29th November 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Today in al-Khalil (Hebron) families gathered to stage a peaceful demonstration protesting the continuing closure of the Shuhada checkpoint. The rally consisted of approximately 50 Palestinians, of all ages. The protesters met outside of the closed checkpoint at 1 pm, armed with nothing but Palestinian flags.
The protest moved towards the checkpoint, as soon as it reached the checkpoint´s outer barrier the soldiers from the other side threw a tear gas grenade and two stun grenades at the dense group of protesters.
The protesters dispersed immediately, elderly men had to be assisted by other protesters due to tear gas inhalation. Several young Palestinian boys then threw stones at the checkpoint, but were stopped by other protesters.
The dispersed demonstrators stayed in the area near the checkpoint after the first aggression by the Israeli occupation forces, but several more tear gas grenades and stun grenades forced the protesters to leave the area completely. Young Palestinian boys then began to throw stones again and clashes broke out. The soldiers responded to the stones with excessive amounts of tear gas and stun grenades. Much of the tear gas was either deployed or drifted into the busy business streets in the Bab a-Zawiya area, effecting hundreds of Palestinians.
An ISM activist present stated afterwards, “They [the Israeli occupation forces] rarely use tear gas at clashes on Fridays where the street is empty. Today they used a lot of gas, even though the streets were full with people minding their own business.”
The clashes continued until 4 pm this afternoon. Many shopkeepers decided to close their shops to protect their goods from the tear gas.
Shuhada checkpoint has been closed for the past 8 days as part of a policy of collective punishment directed at the Palestinians in surrounding neighbourhoods after the checkpoint was burnt during clashes last Friday. The checkpoint connects Bab a-Zawiya, a neighbourhood in H1 (supposedly under full Palestinian authority control) to Tel Rumeida, an H2 residential area under full Israeli military civil and security control. For the past days, Israeli soldiers have been denying passage through the checkpoint to Palestinians including children, elderly people and teachers from nearby schools who needed special permission to pass.
14th November 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Ramallah, Occupied Palestine
Friday morning around 50 Palestinian and international activists used makeshift bridges to cross the Apartheid wall between Qalandiya and Northern Jerusalem. This non-violent direct action was in response to the restrictions Israel had placed on Palestinian worshippers wishing to access Al-Aqsa Mosque in the past months.
Activists scaled the wall one by one at around 10 am yesterday morning. Only a few hundred meters from an Israeli settlement, the activists then set about cutting through a barbed-wire fence that had been placed close to the Apartheid wall.
Once all the activists breached the wall, the group cheered and proudly waved Palestinian flags. The action finished peacefully around 11am with no arrests. This non-violent direct action was part of a campaign entitled #On2Jerusalem and it was organized by local Palestinian popular resistance committees to show solidarity with the people of Jerusalem.
Another action that was part of the #On2Jerusalem campaign occurred after where Palestinian and international activists attempted to march toward Jerusalem through Hizme checkpoint. The activists blocked Israeli traffic, waved Palestinian flags and sang pro-Palestine chants. Many of those present wore T-shirts with pictures of Al-Aqsa mosque with the text, “I am Palestinian under 50.” This text referred to the restrictions placed on Palestinian male worshippers under 50 in regards to entering the Al-Aqsa compound. Right away, the activists were met by heavy Israeli military and police presence and were therefore prevented from crossing through Hizme.
The Israeli forces shouted and pushed activists as well as journalists on several occasions and soon after Israeli forces shot a barrage of stun grenades towards the activists and press forcing them to disperse. After violently pushing two international activists carrying a large Palestinian flag, Israeli forces ended up confiscating the flag from them. One of these international activists stated, “We found ourselves holding the Palestinian flag near a group of soldiers. One soldier in front of us tore up a small Palestinian flag in front of us. Afterwards he tried to take the big flag from us. When we wouldn’t let him more soldiers helped him, we were suddenly surrounded by soldiers grabbing and pushing us, and forcing the flag out of our hands.”
Later that day and as part of the#On2Jerusalem actions, activists joined locals at Qalandiya checkpoint where clashes had been taking place for most of the morning. Israeli forces used excessive force shooting dozens of tear gas canisters and grenades in addition to stun grenades at demonstrators. Despite the Israeli army’s aggression, the non-violent demonstrators which were a few hundred in number loudly shouted pro-Palestine chants and waved flags. At one point a demonstrator was able to climb a military lookout post to hang a Palestinian flag on the top.
