31 September 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
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Firas Nahar Jama, 15, was arrested after Israeli soldiers invaded the village of Kufr Qaddoum during the weekly demonstration.
Mahmood Nasir Batahan (10) was taken to the hospital after being hit by a tear-gas canister. Two others were treated on the scene after inhaling large amounts of tear-gas.
The purpose of the weekly demonstration in Kufr Qaddoum is to protest the closure of the main road that connects the village with the city of Nablus. The road, which passes alongside the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Kedumim was closed for Palestinian access and is only open to illegal Israeli settlers. As a result, the journey to the nearest city has increased from 15 minutes to 40 minutes.
Kufr Qaddoum has also lost 4,000 durums of land to the 5 illegal Israeli settlements that surrounds the village. Farmers seeking to reach their lands face threats, attacks, and arrests. Some of the Palestinian-owned agricultural land has been declared as ‘closed military zones’, and Israeli settlers regularly sets fire to them.
31 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West bank
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Three Palestinians were injured and 5 arrested today during Nabi Saleh’s weekly demonstration. Israeli military set up road blocks surrounding the village early this morning in order to prevent people and journalists from participating.
At 4.30 p.m., Malek Tamini was shot with a live bullet which went through his hand and the side of his body. He has undergone surgery for his injuries. One Palestinian suffered an open wound after being shot with a tear gas canister during protests. Soldiers were firing tears gas canisters directly in to the crowd with the intent of causing serious injury and then prevented the ambulance from entering the village for one hour . One local resident received stitches in Ramallah hospital after suffering a head wound from a rubber-coated steel bullet.
Five Palestinians protestors including Mohammad Khatib and Bilal Tamimi of the popular committees, a student journalist, and two young women activists were arrested in the morning while walking towards the village spring which was annexed by the nearby illegal Israeli settlement, Halamish. All have has since been released.
Nabi Saleh is a small village of approximately 550 people, twenty kilometres north west of Ramallah in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The Israeli colony of Halamish (also known as Neveh Tzuf) was established on lands belonging to the villages of An Nabi Saleh and Deir Nidham in 1976. In response to the illegal colony being established on their land, the residents of An Nabi Saleh and Deir Nidham began holding demonstrations in opposition to the theft of their land and the establishment of the colony (whose establishment violates international law). The residents of An Nabi Saleh and Deir Nidham lodged a court case against the colony in Israel’s high court, but were unable to stop the construction the illegal settlement.
Since its establishment in 1977, Halamish colony has continued to expand and steal more Palestinian land. In 2008, the residents of An Nabi Saleh challenged the building of a fence by the colony on private Palestinian land, which prevented Palestinians from accessing their land. The Israeli courts ruled that the fence was to be dismantled Despite the Israeli court ruling, the colony continued to illegally annex more Palestinian land. In the summer of 2008, Israeli settlers from Halamish seized control of a number springs, all of which were located on private Palestinian land belonging to residents of An Nabi Saleh.
In December 2009, the village began weekly non-violent demonstrations in opposition to the illegal Israeli colony of Halamish annexing of the fresh water springs and stealing of more of the village’s land. Since An Nabi Saleh began its demonstrations, the Israeli military has brutally sought to repress the non-violent protests, arresting more than 13% of the village, including children. In total, as of 31 March 2011, 64 village residents have been arrested. All but 3 were tried for participating in the non-violent demonstrations. Of those imprisoned, 29 have been minors under the age of 18 years and 4 have been women.
On the morning of August 28, around 30 settlers armed with guns and sticks descended upon a Palestinian home located in Khan al-Liban, and attacked the Daraghmah family. The mother, Taghrid, and the two youngest sons, Mu’min, 13, and Nour al-Deen, 9, were injured during the attacks which lasted at least one hour until soldiers and police arrived. Mu’min and Nour were taken by ambulance to the hospital. The father of the family, Khalid, 45, and his second eldest son, Jalaal, 16, were arrested and are still being held in police custody.
At around 8:30 a.m. settlers from Ma’ale Levona arrived at the home of the Daraghmah family. The father, Khalid, two of his sons, Mu’min and Jalaal, and his wife, Taghrid, were sitting in the entry way. The youngest son, Nour, was asleep inside the main room. According to Mu’min, Taghrid went inside the main room, and was followed by 10 settlers. The settlers began attacking Taghrid, Khalid, and Nour inside the room.
