8th February 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
On 8th February 2016, Israeli forces threatened to attack a peaceful demonstration in front of Shuhada checkpoint in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron).
Israeli forces forcing demonstrators back
Protesters gathered at noon to protest the continued closure of the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood, that on the 1st of November 2015 was declared a ‘closed military zone’ by Israeli forces. Palestinian residents were forced to register with the Israeli army in order to be allowed to live in their family homes and be permitted into the closed zone. At the same time, settlers from the illegal settlements located directly adjacent to Palestinian houses are free to roam the streets with assault rifles slung over their shoulders like an accessories, as the closed military zone was deliberately designed to exclude the settlements while including Palestinian neighbourhoods. Friends and family of the Palestinian residents are barred from access, as are doctors and repair workers; human rights defenders were forcefully arrested and kicked out of their apartments and offices.
Demonstrators gathered in front of Shuhada checkpoint
The demonstration, organised by the Hebron Defense Committee, walked up to Shuhada checkpoint (checkpoint 56) chanting against the illegal collective punishment exerted on all the Palestinian residents resulting from the closed military zone. Israeli forces immediately gathered at Shuhada checkpoint, the checkpoint just recently ‘renovated’ into a cage-like monstrosity that makes reaching their homes and schools even more humiliating, intimidating and dangerous for Palestinians. Throughout the demonstration Palestinian school children on their way home were denied passage through the checkpoint.
School-children forced to wait at Shuhada checkpoint
Israeli forces had previously ordered demonstrators already gathered at the protest tent in front of the checkpoint, which has been organized by Youth Against Settlements for over a month in protest of the closed military zone, to leave the area.
Israeli forces ordering protest tent to leave the area
As soon as Palestinians started gathering in front of the checkpoint, Israeli forces advanced towards the peaceful demonstration dressed in heavy “riot control” gear and with their machine guns cocked. They immediately forced the Palestinians to move back, threatening them to shoot tear gas at the demonstrators peacefully exercising their right to protest. Even after complying with the order and moving further away from the checkpoint, Israeli forces stood outside the checkpoint aiming their guns at the gathering – even though they were in the supposedly Palestinian-controlled H1 area of al-Khalil. A group of soldiers entered a house in the H1 area, using the roof as a vantage point to surveil the demonstration.
Israeli forces threatening the use of force against peaceful demonstration
February 8th marks 100 days since the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood was first declared a closed military zone. With the renewal of the order till the 1st of March, Palestinian residents face yet another month of arbitrary threats, humiliation, violence and denial of their most basic human rights by Israeli forces. The area covered by the closed military zone order includes the tiny strip of Shuhada Street where Palestinians are still allowed to live after the 1994 Hebron Mosque Massacre that was taken as an ‘excuse’ by Israeli forces for the closure of the main Palestinian market in Shuhada Street. This closure of the majority of Shuhada Street for Palestinians is protested yearly in the Open Shuhada Street Campaign.
7th February 2016 | International Solidarity Movement | Hebron, occupied Palestine
February 8th marks one hundred days since Israeli forces declared the Tel Rumeida neighborhood and the adjacent portion of Shuhada Street a “closed military zone,” requiring residents to register with the Israeli military and be assigned numbers in order to be allowed to access their homes while all other Palestinians and international human rights defenders are barred from entering the area. On February 5th the Israeli military issued an order officially extending the closed military zone until the 1st of March, with the possibility for further renewal.
Throughout this period Palestinian residents have faced increased, arbitrary restrictions of movement and harassment which have no basis in Israel’s purported security concerns. While residents contend with continual threats at the hands of Israeli forces and settlers from the illegal Israeli settlements situated directly adjacent to their neighborhood, Palestinian and international human rights defenders face targeted exclusion from the area. Israeli human rights organization B’tselem reported that Palestinian resident are clearly being subjected to collective punishment. They “are suspected of no wrongdoing and are forced to suffer serious disruptions in their daily lives simply because they had the misfortune of living or working in neighborhoods the military has decided to close.” International and Palestinian organizations have called on the international community to pressure Israel to lift the closed military zone in Hebron, as it constitutes an unlawful violation of the right of Palestinian residents to freedom from collective punishment under the Geneva Conventions.
