Category: Reports - Page 81 - International Solidarity Movement

Umm al-Hiran, a village off the maps

2nd December 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron/al-Khalil team | occupied Palestine

Umm al-Hiran is a Bedouin village in the Negev desert in southern Israel. The village is surrounded by open landscape, the only structures in sight line. About a fifteen minute drive away is a small city called Hura, where the children from the village attend school. In 1956, Israel moved the people in the village from their original home in Wadi Zubala near Rahat to Umm al-Hiran. Approximately 1,000 people inhabit the village now, and it is one of the many unrecognized Bedouin villages throughout 48. The State of Israel is now planning to uproot this entire family once again so they can replace their homes with an illegal Jewish Israeli settlement that they want to call “Hiran”. And, this time, they are offering to send them to Hura, without any real plan for where they can live. The village does not intend to move there, and are now working on negotiations with Israel.

The infrastructure of the village is divided in two, split by a road. On the far side, one house was already demolished one to two weeks ago. They were given two days notice. That family is currently living in the houses of their neighbors. On November 22^nd, many activists joined the village to be present for the threat of demolition, which did not occur, and to this day has not yet happened.

construction begins right outside the buildings

Currently, there are bulldozers and trucks already at work building roadways and a water system surrounding the outside of the village.

Building waterways for the new Jewish Israeli settlement — Building waterways for the new illegal Jewish Israeli settlement

Any new structures that are put up are immediately knocked down. A couple of months ago, a new wall that the village built was demolished. A mother said that she has all the parts for a play area for her children to put up, but she is afraid to set it up because she knows that it will be quickly destroyed.

Members of the Bedouin village have been going to court and are speaking with the members of the Knesset in Jerusalem daily to form some sort of negotiation plan. At the moment, they still do not know what the end results of these talks will be. They are not requesting presence right now in the village, but those in solidarity are watching closely to be available when the need arises again. Miriam, a mother in the village said, “they tell us that it is not ours, that we came and took the land. But we did not come out of the air- we have been here always”.

For more on this story:

https://www.palestinecampaign.org/umm-al-hiran-demolition/

https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=771498

http://www.alternativenews.org/index.php/headlines/265-israeli-forces-a-no-show-umm-al-hiran-s-demolition-delayed

We want our children back!

29th November 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On Monday, 28th November 2016, Palestinians gathered to demand the bodies of their loved (brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, daughters and sons) – killed by the Israeli occupation forces – back for burial. Many of these family members who attended were holding signs and posters of their loved ones and appeared very distraught.

Women holding signs of their killed family members

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered outside the Palestinian municipality, holding banners and pictures of their family members, who have been gunned down by Israeli forces, left to bleed to death. Afterward, the Israeli occupation forces would kidnap the dead body, denying the right of a funeral to the family. Palestinians, since October last year, have been gunned down by Israeli forces, often on the claim of having a knife. The policy of withholding the bodies from the families, is enacted as a form of collective punishment illegal under military law, punishing the family for an alleged act of the killed Palestinian. In this form, the family is denied to bury their family members, despite in Islam a body is supposed to be buried latest the day after death.

Instead, the Israeli occupation forces keep the bodies in “the freezers of the zionist occupation”. Many bodies of Palestinians are still held by the Israeli forces, with no-one knowing whether they will ever be given to the mourning families that have lost a loved member.

"We want our children back" — “We want our children back”

Shop owner in Hebron got both his front-windows smashed by celebrating settlers.

27th November 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron/al-Khalil team | occupied Palestine

This week-end in al-Khalil brought thousands of extremist Jews and settlers from all over Israel and abroad to celebrate the week’s Torah study on Chayei Sara (Live of Sarah), where Abraham purchases the cave of Machpelah (of which they think is in al-Khalil) in order to bury his wife Sarah. On Friday evening, a group of settlers coming from the illegal settlement Kyriat Arba attacked one of the two remaining Palestinian shops on their way to the Ibrahim Mosque in Hebron, which partly serves as their synagogue since the settler terror attack on February 25 1994. (http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/02/remembering-ibrahimi-mosque-massacre-160225061709582.html). The present Israeli soldiers did not prevent them from committing this crime.

After threatening the shop owner and his customers, and smashing both shop-front windows, they continued on their way to the religious festival, loudly shouting and singing. Although some Israeli forces along the street clearly witnessed this criminal incident, they let the settler-group go unhindered, leaving the traumatized shop-owner with the damage and the costs.

Attacking shops isn’t a rarity for colonial settlers. It’s an inevitable consequence of Israel’s policy. By creating illegal colonies in occupied Palestine, promoting and benefiting settlers to illegally move there, providing them with arms and training, and due to the lack of a honest legal system, the Israeli state is undoubtedly responsible for the crimes committed by its colonial settlers.

Instead of taking care for the safety of the Palestinians, which is their duty according to international law, the Israeli army is only concerned for the safety of the settlers and the visiting Zionists from Israel, US, Europe and other nations, who illegally roam the streets of occupied Hebron. For that reason, extra troops arrived and occupied some rooftops of Palestinian family houses.

A Palestine family told us that at 2 o’clock in the night, all of them were forced out of their home on the street, where they stood for at least an hour in the nightly cold. until the Israeli forces finally allowed them to enter their home again.

