Category: Reports

The village of Awarta face repression from soldiers after attack on settlers

12 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Today the village of Awarta, the Palestinian village located closest to the illegal settlement Itamar which witnessed the murder of an entire settler family this morning, was put under severe military restrictions. According to the village council, 19 people are still in custody after the Israeli military raided the village early this morning. Around 8 am the Israeli military cut off the roads to the village, preventing anyone from entering or leaving. Around 25 people were arrested in total, among them a 14-year-old boy.

When the soldiers entered the houses to arrest people they flipped over furniture, smashed windows, threw sound grenades and shot bullets in the air.

Around 3 pm the soldiers returned a second time to search houses of the families who’s sons had been arrested. They forced the families to stay outside under armed guards for an hour while about 20 soldiers with dogs entered their houses. As they had done in the morning, the soldiers turned the houses completely upside-down, destroying the electricity by cutting the cables to the fuse box, and polluting the drinking water by throwing mud in the water-tanks. Computers and phones were destroyed and money and property were stolen by the soldiers. Once again the soldiers threw sound grenades inside and outside the houses.

While the soldiers were searching the houses, the families, including women and small children, were forbidden to drink or eat.

It has been reported that an 80-year-old woman who suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure was beaten by the soldiers. She was taken to the Rafidia hospital in Nablus.

Around 6 pm the soldiers left the village, but residents of Awarta are scared that settlers will attack again during the night. No one knows if or when the army or the settlers will return to the village.

The families of the men and boys that were arrested do not know where their sons, fathers, and brothers are or when they will come home.

Even though this kind of systematic collective punishment is illegal according to International law, is it frequently used by the Israeli military all over the West Bank and in Gaza.

Settlers torch Palestinian car in Tel Rumeida, Hebron

12 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Soldiers speak to family of the owner of the torched car
At 8 PM tonight Palestinians living in the Tel Rumeida settlement, Hebron, discovered a flaming car parked just outside H2 that had been torched by settlers. They called the fire department, and ISM activists came to document the scene soon after the fire had been put out. No pictures were taken of the car while it was in flames, but witnesses say that earlier today they filmed seven or eight settlers walking up on the hill that appeared to be studying the area.

Hani Abu Haikal and other residents of Tel Rumeida who have previously witnessed the method in which settlers torch cars, say settlers probably dumped lighter fluid on the trunk of the of the car and set it aflame, then broke the windows so that the fire caused an explosion.

The owner of the car is currently in Saudi Arabia on business and his brother was unable to reach him by phone. Shortly after ISM activists arrived, soldiers came to investigate and asked that everyone except the–absent–owner of the car leave. Activists and Palestinians documenting the scene remained despite their insistance.

According to Hani, this is the 7th car to be torched in Tel Rumeida within the last five years. The attack is probably a response to the murder of a settler family in the illegal settlement Itamar in the northern West Bank. Settler groups have accused Palestinians of being responsible for the attack, but the killer has yet to be identified.

13 injured when Israeli settlers and army attack the village of Qusra

Ibrahim Hassan, 15 years old, shot in the back

In the afternoon of the 7th of March 2011, villagers from Qusra, south of Nablus, were attacked by settlers from the surrounding illegal outposts who shortly were accompanied by the Israeli army. Thirteen Palestinian men were injured and taken to Rafidia hospital in Nablus. Nurses reported that the ambulance staff were prevented from reaching the wounded people.

 

Several of the victims were seriously injured. Ibrahim Hassan, 15 years old, was shot by a live bullet which entered his back and went through his kidney before it exited. His condition is reported to be stable, but he might loose his kidney. Qaher Oude, 25 years old, was first shot in his left leg and then beaten. The settlers beat him on his upper body with stones and sticks and then used a big stone to completely crush his right leg. He will have his surgery tomorrow.

“I heard that people were injured, so I went there to help them and suddenly I got shot. The settlers came from nowhere.” Said Qaher Oude.

Three farmers were working their land outside the village of Qusra when they were attacked by settlers from the nearby illegal outposts. At 16.30 the village imam called for help for the farmers and the people of the village came to their aid. When villagers arrived four Palestinians were already injured and the Israeli army was there, protecting the settlers. In total, there were about 50 settlers accompanied by the Israeli army. The residents of Qusra reported that the Israeli soldiers did nothing to stop the settler violence, but instead actually took part in the beating and shooting of civilians. Some of the injured people reported they had been shot and beaten by soldiers and some by settlers. “They were shot by Israeli bullets, it’s no difference”. Said one of the villagers.

The stone which crushed a palestinians leg (Photo: Petter Lydén/EAPPI)

 

Among the injured in Qusra today were people shot by live ammunition and rubber coated steel bullets, people beaten by settlers and soldiers, and people who suffered the asphyxiating effects of gas inhalation.

Qusra with its 4,000 inhabitants is situated 22 km south of the city of Nablus, near the illegal Israeli settlement of Migalim. This is the second serious incident involving violent settlers in Qusra in the last two months.

