Category: Nablus - Page 22 - International Solidarity Movement

Night raid in Far’a refugee camp

3rd September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Far’a, Occupied Palestine

We arrived around one o’clock in the afternoon of September 1st to the Far’a Refugee Camp and found that we had awakened the three Mansour family households.

“We didn’t have much sleep last night,” explained one sister. “The army kept us awake all night and made a horrible mess in my brothers’ flats.” On the floor below, her brother Khaled and his wife Hanan took us around the flat. They pointed out where seven soldiers, who barged into their home at 2:00 a.m. with their dogs, had intruded and what they’d done.

Soldiers went from room to room, ordering all the family members out of their beds, and departed almost two hours later, leaving the contents of all the cupboards and wardrobes strewn out on the floor. Soldiers became suspicious when they saw photo on the wall of Khaled Mansour speaking to a crowd of protesting Palestinians. The resident Khaled said that the soldiers asked him if he was politically active and what party he belonged to.

Every bit of each room was searched by soldiers and sniffed by dogs. A collection of silk Palestinians scarves Khaled was given by different organisations attracted particular attention, to the extent that one ended up in a pocket of a soldier when they who thought nobody was watching.

Nothing in Khaled Mansour's flat escaped the soldiers' attention, including these scarfs (photo by ISM). — Nothing in Khaled Mansour’s flat escaped the soldiers’ attention, including these scarfs (photo by ISM).

Around 4:00 a.m. they moved to the flat of Khalid’s brother Asim and more soldiers joined. There were about ten of them with the dogs, crashing through his flat without any regard or respect for the family’s possessions. Many more soldiers were outside in the surrounding streets shooting rubber-coated steel bullets that woke up residents, who were unhappy about the military invasion of their camp.

Asim was interrogated in his flat by a Mossad man who wanted to know where his son was. Asim, a middle-aged man who has been in Israeli jails 11 times, the first time for 40 days at the tender age of 14, explained that he did not fear the Mossad and the Israeli soldiers and that his son lives his owns life.

Asim was first interrogated in his own flat, which soldiers turned into an interrogation centre by ordering the rest of the family into one room and rearranging the furniture to suit their needs. We asked what would happen if somebody refused to open the door to the army, and Khaled and Asif smiled. “They would blast it open,” Asif said. “Two weeks ago the army was at the door of a camp resident and used the explosives before he could open it.”

After 15 minutes of questioning, Asim was hand-cuffed and taken down narrow camp lanes, in the dead of the night. The army used his body as a shield, placing him at the front of the group of soldiers and exposing him to the stones thrown in protest from the surrounding houses.

Using people as human shields is an illegal practise under Israeli law and a war crime under international law. Yet the Israeli Army has been reported committing this crime in the occupied Palestinian Territories day in and day out.

About 10 more camp residents were treated in the same way. Asim saw one of them being made a shield by another group of soldiers and heard about the others, who were all detained to be interrogated about their sons or brothers, later.

All of the detainees were all taken one by one to a private house at the edge of the camp, which the army took over and emptied of its residents to turn into a military interrogation centre for the night, and all were later released. This happens often: the Israeli army just choose a house, wake up all the residents, push them outside and then start rearranging the house, in order to have the space they need to interrogate people.

We asked if anybody was injured in the raid and the brothers smiled again. Asim said, “We are so used to rubber bullet injuries, we don’t even count them.”

Khaled added that many were injured for sure, as “,soldiers fired rubber bullets form very close range and I have seen a youth with large swelling on his stomach caused by a rubber bullet.”

Popular resistance: a life’s work under occupation

We asked Asim why he was arrested so many times and he answered: “Because I am a Palestinian and I refuse to accept the occupation. I won’t sit and let the occupiers do what they want.”

“Popular resistance is my life’s work,” added Khaled. “In the First Intifada everybody threw stones; we did not use guns. Because of its response, the real face of Israel was made public.” He related that people want the Intifada to return but now choose boycott and international solidarity. The BDS movement has had major successes around the world and is gaining pace in Palestine too; he said that “though there is sometimes no choice, it is now a shame here to buy Israeli goods.”

“We were the first to take on the BDS campaign,” said Khaled, who is a senior person in the Palestine Peoples Party and the PLO. “We go around shops and talk to both the shopkeepers and the shoppers about the fact that by buying Israeli produce we fund our own occupation.”

Far’a residents are denied homes and right of return

Far’a is a home to 6,500 Palestinians and Bedouins, who were made refugees in 1948. They came from 160 villages all over the area which is Israel today, but the majority of them come from the villages around Haifa.

