The area of Tel Rumeida and the tiny strip of Shuhada Street where Palestinians are still allowed to walk, were first declared a closed military zone on 1st November 2015, with orders that were continuously renewed. This closure, deliberately only enforced on the Palestinian residents, while Israeli settlers from the illegal settlements within the city kept enjoying their privileges and complete impunity under Israeli military protection, meant for Palestinians, that they were living in a prison: only residents officially registered with the Israeli forces as a number where allowed to access their own homes. Palestinians made into a number and thus not being seen as a human being anymore, were often forced to wait outside Shuhada checkpoint for long-periods of time, be it rain or sun. No friends, family, human rights observers, repair-men or even emergency medical personnel was allowed.
With the last order officially ending on 14th May, it was first unclear whether yet another extension would be filed. Five days later, on 19th May, the Israeli army officially announced that the order was not extended. With ‘some’ non-residents now allowed into the area, it appears that this thinly-disguised attempt at forced displacement of the Palestinians in this region continues – in a form only a little more disguised and less media-worth. At the same time, the lists witness to the numbering of people are still lying handy at the checkpoint.
Without an end to the illegal Israeli military occupation of the West Bank an the injustice, humiliation and dehumanization of the Palestinian population can not possibly end.
18th May 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Qud team |Al-Quds, Occupied Palestine
On Wednesday we sat with Abu Sadam in the rubble of all that remains of his family’s house, in Hisbet Wadi Joz, East Jerusalem. Early Tuesday morning at about 2am occupying forces arrived with a digger to demolish the house. The Israeli authorities have planned a national park and his home is in the way. Although the house was on Waqf land (The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf is a trust best known for controlling and managing buildings and land on and around Haram Al-Sharif), because it was built after the occupation in 1967 it is not protected.
The family were given three minutes notice to vacate the house and were not allowed to remove their furniture and belongings . Although some of the larger pieces were removed (thrown) from the house by the Israeli military, much has been broken or lost under the rubble. There are sixteen people in the family, most of them children. They are now homeless and all they have to protect them from the elements is a tarpaulin sheet .The demolition was aggressive and the occupying forces used physical violence against Abu Sadam, one of the children and internationals who were present at the time. The children are now frightened and traumatised.
Today, Abu Sadam’s older sons have been searching East Jerusalem for a house that they can afford to rent. However they have so far been unable to find a landlord willing to take on such a large family at a price they can afford. It is also possible that they will be evicted from the land.
As if having your house demolished were not enough, the family also have to pay for the privilege. Based on the bills received for other demolitions, Abu Sadam estimates that his bill will be around 100,000 shekels, (about $26,000), an enormous sum and impossible for the family to find.
Abu Sadam said that he hadn’t been able to sleep for months, worrying about the demolition that was hanging over the heads of his family, but last night he slept well, knowing that he no longer had anything to lose.
The family are calling for solidarity and support in the immediate future and would welcome visitors to join them as they fight the Kafkaesque situation in which they find themselves
If you want to help please contact: palreports@gmail.com
14 May 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Quds team | Jerusalem, occupied Palestine
The 12th of May 2016 notes the day Israel calls Independence Day. For Palestinians, Israeli Independence Day means the start of the Naqba in 1948 (the Catastrophe) and the loss of their homeland, which is still ongoing today.
The small but highly provocative group of settlers at Damascus gate. Photocredit: ISM
We had traveled to Jerusalem and had expected a big march of Israelis waiving flags and chanting nationalistic slogans. Last year hundreds, if not thousands, had marched down to Damascus gate on their way to the Western Wall, provoking the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem. Although we did see some flag waiving and heard shouting, we saw no big crowds. As it turned out, the size of the Israeli march was of little importance. The small group of young provocative right-wing Jewish extremists that did come, succeeded in creating mayhem in front of the city wall; sparking anger which resulted in three Palestinians being beaten up by border police, arrested and taken away. A few of the Israeli extremists were also arrested for attacking Palestinian onlookers including children, and fighting with the police- although not until after the events had unfolded and the three Palestinians had already been arrested.
The group came down from New Gate loudly calling for the destruction of Al Aqsa and the building of the third temple, as well as shouting insults to local Palestinians. Border police surrounded them and tried to prevent two of the Jewish extremists from entering the gate. Although border police did attempt to push some of the settlers away most of the group- especially the women who had brought babies with them to this provocative and hateful display on Palestinian land (likely in an attempt to prevent anyone getting close to them; either Palestinians or police) – were allowed to go very close to the entrance of the old city. There they tried to block Palestinians from entering and exiting, continued their provocative shouting and started pushing people. The many border police and soldiers did nothing to stop this behaviour; they only kept them from entering the city and ensured they were not hurt.
