Category: Journals - Page 9 - International Solidarity Movement

Education under occupation

August 11 | International Solidarity Movement | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Whilst continuing my work with ISM this year, I spent four weeks working at the Hebron/al-Khalil office of Defence for Children International focussing on the way that the occupation has compromised the access to education in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

It is believed that Abraham of the Bible/Ibrahim of the Quran is buried in this city. Thus, Hebron is entwined with the relgions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The tombs of Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacon and Leah, who are deeply revered in all religions are also believed to be buried there. Due to its religious significance, Hebron has become a stronghold for Jewish extremists and is the only city in the occupied West Bank with internal illegal Jewish settlements. Red-roofed have been built in and around the Old City, which traditionally served as the commercial centre for the entire southern West Bank, on private Palestinian land. Hebron’s fundamentalist settlers are united in their belief that the whole of Palestine is Jewish by divine right. They are united in their objective of expanding Israel through establishing settlements. These are illegal according to Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that, ‘the Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies’. These settlers are united in their wish to expel Palestinians by demolishing their homes. Article 53 provides that ‘any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons… is prohibited, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations.’ Hebron is a stark symbol of how Palestinians are affected by the creeping policies of Israeli occupation.

Freedom of movement does not exist in this city that has 59 checkpoints, sporadic and endless barriers, closures, military zones and Jewish-only streets. A policy of separation is in place between Palestinians and Jewish settlers. Hebron is emblematic of the structural inequality of a land where one ethnic group lives under oppressive military rule, and another under democratic, civilian authority. Shuhada Street is one of the most stark examples of this apatheid system in Hebron. It was once among the busiest streets in this ancient city. In 1994, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) welded shut the street-facing doors of all the shops and the homes of the merchants who typically lived upstairs. By the time of the Second Intifada in 2000, no Palestinian was permitted to set foot on the once teeming market street. What compelled the IOF to close Shuhada Street was a tragedy that took place in 1994. Unarmed Palestinians at the nearby Ibrahimi Mosque were massacred as they prayed. This mass murder was carried out by Baruch Goldstein, an American-born Jewish zealot with Israeli military training and an assault rifle, who stopped firing only when he was killed by survivors of his attack. Shuhada Street, and the vibrant urban life it once sustained and symbolised, can be added to the list of Goldstein’s victims. Today, Goldstein is memorialised in his settlement of Kiryat Arba, where his shrine is revered. The few Palestinians who remain living on Shuhada Street have been barred from the street where they live. If they want to enter their homes, they must do so through back doors, which in many cases involves clambering over rooftops. Their homes are often vandalised; their water tanks are often poisoned. Continuing to live there peacefully is the ultimate form of nonviolent resistance.

In 2018, the UN documented 111 different cases of interference to education in the West Bank affecting more than 19,000 children. Movement restrictions such as the checkpoints and the apartheid wall limit access to education as the army or border police are likely to conduct ID checks, body searches, bag checks, and restrict children and teachers’ ability to get to school. Education is disrupted by Israeli Occupation Forces lobbing stun grenades, firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and live ammunition into schools. In less than a month (between the 4th and 27th of November 2018), Christian Peacemaking Team Palestine documented 228 rounds of tear gas canisters and 51 rounds of sound grenades fired by the Israeli military when Palestinian children were leaving school. As well as their safe passage being restricted by the military, Palestinian school children’s access to education is also at risk from settler violence. A particularly malicious attack by 12 masked settlers in the South Hebron Hills against a group of children and international volunteers in 2004 precipitated implementation of a military escort. Lax execution of the military escort still leaves children vulnerable to harassment, intimidation and violence. The negative psychosocial impact of the occupation on the children affect their well-being, performance and completion rates. In one workshop, we collected data on how the students felt when they were at school. The overwhelming response was ‘scared’. It is not just the children who are endangered but the school buildings themselves. The shortage of physical infrastructure because of building restrictions and demolition orders often render schools unusable. Moreover, access to education is undermined by the unrelenting detention of children.