Palestinian boys wait at Shuhada checkpoint to see if Israeli soldiers will allow them to walk into their neighborhood
Israeli authorities declared the closed military zone on November 1st. The announcement came in the wake of the extrajudicial killings of Palestinian 23-year-olds Homam Adnan Sa’id on October 27th and Islam Rafiq ‘Ebeido on the 28th. Witnesses at both incidents reported the youths posed no threat to the soldiers when they were shot “in cold blood” and subsequently denied medical treatment. Amnesty International’s director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme had stated in late October that “Israeli forces appear to have ripped up the rulebook and resorted to extreme and unlawful measures.”
23-year-old Islam Rafiq Obeido. An eyewitness reported that he was “100% sure he was unarmed.”
Since the beginning of October, over 170 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces; the city of Hebron suffered more deaths than anywhere other than occupied East Jerusalem. 551 Palestinians were arrested in January alone, 120 of them in Hebron, and more than 7000 Palestinians are currently being held in Israeli prisons.
On October 30th, Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street (the short portion where some Palestinians are still permitted to live) were required to line up to register their ID numbers and names with Israeli military forces. Families were then given numbers, which Israeli forces would force them to present in order to enter their heavily militarized neighborhood. Palestinian women, children and men can be barred from entering their homes merely for lack of an ID or identifying number Israeli soldiers find acceptable.
Palestinian residents line up with their IDs as the Israeli military commander notes them down in preparation for the harsh restrictions
Inside the closed military zone, as in all neighborhoods in the completely Israeli-military-controlled H2 area of Hebron, Israeli settlers from the illegal settlements inside the city are allowed to walk unimpeded, carry rifles and handguns and are not subject to any checkpoints or restrictions. Israeli forces do not permit Palestinians who are not registered in the closed military zone to visit their friends and family living inside. Journalists cannot enter to report on incidents. Not even emergency medical personnel would be allowed inside, nor can repair workers enter the area to fix Palestinian homes.
Tel Rumeida resident Abed Salaymeh was quoted in the Action Alert issued by the International Solidarity Movement and signed by over forty Palestinian and international organizations calling for an end to the closed military zone and for Israel to abide by international law in Hebron. “Soldiers and settlers are making life for the Palestinians intolerable to force them to leave their houses voluntarily,” he explained. “This is a crime under international law. They are targeting activists to silence the truth and stop the truth from reaching the whole world.”
Routine invasive body search of young Palestinian man by Israeli forces in Tel Rumeida
Israeli forces targeted human rights defenders from the inception of the closed military zone, with both the International Solidarity Movement apartment and the center for Palestinian activist group Youth Against Settlements included in the designated zone. Palestinian and international activists face exclusion from the neighborhood where their presence has long been vital in responding to and documenting Israeli human rights abuses. “It is obvious that by violently forcing human rights observers out of the area, the Israeli forces are disappearing eyewitnesses to their countless human rights violations”, explains Jenny, an international human rights defender in al-Khalil, “while Palestinian residents are collectively put under these draconian measures, settlers from the adjacent illegal settlements freely walk the streets with complete impunity for whatever they do.”
Following a United Nations delegation in December to areas in Hebron including Tel Rumeida, UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities Robert Piper stated that “Human rights defenders play a vital role in promoting human rights. Protective presence organizations are on the front line of this work in the occupied Palestinian territory.” Palestinian and international human rights defenders have been subject to a succession of violent threats and arbitrary arrests after the closed military zone was declared.
On November 7th Israeli forces made life even more difficult for Palestinian Residents of Tel Rumeida by completely closing down Shuhada checkpoint (Checkpoint 56), the main travel point between the heavily restricted neighborhood and the nominally Palestinian Authority-controlled H1 area where residents must travel to work, shop and study. Even those officially permitted to enter the neighborhood were forced to take obstacle-ridden dirt paths through people’s yards or travel a long circuitous route involving paying a taxi to drop them off at a distance behind the neighborhood (Israeli forces barred Palestinians fro driving in Tel Rumeida even before imposing the closed military zone). The ability to circumvent the checkpoint, albeit via arduous and treacherous routes, underlines the disparity between the claim that the checkpoints and restrictions are put in place for Israeli security and the reality of punitive measures that disproportionately affect schoolchildren, elderly residents and those struggling nonviolently for their fundamental rights.
In late December Israeli forces reopened a newly renovated Shuhada checkpoint to registered residents. The recently expanded checkpoint often causes long waiting times for Palestinian residents as Israeli forces interrogate, check and search people inside a closed room between the turnstiles and metal detectors. Locals report the checkpoint is even worse than its predecessors, and many Palestinians have experienced harassment and intimidation by Israeli forces acting with impunity out of the view of any media or human rights observers.
