Violent arrest of Palestinian women in Susiya, Masafer Yatta

13 March 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Masafer Yatta

Israeli soldiers arresting a Palestinian woman. @ISM

 

Today in Susiya (Masafer Yatta), on the third day in Ramadan, a large number of IOF soldiers and armed settlers arrested a Palestinian woman and an Israeli activist, shot live ammunition in the air and pointed guns to prevent documentation.

The IOF and settlers came and arrested the woman while she was picking akkoub in a place where the army said it is legal to do so.

As Israeli and international activists arrived to observe and document, an Israeli activist got arrested and handcuffed for filming. Eleven armed soldiers and settlers guarded the area of the two detained and started to point guns and shoot live ammunition in the air to force the rest of the activists away from the area and prevent them from filming. IOF threatened to detain anyone who would get nearer calling their situation an “operation”.

IOF arresting an Israeli activist. @ISM

After keeping the detained for a long time on the ground in the burning sun, they took both the Palestinian woman and the Israeli activist in a big white van and drove off. A few hours later, the woman was released and the Israeli activist taken to a police station.

The IOF brought in seven vehicles including a green army jeep, a police jeep and four vans and a large number of soldiers and police for the “operation”.

A large amount of soldiers and military vehicles were present at the scene. @ISM

The palestinian woman was picking Akkoub, a wild plant that Palestinians have been picking and using for cooking for decades. Akkoub is amongst the wild plants and herbs that the occupation force has made illegal for Palestinian to harvest under false accusations of over-harvesting; yet another fraction of the ethnic cleansing of all aspects of Palestinian life, culture and history.

Israeli army at the scene. @ISM

The Subcommittee for Judea and Samaria, chaired by MK Tzvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism), convened for a debate on the “Inflammatory activity by activists in Judea and Samaria whose center of life is not in Judea and Samaria.”

The following was published on March 12, 2024 Knesset News on the official website of the Israeli parliament:

Twenty-Fifth Knesset, Second Session, Summer Recess

Knesset News: Judea and Samaria Subcommittee Chair MK Sukkot: Those who create violence are radical left-wing anarchists who harass IDF soldiers and heroic settlers; MK Michaeli: Outrageous attempt to present an opposite and completely false reality

​The Subcommittee for Judea and Samaria, chaired by MK Tzvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism), convened on Tuesday for a debate on the topic of “Inflammatory activity by activists in Judea and Samaria whose center of life is not in Judea and Samaria.”

At the start of the debate, Subcommittee Chair MK Sukkot said, “We are still in the midst of a fierce war. In order to win the war, we have to do many things—to fight on the military front, to take action on the diplomatic front, to settle, to pray. For the military victory to arrive, we have to remove everything that interferes with it. We can’t win without fighting against those who are doing everything they can to interfere with our justified war.

“That is the reason we have convened today, in the middle of the war, to discuss the issue of the anarchists. So much unnecessary verbiage has been uttered in the past about ‘settler violence,’ but people have not yet dealt here, in this House, with those who truly create a great deal of severe violence in Judea and Samaria—radical, anarchist left-wing activists who harass the IDF soldiers and heroic settlers. This is a scourge, and we are here to deal with it. I believe that after eradicating this malady, we will be one important step closer to the important victory,” said MK Sukkot.

MK Gilad Kariv (Labor): “For any person who employs violence, the law enforcement agencies should provide a response. But that is completely unrelated to the pointless political debate that is being conducted here. It’s clear to everyone that this debate is not serious. The committee chair’s introduction attests to the purpose of this debate. It is not to discuss a problem that exists on the ground, but rather to turn around the reality and continue to obscure the real phenomenon on the ground, which is that radical parts of the settler public, which are a numerical minority among [the settlers], have cast off the yoke of Israeli law.

“If there is a phenomenon that should be dealt with beyond the war against terrorism, it is the violence of these fringe elements, which receive a tailwind from the establishment that is not willing to look reality in the eye. The human rights activists perform an important role, and if there is anyone that is interfering with the IDF it is the extremist elements among the settlers,” said MK Kariv.

MK Ariel Kallner (Likud): “Our war over this land in general and Judea and Samaria in particular is [facing] a pincer movement. On one hand, the vicious Arab terrorism, operating on a daily basis, and on the other, we have this problem of anarchists, fringe elements from Israel and around the world, who come to the region in order to stir up the situation on the ground. These people are antisemites, for all intents and purposes, and supporters of terrorism.”

MK Merav Michaeli (Labor): “There is a basic misunderstanding here. I have news for many people—this is not inside the State of Israel; Judea and Samaria is not part of the State of Israel. There is a world of sovereignty, a legal world, and in this world, Judea and Samaria is not part of the State of Israel. There are elements who are trying to create activity on the ground, as if this were part of the State of Israel’s territory, and they are causing significant harm not only to the Palestinian residents but also to the security forces on the ground. I am talking about nationalist criminals.

