Category: Reports - Page 37 - International Solidarity Movement

Israeli apartheid in Masafer Yatta: raids, demolitions, arrests and beatings

Beginning with invasive night raids multiple villages, and ending with 7 structures demolished, 4 families made homeless, 2 Palestinians arrested, 1 beaten and hospitalized, 1 car confiscated, and 1 major access road severely damaged, Israeli Occupation Forces continue their ongoing assault on local communities in Masafer Yatta.

Masafer Yatta is a collection of over 20 villages near Hebron, deep in the south of the West Bank. Most of the Palestinians who live here raise livestock for a living; some are Bedouins, who once traveled with their camels and flocks across the dry and rugged hills, before Israel invaded in 1967 and occupied the area. Despite archeological excavations showing villages have been there since the early Roman and Byzantine era, the Israeli army declared the area a live firing zone in the 1970s and announced plans to demolish most of the villages. While Palestinians in Firing Zone 918 are forbidden from driving cars or possessing any kind of construction material, Israeli settlers in the settlements of Maon, Avigal, and Susya, illegal under international law, continue to build new houses and farms, and are free to travel in and out of the area.

On September 11^th2019, from 0:00 to 4:00 AM, Israeli soldiers raided multiple villages, breaking into homes, forcing sleeping children and parents outside of their houses and searching rooms, cupboards and fridges, as well as cars and wells, damaging villager’s belongings and terrorizing local residents. The soldiers refused to show residents a warrant or give a reason for the indiscriminate searches; residents say their villages are often used as a training ground for new recruits.

Israeli soldiers raided 8 villages from midnight to early morning, awaking residents and searching houses without giving a reason or warrant. — Israeli soldiers raided multiple villages from midnight to early morning, awaking residents and searching houses without giving a reason or warrant.

At 9:00 AM, 4 bulldozers and excavators, from JCB, Hyundai, and Volvo, and a Scania loading truck, together with dozens of IDF soldiers, Border Police, and Civil Administration agents arrived in the village of Mufakara, a tiny hamlet of approximately 50 inhabitants from the Hamamda clan. 4 structures were demolished and 2 families displaced, including a widow, her 6 daughters and one son. Residents of Mufakara said it was the 5^th demolition in their village alone this year; one family had their home, demolished 3 times in 9 months. Civil administration agents also cut and confiscated a water pipe bringing water from At-Tuwani to Mufakara. This is not the first time Israeli Civil Administration has deprived villagers in Mufakara of access to water, a basic human right; Israeli human rights group B’Tselem reports that after having running water for just 6 months, Israeli forces destroyed and confiscated 6 kilometers of piping in February this year. The IOF also confiscated a car owned by the Massafer Yatta Village Council.

Israeli forces demolish a Palestinian home in Mufakara:

Israeli soldiers at the scene of home demolitions in Mufakara.

The IOF also demolished the bathroom of a family living inside a cave passed down for generations, .

Israeli forces demolish a family’s bathroom.

In the nearby village of Khallet Ad-Dabe’a, Israeli forces and Civil Administration demolished the houses of a family with 6 children and their uncle’s house. A relative of the family that lost their home was violently assaulted by Israeli soldiers after running past them towards the house, and was hospitalized with multiple injuries. Two Palestinians, head of the At-Tuwani Village Council, Mohammad Rib’ey, and Bakr Fadel Rib’ey, were assaulted, then arrested by the IOF. They were released without charge later in the day.

Relative of the family that lost their home, with his son, after being attacked by Israeli soldiers. He was later hospitalized for multiple injuries.

At the same time as the home demolitions, the Israeli army used excavators to dig holes and pile boulders and rubble onto a key road, cutting off 15 villages from the regional hub of Yatta. For some of these villages, alternative routes to Yatta will turn a 30 minutes trip into one that takes 4-5 hours, much of it through unpaved dirt roads.

Many of the houses demolished on Wednesday were, in fact, built with funding from the EU and international NGOs, as well as the road, which locals say was repaired with EU funding after it was previously damaged by Israeli forces. Regavim, an extremist far right settler group which lobbies for demolitions and against EU development projects in Palestine, is highly active in and around the illegal Israeli settlements in Masafer Yatta. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, humanitarian organizations currently providing assistance to communities in Masafer Yatta are impeded by demolition orders “against the items provided”, as well as confiscation of organisations’ vehicles and equipment, and restriction of access to the area.