The Mansour family’s village is Im Azinat, in the Carmel area near Haifa. The name means ‘mother of beauty’ and last time Khalid and his wife visited it was in 2000.

In Far’a the UNRWA runs schools, health and other services and through the Popular Committee residents can get involved in the camp and national politics. One of the main areas of Popular Committee’s work is the right of return.

The camp was created in 1948 on 250 dunnums of land and that has not changed to this day. Rather, the camp grew upwards with people adding a floor on the top of their existing houses to accommodate families of their married children, but this expansion has reached its limits and new families have to buy land outside the camp to ensure that there is somewhere to live.

Buying land is extremely expensive and impossible for the 25 percent of the camp who are unemployed, mainly young and highly educated people.

Also, the surrounding land is mix of area C, which is fully under Israeli control such that Palestinians are banned form building there even if they own the land, and area B, where it is possible to get a house building permit for those who can afford it.

One of the main problems for Far’a residents is frequent army raids, which happen almost every week and which always turn into clashes. Residents and mainly youth react to the military incursion by throwing stones, and so becoming a target for arrests by the occupying army.

“Because we will not accept to live under the occupation, our life is not different from the life of our fathers, and now our children live the same life too,” said Khaled. “Our father, who has passed away, spent time in the British jail in 1947, then in the Jordanian jail in 50’s when they had control here, and then in the Israeli jails sons in the 80’s, and that is the life of our sons too.”

Even the sky belongs to us

29th August 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Burin, Occupied Palestine

On the 25^th August, the village of Burin, in the south of Nablus, was closed by the Israeli army and declared a military zone.

A checkpoint was erected at the main access to the village, preventing the inhabitants from entering and exiting the village.

The blockade was imposed after clashes broke out the previous night when the military invaded the village, raided houses, and detained several villagers for interrogation.

A villager spoke to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) about the closure of Burin, “They always have the same excuse, someone threw stones at the settlers, or sometimes they say molotov cocktails, but that is only an excuse. When we do react, it’s only resistance, only to defend our families and ourselves. We are used to these situations in Burin, problems with the settlers or clashes with the army occur daily and the main road is blocked almost every week. It would be strange for us if this didn`t happen, as strange as if they failed to shoot tear gas and sound bombs during the demonstrations. It’s in our blood already.

When they block the road, going to Nablus for work or to school requires one hour more than usual, causing problems to students and workers.

This morning one of my neighbors had to stand for four hours at the temporary checkpoint without any reason, before getting the permission to enter his village. He just wanted to return back to his home but, when the soldiers saw in his ID that he was from Burin, they detained him.”

Burin is surrounded by three illegal settlements and two Israeli military bases.

Settlers often invade the Palestinian lands around it, burning olive and almonds trees or poisoning them with chemicals.

They enter the village regularly, trying to break windows by throwing stones or to burn homes, always acting under the army protection.

The villager continued to speak to ISM about the situation, “In the last year alone, Burin lost 1600 olive trees and between 500 and 600 almond trees, but every year we collect money from the people in the village in order to plant 2000 new trees and to support our farmers.

As we don’t have access to large sections of our olive fields, except for couple of hours over a couple of days during the olive harvest and with an Israeli permit, I think that, sometimes, going for a coffee on our land can be even more significant act of resistance than a demonstration.

As Israel always tries to steal Palestinian land, with the excuse that it doesn’t belong to anybody, or is not being used, it’s meaningful just to go there to show that there is someone taking care and making use of the land.”

Once a year, hundreds of kites fly over the houses in Burin, with children and families making a stand together.

“This is just another way to say to them that even the sky over our land belongs to us.”

Israeli forces fire live ammunition injuring 15 protesters in Beit Furik

27th July 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Beit Furik, Occupied Palestine

At 22:00 in the evening of Friday, July 25th, Israeli forces injured 15 Palestinians during a protest in the village of Beit Furik, which is located fifteen km southeast of Nablus in the northern half of the West Bank.

Approximately 2000 protesters were marching towards the checkpoint near the village. Roughly 40 Israeli soldiers were waiting for them there, and when they came into view, the soldiers began to shoot tear gas canisters in their direction. Shortly after the protest began, the soldiers changed from firing tear gas, to live ammunition.

23-year-old Yousef Mfeed Mletat was struck by a bullet in his left hip. He recounted the scene tearfully in his bed in Rafidia hospital in Nablus. “They were less than four meters away when they shot me. And then they started to beat me. A soldier was standing on my stomach while some of the others were kicking me. This went on for 15 minutes.” He revealed several welts on his arms and shoulders.

Yousef Mfeed Mletat (Photo by ISM). — Yousef Mfeed Mletat (photo by ISM).

