October 8th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza team | Gaza Strip, occupied Palestine
Israeli Forces shot and killed a 23 year old on Friday, the 6th of October, in demonstrations east of Khan Younis in the southern part of the Gaza strip. The man was identified by The Ministry of Health in Gaza as Salameh Moussa Abu Jame and was the 75th Palestinian to be killed since the beginning of October. Five others were injured in the clashes, from a combination of tear-gas and live ammunition.
Furthermore, in demonstrations in Nahel Oz and Karni border crossing, both in the area of Shijaia, Israeli forces shot tear gas and live ammunition at the civilian demonstrators injuring 30.
Palestinian youths at the demonstration in the Shijaia area.
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
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.
A group of children singing in Ramallah
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?”
4th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwarra team| Tulkarm, occupied Palestine
On November 3rd, two demonstrations took place in Tulkarm. In the city center, children gathered to protest against the incarceration of their loved ones in so-called “administrative detention”, where they’re held without trial for indefinite periods. The children were singing and chanting in the street. Their parents, teachers and friends gathered around along with internationals, waving Palestinian flags and showing their support.
Children demonstrating against detentions in the city center of Tulkarm
About an hour later, around 30 people went outside the city center to protest against the apartheid wall and the illegal Israeli occupation. Protesters and international human rights observers marched together towards the wall, clapping hands and singing slogans. They arrived close to the two high fences and the gate, which is part of the apartheid wall in the area of Tulkarm.
A military jeep from Israeli forces was waiting on the other side of the wall when the demonstration arrived. Three soldiers went out, shooting live ammunition in the air and shouting at the protesters to leave. Chanting and clapping continued among the demonstrators. The Israeli forces called for reinforcement and another military truck arrived. Nine soldiers gathered by the fence and started to shoot plastic-coated steel bullets into the group of demonstrators. A Palestinian woman was shot in her knee, and a man leading the chant was shot in his legs twice. Both were taken to hospital and another person took over the megaphone and the lead of the chanting. At least two other people were also hurt by bullets at the time.
Protesters in Tulkarm against the apartheid wall
The Israeli forces continued their repression by throwing teargas and stun grenades over the fence onto the Palestinian land. After making several attacks, they locked up the gate and went through the wall, up to the protesters. Soldiers started shoving and shouting at people, particularly attacking the person with the megaphone, pushing him violently. They shouted at people to move back and started once again to throw teargas and stun grenades towards the demonstrators.
Despite the military violence, the demonstration went on peacefully all the way through.
1st November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team| Hebron, occupied Palestine
On Sunday, 1st November 2015, Israeli forces prevented movement of Palestinians in various areas in al-Khalil (Hebron) that have previously been declared a ‘closed military zone’. Violence against school-children and teachers has seen a sharp increase. International observers documenting and reporting on the every-day restrictions and crimes of the Israeli forces are increasingly targeted by the Israeli forces trying to silence any reporting.
Salaymeh checkpoint
In the morning, students were allowed to pass through the checkpoint without any major problems. Just three days ago, Israeli forces extrajudicially executed a Palestinian youth who was lying on the ground after already being shot and seriously injured by Israeli forces, from a close distance, at this checkpoint. Three Palestinian adults were denied passage through the checkpoint by the Israeli forces, who refused to give any reason for turning them back. When international observers wanted to pass through the checkpoint after documenting the body-search of a Palestinian man, they were stopped by border police that denied them passage through the checkpoint. When asked for a reason, Israeli forces refused to give any reason, but forced them to move away from the checkpoint.
In the afternoon, when international activists walked towards the Salaymeh checkpoint to secure the pupils and teachers a safe journey home from school, the border police immediately told the internationals: “If you go through, you will never be able to come back”. When asked why, they just responded “those are the orders”. The internationals chose not to go through the check point but to monitor it from the inside, standing ten meters from the checkpoint as is the limit for how farauthorities can require that observers stand. As the law requires that any orders regarding ‘closed military zones’ be displayed with dates and maps of affected areas, the activists asked to see this order. Immediately, the officer standing closest to them yelled to the other police in Hebrew to “bring pepper spray and handcuffs”, so the activists were made to move back to a place where the check point was still within sight. After around ten minutes a car with two male settlers stopped at the check point and talked with the soldiers. After that the soldiers approached the activists telling them to move further back out of sight of the checkpoint. The activists were forced to leave due to fear of violence from the police.
Queitun checkpoint
At Queitun checkpoint this morning, approximately one hundred fifty children from several local schools remained outside after the start of school. Israeli Border police began shooting tear-gas
grenades around 7:15 am, and very quickly shot thirteen rounds of tear-gas via grenades and canisters directly at dense clusters of pre-pubescent boys. Faces everywhere were red, swollen and tear-streaked. Upon time to return home, four international human rights observers were denied passage through two checkpoints by Israeli forces first without explanation, and then on grounds that they had cameras in their possession, a restriction which is illegal by Israeli and international law.