Palestinians prepare to attempt to cross into Tel Rumeida via the recently expanded checkpoint
Since the closed military zone was declared, Palestinians and international human rights defenders have been resisting its unjust imposition. The International Solidarity Movement in conjunction with multiple Palestinian organizations first released the Action Alert demanding an end to the closed military zone on December 13th, which over 40 organizations have now signed. Initially as a response to the arbitrary arrest and detention of Tel Rumeida resident Wafa Sharabati, Palestinian activists and families staged a sit-in on the H1 side of Shuhada checkpoint calling for an end to the closed military zone. Activists erected the protest tent daily, in a nonviolent demonstration against the unlawful restrictions on their freedom of movement. “We refuse to be registered as numbers and have our human rights violated just because we are Palestinian,” declared Issa Amro, coordinator of Youth Against Settlements.
The struggle against the closed military zone also comes as Palestinian organizations escalate the yearly campaign to Open Shuhada Street. Actions are planned in Hebron and around the world against Israel’s apartheid policy of completely closing the rest of Shuhada street, which extends past the closed military zone and was once the main thoroughfare through Hebron’s H2 area, to all Palestinians.
Activists and families gather outside Shuhada checkpoint in protest against the closed military zone – photo by Youth Against Settlements
So far demands have gone unheeded as Israeli authorities once again renewed the closed military zone order on Friday, February 5th. The International Solidarity Movement calls on international governing bodies, nations, and people around the world to pressure Israeli authorities to end the closed military zone in Hebron and to respect Palestinians’ fundamental rights to live their lives with freedom and dignity.
Resources – reports, press releases and news coverage on the closed military zone
Arranged in a timeline in chronological order since before the declaration of the zone in Tel Rumeida and Shuhada street
Amnesty International report on unlawful killings perpetrated by Israeli forces in Palestine, including multiple incidents in Hebron (27 October)
Report on 27 October unlawful killing of Hoummam Said by Israeli forces in Tel Rumeida
Report on 28 October extrajudicial execution of Islam Rafiq Obeido by Israeli forces in Tel Rumeida
Palestinians in Tel Rumeida required to register with Israeli forces in preparation for severe new restrictions under the closed military zone (October 30)
Schoolchildren and international activists were among first victims of the Israeli strategy of using closed military zone to harass and intimidate (Reports on 1stand 2nd November)
Report – As Israeli forces increased restrictions on Palestinians, they also forced international human rights defenders to leave their apartment in Tel Rumeida and arrested one German and one US national on November 3
B’tselem report on how the closed military zone disrupts lives, constitutes collective punishment of Palestinian residents
Report on violent home raids and takeovers in the wake of closed military zone declaration, attack on Youth Against Settlements center, activists targeted as Israeli settlers celebrate violence (November 7)
Report on the November 7 closure of Checkpoint 56 for ‘renovations.
November 8 ISM issues first urgent call for international action on the closed military zone in Hebron
Article detailing harassment and evictions faced by international human rights defenders in Hebron (November 11)
Report on the second violent eviction of international human rights defenders from the ISM apartment in Hebron on November 11
Report on Israeli forces’ continual renewal of closed military zone orders and the third eviction of International Solidarity Movement volunteers from Tel Rumeida on November 21
Report on the November 22 arrests of two international human rights defenders by Israeli forces for entering closed military zone
Significant UN resolution calling for protection of human rights defenders across the world (November 25)
On 8 December a United Nations delegation visited the H2 area of Hebron, including Tel Rumeida
UN statement notes importance of work undertaken by human rights defenders in Hebron and states their targeting in “alarming” (10 December, International Human Rights Day)
Article recounting the experiences of families on Shuhada street living under closed military zone (December 16)
Press release by the UN calling for an end to unacceptable harassment of human rights defenders in Palestine, notes the targeting of the Youth Against Settlements center under the closed military zone (December 18)
Report and photo story on Shuhada checkpoint (Checkpoint 56), reopened at the end of December, rebuilt to be an even greater obstacle to Palestinian residents attempting travel to and from their homes in Tel Rumeida
Article on the extension of the closed military zone for the third month (January 3)
Press release by Youth Against Settlements on the extension of the closed military zone until January 31 (January 5)
Press release on January 7th by Youth Against Settlements on the sit-in protest against the closed military zone staged in front of Shuhada checkpoint (Checkpoint 56)
Article on the situation in the closed military zone as it was extended until January 31 (January 9)
Article on the sit-in protest for the opening of the closed military zone in Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street (January 9)
Report after the 12th day of the nonviolent sit-in protest against the closed military zone, which was visited by multiple international delegations (18 January)
6th February 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Since the 1st of November 2015 the Tel Rumeida area and Shuhada Street in occupied Al-Khalil (Hebron) have been declared a ‘closed military zone’. The first declaration of the closure was for one month, but since then the order has been extended several times.
