Category: Video - Page 28 - International Solidarity Movement

VIDEO: Violating the land they do not own: Kufr ad-Dik resists

25th May 2014 | International Women’s Peace Service | Kufr ad-Dik, Occupied Palestine

It was so different this time around.
It had gotten much worse.

There was not one occupation bulldozer but four; the whole hilltop to the East of the Palestinian village of Kufr ad-Dik (Salfit governorate) had been flattened, huge rocks stacked to the side to make way for a new illegal Israeli colony intended to fill the gap between the illegal colony of Ariel and others in the area.

Only a week ago the village achieved a small yet meaningful victory, when an occupation bulldozer was made leave the hilltop without raping the land. However, it came back three days later accompanied by some 40 soldiers to protect the large number of illegal Israeli colonists who started drilling the land they do not own. Villagers estimate at least 600 dunam (600,000 sq m) of land is currently being stolen, in addition to the thousands already confiscated for Israeli settlement expansion.

At least 400 Palestinians from the neighbouring villages of Biddiya, Sarta, Bruqin, and Kufr ad-Dik itself gathered this morning to pray on their land in protest of Israel’s colonialist project of land theft. The villagers outnumbered the Israeli soldiers present by at least 10:1, yet it was the heavily armed military who attacked unarmed civilians with sound grenades and tear gas canisters. One person was hit in the stomach with a tear gas canister and had to be taken away for medical assistance; seven people were treated for tear gas inhalation.

However, the shebab [youth] claimed their own symbolic victories today. They staged sit-ins next to the machinery that razed their land and put up the Palestinian flag on top of one drilling vehicle; they managed to take off one Israeli flag and get rid of it; and, working quietly behind the soldiers who were busy aiming their rifles at children, they tore down a colonist tent where land thieves gather for their break with a Coca-Cola.

Today’s demonstration in Kufr ad-Dik will probably not change the course of events in the larger Israeli colonial project; yet by resisting it, the Palestinians reinforced their dignity, once again.

Photo by International Women's Peace Service — Photo by International Women’s Peace Service

Improvised field hospital ward in which the injured were treated. Illegal Israeli colony of Bruchin in the background (photo by International Women's Peace Service). — Improvised field hospital ward in which the injured were treated. Illegal Israeli colony of Bruchin in the background (photo by International Women’s Peace Service).

Israeli army attacking unarmed civilians with sound grenades and tear gas (photo by International Women's Peace Service). — Israeli army attacking unarmed civilians with sound grenades and tear gas (photo by International Women’s Peace Service).

VIDEO: Settler runs over a 17-year-old Palestinian in Hebron

22nd May 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday during the early evening, several Palestinian youths were riding bikes near checkpoint 56 in the Tel Rumeida area of Al-Khalil (Hebron). At around 7pm, one youth, 17-year-old Izz Adel Bedo, from the Jabal Al-Takruri area of Hebron was knocked off his bike and run over by a settler driving a bus on the way to the illegal Tel Rumeida settlement.

Paramedics arrived within about five minutes, leaving their ambulance parked outside the checkpoint whilst they came inside to attend to the youth. By this time, approximately 15-20 Israeli soldiers and border police had arrived on the scene and were preventing local Palestinians from filming and photographing the incident, and the bus that had run over the youth had driven away from the scene.

The youth had sustained injuries to his arm and leg, and possibly also to his neck, medics placed him in a neck brace as a precaution before attempting to move him. He was taken through the checkpoint to the awaiting ambulance and was taken away to Al-Ahli Hospital for treatment.

At around the same time that the ambulance was leaving, a group of Israeli soldiers entered through the checkpoint into the H1 (Palestinian Authority controlled) area of Hebron and threw a stun grenade in the general direction of the ambulance and some Palestinian youths who had gathered. The youths then started to throw stones in the direction of the checkpoint. Israeli soldiers then launched tear gas canisters and more stun grenades.

Back on the H2 (Israeli military controlled) side of the checkpoint, approximately five or six settlers, some of them armed, were extremely aggressive in their behaviour. One armed settler assaulted a Palestinian man who was coming through the checkpoint into H2. He then argued with the soldiers, apparently demanding that they take some sort of action against the Palestinians who had gathered. He spent a further 10 minutes doing this and generally attempting to provoke a further incident. Other settlers, including the hardline settlement leader Baruch Marzel, were verbally abusing the Palestinians and international observers present.

After a further 30 minutes, the settlers left in their cars and the soldiers also dispersed. Neither the Israeli soldiers nor border police made any attempt to locate and/or talk to the driver of the vehicle.

Settlers have used their vehicles as weapons against Palestinians many times before, as has been reported previously.

VIDEO: Israeli forces fire tear gas and stun grenades at children in Hebron

21st May 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

This morning in al-Khalil (Hebron), several children threw stones towards Checkpoint 29 on their way to school. At approximately 07:40, 13 Israeli soldiers and border police officers entered through the checkpoint and fired four tear gas grenades and four stun grenades at the children.

The incident began at 7:45 and lasted for approximately 30 minutes, which prevented the children from entering their schools, delaying the start of their end of year exams.

The Israeli military regularly intimidates and use weapons against school children in al-Khalil. On the 15th of May the Israeli military threw one stun grenade towards the schoolchildren, after one Israeli soldier drew the star of David on a car and wrote: I want peace.

School children also face detentions and arrests, with some as young as six-years-old.

