Category: Reports

Kufr Qaddoum: 5 people injured in demonstration

by Veronica

17 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

In advance of last week’s regular demonstration in Kufr Qaddoum the Israeli military attempted to prevent it by turning off the electricity supply to the village from 4AM that morning. But it did not deter about 150 Palestinians from the village from marching up the road towards Qadumim. This week, the lights were on, and again the villagers were out in large numbers to make their peaceful protest, with international and Israeli solidarity activists marching alongside them.

Perseverance and resistance in Kufr Qaddoum - Click here for more images

The main focus of the protest is the opening of the road – a direct route that goes through the Qadumim settlement. Since this road was closed to villagers in 2003, they have had to drive or walk much further around the settlement. As well as taking more time and costing more, this road closure may also have caused fatalities – three people have died in ambulances denied permission to take the direct route to hospital in Nablus. There are other issues affecting the village too, including the theft of land by settlers.

Palestinian flags flew in the cold wind as the demonstration made its way through the village towards the line of Israeli soldiers. It was not long before the teargas started with the soldiers shooting it straight at the crowd at chest height. As people ran, several were injured due to being hit by tear gas canisters or from falls – not knowing whether to face the soldiers and watch for the tear gas being shot at them or to turn and run with their backs to it.

Thus began a running battle, with one side armed with tear gas, rubber coated steel bullets and sound bombs and the other merely with their voices and stones from the ground. At one point the soldiers retreated right back to the illegal settlement, and the demonstrators made their way far down the road towards them, burning tyres and flying Palestinian flags. But shouts from lookouts indicated the soldiers were back and there was a sudden rush back into the village as the tear gas started again. This time the Israeli soldiers came right into the village using all the tools at their disposal to disperse the crowd.

At least five people were hit with tear gas canisters or steel coated rubber bullets, including one Israeli solidarity activist.

Afterwards, Murad Shtewi, a member of the organizing committee in Kufr Qaddoum, explained how the whole village is behind this and will not be intimidated by the Israelis.

They have been demonstrating every Friday since July 2011. Since then Israeli forces have raided the village almost every day and night and 11 young men between the ages of 18 and 33 have been arrested – merely for demonstrating.

“But,” he says “we will not stop our demonstrations until we fulfill our goal of opening the road. And we will do more demonstrations if the Israelis try to steal more of our land, as they did last week.”

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

Idhna: Tent replaces home as local resists illegal Israeli land confiscations

by Sylvia

16 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Idhna has suffered considerably since the Israeli occupation, particularly due to the construction of the segregation wall and some 3,000  dunums of land which has been stolen since the second Intifada. Idhna is surrounded by the Israeli settlements of Adora and Telem to the northeast, a bypass road that runs through the northern parts of the town, and the segregation wall that borders Idhna to the north and the west.

According to municipal officials, twenty water sources have been isolated or destroyed in Idhna.

Ahmed Jeyowi spent three years in prison after his involvement in the Intifada resisting illegal Israeli occupation in Idhna. He has since been blacklisted and is not allowed a permit to work in Israel, and so he is expected to live from what he can cultivate from his land, which is now destroyed by the Israeli military.

Ahmed owned two houses before 1988,  when Israeli forces demolished his first home. His second home was demolished last month when around 50 Israeli soldiers stormed the house at 6 AM whilst Ahmed was drinking tea and preparing to work his land. The soldiers forced Ahmed’s wife and six children from their beds and gave the family no time to salvage their possessions before they demolished their home.

 Ahmed has since been forced to send his wife and children to live with other family members whilst he lives on the ruined site which once was his home, now replaced by a tent provided by the Red Cross. The tent is far from withstanding the cold weather conditions, especially as it is forcasted to snow at end of this week. Ahmed is left with no heating or lighting, no gas, no toilet, and insufficient bedding.

When presence is resistance - Click here for more photos

Everything the family now owns fits into a small compartment of the tent. Due to the imposed water limitations and the demolishing of two local wells, Ahmed is forced to visit the ruins of the wells in the middle of the night to collect his water. One year ago Israel issued Ahmed with an order to either demolish his home, or be sent a bill for the procedure. He had taken the issue to Israeli court but the house was demolished before a decision was reached.