The newest order from the 1st of February declares the area as closed till the 1st of March with the chance of extension.
Shuhada Checkpoint (Checkpoint 56)
The closure effects the residents of the area every single day. Every family living in the area has been given a number and was forced to register with the Israeli forces. When entering the area, through checkpoints, the residents have to show ID, give their number and often also answer questions and get bag and body searched. Friends and family of the residents are unable to visit them inside the area; even doctors or craftsmen are completely barred from entering the area.
Furthermore, the closed military zone has let to the eviction of two human rights organisations based in Tel Rumeida. These are now banned from living in their houses and working from their offices and since they are banned from the whole area are not able to observe and document the rampant Israeli human rights violations. The closed military zone is clearly intended to force out Palestinian residents in order to allow for an expansion of the illegal Israeli settlements, and to evict human rights defenders to silence the truth of the Israeli forces’ harassment, attacks and human rights violations.
3rd February 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
On February 3rd 2016, Israeli occupation forces violently opened the door of houses in the vicinity of the Ibrahimi mosque by cutting the door locks with a disk grinder, and then entered these houses.
The houses are located in al-Sahla Street near the Ibrahimi mosque, settlers illegally invaded and occupied them two weeks ago, but were then evicted by the police and army the next morning.
After the Israeli army removed the door-locks of the two houses, Israeli construction workers took the external an internal dimensions of both Palestinian properties as if they are already owned by Israeli settlers. The settlers were protected during their illegal activities by big groups of soldiers.
Palestinian residents who walked trough the checkpoint in front of these houses were body-checked and harassed by the soldiers. The video below illustrates how inhumane and degrading these body-searches and ID-checks are, with soldiers ordering Palestinians to take off clothing regardless of weather and treating them without even a slight bit of dignity.
30th January 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
More than four month ago, 24th September 2015, at the very start of the current escalation of violence, human rights group Amnesty International demanded a proper investigation in the execution of Hadeel al-Hashlamon at Shuhada checkpoint in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) on 22nd September 2015. Amnesty consideres it proven, that the 18 year old female student posed no threat to the soldiers who executed her and then let her bleed to death without medical help for more than half an hour.
More executions followed and they all seem to have the same pattern: Soldiers at the checkpoints gun down Palestinian men and women who just wanted to pass the checkpoints and gave them no medical care until they were dead. They put a knife next to the body and made a photograph of the body and the knife, for the ‘stabbing attack story’ in the official Israeli news.
While the international press blindly copied the official Israeli version of the events saying “Israel has the right to defend themselves against terrorists.” The Israeli government furthermore tries to criminalize any human rights organisation that actually did proper report on the incidents.
From then on, the Israeli Army killed Palestinian civilians every day. The number counts 167 killed Palestinians suspected of knife attacks, car attacks or trowing stones. Most of them in Hebron in the southern part of the West Bank
In the last week of October 2015, there were almost daily executions by the Israeli army in the city of Hebron:
On 22 October, Israeli forces in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood killed Islam Ebeido (23), from the same neighborhood, while passing by Gilbert checkpoint .
On 24 October, at approximately 14:50, Israeli forces killed Sa’d al-Atrash (20), from the south of Hebron, in the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque. They shot him from a range of less than 2 meters. Israeli forces claimed that al-Atrash attempted to stab an Israeli soldier. It should be noted that the area were al-Atrash was killed can’t be entered without passing through a metal detector in a checkpoint.
On 25 October, Israeli Border Police stationed at the entrance of the Ibrahimi Mosque, south of Hebron’s Old City, killed Dania Jehad Ersheid (17), from al-Hawooz area. They opened fire at her when she stopped to have her school bag searched.
On 27 October, at approximately 22:30, Israeli special troops, temporarily replacing the soldiers at the Gilbert Checkpoint in Tel Rumeida neighbourhood of Hebron killed Homam Adnan Sa’id, 23, claiming ‘he had a knife’, but eyewitnesses report seeing soldiers throwing a knife next to his dead body.
