27th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team| Hebron, occupied Palestine
We, the undersigned Palestinian political forces and organizations, appeal to local and international institutions, human rights organisations and democratic forces for immediate and decisive action concerning the execution of Palestinian children by Israeli occupation forces and settlers. To date, 18 Palestinian children have been killed and executed in cold blood at the checkpoints and on the streets since the beginning of the current Palestinian uprising. Dozens of Palestinian children have been injured, arrested and brutally interrogated by Israeli forces.
These practices carried out by Israeli occupation forces and settlers rise to the level of war crimes and require confrontation and a response to halt this murder of Palestinian children.
We therefore request from human rights and humanitarian groups, as well as social movements, trade unions, democratic parties and concerned individuals throughout the world, to take responsibility and work to halt these crimes, which represent a flagrant violation of international conventions and treaties.
Signed (in alphabetical order):
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Hebron
Hebron Defense Committee
International Solidarity Movement
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Hebron
On Thursday 26th November, at around 8 am, Israeli forces detained two young Palestinians boys at Quitoun checkpoint in occupied Hebron (Al-Khalil), allegedly throwing stones at the soldiers. On the way towards the police station where the Palestinian boys were taken by the Israeli forces – near the Ibrahimi mosque—two international human rights activists were documenting the events at the scene.
The human rights activists questioned the Israeli forces about the respective name and age of the two boys, one of which was only twelve years of age. Israeli forces refused to answer the legitimate questions of the human rights activists. One of the boys, an eighteen year old from Abu Sneineh was taken to the police station, while the international activists continued to monitor the events and ask for the age of the younger child who was still outside, detained by Israeli forces.
Embarrassed by the questions of the international human rights activists, but most of all by them witnessing this illegal detention, Israeli forces decided to arbitrarily arrest one of the human right activist, claiming that she was disturbing Israeli forces in doing their job.
The child was released after around an hour in detention, in tears and shock.
Inside the police station, the French human rights activist and the Palestinian boy were waiting for investigation, without being allowed to use their phone to inform their families and lawyers
Inside the police station, the French human rights activist and the Palestinian boy were waiting for the investigation, without being allowed to use their phone to inform their families and lawyers.
After one hour, they were taken to the police station of the illegal settlement Kiryat Arba for the investigation. The international human right activist was accused of preventing the Israeli forces to do their job and blocking their way, although she merely asked for the age of the boy, as clearly visible in the video
In the official document by the Israeli police, the human rights activist is accused of being a danger to the public safety the Israeli state and was therefore banned from the entire West Bank for two weeks
Until now, it remains unknown what will happen to the eighteen years old boy who had been arrested
26th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team| Hebron, occupied Palestine
On the 17th of November, around one hundred and fifty Israeli soldiers advanced into Jabal Al-Rahma neighborhood – a neighborhood in the H1 area of Hebron (al-Khalil) just outside of the H2 area that is under Israeli military control. From 7.30pm until 3am the following morning most of the houses in the neighborhood were raided, amongst them the house of human rights activist Badee Dwaik.
On this particular night the soldiers split up to check and register the I.D.s of male Palestinian family members in the whole neighborhood. According to Badee, the soldiers stayed in the house, in which there are six apartments all belonging to the Dwaik family, for around two hours and “were very aggressive” according to Badee.
Upon entering the house, the soldiers forced the nephew of the human rights activist—who has been documenting the incidents in the neighborhood— into a corner and beat him in front of his father, mother, brother and uncles. “It was a scary situation for the kids” describes Badee who managed to document the brutal encounter. When asked for the military order to search the houses, the Israeli forces completely rejected the request and entered the building nonetheless. They started by searching the house Badee’s brother before they reached the apartment of human rights activist Badee.
The family was forced to stay in the living room, while the soldiers searched every room of his house. “They took things from the cubbord and threw it and broke the gold box from my wife”, illustrates Badee.
Badee, who is documenting, monitoring and reporting for Human Rights Defenders Group was filming, while the soldiers aggressively searched his house and confiscated a number of Palestinian flags. The soldiers told him that he should stop filming the raid of his cousins that followed the thorough search of his house. Badee explains that the raid of his house was especially severe because “I was filming them and they didn’t like it”.
Before leaving the house, the Israeli forces broke the camera of the human rights activist, adding it to the list of important documenting devices that the Israeli forces have been intentionally breaking.
Since the beginning of this year, the Israeli forces have broken a total of four cameras and a computer that the Human Rights Defenders Group used to document the growing harassment, intimidation and violence by soldiers and illegal settlers alike. Badee explains that human rights activists “are becoming a target for them (Israeli forces) because we document about Israeli crimes and humiliation of families”.
