Category: Ramallah - Page 8 - International Solidarity Movement

“The youth will not tire, ’till your independence”

November 7th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Nablus, Occupied Palestine

Today, at 6 pm local time in Occupied Jerusalem, Palestinians and supporters gathered in peaceful events all over the world to sing the “unofficial” Palestinian national anthem, Mawtini (In Arabic موطني).

Crowds gathered to sing in Arafat Square, Ramallah

Events were scheduled to take place in Occupied Jerusalem, Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus, Bethlehem, Jericho, Jordan Valley, Jenin and Salfit, and schools throughout the West Bank were encouraged to chant Mawtini during the school day and upload videos to the Facebook page of the #Mawtini-event. On the Facebook-event, posts from Ivory Coast, Syria, Gaza, and others show the wide international solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people.

Crowds sing 'Matwini' in Ramallah — Crowds sing ‘Matwini’ in Ramallah

The beginning of the second verse reads: “The youth will not tire, ’till your independence” and is a clear symbol of the current situation on the West Bank; the young generation growing up under the Oslo Accords of 1993 are the ones exerting their political power by risking their lives. They have grown up in a world where the occupation – among many other things – took away their freedom of movement by temporary check-points, road-blocks, and denying them access to Jerusalem.

Seeing the diverse attendance and participation and listening to the poem written by the Palestinian poet Ibrahim Toukan shows the anatomy of the Palestinian people; for decades they have had their freedom of movement stolen, had their children killed, and had their villages divided by the Apartheid Wall but they continue to exist and to resist with dignity and joy.

“Mawtini (my homeland) will I see you in your eminence reaching the stars?”

See a version of the original song here

12 year old Palestinian killed in Bethlehem as violence explodes across the West Bank

5th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | West Bank, occupied Palestine

Abed al-Rahman Shadi Obeidallah, 12 was still in his school uniform when he was rushed in a civilian car to Beit Jala hospital from Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem today. The boy, from from a Al Kahder village, was shot in the heart during confrontations at Aida camp as violence explodes across the West Bank prompting the Red Crescent to declare a level 3 state of emergency across the occupied Palestinian territories. Another boy was shot in leg with live ammunition during the attack.

Abed al-Rahman Shadi Obeidallah, 12, just before being shot to death by Israeli forces in Bethlehem

Denouncing Israeli violations against humanitarian international law, the Palestine Red Crescent Society staff have endured 14 attacks on their emergency vehicles as Israeli forces and settler violence has sharply surged in a bloody three days. Attacks on PRCS have included medics being beaten by soldiers in Jerusalem, Israeli forces beating an ambulance crew with batons in the old city of Jerusalem and after one attack on an emergency crew in Jabal Al Taweel (Al-Bireh), two medics were injured. Israeli forces attacked an ambulance in al-Issawiya village in occupied East Jerusalem, before arresting an injured Palestinian who was being treated inside the ambulance. An ambulance windshield was also shattered by settlers in Burin village in Nablus. Burin underwent a frightening attack by settlers which left much of it in flames.

Reportedly 465 Palestinians have been injured thus far, including 28 shot with live ammunition and 68 injured with rubber coated steel bullets. Hundreds of others have been overcome by teargas that Israeli forces have been showering over villages and in cities where Palestinians have gathered to demonstrate against their murdering of several Palestinian youths since this past Saturday.

Young Palestinians martyrs recently murdered by Israeli forces.

Fadi Samir Mustafa Alloun, 19, from the East Jerusalem village of al-Issawiya, was shot to death by Israeli forces after allegedly attempting to stab a group of Israelis. 18-year-old Huthayfa Othman Suleiman was shot in the chest during clashes and died in the operating room. In a particularly heinous attack, Yousef Bayan al-Tabib, just six years old, was standing on the side of the road when a settler reportedly stopped his car, shot the child in the stomach, and fled the scene.

Across the occupied Palestinian territories, there have been reports of settlers slaughtering Palestinian’s sheep, attacking Palestinian cars with stones on roads and carrying out violent attacks on villages. As for Israeli forces, soldiers disguised as Palestinians assisting an injured Palestinian into a hospital in Ramallah, disabled security cameras and proceeded to arrest a Palestinian undergoing medical treatment. This is similar to other hospital raids in recent days where a variation of this tactic was repeated.