The Israeli government defends such demolitions by arguing that the houses were built without the legally required permits. A quick look at the numbers, however, show the virtual impossibility of obtaining a housing permit under Israel’s apartheid system. In a 2014 report by the World Bank, only 1.6% of Palestinian housing permit applications were approved; Israeli Civil Administration confirms that from 2008 to 2016, 66 Palestinian applications for construction were approved, while 12,763 Israeli settlement construction applications were approved.

To put that into numbers, an Israeli settler is 193 times more likely to have his application approved than a Palestinian.

Wednesday’s demolitions marked the first demolitions in 1 month and 8 days. The fact that such an extensive round of demolitions occurred just 6 days before Israelis vote in legislative elections did not go unnoticed, as Netanyahu, facing corruption charges and failure to form a government, tries to secure the settler and pro-Occupation vote. With both major Israeli parties declaring their intention to continue illegal settlement growth, and demolition orders pending on 26 of the 28 villages and hamlets in Masafer Yatta, the Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing of Masafer Yatta looks set to continue.

11 year old Ali asks Israeli soldiers why they came to this land, after being forced out his home and having to watch bulldozers destroy his family’s house:

Statement on “postponement” of Regavim London talk due to activist pressure

Yesterday, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) announced the “postponement” of a talk by extremist pro-settler group Regavim in London due to opposition from British, Israeli, and Palestinian activists.

Regavim, which receives funding from the Israeli government, is not only anti-Palestinian and openly racist, but also lobbies for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the West Bank and destruction of their homes and schools, in clear violation of international law. A range of voices have been raised in opposition to Regavims visit including the International Solidarity Movement, Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, Stop the Demolitions, with criticism also coming from Yachad UK and New Israel Fund. In the words of Regavim General Director Meir Deutsch, the protests planned against Regavim’s London lecture “represent a whole new level of cooperation between…organizations operating in Israel and abroad with Palestinian organizations”

We strongly reject UKLFI’s claim that most of the objections to the proposed talk related to irrelevant statements by a co-founder of Regavim who has since stopped working with the group. Regavim’s racism has been clear since the beginning, and it continues to do so, spreading discriminatory and hate filled messages.

In a video Regavim released last month, Palestinians living in the West Bank are described as a “terrorist state right around the corner”, while its reports speak of “Arab settlement and its spreading tentacles throughout Israel”.

While UKLFI claims it “is not aligned with any particular political viewpoint or party in the UK or Israel”, their actions show they are anything but a neutral or objective group. In March this year, an UKLFI document describes itself as an “association of lawyers” who “invok[e] laws in support of Israel and against Israel’s enemies”, “combat” the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign, and “work[s] closely with other pro-Israel organisations in the UK and around the world”. They devote most of its energy to lobbying public bodies in order to suppress activism for Palestinian rights, and target organisations promoting the Palestinian-led BDS movement, lodging complaints with regulatory bodies and sending letters threatening legal action. UKLFI seeks to frame groups advocating for Palestinian rights as extremists, but happily invites to the UK an organisation that has promoted violent racist narratives, and the violation of international law. UKLFI itself refuses to accept the illegality of Israeli settlements under international law.

While Regavim’s propaganda lecture has been postponed, it is still planned to take place at a later date, while on the ground in Palestine Regavim continues to lobby for the demolition of Palestinian communities and eviction of UNESCO from Jerusalem. We call on those committed to human rights, international law, and justice in the Middle East to continue to oppose both Regavim’s attempts to propagate its extremist views and discriminatory organizations like UKLFI that play in supporting role in Regavim’s destructive actions.

– International Solidarity Movement
– Stop the Demolitions
– Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Call for volunteers: Olive Harvest 2019

August 25 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied Palestine

At a time of regular settler and IOF violence in the West Bank, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is issuing an urgent call for volunteers to join us for the 2019 Olive Harvest Campaign at the invitation of Palestinian communities.

The olive tree is a national symbol for Palestinians. As thousands of olive trees have been bulldozed, uprooted and burned by Israeli settlers and the Israeli military — over half a million olive and fruit trees have been destroyed since September 2000 — harvesting has become more than a source of livelihood; it has become a form of resistance.

