Category: Press Releases

Shuhada Kindergarten Stands in Solidarity with Child Prisoners

Human Rights Defenders organised a solidarity campaign with Palestinian Child prisoners in the Shuhada St Kindergarten on Sunday February 4, 2018.

The Kindergarten is close to the Cordoba school in the H2 Israeli controlled area of al Khalil (Hebron). Both the school and the kindergarten have to access Shuhada St. down some stairs through a military checkpoint. Half way up the stairs there is a steel gate which is closed by a rope from the Cordoba Checkpoint on Shuhada St. Unnecessary delays and harassment often occur at the checkpoint on a daily basis.

Cordoba Checkpoint from the stairs accessing Cordoba School and the Shuhada St Kindergarten

The event was a beautiful show of solidarity by the Kindergarten children. 700 Palestinian children are detained, interrogated and tortured every year and currently 350 are imprisoned (Adameer). Various speakers described the plight of the children imprisoned as well as the terrible situation for the many Palestinians living in H2 and the determination of the Palestinians to stand strong. Badia Dwaik, from Human Rights Defenders called upon governments of the world to act against the illegal and immoral occupation of Palestine by Israel. (See the video) The event was run in conjunction with the Dismantle the Ghetto Campaign which aims to mobilize people to engage in nonviolence activities and calls for the removal of checkpoints and the eviction of settlers from al Khalil/Hebron.

Staff and teachers from the Kindergarten delayed at least 15 minutes

After the event, the children from nearby Cordoba School were allowed to leave through the Cordoba checkpoint. But then a settler ordered the army to stop the kindergarten children and staff from passing and the gate was shut. The staff and children were delayed for 15 minutes with no justification.

Activists from ISM and another organisation were then detained a further 15-20 minutes. During this time a Zionist settler was escorted by Israeli soldiers through the checkpoint to video the activists. Other radical settlers harassed the Press below on Shuhada St. while this was going on. After being released another settler made multiple attempts to cut off ISMers with her car as they walked to Checkpoint 56 towards the Palestinian controlled area of H1. She eventually got out of the car filming the activists and calling one of the a “Europa Nazi.” (see video)

Such restrictions of movement, suppression of free speech, intimidation and harassment are common occurrences in al Khalil/Hebron. Aggressive settlers and the Israeli army work together to make life increasingly difficult for Palestinians in H2. The Palestinians are under increasing pressure and some are forced to leave but others manage to hold on in a beautiful demonstration of Sumud (steadfastness).

Upcoming Settler Tour in Nablus Set to Spark Tensions

Shavei Shomron, an illegal Israeli settlement located to the west of Nablus in the West Bank has advertised a tour of Nablus old city, Tel Balata and Joseph’s Well on the coming Tuesday evening – the 30th of January. According to the advert, the event will start with a meeting in the illegal settlement, before the tour begins at 10.30pm.

Whilst the advert claims that the intention of the meeting and excursion is to learn about the impact of the 1927 earthquake on Nablus’ development, the reality is that these events are excuses to incite violence and increase tension in the community. According to international law all West Bank settlements are illegal and Palestinians face increasing violence at the hands of the settlers, yet their infractions are rarely punished.

 

 

A similar excursion took place in November, when around twenty settlers were walking by Qusra village and shot a Palestinian man, Mahmoud Odeh. There are differing accounts of what occurred – the settlers claim that it was in self defense as they were attacked by stone throwers. The Palestinians say that it was a result of Odeh’s refusal to move from his land, which the settlers desired to walk through. In reaction to the attack, the village was shut down by the IDF for a number of days, and twenty Palestinians were arrested, one named Muhammad Wadi, has been charged with attempted murder. Despite the escalation of violence and claiming that they feared for their lives, the settlers insisted on returning a week later to finish their ‘walk’, this time with a heightened IDF presence and members of the Israeli Knesset; Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Hotovely.

Unsurprisingly, there have been no repercussions for the settler who killed Mahmoud Odeh, the killer is is suspected of causing death by negligence, but settlers have rarely been prosecuted for their actions in the West Bank. Yesh Din found that just 85% of investigations into such cases (including violence, arson, damage to property, etc) ended without further action, and that the conviction of an Israeli civilian for their actions towards a Palestinian, were just 1.9%

The insistence of the settlers to return to Qusra, despite the bloodshed there, is sadly to be expected. Movements into Palestinian owned land are intended to anger and upset, intentionally causing fights and disagreements in order to collectively punish the Palestinian community and take land and destroy families. In the upcoming ‘tour’ of Nablus, we must be aware that the intention is to incite conflict and use it for political gain, as has been their tactic so frequently in the past.

Young Palestinians being arrested by Israeli soldiers in Yabad

photo by kbnews.eu (kbnews.eu/images/Yabad-vs-IOF.jpg)

December 25th 2017  International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Occupied Palestine | Yabad | North Palestine.

Around Yabad there are two big Israeli settlements. In the last few weeks the repressive action by the Israeli army on Yabbad’s Palestinian people has escalated. Several Teenagers have been arrested, they were taken out from their homes on night raides. Raiding his house, the Israeli army arrested 18-year-old Ahaned Abubakar at night on 13 December at 1 am. The father of Ahaned told us that fifteen Israeli soldiers were crowding around the house and
occupied the roofs of neighbouring houses. After breaking through the door with a crowbar, they got into
their house and sarched all the rooms in the first floor, waking up the wife and the five kids traumatically. They took away Ahaned without giving any explanations. Until today, the Ahaned family haven’t received any information about the reason for his arrest and the length of detention in Jalami prison. Ahaned’s father told us that in the last night
he woke up startled at 1 am, exactly a week later the Israili army’s raid. The whole family
is still in shock, the mother and Ahaned’s four younger siblings are living in pain with their brother’s absence. Abdele, the 4-year-old brother didn’t understand what was going on during the house raid. So his father told him that his brother Ahaned
went to visit relatives in Jordan, but since the night of the brother’s arrest Abdele wants to sleep in his parents bedroom.

Another two fathers of Yabad told us about the recent arrest of their 15-year-old kids, by
similar night raids of the Israeli army. Just like Ahaned’s family they don’t know about the reason for their kids arrest and the length of administrative detention in the jail, that could take up to six months.

The arrests of kids and teenagers are the latest strategy of the Israeli occupation force, focused to prevent whatever protest action and targeted to get information and control over life and houses of Palestinian people. Especially in Yabad where two settlements have been set up.
The kids and teenagers arrested without an official explanation or any opportunity to collect their personal belongings. They are normally being held incommunicado, in cramped and poorly lit cells. They are subject to continous interrogations by the Israeli Army which aims at getting as much informations about their families and the people of the villageas possible. Since it’s an administrative detention, subject to military law, they cannot have legal assistance and visits by their relatives. The innocent kids and teenagers arrested are subjected to traumatic experiences, carrying out a strong and preventive repressive action.

Kfar Qaddum demo marking 100 years since Balfour suppressed by Israeli military

3rd November 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Occupied Palestine

The weekly demonstration had around 30 participants, with three of them being international women. As usual, the demonstration takes place to protest the closing of the road leading to Nablus. This measure was explained to satisfy “the need of security” for the Kedumin settlers that illegally have occupied the hill in front of the village. The road, which previously took ten minutes to Nablus now takes up to 40 minutes.

The march started with children and adults showing signs denouncing the Balfour agreement, which recently reached its 100 year anniversary. Following this anniversary, protests has been taking place all over the West Bank and Gaza.

As the protestors got closer to the gate built by the settlers, a jeep with six armed soldiers arrived. The leader of the nonviolent movement in the village, Murad held a short speech. This was followed by the soldiers arriving with their rifles. They shot rubber coated steel bullets and launched sound bombs.

Fortunately no one was injured. Nor when the soldiers, after a drone had hovered over the demonstration for a long time, made two ambushes trying to capture and arrest the protestors by encircling them and running behind them trough the olive groves. The soldiers didn’t manage to reach the protesters.

Before the ambushing Murad invited three soldiers up on the top of a hill to throw away their uniform and live in peace without guns, as they are told lies by their government and above all he spoke to the Afro-Israeli soldier pointing how Israelis coming from Africa are the most neglected and isolated in the Israelian social classes. An ISMer at the demo said: “The three soldiers listened a lot. But we know how many of the soldiers are indroctinated since they are children. But we will never stop spreading the words of freedom.”

Israeli armed forces and settlers harassing farmers in As Sawiya

31st October 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Nablus, Occupied Palestine

On Sunday the 29th of October 2017 – near the Palestinian village As Sawiya – Palestinians and Internationals harvesting olives were met by the Israeli army. Three ISM’ers joined two Palestinian women harvesting in their family land. The family has been facing major problems in the area because of an illegal Israeli outpost close to the village, which is a part of the illegal settlement Eli.

The group of Palestinans and Internationals walked for half an hour to reach the olive trees since the road next to the olive trees is for settlers and the Israeli army only. After picking for around an hour a group of five boarder police officers, three soldiers from the Israeli army accompanied by settlers from the nearby outpost stormed up to the group demanding to see their ID’s. “They were very threatening and did not give any reason for taking our passports. We were just five women picking olives,“ an ISM’er says.

The Israeli border police demanded that the Internationals would leave the land immediately, showed the passports to the settlers and scanned them. “The settler stood on the olives and smiled at us, he even asked us if we were afraid of him,“ another ISM’er says. The Palestinians had been prevented from pruning the trees earlier this year which made the olive picking more difficult since it is an important part of the olive groves.

 

After a while the army agreed that the Palestinians were allowed to harvest their olives until three o clock the same day and that internationals were not allowed in the area the following day. The armed forces stayed close to the group harvesting for the rest of the day, and kept watching them and sometimes circled trees.

The day before a group of Palestinians and Internationals had also been prevented from picking olives in the area that is owned by the Palestinians.