When the exams finished today, and teachers and school children were on their way home the harassment began again. The Israeli military detained seven teachers for 20 minutes. One of the teachers spoke to an ISMer present: “We are used to this kind of violence and disturbance, the harassment is continuous and often twice a day”.

15-year-old boy assaulted and detained in Hebron

10th May 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Today in al-Khalil (Hebron), Israeli soldiers viciously assaulted a 15-year-old boy while they were attempting to arrest him. The soldiers accused him of attacking 10 settler youth; he was then taken to Tel Rumeida military base and then released after 20 minutes with no charges.

ISM activists witnessed one Israeli soldier pulling the young teenager towards Tel Rumeida military base, as his two sisters frantically tried to intervene. The 15-year-old was held in the military base, on his own, for approximately 20 minutes before being released.

After the incident, ISM activists spoke to the boy’s father, Abu Shamsiyeh, who described the events leading to his son’s detention. He explained that he was in his house when his two daughters ran to him and said that Israeli soldiers were attacking their brother. Abu Shamsiyeh left the house to witness a group of soldiers grabbing his son by the neck and throwing him to the ground. He told the soldiers that his son has problems with his back, and was ignored.

More Israeli soldiers, including a commander, arrived and when Abu Shamsiyeh tried to speak to them, he was physically grabbed and told he was not allowed to accompany his son to the military base, or to continue filming.

Israeli police did not arrest the 15-year-old as they said it was impossible for a boy of his size to attack 10 settler youth.

Abu Shamsiyeh stated that the family, himself, his wife and all five of his children, have many problems with Israeli soldiers and with the settlers from nearby illegal settlements in Tel Rumeida. However, he explained that on Saturdays (the Sabbath in Judaism), the harassment often escalates due to an increase in settler activity and an influx of Zionists tourists.

Video: Protest on World Press Freedom Day: “They don’t consider Palestinian journalists to be journalists.”

3rd May 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team| Occupied Palestine

Yesterday, Saturday 3^rd of May was the United Nations World Press Freedom Day. Yesterday, journalists celebrated, remembered, and protested, on a date commemorated worldwide since 1992.

In Palestine, the 3^rd of May calls for a protest by members of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), and yesterday this was at the Beit El military checkpoint.

We witnessed approximately 70 journalists gather in the city of Ramallah, driving towards the Bet El checkpoint, before leaving their cars and attempting to walk through the military gate.

The journalists carried nothing but signs and cameras, chanting for freedom from the Israeli occupation. It was a completely non-violent demonstration.

On arrival to the checkpoint, Israeli Border Police first closed the gate, and then called many more soldiers to the area, who proceeded to watch and film the demonstrators with their private smart phones.

The journalists then tried to open the gate, which is when Israeli Border Police started to throw stun grenades at the demonstrators. More than eight stun grenades were thrown, seemingly directly at the legs of the protesters. One stun grenade hit my ISM colleague in the foot, she was lucky to be wearing thick running shoes and jeans, so did not receive an injury.

The level of aggression was surprising to me, I commented upon this to a demonstrator, a Palestine journalist, causing him to turn to me and smile.

“Maybe they don’t know we’re journalists.”

“Sorry?” I asked.

“If they did, they wouldn’t throw them [the stun grenades] at us.”

He laughed, and walked back toward the gate.

Several times during the protest, the journalists tried to open the gate, each time it was swiftly closed by Israeli forces. After approximately 40 minutes, it seemed the demonstration was ending, and a large group of the journalists began to walk away from the gate.

It was at this point that the Israeli forces present began to throw more stun grenades, roughly six, and one tear gas grenade. Ironically this caused the demonstration to last longer, as after this attack the journalists decided to continue the protest for a further 30 minutes.

After the demonstration ended, in which there were fortunately no injuries or arrests, we had the opportunity to speak to Omar Nazzal, a board member on the steering committee of the PJS.

Omar has been active in journalism for 30 years, and a member of the PJS for the last 18. The PJS was created in Jerusalem in 1978; it was originally named the ‘Arab Journalists League’ as they were not allowed to use ‘Palestinian’ in the title. This changed in 1994, after the Oslo Accords the organization could be renamed.

The PJS has approximately 1300 members, 800 in the West Bank and 500 in the Gaza Strip. It is a member of the Arab Journalists Union and of the International Federation of Journalists.

An issue that is impacting the journalism profession in Palestine, as it does with many workers worldwide, is the impact of globalization. As multinational companies buy out smaller media outlets, individual journalists are loosing their jobs. Or, forcing journalists to move towards shorter-term contracts, loosing their rights, leading to lower wages and little or no insurance.

Omar explained that there are many problems of being a journalist in Palestine, and one huge issue is their treatment by the Israeli authorities.

“They don’t consider Palestinian journalists to be journalists.”

Horrifying statistics echo this statement.

Since the year 2000, approximately 300 journalists have been imprisoned, over 500 have been injured, and 21 Palestinian journalists have been killed by the Israeli military.

Omar continued: “Sometimes they beat journalists, arrest them, shoot them, they’re forbidden to move freely.”

Currently there are nine Palestinian journalists in Israeli military prisons.

Muhammed Muna, one of the imprisoned nine, is a West Bank correspondent of the UK-based Quds Press International News Agency. He was arrested in August 2013. He was sentenced to six months in administrative detention, which essentially means that the Israeli government can hold a person indefinitely without charge. Muhammed’s detention was renewed for a further six months earlier this year, with no release date in sight.