Category: Photo Story - Page 30 - International Solidarity Movement

“Knocking on the gates of Jerusalem”: demonstration against injustice of Israeli occupation

29th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Bethlehem, Occupied Palestine

Today, Saturday 29th June, a group of Palestinian activists demanded access to the occupied city of Jerusalem through the gate in the Apartheid Wall in Bethlehem. Their nonviolent demonstration also aimed to highlight Palestinian opposition to the US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit, but was met with violence from the Israeli occupation military. The Apartheid Wall gate was closed in the face of the protesters, shutting them out of their illegally occupied land.

Activists head for Jerusalem, aiming to walk through the Apartheid Wall checkpoint (Photo by: ISM)

At around 11am Palestinian activists, accompanied by international demonstrators, walked towards the checkpoint in the Apartheid Wall towards Jerusalem. Access is granted by the Israeli occupation authorities for very few Palestinians –people between the ages of 18-45 are routinely denied permits. The Palestinian demonstrators demanded right of entry to their capital city, Jerusalem. Israeli occupation military immediately reacted violently at the checkpoint, pushing and shoving non-violent protesters. One demonstrator was pushed aggressively to the ground by a heavily armed Israeli soldier.

Around twenty soldiers were involved in suppressing the peaceful demonstration, and after around ten minutes of harassment of the Palestinian protesters, they closed the Apartheid Wall gate. This is the second attempt in two weeks of Palestinians to cross into occupied Jerusalem. They vow to continue to demand an end to the restriction of movement imposed on the Palestinian people by the Israeli occupation.

Israeli soldier violently pushes back peaceful demonstrators (Photo by: ISM)

Protesters held signs saying “Kerry go home” and slogans about apartheid. US Secretary of State John Kerry was permitted to enter occupied Jerusalem two days ago on Thursday 27th June, where he met Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His meeting with the Palestinian authority president Mahmoud Abbas was forced to take place in Amman, Jordan rather than occupied Jerusalem. Kerry is advocating “peace talks”, but has not taken strong action against the Israeli obstacles to peace which include denying the right of return of the Palestinian refugees and increasing illegal settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem; as Kerry arrived into the Middle East, Netanyahu approved yet another settlement expansion into East Jerusalem. Further, the US continues to fund the Israeli occupation government and military operations to the tune of over $3 billion a year.

The Palestinians will continue to knock on the gates of Jerusalem to highlight the injustices of the Israeli occupation.

Apartheid Wall checkpoint is closed, blocking Palestinians from their occupied capital (Photo by: ISM)

Photo essay: Gaza joins the Global March to Jerusalem

10th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement | Beit Hanoun, Occupied Palestine

Thousands of Palestinians from across the Gaza Strip rallied by the closed Erez checkpoint on Friday, marking al-Naksa (the setback), Israel’s 1967 seizure of the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip, Syria’s Golan Heights, and Sinai Peninsula, ceded to Egypt in 1982.

Israel’s capture of the territories included the ethnic cleansing of over 400,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and West Bank, following al-Nakba (the catastrophe), Zionist militias the and Israeli army’s 1948 expulsion of over 750,000 from lands now claimed by Israel.

The effort was part of the second annual Global March to Jerusalem, an international mobilization protesting Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Jerusalem and promising the return of refugees ethnically cleansed by its military forces.

According to a statement released today by the Global March to Jerusalem, “marches and sit-ins were held on Friday in more than 40 countries around the world, in addition to Palestine. They included a march to the northern border of the Gaza Strip and demonstrations in Jerusalem at the entrance to the Old City where Occupation Forces suppressed and arrested participants.

“Mass demonstrations took place in Gaza, Jordan, Egypt, Tunis, Mauritania, and Morocco, as well as in Yemen, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey. Likewise, there were large demonstrations in capitals and cities across Europe and North America, including gatherings in front of Israeli embassies.”

Photo essay: Gas, frisbees and the Apartheid Wall in Ni’lin

24th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Team Nablus | Ni’lin, Occupied Palestine

Friday demonstrations continue in the village of Ni’lin in protest against the Occupation and Apartheid Wall which runs through the village’s land. Background on the effects of the Occupation in Ni’lin is here.

During this particular demonstration on the 24th May 2013, there were no injuries and those who were climbing the wall (as pictured below) were able to cover one of the Israeli Military Skunk Trucks in red paint. The paint enveloped the front and side windows, putting the Skunk truck out of use for this particular demonstration.

The Apartheid Wall separating the village of Ni’lin from its land, 90% of which has been lost to Israel.

Quote by Martin Luther King on the Apartheid Wall.

Demonstrator climbing the Wall.

Fires are set by demonstrators to damage the Wall.

Damage to the Apartheid Wall after the efforts of the villagers of Ni’lin during demonstrations every Friday.

A protester writes a message to Israeli soldiers on a frisbee.

The frisbee is thrown over the Wall to the soldiers, with a letter attached imploring them to challenge their government.

Soldiers respond with multiple volleys of teargas. In recent weeks, fires set by teargas has damaged hundreds of olive trees and Ni’lin’s agricultural land.

Red Crescent paramedic on the scene in case of injury – five people have been killed by the Israeli occupation forces since demonstrations started in Ni’lin five years ago.

Photo Essay: Sabastiya remembers 65 years of the Nakba

22th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Team Nablus | Sabastiya, Occupied Palestine

In community remembrance of the Nakba, Sabastiya villagers observed 15 minutes of a full lights-out.

In community remembrance of the Nakbah, Sabastiya villagers observed 15-minutes of a full light-out. Instead, villagers gathered in the village center, a municipal park area, to remember Palestinian displacement from 1948 Palestinian villages. [Photo by Ahmad Kayed]

Villagers sang Palestinian songs together in a show of community and collective continued remembrance of the devastation and displacement caused by the Nakba and the after effects of the Nakbah, 65 years later. [Photo by Ahmad Kayed] — Villagers sang Palestinian songs together in a show of community and collective continued remembrance of the devastation and displacement caused by the Nakba and the effects of the Nakba, 65 years later. [Photo by Ahmad Kayed]

Villagers gathered in the village center, a municipal park area, to remember Palestinian displacement from 1948 Palestinian villages. Candles were lit as people gathered to remember the Nakba together. [Photo by Ahmad Kayed]

Photo essay: March through Nablus and Tulkarem commemorates the Nakba

13th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement | Nablus and Tulkarem, Occupied Palestine

By Team Nablus

Today, at around 8am, over thirty people from the Palestinian General Union of People with Disability marched through the city of Nablus to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Nakba.

Participants gather in Nablus before the march (Photo by ISM)

People marching along al-Quds Street in Nablus (Photo by ISM)

After the march, a bus drove participants to Tulkarem where they were joined by approximately 40 more demonstrators. Together they continued the march through the city of Tulkarem. They sang and chanted slogans remembering the 1948 massacre and reclaiming the right of return.

Palestinian Scout's band leading the demonstration (Photo by ISM) — Palestinian Scout’s band leading the demonstration (Photo by ISM)

Demonstrators marching through Tulkarem (Photo by ISM) — Participant with sign symbolizing the Palestinians’ right of return (Photo by ISM)

Two young demonstrators participating in the march (Photo by ISM)

The marched finished at the Israeli Chemical factory on the outskirts of the city. Demonstrators hung Palestinian flags and flags calling for the right of return from the wall.