The rooftop remained occupied for approximate 24 hour, the soldiers told us. They locked the front door, refusing anyone else than the family to enter, and kept on using the families kitchen and toilet, threatening them with their automatic guns.

“Today, its my home”, one of the soldiers told us.

Not business as usual: colonial settlers in al-Khalil for Jewish festival

27th November 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

The Jewish holiday/celebration of Chayei Sarah and the reading of the Torah regarding Sarah took place in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) on 25th and 26th November 2016.

Beginning of Friday hundreds of Jews from illegal colonial settlements within the West Bank as well as Jews from Israel began arriving. It was estimated there may be as many as 1500 coming for their festivities. Huge tents and designated camping areas were set up (some in areas owned by Palestinians). They were also staying with families and friends in the existing illegal settlements here in al-Khalil.

This lot was the play area for the Palestinian elementary and secondary school. Now it's being used for The Sarah event. — This lot was the play area for the Palestinian elementary and secondary school. Now it’s being used for The Sarah event.

This automatically meant more Israeli occupation forces, more border police, much more “security” at checkpoints that Palestinians need to pass through on a regular basis as part of their normal daily routines (going to work, shopping, etc.) It also meant a complete closure of many of the checkpoints, not allowing anyone who was not here for the festival (that is a colonial settler) to go through.

Israeli Occupation Forces preparing for the "Settler Tour" with their guns and dogs — Israeli Occupation Forces preparing for the “Settler Tour” with their guns and dogs

On Saturday “security” was at its peak. Every Saturday afternoon there is a tour of the Palestinian Old City by settlers from the illegal settlements. This usually consists of around 20 to 150 settlers. With about as many Israeli occupation force soldiers to “protect” them. This weekend the tour consisted of nearly 2700 settlers. This obviously meant more soldiers, on roof tops, police dogs sniffing out the route before the tour began, soldiers positioned approximately every 50 meters along the entire route and at the beginning and end of the group. Many shop owners closed early for fear of trouble by the settlers parading through the Old City.

Sniffing for bombs on the parade route before it starts.

Soldiers and settlers parading through the Palestinian market where some shops closed early

The settlers who participated were singing, dancing, acting provocatively aggressive towards the Palestinians and internationals who were trying to mind their own business or observing the events. There were many “shouts of “welcome to Israel “ by the settlers as well as “f*ck you’s” and “this is our home not yours, we will never leave” at the Palestinians. An observer witnessed a number of incidents of harassment by the settlers toward anyone who was not Jewish and part of the group.

An obvious "welcome" from one of the settler youth — An obvious “welcome” from one of the settler youth

One Palestinian family in the Tel Rumeida area had their home invaded for approximately 10 hours by soldiers who set up observation on the roof and using their bathroom and kitchen as if it were their own place to do as they wished. An international who was invited to the home by the family to observe the goings on was forced to leave after an hour by the soldiers. The family was frightened by these events, but to the best of this writers knowledge there was no real damage done in the home by the soldiers.
An observer witnessed at least two Palestinian youth who were detained by the Israeli occupation forces for one reason or another. A third Palestinian was detained for trying to defend himself after a settler spit on him.
This is life in illegally settler occupied al-Khalil. The Israeli’s pretty much do as they wish and the Palestinians residents pay the consequences.

Israeli forces cause fires at Ni’lin weekly protest

25th November 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwarra team | Ni’lin, occupied Palestine

The non-violent demonstrations against the illegal occupation of Palestine and the Apartheid Wall in in the West Bank village of Ni’lin have been going on weekly since 2008, as an attempt to get back the land and the fields, that was stolen from the villagers.

This past week, before the demonstration began, as Palestinians gathered for the Friday prayer in the olive grove just outside the village, Israeli forces aggressively intervened, detonating a sound grenade close to the Palestinians. The Palestinians still managed to finish their prayer and the protesters, including Palestinians, Israeli and international activists, began walking down the road running through the olive trees and down towards the Apartheid Wall. After walking about 50 meters, the protesters were blocked by more than ten Israeli soldiers and border police, commanding that the Palestinians return to the village, and telling them they were not allowed to be on their land.

A longer stand off followed. Protesters would argue with the Israeli forces that they have the right to peacefully protest the illegal occupation and theft of their land. As a response, the occupation forces started pushing the protesters further back towards the village. The protesters left the road and walked through the olive plantations in order to get past the soldiers and exercise their right to walk through their lands to reach the Wall. Again, even before the wall was in sight of the participants in the peaceful march, the Israeli forces intervened, and this time opened fire with teargas bringing the demonstration to a halt.

When the protesters still didn’t disperse and return to the village, the Israeli forces increased the use of teargas, firing it both from their guns and from an attachment from an armed military jeep, which is able to fire multiple canisters at once. They also used robber coated steel bullets and one Israeli solidarity activist got hit on her hand, leaving it very swollen.

At a time when fires rage across Israel, and Palestinians are being accused of starting these fires, the very hot teargas canisters from this protest caused multiple fires across the village olive fields. One olive tree got burned, and as the demonstration came to an end, the villagers were awaiting fire trucks to put out the fires.