Despite efforts by Israeli settlers and soldiers to prevent them from accessing their land, Palestinian communities have remained steadfast in refusing to give up their olive harvest.

ISM volunteers join Palestinian farming communities each year to harvest olives, in areas where Palestinians face settler and military attacks when working their land. Your presence can make a big difference, with Palestinian communities stating that the presence of international volunteers reduces the risk of violence and harassment from Israeli settlers and the Israeli army.

We support Palestinians’ assertion of their right to earn their livelihoods and be present on their lands. International solidarity activists engage in non-violent direct action and documentation as on the ground, practical support which enables many families to pick their olives.

The harvest will begin in early October and run until mid-November. We request a minimum 2 week commitment but we ask that if possible, volunteers could stay as long as they can. Our work is dependent on relationships with the Palestinian communities in which we work, and a long term presence is a massive help towards that end. We kindly ask volunteers to start arriving in the first week of October if possible, so we are prepared when the harvest begins.

In addition to the harvest, there will be opportunities to participate in grass-roots, non-violent resistance in Palestine. ISM activists will receive training, normally held on Saturday or Sunday, at the beginning of each month with information on what to expect and how to act in what can be tense situations. Our other actions include:

The School Year:

Sunday the 25th of August marks the beginning of the school year, and with it increased threats for Palestinian teachers and children. Therefore, in the coming months, it is vital that we have volunteers who are able to walk with the children on school runs, to document and serve as a protective presence against Israeli Occupation Forces and settler harassment, which includes checkpoint delays. It is hoped that the presence of internationals may prevent settler attacks, and reduce the risk of Israeli soldiers harassing children.

Beyond the school runs, ISM maintains a constant presence in Hebron (Al-Khalil), where settler harassment and violence is a regular occurrence. Lately, Israeli army violence has escalated for Palestinians living close to the illegal inner-city settlement. Israeli forces have used the Palestinian neighbourhoods for military training, and heavily repress any form of resistance, responding with collective punishment as they fire dozens of teargas canisters and stun grenades onto Al-Khalil’s civilian population. Through documentation and non-violent resistance, ISM attempts to relieve some of the pressure placed on Al-Khalil’s residents.

Soldier standing on another soldier taking pictures into a school — Israeli soldiers take pictures inside a school playground in Khalil

Protective presence at protests and police raids:

In addition to these activities, we participate in the weekly demonstrations in Kafr Qaddum, and other villages where our presence is requested and protesters face excessive force by the IOF. Recently the Jerusalem police have been targeting the East Jerusalem town of Issawiya, invading the area every night and arresting children as young as 5. Evening and afternoon patrols are needed by internationals to document these human rights abuses and have a mediating effect on the notoriously brutal units that operate in occupied East Jerusalem.

Experiencing the situation for yourself is vital to fully understand, and ultimately convey, the reality of life in Palestine to your home communities and to re-frame the debate in a way that will expose Israel’s apartheid policies; creeping ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem as well as collective punishment and genocidal practices in Gaza.

Police make arbitrary car checks outside the Palestinian neighbourhood of Issawiya

How to apply:

Please send an email to ismtraining@riseup.net letting us know what dates you are able to come, any experience you have with this type of work and why you want to volunteer in Palestine.

Other options to help:

Donate — for those who cannot make it on this period and want to help, you can donate or help raise funds which will be used to fund ISM’s ongoing campaigns.

In Solidarity,

ISM Palestine

Ten people arrested from Beit Kahel: the village targeted with violent night raids and demolition threats

August 25| International Solidarity Movement | Beit Kahel, Occupied Palestine

As part of a targeted collective punishment towards the village of Beit Kahel following the death of an Israeli settler in Gush Etzion, ten individuals from the village have been arrested by Israeli Occupation Forces.

Seven of the detainees are all part of the Asfara family, and include brothers Ikriah and Naseer Asfara (28 and 23 years old), their brother, their cousin Qassam Asfara (30 years old), his two brothers, and his wife Dnas Nabeel Asfara (27 years old). Qassam – who has a permit to work in Israel which requires a background check for security clearance – and Dnas have two very young children, of just 3 and 5 years old. The children have now been without their parents since they were arrested during preparations for Eid Al-Adha, on Saturday 10^th August 2019.

