Category: Reports - Page 93 - International Solidarity Movement

Apartheid and racist restrictions around Ibrahimi mosque

5th July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

During the last days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Israeli froces have implemented further restrictions in the area of the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron.) These restrictions deliberately and exclusively target Palestinians in attempts to further cleanse this area of any Palestinian presence.

After 27-year old Sarah Tarayra was gunned down and killed with her unborn baby by Israeli forces at the checkpoint at Ibrahimi Mosque on Friday, 1 July 2016, the checkpoint leading to Ibrahimi Mosque was blocked by Israeli forces for more than two hours. Due to this closure, large numbers of Palestinians on their way to the noon prayer of the last Friday of Ramadan, were stuck at the checkpoint, forced to wait till Israeli forces decided to open and allow the Palestinians to reach the mosque for prayer.

Publish-1-2 — Palestinian man detained and search before being denied entry while children play in the street

In the days following, Israeli forces at the three checkpoints leading to the area immediately around Ibrahimi Mosque implemented age-restrictions, barring access for any Palestinian between 15 and 30 years old. As these restrictive measures on Palestinians was enforced at all three checkpoints leading to the mosque, it effectively prohibited from anyone in this age group from reaching Ibrahimi Mosque, thus denying them their freedom of religion. In the last few days, a 10-year old Palestinian girl was arrested on settler childrens’ accusations and a Palestinian man beaten up by Israeli forces.

The restrictions though, were implemented not consequently at all times – leaving Palestinians without any possibility to know whether they’d be allowed to pass the checkpoint. Thus, any Palestinian in this age-group is at the mercy of the Israeli forces and the only way to find out whether they’d be allowed to reach the mosque for prayers would be to go to the checkpoint and try to pass. Palestinians have reported, that often certain soldiers at the checkpoints would strictly enforce the restrictions, while others would allow some people in this age group to pass. This uncertainty of whether one would be allowed to pass, leaves Palestinians without any possibility to plan or know whether they’d be allowed to pass, leaving them entirely in the dark about whether they’d be able to reach prayer. At times, even residents in this age-group were denied passage through the checkpoint, denying them to reach their own homes.

As these age-restrictions, as any other restrictions, are only enforced on Palestinians, they clearly illustrate further the apartheid-measures implemented by the Israeli forces, during the last few days especially around the Ibrahimi Mosque. But this is not just yet another illustration of the apartheid system in occupied al-Khalil, but also the continous denial of freedom of religion and movement for the Palestinians in attempts to ethnically cleanse the area of any Palestinian presence.

Israeli forces stole 21 boats and sank two more just in the last 3 months

5th July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza team | Gaza, occupied Palestine

Just in the last 3 months Gaza’s fishermen had 21 boats stolen and 2 sunken by the Israeli occupation forces.

Each small boat sustains at least 20 people on average and each one of the big ones at least 100 people. That means that just in the last 3 months around 550 people lost their source of income and were left in a situation of severe food insecurity.

All of these attacks took place within the fishing limit imposed by the occupation, as one of the fishermen interviewed by ISM pointed out: “they always know who they are taking, it’s not by chance or because we cross any of the limits they impose on us. They come for us. They kidnapped me and my cousin while we were less than a mile from the coast, and on that day the limit they gave us was for 6 miles”.

It is known that one of the main reasons to kidnap the fishermen is in order to try to buy them or blackmail them into becoming collaborators.

Fishermen kidnapped by Israeli occupation forces

One fisherman that insisted on remaining anonymous, given the sensitivity of this matter, explained to ISM what happened to him while he and his cousins were in Ashdod port: “they sat us in a room and we had in front of us a table with two trays, one with money and another one with gold. They told us that if we work with them all of it would be for us. Then they started asking us about our neighbours, relatives and anyone they thought we could know something about”.

Most of the fishermen kidnapped are tortured during the interrogation in Ashdod port and suffer from several kinds of physical and verbal abuse. They are beaten, their heads get rubbed on the floor or with a dirty mop and the soldiers step on their faces with their military boots. Those are just some common examples from most testimonies.

But humiliations already start in the sea, where most of the fishermen are told to strip off their clothes and swim naked towards the warship of the occupation forces. In many cases by that moment they have been already injured by rubber coated steel bullets, buckshot-filled sacks or even live ammunition.

Palestinian man beaten up by Israeli forces near Ibrahimi Mosque

5th July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Israeli forces on 3rd July beat up a Palestinian man at Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), leaving him with a bleeding nose.

A border police-men grabbed the man by the neck, after he was trying to leave the area. He then, with his hand firmly gripped on the man’s neck, walked him towards the mosque entrance, deliberately pushing him into a police-barrier, that immediately fell, almost causing the man to stumble and trip over the barrier, which was only stopped by the firm grip of the border police men on his neck. He was deliberately taken out of sight into a room where just two days before, 27-year old Sarah Tarayra was gunned down by Israeli forces while, according to eye-witness statements, she kept affirming that the only thing she has is her mobile.

