida and the tiny strip of Shuhada Street where Palestinians are still ‘allowed’ to walk after the 1994 Ibrahimi mosque massacre, have been declared a ‘closed military zone’ since 1^st November 2015 in an act of collective punishment against the whole Palestinian population. The increase of humiliating and racist ‘security-controls’ towards only the Palestinian residents by Israeli forces, goes hand in hand with the dehumanization of these residents with the introduction of a number system, where every Palestinian resident was assigned a number that he or she is being referred to. When passing and being checked at one of the countless checkpoints whether a Palestinian resident is allowed to enter, soldiers check whether they are registered and numbered residents. At the same time, Israeli settlers from the illegal settlements are allowed to freely and without hassle, roam the streets, regardless of whether they actually are residents in this area.

The approval and support Elor Azraya has been receiving both from his comrades (that can be seen in the video with them not even flinching when he executes Abed al-Fattah) and settlers, mirrors the great support he enjoys from the majority of the Israeli population. Upon arriving home, Elor Azraya was received as a hero with a big celebration. The Israeli army clearly foster a culture where extrajudicial executions and an excessive use of force against Palestinians is considered ‘commendable’, ‘normal’ and even ‘heroism’; which is approved of not only by Israeli politics, but also society, and is thus becoming an integral part of Israeli society.

In various demonstrations in favour of this cold-blooded execution, Israeli demonstrators have been seen with placards asking to ‘kill them all’ – applauding not only the heinous execution of Abed al-Fattah, but calling on everyone to kill all the Palestinians – a clear call for the ethnic cleansing, and genocide, of Palestinians. These demonstrations have attracted hundreds of Israelis, and have not received any condemnation by the Israeli public or government.

Banner calling for the erasure of the Palestinian people Photo credit: AFP — Banner calling for the erasure of the Palestinian people
Photo credit: AFP

Whereas Elor Azraya has been released until Sunday, the body of Abed al-Fattah is still being held by the Israeli government in a practice where the Israeli government holds hostage the bodies of Palestinians they accuse of attempting to harm Israeli forces or settlers. Like Abed al-Fattah al-Sharif, many more Palestinian familes are thus denied the right to bury their loved ones and mourn their loss. Families of these Palestinians and their supporters have been protesting this inhumane tactic, demanding the release of the bodies.

In an environment that supports and commands the extrajudicial killing of a (Palestinian) human being lying incapacitated on the ground – clearly posing no threat to anyone – it does not come as a big surprise that Elor Azraya has been released ‘to celebrate Pessach with his family’. The charges for the heinous murder of Abed al-Fattah had already been reduced to ‘manslaughter’, despite the telling and obvious video footage. His release without any consequence for the execution of a Palestinian so clearly caught on camera is not just another sign of how cold-blooded, racist and inhumane the apartheid Israeli occupation of Palestine is; but also of how the ‘only democracy in the Middle East’ visibly has no regard or rather a total disregard for human rights, the rule of law or even of human life – as long as it is Palestinian life.

Palestinian youth intentionally run over in Hebron

22^st April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On the afternoon of 21^st April 2016, an Israeli settler ran down a Palestinian youth with his car, causing critical injuries, near the Ibrahimi mosque in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron).

Two settlers were driving down the road connecting Shuhada Street and Kiryat Arba in occupied al-Khalil around 2 pm, and, seeing a group of Palestinian children playing on a parking lot bordering the street, turned around and deliberately hit Ala’a al-Rajabi with their car. The children that have been playing with Ala’a before the incident said that they were attacked by these two settlers several times before, and the last time were pepper-sprayed by the settlers that threatened them. According to eye-witnesses, the soldiers at a nearby checkpoint were merely watching and even allowed the two young settlers to attempt to drive off, before a group of Palestinians went up to the checkpoint to ‘inform’ the soldiers of what happened. The injured 17-year old boy, having been hit whilst on his bicycle, was lying on the ground bleeding from his legs and head for about 15 minutes, before any medical help was given to him.

The settler that was in the car when Ala'a was hit — The settler that was in the car when Ala’a was run down

A Palestinian ambulance was allowed to evacuate the youth, now in a critical condition, to a hospital. Big groups of settlers gathered, while more and more soldiers as well as civil police arrived. According to several eye-witnesses, a settler youth wearing an orange T-Shirt was driving the car, whilst another settler youth wearing a blue T-Shirt was in the passenger seat. After the police arrived and a discussion with the two settlers was had, however, it was claimed that it had been the settler with the blue T-shirt that was driving the car. Observers believe the reason for this to be that the settler driving the car did not in fact have a driving licence, whereas the passenger did. Regardless, the settler said by the police to have been driving, was seen walking free from the police station at Ibrahimi mosque, only an hour after the initial incident.