The Israeli military have announced that Ikriah, a journalist, is not under suspicion in relation to the death, but they have not released him. Relatives of the detainees have heard nothing since the arrests, except that they have been taken to an Israeli prison north of Gaza. Their lawyers have been unable to have any dialogue with Israeli authorities about the individuals or the case; the only news that family members have had has come from Israeli media about the incident. The Asfara family are very concerned for the arrested individuals, as Israeli prisons are well known to employ torture methods in an attempt to coax ‘admissions’ from accused parties. All of these torture methods are made legal under the title of “Moderate physical pressure,” and include: solitary confinement in high temperatures; being forced to stay awake for days or weeks on end; starvation; and enduring incredibly loud sounds and music 24 hours a day.

Prior to the arrest, members of the Asfara family, and other residents of the village of Beit Kahel had been subject to daily harassment by the Israeli military, and when they came on the Saturday 10^th before Eid Al-Adha at 2am, 30 soldiers broke into and terrorised two buildings they raided as they carried out the arrests.

Forced window in Naseer and Ikriah’s home.

Mr. Asafra, the uncle of those arrested, described:

“We were sleeping peacefully in our homes, they (IOF) broke in and started beating everybody up. It was the Saturday before Eid at 2am while everyone was asleep. They stayed until 8am. 6 continuous hours of beating people up in the house. They horrified everyone and beat two men and arrested 4 people. They horrified everyone. They took every family member into one room and then searched the house.”

The brothers, Naseer and Ikriah, were sleeping on the roof of the other home raided, and they were woken up by security dogs. Israeli military broke in and raided both houses.

The rooftop of Naseer and Ikriah’s home.

“It was terrifying for the children sleeping inside,” said Mr. Asfara, “They and the women were screaming.”

The three men arrested, along with other family members, were beaten badly in front of the rest of the family. Dnas was not beaten, but roughly handcuffed and taken by the soldiers, who did not let her get dressed or put her head scarf on. She quickly grabbed her praying overcoat to protect her modesty as she was dragged out of her home.

Mr. Asfara states: “I never expected a country with an organised “democratic” structure would behave this way towards civilians.”

The IOF returned the next day on Sunday 11^th, during Eid Al-Adha celebrations, at around the same time of 2am. Again, they entered the village with incredible violence, raided both homes, confiscated Qassam’s car, and horrified the residents. They searched both buildings for 2.5 hours before taking photographs and sketches of the properties, measuring them up for demolition, despite having no demolition order from the court.

When the IOF came to the Beit Kahel for a third time, on Thursday 15^th August, residents of Beit Kahel had organised a sit in of Naseer and Ikriah’s home. As 200 people were gathered inside and on the roof of the property, the Israeli military barricaded the village and fired tear gas into the building and then surrounded it, blocking any Palestinian from leaving as the house filled with the gas. Many were affected very badly by the tear gas; considered a chemical weapon when used in War, but somehow legal in civilian cases despite the high mortality rate of Palestinians due to tear gas related casualties.

The family has not received any demolition order at all, so the village hope to resist the actions of the Israeli military until they get confirmation from the high court that the houses will be demolished for certain.

Naseer and Ikriah’s home home after the raid.

Naseer and Ikriah Asfara reside in only 2 of the 4 apartments in the building, yet the Israeli military took measurements, sketches and photographs of all 4 apartments, as well as a separate building where Qassam lives with his wife Dnas. The residents of Beit Kahel are appealing the demolition in court, hopefully to freeze it, but even if they win the appeal not to demolish all 4 apartments in the building, the military could block the 2 houses of the accused, or fill them with cement.

Housing demolitions, most often without a court ruling, are a common collective punitive measure by Israel, under the 1945 British Mandate emergency law. This policy has its origins after end of the First World War and the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire, when Great Britain seized much of the Middle East, and gave wide authority for local military commanders to confiscate and destroy “any house, structure or land… the inhabitants of which he is satisfied have committed… any offence against these Regulations involving violence.” Despite the outdated and irrelevant nature of this policy, it was renewed by Israel in 2014, granting the occupying forces legality to demolish the homes of Palestinians under any accusation, founded or not.

As a further punitive measure, 9 members of the family have had their Israeli work permits blocked, so in addition to their being unable to earn a living, they are also unable to pass through checkpoints. Qassam’s 57 year old father Aref has also been returned from checkpoints, unable to pass through the country. This renders the entire Asfara family without their livelihood, trapped in Beit Kahel, soon to be made homeless.