Settlers attacked farmers in Iraq Burin, south of Nablus

6 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Teargas canister shot at villagers by the Israeli military
Settlers attacked the villagers of Iraq Burin on Sunday, the 6th of March. The farmers had recieved permission from the D.C.O. to farm their land for two days, and were accompanied by the Israeli military to protect them from violent settlers. Soldiers left the area and about 20 settlers came down and attacked the farmers, throwing stones and beating them with sticks. People from the village came to protect the farmers and managed to force the settlers back to the settlement.

The Israeli Military then returned and fired tear gas at the villagers. Fortunatly, no one was injured.

Iraq Burin is a village with 700 inhabitants outside of Nablus, in the Westbank. The village is surrounded by the two illegal settlements of Bracha and Yizhar and their outposts. The settlers have so far stolen 4000 dunams of land from the village.

On the 27th of January, 20 year old Oday Qadous was shot and killed by settlers while gathering wood between the villages of Iraq Burin and Burin.

About one year ago the villagers of Iraq Burin held a weekly demonstration against the theft of land by the settlers. The Israeli military answered the protests with great violence, fireing tear gas and rubber coated steel bullits directly at people. In march 2010 Mohammed Qadous 16, and Asaud Qadous, 19, were killed by Israeli forces during a non-violent demonstration in Iraq Burin. After the tragic incident the recidents of Iraq Burin made the decision to stop having the weekly demonstrations, as the price was just too high.

Wadi Hilweh Information Center: Weekly update on Silwan

06 March 2011 | Wadi Hilweh Information Center


3 March 2011 | 4 youth arrested in dawn raid on Silwan

Israeli forces raided Silwan today at dawn, arresting 4 local children. The boys arrested are aged between 13 and 15 years, and are scheduled to appear in the Israeli Magistrates Court on charges of stone-throwing in the near future


3 March 2011 | Undercover forces seize 12 year old boy in Silwan

Undercover Israeli forces arrested a 12 year old Palestinian boy from Silwan yesterday afternoon. Walid Zaloom was seized by plainclothes Israeli officers in the Ein Silwan area during clashes that swept through the village yesterday. Confrontations took place between Palestinian residents and the Israeli military, concentrated largely in Ras al-Amoud. A heavy presence of soldiers was seen throughout Silwan.


3 March 2011 | Jeep fires gas inside shop, 7 children inside

A tear gas grenade was fired from a speeding Israeli military jeep in to a minimarket in Bir Ayyub district of Silwn last night. Inside the shop, owned by Palestinian resident Hammouda Siyam, were 7 children, all whom suffered severe asphyxiation due to gas inhalation.

Eyewitnesses report that a second gas cannister was fired at the shop 10 minutes later as the jeep drove past again.


2 March 2011 | Israeli court extends detention of 57 year old woman from Issawiya

The detention of a 57 year old Palestinian woman was extended by the Israeli court yesterday, after she was arrested one week ago during a raid on her village of Issawiya, in north Jerusalem. The woman, whose name has not been revealed to the public, is accused by police of involvement in recent clashes that gripped Issawiya.

Her eldest son told Silwanic yesterday that: “I myself have spent three years in Israeli prisons on security charges. I got out of prison six weeks ago, then was arrested again last week when I was travelling home from visiting Ramallah for the first time since my release through Qalandia checkpoint. I was taken in to military investigation, then released several hours later. I arrived home to the news of the arrest of my mother. I did not even have a chance to see her before she was taken.”


2 March 2011 | Abbasi sentenced to over 2 years in prison

Abdul Rahim Abbasi, 26, was sentenced by the Israeli Magistrates Court yesterday to 28 months imprisonment. Abbasi was arrested on 14 May 2010 on suspicion of involvement in clashes that took place in Silwan during that month, with his hearing initially scheduled to take place on the day set for his wedding day, one week after his arrest.

This is the third time that Abbasi has been arrested by Israeli police, having been detained for a period of 6 months in 2002 and 1 year in 2007. Abbasi’s family have received news of his new detention with great sadness, particularly in light of the continued prolongment of his wedding date.


2 March 2011 | Court extends Center director Jawad Siyam’s house arrest; police raid family home again

Wadi Hilweh Information Center director Jawad Siyam’s house arrest sentence was extended until March 14 by the Israeli Magistrates Court in Jerusalem yesterday. Israeli police raided Siyam’s house again last night, summoning him to the station this morning.

Two City of David settlement guards employed by Elad testified against Siyam, stating that he had broken the conditions of his house arrest but provided no further evidence.

Israeli police raided Siyam’s family home in Wadi Hilweh district of Silwan last night to arrest him. A crowd of neighbors quickly gathered around the house, several filming the incident with video cameras and refusing to allow police to take Siyam, who eventually agreed to leave without him but issued an order for him to present himself at the police station this morning for investigation.


27 February 2011 | Clashes continue throughout Silwan

Violent clashes resurged in Silwan yesterday evening, 26 February, with Israeli forces firing round after round of tear gas and rubber bullets at Palestinian demonstrators. 20 Palestinian residents were injured by rubber bullets. Eyewitness accounts report that Israeli forces ambushed a number of young demonstrators. 3 paramedics were also injured.


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