Police man next to the bicycle Ala'a was hit on — Police man next to the bicycle Ala’a was hit on

The street where the settlers ran down Ala’a connects the illegal downtown settlements on Shuhada Street and in Tel Rumeida directly with the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba on the outskirts of al-Khalil. Palestinians are prohibited from driving anywhere on this road, an apartheid rule that covers all traffic, including ambulances. Ala’a therefore was lucky that the Israeli forces did coordinate to allow a Palestinian ambulance to drive in to the area as quickly as they did.

The stretch of street where Palestinian traffic is completely barred includes Shuhada Street – the major part of which is entirely off limits for Palestinians. A small part of Shuhada Street is still accessible for Palestinians on foot, but has been under a ‘closed military zone’ order since 1^st November 2015. Only Palestinian residents registered as a number are allowed to pass and international visitors are completely barred. Settlers, however, can freely roam the streets. This a part of the Israeli forces’ policy of slowly but steadily driving Palestinians out of these areas, with a view to connecting all the illegal settlements as well as disappearing the last remaining Palestinians from these areas.

Sami Janazreh enters 46th day of hunger strike

17th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Today volunteers from ISM attended a demonstration in Al-Khalil for Prisoners’ Day. Once the main demonstration had ended in the city a group of young Palestinians invited the volunteers to the Fawwar refugee camp outside the city.

Prisoner's day demonstration in occupied Hebron — Prisoner’s day demonstration in occupied Hebron

At the camp they were greeted by the Janazreh family, relatives of Sami Janazreh who invited the volunteers into their home for tea so they could tell us his story. Sami’s brother Haitham explained that Sami was detained on the 15th of November 2015 from his home in front of his family. The Israeli military brought no charges against Sami, but he was brought before a military court, with no jury or media present and sentenced to 4 months in a military prison. Once the 4 months were up he was brought before the military court again and sentenced to a further 4 months, without charge.

Three young demonstrators hold images of Sami

On the 3rd of March 2016 Sami was left with no option but to begin a hunger strike in protest at his detention. He is now 46 days into his hunger strike, and for the last 20 days his family has had no contact with him. The last information they received was that his kidneys were failing, his teeth had begun to fall out and he was unable to walk. The family have made concerted efforts to contact the prison to get updates on his condition but to no avail. They have had no contact from the Israeli government and there have been no official reports made.

On April 3rd 2016 two other prisoners, Adeb Mafaga and Fuouad Asse also began a hunger strike in protest at their illegal detention. The three men are striking in the hope that the Israeli government will release them to their families with signed papers to say they will no longer be detained without cause.

Sami's brother Haitham — Sami’s brother Haytham

Sami’s home is within the Fawwar refugee camp where he live’ with his wife, 3 children, Feras (13), Mahmod Darwesh (7), Marya (4) and other relatives including his brother, Haitham. The family has accepted that their father will die in prison without them having the chance to say goodbye. They asked the human rights defenders from ISM to highlight the plight of these men and raise awareness in the international community to give Sami the strength to continue his protest. As the hunger strike on its own has not been successful, it is now vitally important that we highlight this issue and put worldwide pressure on the Israeli government to release the men and save their lives.

On this Palestinian Prisoner’s Day we urge you to show support for Sami, Adeb and Fuoud by tweeting #FreeSami and by spreading his story through social media as much as we can.

Tree Planting and Protest in Beit al-Baraka

10th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Trees were planted and a demonstration took place today at Beit al-Baraka today to protest the extension of the illegal Gush Etzion settlement bloc.

An international presence had been requested by the organisers so two ISM volunteers headed to Beit Ummar to meet with them, and along with three Israeli activists headed to Beit al-Baraka, 38-dunam (9.3 acre) compound located near the al-Arrub refugee camp. This is an area which used to be owned by Palestinians, but which has now been fenced off, either by settlers or by the American millionaire, Irving Moskowitz, who is rumoured to have purchased the site through a front company in 2012 in order to create an illegal Israeli settlement there. What is very clear is that this area is earmarked for illegal settlement and will form a strategic extension to the illegal Gush Etzion settlement bloc that overlooks the area. What local Palestinians fear is that the entire Gush Etzion junction will be closed to Palestinians, permanently closing the road between Hebron and Behlehem for them. This fenced area is now a closed military zone forbidden to Palestinians.

Close to this closed area a group of around 25 local Palestinians, and the international and Israeli activists planted a number of trees on Palestinian land as a protest, attended by several Palestinian Authority officials, and some press. After the tree planting, which was observed by Israeli soldiers, the demonstrators marched peacefully towards the closed area of land and the soldiers and confronted them, during which there was some arguing and scuffling with soldiers. Two men were detained for a time, but nobody was arrested.

The creeping extension of the Gush Etzion cluster of settlements which Israelis call ‘the gateway to Jerusalem’ and increasing tension and violence at the junction make this entire area a frightening place for Palestinians to pass through.