More than half of the children arrested by Israeli forces whose cases DCIP documented reported experiencing verbal abuse, threats, humiliation or intimidation. The vast majority, over 75 percent, said they were physically abused during the course of their detention. While under pre-trial detention, Israeli forces placed 22 children in isolation for a period of 48 hours or more. The longest period of isolation of a child that DCIP documented in 2018 was 30 days. Since 1967, Israel has operated two separate legal systems in the same territory. In the occupied West Bank, Jewish settlers are subject to the civilian and criminal legal system whereas Palestinians live under military law. No Israeli child comes into contact with the military courts. Israel has the dubious distinction of being the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes approximately 700 children each year in military courts lacking fundamental fair trial rights. So far, in 2019, there have been 210 child ‘security’ detainees, 14 of whom were or are currently subject to solitary confinement.

Palestinian children’s right to life is consistently undermined by the occupation. In 2018, more than one child was killed per week. At the bitter close of 52 weeks, 57 Palestinian children had been martyred by Israeli forces. So far in 2019, there have been 19 child fatalities. Abdul Rahman Shteiwi, 10, is currently fighting for his life after having been shot in the head by a sniper in Kafr Qadum while he was playing at the entrance of a home, posing no danger to anybody. Israel has denied using any live ammunition despite doctors finding an expanding live bullet that had exploded into more than 100 fragments after it lodged in his head.

Military fixtures such as checkpoints and watchtowers in the West Bank and the heavily surveilled ‘buffer zone’ along the border of Gaza represent significant risks of death, injury and arrest to children who live or pass near them frequently. Since 2014, DCIP documentation and analysis show that Israeli forces have increasingly targetted Palestinian children with intentional lethal force. Under international law, lethal force such as live ammunition may only be used as a last resort and when a direct threat to life or of serious injury exists. The latest child fatality occurred when occupation forces opened fire against 15-year-old Abdallah Ghaith near a Bethlehem checkpoint. Abdallah and his cousin were attempting to get over Israel’s apartheid wall to reach East Jerusalem for the last Friday prayers of Ramadan. He was posing no imminent threat. They killed him with a bullet in his chest that penetrated his heart. This killing is just the latest in an ever-lengthening list of child fatalities at the hands of the Israeli forces which the state has failed to fully and impartially investigate. On July 16, Tariq Zebania, a 7-year-old Palestinian child was riding his bicycle near Adhoura settlement in Hebron. He was struck by a car driven by a Jewish settler who headed into the settlement after hitting the boy. Eyewitnesses called the Israeli security forces. Tariq was pronounced dead upon reaching the hospital. No efforts were made by the Israeli authorities to apprehend the driver who killed the boy. The people responsible for these unlawful and deliberate killings of children should be prosecuted.

A personal account of detention, racism and broken rules

May 8, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Al-Khalil (Hebron), occupied Palestine

The neighborhood of Salaymeh next to Salaymeh checkpoint (160) has been the center of tensions between Palestinians and the Israelis in the city of Al-Khalil (Hebron). This checkpoint cuts off an already poor and struggling neighborhood from the rest of the city. At these checkpoints that are throughout Hebron, Palestinians are stopped, delayed, searched, asked for ID and sometimes denied passage. The checkpoints are a daily humiliation and intimidation of the local people by the occupying Israeli army.

The checkpoint at Salaymeh is also used every day by children on their way to and from school who are subject to the same treatment by the soldiers. From the moment the children start looking like teenagers, they go from being treated like children to being treated as criminals. In order to cope with this the children, have to learn to handle themselves as adults from a very early age, and as a result they are forced to grow up far too quickly.

There is a massive tension at the checkpoints because the children are angry and frustrated, and the soldiers are hostile and confrontational. There are frequent clashes between the children and the soldiers. The soldiers will throw tear gas and stun grenades and sometimes even shoot rubber bullets at the children for throwing rocks at the checkpoint. This response, which happens on an almost daily basis, is completely disproportionate – adults using military weapons against children on their way to school.