6th November 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
On October 30th, a 14-year-old boy was violently arrested by Israeli forces in al-Khalil (Hebron).
Due to a teachers strike in solidarity with underpaid public workers, school in Hebron finished at 10:00 in the morning. Several young boys threw stones towards the military, armed at Salaymeh checkpoint, and the soldiers then fired three canisters of tear gas.
The children threw more stones, and the soldiers fired approximately ten more tear gas grenades in several rounds. This continued until 11:00 when an army vehicle drove up from a side street at a high speed. Three soldiers jumped outside one of the school buildings, before running into a school yard and arrested the 14-year-old boy.
20th October 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Tel Rumeida, Occupied Palestine
Today in al-Khalil (Hebron) Hashem Azzeh, a Palestinian man living in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood was able to successfully harvest his olives, on a certain part of his land, for the first time in 14 years.
Hashem, and volunteers from ISM and CPT pick from his olive tree. Part of the illegal settlement can be seen in the background.
Hashem and his family live in H2 (the area of Hebron under full Israeli military civil and security control), right next to the illegal settlement in the heart of Tel Rumeida.
Hashem Azzeh
Since the year 2000, Hashem has applied for a permit from the Israeli authorities to harvest his own olive trees but has been either denied, or received “permission”, and had his olives stolen by Zionist settlers.
This year, Hashem received a permit to harvest six trees today, and along with his brother and activists from ISM and Christian Peacemakers Team – Palestine (CPT), he began to work on his land. Two colonial settlers soon arrived an attempted to convince the Israeli police and army present that Hashem´s land belonged to them and that he should not be picking olives on “their land”.
Despite the attempts to prevent Hashem from picking on his land, the group succeeded in harvesting all of Hashem´s olives in that area.
Transcript from the interview
For how long have you and your family lived here?
Actually my family is refugees and we came here near 1950 and my grandparents and parents, so three generations lived in this area here.
How many trees do you have?
In this field I have six olive trees one of it destroyed from there and removed totally. But from up there I have another 50 olive trees.
When did you last get a permit to pick your olives from your own land?
The settlers and the Israeli army have prevented us from taking our olives since 2000. I filed applications to take my olives; they gave us permit in the year 2007. In 2007 I said to my self even though I have this permit why wouldn’t the settlers come and attack us? So I invited international activists, ISM, CPT [Christian Peacemaker Teams] too. They came here and we started to pick the olives but the settlers came and started to attack us. The Israeli solders did not do anything for that and they took all of our olives. Last year in 2013 they gave us our permit at 8th of October to harvest our olives, but the settlers came on the 3th of October and stole them. So we have not got any olives since 2000.
So this year I am so happy, this year we have the permit today 20th of October and with the coordination with ISM we have managed to harvest the olives. I am so happy that I have managed for the first time to get the olives. I am so grateful for ISM and for CPT that came to help me get the olives.
2nd October 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
“The child are having problems concentrating on their school work due to their emotional state and the stress due to the daily attacks by the occupation forces, which are continuously escalating.” Stated Hebron teacher, Shukri Zaroo, to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
Children in al-Khalil (Hebron) are forced to pass through a military checkpoint each morning and afternoon in order to reach and leave their schools. International activists try to monitor these military checkpoints, both to document the events and to stand with the children.
ISM activists monitor the Salaymeh checkpoint (29) each school day morning and afternoon. Since school began on August 24th, this is what the ISM activists have witnessed:
August 25th: Israeli forces fired 15 tear gas grenades and canisters, as well as five stun grenades at children as they waited to go to school. Tear gas drifted into the courtyard and many children and teachers choked and spluttered in the playground. School was delayed for over an hour. At one point a Red Crescent ambulance had to be called as two teachers and two children, aged 10 and 12-years-old, required medical treatment for excessive tear gas inhalation.
August 27th: At Salaymeh checkpoint Israeli forces fired six tear gas grenades in the morning.
August 31st: At the Salaymeh checkpoint, three tear gas canisters were fired at children on their way home from school. Similarly, children passing through the Qeitun checkpoint did not end their school day unharmed. A group of children threw stones towards the checkpoint from a rooftop. The soldiers fired a total of four tear gas canisters on the roof where the children were located.