These kind of rooms, where any observer is prevented from seeing and documenting the events exist at each checkpoint in al-Khalil, and with recent ‘upgrades’ and ‘renovations’ of checkpoints, most checkpoints are now constructed in a way, where anyone being ‘checked’ is inside a box with only the soldiers and no observers. This way, Israeli forces try to further hide and stop any documentation of their crimes.

The Palestinian man was then hit hard in the face by the soldier, immediately causing his nose to start bleeding. Despite trying to hide this unprovoked violence, the man went into the room fine, and clearly came out shaken up and with a bleeding nose. When trying to leave after this vicious attack, he was called back by another border police men that then detained him for an ID-check and photographed his ID. The man had to go to hospital the same night, but luckily his nose was not broken. Still, even the next day, it was swollen, bruised and showed signs of the attack.

Border police with firm grip on Palestinian man's neck — Border police with firm grip on Palestinian man’s neck

As Palestinians in occupied Palestine are subjected to the Israeli military law, they lack any way of addressing attacks on them by the Israeli forces. With the attack being carried out by a border police commander, the highly militarized police of the Israeli forces, any complaint to the civil police would most likely be futile – and instead put any Palestinian at risk of instead being arrested for an accusation by the attacker. A Palestinian’s word or statement, in an Israeli police station, against any member of the Israeli army or police counts for nothing. In the past, the Israeli police at times has even refused to take any complaints by Palestinians against settlers. Israeli forces, as well as settlers, thus have complete impunity in their actions, and as this vicious attack illustrates, even enjoy the support or at least tacit consent of their colleagues.

10-year old girl arrested on settler children accusation

5th July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Israeli forces on Monday 4th July arrested a 10-year old Palestinian girl near the Ibrahimi mosque in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), as a group of settler children arbitrarily accused her of throwing an enormous rock at them.

A large group of settler children were playing near the Ibrahimi mosque, again and again harassing a family living next to a checkpoint manned by heavily-armed Israeli forces. When a boy accused one of the Palestinian children of throwing a rock at them, all the settler children and large numbers of Israeli forces gathered at the house. A group of soldiers then entered the house with the settler boy, and eventually came out with the 10-year old girl, crying.

They then walked her off to the police station, despite her young age. Even under Israeli military law, that applies on all Palestinians in the West Bank, the arrest of Palestinian children is prohibited under the age of 12. Under the Israeli civil law which applies even on settlers living in illegal settlements, in contrast, arrests of children are legal only from the age of 14. Despite the girl being only 10-years old – a fact that was repeatedly told to the soldiers – the girl was taken to the police station. The girls mother was prevented by the Israeli forces to reach the police station, which is located on part of a street where Palestinians are not even allowed to walk. Luckily, the girl was accompanied by her aunt, but denied the presence of her mother.

The settlers in the meantime kept harassing the Palestinian family, throwing small stones at the family, sitting on the stairs outside their house, waiting and hoping for the release of the girl. As the house is located directly opposite one of the many checkpoints, this happened in plain view of the Israeli forces, who in the beginning entirely ignored the events and intervened only when realizing that people started filming and taking photos.

After about half an hour, she was released, and Israeli forces explained to her family, that they were just being ‘nice’ as they were sure she threw the rock. The rock the settler boy accused her of throwing at them is so big, that the 10-year old girl would not even been able to lift it up.

Watch the video below:

This illustrates how Israeli settlers, even small children, have complete impunity for their actions, and Israeli forces act upon their every word and wish – even if acting illegally under the Israeli law.

This comes at a time where Israeli forces are enacting severe restrictions on Palestinians in the area around the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Israeli forces escort illegal settlers through al-Khalil (Hebron) old town as tensions rise

4th July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On Saturday morning, less than 24 hours after Israeli forces implemented a discriminatory siege on Hebron and less than 12 hours after Israeli forces entered the H1, Palestinian controlled areas of the West Bank’s most populous city, a group of illegal settlers were escorted through the city by Israeli forces.

Settler Tour-1 — Settler Tour in Old City of Hebron

Approximately 100 settlers were escorted through the old city by over 30 soldiers. Israeli forces blocked access to some Palestinians who were attempting to walk through the market or were forced to wait for the large group to pass.

Settler Tour-2 — Palestinians being treated as second class citizens in their own home

Some settlers were openly carrying weapons with one man having what looked to be an M4 rifle slung over his shoulder. The settlers appeared to have no interest in buying any goods from the local vendors and the exercise seemed to be for the sole purpose of further disrupting Palestinian’s daily lives, intimidation and a show of force.

This is just another display of apartheid in Hebron where Palestinians have had their right to movement denied while illegal settlers are escorted through the streets by Israeli forces.