Category: Hebron - Page 78 - International Solidarity Movement

The women in Hebron cooperative

13th September 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

International Solidarity Movement human rights monitors spend the afternoon at the Women in Hebron embroidery cooperative where Palestinian women are empowering themselves and persisting with grace in a colourful and beautiful way in a community space amidst the horror of the ongoing military occupation of their home.

wih — Women in Hebron shop in the old city of Hebron

Silverware clinks on plates, numerous excited voices float above the large trays of food laid out and loud bursts of laughter punctuate most bites of food. We are in the colorful and warm ‘Women in Hebron’ embroidery cooperative space in the village of Idna in the Hebron district. And we are surrounded by the women who keep the business running and the spirit of community and empowerment nearly bursting the center at its very seams.

From the worn hands of an elderly woman rushing her crease-patterned hands through the weaving of a carpet stretching the length of the cooperative itself to the bright eyes of 14 year old Yafa Slemiah whose mother founded Women in Hebron, at this cooperative, there is space for everyone.

“We welcome everyone here. People from all over the world have come to work with us. We open our home to them; there we have an entire floor dedicated for volunteers, three rooms and three bathrooms, they have free food and can travel with us. …And we teach them embroidery.”

Palestinian women int he West Bank — Palestinian woman in the cooperative creating a carpet by hand.

From humble beginnings in 2005, the cooperative itself now boasts a beautiful shop in the souq. The shop is the only woman-run establishment in Hebron and it is rare to pass the richly colorful, craft-filled space without coming in contact with the welcoming smile of Leila, the shop owner, Yafa’s aunt and sister of Women in Hebron’s director, Nawal Slemiah.

Currently, Nawal is traveling through America promoting the cooperative, thus her enthusiastic and kind daughter sits with us as both translator and story teller- conveying what Women in Hebron means to those who are a part of it, creating breathtaking bead-work and embroidered traditional Palestinian dresses for weddings and events, holidays and parties.

23 year old Haneen sits beside Yafa, her work with the cooperative began four years ago. “My mom was sick, pregnant with twins and already had twins. I had to leave school in the sixth grade to care for her. There was no work for a woman who is uneducated. But I knew how to embroider and here I can teach other women.”

And like all other elements of life in the occupied territories, the work of Women in Hebron and Leila’s shop in the souq do not go untouched by the cruelty of their occupiers. “Shops in Hebron gets lots of water from the rain because the soldiers close the gates separating the settlers from the old city. Our area floods so the settlers can stay dry.” This was the reality this past April in Hebron when heavy rains flooded the souq to staggering chest level heights, destroying shelf-fulls of embroidery Leila made by hand at the cooperative to sell at market.

Yafa’s frustration is clear, “Can you imagine making items by hand for months? Months. Things that take days to transport to the shop, only to have it flooded out so people who stole your land can stay dry?” Another way the occupation effects the cooperative is by deporting volunteers with Arabic names or those who come stating that they are visiting the West Bank to do embroidery work. “The volunteers have to lie and say they are visiting Tel Aviv or they do not get through at the airport.”

For those who do get in, they join a group of women dedicated to keeping Palestine alive. Haneen describes her commitment to her culture and keeping resistance alive, creatively so, “It’s very… tradition is very important in Palestine. It is very important that people know about what is happening in Palestine.

20150912_133035 — Hand-making carpet in the traditional Palestinian way.

Through our work, people will know about traditional Palestinian culture. They will come to know the situation here. We will let people know we are not terrorists. I can help make a difference and then I can teach embroidery to my daughters.”

Isma has been at the cooperative for three years. At 24, with limited education, Isma’s options were few. “Not only do uneducated women have a difficult time finding work, but also the occupation limits us severely. We are unable to travel.

We have no airport. If we want to go anywhere or do anything, we must go through Israel to do it and they do not want to help us.” Nawal welcomed Isma into the cooperative, allowing her to cook and clean while learning the machines, she is now one of the women who train the volunteers who come in.

20150912_124409 — Handmade small bag. Front: Men can do something

To be a volunteer with the cooperative, you are not only welcomed into Nawal’s home, you learn how to run the website, answer the emails, process the sales- the entire business side of the cooperative is shared alongside the teaching of the handcrafting. They also have a colorful nursery within the cooperative so women with children can bring them along as they work.

After lunch, Yafa and the others walk us through a room with shelves made bright by their wares. Shelf after shelf houses beaded wallets, purses, scarves and even bookmarks that can be personalized, all kaleidoscopic, all made by the hands of those who are economically and socially strangled by an occupation that seeks to end them- all binds broken in the process of free creation. One of the women laughs and holds up a beaded wallet that says “Women can do anything.” She then turns it over, “Men can do something.”

20150912_124359 — Handmade small bag. Back: Women can do anything

Before leaving them to their work, we sit with Yafa a few more moments. She describes the world she knows, “The occupation has taken over everyone’s lives. At this moment, if you walked outside and didn’t see a soldier you would wonder why not. The women working here all have to worry about the occupation when they consider each day they spend at the cooperative. ‘What if I’m not home and the soldiers raid my home? What if I’m gone too long?’ Occupation is always the first thing to think about. In Palestine this is normal. She can die. I can die. The soldiers can kill us and the people may talk about it for one day, one week, but here this is normal life. During the time the world hears about a Palestinian getting killed, like the 18 month old baby the settlers burned to death recently, three more Palestinians are killed. The occupation makes our lives gross.”

The occupation doesn’t only entail soldier harassment and collective punishments enacted against Palestinians as a whole. Settler violence is a daily and worsening issue. “They are building a fence above our homes now because the settlers throw eggs down on us. They throw rocks. When we are at home in the middle of the night, we do not wear our hijabs, only to have male settlers jump into our homes in the middle of the night and see us this way before running out again. This can never happen for ‘normal’ people. You do not see this in Europe or anywhere else. So this is very different for us.”

20150912_114455 — Some of the handmade products made by Women in Hebron.

With the occupation ‘coming first,’ the all-encompassing hurdle to be considered by the people who are subjugated and oppressed by it, the Women in Hebron are utilizing a rich and generational tradition to perpetuate their culture and their resistance to a system who would sooner end their lives than to better them.

They are dichotomous existences these women lead of both fighting oppressive social and power structures whilst building and creating a world where all voices are heard, where they see more friends in a day than they see soldiers, where every facet of their lives isn’t stained with the awful truth of a military occupation and near seven decade ethnic cleansing.

The women we share this afternoon with are making more with their hands than what meets the eye. They are molding an empowering path for Palestinian women, one more elaborate- and accessible- with each passing day.

Read more about the cooperative and buy products made by Women in Hebron here.

International arrested in al-Khalil and banned from part of the city

12th September 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Sunday night an international human rights observer was arrested by Israeli forces on bogus charges in al-Khalil (Hebron) in occupied Palestine.
The activist was detained by Israeli soldiers when leaving a house in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood of al-Khalil. Only a few minutes later, a reinforcement of another group of about 7 soldiers arrived. The only explanation provided by the soldiers in English to the two volunteers, who do not speak any Hebrew, was that they had to wait for the police to arrive for an explanation on the detention.
When the police arrived, the police-man immediately took the passport of one of the internationals, not even asking to see the other person’s passport. As the police-man himself did not speak any English, a soldier had to translate the charges to the volunteer and explain to her, that she had to come to the police station. The soldier lawlessly accusing the international was later present at all times at the police station except for interrogation.

Soldiers taking international in the police car Photo credit: Human Rights Defenders — Soldiers taking international in the police car
Photo credit: Human Rights Defenders

The international was released only on the condition of signing a paper banning her from the ‘Jewish part’ of the city and passing through any checkpoint for a week. An explanation on what exactly that means was not given by the Israeli forces, who tried to ascertain the activist that she would be allowed back to move freely in al-Khalil on Saturday morning, an obvious attempt to have a reason to legally arrest her on violating the conditions of the seven-day period.
This is clearly intended to impede her work as a human rights observer, and tries to stop her from documenting and reporting on violence against Palestinians and violations of human rights and international law by Israeli forces. In al-Khalil (Hebron), a ctiy often dubbed a microcosmos of the occupation with illegal settlements right in the heart of the city, violence against Palestinians both by settlers and soldiers is rampant. Human Rights organisations are documenting and reporting on daily incidents to reveal the impact of the military occupation in Palestine and to raise awareness.

