Category: Reports

The implications of arbitrary Israeli military night raids in Al Khalil

by Mira, Rune and Paige

19 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

With the change of the  Israeli army brigades last week, it has not been quiet in Al Khalil. It seems like the new soldiers are using the city as a training field.

It started about  one about a week ago, on Sunday March 18th, when the 100 soldiers from the Kfir brigade arrested one boy, closing down several streets in the process.  On Sunday the streets were once again filled with hundreds of soldiers, many houses were raided, and many more Palestinians were detained for several hours without reason.

The raids began at approximately 9:00 PM in the Tel Rumeida area, and continued well past midnight on Shuhada street, near the Qeitun checkpoint, and in the area of the Qordaba girls’ school.  At 10 pm around 100 soldiers escorted 17 men and teenage boys taken during the house raids through Qeitun checkpoint where they were forced to stand lined up against the wall while soldiers screamed at them in Hebrew.  All were eventually let go, though four young men were held until 1:00 AM.

Among the raided houses, is the home of the Abu Mohammad family which had suffered much harassment from the military in the past few months.  The house is split in two parts, and about 2 months ago the soldiers started to occupy the left half of the building, forcing the almost 30 people living there to move to the right part. The families living in the house have filed a lawsuit that is yet to be decided. Sunday night the soldiers raided the entire house, forced all the inhabitants outside and searched every room. After that they moved to the roof, were they broke the water-pipe, and stayed for several days. The water is leaking in the house, but the tenants are not allowed to go on the roof and fix it.

The house of the Abu Ahmed family was raided three times throughout the course of the night, the Israeli army forcing the family out on the street while the soldiers searched the house again and again. Three  generations live in the house  including four children all under the age of 7. The soldiers did not explain why they were there or what they were looking for. A 65 year old resident of this house explained  that this is normal for them.

In another house raid near the illegal settlement of Beit Hadassah, a young girl fell and hit her head and was unconscious for several minutes after soldiers forced her and her family out of their front door.  As the ambulance could only reach as far as the checkpoint at the end of the road, the girl was forced to walk to the checkpoint to meet the ambulance.  The soldiers at the checkpoint prevented her from crossing to the ambulance for fifteen minutes.

Mira, Rune, and Paige are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).

Video: Illegal settlers in Al Khalil attack Palestinian student

by Satu

19 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Sunday 18th of March, an 18-year old Palestinian student, Mustafa Abu Salime, got attacked by settlers between Checkpoints 56 and Gilbert. Mustafa passed the Gilbert checkpoint on his way to visit his friends. He saw three settlers talking to a soldier. Few meters down from the checkpoint the same settlers came behind him and sprayed him with pepper spray and started beating him.

The settlers hit him on his head, back and knee then pushed him on the ground and kicked him. In the attack Mustafa lost his eye glasses and phone. The soldiers did not interfere. After the beating the soldiers came and made him stand next to the wall while they did a body search of him before taking him to Checkpoint 56.   From the checkpoint Mustafa was taken to an army ambulance, in which he was driven around and questioned before they handed him to the Palestinian ambulance that took him to the hospital where he spent two hours. Issa Amro, a local human rights activist, filmed the ordeal and can be viewed  here.

Satu is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Nablus: 2 youth arrested during night raids into Burin

by Lydia

13 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Monday, 12 March at 9pm, the soldiers were making themselves comfortable yet again in the village of Burin.  Around 6 jeeps entered  and 10 jeeps surrounded the village.

It seemed for a while it was just another evening of playground antics with the soldiers occupying the village and enjoying an evening of military training,  as this often happens and is expected throughout the nights when the village no longer belongs to the residents but instead becomes the soldiers training field.

There is a military compound very close to Huwarra which makes Burin and surrounding villages, such as Madama  and Assira al Qablia, very convenient places for the soldiers to embark on such antics.