In the past week 2 children have been abducted and illegally detained by soldiers in Salaymeh. Both of them were 14 years old from Jerusalem and were visiting their cousin in Al-Khalil. The children were dragged from school, frisked, forced on their knees and handcuffed by the soldiers. One of them was let go after 2 hours, the other was taken to a military base, where he was interrogated without his lawyer or parents present.

https://youtu.be/IGjbJuP88Js

An international activist who was documenting this incident was also detained by the soldiers, she describes her detention as follows:

I’ve been at Salaymeh checkpoint every other day for a month and a half just trying to document the soldier’s harassment of the children, keeping in contact with the UN, so they can hopefully help if children are arrested. I am always mindful not to antagonize the soldiers and try to interact with them as little as possible. My hope is that an international presence will result in less violence because the soldiers will know they are being watched and may be held accountable.

On the day that I was detained I was filming a soldier as normal, who threatened to arrest another activist who I was with. Because I’d witnessed a lot of broken rules and violence by the army during my time at Salaymeh checkpoint, I knew it was important to keep filming. The commander asked me to move away, and when I kept filming, she told me that she would have another soldier move me with force. When I didn’t stop filming, she told me to come with her and that she had the authority to make arrests. I was very unsure of what to do in this situation – I had been told before that soldiers could not make arrests, but I was confused, and I was afraid of what might happen so I complied and went with her. I later found out that what the commander had said was in fact a lie and that she had absolutely no legal authority to detain me.

I was kept at Salaymeh checkpoint for an hour and a half, being told that the police would come but they never did. I was then put into a military van without being told where I was being taken. They then drove me around the city back and forth for half an hour which was very confusing. I still don’t know why they did this but I believe now that they were trying to shake off the UN who were trying to find out where I was being held in order to assist me. Eventually I was taken to a military base where they were also holding the Palestinian child who had been arrested. We were both held there for over 5 hours. During this time I was marshalled around, sporadically questioned, never given any food or water and never having anything explained to me. I was told that I would never be able to return to the country and that I would be deported that day. The whole time I was denied access to my lawyer and I was never given any reason for why I was being held.

What struck me the most about being detained with the Palestinian child was that as an international I was treated far better. I, an adult, was not handcuffed, and I was allowed to keep my things. He however, a child, was handcuffed, restrained, frisked, and they took his phone and his things. It was shocking and angering to me that this child was treated so much worse than me – it made it very obvious to me that the treatment of Palestinians undoubtedly has its roots in racism.

Military jeep to the left, soldiers pointing at two men in front of a school — Principal tries to stop soldiers from entering a school

Settlers call the shots in Al-Khalil

February, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Ramallah, occupied Palestine

Last week, a notoriously violent and antagonistic Israeli settler Ofer, who calls for the extermination of Palestinians, had me arrested and detained by the Israeli police, and if I was Palestinian, I could have been killed. Furthermore, this was another incident demonstrating the concerning and increasing trend of collaboration between settlers and the Israeli Occupation, as they attempt to force the remaining witnesses out of Al-Khalil (Hebron).

Twenty-five years ago on this day, Baruch Goldstein, a New York-born Israeli settler – who Ofer worships and refers to as “the Holy Saint” – walked into Ibrahim Mosque in Al-Khalil and opened fire, killing 29 Palestinians and seriously wounding more than 150. The “official” response to this attack was an injection of international observers throughout the city – UN group Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) – with the belief that this presence would dissuade the settlers from unleashing further terror on the native Palestinian community. In effect, what transpired was little more than a speed bump as the settlers continued their crusade, albeit gradually, as they attempted to colonise Al-Khalil and erase the Palestinian soul from the city. Today Goldstein is memorialized in his settlement of Kiryat Arba, home to Ofer, where his revolting shrine is well tended and revered.

At the start of February, the Israeli Occupation expelled the UN observers, and, while I acknowledge the multitude of valid criticisms concerning the work of TIPH, what the Occupation and their fanatical foot-soldiers are scheming is gravely concerning. The Palestinians fear that the international expulsion is yet another stage in the planned ethnic cleansing of Al-Khalil. I joined up with a team of local and international activists who mobilised to maintain a presence throughout the city and fill the observational void. The settlers though – galvanised by their recent victory – have shifted gear, intensifying intimidation tactics from daily harassment and aggravation to sticking up “wanted” posters of activists around the city and death threats, hoping to force the remaining witnesses out of Al-Khalil.

