Category: Nablus - Page 17 - International Solidarity Movement

Collective Punishment for Deir Istiya village

6th January 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Deir Istiya, Occupied Palestine

On 29th December, Israeli military barricaded the village of Deir Istiya, Salfit with a roadblock.

This type of roadblock, termed an ‘earth mound’, is a pile of rubble and earth dropped over the road to obstruct access.

It prevents access from the village to the main road towards Nablus and Qalqilyah where many Deir Istiya residents work and study. Residents and visitors must use the southern route to get in and out through the village of Hares. Hares is a small village with narrow winding roads. The increased traffic through Hares causes congestion and increases risk of car accidents. The diversion of at least 8 km adds to fuel costs as well as journey time.

On the 4th January, a 58 year old resident of Deir Istiya suffered from a heart attack. The increased time to reach Nablus hospital could have proved fatal. The patient is still in intensive care in Nablus hospital.

Residents of the village managed to reopen part of the road a couple of days after it was blocked. The army returned and only fortified it with even larger boulders that were impossible to remove by hand.

Villagers say the army closed the road as ‘collective punishment’ for a youth who had thrown a Molotov cocktail at a car passing from a nearby illegal Israeli settlement but no arrests have been made. There are 5000 people living in the village of Deir Istiya. This kind of collective punishment is illegal under international law, breaking Article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention.

The roadblock was partially removed late last night by the Israeli military, possibly after pressure from human rights organizations including the Red Cross. This now allows vehicles precarious access to the main road to Nablus. The blockade however, still obscures most of the access into and out of the village, particularly problematic in emergency situations, and for parents with children, the elderly and disabled.

The road was last closed in November under similar circumstances.

Zionist settlers poison 13 sheep near Aqraba

6th January 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Aqraba, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday, ISM volunteers traveled to the area of Lifjim in East Aqraba, where shepherd Mohammed Ibrahim Abu Hamed grazes his sheep. Thirteen sheep lay dead there, foaming at the nose and mouth, one with green vomit visible – a clear case of poisoning.

Close-up of one of the poisoned sheep with frothing at the mouth and nose (photo by ISM).

Close-up of a poisoned sheep where green vomit can be seen (photo by ISM).

Abu Hamed and the Aqraba Municipality reported seeing a settler named Assaf spread an unknown substance over the land shortly before the sheep died. As the area is under illegal cultivation by settlers, this could have indicated intentional poisoning or indirect toxicity from herbicides.

Three of the thirteen sheep killed, stretched out across the land (Photo by ISM).

At the municipality office, ISM interviewed a Public Relation Officer named Gloria, who detailed the many difficulties the villages around Aqraba continually deal with. The town of Aqraba is in Area B, which is under Palestinian Authority civil control but partial Israeli security control, but many of the villages under the Aqraba municipality are in Area C, under full Israeli military and civil control.

Thus, these communities are constantly threatened by the expansion of Israeli settlements, including the Gittit settlement just south of Lifjim where the sheep were killed.

Furthermore, the Israeli military prevent people from building life-sustaining infrastructure such as water and electricity grids and new houses. In the last month and a half alone, the Aqraba municipality has repaired the electricity grid three times after soldiers cut it.

On Saturday, five shepherds were out grazing their sheep in the Area B part of Aqraba when at least seven armed settlers came down and attacked them. The settlers shot at the unarmed shepherds and two were injured. A number of people from Aqraba came out with the municipality in response to the shepherds’ call. An hour later the Israeli military showed up, deployed tear gas on the crowd and arrested four shepherds, accusing them of trying to steal from the settlement.

Aqraba residents who showed up for the shepherds are met with tear gas (photo by Aqraba Municipality).

They are still in prison as of now. This attack is emblematic of the violence experienced by Palestinians who live near the illegal Israeli settlements.

Smiling even as she finished describing the hardships of life under Israeli occupation, Gloria told us she thinks the people here are strong. They hold onto their homes and lives here while facing violence and destruction week after week. Gloria herself speaks English, French and Spanish, allowing her to communicate with many international groups about the occupation.

In Aqraba, the phrase “existence is resistance” holds true.

Israeli soldier kills PA minister at non-violent protest

11th December 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Turmusaya, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday, an Israeli soldier killed Palestinian Authority (PA) Settlment minister, Ziad Abu Ein, at a non-violent demonstration in the village of Turmusaya.

ISM spoke to Abdallah Abu-Rahme, coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee and present at the demonstration yesterday. “Yesterday was International Human Rights Day and we were going to plant olive trees in Turmusaya, on Palestinian land close to an illegal settlement outpost. We were completely non-violent but Israeli soldiers had gathered and made a line blocking us from the land, not allowing anyone to pass. Ziad Abu Ein, was standing face-to-face with a soldier, who then hit him on the head and in the face. He fell to the ground and when we took him to the ambulance, they told us he was dead.”

Photo by Oren Ziv and Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org

Settlers have been attacking the village of Turmusaya for many years. Close to Turmusaya lies the illegal settlement outpost of Adei Ad and yesterday Yesh Din (an Israeli human rights organization) and four Palestinian villages, petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice demanding that the military remove the illegal settlement outpost.

The petition argues that, “the outpost should be removed not only because it is constructed in part on private Palestinian land, but also because it constitutes a focus of criminal activities and grave violence against the Palestinian residents of the area with the goal of usurping their land and displacing its owners.” Wrote Yesh Din in a statement they released yesterday.

