Category: Reports

Long-awaited maintenance works offer rare sight for Palestinians in al-Khalil

30th March 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On Wednesday 29th March 2017 Israeli forces opened a blocked-off street for the first time in almost two decades to allow long-overdue sewage system works. The alley in occupied al-Khalil, open for less than a day, gave Palestinians the rare opportunity to see Shuhada Street and the illegal settlements which have caused countless closures for the civilian Palestinian population.

Palestinians working on the sewage-system while Israeli forces stand by

Palestinians have been pursuing permission from the Israeli side to do this maintenance work for years – with no success. The market in the Old Town runs almost parallel to Shuhada Street, where the main illegal settlements in the heart of Hebron are located and where Palestinians are totally prohibited. As one of the lowest points in the Old City, this area of the souq is regularly flooded in winter by rain water and overflowing sewage as much of the sewage system has been cut off by the illegal settlements. Despite a one-day ‘permit’ granted by Israeli forces for work to be undertaken, several delays were caused when Israeli forces would not allow additional maintenance vehicles to enter the area. Furthermore, the small amount of time granted by the permit only allowed workers to fix a short stretch of sewage pipe immediately beneath the concrete slabs, with other vital works having to be postponed.

Palestinians gathering to watch the ongoing work

Heavily armed Israeli forces were present on site at all times to ‘guard’ the path to what was once a thriving Palestinian market and the main route between north and south al-Khalil. After the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in 1994 – in which colonial settler Baruch Goldstein gunned down and killed 29 Palestinians and injured more than 120 more when he opened fire with his machine gun during prayers – Israeli forces have slowly but steadily eradicated the Palestinian presence in Shuhada Street. This process has been achieved through broader, ever-increasing restrictions, harassment, and intimidation towards the Palestinian civil population of al-Khalil.

During the maintenence, passing Palestinians could be seen reacting with surprise and stopping to watch the work and take photographs. Sunlight – long hidden by the high cement slabs barricading the street – suddenly flooded the souq from the small archway. For many Palestinians, this brief opening served as a reminder of a time before the severe crackdown on Palestinian human rights by the Israeli forces in the aftermath of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre. One elderly man demanded the soldiers let him through so he may visit his shop, which remains sealed-up on Shuhada Street where Palestinian movement is entirely forbidden by Israeli forces to favour and facilitate settler movement.

After less than a day of permitted work for Palestinians, the access is tightly blocked off again

Palestinians shot with live ammunition during demonstration near Al-Mughayyir

24th March 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Al-Mughayyir, occupied Palestine

On 24th March 2017 the popular resistance in Al-Mughayyir, north-east of Ramallah, held a demonstration against a new illegal outpost which was established approximately 10 days ago by Israeli settlers who set up caravans on Palestinian land. Basic buildings and infrastructure have already been built along with a new access road, all of which are protected by barbed wire and the constant presence of Israeli soldiers. Live ammunition was fired at Palestinian protesters injuring five, according to a Palestinian news agency.

The protest, which mobilized the people of four nearby towns and other popular struggle committees, was quickly repressed by Israeli forces, who fired teargas, live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets at demonstrators, injuring several Palestinians in the process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1me_pTDS3E

The action started with Palestinian demonstrators – who were joined by international and Israeli activists – gathering at the bottom of the hill where, according to local sources, the new outpost may eventually give way to a new settlement. At around 11:00, shortly after the demonstration had started, the Israeli forces stationed at the illegal settlement began firing teargas canisters in an attempt to disperse the demonstrators.

Israeli forces firing teargas at protesters. Photo: ISM/Charlie Donnelly

The clashes continued with some attempts made by the Palestinians to get closer to the illegal outpost. However, Israeli forces began throwing stun grenades and firing at demonstrators with both rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition. Tear gas was fired by Israeli forces throughout the demonstration and Palestinians responded to the aggressors by throwing stones and returning tear gas canisters towards the soldiers.

Palestinian hurls a teargas canister back at Israeli forces. Photo: ISM/Charlie Donnelly

At around 12:30 the Israeli forces established a new strategic position at the bottom of the hill, intensifying their use of live ammunition. From here, a soldier with a sniper rifle fitted with a silencer fired at protesters with live ammunition. ISM activists witnessed three Palestinians sustaining injuries from live ammunition during the clashes. Though the demonstration began to disperse at around 13:00, Israeli forces continued to fire tear gas whilst the protesters fled the hill and back to their villages. Israeli forces flanked the road back to Al-Mughayyir.

Palestinians carry an injured protester, possibly from live ammunition. Photo: ISM/Charlie Donnelly

This new illegal outpost is being established on Palestinian land shared by the villages of Al-Mughayyir, Abu Falah and Kufr Malik and will possibly serve to replace the recently evicted Amona illegal settlement. Despite heavy repression by Israeli forces, Palestinian resistance to the illegal annexation of their land continues. The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (2013) recently documented settler violence against the residents of Al-Mughayyir.