A few days ago, while monitoring a checkpoint on Shuhada Street as Palestinian children passed through on their way to school, Ofer – who harasses us on a daily basis – tried a new tactic to get us expelled from the city. This settler – a man who has called for the extermination of Palestinians, who locals know as a murderer, who yelled “the dog is still alive, somebody do something” right before the extrajudicial execution of Abed al Fatah a-Sharif, who unnervingly shoves his handgun into his belt as he gets out of his car – told the police that I had attacked him, resulting in my subsequent arrest and detainment. For a privileged foreigner, this meant a strange (no typical blindfolding) sort-of kidnapping, where I was awkwardly bundled into the back of an Armoured Personnel Carrier and taken to the military compound for investigation. Had I been Palestinian though, this accusation could have had me killed – as has been the case many times before. It’s what locals describe as the Israeli policy of: “Shoot first and throw a knife beside the lifeless body later”. The Israeli army, the so-called “Most Moral Army in the World”, in typical doublespeak dialogue legally permits soldiers to respond with lethal force against children (“terrorists”) throwing stones. That bestows honorifics, as was the “Terminator,” a member of a military unit who shot dead three alleged Palestinian assailants in the space of nine days.

When I was arrested – although demonstrating early in the proceedings that I wasn’t actually in Khalil on the day of the alleged attack – I was subject to hours of interrogation of which little had to do with the accusations. Nevertheless – as I’m sure is the case for most foreigners who know they didn’t “do it” – I sat there confidently, assured of my entitlement to justice, with a lawyer and embassy at my beckoning. As I indignantly said “no comment”, I thought of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy I’d met a few weeks previously who had just been released from prison, after serving three years for allegedly “planning” an attack on the way home from school, while I was accused of actually attacking a settler. The “evidence” for that boy was an extracted confession after 14 hours of interrogation and a dubious photo of a knife.

Currently, there are almost 500 Palestinians being held in administrative detention without trial or charge – a period that can last up to six months and be renewed by the military. The Israeli Occupation routinely uses administrative detention and has, over the years, placed thousands of Palestinians behind bars for periods ranging from several months to several years without charging them, without telling them what they are accused of and without disclosing the alleged evidence to them or to their lawyers.

For me, eventually after my DNA samples were taken, I was informed of my exclusion order that prevents me from entering the southern half of the West Bank – effectively deported from Al-Khalil. My royal treatment culminated in being allowed to “remove” myself from the city to collect my things. Less can be said for more than 1500 Palestinians deported between ‘67 and ‘92, many simply kidnapped, escorted and thrown over the border into Jordan, in total disregard of proper administration and due process. Scornfully, the officer wished me luck trying to ever get back into “Israel”. Had I thought of it in the moment I would have replied that, like the five million Palestinian refugees who are illegally denied the right of return, I’ll be back when Palestine is liberated.

On beauty in Al-Khalil

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.

Boys with horse at Salaymeh — 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.

A man watches the sunset from his roof in Qeitun

There is beauty in the actions of the Principal of Qurtoba School, as she arrives early every day, walking defiantly down Shuhada Street and making sure that every one of her pupils gets to school safely.

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.

Come to Al-Khalil to end the occupation.

Anat Cohen steals international observer’s notebook

February 17, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Al-Khalil, occupied Palestine

Anat Cohen (ענת כהן), daughter of the convicted Israeli terrorist Moshe Zar, attacked another international who was observing schoolchildren on their commute to the Qurtuba school this morning.

The International was an elderly woman who was keeping tally in a notebook of the number of schoolchildren that passed through the checkpoint and how many were harassed by illegal settlers or the israeli occupation forces. These numbers are submitted to UNSECO and Save the Children.

Cohen suddenly appeared and, before ISM volunteers could start recording video, she punched the woman in the ribs and began scolding her. ISM caught the rest of the exchange on video, when Cohen stole the observer’s notebook:

The observer complained to the police–who retrieved the notebook from Cohen–and then the police proceeded to evict the observers (including ISM volunteers) out of H2, claiming that the school and its surroundings were a “Closed Military Zone.”

The above document presented by the israeli occupation forces to the international observers shows that the order was created just 30 minutes before they were told to leave.

Creating closed military zones is a common tactic used by Israel to thwart international observers from being able to monitor for the illegal settler’s and soldier’s crimes against the Palestine people. In this case, Palestinian children.