Category: Reports - Page 112 - International Solidarity Movement

Ethnic cleansing of Shuhada Street in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron)

6^th March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Since the 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre, the majority of Shuhada Street – once the thriving Palestinian market and main thoroughfare connecting north and south al-Khalil (Hebron) – has been closed to Palestinians. They are completely barred from accessing it, except for a small stretch in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood.

Shuhada st split — Photos of the same portion of Shuhada street – a thriving market before 1994, now an empty street where no Palestinians are allowed to enter (published by B’Tselem)

This tiny strip that is legally still accessible for Palestinians is restricted by the recently ‘renovated’ Shuhada checkpoint at the beginning of the street and ends where the street begins to border the illegal settlement of Beit Hadassah, beyond which Israeli forces assure that no Palestinians exist. Further down Shuhada street, clearly marked with yet another military post barring anyone who might attempt to enter the street, are even more Israeli settlements – all illegal under international law – located directly in the city center of al-Khalil.

The settlements on Shuhada Street are connected via a settler-only road to the much larger settlement of Kiryat Arba on the outskirts of al-Khalil; settlers can also reach the illegal Tel Rumeida settlement easily by traversing the tiny stretch of Shuhada Street still open to some Palestinians and the road leading up into Tel Rumeida from Shuhada checkpoint, now encompassed within the closed military zone. While Palestinians are allowed to walk on this part of Shuhada Street, Palestinian vehicles, including ambulances, are forbidden from driving there. Since Israeli authorities declared the area part of a closed military zone on 1^st November 2015, the already barely existent access has been further restricted – Isreali forces only allow entry to Palestinians registered with them residents, while any Israeli settler, regardless of whether they are residents or not, can pass freely and without ever being harassed, stopped, detained, arrested, or threatened by the ever-present military forces.

Map of the city center of al-Khalil with Shuhada Street Credit: B'Tselem — Map of the city center of al-Khalil including Shuhada Street (the longest street marked in red) by B’Tselem

At the line demarcated by Daboya checkpoint (Checkpoint 55), where the illegal settlements on the street begin and Palestinians are no longer allowed, a steep flight of stairs leads up to Qurtuba school and into the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood. These stairs, the only way for Palestinians to continue traveling in the same direction above the street as they are not allowed to continue down Shuhada Street itself, have been closed by the Israeli forces with a metal gate since November 2015.

Stairs with the closed gate leading down to Shuhada Street

Even though this gate is currently not locked, Israeli forces deny any Palestinian, except for the students and teachers of Qurtuba school during school-time, to use these stairs. As a result Palestinian residents of this neighbourhood, once they have passed Shuhada checkpoint – an ordeal that can take several hours – have been denied to reach their homes by walking down Shuhada Street and the stairs leading up to Qurtuba school, forcing them instead to take a much longer detour around. With yet another way denied for Palestinans, navigating the maze of Israeli military-enforced checkpoints, complete bans on travel, roads where Palestinians cannot drive, settler-only roads, closed military zones and new arbitrary closures has become even more arduous.

Israeli forces are thereby also clearly working to minimise the number of Palestinians who will actually use this last portion of Shuhada Street – now a complete dead-end – as they bar Palestinians not only from going farther down the closed street but also declare the stairs, formerly an alternate route, yet another closed zone. This illustrates the Israeli attempts to rid Shuhada Street entirely of Palestinians. Ethnic cleansing in al-Khalil, and all across Israeli-occupied Palestinian lands is not a sudden, headline-grabbing event; it progresses gradually as Palestinians are restricted in certain areas, barred from driving there, prohibited from even being there, forced out to facilitate the expansion of the illegal settlements. Ethnic cleansing happens slowly, by erecting new and ‘fortifying’ existing checkpoints, advancing one more closure at a time.

‘It is my job to scare Palestinian children’ – Israeli forces justify intimidation of kindergarten children

6th March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Kindergarten-children in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) often face harassment and intimidation by Israeli forces on their way to kindergarten.

Listen to this audio recording of a discussion between an international volunteer and the soldiers about why the soldiers ‘have to’ scare the kindergarten-children and see it as ‘their job’.

Israeli forces justify the intimidation and harassment of the children, between the ages of 4 to 6 years, that are forced to walk up a broken path – as the paved road on the other side of the fence is only allowed for Israeli settlers from the illegal settlements in al-Khalil – and then past a checkpoint on their daily way to and from the kindergarten, saying that they ‘need to scare them’ because otherwise they would ‘grow up and stab a soldier’.

Listen to the full recording:

Israeli forces attack peaceful demonstration and suffocate civilian population

5th March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Ni’lin, occupied Palestine

On 4^th March 2016, the village of Ni’lin held their weekly protest against the illegal Israeli occupation, the illegal settlements and the theft of the village’s land.

Israeli forces ready to shoot at unarmed protestors

Israeli forces attacked the peaceful demonstration inundating the whole area with massive amounts of tear gas. As they came into the village with their jeeps, they directly targeted houses and a public park and thus the civilian population not even involved in the demonstration. Many suffered excessive tear-gas inhalation, ten needed treatment by medical personnel, including a 3-year old boy that was playing with his friends in the public park. Israeli forces targeted the ambulance assisting the injured by firing tear-gas straight at it. Additionally to the large amounts of tear-gas, Israeli forces fired rubber-coated metal bullets at protestors, injuring one person in the leg.

Young boy that was playing in park receiving treatment

Israeli forces also flew a remote-controlled drone over the protest, filming.

Drone seen in the sky over the Ni'lin protest — Drone seen in the sky over the Ni’lin protest

Peaceful demonstrators tear gassed by Israeli army at Bil’in

4th March 2016| International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Bil’in, occupied Palestine

Today, groups of Palestinians, Israelis and other activists from around the world marched together in solidarity to oppose the zionist regimes annexation wall and illegal settlement of Modin Ilit. The settlement has been built on part of the once Palestinian land from the town of Bil’in. In 2007 after 9 months of daily protesting, the Israeli court ruled that the wall be re-routed. However after major delays only parts of the wall have been re-routed. 9 years later the locals are still peacefully protesting weekly for the return of the rest of their land from the Israeli government.

Piles of used tear gas grenades from past demonstrations — Piles of used tear gas and stun grenades from past demonstrations

The demonstration started around 1pm after prayer as it has been every Friday for the past 11 years. Palestinians, Israelis and fellow activists assembled in front of the mosque and began the march to unite against the annexation wall which provides shelter for the illegal settlement of Modin Ilit.

However the peaceful demonstration was unfortunately cut short as Israeli soldiers had already mobilised and made their way onto Palestinian territory in anticipation for the march. The demonstrators were met with a barrage of tear gas fired from a distance by the occupying Israeli forces, not allowing them to progress further. While the tear gas rained down around demonstrators it also landed in several of the local Palestinians yards and homes.

While protesters re-assembled and tried to march on, more and more tear gas was fired causing them to end what was a peaceful march to oppose the barbarous acts of the Israeli government.

The occupying forces will continue to use excessive force in territories that do not belong to them just as the Palestinians will continue to protest peacefully until the world notices these heinous human rights violations being committed by the zionist government and the stolen land is returned to the Palestinians.

A Palestinian man and a Israeli man stand together in opposition to occupation

Illegal settlers of Kiryat Arba abuse Palestinians and volunteers

3rd March 2016| International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On Saturday, 27th February 2016, as two ISM volunteers were walking on Prayer Road, right next to the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), they were attacked, threatened and insulted by settlers while Israeli forces were watching.

When the internationals were passing by, turning their backs toward a gate that is used as an entrance for the settlers and while looking the other direction over al-Khalil, the settlers immediately threw a stone at them. Shortly after, 2 or more settlers appeared at the fence and began yelling and cursing the volunteers in an extremely abusive and vulgar manner. When the international human rights defenders tried to engage, the settler became more abusive, one of them walked out of the gate, put his hand on a hand-gun he was wearing on his belt and openly threatened the internationals that he would not hesitate to use the gun on them. He repeatedly stated that he was going to shoot them, while another settler brought and unleashed a dog outside.

As the volunteers turned to return from where they had come from – the only option as Israeli forces were entirely ignoring the hate-speech and open threats to their lives and well-being by the settlers, an Israeli soldier with two cups of coffee walked out the same gate the settlers were using. When asked by the internationals why he did not intervene and stop the settler at any point, he claimed he hadn’t seen the stone-throwing. In contradiction to that, he then quietly said that the settler was not like most.

This clearly illustrates the impunity settlers enjoy in the occupied West Bank. Regardless of their actions, they are enjoying the full protection from the Israeli forces. Whereas for the international human rights defenders making official complaints with the Israeli police is at least a theoretical possibility, Palestinians making their way to the police station in the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba have repeatedly been told by the civil police that they were not even taking complaints against settlers by Palestinians. The Palestinian families living in the direct vicinity of this illegal settlement thus are forced by the Israeli government to endure the harassment, intimidation, verbal and physical violence by settlers they are exposed to ona daily basis without any way of addressing this impunity.