During the wave of house raids and arbitrary closures as a ‘closed military zone’ of Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street Palestinian human rights activists have been a target and systematically stopped by the Israeli forces to hinder them from fighting for human rights and justice through documenting and monitoring the hideous crimes of both Israeli settlers and soldiers.
The wave of house raids that have been happening all over Hebron create a situation where the families are left feeling unsafe in their own homes and “get scared and psychologically tired” of the situation explains Badee. “It is a nightmare for the families” to experience these arbitrary house raids says Badee and as long as this keeps happening Palestinian families live in constant fear and injustice.
All credits for pictures and video: the Human Rights Defenders group
26th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team| Hebron, occupied Palestine
Sunday 22nd November 2015, two international solidarity activists were arrested by Israeli forces on the allegation that they were ‘staying in a closed military zone’ in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron).
One German human rights defender passed a checkpoint manned with a group of half a dozen soldiers with two Palestinians and another international. They were not stopped on their way by the soldiers and were allowed to pass without any problems. After visiting a house in the neighbourhood however, they were immediately stopped by soldiers when stepping on the street only twenty minutes later. Soldiers immediately questioned them about what they were doing and ordered them to walk down the hill instead of up, the direction they were headed. When the internationals asked for a reason, soldiers called the police, but allowed the Palestinians in the group to leave. An American activist was also allowed to leave as she was Jewish, whereas the German was detained by the soldiers and not allowed to leave. According to the soldiers, the detained activist was ‘the reason for everything bad in the world’ and ‘should go to Syria’ to die there ‘as the world would be a better place without her’.
Another group of internationals was going to a shop in the same neighbourhood. The three of them were yelled at by soldiers, and one out of the group was ordered to come towards the soldiers whereas the other two were ordered to leave immediately or they would be arrested. Even though in the beginning the international argued that then she would be entering a closed military zone, which she wasn’t allowed to do, soldiers kept insisting. In the end the French activist did approach the soldiers as they kept requesting her to do so – only to be arrested for entering a ‘closed military zone’.
Both the French and German activists were held at the Givat Ha’vot police station in the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba for in total nine hours. In contrast to two Palestinian prisoners held at the police station, they were treated well. One Palestinian youth, only 18 years old, had already been at the police station for 16 hours when the internationals were taken there. He was visibly shaken and told the internationals that he would be taken to Ofer prison. Another Palestinian youth, about 16 years old, was walked past the internationals hand- and foot-shackled, visibly in great pain, trying to hold his stomach while walking bent over in extreme pain. No medical aid was given to him, instead he was forced to sit on the ground outside.
At one point, everyone including the two Palestinian youths, the two internationals and an Israeli prisoner were made to leave the only at least slightly heated room and forced to sit outside in the cold for about an hour as soldiers and police was bringing food and drinks and were audible enjoying themselves inside. Any requests for blankets or being allowed back inside were completely ignored or denied. When the internationals asked for food they were only given some bread and a tomato.
The Israeli settler, clearly psychologically disturbed, kept talking about the ghosts talking to him, all because of a spell that a Rabbi put on him. Still, he was released after a few hours. The two internationals were released after about 9 hours only when agreeing to sign conditions barring them from the ‘Tel Rumeida area’ of al-Khalil for 15 days. Even though they were released in the middle of the night around 2 o’clock they were from staying in their respective homes as they are in the are signed for. Unfortunately, nothing is known so far about the two Palestinian youths held at the police station. What can be said for sure though is that in Israeli military courts they will not even have the chance of a fair trail or at anything even distantly related to justice.
25th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
In Qaitun, a Palestinian Neighborhood of Hebron, situated in Oslo-defined Area H2, Israel has the authority for administrative and security control.
Israeli administrative control results in Apartheid: Palestinians will never get permission for doing anything, as building, extending or repairing their houses, and all other sort of things. Israeli citizens get permission for almost everything they want in occuppied Hebron H2.
Israeli security control results in the abuse of many human rights including extrajudicial executions and using the Palestinian neighborhoods for military training – as today.
Three teams of at least seventeen soldiers each, invaded several Palestinian homes on a random basis, and detaining the family. They went inside the house to the rooftop and tried observation and shooing possiblities from there. After some 15 minutes they went down again for raiding another home.
Most of these soldiers looked very young as if they were barely out of high school. They were heavily armed and many appeared to be nervous. This could have led to an extremely dangerous risk to Palestinians and anyone else near their training exercise.
A trainer, sided by a personal bodyguard, instructed them how to invade houses and do other military things as stopping civilians and cars in this Palestinian neighborhood.
In the three hour training they invaded more than 20 homes.
Some young soldiers in these group had US-army helmets, which indicates that they might have arrived from the US for this training and serving the Israeli army.