Soldiers and police in Tel Rumeida Photo credit: Human Rights Defenders — Soldiers and police in Tel Rumeida
Photo credit: Human Rights Defenders

Jabari family again facing the threat of losing their land

6th September 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

The Jabari family in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) is again facing threats of settlers, taking over their land.

Settlers coming from the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba onto Palestinian land for prayers

The family owns a piece of land sandwidched between the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba and the Israeli police station Givat Ha’vot. Settlers built a synagogue tent on the land, but the Israeli Supreme Court finally took the decision that as it is illegal and has to be demolished in the beginning of this year. This resulted in attacks by settlers on the family, Palestinians living in the neighbourhood and human rights observers.

Settlers praying on the Jabari-family land

The area is now declared a closed military zone, so the settlers coming to pray there last Friday are illegaly trespassing and should be arrested for their crime. Still, they were protected by Israeli forces refusing to interfere. The case involving settlers taking over this land has been dragged on in court since 2000, which keeps the family from actually using their own land.

Israeli forces protecting settlers trespassing on private Palestinian land

Settlers violently attack a Palestinian man on Shuhada-street

5th September 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Tonight at around 6 pm a Palestinian man was detained at Daboya checkpoint in Shuhada-Street in Hebron in occupied Palestine. While he was detained a group of young settlers came to the checkpoint and attacked him. The 3 settlers were beating the Palestinian youth, while a soldier was standing close by without interfering. When the Palestinian youth ran away from the violent attackers, the unmasked settler pepper-sprayed him, right before he was able to escape the violent attack by running into the house of a Palestinian family living opposite the checkpoint.

After the attack, the Palestinian youth was falling in and out of consciousness for over half an hour. Palestinian cars and thus also ambulances are not allowed in this area by Israeli forces, which led to a long period of waiting before the youth was able to receive medical attention. Due to the closure of the road for Palestinians, the medics from the Red Crescent first had to pass through another checkpoint walking to the location of the incident and then had to carry the Palestinian youth back through the checkpoint. He was brought to the hospital with the suspicion of broken rips and in an enormous amount of pain. He is now out of the hospital and his condition is stable.

Watch a video of the attack from Youth Against Settlements here:

Photo credit: Youth Against Settlements

Settler attacking international activists in Hebron

1st September | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Yesterday in al-Khalil (Hebron) in occupied Palestine, a female settler harassed and attacked international activists who were monitoring a checkpoint during school-time.

In the morning volunteers were standing close to Qurtuba school, monitoring children on their way to school. This school is particularly prone to attacks by settlers, as the stairs leading to the school are located directly at the entrance to Shuhada Street, which has been entirely closed for Palestinian and occupied by settlers since 1994.

Anat Cohen, infamous for several attacks on Palestinians, came driving down the street and suddenly almost backed up into the international activists, who had to jump out of the way in order to avoid being run over. She then got out of the car yelling at the volunteers to leave, insulting them verbally and threatening to beat them. The soldier stationed at the checkpoint right opposite did not intervene, even when repeatedly being asked for help by the activists. When the police arrived they ‘explained’ Anat Cohen’s behaviour by stating that it was the first day of school after the holidays for children from the illegal settlements in al-Khalil. They then ordered the internationals to do as Anat Cohen requested and not stand on the street. This is just another striking example of the power individual settlers exercise over the police.

In the afternoon, the volunteers returned to the checkpoint for the end of the school-day for Palestinian children in Qurtuba school and the close-by kindergarten. When Anat Cohen came driving by in her car again, she was driving directly towards one of the volunteers in fast speed. The activist was only able to save herself from being hit in the last minute by running away. Instead of taking any action against Anat trying to hit the volunteers with their car, the soldier threatened the volunteers to call the police and have them arrested if they did not leave immediately.

Watch the video of Anat Cohen attacking internationals here.