In the afternoon, international observers were again denied their legal right to pass through the checkpoint without any reasons.
Qurtuba school:
This noon, children and teachers were prevented to return home by Shuada street by soldiers explaining the ‘closed military zone’ was ‘for security reasons’ and ‘a new measures against terrorism’. They stayed on the stairs, blocked by the army for nearly one hour. In the same time, four settlers including Anat Cohen and one who filmed with his phone conviced the soldiers to push the children back. Because of the children and teachers refusing to leave – as they were not allowed to proceed on the stairs – soldiers called the police. After a long talk with the four settlers who didn’t want to leave the stairs and insulted the director and the children, the soldiers and the police finally authorized the children to go home and walk through Shuada Street in small groups of children and teachers. Israeli forces at the checkpoint threatened the children to walk faster, pointing their loaded guns at them.
Settler Anat Cohen making fun of school-children denied passage on their way homeSchool-children blocked on the stairs by Israeli forcesSchool-children finally allowed to go home after more than an hour of wait
Whereas in the morning, an actual order for a ‘closed military zone’ was still in place, the order was only valid from Saturday morning 8 am till Sunday morning 8am and thus not valid for the end of the school day.
‘Closed military zone’ order Photo credit: Youth Against Settlements
The order for a closed military zone is a clear infringement on Palestinians freedom of movement and clearly only geared towards exactly this aim. Whereas Palestinians all over the areas declared ‘closed’ are forced to undergo constant body-searches, detentions, ID- and bag-searches and are randomly denied access on the soldiers whims, settlers from the illegal settlements within al-Khalil (Hebron) are allowed to freely roam the streets without being stopped at any time. International observers documenting and reporting are facing yet another instance in which Israeli authorities are making determined strides to completely rid Al-Khalil of any witnesses for the myriad and worsening ways in which they violate the basic rights of Palestinians on a daily basis.
All these measures clearly illustrate the real aim of the latest escalations in violence geared towards instilling fear in the Palestinian residents and ultimately force them to leave the area.
1st November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwarra Team | Burin, occupied Palestine
Yesterday, the 31st of October, close to the end of this year’s annual olive harvest, another family of farmers in the village of Burin, near Nablus in the northern West Bank, were again prevented from picking their olives by the Israeli army and illegal Israeli settlers.
Israeli army arrives to farmers’ land to stop their harvest. Photo credit ISM
Israeli soldiers and guard from illegal settlement of Yitzhar. Photo credit ISM
At approximately 9:30 am, 4 soldiers and 1 guard from the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar arrived to the field while the Palestinian family was picking olives and announced that they had no permission to work that day (but stated they were allowed to do so the next day and the day after). On the contrary, the farmers, who also own the land, explained to the soldiers that they did have a permit which was issued by the city council but the soldiers ignored them. Two volunteers from ISM who were present in that moment asked the soldiers to show a document that stated the farmers were not allowed to work. The soldiers told the volunteers to go with them, but they refused. Instead, the volunteers and the family continued picking olives with one soldier standing watching them while the other 3 soldiers went to look for the document that supported their claims.
Soldier stands watching creating tension in farmers’ work
Farmer stops working in presence of the army. Photo credit ISM
15 minutes later, the soldiers returned with a document written in Hebrew and showed it to them. The Palestinian family decided to leave. They picked up all their bags with olives and equipment and put everything into their tractor. A few minutes later, approximately 5 illegal Israeli settlers wearing masks arrived to the field, scaring the farmers and causing them to flee. The two ISM volunteers walked closer to the settlers to show their presence, but the soldiers demanded that they stand back. The ISM volunteers did not want to leave, but the settlers began throwing stones at them, forcing them to move back while trying to document. Once they left the field, the volunteers approached the soldiers and asked, “Why didn’t you do something about this?” The soldiers got into their car and closed the windows without saying anything. Everyone left the field.
Illegal settlers, oftentimes extremely violent, this time managed to terrify the family away from their farm. Photo credit ISM
Earlier in the morning of the same day, a bus full of volunteers who intended to support picking olives in another farm were prevented to do so by the Israeli army, despite the fact that this group had coordinated with the Palestinian village council which in turn coordinates with the corresponding Israeli office and therefore had permission to carry out this action. Read more about it here http://maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=768578
A large group of volunteers arriving to another farm to support olive harvest is confronted by the Israeli army. Photo credit ISM
The army finally forces volunteers to get back into their bus and leave. Photo credit ISM