“You are conducting a debate that is designed to create a psychological manipulation against a public that is fighting for the image and values of the Zionist State of Israel. Nationalist crime threatens the State of Israel, and the security forces say this constantly. This is an outrageous attempt to present an opposite and completely false reality, which is being done by the same violence that you are backing,” said MK Michaeli.

MK Limor Sonn Har Melech (Otzma Yehudit): “The State of Israel is engaged in an existential struggle over our very life here, and there are people who, in an insane and delusional manner, enable a phenomenon that could not exist anywhere else. These people come here under the guise of tourists. We have to create a body that will take the lead on eradicating this phenomenon, which has very dangerous ramifications and aspects for the security of the State of Israel’s citizens. Such a phenomenon would not be permitted in any sane country.”

David Elhayani, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council: “There is an organized, financed and orchestrated group of people, the sole purpose of which is to create flashpoints of friction in order to inflame the situation on the ground and besmirch the State of Israel. Since October alone, there have been 70 incidents of friction. Each such incident compels the security forces, instead of guarding the settlers in this sensitive period, to scurry between the flashpoints of friction.”

Cmdr. Avishai Mualem of the Judea and Samaria District Police said that as far as he was concerned, there was no difference between lawbreakers, regardless of gender, religion, race or nationality. He said, “Since October 7 there are statistics showing a 50 percent decrease in Jewish nationalist crime versus last year—270 from the start of the warfare until today, versus 527 last year. In 2023, 63 administrative orders were issued, including 16 administrative detention orders, against right-wing activists, for attacking Palestinians and torching Palestinian vehicles.

“Since the start of the war there has been an increase in the number of cases and complaints by Palestinians and anarchists; 191 cases were opened, of which 90 proved to be false complaints, in the southern Hebron hills sector. Most of the complaints are deliberate complaints from radical left-wing organizations which are situated in Tel Aviv and announce that there is violence by right-wing activists. In the Jordan Valley sector, we are talking about 70 incidents, of which 50 percent proved to be false complaints,” said Cmdr. Mualem.

After the open part of the debate, the committee conducted the classified portion, in which the committee members heard additional data, mapped the gaps and examined courses of action for expanding the tools for coping with the phenomenon and strengthening coordination between the different agencies.

Subcommittee Chair MK Sukkot announced that he intended to conduct a follow-up debate within the coming month.
​

Escalating Night Raids and Attacks on Shepherds in Jinba

11 March 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Masafer Yatta

The damage to a house done from the IOF, Jinba. Credit to local residents.

On February 23, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided the village of Jinba, in Masafer Yatta, in the middle of the night. The army forced residents out of their houses and held them on their knees with hands over their heads at gunpoint while the soldiers vandalized their houses and grain storage.

In the following two weeks, the army and illegal settlers have attacked Jinba’s shepherds and their flocks of sheep. The attacks have persisted over several days with the use of tear-gas or drones; on some days, the army approached and brutalized the sheep and threaten shepherds from their land. In some instances, the army have killed livestock.

Damage to grain storage. Credit to local residents.

Jinba has for years been under intense attempts of ethnic cleansing by the occupation force. Since 1980, more than 40 houses in Jinba have been demolished by the IOF.

Jinba is one of the most isolated villages in the firing zone (a closed military area) established by the Israeli occupation in Masafer Yatta, and the area around Jinba is heavily militarized. The IOF has built an army base about one kilometer away and recently constructed an apartheid road through the Palestinian land. The Israeli army and settlers have declared all land around Jinba illegal for the people of Jinba to enter, including for grazing their sheep and harvesting their crops.

The residents told us the soldier often come drunk, after long parties in the military base. During our stay in Jinba, ISM activists were able to hear the loud parties and yelling from the near by base.

Since the 7th of October, the village of Jinba has experienced an increase of settler colonial violence.

Shepherds attacked with tear gas, Jinba. Credit to local residents.

Drone harassing a shepherd and scaring his flock.

The Many Faces of Ethnic Cleansing and Land Grab

06 March 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Masafer Yatta

 

A few days ago, villagers of Khallet Adabaa stood at the edge of their village and watched two illegal Israeli settlers driving on motorbikes up and down the hills surrounding the village – all of it private Palestinian land. Earlier in the day, settlers from the same nearby settlement of Mitzpe Yair kidnapped two Palestinian men from Khallet Adabaa. The settlers attacked the two men while they were working on their land, shot at them from a close distance, and took them to their settlement.