Palestinian family’s home invaded, two youths arrested by Israeli soldiers in Azzun village

11th December 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Azzun, Occupied Palestine

At 3 am, on the 8th of December in Azzun whilst the Radwan family slept, dozens of Israeli soldiers surrounded their house and broke in. They damaged the door as they entered, sweeping through the house and also breaking the doors of the kitchen cupboards. They ushered the nine family members into one room and forced them all sit on one sofa at gunpoint. The mother, speaking to ISM volunteers the day after her home was invaded and her sons arrested, recalled that there were too many soldiers to count that night. They were everywhere, all over the inside and outside of the house.

The soldiers took everyone’s mobile phones and the hard drive from their computer. They asked for seventeen-year-old Abdallah first, ordering another brother to get clothes and shoes for him. No one was told what was happening or why. The army then told the mother to say goodbye to her seventeen-year-old son, but he was surrounded by soldiers so she could not reach him or see him. She was was only able to cry out “ma’a salama!” – goodbye.

The soldiers then asked where 20 year old Mohammed was. They ordered his clothes and shoes to be brought as well. Again his mother was told to say goodbye, but again she could not because there were so many soldiers in the way.

Neither the family nor the boys were told why they were being arrested or where they were being taken. The ordeal lasted two hours. By 5 am, the army left and the family watched soldiers jumping from their roof and leaving from all sides of the house they had been surrounding.

The Radwan family lives in Azzun, a Palestinian village of about 12,000 people near the city of Qalqilya. Several illegal Israeli settlements surround the village, including Ma’ale Shomron, Ginot Shomeron and Alfei Menashe. The settlements encroach on Palestinian land, taking more and more each year. The Radwan family’s home is at the far end of the town, the closest house to the Ma’ale Shomron settlement. It is constantly targeted by the Israeli military and settlers. CCTV cameras watch the house constantly, even as settlers and Israeli military attack the area with impunity.

One of the highest levels of detainees per capita of anywhere in the West Bank, coupled with 47% unemployment, has a severe impact on Azzun’s youth, a local municipality worker reported. Young prisoners are often unable to finish university degrees after their imprisonment, having lost the
motivation to go back to school. Released prisoners and their family members are also unable to obtain permits to work in Israel, making employment opportunities even more rare.

Every year about a hundred and seventy Palestinians are arrested in Azzun. Around seventy of the arrestees are under the age of sixteen. Some are imprisoned for ten months, others for one to five years. Prisoners have reported suffering torture, including isolation for weeks at a time.

Since Abdallah and Mohammed were arrested, their mother found out that her sons are being detained in Al Jalama prison, Haifa. Israeli forces have given no reason for their detention, nor set a date for their trial.

Photo shows the illegal settlement of Ma'ale Shomron, this is the view from the house where the boys were arrested. — Photo shows the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Shomron, this is the view from the house where the boys were arrested (photo by ISM).

Journalist most recent victim of Israeli military violence at Kufr Qaddum

9th December 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Kufr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Bashar, a journalist from Palestine TV, was shot in the left leg at Kufr Qaddum on Friday the 5^th of December 2014.

The weekly demonstration aims to highlight the issue of the road that has been closed to Kafr Qaddum and demands for it to be reopened. The road is closed to Palestinians but connects several illegal Israeli settlements nearby. The road was once the Palestinians’ main route to the villages of Jit and Sarra, and to the city of Nablus. Residents of Kafr Qaddum and nearby villages must now use a 14 kilometer detour on badly paved roads through olive groves. This proves especially problematic in emergency situations when ambulances are trying to get patients to Nablus hospital. Kafr Qaddum villagers state that several people have died because of the longer ambulance trip.

Bashar has been going to the Kafr Qaddum demonstrations since they began four years ago. This particular one was a special demonstration in solidarity with Patrick, an Italian activist who was shot in the chest with a .22 caliber bullet the Friday before. The demonstration began peacefully with people holding Italian and Palestinian flags. A skunk water truck, a renowned demonstration repression technique, sprayed the people who were peacefully holding flags right at the beginning of the protest. Within ten minutes, Bashar had been shot in his left leg by an Israeli sniper.

The bullet used to shoot Bashar was an expanding bullet, often called a “dum-dum”. International law has declared their use illegal in war because they are so destructive. Bashar was shot by a sniper with a weapon that is only supposed to be used when soldiers are at mortal risk and skunk water, tear gas, rubber bullets, rubber coated steel bullets, and other nonlethal weapons have all proved ineffective. This is supposed to be the last weapon soldiers use before they shoot to kill with M16s. Witnesses say that Bashar was filming as he usually did when he was shot. He was no threat to the soldiers at all. Witnesses say that there were no people in front or behind him throwing stones.

Bashar was taken by ambulance to Nablus hospital. The X-ray showed that the dum-dum bullet did as it was designed to, breaking into many pieces when it entered his leg.

Bashar had an operation on the 6^th of December, the day after he was shot, to take out most of the bullet fragments.

Doctors have decided to leavein some pieces for the time being because they are very close to veins and would be dangerous to remove. Bashar will be bed bound for two weeks until the decision is made, but his condition remains stable.

Within one week at Kufr Qaddum, three people were shot with lethal, live ammunition—two with .22 caliber bullets and one with a dum-dum. One was a journalist, another an international peace activist. None of them were any threat to the soldiers. So why, then, were they shot at? To create fear for all the people who are in solidarity with the Palestinians and who want to tell the world the story of what is happening here? To physically stop peaceful resistance using the most extreme repression techniques?

It will not work. Patrick and many other international, Palestinian and Israeli activists will continue to nonviolently resist the confiscation of their lands in Kufr Qaddum each week. Bashar will continue to report their stories to the world. The unnecessary use of violent repression techniques will only continue to delegitimize the illegal occupation of the Palestinian people.