As for the Israeli government, Netanyahu today made an inflammatory statement to wage a “harsh offensive” against Palestinians; Zionist opportunism at its most typical. Collective punishment is the usual expectation when it comes to the illegally occupying force dealing with the civilian population whose land they are occupying. Israel launched three air strikes in the besieged Gaza strip targeting alleged Hamas ‘terror’ sites after two rockets were fired from Gaza, hitting nothing and injuring no one.

News reports of shootings, injuries, murders, arrests and raids continue to flood in as the situation unfolds at a lightning quick pace. For Palestinians enduring the brunt of Israeli incited race hatred and promoted retribution for the shooting of two Israeli settlers last week, the cavalierly imposed restrictions on al Aqsa Mosque, which have sparked outrage and violent confrontations- and the ensuing chaos, are yet another violent incursion into their lives.

UN report: 3 Palestinians killed, 92 displaced in a week

22nd August | The Palestinian Information Center | Occupied East Jerusalem

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– A report issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showed the escalation of Israeli violations against Palestinian civilians in their occupied territories during 11-17 August, 2015.

Photo credit: The Palestinian Information Center

OCHA revealed that Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians, 21 and 22 years old, in two separate incidents on 15 and 17 August respectively, reportedly following the stabbing of Israeli soldiers near Beita village and at the Z’atara checkpoint, both in the Nablus governorate.

The UN office pointed out that a Palestinian woman died from wounds sustained the previous week, when unexploded ordnance (UXO) detonated in a house in Rafah, bringing to five the number of fatalities from the incident, and injuries to over 50, according to medical sources. Since the cease-fire of August 2014, 16 Palestinians, including one child, have been killed in UXO incidents, and over 170, including 22 children, injured.

During the week, 27 Palestinians, including five children, were injured across the West Bank, during clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian stone-throwers, it pointed out.

The majority of injuries (21) took place during the weekly demonstration in Kafr Qaddum (Qalqiliya) against the closure of the village’s main entrance. In one incident, a 52-year-old man and land owner participating in a demonstration against the construction of the Barrier in Beit Jala (Bethlehem) was hospitalized due to heart failure complications, following an altercation with an Israeli soldier, OCHA added.

It documented that the Israeli forces arrested 78 Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territories, the vast majority in the West Bank. In the Gaza Strip, one Palestinian was arrested as he arrived at Erez Crossing, after he had received a permit to travel into the West Bank. “Four other Palestinians were arrested near the fence surrounding Gaza, after crossing into Israel without Israeli authorization.”

Three Israeli settler attacks resulting in injury to Palestinians and their property were recorded. These include the physical assault of two Palestinians, 16 and 18 years old, in ‘Azzun ‘Atma (Qalqiliya) and a 31-year-old Palestinian was physically assaulted while working in the settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev located in the Jerusalem governorate. An arson attack was recorded in the Bedouin community of ‘Ein Samiya (Ramallah), resulting in damage to a residential tent, it highlighted.

Additionally (not included in the count), a ten-year-old child was injured when run over by an Israeli-plated vehicle near Yatma (Nablus); and clashes erupted between Palestinians and around 15 Israeli settlers after the latter raided the village of Awarta (Nablus), and reportedly attempted to kidnap two Palestinians, the UN report pointed out.

According to Israeli media, one Israeli settler was injured as a result of Palestinian stone-throwing at Israeli-plated vehicles near Beit Ummar (Hebron), it stated.

OCHA mentioned, in its report, that the Israeli authorities demolished 35 Palestinian-owned structures, including six donor-funded and 16 residential structures across the West Bank, for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, displacing a total of 92 Palestinians, including 55 children, and otherwise affecting 81 Palestinians.

Of the total, 78 Palestinians, including 49 children, were displaced in the communities of Az Za’ayyem Bedouin, Khan al Ahmar Abu Falah, Bir Miskoob and Wadi Sneysel on 17 August, the largest number of people displaced in the West Bank in a single day since October 2012, it underlined.