Since these initial arrests, the IOF have returned to Beit Kahel and arrested 6 more residents of the small village. Two of Qassam’s brothers, a brother of Ikriah and Naseer, and three others were arrested in a night raid on Monday August 19^th.

Following these events, Israeli Occupation Forces have had an almost constant presence in the village, threatening: “We will come at any time we want, don’t think this is over.”

“Welcome Everyone” in Arabic on the connected apartment to the residence of the accused brothers.

Death Is Only the Beginning of Suffering For Family In Ezariyya

August 23 | International Solidarity Movement | Ezariyya, Occupied Palestine

14 year old Nassim Abu Roumi shot by IOF after he attempted to stab an Israeli police officer

“My son was killed 5 days ago…all I want is to bury him. But they are keeping his body, they will not give him to us.”

Mokafih Abu Roumi spoke with ISM on Tuesday, August 20, about the death of his son, 14 year old Nassim Abu Roumi, and the harassment and collective punishment he and his family have received from Israeli authorities since.

On August 15^th, Nassim Abu Roumi, 14, and Hammouda Khader Sheikh, 14, attempted a knife attack on Israeli police blocking one of the entrances to the Al-Aqsa Mosque (Dome of the Rock). After trying to stab an Israeli police officer, Nassim was repeatedly shot and died at the scene; Hammouda was shot multiple times before being taken in custody. His current condition is unknown. One Israeli police officer was treated for “light wounds”. Video footage of the attack shows Nassim was initially shot in the leg, after which Israeli officers continued firing at him. Mokafir believes that his son was executed, as he no longer posed a threat to the police, stating that “They [the police] could have stopped him without killing him. These soldiers (police) are very well trained, they had…years of experience, they could control a little boy. They wanted to kill him.”

Immediately after Nassim’s attack, his father was arrested and held in a cell for 2.5 hours, after which he was interrogated by Shin Bet agents. He was forced to watch the video of Israeli police repeatedly firing bullets into his son, whilst surrounded by Israeli Occupation Forces demanding that he identify Nassim.

Mokafih describes Nassim as a “…friendly, honest child. He was popular at school and had many friends. He was in the 7^th grade at [a branch of] the Al Aqsa school in Ezariyya, he had no social or psychological problems. He liked football and Internet.” He remembers his son being deeply angered by the brutality of the IOF towards Palestinian worshipers at the Al Aqsa Mosque on the first day of Eid, one of the most important Muslim festivals of the year. In particular, the images of women and children being violently assaulted deeply affected him. His father also maintains that his son acted alone, and the attack was not sanctioned or planned by any political party or movement.

IOF assaulting Palestinian worshippers outside Al-Aqsa Mosque; Source: AFP

On August 11^th, the IOF used tear gas, rubber coated steel bullets and flash grenades to clear tens of thousands of Palestinian Muslims from the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, to allow 1,300 Jews into the compound. 61 Palestinians were injured, 15 of which had to be hospitalized.

IOF violence inside the Al-Aqsa compound on the first day of Eid; Source: IRNA

4 days later, at 4:00PM in the afternoon, Nassim left the house without telling anyone where he was going. Later that night, Mokafih received word that his son was dead.

Israeli intelligence service Shin Bet continues to hold the body of Mokafih’s son. Mokafih’s requests for his son’s body have been repeatedly rejected on the grounds that the police investigation into the cause of death is still ongoing, even as footage of police shooting Nassim is widely shown in international media and online. Police are also demanding Mokafih agree to preconditions regarding the funeral before returning his son’s body.

In December 2017, Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled that the bodies of alleged suspects cannot be held by the Israeli state, but 4 months later the Knessest passed a new law allowing bodies to be held until families agree to preconditions on funeral arrangements, effectively using the bodies of Palestinians killed by the IOF as bargaining chips.

Mokafih said the inability to give his son even a simple burial is causing tremendous emotional stress and grief for him and his family. Under Islamic burial traditions, burial should take place within 24 hours after death. Burial with dignity and according to the religious laws of the deceased is a basic human right guaranteed by the Geneva Convention. Even after the loss of a son, the Abu Roumi family is not only denied of their basic rights but forced to continue suffering without closure.