Photo: ISM/Charlie Donnelly

Palestinians ID checked and searched during early morning incursion in Hebron souk

21st March 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

In the early morning of the 21st March a group of Israeli forces carried out ID checks and body searches on young Palestinian men and children on their morning commutes through the souk (old market) of Hebron.

Two ISM activists were walking to a checkpoint to monitor and report on violations of freedom of movement when they encountered large numbers of Israeli soldiers in the souk. Local Palestinians were ordered at gunpoint to throw their ID cards on the ground for inspection, and many were subjected to body searches and made to sit in the road. One boy was ordered to remove his shoes and toss them towards the soldiers before being made to sit on the cold ground for over fifteen minutes.

A young Palestinian boy is made to remove his shoes and sit on the ground for fifteen minutes by Israeli forces.

Cars were also stopped, delayed, or diverted. One Palestinian shop owner was forced to leave his van whilst he and it were both searched by Israeli forces.

A Palestinian man is stopped by Israeli forces whilst driving through the souk.

The incursion lasted for over an hour before the Israeli forces returned through the gate which leads to the military base, having searched over fifteen Palestinians and delayed many more. Incursions such as this highlight the restrictions on freedom of movement faced by Palestinians in Hebron and across the West Bank every day.

A van driver is body searched and questioned by Israeli forces.

 

The driver is made to sit whilst Israeli forces search his van.

16-year old killed by Israeli forces in Al Arrub, Hebron

18th March 2017  |  International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team  |  Hebron, occupied Palestine

Yesterday evening, on March 17th, 16-year old Murad Yusif Abu Ghazi died after being shot by Israeli forces in Al Arrub refugee camp outside Hebron in the occupied West Bank. A second Palestinian identified as 17-year old Saif Salim Rushdie is in a critical condition after being shot in the chest by the Israeli forces in the same incident.

The funeral for Abu Ghazi was held in Al Arrub camp today, and hundreds of mourners came to pay their respects. After the funeral, clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli forces and according to Ma’an News Agency, 8 young men were injured with rubber-coated steel bullets, receiving treatment on the scene. In addition, dozens of other Palestinians, among these women and children, were treated for severe tear gas inhalation.

Hundreds of mourners paid their respects at the funeral.

Murad Yusif Abu Ghazi is be the thirteenth Palestinian to be killed by the Israeli army since the beginning of 2017. His death marks the second killing of a minor this year and once again highlights the excessive use of lethal force against civilians.

According to an Israeli army spokesperson, the killing happened after firebombs were hurled at passing vehicles on a road near Al Arrub camp and “in response to the immediate threat, forces fired towards suspects”. The spokesperson added that investigations are still underway. Statistics provided by Yesh Din, an Israeli organisation of volunteers for human rights,  however demonstrate that criminal investigations into alleged offences committed by Israeli forces against Palestinians have a poor chance of being effectively investigated. According to Yesh Din, only 4 cases out of 186 criminal investigations in 2015 resulted in indictments.

 

 

Speaking out and witnessing: what the Hebron camera project means to one student

17th March 2017  |  International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team  |  Hebron, occupied Palestine

Last week we reported on two of the training sessions run by Human Rights Defenders (HRD) here in Hebron for young people to use video as an activist tool against the occupation.  Today we wanted to find out more about what the students themselves think and I talked to Yasmin, a pupil at Qurtuba school in the heart of Tel Rumeida.  Yasmin looks quiet and shy as she sits next to me on the sofa, but as she talks it is clear she knows what she wants to say and what she wants to do: “I want to show what the Israelis do against my people here, how the soldiers and the settlers humiliate the students and the teachers.”

Qurtuba school sits above Shuhada street and the students have to approach it via a staircase controlled by soldiers, yards from one of the tiniest and most extreme settlements in the heart of H2.  Students and teachers are so frequently harassed that fear and anxiety is a constant element of school life.  Yasmin told me that only that same day soldiers had entered the school and made sexually harassing remarks to the young women there.  Soldiers also regularly block their way to school, although they know perfectly well that the children are students.

Settlers regularly insult, bully and assault children on their way to school and some of this has been already caught on camera.  The most notorious settlers are well known to the students who will run to avoid them.  A fortnight ago one girl broke her leg trying to get away from the settler Anat Cohen, whose history of assault and harassment of Palestinians and internationals is among the worst.

When internationals like ISM are there, then we report these events:  we reported when Yasmin’s friend broke her leg, when soldiers forced Qurtuba children to leave school early so that settlers could celebrate Purim without the presence of their neighbours, or when settlers invaded the kindergarten.  But we are not there all the time and Yasmin feels Palestinians should report events themselves: ‘when this happens I can have proof against the soldier – otherwise people will not believe – then they will have trust’.

In the middle of the interview settlers invade the garden of the house we are in.  Emad Abu Shamsiya and Badee Dwaik, activists with HRD, come out with their cameras and the settlers scatter: it is a neat illustration of the power of the camera.

And for the future? “I will work to finish my education – Israelis do not like us to have a good education – I will study to become a journalist and expose the occupation.  This project has given me extra motivation.”  I am sure Yasmin will make a formidable witness both now and in the future.