11th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement | Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine
By Team Khalil
Resistance to occupation stays strong in Nabi Saleh – Friday 10th May saw confrontation between peaceful protesters and soldiers and Israeli military incursion into the village, sparking fires from excessive firing of tear gas.
Photo by ISM
Women lead the demonstration 10th May Friday demonstration at Nabi Saleh, shouting slogans against the occupation and land theft by the illegal settlement of Halamish. In the last few days, settlers threw stones at Palestinian cars on the road below the settlement.
Photo by ISM
One of the demonstration leaders, Neriman Tamimi, was hit twice with sound grenades thrown at close range whilst asking soldiers to leave her land. She required medical attention. Large amounts of tear gas and sound grenades were used during the demonstration and skunk water was fired directly onto houses and in residential areas.
Photo by ISM
Palestinian protester states “they’re shooting inside the village at civilians who don’t have any weapons” – a heavily armed and armoured soldier responds, “They throw stones, stones can kill”. No soldiers have been killed or seriously injured at Nabi Saleh, whereas hundreds of peaceful protesters have been injured and there have been two deaths in recent years – Mustafa and Rushdi Tamimi. Shortly after this is explained to soldiers, they throw tearas and sound grenades at the group of women who did nothing but speak to them.
Photo by Tamimi Press
Photographer and journalist Bilal Tamimi being attacked by the Israeli military – he was also shot with a tear gas canister, requiring medical attention. Four people were injured during the demonstration, including one Red Crescent medic.
Photo by ISM
Several fires were set in dry grass by tear gas canisters fired by Israeli military – two fire engines were required to put them out. Soldiers eventually left the village having invaded for several hours.
12th April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine
By Team Khalil
Photo Essay : The demonstrations at Hagai roadblock have been taking place for just over two months. The road has been blocked off since 2008, adding 12km to the journey from Hebron to villages and towns in the South Hebron Hills.
Tear gas was fired excessively at the small group of unarmed demonstrators roughly one minute after they started marchingOne demonstrator was taken away in an ambulance after excessive exposure to tear gasA demonstrator suffers from tear gas inhalationA demonstrator kicks away a tear gas cannisterAirborne tear gas canistersAn Israeli flag is burned and placards of hunger strike Samer Issawi are held by demonstratorsA skunk water truck sprays foul smelling liquid into residential homes
22 January 2013 | Operation Dove, At Tuwani, Occupied Palestine
On 21st January the Israeli army demolished a building in the village of Ar Rifa’iyya and a water cistern in the village of Hawara. The army went on and damaged the only road that connects the village of At Tuwani and the nearby villages with the city of Yatta in South Hebron Hills. The three villages lie in Area C.
At around 8.30 am two bulldozers and three vehicles from the District Coordination Office (DCO) raided in the village of Ar Rifa’iyya, escorted by five Border Police vehicles. They demolished one house, belonging to Amed Mohammad Jaber Amor and his family consisting of 20 people. His brother Sabbri declared that the house was demolished twice previously because it is three meters outside the village master plan.At 9 am the Israeli forces moved to Hawara village, where they destroyed one water cistern belonging to Musa Abu Aram. The cistern was full of water. This is major damage as water supply in this area is particularly critical. The two villages are located along the road 317.
Afterwards the military convoy and bulldozers stopped at the entrance to At Tuwani village, where they damaged the road connecting the villages in Massafer Yatta area to the northern city of Yatta. At first they destroyed part of the little wall built alongside the road. Secondly they piled these ruins on the street, causing travel obstruction. The local council representative declared that they had never received a demolition order for that street. He added that the council appealed to the Israeli Civil Administration in order to receive a work permission for the street, but no answer was ever received.
“The aim of demolitions is to expel us from here and to take us to the other side of 317 road”, said Sabbri M. J. Amor from the village of Ar Rifa’iyya, “Nevertheless, we will rebuild this house again. Palestinian resistance is like the grass: it gets dry, but when it rains it grows back.”
