Category: Nablus - Page 35 - International Solidarity Movement

Two Palestinians arrested in Bruqin

12th January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Bruqin, Occupied Palestine

January 13th 2014:

Today, 13^th January 2014, the two men from Bruqin have been released from prison with a 2000 NIS bail each. Both men are under house arrest until the 24^th January and must report to Ariel police station, inside the illegal settlement of Ariel, every 48 hours.

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On Thursday, 9^th January 2014, two farmers from Bruqin, in Salfit district, were arrested by Israeli soldiers. 19-year-old Mohammad Baker and 29-year-old Jaad Baker, accompanied by his 4-year-old son and their 40 cows, entered their land to the west of Bruqin. The land between the village and the industrial area of the illegal settlement of Ariel belongs to villagers of Bruqin and the farmers use it for their sheep and cows.

At 11:30am Israeli forces entered the land, which is monitored by a surveillance camera, and arrested the two villagers. They were taken in handcuffs to a jeep nearby, leaving the 4-year-old boy alone in the field with the cattle. The soldiers refused to call any family members so that the boy could be brought home to the village. The Israeli forces held the farmers until 2:00pm on the road by the jeep. The men were arrested for entering a closing military zone. The soldiers searched them various times and kept them detained in handcuffs before transferring them to a prison in the illegal settlement of Ariel.

Later in the afternoon another family member heard from witnesses of the arrest and went to the field to take the boy home and to gather the cows. The boy is still traumatized.

Furthermore five of the forty cows remain missing. The villagers believe that settlers from the illegal settlement of Bruchin have stolen the cattle. Israeli police have refused to investigate, claiming that they have other issues to deal with.

On Saturday morning a police officer called the family to inform them that the prisoners are being held in Ariel and that tomorrow after the Jewish holiday they will be transferred to Haderim prison in Israel. A court hearing is due to be held on Monday, 13^th January in the military court in Salem. A lawyer is dealing with the case.

Kifl Hares: Closure of village and settler harassment

12th January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kifl Hares, Occupied Palestine

On Friday, 10^th January 2014, at approximately 4 o’clock in the morning a group of twenty settlers from nearby illegal settlements entered the Palestinian village of Kifl Hares. Some of them arrived in cars, others on foot. The settlers made noise and broke windows of parked cars. Palestinians on their way to the mosque for the first prayers were harassed and settlers in cars tried to run them over. Children were frightened and the villagers were afraid to leave their homes.

Previously, on Tuesday 7^th January, the Israeli army closed the gate at the main entrance to the village, which leads to the main road. When villagers asked the reason for this, the soldiers stationed in a watchtower nearby answered that the gate would be closed indefinitely for security reasons.

On Thursday, 9^th January, an emergency occurred, when an ambulance attempted to take an elderly lady living near the entrance to a hospital in Nablus. The residents requested that the Israeli soldiers open the gate for just five minutes so that the ambulance could reach the main road. The Israeli forces refused and the paramedic had to carry the lady by hand on a stretcher from her house to the other side of the gate. This delayed her arrival at hospital.

The gate has been opened only once in the past few days. This happened on Friday, when the settlers entered the village, implying that the Israeli forces knew of the settler attack.

Illegal settlers and Jewish tourists have entered Kifl Hares on many occasions. The village is located in the northern West Bank in the Salfit district and close to Ariel, the largest of the illegal settlements. The pretext for the incursions into Kifl Hares is a pilgrimage to three disputed tombs. The centuries-old tombs belonging to the village are also important for Muslims. Large numbers of settlers arrive on visits organized by the DCO and with Israeli army protection. Settlers and Jewish tourists from all over the world arrive by bus, frequently during the night. During the incursions, Israeli forces declare the village a closed military zone and Palestinians are required to stay in their homes until the settlers have left. This event occurs around twenty times a year. Nevertheless settlers also come weekly without army protection to pray in the tombs and often to harass or attack villagers. Several years ago Palestinian youth would resist these incursions by throwing stones at the illegal settlers and Israeli forces. This resistance was invariably responded to with night raids and arrests that resulted in imprisonment for up to five years. Since then villagers have been afraid to resist these settler attacks.

UPDATED: Palestinian activist arrested in night raid in Nablus

07th January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Nablus, Occupied Palestine

Updated 10th January:

Sireen Khudairi was released at 17:15 on the 8^th of January.

Sireen was brought inside Salem Court at 10:30am after being made to stand outside for an hour with her hands and feet shackled and without a jacket.

Once brought into the courtroom Sireen endured relentless questioning until 17:00. During this time her feet remained shackled.

Sireen was brought to Salem at 08:00am after being kept at Huwwara military camp until 12pm on the day of her arrest. At Huwwara military camp she was made to stand outside in the freezing cold with no jacket, blindfolded, shackled (hands and feet) and with no shoes for several hours. She was then taken to another camp, the location she was uncertain of, but it was 15 minutes from Huwwara. Before being returned to Huwwara and then transferred to Hasharon prison overnight.

Sireen also stated that outside her home when she was kidnapped, she was told by Israeli forces that they would not handcuff her if she came quietly. This was in the presence of a British citizen. As soon as she was outside and out of sight of her international friend she was handcuffed, shackled and blindfolded.

All information above is from an activist working with the Solidarity Movement for Free Palestine (SFP).