Israel began demolishing houses in Idhna in 1967, and it is thought that at least twenty homes were demolished following the second Intifada. Ahmed estimates that by 2010 some twenty wells had been destroyed in the town. Most recent was a functional ancient Roman well of which the municipality had the lease. Furthermore, waste water from neighboring settlements has polluted what is left of Idhna’s water supply. The water is needed both agriculturally and domestically.

 A number of agricultural roads have been closed or destroyed in Idhna, making the harvest of crops difficult. Olive trees have been uprooted and various field crops and grazing lands have been destroyed. In terms of education, restrictions on mobility has made reaching schools difficult. Students are forced to travel an average of six kilometers to get to their schools.

Idhna currently has forty houses with demolition orders placed on them. These families will undoubtedly be greeted with the same call at 6 AM and left with only a tent to shelter them from the weather. Ahmed is now seeking a gas heater and a weather worthy tent. He is afraid to leave the ruined site of his home in case Israel confiscates his land.

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

Jordan Valley: Demolitions and arrests of two Palestinians

by Satu and John

15 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On February 14, 2012, in the small village of Twael of the Aqraba district, southeast of Nablus in the Jordan Valley, the home of the Bunni Jaber family was destroyed by an Israeli backhoe protected by 20 soldiers in four military vehicles. Two men from the family were arrested – Ayman Bunni Jaber, aged 36, and Rafie Bunni Jaber, aged 30. The family’s tractor was also confiscated by the Israeli authorities.

The Bunni Jaber house was located along the green, rocky hills that dominate the landscape here, built from cloth, plastic sheeting, wire mesh, stones, and dirt. There are four children in the Bunni Jaber family, ranging from toddlers to adolescents. The family are herders, with flocks of sheep and goat, and the arbitrary confiscation of their tractor presents a serious challenge for the family’s livelihood.

Click here for more photos - Photos courtesy of Rana Hamadan, 2012

The reason given for the demolition was the house’s construction without a permit in Area C, the part of the West Bank under full Israeli civil and military control. The land belongs to the municipality of Aqraba, and is used for agriculture and herding. Obtaining a construction permit in Area C is a near impossibility for Palestinians. According to the UN agency OCHA, 96 percent of request for building permits in the Jordan Valley between 2000 and 2006 were denied. Nineteen of the 22 houses in the area have received demolition orders, as has the local mosque. Many of these have been demolished, some multiple times after reconstruction by their owners.

By longstanding local custom and law, houses without concrete or foundations like that of the Bunni Jaber family, do not require a building permit. Eighty percent of the land in Aqraba has been confiscated by the Israeli Army under the auspices of its use as “training grounds,” even though land seized is in fact stolen by illegal Israeli settlements. The villagers have resisted through various means, including a one-day hunger strike.

Satu and John are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).

61 year old released from hospital after Yitzhar settler attack

by Fransisco Reeves

15 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

A broken windshield of the family vehicle reveals the impact and size of thrown projectiles - Image via Alternative Information Center

Following her horrific ordeal of having her family’s vehicle attacked by Zionist settlers in early February,  Maysar Abd Al Majeed Ghanem is finally healthy enough to return to home.

 The attack resulted in Ghanem spending 36 hours in the Intensive Care Unit and a subsequent 11 days in the hospital. No effort has been made to investigate this attack by Israelis or illegal settlers from Yitzhar settlment, where the attackers are based.

Ghanem and her family will be left recovering from the physical and emotional trauma suffered, whilst remaining aware that at any moment, they or someone they know could be the victim of a similar attack, with potentially the consequences being even more severe.

Although clearly still weak, Mrs. Ghanem was far from beaten, and although there remain significant health issues as a consequence of her attack, when asked how she felt as she lay on her hospital bed flanked by loved ones, Mrs. Ghanem responded, “Better, thank God.”

According Ghanem’s son, Fares it is his brother-in-law and driver of the car, who is finding it most difficult to recover, emotionally that is. Fares Muhammed Ibrahim explained that his brother-in-law feels “guilty” and “responsible” for this incident and has not “shaved” since the attack. Clearly the affects of attacks such as these extend far beyond the physical injuries sustained and can take much longer to recover.