This evening however, the tactics took a turn for the worse when the soldiers began to raid the homes of residents. It started with the homes of Ahmad Samir Najjar, 16, and Mahmoud Nasser Asasus  also 16. They are both now being held in Peta Tikva interrogation center.

After the completion of the interrogation they will either be released or moved to a prison.

Later raids were made into three more homes, with all three receiving threats from the soldiers that they would be the next to be arrested.

The raids consisted of the soldiers evacuating the families outside while they searched their home thoroughly, turning cupboards, bedrooms, and living areas upside down.  Leaving a family outside, with their young waiting for the soldiers to finish in order to be allowed back into their homes, leaves the next day spent on  putting their homes back together.

Members of the village went to visit the families of the young men arrested to offer their support and solidarity. Despite the problems the morale is high within the families.

Lydia is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Settlers Attack Child in Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Al-Khalil

by Joshua

17 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Saturday, March 17 2012, illegal settlers in Al-Khalil (Hebron), guarded by Israeli Occupation Forces soldiers, trespassed onto the private property of the Abu Ayesha family and proceeded to attack fifteen year old Said, striking him on his arms.  The settlers refused to begin leaving until police arrived.

 

The settlers had just come from a guided tour of Al-Khalil’s old city, which disrupts life in the Palestinian area every Saturday, as dozens of settlers and soldiers invade the central market, blocking foot traffic, searching people and cars, and generally threatening the local population with violence.

Today’s assault is part of an ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation against the Abu Ayesha family.  The family was forced previously to build a barrier of rocks in order to prevent similar illegal incursions onto their property, which lies just inside the Israeli controlled H2 section of Al-Khalil. Settlers also routinely come during the night to blast loud music, and make noises, in an attempt to drive the Abu Ayesha family from their ancestral home.

Joshua is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

The isolated corner

by Axel

15 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

In the outer part of Bethlehem very close to Rachel’s Tomb, Mariam (who wishes not to use her actual name) runs her small Palestinian souvenir shop. But this is not a shop in the usual touristic places of Bethlehem,  and not a place you find if you don’t know about it.

Despite these facts, this small shop has become the only income for Mariam and her family since it opened two years ago.

Before 2002 her husband had an auto mechanic shop in this building, perfectly located right next to the main road to Jerusalem. The business was good back then. Palestinians as well as Israelis came here to get their car fixed or buy parts, and just next door, Mariam had a shop for home accessories. All this changed radically in 2002 when the area became a “military zone.”

Suddenly the road was closed and the family that lives on the floors above the shops became prisoners in their own home as soldiers turned their house into a military base. Sometimes they took a  room or two, but other days the whole family of seven were forced to stay in one room without being able to go out.

Both shops had to close and life became hard. The next year in 2003, the Israeli government built the apartheid wall that is now surrounding the house from three sides. The land around them that is owned by her uncle was confiscated and is now on the other side of the wall, out of reach for the family that no longer can travel outside the West Bank without permission, a permission that is rarely given.

The isolated corner | Click here for more photos

The travel situation was also different before the wall. Mariam, like other Christians, has strong bonds to Jerusalem, and she used to volunteer in a church in the city that she visited almost every day. It used to take her 15 minutes to get there. Now she only gets permission to visit Jerusalem for Easter and Christmas, and how long it takes to get there depends on the mood of the soldiers at the check point.

Today ten years later, the house is not occupied anymore, but no one can access the roof. Nor are they allowed to do any repairs, and the wall that surrounds the house has cameras pointed to watch every room, making private life close to nonexistent.

The small income from the souvenir shop is also highly taxed as the family lives in what is called Area C. This means that she has to pay taxes to the Israeli government like everyone in Area C is under direct Israeli control. But since Israel is not giving anything back to Palestinians for the tax money, like insurance, she also has to pay tax to the Palestinian Authority to get this covered.

“Life is not easy here,” she said, looking out the door at the 8 meter high concrete wall that has cut her family off from their former life, forcing them to live in an isolated corner.

Axel is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).