“Nour was thrown at the wall by one of the big settlers, and they were laughing” Mu’min recounts.
Nour al-Deen being treated in the ambulance after the attacks. (Photo courtesy of Wafa – International Communities Against Israel).
After they attacked Nour, one of the men began beating Taghrid.
“The settler hit me on the shoulder with a stick, then grabbed me by the collar, and after that ripped my jacket and shirt. Then he began hitting me on the chest, my legs, and finally my hip.” Says Taghrid, who has just returned from Nablus after filing a police report and retreiving the medical reports about her two injured sons.
Taghrid Daraghmah shows how her clothes were torn during the attack. (Photo courtesy of Wafa – International Communities Against Israel).
According to Mu’min says that as the violence escalated, Jalaal and Khalid tried to defend the rest of their family by forcing the settlers outside the bedroom into the entry way. Then the settlers then began beating him, his father, and Jalaal with sticks as they attempted to push them away from the bedroom. Khalid picked up two stones and the settlers began firing into the air, and throwing stones at him.
Mu’min went with Nour and his mother to the roof of the home to escape the continuing attacks. As Khalid and Jalaal were being attacked in the house, settlers began destroying the bedroom, and threw the family’s clothes into the spring next to the house, while Mu’min filmed with his phone.
“After we had been on the roof for awhile, my father and Jalaal ran away from the house, so that the settlers would follow them. When they were far enough away I put my mother and Nour in the bedroom and locked them in so that they would be safe. Then the settlers began firing into the air and throwing stones at the windows to the bedroom.” Mu’min says.
The attacks continued for some time, with Mu’min, Jalaal, and Khalid being beaten. Taghrid says she heard laughing and yelling in Arabic that they planned to cut down all the trees on the land and put Jalaal in prison. During the attacks Khalid’s car was destroyed, with all the windows being smashed, one of the doors broken and the electrical wires ripped out.
Khalid’s car sits with all of the windows smashed after the attack. For more pictures of the aftermath please click here.
In a video, posted on Ynet news, viewers can see the Daraghmah family surrounded by settlers carrying sticks. Jalaal swings what appears to a pick at a settler who tries to enter the bedroom of the home. The Daraghmah family car is also present in the video, without any damage, before it was destroyed. The headline of the Ynet story reads “Settler attacked with axe”.
According to Taghrid, around an hour after the settlers, 5 Israeli soldiers arrived, and immediately arrested Jalaal after settlers accused him of hitting them. Khalid was detained in one of the rooms by the police. An ambulance arrived to take Mu’min and Nour to the hospital, and Khalid was taken by Police to Sha’ar Binyamin after being accused of interfering with Police work. No settler were arrested.
Khalid Daraghmah being arrested by Israeli Police. (Photo courtesy of EAPPI).
In 2002 the Israeli High Court ruled that the land in Khan belongs to their family, but settlers claim it is a public spring. For the past four years, Khalid al-Sanih Daraghmah and his family have faced regular attacks by Israeli settlers at their home in Khan, 2 kilometers south of the West Bank village al-Luban. When Khalid bought the two homes on the road to the illegal Ma’ale Levona settlement 5 years ago, he imagined restoring them and planting the 20 dunums of land that they sit on.
More information on the constant settler attacks against the Darahmah family can be found here, here, and here.
Marshall Pinkerton is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
25 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On Thursday August 23, Mumen Mahmoud Raja, 18, was arrested at his home by Israeli occupation forces at 2:30 a.m.
Around 2 a.m., some 60 Israeli forces invaded the Palestinian village of Burin, located south-west of Nablus. They arrived in 6 military jeeps, a truck, and 16 individuals by foot from the illegal colony of Givat Arosha, located atop a hill near the village, Mumen’s father estimates. 20 soldiers entered Mumen’s house, waking his family, including his 8 year old brother.
“We thought they wanted to arrest our other son, Montser, 19, who was arrested three months ago for 10 days. But then the soldiers began to demand Mumen, and took him away,” Mumens father recounts.
Mumen Mahmoud Raja
This family, like most families in Burin, endures the arrests of their children without being given a reason for their detention. At 3 a.m., the soldiers left the house after checking the identity of the remaining family members.
“It is the first arrest now that Ramadan is over, and we believe there will be more in the coming weeks,” says Ghassan Najjar, resident of Burin.