It is without question that Ghanem, her family, and Palestinians in general will continue to resist, whether it be through hunger strikes, weekly protests, refusing to relinquish their rights to live and work on their land, or in this case simply driving along the road to visit your daughter.

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

Golani Brigade Report: Incidences in which Golani soldiers arbitrarily detained Palestinians and/or denied them access to roads or walkways.

14 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement and Christian Peacemaker Teams

Since the arrival of the Golani Brigade in Hebron on December 27th, international accompaniment organizations (Christian Peacemaker Teams, International Solidarity Movement, and others) have documented an increase in the number of serious human rights violations against the Palestinian people, particularly youth and children in the Old City and Tel Rumeida.

All recorded incidences have been documented through first-hand observation and/or the victims’ testimony. The following report demonstrates a sharp increase in harassment, violence, and human rights violations by the Israeli military towards the Palestinian population of Hebron. Contrary to given justifications, none of those involved were observed to voice or pose any threat to the soldiers. As the Golani Brigade is expected to remain in Hebron another two to five months, members of these international observer organizations fear that such abuses will escalate and make life unbearable for the Palestinians living under occupation in Hebron.

The International Solidarity Movement will publish each segment of the report in a series of articles. To download the full report, please click the following link: FULL REPORT- Under Attack: The Golani Brigade’s war on the Palestinian population of Al-Khalil (Hebron).

Contacts:

International Solidarity Movement, palreportskhalil@gmail.com (972/0 59-550-02864)

Christian Peacemaker Teams, cptheb@cpt.org (927/0 59 810 4549) (972/0 54 342 0117)

2. Incidences in which Golani soldiers arbitrarily detained Palestinians and/or denied them access to roads or walkways.

Wednesday, December 28th: A Golani soldier prevented several members of the Youth Against Settlements organization from walking down a path from their center towards their homes. The soldier claimed that this prevention was because settlers were walking up the path, though none were seen, and further explained, “They must wait when anyone walks past. Even if a dog walks, they must wait.”

Friday, January 6th: A soldier stopped a 19 year-old resident of Shuhada Street and ordered him to show what was in his boots, unzip his jacket, and put his face and hands against the wall.  When the soldier began to hit the man, a neighbor and internationals observers began to film, after which the soldier stopped, but detained the man and his neighbor another 15 minutes.  The youth said the same soldier had stopped him to check his ID four times in one week.

Saturday, January 7th: Golani soldiers held a Palestinian for over three hours at Checkpoint 56.  The soldier explained that he was detaining the man because “he did not like him.”  The two soldiers at the check point continuously reminded the Palestinian man of his detainment by asking him, “How long have you been here?” and forced him to urinate where he stood rather than allowing him to leave.

Tuesday, January 17th: Golani patrolled through the busy Palestinian market in H1 at midday. As they marched, they forced everyone to stand aside and randomly stopped two Palestinian men to check their identifications. A younger man had to stand with his hands raised high on the wall for six minutes to check his ID.

Monday, January 23rd: Golani enter into H1 to search cars in Haret i-Sheik.

Monday, January 23rd: Golani denied a Palestinian man access to return to his home in the Old City because they said entrance was closed after 9 pm. Internationals observed for 40 minutes, as the soldiers denied him access at multiple checkpoints, forcing him to walk back and forth carrying a heavy sack. The soldiers insisted it was the man’s own fault, but finally appeared to relent and took the man on an alternative route.

Tuesday, January 24th: Golani soldiers stopped the Abu Aisha family at Gilbert Checkpoint as they were on their way home and refused to allow them through the checkpoint.  They did not tell the family why they were not allowed to pass.  After some time, they told the family to take a much longer route home, which they did.

Tuesday, January 24th: Soldiers at Checkpoint 56 harassed Palestinians leaving H2 by “playing” with the electric doors of the container box. After people entered the structure, soldiers closed all the doors simultaneously, trapping them inside, and then opened and closed an exit repeatedly. Finally the soldiers opened the door from which the people had entered, forcing them back out the way they had come.

Monday, January 30th: Golani soldiers held a man outside in very cold rain for one hour because he was fixing the satellite on the roof of his house in Tel Rumeida. They told him that they had seen him on his roof through a camera, and that in the future he would need special permission to be there.