September 2nd: Eight tear gas grenades were fired overall. Two young boys threw stones at the checkpoint. This was shortly followed by a short-range tear gas canister fired by one of the soldiers, which was aimed at the stone-throwing children but primarily affected those who needed to pass the cloud of tear gas in order to reach their homes.
As more tear gas canisters were fired, many of the smaller children became scared, crying and running in panic.
One tear gas canister landed in the path of three schoolchildren, no older than six-years-old, who were walking in the direction of the checkpoint, the ISM volunteers saw how one of the two girls was dragged away from the tear gas by the boy, however the other girl did not run away, seemingly too shocked and scared to move.
An ISM volunteer present said, “I ran into the cloud of gas to get the crying girl away and into safety. In a situation like that it is difficult to show a child, who is so terrified and wary of the world around her, that she can trust you. Especially as it becomes difficult to see and breath when surrounded by tear gas. Thankfully she took my hand and I led her to the other two children who she was walking with.”
September 8th: At Salaymeh checkpoint a seven-year-old child was forcefully detained and three more were arrested, including another child.
Israeli forces also threw two stun grenades and fired approximately three tear gas canisters towards the children standing outside their schools.
September 10th: In the afternoon at Salyemeh checkpoint, Israeli border police officers fired two tear gas grenades towards schoolchildren. ISM volunteers present witnessed the assault and did not see any stones thrown beforehand towards the military. Everyone in the street suffered from the tear gas, especially two girls approximately (six-years-old), who were standing outside their house. Other children and teachers took shelter in a nearby shop.
September 14th: Israeli forces fired one tear gas grenade in the afternoon.
September 15th: Israeli forces fired two tear gas grenades in the afternoon.
September 17th: Israel border police fired two tear gas canisters towards two to three stone throwing children who were aged between eight and 10-years-old. Schoolchildren and other pedestrians who happened to be walking past were caught up in the gas. Some took refuge in a local shop. Tear gas was also deployed when children were walking to school this morning. At no time were the Israeli forces under any threat.
September 18th: In the afternoon at Salaymeh checkpoint, Israeli forces fired three rounds of tear gas at schoolchildren. Israeli border police then prevented a horse & cart, several trucks and a car from passing through the checkpoint for 40 minutes, refusing to lift the barrier so that Palestinians could access the main road.
September 21st: Israeli forces fired one tear gas grenade in the afternoon.
September 23rd: At Salaymeh checkpoint, Israeli forces fired 29 rounds of tear gas and 5 stun grenades at children going to school.
Two ambulances were called to the scene due to the immense amounts of tear gas fired and a Palestinian teacher stated that 30 school children and 15 teachers suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation.
At Qeitun checkpoint clashes had erupted and were underway between unarmed Palestinian youths and Israeli forces. An excessive amount of tear gas was used in addition to rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades.
Israeli forces threw stun grenades and brutally grabbed and arrested two young Palestinian boys between the ages of 14 and 15-years-old. One of the boys whilst in a headlock and handcuffed was punched several times in the side.
September 22nd: Israeli forces fired three tear gas grenades in the morning at Salaymeh checkpoint.
September 24th: Two tear gas canisters were shot at the children, one of which was fired directly at them instead of an arc (to lower the impact velocity). This practice is extremely dangerous and can cause severe injuries or death.September 25th: One tear gas grenade was thrown and four tear gas canisters were shot, one after another, at high speeds towards the children leaving school at Salaymeh checkpoint..
September 28th: At the Salaymeh checkpoint in the morning, Israeli forces fired three tear gas grenades and one stun grenade at schoolchildren.
In the afternoon, Israeli border police entered through Salaymeh checkpoint and fired 14 tear gas grenades and one stun grenade at children leaving school. Several teenagers threw stones towards the checkpoint and the soldiers began firing tear gas.
An ISM activist present stated, “Four young girls were walking past the boys throwing stones. The boys deliberately stopped throwing stones so the girls could pass safely, but the border police fired tear gas anyway.”
At one point two border police grabbed a 12-year-old boy by the arm, dragged him to the checkpoint, and detained him for 20 minutes.
October 1st: At the Salaymeh checkpoint, Israeli border police fired excessive amounts of tear gas at schoolchildren. ISM activists present counted at least 24 grenades fired.