Yahya Hanay, who is 25-years-old, was trying to escape from the scene, when a stun grenade struck his hand, which was covering his face at the time. As he lay on the ground, another stun grenade hit his knee. Yahya has nerve damage in his left thumb, which is said to be serious.

19-year-old Yezen Tala Khatatba, was attempting to help an injured protester, when he was shot in the left knee. The bullet exited his left knee and then entered an exited his right one. He was wearing bandages on both knees as he told his story. “The ambulance was taking me to the hospital, when soldiers twice stopped me for half an hour at a checkpoint. When I told them I had a leg injury, they said it would have been better if I’d been hit in the head.” Yezen also mentioned that another injured protestor had been taken from the ambulance at the checkpoint and beaten by soldiers.

Two Palestinian teenagers were murdered by an Israeli settler and an Israeli soldier in separate incidents in Huwwara

27th July 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Huwwwara, Occupied Palestine

On Friday, July 25, an Israeli settler murdered a Palestinian teenager in the village of Huwwara, which lies approximately 10 km south of Nablus in the northern half of the West Bank. Two hours later, an Israeli sniper killed another Palestinian teenager in the same village.

After Friday prayers at the mosque in Huwwara, villagers began marching in solidarity with the victims of the Gaza massacre. The protest included many children, some of whom were carrying signs in support of their Gazan brothers and sisters. Two Israeli military jeeps were along the route, and some of the soldiers were taking pictures of the peaceful protest. As the procession wound its way back to the mosque, a settler suddenly raced alongside and slammed on the brakes.

“He was about a meter away from the kids and just started firing out the window of his car,” stated a witness. “It was clear he was trying to kill people.” The settler managed to shoot four people before fleeing the scene. 19-year-old Khalid Owda died from a gunshot wound to his abdomen, while Tarik Dmadi was shot in the chest and remains in critical condition. Hassan Dmadi was shot in the hip, while Jihad Owda was shot in the hand and has been released from the hospital.

“Had he had more ammunition, he would have kept on shooting and killed more people,” said a witness. “Killing Palestinians is no big deal for the settlers, because there is no punishment. And what about the soldiers? They were just standing there, doing nothing.”

Tragedy struck the town of Huwwara a second time two hours later, when an Israeli sniper gunned down 18-year-old Tayeb Shohaada, who, like Khalid Owda, was a student at an-Najah University in Nablus. Israeli forces were shooting tear gas at Tayeb and roughly ten other young men, who were throwing stones in their direction from a distance of approximately 100 meters. According to Red Crescent medic, Ahmed Owda, a female Israeli sniper shot Tayeb in the face. Her sergeant then congratulated her and clapped her on the shoulder. Ahmed subsequently attempted to reach Tayeb but was unable to do so because of Israeli fire. Tayeb was eventually taken to Rafidia hospital in Nablus, where he was declared clinically dead.

The attending surgeon revealed that the damage to Tayeb’s brain was consistent with that caused by expanding bullets. Expanding bullets are banned according to the 1899 Hague Convention, but Israel has frequently been accused of employing them against Palestinians.

Memorial ceremony for both Khalid and Tayeb (photo by ISM).

Israeli forces invade Azzun and use Palestinian civilians as human shields

24th July 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Azzun, Occupied Palestine

On Monday, July 21st, Israeli forces used Palestinian civilians as human shields in the village of Azzun, a village west of the city of Nablus.

On most evenings several Israeli jeeps are stationed just outside the Azzun’s north gate. At 10 o’clock in the evening on the night in question, approximately 15 soldiers entered the main square of the village.

Witnesses report that a few young men responded to this invasion by throwing stones at the jeeps from a distance of approximately 200 meters. The soldiers spent the next few minutes stopping cars on the road and began forcing the drivers to arrange their cars in a circle. The soldiers then forced these residents of Azzun to surrender their keys. The occupants of the cars included women and children. They were very frightened and the soldiers did not allow them to leave. The Israeli forces positioned themselves inside the circle formed by the cars, began to fire tear gas at the youths, and knelt behind the civilian occupants of the cars as to protect themselves.

The use of civilian human shields is prohibited by Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel ratified this convention in 1951.

Israeli forces have a long history of using Palestinian civilians as human shields. From the years 2000 to 2005, they admitted to using human shields more than 1,200 times. This practice was banned by the Israeli Supreme Court in 2005, but human rights groups have accused the Israeli army of continuing to use it. During the Gaza massacre of 2008-2009 Israeli occupation forces were accused by Amnesty International, as well as former Israeli soldiers, of using Palestinian children as human shields.