Background
The policies enforced by the Israeli authorities in Area C restrict the possibility to access to basic needs for the residents and prevent development of Palestinian communities. An OCHA Occupied Palestinian Territories research demonstrates that “in some communities, families are being forced to move as a result of Israeli policies applied in Area C. Ten out of 13 communities recently visited by OCHA reported that families are leaving because policies and practices implemented there make it difficult for residents to meet basic needs or maintain their presence on the land.”
Most of Area C has been designated as military zones and for expansion of Israeli settlements, severely constraining the living space and development opportunities of Palestinian communities. While it is virtually impossible for a Palestinian to obtain a permit for construction, Israeli settlements receive preferential treatment in terms of allocation of water and land, approval of development plans, and law enforcement.
According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.
Operation Dove has maintained international presence in At Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.
Demolished house in Ar Rifa’iyya villageDemolished house in Ar Rifa’iyya villageDemolished cistern in Huwara villageVolvo bulldozer demolishing cistern in Huwara villageHidromek bulldozer demolishing cistern in Huwara villageVolvo bulldozer blocking the entrance to At Tuwani villageEarth obstruction at the entrance to At Tuwani village
20 January 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Bab al-Karama, Occupied Palestine
The road to Bab al-Karama, the new tent neighborhood created by Palestinians on land that will be separated from the village of Beit Iksa by the Apartheid wall, exposes a landscape of Apartheid.
To reach Bab al-Karama from Occupied Ramallah one needs to take the “Palestinian only” road that runs under the “Israeli only” 443 Highway between Ramallah and Beir Naballah.
Beir Naballah used to be a suburb of Jerusalem. Affluent Jerusalemites built their homes in Beir Naballah to escape from the housing crisis imposed on Palestinians by Jerusalem’s municipality housing polices. It sits on a road that connected the villages in the area with Jerusalem and continued on to Latrun. Now Beir Naballah is completely surrounded by an Israeli wall. The old road was widened and transformed into an Israeli highway called 443. The highway now connects Jerusalem to Tel Aviv and the Palestinian residents of the area are barred form using it. The Jerusalemite residents were forced to abandon their homes and many businesses dependent on clientele from Jerusalem have closed.
We exit Beir Naballah through a second tunnel that connects the Beir Naballah enclave to another enclave where 8 Palestinian villages are also isolated by Israeli walls. This tunnel is even more surreal than the first. Not only does it run under two Israeli only roads but as well as under the Apartheid wall and through the Givaat Zeev settlement bloc. High cement walls with razor wire on top of them hug the sides of the road.
We drive in Biddu and drive through the villages that had been since their creation connected to Al Quds but are now cut off from it and artificially connected to Ramallah. True to the Orwellian tradition of Israel’s military language they call the Palestinian network of roads they have built under their highways “fabric of life roads”. The landscape is beautiful and almost idyllic. Goats grazing on green hills, old stone houses…, but this ideal setting is surrounded by walls, gates and settlements.
The last village we reach, the one closest to Jerusalem is Beit Iksa. But to enter it we need to pass a military checkpoint. At the edge of the village we finally reach Bab al-Karama overlooking a network of Israeli highways and the city of Jerusalem. In the valley right below Bab al-Karama one can see two tunnels that will be connected by a bridge on which a fast track train connecting Jerusalem to Tel Aviv will run. The train will run on the village’s land but not only will the villagers be barred from accessing it, Israel’s Apartheid wall will be built between the village and the train separating the villagers from over 4500 dunams (60%) of their agricultural land. More than 1300 dunams had already been taken in the 70s for the construction of Ramot Allon settlement.
Checkpoint at the entrance of Beit IksaView of Jerusalem and the construction of the illegal railwayBab al-KaramaPalestinian residents of Bab al-Karama build the mosque (Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad)Israeli Border Police invade Bab al-KaramaIsraeli Border Police invades Bab al-Karama on Sunday evening (Photo: Al-Kisnawi family)
