31st January 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
In the old city of occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), Palestinians’ freedom of movement is impeded by a large number of Israeli checkpoints. In the Tel Rumeida neighborhood, many school-children and teachers are forced to pass at least one, often more, checkpoint daily on their way to school. The Israeli occupation seriously disrupts the right to education for Palestinians in al-Khalil.
One of the checkpoints that Palestinians have to pass in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood is the ‘Gilbert’ checkpoint in the heart of the Tel Rumeida neighborhood. This checkpoint divides the neighborhood, enforcing the Israeli forces’ checkpoint regime on Palestinian residents only. Israeli settlers enjoy full freedom of movement and rights in and around the illegal settlements. This photo-story of the Gilbert checkpoint illustrates what this limitation of movement means to Palestinian civilians in every day life.
Palestinian journalists were denied entry through the checkpoint. They were on their way to Shuhada Street to document Palestinian school children walking through checkpoints on their way to school.
Palestinian school-boy has to pass his school-bag for a bag-search, before being allowed to continue on his way to school.
Israeli soldier searching the bag of a Palestinian woman. Officially, these bag-searches are for ‘security purposes’, but Israeli forces often arbitrarily search only some bags. At this checkpoint they mainly search women’s bags, while allowing men to pass without being searched. Palestinians are robbed of even the tiniest bit of privacy at the Israeli forces’ checkpoints.
Group of Palestinian school children passing through Israeli military checkpoint. Children are not exempt from the Israeli forces policies and are forced to pass metal detectors daily. On their way to school. Israeli forces sometimes search their bags or force them to wait while checking another Palestinian.
Palestinian child passing through checkpoint and past a large group of Israeli forces on his way home. An ‘innocent’ childhood is denied to Palestinian children living under Israeli military occupation. Sadly, they have to pass large groups of heavily-armed soldiers on the way to school. The practice of soldiers conducting exercises of how to shoot Palestinians to death at checkpoints in civilian Palestinian neighborhoods are the norm rather than the exception.
Palestinian school children passing Israeli military checkpoint on their way to school. These checkpoints often are the reason for Palestinian school-children to reach school late, as they might be delayed, denied to pass or searched.
Palestinian man is forced to wait at the checkpoint, but forced to move several meters back, as Israeli forces check his ID, violating his freedom of movement.
Israeli forces are detaining a Palestinian woman at the checkpoint, unaware that a member of a UN delegation is present. According to international law and the recent UN resolution, Israeli settlements in the Israeli occupied West Bank are illegal.
Israeli forces ‘checking’ Palestinian shop located near the checkpoint. All commodities and general necessities have to be bought on the other side of the checkpoint, as the area locked up within the checkpoints has no shops. So, whenever a Palestinian needs to buy groceries, he or she must pass the checkpoint.
Palestinian school-children turn around as Israeli forces call them back. Having passed the metal detector doesn’t always mean that soldiers will allow you to pass: even after passing through the checkpoint, soldiers from time to time will stop and inspect Palestinians again.
15th January 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Bethlehem, occupied Palestine
The Prisoners Club held a demonstration and march to the illegal apartheid wall on Sunday afternoon to demand the return of the bodies of martyrs held unjustly by the colonial occupying Zionist State of Israel.
The Zionist Israeli forces often take the bodies of murdered Palestinian martyrs and hold them, usually for long periods of time, threatening to bury them in unmarked graves in the cemetery of numbers if Palestinian resistance continues. The families want the bodies of their loved ones returned for funeral and burial.
The demonstration and march was attended by well over 150 Palestinian men, women and children along with several internationals.
After the march to the illegal colonial apartheid wall, as the group was leaving, the Israeli occupation forces opened the gate in the wall with several military vehicles and began to fire tear gas, sound grenades and rubber coated steel bullets into and at the crowd. A handful of people were minimally affected by teargas with no medical treatment needed and no other injuries reported. The clash lasted about one and half hours.
Over 150 demonstrators demand return of martyrs bodies in Bethlehem.Children out in force at Bethlehem demonstration demanding return of martyrs’ bodies.Demonstration continues after march to apartheid wall in Bethlehem.Demonstrators carry symbolic coffins, demanding return of martyrs’ bodies in Bethlehem.Demonstrators call for support from upcoming Paris conference.Protesters at the apartheid wall demanding the release of martyrs’ bodies in occupied Bethlehem.A boy runs after tear gas canister and throws it back at Bethlehem demonstration.Tear gas fired by Israeli forces fills the street in Bethlehem following demonstration.
13th January 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine
The Friday demonstration against the illegal wall in Kafr Qaddum was attended by over 100 Palestinians along with numerous pro-Palestinian Israelis and other internationals.
Two days prior to the demonstration, the villagers were told if there was the usual demonstration on Friday, everyone would be arrested.
There were two surprises this Friday. A high ranking female member of the Palestinian authority (PA) attended the demonstration. Prior to the march she spoke to those gathered about the importance of continued activism and protests against the illegal colonial settlements and apartheid wall.
The second surprise was the Israeli occupation forces made no arrests and in fact only a handful of soldiers were seen about 500 metres from the demonstration. It is only speculation on the part of this writer but this may have been due to the PA official being present at the demonstration. There were no shots fired and no injuries reported.
At the Friday demonstration a week earlier in Kafr Qaddum, a 7-year old boy was kidnapped by Israeli forces and interrogated before being returned to his family a couple of hours later. The boy has said that soldiers threatened to kill his father if he did not cooperate.
