Category: Reports

‘Silwan is the next Hebron’ : an interview with a resident of Silwan

17 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

On 14 May 2011, the ISM went to Silwan, East Jerusalem after hearing about the tragic death of Milad Ayyash, a Palestinian teenager, who was killed during the Friday demonstrations against the Occupation in Batten Al Hawwa. Milad Ayyash was pronounced dead in the early hours of May 14. His death came as tensions rose between Palestinians and the Israeli army due to the Naqbah demonstrations which occurred all throughout the West Bank, Lebanon, Egypt and the Golan Heights, on the 15 May.

We interviewed Nihad Siam, a Palestinian activist for the Wadi Hilweh Information Centre who also arranges sports activities for the youth in the district in the Maada Centre.

Can you please describe what happened at the Friday demonstrations (13/05/2011) in Silwan, East Jerusalem?

The demonstrations usually begin after the Friday prayers which end in the early afternoon. There are usually violent clashes between the Israeli army and Palestinian residents and this occurs every week. On this particular day, the ‘shubab’ (young men) threw Molotov cocktails at Jonathan’s house (Beit Yehonatan*). These settlers are always making problems for Silwan residents, they have guards and are armed. The settlers in the area, it’s like…choking. They have no right to be here, they make life hard – for what reason?

The Molotov was a reaction against the harassment the Palestinians experience here. There is nothing we can do about it as the police arrest us if we complain against the settlers. This has happened to me. The protest tent that we have now, at the bottom of the hill, was in Wadi Hilweh. The settlers attacked it, I told them to leave, that this was private and one of them said to me; ‘no place is private, this is all ours.’ I reported them to the police but the settler said I had attacked them and I was arrested.

So the Molotov cocktails were thrown, and then what happened?

There were many witnesses on the day who can contest that Milad was sitting away from the shubabs, he was watching from a distance. It was after these Molotov cocktails were thrown that the protestors were shot with ‘dum dums’ (rubber coated steel bullets) by the Israeli army. The shubabs closed the road by burning tyres and at some point at around 2pm, Milad was shot from the roof of Jonathan’s house, by a settler or a settler guard we are not sure. The shubabs threw more stones and it got more intense.

We were told afterwards that inside his body, it was…torn, like…’digging,’ it tore his insides and came out the other side. We have never seen this before, it’s new. The hospital tried to give him 16 units of blood but it didn’t work he was continuously bleeding, His BP was 40 when he got to hospital which is pretty much dead. The family probably wanted things to calm down before they announced his death.

Have the police questioned anyone to find out who shot Milad?

No. Nothing has happened.

Can you tell us a little bit about Silwan and why it is so important to Israel?

Silwan is Old Jerusalem, it started here. There are holy places for Muslims, the Jewish and Christians. This was the City of David 3000 years ago and the history of Silwan goes back 5000 years.

Silwan is made up of 10 to 11 neighbourhoods. There are about 55 000 Palestinian residents living there. The first settlers to move into Silwan were a family made up of approximately 7 or 8 people in 1991. There are now 350 settlers living in the area. They are required to carry arms by law and are also provided with armed security guards. They are a state within a state. They arrest people like they are policemen. They take the Green Line where they want. Israel is the only country in the world without declared borders.

What do you think the future is for Silwan?

‘Dundura’ [Arabic for ‘revolution’] as the shubabs would say! Palestinian people can’t handle the situation anymore, I know someone who told me he feels he cannot breathe. We don’t need new technology or anything they promise, we want to live like the farmers, simple, quiet, restful. We don’t need all these things they want to give us. We are Palestinian people. We are from the beginning of history. Leave us.

*Standing at least 4 stories above the surrounding Palestinian homes. Jonathan’s House, or Beit Yehonatan, has been home to eight settler families since 2004 where it was built without license by an extremist settler organisation, Ateret Cohanim. Ateret Cohanim was founded in 1978 and is dedicated to encouraging Israeli Jews to move to live in East Jerusalem. Analysts say, illegal settlements together with outposts, such as Jonathan’s house, which in total are home to approximately 200 000 Jews, is to jeopardise any peace agreement that might offer Palestinians a state, with Jerusalem as its capital.

Demonstrations mark Nakba Day in Hebron

16 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Nakba Day protests in Hebron
Nakba Day protests in Hebron

Approximately one thousand people demonstrated in Hebron during the weekend to commemorate the Nakba day. Several protesters were injured after violent responses from the Israeli army.

On Sunday the 15th May around a thousand Palestinians joined in a demonstration to commemorate the Nakba, (in English literally “the catastrophe”) which occurred in 1948 when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled from their homes as the Israeli state was created. The demonstration, in which the International Solidarity Movement as well as all major political parties and the Mayor of Hebron took part, started at the Hebron Municipality building in the H1 area (the area of the city controlled by the Palestinian authority) and stopped at the UNRWA (The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees) office, where speeches were held. The chants of the demonstrators and the speeches highlighted the right of the 1948 refugees to return and the unity of the Palestinian people.

Protesters also marched towards the Old City of Hebron. Here the Israeli military advanced into the H1 area and attacked protesters with tear gas, sound bombs and rubber coated steel bullets. Other protesters were prevented from entering the Old City by Palestinian police forces. A group of young women in the front line of the demonstration managed to break through the police line and for a while managed to continue the protest behind the police forces. Protesters responded to the violence of the Israeli military by throwing stones. At 4pm a member of an ambulance crew told the ISM that 20 people so far had been injured by the Israeli military, four were injured by rubber coated steel bullets and the remaining by inhaling tear gas. According to Ma’an News Agency, an additional five demonstrators were later treated for wounds caused by rubber coated steel bullets, four for tear gas inhalation and one for fractures caused by being beaten by the Israeli military.

