Category: Reports

Urif: the struggle to study

Urif, the 21th of November

Urif is a small Palestinian village perched on the top of a hill, not far from Nablus. The view is beautiful and clear, overlooked by another scenic hill. A longtime resident tells us that before the 1980s, the locals used to go for walks and picnics in the area, but since the illegal settlers seized it, it has not been possible or safe to walk in this area. No one would dare go too close to the area because the settlers are very dangerous. “The most dangerous of all the West Bank, with those of Kyriat Arbat, in Khalil [Hebron]” says the guardian of the school we met. He adds that settlers from Kyriat Arbat come to join those of Yitzar to attack the surrounding villages on a regular basis.

In the horizon, Yitzar Settlement haunts the school playground

Established in 1983, Yitzar is home to a religious extremist community that has expanded in recent years. The arrival of young settlers has increased the attacks over the past five years. “And it gets worse from year to year,” he explains. The Israeli authorities’ dismantling of the Baladim forward post in June 2017, considered too violent and extremist even by the Israeli authorities, led to an influx of young settlers in Yitzar. However, they do nothing to prevent recurring criminal attacks against Palestinians. In Urif, the last building of the village before the colony, is the boys’ college. So here you never know if students will be able to study until 1:30 pm, the end time of their school day. Ayed Al Qot, the director of the college explains that since September, the staff has been forced to evacuate the establishment seven times. The situation is worse than last year. Behind his desk are tear gas bombs, sound bombs and rubber coated steel bullets collected from the school courtyard. He keeps them there as evidence of their painful, absurd daily life.

Sound bombs, rubber coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters.

Every day, there is always an overwhelming anxiety at the thought that the settlers may arrive and throw stones at the college. In these cases, the guardian of the establishment warns the teachers, the Palestinian Ministry of Education and contacts the inhabitants of the village and the Palestinian Police (who never comes, he adds). The students return the stones at the settlers and the inhabitants come to join them to defend the school and the village. Soldiers who watch the settlers attacks from afar come to suppress the Palestinians’ response. Tear gas, sound bombs, rubber coated bullets and even live ammunition. Less than two weeks ago, fifty settlers attacked the school. Several students were shot and wounded and taken to the hospital. It’s hard to know if the shootings came from settlers or the army, says Ayed Al Qot. One thing is certain, killing people does not seem to be a problem for these settlers, and it has happened several times.

Ayed Al Qot, the director of the college in his office.

Last Monday, it was at dawn that they attacked, which resulted in the school not even be able to open. The clashes lasted more than five hours. So in the face of these constant attacks, school drop-out is high, much higher than in other villages, explains the director. And the program is hard to keep. When the school is attacked, classes are cancelled and students are sent home. During class, young boys find it hard to concentrate, paying more attention to movements from outside than from their teacher. The teaching team is therefore considering alternatives to ensure that they can follow all the lessons; give lessons in the afternoon and on weekends in the center of the village for example. She would also like support to build a security fence and install a roof over part of the playground. So many solutions being put forward, but in the face of a situation where nobody is there to protect the students and put an end to the terror policy of the young settlers, it is hard to know what can really be done to stop the attacks. Some parents surrender and decide to change the school their child attends, but this is not an option for many of the parents.

Everyday, the guard makes a tour of the college before the students arrive to be sure that no colonist has entered. When the classes begin, he places himself on the roof of the school or on the road in front of the building. Teachers regularly ask him if the settlers are on the way, constantly worried. This makes is difficult for the students to study but also for the teachers to teach affectively in such an environment.

A settler scouts a Palestinian school in Urif, to prepare an eventual attack.
That day, we see settlers at the top of the hill. The guard warns residents and the information circulates quickly. Cars go back and forth to see the evolution of the situation. A parent tells us that he leaves his job almost daily to come, as soon as he learns that settlers are in the area. Difficult to imagine the daily life of these people, immersed in endless waiting. Several hours pass, a man from the security service of the colony observes us from the hill, armed. There are silhouettes of settlers, sticks in hand, then they disappear. The wait continues. At 13:30, the school bell rings, luckily they have not been attacked today, leaving a little respite to the students, teachers and parents.

In Palestine, time seems sometimes suspended. People are constantly waiting.

They are waiting for settler attacks, without knowing when they will take place.
They are waiting for the Israeli police to demolish their houses when they are built in zone C “illegally”, because of the lack of permits issued by the Israeli authorities.
They wait at checkpoints, subject to the goodwill of Israeli soldiers to let them pass through.
They are also waiting for the release of loved ones, sometimes without knowing when they will be released.
Then of course there is always the expectation and hope that of one day their land with be liberated and free of the occupation.

Two Palestinians and an International shot at non-violent Protest in Kafr Qaddum

November 23, 2018 | International Solidarity Movement | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Fourteen years ago the Israeli Government closed the road between Kafr Qaddum and Nablus, extending the distance to 14 km, effectively making what would be a 15 minute journey for the villagers, into 40 minutes. The protests began in 2011 to reopen the illegal roadblock, and have continued every Friday and Saturday since then.

Israeli snipers inside the village
Israeli snipers were inside the village

Today’s protest, as always, began after prayer. Immediately, the soldiers started firing live rounds, rubber bullets, and tear gas.

The coordinator of the demonstration, Murad Eshtewi, was hit with a live round in the right thigh. After being transferred to an ambulance, a fellow demonstrator took his place, speaking into the megaphone.

In response to the tear gas and gunfire, the youth began throwing stones – deemed by Israel as a crime punishable up to 20 years in prison.