Village leader addresses demonstration in Kafr Qaddum.Member of the Palestinian Authority addresses the demonstration in Kafr Qaddum.Children out in force at demonstration in Kafr Qaddum.Over 100 villagers protesting illegal apartheid wall in Kafr Qaddum.The Palestinian flag still continues to fly in Kafr Qaddum.Blocking the road to Israeli forces with burning tires.Illegal colonial settlements built on stolen land right next to village of Kafr Qaddum.7-year old kidnapped by Israeli forces in Kafr Qaddum at the previous week’s demonstration.
24th November 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
After our afternoon school run today, two of us took a walk around a small part of Al Khalil. The photos are sort of a mini-walking tour of some of the stolen Palestinian land, streets, homes and shops, roadblocks and checkpoints. Note the diagonal iron bars on the shops. These are welded in place to keep their Palestinian owners from re-entering their own shops and businesses. Above the shops are now illegal colonial Zionist settlers living in the once owned homes of Palestinians. On some of the streets Palestinians are prohibited from walking. And no Palestinian vehicles allowed. Al Khalil is unique in that the illegal colonial settlers live right in the city among the Palestinians (of course with colonial Zionist Israeli Occupation Forces and walls and fences to “protect” them and many of these Zionist carry their automatic weapons with them as well. Most illegal colonial settlements are separated or outside of the Palestinian villages, town, and cities (and generally an army base within or next to it. Currently there are over 600,000 living in these settlement in the West Bank and construct of new and expansion of existing ones continues!
Gate locking access to the Abu Haykal family land, now deemed an ‘archaelogical site’ by Israeli forces
A typical road-blockGhost Street – in the process of ethnic cleansing of all Palestinian residentsDiagnol metal bar is welded to doors in order to keep shops and homes permanently closedEntrance to a typical checkpointLeft side of the fence for illegal colonial settlers, right side for Palestinians – often littered with trash by the settlersAnother road-block preventing Palestinian freedom of movement
2oth October 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
This past week marked the feast of Sukkot, which brought settlers from illegal settlements all over the occupied West Bank to al-Khalil (Hebron). There, with restrictions, harassment, collective punishment and intimidation of Palestinians – all in favor of the illegal settlers – the spirit of the Jewish holiday was turned into a feast of intimidation and oppression for the Palestinian residents, going hand in hand with increasing illegal annexation of their land.
With bus-loads of settlers from all over the illegaly occupied Palestinian West Bank pouring into al-Khalil, Israeli forces stepped up the movement-restrictions and checkpoint closures for Palestinians even more, thus making the maze of checkpoints, already almost impossible to navigate into a maze that ends mainly in dead-ends. For several days, the main checkpoint connecting the Palestinian market with the area around the Ibrahimi Mosque was closed for Palestinians, and Palestinian shop-owners in the mosque-area were forced shut by the Israeli forces – all to facilitate settler movement in areas that lack any presence of Palestinians.
The road connecting the settlements in the heart of al-Khalil with the Kiryat Arba settlement on the outskirts of al-Khalil – where only settlers are allowed to drive – has largely been cordonned off with police-barriers.
The area cordonned off by Israeli forces
Thus, school-children were not only forced to pass an even larger amount of heavily-armed military and police forces, but also navigate the maze of complete closures for Palestinians, areas to avoid due to excessive settler presence and the gates put up preventing movement in certain directions.
School-children forced to pass heavily-armed Israeli forces and the maze of police-barriers
Students of al-Faihaa girls school in the Ibrahimi Mosque area, where just recently a new CCTV surveillance tower was put up following and recording every step of the Palestinian residents movement, are now studying right next to a military encampment. The building right next to the girls school entrance has already been mis-used and turned into a military encampement during last year’s Sukkot celebrations.
Building illegally occupied by Israeli forces for a military base
On Tuesday, many of the settlers arriving to al-Khalil on the occassion of the holiday, were ‘guided’ through the Palestinian market by Israeli forces, preventing Palestinians’ access in their own marketplace for hours. Just a day later, soldiers effectively imposed a curfew on the tiny strip of Shuhada Street where Palestinians are still allowed to walk, the Tel Rumeida neighborhood and the Bab al-Zawwiya area. The latter is located in the H1 area of al-Khalil, supposedly under full Palestinian control. With the closure of Shuhada checkpoint for six hours on Wednesday, Palestinian civilians were either locked inside or outside their houses, while settlers were accompanied by heavily armed military forces to a tomb located in the H1-area, forcing shop-owners to close.
On Thursday morning, Israeli forces marched through the streets of al-Khalil, with drums and music, in a pure show of force and power. The march went on the settler only road, that has been ethnically cleansed from Palestinian cars (but does still allow Palestinian pedestrians), illustrating the continuous plans and attempts to connect the illegal settlements in an area ethnically cleansed of any Palestinian presence.
Soldiers marching through al-Khalil
Throughout the increasing efforts to illegally annex more and more strips of land, and erase first the memory of the Palestinian heritage as a step to then erase the whole Palestinian population, Israeli forces are employing the ‘power of words’. More and more areas, streets and houses that belong to Palestinians, but in which settlers have already moved in (and were succinctly kicked out by the army), are given Hebrew names, eradicating the Palestinian names. This is just one small step of illegal annexation that even goes so far to call the illegal Israeli settlements in the city center of al-Khalil “Jewish neighborhoods”.
Signs put up for ‘tourist settlers’ in al-Khalil by Israeli forces
With the holiday of Sukkot lasting for another three days, more restrictions and harassment are expected. And even with the end of the holiday, the restrictions, harassment and intimidation of Palestinian civilians solely and deliberately on the ground of their ethnic group, with the continuous illegal annexation of the land, will not stop as long as the illegal occupation is allowed by the international community to continue their efforts of ethnic cleansing.