On Saturday the 14th of May during the evening a march took place involving around 300 Palestinians, they carried fire torches and marched from the Municipality to the nearby square where speeches were made. They also carried keys which represent the loss of their homes in the Nakba. The march took place within the Palestinian controlled part of Hebron and there were no difficulties with the Israeli military although a sizable Palestinian police force was on call to watch the protest.

On Sunday the 15th during the evening after the main protests marking the Nakba, the ISM were asked to attend a protest by Youth Against Settlements, a Palestinian activist group. The demonstration was held in Wadi al Hadya. Though all of the street lights had been inexplicably turned off, the ISM members reported 30 youths gathered at the base of the hill and were blocking the road with a large skip, which was set on fire. This was to stop the advance of Israeli soldiers who had gathered at the top of the hill. The soldiers were using their laser sights which could be clearly seen moving over the young men gathered at the protest. The soldiers then fired tear gas and sound bombs in order to disperse the gathered youths. As far as the ISM members were able to tell nobody was injured by this unprovoked fire but this is as yet unconfirmed.

Protesters commemorate the Nakba at Qalandyia

15 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

From 11.00 this morning until 21.00 at night, the International Solidarity Movement joined with thousands of Palestinians and other Internationals in commemorating the Nakba by demonstrating at Qalandiya checkpoint which separates the West Bank from Jerusalem and the rest of pre-1948 Palestine. As protesters united in denouncing the expulsion of Palestinians from their land in 1948, the Israeli army responded to the mass mobilisation with live ammunition, teargas and rubber-coated steel bullets. The teargas used was a different, more powerful type than is usually used during demonstrations and resulted in severe cases of asphyxiation. Protesters resisted the occupation forces by throwing stones. A report from the Palestinian Red Crescent said two protesters were hit with live rounds, 15 were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets, and 120 suffered tear-gas inhalation, however protesters remained undeterred by the military’s disproportionate use of force and continued protesting into the evening. Undercover police officers infiltrated the demonstration, arresting protesters. Qalandyia checkpoint remained open with vehicles moving in both directions as the military fired ammunition and teargas into lanes of traffic targeting protesters. The military also fired teargas at ambulances, injuring medics and making it difficult to access and treat the wounded.

Activists in Hebron accompany farmer suffering from settler attacks

15 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

This past week in the outskirts of Hebron, ISM activists have been helping farmer Abd al Kareim Al Jabari to work his land after him and his family have suffered continuous harrasment from settlers who have prevented them from working their land. In the most recent settler attack on Monday 8th, settlers stole the crops that Abd al Kareim had gathered during the day, took them to another field and tried to set them on fire. To prevent further attacks, he has asked ISM activists to be present whilst he works on his fields.

Six members of Abd al Kareim’s family have been injured after unprovoked attacks by settlers. In 2005 Abd al Kareim’s arm was broken during a prolonged attack. In 2008 his daughter Ayatt Jabari was hurt after being hit in the head by a stone thrown by a settler. Since Palestinian vehicle movement is restricted in the area, Ayatt Jabari had to wait two hours before the ambulance arrived.

Eight years ago a tent serving as a synagogue was raised on the family’s land. The High court has ruled that it should be removed from the private land, but it still remains, despite several complaints and protests from the family and Palestinian, Israeli and international activists.

The family’s land is situated in between the illegal settlements of Kiryat Arba and Hava Oat in the east of Hebron. Hava Oat is a small settlement situated on the top of a hill opposite the main entrance to Kiryat Arba. Kiryat Arba is the biggest settlement in Hebron with approximately 7200 illegal inhabitants. Settlers have made a walkway through the fields of the family. Subsequently, settlers pass by through the fields throughout all the day.

Gazan rap group pay tribute to Vittorio Arrigoni

14 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

The Gazan rap group DARG Team have recorded a song in memory of the International Solidarity Movement activist Vittorio Arrigoni who was kidnapped and murdered in Gaza last month. The song entitled ‘Onadekom (Calling You)’, samples a popular resistance song, taken from a revolutionary poem written by the Palestinian Tawfiq Zayyad in 1966. The DARG Team, from Gaza City is comprised of four artists who rap about social and political issues effecting the citizens of Gaza. DARG’s remake of the song pays tribute to Vittorio and the work he was doing in Gaza before his death.

Vittorio was active in the Palestine cause for almost 10 years. For the past two and a half years, he was in Gaza with the International Solidarity Movement, monitoring human rights violations by Israel, supporting the Palestinian popular resistance against the Israeli occupation and disseminating information about the situation in Gaza to his home country of Italy and around the world.

He was aboard the siege-breaking voyage in 2008 with the Free Gaza Movement. During Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza know as Operation Cast Lead Vittorio assisted medics and reported to the world what Israel was doing to the Palestinian people. He was arrested numerous times by Israeli forces for his participation in Palestinian non-violent resistance in the West Bank and Gaza. His last arrest and deportation from the area came as a result of the Israeli confiscation of Palestinian fishing vessels in Gazan territorial waters.