Category: Reports

Funeral held for Palestinian youth killed by settlers south of Nablus

29 January 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

On 27th January, 20-year old Oday Maher Hamza Qadous was killed by settlers whilst farming between the villages of Burin and Iraq Burin, just south of Nablus. According to family sources, the Palestinian youth was alone and gathering wood when settlers – most likely from the nearby, illegal settlement of Bracha – shot Qaddous once through the chest, with the bullet entering his right shoulder and remaining lodged beside his left lung. Sources say that it was over an hour before an ambulance was able to reach him, and he was pronounced dead-on-arrival at the hospital. There was evidence that he was also beaten: his face was covered in blood, and a left-rib broken. Doctors concluded he died of surgical emphysema as a result of the gun-shot wound.

The funeral for the deceased was held the following day in the village of Iraq Burin, and was attended by around 500 people from the villages and surrounding areas. A large police presence followed the procession, which lead from the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus – where the body was being held – to the village. No clashes were reported to have followed the ceremony.

This tragedy comes less than a year after his younger brother, 16-year old Mohammed Ibrahim Qadous, was killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces in the same region of the West Bank.

Photos by Wael Faqeeh

One citizen wounded and dozens asphyxiated in Bil’in

28 January 2011 | Popular Committee Against the Wall

Ramallah-Bil’in: A resident of Bil’in was wounded and dozens of residents, peace activists, and individuals wishing to show solidarity suffered severe asphyxiation today. This was due to extensive tear gas use in clashes resulting from the Israeli occupation forces suppression of the weekly demonstration march against the wall and settlements in Bil’in.

Participants in today’s demonstration included Dr. Mai Al Kaila, the Palestinian ambassador to Chile and a high level delegation of lawmakersled by Chilean Vice President of Parliament Ivan Moreira. A delegation from the Arab Liberation Front was also in attendance. Residents of Bil’in, peace activists, Israeli citizens, and internationals participated as well.

The participants marched carrying Palestinian flags and photographs of the martyrs of the Abu Rahma family, Marwan Barghouti, and Abdullah Abu Rahma, the coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’in. They also carried banners reading ‘Our battle is with the settler who murdered Uday in Iraq Burin. Our battle is with the occupation and the setters. We will not change our course and will continue our resistance.’

The demonstrators marched from the village chanting national slogans and calling for unity and the rejection of differences. They confirmed the need for a powerful Palestinian resistance to occupation and demanded the release of all prisoners. They also called for freedom for Palestine and chanted slogans condemning all aggression against Jerusalem as well as the policy of deportation.

The march headed toward the wall behind which the Israeli occupation forces were already waiting. There were also a large number of forces deployed along the path to the wall. When protesters attempted to cross the wall to the land behind it, owned by the residents of Bil’in, the army responded with sound bombs, gas canisters, rubber-coated bullets, and live ammunition fired in all directions. Demonstrators were chased into the olive groves. The occupation forces also fired foul-smelling sewage water mixed with chemicals of an unknown chemical compound at the protestors. Mohammed Abu Rahma, aged 17, was injured by a tear gas canister striking his hand. Dozens of cases of severe asphyxiation and vomiting were also reported.

Yesterday the village of Bil’in was visited by Mr. Edgar Motsisi, a political representative of South Africa in an effort to show solidarity with the family of Bassem and Jawaher Abu Rahma and the family of Abdullah Abu Rahma, who remains in prison. Mr. Motsisi paid his respects to them for suffering for the people of Bil’in in an effort to end the occupation’s oppression of the village. He commended the People’s Committee for the use of art and creativity in the demonstration. Mr. Edgar Motsisi also gave attention the type of weapons used by the army to suppress the demonstrations near the apartheid wall. He visited the village again today with the Chilean delegation led by Ivan Moreira. They met with the Popular Committee Against the Wall and the village council members in the village council. They listened to the Popular Committee’s detailed description of Bil’in’s experiences with peaceful popular resistance for the past six years. The Committee also detailed their achievements and the role of effective international solidarity in popular resistance in Bil’in.

The Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’in also denounced the ruling of the Israeli military court for the officer and soldier who opened fire on Ashraf Abu Rahma while he was blindfolded and handcuffed at the entrance to the village of Nil’in. The ruling was the diluted, illegal, and immoral decision of an illegal occupation court. We call on all human rights organizations and international legal bodies to stop Israel’s violations of international law, and to prosecute the leadership of the Israeli army and it’s officers and soldiers as war criminals in international court, respecting the rights of the Palestinian people. We also condemn the actions of settlers to kill young Udai Qadoos (19) in cold blood in the village of Iraq Burin, and Youssef IKhalil (17) from the village of Safa, as well as the brutal murder committed in Hebron of a man sleeping in his bed. We call on our people to respond to the barbaric actions of the settlers and Israeli soldiers with the popular resistance in all areas impacted the settlements and the wall. They will not choose to deviate from their course alone, and we will continue our resistance.

Two children arrested in Bil’in

27 January 2011 | Popular Committee Against the Wall

The Israeli army detained two children Thursday evening from the village of Bil’in. Mutasim Ali Mansour and Khalil Ibrahim Yassin were by the apartheid wall, when they were restrained and blindfolded before being taken to an undisclosed location

11-year-old boy detained without reason in An Nabi Saleh

25 January 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Today, the Israeli Border Police entered the village of An Nabi Saleh and detained an 11-year-old boy, Karim Tamimi, without reason. They came to the village in police jeeps and were dressed in uniform, but were without the normal riot weapons; nobody had been informed about their coming previously, nor knew what they were supposed to be doing in the village. Before they left, they detained Karim without giving any reason for it. His older brother, 14-year-old Islam Tamimi, was arrested on Saturday during a night raid. He will face charges of stone throwing this Thursday.

The border police took the young boy to an interrogation center, close to Jerusalem, and detained him for several hours. He was asked to identify people from pictures, but he refused. His father had to collect him when he was released late in the afternoon.

11-year-old Karim Tamimi

This happens following several night raids in just one week on the village, in which soldiers have entered houses in the village and taken pictures of the men and boys, together with their ID cards.

Weekly protests are held in An Nabi Saleh, but are new compared to those held in the village of Bil’in. On 25th December, 2010, they celebrated the first anniversary of the protests by holding a tree planting. There is a strong desire within the Israeli military to crush the resistance here, and as such the army commonly use many violent and inhuman methods to stop the protests.

CPT: Armed man kills two animals near Maghayir Al-Abeed village; Escapes to Havat Ma’on settlement

24 January 2011 | Operation Dove & Christian Peacemaker Team

In the early afternoon of 23 January 2011, an armed man killed two animals near the South Hebron Hills village of Maghayir Al-Abeed. Two teenage shepherds reported that they were watering their family’s flock at a well just above their village when a man running through the area, carrying an M-16, fired four or five shots at the dog which accompanies their flock. The shooter proceeded to chase the flock, kicking a ewe and throwing rocks at its head. The dog died immediately from four gunshot wounds and the incapacitated sheep died approximately two hours after the beating.

The two teenage shepherds, Mohammed Mahmoud Mukahmri, 15, and ‘Awli ‘Ali Mukhamri, 13, ascended the hill, following the assailant from a distance, in time to see the man enter the grouping of trees which surrounds Ma’on settlement and Havat Ma’on outpost. They reported the man had a dark brown beard and was wearing black pants, a black shirt, and a yarmulke.

Ninety minutes after the incident, Israeli authorities arrived to investigate the crime scene and take testimonies from those present during the incident.

Hani Salaami Mukhamri, the owner of animals who arrived at the scene mere moments after the shooting, reacted sharply to the police investigator’s doubts that Mukhamri could be certain the assailant that he saw was an Israeli settler, and not an Arab. “Palestinians in this area don’t have guns, never in my life have I seen a Palestinian civilian with a gun. Only settlers have guns here.” Mukhamri also lamented the utter disregard for the lives of his animals, “three lives were lost here today: my shepherding dog, a sheep, and the unborn lamb that the ewe was carrying.”

The well where the shooting took place is a main source of water for the families in Maghayir Al-Abeed . In early 2001, Mukamri’s mother was shot in the leg by an Israeli settler while she drew water from the very same well.

International peace activists from Christian Peacemaker Teams arrived at the scene after the shooting, taking testimony and photo and video documentation.

Operation Dove and Christian Peacemaker Teams have maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.