Several internationals were present, including those from ISM, IWPS, and the Press. A 65-year-old Italian national – a volunteer with ISM – was shot in her left thigh by a rubber-coated steel bullet. “I was just standing there,” she recalls, “It was good that I was turned away. I could’ve been shot in the knee.” Another young boy was also shot in the leg, and was carried off into an ambulance, reportedly in shock.

This attack on another peaceful demonstration against the illegal road block, only confirms the increase in aggression by the army. Discouraging protest by the Palestinians, and international solidarity thereof, is the only take-away from an attack like this. “They used less bombs and tear gas… But they used more bullets,” another demonstrator states.

Demonstrations by Palestinians and Internationals are expected to continue for this Saturday, and the following weekends.

Palestinians and Internationals attacked with Gunfire in Mazra’a al-Qibliya

November 19, 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Ramallah, occupied Palestine

Investigating a reported settler attack on a home outside of Mazra’a al-Qibliya, the residents, along with ourselves, were attacked by a settler on horseback on the 18th November.

The settler began by intruding on the property and brandishing a handgun. The residents responded by throwing stones, as the settler circled, firing seven shots over the course of five minutes. My colleagues and I ducked as the last three bullets whizzed past our heads.

Before the initial attack, we interviewed the villagers about an assault on their property, in which they described about twelve settlers coming in the middle of the night, armed with rifles, firing shots in the air, while vandalizing various parts of their property.

 

Near the house, we found all of their water tanks punctured by stab marks, fencing around the property ripped from the perimeter, and their television’s satellite dish destroyed.

Further out in the courtyard were more signs of damage, including attempted arson. One of the residents showed us a Molotov cocktail made from a beer bottle with cloth inside. “He wanted to burn down the flat,” he said, making a point to show us the front of the bottle: “From Israel. Look. Do you see that? Shandy”, an Israeli brand of beer.

Their property sits less than two kilometers away from two Israeli settlements, and one outpost, including the settlement Kem A’erm, where the attackers reside.

[VIDEO] Settler shooting at Palestinians and internationals

International and Palestinian Journalists Tear Gassed

November 17, 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Ramallah, occupied Palestine

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) decided to hold its annual meeting in Palestine this year, where they demonstrated at the infamous Qalandia checkpoint on Saturday. The dozens of journalists, holding only international press cards, were immediately met with canisters of tear gas.

“We went peacefully, wearing IFJ uniforms and carrying IFJ cards. It’s obvious that it was journalists who were demonstrating,” explained Nasser Abu Baker, Chairman of the Palestinian Journalist Syndicate, a representative to the IFJ. Nasser was one of the many journalists fired upon at Qalandia.

“In the last four years there were three 3000 crimes committed against journalists, 26 of which were murders… It’s obvious that the Israeli leadership couldn’t accept our demand for freedom of movement, and the scene of IFJ being there, standing with Palestinian journalists.”

Lack of freedom of movement is a common experience for Palestinians in the West Bank, most of whom are unable to leave. The few who leave the West Bank for work face the physical torment of waiting in line for hours, crammed together in zig-zagged cages, and facing the high probability of Israeli aggression.

Qalandia checkpoint is the subject of much reported abuse, though none of this would be known if it wasn’t for the Palestinian press. But their reporting has come with a price: It has created huge controversy and caused them to suffer incredible abuse. Today’s demonstration was no exception.
In Nasser’s words:
“This was a crime against Palestinian journalists… It was crime against the international press.”

Hebron: Seven weeks after the murder of Wael Fatah Ja’aberi by Israeli Forces, family still awaits his body for burial.

28th Oktober 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On Monday October 22, the family of Wael Fatah Ja’aberi gathered in Ibn Rush square in downtown Hebron to protest the murder of their son and the decision of Israeli forces not to return his body to their family for more than a month. In September, Ja’aberi was killed in a combined settler and soldier ambush. His body has still not been returned to his family, who have erected an information/communication tent in the main square of downtown Hebron in protest.

A week after the Ja’aberi family erected their protest tent downtown, fathers who lost their sons in similar incidents, gathered in the tent and showed their solidarity.

October 28: fathers gathering in the tent, showing their solidarity.

The Ja’aberi family demanded the body of slain Wael, but is waiting in vain for any answer since September 9, 2018 – the day of the brutal incident.

On Monday evening 9/9/2018, Wael Fatah Ja’aberi, a 37 year old father of two children, was shot down close to his home, near the intersection of the Hebron H1/H2 area division, from the entrance of the illegal settlement Givat Ha’avot, by a settler and a soldier.

According to witnesses, Wael and his 9 year old son were walking from their home to a nearby shop, for which they had to pass the road close to a the entrance of the illegal Israeli settlement Givat Ha’avot .

When they approached the location of the entrance, still 20 meters away from it, a settler together with a soldier ambushed and killed the 37 year old father.

His 9 year old son was lucky to escape and could run back home, in shock of the cruelty he went trough. As it seems, the armed settler fired at Wael and his son, after which a soldier, present at the checkpoint, continued the shooting with several live bullets.

Israeli forces left Ja’abari bleeding to death, without giving or allowing him any kind of medical assistance.

No health care was given or allowed. The Israeli ambulance belongs to Ofer, a paramilitary settler of Kyriat Arba – not a medic.

Video recordings of this fatal incident were posted on the internet. (here, here and here)

The Israeli military claimed afterwards, that it was self defense against a stabbing attack, and did not contact the family. This claim is disputed, however, given Israeli forces’ history of planting knives on murdered Palestinians and given the fact that Ja’abari was walking with his 9 year old child. No footage of the many security cameras on that location has ever been released.

Stealing corpses in the aftermath of a unlawful execution, is a standard procedure of the Occupation. Between 2008 and 2018 Israel held back more then 280 corpses.

More info on the incident: