Category: Reports - Page 397 - International Solidarity Movement

Settlers attacked farmers in Iraq Burin, south of Nablus

6 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

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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Violence and trauma grips Silwan once again

5 March 2011 | Wadi Hilweh Information Center

Violent confrontations erupted in Silwan yesterday, with clashes sparked in Samer Sarhan Street and spreading throughout various districts of the village. Witnesses state that in addition to firing heavy amounts of rubber bullets at protesters, Israeli forces have begun using a new type of tear gas. 17 Palestinians were reported injured, with many more suffering the asphyxiating effects of gas inhalation.

Silwan resident Firas Rwidi was attacked by Israeli armed forces on his way home, when he was taken out of his car by force then shot with rubber bullets, sustaining direct injuries to his back near his kidney. Rwidi also sustained heavy injuries to the head when he was bashed by Israeli troops with sticks and a helmet.

A Palestinian house was set alight and partially burnt in Baten al-Hawa after tear gas cannisters were fired inside. Confrontations then spread to Ras al-Amoud district, which saw some of the worst violence of the day, with Israeli forces firing gratuitous amounts of rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas grenades.

Medical sources state that a total of 17 were injured due to the clashes, including 10 from Ras al-Amoud alone. Amongst the injured were several children below 16 years of age. Dozens more inhaled heavy quantities of tear gas, with one medic stating that they handled 34 such cases on the ground alone. Many residents were forced to medically assist others during the clashes. One woman, Suad al-Mimi, was transferred to hospital after experiencing difficulty in breathing due to gas inhalation.

A settler of Beit Myouhas settlement was also injured as a result of stones thrown at the settlement during the clashes. The settler was immediately transffered to hospital by a Red Star of David ambulance.

Several people injured at the International women’s day demonstration at Qalandiya checkpoint

05 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

At the 5th of March several protesters at Qalandiya checkpoint were injured. Among the injured were a 23 year old Swedish ISM activist hit by a tear gas grenade. The grenade burned her skin and left a bleeding wound on her arm, burned her hair, and left her temporarily deaf in her right ear. A Palestinian woman suffered from asphyxia from the tear gas and was taken to a hospital in an ambulance. She went home later in the evening.

The demonstration was held in celebration of the coming International Women’s Day on the 8th of March. It began in Ramallah and protestors marched toward the Qalandiya checkpoint. Shortly after arriving to the checkpoint the Israeli military rolled a sound grenade into to the crowd and people moved backwards; the soldiers responded by thowing tear gas grenades.

When the demonstration gathered again in front of the checkpoint gate, Israeli soldiers threw more sound and tear gas grenades into the crowd. Several people suffered from the tear gas, with difficulty breathing and seeing.

The Israeli military regularly attacks Palestinian demonstrations with great violence. On the 1st of Janurary this year, a Palestinian woman died of asphyixiation from the excessive use of tear gas at the weekly protest against the wall in the village of Bil’in. She became the 21st person to be killed by the Israeli army during peaceful protests against the wall in the West Bank.

Bombing is southern Gaza: 18-month child injured

3 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

On February 26, Jamal Abo Hiatham Sharikhi (33 years) had his home destroyed by bombing from the Israeli military, and his 18-month old daughter was injured on her head by broken glass. He described the experience in this way: “It was 2 o’clock in the afternoon. I was sleeping near the window, and my 18-month old daughter was sleeping next to me. I woke up terrified by an explosion very close: the window was shattered and my daughter was bleeding from the top of her head. When I cleaned her, I realized that there was a piece of glass embedded in the skin. Then I took her to the hospital.” Medics removed the glass and instructed him on how to care for the wound.

The windows of his house were completely destroyed: it’s now impossible to close the door to the terrace and his home is full of glass over the floors, carpets, mattresses, and blankets. When the children came into the house they continued to be hurt by the glass. For this reason the family has temporarily moved to live with relatives. The explosion occurred a few tens of meters from the home of Hitiam, in a former military compound hit so many times that now it is now empty and abandoned, but the blast was enough to destroy all the windows of the building where Hitiam and his daughter were sleeping, from the second floor where he lives to the ground floor where his mother Shafiah, 57-years-old, lives.

“I was sleeping and was also hit by the glass,” she said, “I was luckily protected by a blanket. Then I saw a large black cloud rising from the explosion. My son looks strong, but I know he is destroyed by what has happened to his daughter. ”

This is not the first time Israeli violence has hit this family. Hitiam’s first wife was killed in 2007 while coming from Beit Lahya, trying to join her husband because the situation in the north was becoming dangerous. Her two children were traveling with her mother when a car that was hit by an Israeli bomb exploded near them. The mother and the driver were killed. When they brought the corpse of the mother to the hospital, she was still holding fast to her daughter of 15 days, and doctors struggled to separate her from the mother.

The girl injured Feb. 26 comes from the second marriage of Hitiam, which occurred after the death of his first wife.

Also on February 26 at about the same time Israeli bombs reached the Burej refugee camp, fortunately without causing any injuries.