Illegal settlers on motorbikes on Palestinian land. @ISM

 

While the people of Khallet Adabaa waited for the news of the kidnapped men, settlers started to loudly riding adventure dirt bikes around the village over land they had just barred the Palestinians from working on.

Last week armed settlers in self-made military uniforms from the settlement Ha’vot Ma’on near A-Tuwani drove Palestinian shepherds from their lands in Humra. In the afternoon, in full view from the shepherds houses, a jogger crossed their lands from one settlement to another –and later, young settlers undressed and bathed in a Palestinian watering hole.

Settler jogging. @ISM

Settler bathing in a Palestinian watering hole. @ISM

Two weeks ago, settlers from Avigail kidnapped two men from Um Dhorit, and next morning, a settler youth paraded through the nearby villages on a horse.

The occupation forces project of ethnic cleansing and land grab plays out in ways beyond directly violent attacks. It is also enforced through sinister though mundane acts of indirect violence when settlers exploit Palestinian land for everyday activities, made possible by the firearms they carry, and always backed up by military, police force, and Israeli courts and politicians.

Settler youth parading through Palestinian villages. @ISM

“We Have Suffered Too Much”: Friday Protests Continue in Kafr Qaduum

1 March 2024 | International Solidarity Movement | Kafr Qaduum

Palestinians gather in the village main road. @ISM

It is Friday, and the call to prayer is heard in the rural village of Kafr Qaduum, West of Nablus in the northern part of the West Bank. The streets are quiet, empty except some children playing and a few cars heading early to the masjid. Around 11am, some men and boys gather and drink coffee off the main road next door. Younger children play and laugh. The scene appears calm if expectant, with an underlying tension. Like every Friday, after prayer, villagers march in protest of the closure of their village’s main road and against the Israeli Occupation.

Protests are a regular part of life in rural villages across Palestine–some as far back as the second intifada. But in most parts of the West Bank unarmed protest marches left off after October 7th, when soldiers and settlers took advantage of Hamas’ attacks to unleash a wave of violence, terrorism, land and resource theft against their Palestinian neighbors. While before, the military used principally tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber coated steel bullets to disperse protestors, since the 7th villagers of Kafr Qaduum report encountering exclusively live gunfire.

Israeli drone flying over the protestors. @ISM

But protests in Kafr Qaduum never stopped. Abu Masseib, former mayor of the village, proudly states they have marched for the opening of their main road every Friday for 13 years–ever since the Israeli courts refused to uphold their rights. He reports that while military aggression has made protesting more dangerous, the villagers have persisted, adapting their practices to minimize harm. Fewer villagers go out each week, they move cautiously and report back and withdraw quickly if military movements are observed. In spite of these precautions, Masseib reports that the military have caused serious injuries. Since 2011, he states that over 100 villagers have been shot with live ammunition. Over 150 were arrested, he says, for weeks to as long as a year. While none have died, 2 children suffered horrifying brain injuries from “less lethal” rounds to the head. Just last week a youth was shot in the face, but survived when the bullet rebounded into his jaw. Many more villagers have lost eyes or suffered serious injuries to legs or stomach. In a group of 14 Palestinian youths and adults sitting with us, he says “10 of us have been shot with live [ammunition]”.

When asked why he thinks the people of Kafr Qaduum continue to protest when other villages have paused marches, he says, “We had this issue before Oct 7th; we want a free road. We have suffered too much; we understand the Occupation.” Over 50% of the village is in Area C–parts of the West Bank annexed by Israel, made available for Israeli settlement and off limits to Palestinians. This includes most of the villagers’ olive trees, their primary agricultural production and of immense symbolic value. “It hurts all the people of the village,” Abu Maseib says.

Today the military presence is mostly hidden. A low flying drone watches overhead, and four soldiers’ helmets and hair peek out over the closest hill. The protest moves conservatively, quietly, without shouted slogans or flung stones. Still the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance and media are ready to respond and document military aggression. The protest ends abruptly when report comes of military movements, and we — the only internationals present–are shuttled safely out of town before anything escalates.

The illegal Israeli settlement just outside Kafr Qaduum. @ISM

It is hard to guess whether solidarity activist presence acts as a deterrent these days. Indeed, organizer Murad Shtaiwi reports there haven’t been other solidarity activists present since October 7th. Villagers worry about exposing outsiders to the level of violence they themselves experience on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. Murad reports that much of the violence occurs during the week, when soldiers enter the village to damage property, arrest protestors identified in drone photos, or just fire guns indiscriminately. He shares a phone video that clearly shows soldiers firing their weapons at head height and up into residential buildings. These are not shots intended only to frighten or disperse, but to injure and kill.

Before solidarity activists are driven away, everyone walks together back to the relative safety of home. Murad affirms that this is good timing. “It is an honor,” he says, “for us to have martyrs; but it is a greater honor to have living children”.