The report said these are among the 46 Area C Bedouin communities in the central West Bank at risk of forcible transfer due to a plan advanced by the Israeli authorities to relocate the residents to one of three designated sites.

The remaining 14 Palestinians were displaced in Al-Jiftlik Abu al ‘Ajaj community (Jericho governorate) in the Jordan Valley on 11 August. This is the 15th time the residents of Al-Jiftlik Abu al ‘Ajaj have experienced demolition incidents since 2014, it highlighted.

OCHA’s report stated that in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces opened fire towards civilians in the Access Restricted Areas (ARA) on land and at sea, on at least nine occasions. No casualties were reported. On four occasions Israeli forces entered and leveled land inside Gaza.

Also in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians held 29 demonstrations, primarily in protest against a possible reduction in UNRWA services due to the Agency’s financial crisis, and in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention centers, namely, Mohammed Allan who has been on hunger strike for over 60 days in protest at his administrative detention without charge or trial since November 2014, it added.

The UN report pointed out that the Egyptian authorities exceptionally opened the Rafah crossing on 17 August in both directions, for the first time since 25 June, allowing 949 Palestinians into Gaza, and 474 Palestinians, mainly patients, students and dual nationals to exit Gaza. The Egyptian-controlled Rafah crossing has been continuously closed, including for humanitarian assistance, since 24 October 2014, except for 26 days of partial openings.

Source: The Palestinian Information Center

Protest commemorating one year anniversary of the killing of Mohammad Abu Khdeir met with military violence

2 July 2015, in honor of the first anniversary of the murder of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, Palestinian activists with international supporters blocked a settlers-only road leading to the illegal Adam settlement. Demonstrators cited this road as the road that the murderers took in their search for a Palestinian victim. Journalists, Palestinian and international activists, suffered from pepper spray burns and several were hospitalized.

“This is the first in a week of demonstrations for Muhammad Abu Khdeir. One of the murderers, Yosef Haim Ben-David, is from the Adam settlement. This is why the demonstration was held at this settlers-only entrance,” said Abdullah Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bil’in.

Demonstrators blocked the road to settler traffic in both directions until the Israeli Army and Border Police dispersed the non-violent demonstrators and journalists by pepper-spraying indiscriminately. Three Palestinian activists, four journalists, and two International ISM volunteers were pepper sprayed in the eyes and mouth by a masked Army officer. An ISM co-founder as well as journalists from Roya TV Channel, Reuters, and Palestine TV were severely pepper sprayed in the eyes requiring hospitalization.

The soldiers threw sound percussion grenades at demonstrators and chased people. In addition to the pepper spray, they shoved journalists and Palestinian activists to the ground.

After the soldiers and border police chased the demonstrators off the road and down a hill, they continued to throw percussion grenades even as the demonstrators stood at a distance waiting to find fellow demonstrators.

Contact for more information:

Abdullah Abu Rahmah – 0599107069

ISM Media Coordinator – 0597406401 OR 0598353204

Mondoweiss

Al Jazeera

Palestine UN

Israeli forces try to violently suppress protest in Jalazone

14th June 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Jalazone, Occupied Palestine

On Friday June 12th in Jalazone, north of Ramallah, Israeli forces responded to a Palestinian protest against illegal Israeli settlements with rubber coated steel bullets, tear gas, stun grenades and live ammunition.

The Israeli occupation forces also attacked journalists that were covering the demonstration, throwing stun grenades directly at them, pushing them with their rifles and threatening to arrest and shoot them.

A civilian passer by was also severely injured by the Israeli military. He was left with open wounds on his head after being struck with rifles and beaten to the ground before being arrested.

The unarmed man was repeatedly punched by the military and then hit on the head with their rifles as he tried to make his way past the group. The Soldiers can be heard cursing the man and his family, shouting, ‘Fuck your mother’s mother you son of a whore’.

The Israeli military were also using Palestinian cars as shields by taking the keys and leaving the people inside. They detained more than 20 cars during the protest.

At least three people were shot with live ammunition during the demonstration.

Below is a video recorded by ISM of the violence from the Israeli soldiers in Jalazone: