Category: Reports - Page 116 - International Solidarity Movement

11th annual Bil’in demonstrations see protestors confront Israeli military at the apartheid wall

20th February 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Bi’lin, occupied Palestine

On Friday the 20th of February, protesters took to the streets of Bil’in for the 11th consecutive year to demonstrate against the apartheid wall. Palestinians and international activists came together in solidarity to unite against the annexation wall which provides shelter for the illegal settlement of Modin Ilit, built on what was once Bil’in farming land. In 2007 after 9 months of daily protesting, the Israeli court ruled that the wall be re-routed. After major delays only parts of the wall were re-routed. 9 years later the locals are still protesting for the rest of their land from the Israeli government.

Palestinian activists marching towards the apartheid wall

Young Palestinian man sits defiantely on army jeep

At 1pm the Palestinians and activists in solidarity with the Palestinian people took to the streets after prayer to peacefully march toward the apartheid wall. The march consisted of a truck leading the way with the rest of the march accompanying them on foot and singing songs of defiance. The march was met by an armed and ready Israeli army at the apartheid wall. Within minutes of the peaceful protesting stun grenades and tear gas were fired by Israeli forces. The crowd was set into panic and forced to run in all directions to escape heavy tear gas inhalation.

”We were just standing there when he was shot twice in the leg and then the tear gas canister flew straight by us!”, explains James, an ISM activist.

Army using excessive tear gas against peaceful demonstrators

Some Palestinians hid and emerged again to throw stones in defiance. From this point on the Israeli army began using excessive force firing rubber coated steel bullets and much more tear gas directly at the Palestinians and fellow protesters.

”We were nowhere near the protest, standing at least 200 metres back and standing around the media vans when the tear gas cannisters landed all around us”, explains Michael, an ISM volunteer.

Israeli activist from 'All That's Left' in opposition against occupation — Israeli activist from ‘All That’s Left’ in opposition against occupation

What started as a peaceful protest quickly turned into what resembled a game for the Israeli army as they began to choose targets at random to fire steel coated rubber bullets and tear gas at. None the less the will of the Palestinian people remains and they will continue to march peacefully and in solidarity against the apartheid wall.

Palestinians aggressively harassed by Israeli forces on their way to prayer

19th February 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On 19^th February 2016, as Palestinians were on their way to the Friday prayer in Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), Israeli forces stopped, delayed, body-searched and harassed them.

Palestinians passing by heavily-armed Israeli forces on their way home from Friday-prayer

Like every Friday, Palestinian men, women and children made their way through the haze of checkpoints, turnstiles, past heavily-armed Israeli forces to attend the Friday noon prayer in Ibrahimi Mosque in the Old City of al-Khalil.

Heavily-armed Israeli soldier closely watching Palestinians pass on their way home from Prayer

The Ibrahimi mosque is the third holiest site for Muslims, and has been divided into a part for Muslims and a part where Palestinians are prohibited, and a synagogue was installed. This division took place in the aftermath of the Ibrahimi mosque massacre on 25^th February 1994, where extremist settler Baruch Goldstein killed 29 and wounded more than 120 Palestinians when he opened fire at worshippers for the Ramadan Friday noon-prayer.

At most of the checkpoints, Palestinians were confronted with hostility by the Israeli forces; stopping, searching and questioning them; making them late for the prayer. As Israeli forces kept locking the turnstile at the checkpoint leading from the Palestinian market – where in the morning, settlers were throwing rocks and glass bottles at Palestinians – to the mosque, long queues of mosque-goers were forming. The ‘security checks’ that kept prolonging the wait were then repeated just two meters after the checkpoint, as Palestinians are forced to pass another checkpoint before entering the mosque.

Israeli forces aggressively body-searching young Palestinian man

Around the corner, close to the Islamic Court, where on 13^th February 2016 19-year old Kilzar al-Uweiwi was gunned down by Israeli forces and ultimately died from denial of medical help by the Israeli forces, Israeli forces aggressively body-searched many young Palestinian men and teenagers. Others were forced to lift up shirts and trouser-legs after being yelled at by Israeli forces to stop.

International human rights defenders documenting this, were harassed by Israeli forces who tried to block their view, both with their bodies, by standing right in front of them, as well as with pieces of cardboard, all while pushing their own private phones in their faces to film them while insulting them.

Israeli forces preventing observers from documenting

At one point, when Palestinians were on their way home after the noon-prayer – and had already passed two checkpoints up the road, Israeli forces at the court checkpoint ordered everyone to stop, yelling and pointing their guns at them. Israeli forces detained a number of teenage boys on the side of the road, while ‘picking out’ more boys out of the group of people coming from the mosque and ordering them to wait with the others. The safety-pin of these soldiers – supposed to prevent accidental fire and intended to be an additional safety – was pulled out, swinging around loosely in the wind.

Safety-pin pulled out of the assault-rifle

11 years of peaceful resistance in Bil’in

February 18th, 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Bil’in, occupied Palestine

On Friday, February 19th, residents of the village of Bil’in will march to celebrate the 11th aniversary of the beginning of the weekly protest against occupation. The small village of inhabitants has for over a decade united Palestinians and internationals to support their cause, following a non-violent, peaceful way of resisting against the illegal stealing and the occupation of their land.

Palestinians take part in one of the nonviolent demonstrations against Israel's wall in Bilin, September 2006. (Oren Ziv/ActiveStills) — Palestinians take part in one of the nonviolent demonstrations against Israel’s wall in Bilin, September 2006. (Oren Ziv/ActiveStills)

The protests were initiated in 2005 when Israeli forces started uprooting trees on land belonging to Palestinians on the outskirts of the village, claiming they needed to free the route for the future wall that would be built for ‘security reasons’. Residents of the village first tried stopping bulldozers, calling for international and Israeli activists to join and support them, but the land was seized, and the wall was built.

The protests still continued, and every Friday villagers march to the wall to protest its illegal route and the expansion of the illegal settlement of Modin Ilit that is located right behind the wall and build on the villages land. The popular resistance committee also engaged in a legal battle against the presence of the wall on their farmland. Organisations in Israel and around the world supported their cause, and soon the weekly protest became a famous example of civil disobedience and peaceful resistance in Palestine. In 2007, the Israeli court ruled that the wall has to be re-routed. After major delays, a part of the wall was re-routed, marking a small victory for the village who thus regained at least part of their land.

Residents of Bil’in never stopped protesting against occupation since then. During the demonstration, many were injured, and two of the villagers were killed by Israeli forces, Bassem Abu Rahmah, 29 and Jawaher Abu Rahmah, 36, were killed in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Bassem Abu Rahmah, 29 died after being hit by a high-velocity tear-gas canister in the stomach.

Despite the violent opposition of the army during the weekly protests, the villagers are determined never to give up their struggle for their land, justice, dignity and against the illegal Israeli occupation.

Poster for the anniversary of the popular struggle in Bi'lin — Poster for the anniversary of the popular struggle in Bi’lin

Children living in closed military zone enjoy day of fun under the shadow of the occupation

13th February 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On February 13^th 2016 Youth Against Settlements in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) organised a children’s activity in front of Shuhada Street checkpoint.

Children drawing during fun-day organised by YAS

Around 50 children from the neighbourhoods located on the H2 (entirely Israeli military-controlled) side of the checkpoint – Tel Rumeida and the tiny strip of Shuhada Street still accessible for Palestinians – participated in the event organised by the Palestinian group Youth Against Settlements together with Old City resident Zleikha Muhtaseb.

The children have hardly had any chance to play and enjoy time with their friends since their neighbourhoods were declared a closed military zone on November 1^st 2015. For the last three months only residents registered with the Israeli military have been allowed to access this highly militarized neighbourhood, where Israeli forces have stepped up their efforts to crack down on Palestinian residents’ everyday lives even more than in the many other neighborhoods suffering under the harsh Zionist occupation. Extremist Israeli settlers from the adjacent illegal settlements meanwhile enjoy complete impunity for their actions.

Girls writing their wishes for the future on balloons

The children gathered at the Youth Against Settlements sit-in tent that was first erected over a month ago in protest of the ongoing restrictions and human rights violations inflicted under the closed military zone. They enjoyed creative activities including drawing, painting, balloons and face-painting.

Israeli settlers, walking inside the closed military zone without any hassle, harassment or ever being stopped, approached the checkpoint from the other side in order to gape at the children playing outside the checkpoint with balloons.

Settlers observing playing Palestinian children through the checkpoint

The immense psychological effect of the occupation on children living in these neighbourhoods was clearly visible in their drawings. They drew soldiers shooting Palestinians, families living in houses surrounded by barbed wire, imprisoned Palestinians dreaming of Palestinians guarded by a heavily-armed soldier; drawings also featured Palestinian flags and the words ‘I love Palestine.’

Growing up in an environment where the Israeli military occupation, with all its concurrent human rights violations, deadly violence, humiliation and intimidation permeates everyday life, the impacts are hardly surprising. Saturday’s event was a great opportunity for the children of these neighbourhoods to just be children again, to play with their friends, have their faces painted, enjoy childhood.

As the event ended they lined up outside Shuhada Street checkpoint, which the children have referred to as the ‘death checkpoint’ since the September 22nd extrajudicial execution of 18-year-old Hadeel al-Hashlamoun, to wait to be allowed to walk back to their homes within the closed military zone.

Children waiting to cross back into their 'closed military zone' neighbourhood — Children waiting to cross back into their neighbourhoods under the closed military zone

Before preparing to leave to return to their neighborhoods, the children from Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street demonstrated their solidarity with the Palestinian journalist and hunger striker Mohammed al-Qeeq on his 81st day of hunger strike against the illegal Israeli practice of administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial in an Israeli military legal system which consistently denies Palestinians any right to due process of law.

Palestinian children in solidarity with hunger striker Mohammed al-Qeeq

Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria seek home in Gaza

February 11, 2016| International Solidarity Movement, Gaza team | Khan Younis, Gaza strip, occupied Palestine

Palestinian refugee Heesham Ahmed El Khoranin and his family have already survived 2 Israeli assaults against the Gaza Strip since he returned after fleeing from Syria in 2011.

Heesham grandparents were born in Masmiya, 42km north of Gaza, one of the many villages wiped out by the Zionist militias during the Nakba. In 1948 they were forced to flee and settled in Khan Younis, where Heesham was born. He lived there until the Israeli army occupied Gaza in 1967 and forced his parents to flee from Palestine. They then moved to the Syrian city of Daraa, where he married a Syrian woman and had 6 children.

They lived in peace until 2011, when the war started in Syria, Heesham explained. “Snipers were shooting anything that moved in our city, people, animals . . . they killed children as young as 10 years old in front of my eyes.” Several of their neighbours were kidnapped and tortured by the Syrian army, including children. Heesham spoke of how “one of the fathers refused to handle his 13 years old son to the army, so they took both of them and the father could listen how they tortured his son.”

Heesham's neighborhood in Daraa — Heesham’s neighborhood in Daraa, after the bombing

Four months after the beginning of the war Heesham and his family managed to escape to Egypt and entered Gaza through the tunnels. Once in Gaza he received the news that “our home and my small factory had been bombed . . . we had lost all we had.” A few months later, in another bombing, one of his sons who had stayed in Syria was killed.

Heesham's son killed in Syria wm 2 — Heesham’s son, killed in Syria

In Gaza they lived 3 years in a rented flat, until they ran out of money and were kicked out by the owner. A few months before the 2014 Israeli attack they moved to a caravan provided by an NGO and settled on land that the government ceded to them. “Now I just want to find a job and live in peace with my family… I hope we’ll be able to build a home and stay in Gaza” Heesham said. “[W]e don’t have a place where to return in Syria and at least here we are in Palestine, our homeland.”