Since January 2012, Israeli forces have arrested 35 young men in Burin in night raids. Currently 16 of them are still imprisoned, aged between 15 and 32 years. Three of the current prisoners are minors; Walid Eid, 16, Eid Maomen, 16, and Qais Omran, 17.
Burin has been subject to many arrests on a daily basis for the past several years. The village is surrounded from all directions by three illegal Israeli settlements: Yitzhar, Bracha, and Givat Arosha. The Israeli military often patrols through the village at night raiding homes, and arresting members of Palestinian families without indicating a reason. The harassment and arrest of Burin’s youth, particularly those with a connection to the youth community centre in the village, is common.
Alma Reventos is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
20 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On Monday, August 6, Mershid (19), son of Muhamad Abdalah Dawabsheh, checked for oncoming cars and started to cross the road between Nablus and Ramallah with his herd of goats. The time was approximately 5 p.m., and he was leading the herd towards the small village of Duma after a day of grazing. An Israeli car appeared as he was walking down the road but instead of slowing down it picked up speed and drove through the herd, killing 12 goats.
Driving through the herd, the front bumper including registration plate was ripped from the car. The Israeli settler stopped his car to retrieve his plate from the ground. As Mershid saw the armed settler he got scared and ran away.
The whole incident was witnessed by Muhamad’s nephew, who was standing some 50 metres from the scene. As he started for the herd, the settler saw him, got in his car, and hit another three goats including the leader of the herd (the only male) as he drove off, leaving registration plate and bumper behind. In all, 15 goats were killed and 2 mortally injured, now hovering between life and death.
As Muhamad arrived on the scene, he called the Israeli police. When no help was offered, he turned to the Palestinian Authority (PA) police. They asked him to come to the police station with pictures of the dead goats and car plate. He refused, arguing it is their job to go to the crime scene to gather evidence.
In the meantime, the Israeli Military arrived at the scene about one and a half hour after the incident. According to Muhamad, the commanding officer seemed uninterested, asking only if it was his goats killed and if it was his son herding them. When demanding a copy of the report, Muhamad was told to keep quiet and stop asking questions.
An officer from District Coordination Office (DCO) arrived with the purpose of notifying Muhamad that he could not help him. For reasons unknown to Muhamad, the DCO officer refused to help find the guilty settler. Muhamad was informed that he had to go to an office in the illegal settlement of Bet El if he wanted to pursue the case.
This might seem like an easy venture, but Palestinians are forbidden access to the Israeli settlements built illegally on Palestinian-owned land.
A PA officer arrived to the scene in a private car, but stopped in proper distance when he recognized the Israeli forces presence. He asked Muhamad to go and take pictures with a PA phone as evidence for the police report.
Yet, with experience from similar incidents in mind, Muhamad seriously doubts the results of any such PA report.
The family of Muhamad has been living and farming on the land of Duma for countless generations. One of their main products is goats’ milk and cheese. The goats are like family to Muhamad and he clarified to International Solidarity Movement volunteers that the loss is just as painful.
Muhamad Abdalah Rashid Dawabsheh. Photo by Markus Fizgerald. Click for more pictures
His herd consists of some 100 goats. Males are sold and females are kept to produce dairy products and offspring. The death of the male means a huge economic loss for the family of 8. The goats have undergone selective breeding for many generations and are considered some of the finest. For Muhamad, it is impossible to put a price on the lost goats. They provide a living for the family and, for him, the mere question of pricing and money is an insult to the importance of the animals.
Duma is a little farming village 21 km southeast of Nablus. Muhamad is head of one of two big families in the villages. Until the PA, subsequently to the Oslo-accords in 1994, appointed their own regional strong man, Muhamad was considered the unofficial head of the village.
Duma is surrounded by 3 settlements: Shilo, Ma’ale Efrayim and Migdalim, and Muhamad believes the guilty settler is from one of these settlements. For the last 2 years, the villagers have experienced countless settler attacks. Not a single one has been solved, and Muhamad has little faith that the PA or DCO will act differently in this case.
The village of Duma is considered Area B (Palestinian civil control, Israeli military control), but the enclosing Area C (full Israeli control) makes it a problematic task to farm on considerable parts of the land, belonging to the village.
Yet Muhamad states that he will stay on his land and his sons will farm it when he is gone.
“I was born on this land and have been working with olives and goats here for 40 years. I have other places I could go, but I want to stay here. This is my place, this is where I belong.”