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Updated 8th January:

Sireen was released today from Salem Court. More details to follow.

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Updated 7th January:

Sireen is still being held by Israeli forces, she will be taken to Salem Court near Jenin tomorrow. More updates to follow.

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At 2:30am on Tuesday morning, Israeli soldiers and secret service agents entered a house in the city of Nablus and arrested Sireen Khudairi, a 24-year-old schoolteacher and activist. No arrest warrant was given, although Sireen was threatened with physical violence if she did not accompany the soldiers.

This is the second time in a year that Sireen has been arrested without a warrant. On May 14th 2013 she was arrested and held for two months on the charge of having written a Facebook page that “compromised the security of the state of Israel”. Her detention included 22 days of solitary confinement and no access to a lawyer or her family. She was eventually released from prison but placed under house arrest, having paid bail of NIS 7000 and on the condition that she refrain from using the internet.

On 16^th September, the Israeli military court found Sireen not guilty but ordered her to refrain from activism for five years.

Sireen’s family home has been raided various times since then, as it appears that she is wanted to testify against other activists. This is yet another event in the ongoing campaign of intimidation against non-violent Palestinian activists, and the criminalization of protest by the Israeli state.

For more information on Sireen’s case and how to act, please visit:

http://freesireen.wordpress.com/

Illegal settlers burn two cars in the village of Madama

08th January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Madama, Occupied Palestine

Today, the 8^th January 2014, at approximately 3am settlers entered the Palestinian village of Madama, south of Nablus and set fire to two cars. The cars were parked in the village center beside the home of the car owners.

A villager from Madama and owner of one car, Dr. Rami Nassar, heard noises outside his home, when he went out outside he witnessed the settlers setting fire to the two cars. The four illegal settlers left the area as soon as they started the fire. Dr Nassar saw them leave in a blue car with an Israeli plate driving away towards the main road.

Other Palestinians arrived at the scene to help put out the fire on the cars. In the morning other villagers discovered graffiti in Hebrew on a wall close to the parking area where the cars stand. It says ‘revenge – Ashe Kodesh’.

Just yesterday Palestinians from the villages Qusra, Jalud and Qaryut defended themselves against attacking settlers. The settlers were beaten and held until the Palestinian DCO handed them over to the Israeli army. The villagers of Madama believe that it was revenge action from a group of angry settlers.

Madama is a village of about 644 hectares and a population of 2500 people. Madama is located next to the illegal settlement of Yizhar, and had been the frequent target of attacks by the settlement, including cutting down hundreds of trees and beating farmers. Settlers have fired upon villagers and, since 2011, three people have been killed. As is common throughout the West Bank, the settlement has seized lands from nearby villages, up to 100 hectares, and continues to do so. One of the most horrific events arising recently from the village of Madama is that of the Nasser family, who are being forced off their land due to their close location to Yizhar.

Clashes in Qusra: olive trees destroyed and settlers beaten

08th January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Occupied Palestine

Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian youth erupted yesterday after settlers attacked villagers from Qusra on their fields. Palestinians captured a group of settlers on their way to Qaryut after they had destroyed a number of olive trees.

In the morning of the 7^th January 2014, several farmers from Qusra, a village south of Nablus, entered their fields close to the illegal outpost of Ashe Kodesh. At approximately 10am two illegal settlers, accompanied by three Israeli soldiers, entered the fields in order to destroy the olive trees. Palestinians witnessed one settler carrying a metal stick which he then used to beat a farmer, while the soldiers watched on refusing to intervene. The farmer received injures to his head and to his knee.

Villagers from Qusra heard of the attack and went to the fields to assist the farmers. While the farmers brought the injured man to the ambulance, clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian youth. Many Israeli soldiers and border police shot tear gas canisters at the protesters and moved to protect the illegal settlers. More settlers arrived at the fields in order to watch the clashes, while Israeli forces were extremely violently and shot tear gas canisters directly at Palestinian youth and journalists.

After approximately one hour the settlers ran towards the village of Qaryut, destroying more olive trees on the way, closely followed by Palestinian and international activists. The villagers of Jalud heard about the settler attack and witnessed them running in the fields. The villagers decided to surround the settlers and hold them accountable for the attack. The Palestinians beat the settlers and brought one by one to a shelter between Jalud and Qaryut, where they controlled their movement and stopped them from running away. After they succeeded catching several settlers, the others hid behind trees and stones close by. Four Israeli soldiers arrived at the shelter and were overwhelmed with the situation.

After approximately 30 minutes many journalists and members of the press arrived to document the incident. The injured settlers refused help from the Palestinian Red Crescent. After a short period of time, the Palestinian DCO arrived and handed over 17 settlers to the Israeli army, which by then had increased to around 40 soldiers. Further information about the settlers is unknown.

Qusra is a Palestinian village in Nablus, of approximately 4,500 people, that is hundreds if not thousands of years old. The village is no stranger to settler violence and harassment. The most infamous incidents of settler violence in Qusra occurred in September 2011, when a mosque in Qusra was vandalized and targeted for arson by extremist Israeli settlers, gaining international attention. Later the same month, a group of settlers invaded the village and when they met resistance, Israeli soldiers intervened, shooting and killing Essam Badran, a 35-year-old Palestinian man.