On 28 October, Islam Rafiq Obeid, 23, was shot by Israeli troops in Tel Rumeida in Hebron. Witnesses say that soldiers arrived at around 14:30, cleared the spot, then waited for the first to come, which was Islam, and killed him with over 11 bullets. Soldiers also detained Palestinian medics and stopped them from providing Obeid medical help. According to witnesses, he was left to bleed to death by Israeli forces that surrounded the area and closed it.
On 29 October, soldiers at Qurtuba checkpoint, in Shuhada Street, killed Farouq Seder (19), from Izone neighbourhood east of Hebron, by opening fire at him from behind. Israeli forces claimed that he attempted to stab a soldier. However, photos posted by Israeli soldiers on social media clearly show that there was no knife in the crime scene.
On 29 October, Soldiers at the ibrahim Mosque Checkpoint killed Mahdi Muhammad al-Muhtaseb, 23. An eyewitness told Ma’an News that he saw an Israeli soldier shoot at the Palestinian, hitting him in the shoulder. “Then the Israeli soldier approached him and shot him in the head and dropped a knife near his body,” the eyewitness added.
Militairy bulldozer enters Tel Rumeida for building the new armybase, while residents get registration numbers
Since these assassinations, which in the Israeli press were dubbed ‘terror attacks’ perpetrated by Palestinians, families in Shuhada Street and the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood in Hebron were punished with severe restrictions. They had to register with the army, who build a new military camp in the old Jewish cemetery in Tel Rumeida, fortified the checkpoints and closed down all paths on the hill, forcing everyone to walk through the checkpoint, where other Palestinians had been killed.
Then the Israeli army declared the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood and Shuhada street a ‘closed military zone’, evicted all human right observers and closed the offices of ISM and YAS, two human rights defenders groups. Only registered residents have since then been able to enter the region but are subjected to daily harassment and threats. Illegal Israeli settlers can move freely in the area.
It’s collective punishment which is an abuse of international law. This closed military zone has now lasted for more than 3 months.
To the world, Israel is pretending to defend itself, but the assassinated men were not attacking the soldiers at all. There’s clear evidence that most of the killings were random executions.
Many residents and internationals saw the special troops arriving and checking the environment before waiting for the first Palestinian to come and kill him. They put knives next to the body to pretend they neutralized terrorists, made pictures of it, stole the dead bodies, cleaned the blood from the street and left the scene.
Families are afraid to complain or give testimony because they will surely be punished for it by the occupation forces. They know they can be killed for no reason, or have their children traumatized, injured or even killed, if they stay where they live in their neighborhood. Some families already temporarily left.
This is ethnic cleansing, a war crime, and brutal abuse of Human Rights and International Law.
Sit-in tent against the closed military zone in Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street.
That’s why the international politicians are slowly demanding a proper investigation into all those killings. Swedish foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom was brave enough to start demanding this, and is publicly supported by other foreign ministers.
The Israeli reaction is furious and devastating. As long as we’re waiting for more brave politicians to join this justified demand, it is necessary to support Margot Wallstrom, because she will be attacked inside and outside of Sweden.
A good start is to send a supportive message to the Swedish embassy in your country <http://www.swedenabroad.com/en-GB/Embassies/>, using the underneath text or writing your own. You may also consider writing a message to your own national and local politicians asking them to support Palestine and Walström and demand investigations of the assassinations. To the attention of Mrs. Margot Wallström, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Sweden
Dear Mrs. Wallström,
I have taken notice of your stance on the necessity to investigate Israel’s extrajudicial killings of Palestinians. I have also noted the shameful reactions of Israeli leaders and others. It’s the ferocity and disgrace of these reactions that urge me to speak out in support of your remarks and integrity.
I support your position that Israel should be held accountable for what are in fact proven extrajudicial killings. Amnesty International and other organisations have provided plenty of evidence, as in the case of Hadeel al-Hashlamoun, the young Palestinian woman who was executed point blank by the Israeli army. Much of this evidence is available online, ranging from reports to video’s and testimonies. They make clear that these killings are no exception, but part and parcel of the structural Israeli mistreatment of Palestinians.
Its not that we don’t know about the Israeli atrocities. The problem is that we refuse to act on them. As a result the Palestinians pay the price and Israel goes unpunished – giving the country carte blanche to proceed, which is exactly what we are witnessing. This is why I applaud your principled stance. If no one acts, the remains of the Palestinian society will be destroyed before our eyes.
[If the FM of your country doesn’t support the demand:] I regret that the Foreign Minister of my own country has not acted, and has not expressed his support for Sweden. Please be informed that I will urge him to correct these failures.