Right wing Israeli Jewish settlers, with offensive T-shirts featuring Al Aqsa. Photocredit: ISM
After some time of this going on, all of a sudden we hear an angry voice calling out in Arabic and see a young Palestinian moving quickly into the centre of the crowd. Before we knew it, border police had surrounded the young man, and pushed him to the floor. About ten police men and soldiers started kicking him violently, over and over again. We feared for the young man’s life, as many other young Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces for less, but luckily the crowd of people may have prevented the police from using weapons. Finally, they got him on his feet but continued their violent treatment as they put him in handcuffs. While this struggle was going on, two other young men who had likely come to the aid their friend, were put on the floor and violently attacked by soldiers and police. The three were arrested on the spot, but they were not carrying weapons of any kind and had merely reacted to the ongoing abuse hurled at them.
One of the young men attacked by border police. Photocredit: ISMBorder Police violently restraining a young Palestinian man. Photo credit: ISM
The boys, who were all bruised from the ill treatment by the Israeli forces were not offered any medical assistance. Instead they had to sit and wait for some time by the scene, where the group of young Jewish settlers continued their provocations and calls for the destruction of one of the most holy places for Muslims- Al Aqsa. Then the three were taken taken to waiting police cars, body searched and driven away. We also saw a couple of the Israeli extremists handcuffed and led away to police cars, however they were not subjected to any body searches. The events unfolded in less than 40 minutes, but it was a stark reminder of the system of apartheid that operates in Israel, and in occupied Palestine.
The treatment of the instigators who are Israeli and Jewish, was vastly different to the treatment of the young Palestinians, who are Muslim, reacting to their provocative and aggressive behaviour. Where Israeli Jews were coaxed and pushed, the Palestinians were subjected to extreme violence from the police and soldiers, and arrested straight away. Palestinians are also likely to face significantly harsher punishment for any wrong doing, punishments are often also extended to their families. Israel, it seems, can not see that there is anything wrong with operating an apartheid system as they so blatantly showcase how different groups are afforded different rights and treatment. How long are we going to let them get away with this?
15th May 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Occupied Palestine
Today, 68 years ago, the state of Israel was created on the Palestinian peoples’ home. The anniversary falls after a winter and spring with an escalation in violence and arrests of Palestinians, ever-expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Palestinian capital of Jerusalem, as the de facto take over by Israel of settlements in and around the city. It is estimated that there are approximately 600,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank, including Jerusalem.
For the Palestinians it is remembered as Yawm an-Nakba, meaning “Day of the Catastrophe” or just Nakba Day. During the 1948 Palestine War, an estimated 700,000 Palestinians fled or were Expelled, and Hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages were depopulated and destroyed. These refugees and their descendants number several million people today, divided between Jordan (2 million), Lebanon (427,057), Syria (477,700), the West Bank (788,108) and the Gaza Strip (1.1 million), with at least another quarter of a million internally displaced Palestinians in Israel and many more around the world. Later, a series of laws passed by the first Israeli government prevented them from returning to their homes, or claiming their property. They, along withmany of their descendants remain refugees. The expulsion of the Palestinians has since been described by some historians as ethnic cleansing.
Photo Credit: Muphta.org
Many dispossessed Palestinians continue to hold and treasure the keys to their lost homes, and the key has become a symbol of Palestinian right to return home. United Nations Resolution 194, passed immediately following the Nakba, declares the right of all refugees displaced and dispossessed by the Zionist militias to return to their homes. Almost a million had registered with the UN by 1950, and today there are over 4 million with UN-registered claims against Israel. Compliance with 194 was one of the conditions for Israel’s admission to the UN, to which they agreed but which they have never honored. This right is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to which all UN member states are obliged to conform, and following 194 has been re-confirmed by many subsequent UN resolutions. It remains an international demand upon Israel. But Israel has refused to consider this right throughout the various iterations of the “peace process” since the Palestinian refugees return would jeopardize their Jewish majority. So we can only hope that justice will prevail for the Palestinian people.
4th May 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza team | Gaza, occupied Palestine
On May 1st, the workers of the Gaza Strip gathered to demand that Mahmoud Abbas and Rami Hamdallah work towards the end of the blockade. The blockade has already strangled the life in the Gaza Strip for 10 years and has raised the unemployment rate above 60%. The workers also remembered all the martyrs who died at the hands of the zionist entity while working for a free Palestine; farmers, fishermen, tunnel diggers.
Every day the farmers of the Gaza Strip are harassed by the Israeli army, who shoot at them with live ammunition and tear gas, even though they only want to work their land and do nothing to provoke such attacks. They choose to work, instead of relying on the humanitarian aid that is offered to them by the same states that conduct business with the zionist oppressors; buying and selling the very weapons that execute Palestinians.
Every day Gazan fishermen go out to sea with the sole intention of providing for their families, as workers everywhere do. However, many do not return to their home because they are ‘caught in the nets’ of the Israeli army, imprisoned and sometimes murdered- without posing a threat.
As one worker told ISM at the demonstration, “I don’t want food baskets… I am 35 years old and I’m healthy; keep the food baskets for the old and the disabled. Give me the opportunity to work and I’ll feed myself and my family”.
