International Solidarity Movement - Page 116 - Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.

Remembering Tom Hurndall

16th January 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, ISM Australia | Gaza, occupied Palestine

It’s 13 years since Tom Hurndall, a British activist with ISM, was shot in the head while trying to carry a small boy away from a conflict zone in Gaza. His face was among a wall of martyrs I saw on arrival in the West Bank–another sobering reminder of the capacity for humanity to dehumanise: any friend of my enemy (even a child) is my enemy. The reality of my fear was: this could be me. A different situation, less high risk, but regardless. This could have been any of my friends from home – people with lives conceivably similar to mine that took them to that place, with families that have been forced to mourn publicly. Perhaps a white face can help viscerally remind non-Palestinians of this commonality: that the Palestinian daily experience is one that would be normalised if you lived there. The posters of martyrs on the street would be your friends or your neighbours – and reinforce the reality that no life is worth more than any other. A self-evident truth, but sometimes it takes self interested emotive responses to really relate to that. Globally people are separated in their struggles by feelings of difference that would dissipate seemingly instantly over cups of coffee. We will realize we are not all that different from each other when we share in each other’s struggles and pain.

A photo of Tom Hurndall (top left) amongst other internationals and Palestinians executed by Israeli forces

Israeli Forces escorting Israeli colonial settlers through Palestinian neighbourhood

14th January 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On the 14th of January, 2017, some 120 Israeli colonial settlers were escorted through the Old City by approximately 50 Israeli soldiers and Border Police, in occupied Hebron (al-Khalil). Escorted by countless soldiers from one end of the military base to the other, the settlers pass through the maze of the old city, often verbally harassing Palestinian shop owners and vandalizing shops.

Israeli Forces escorting israeli settlers through palestinian neighbourhood — Israeli Forces escorting Israeli settlers through Palestinian neighborhood

What the settlers are told explicitly on the tour is hard to tell. Not only do we not speak hebrew, we are also kept at arms length by the soldiers. However, we are occasionally described as terrorists and anti-semites, and it is not unheard of that we are either spat at, or verbally abused. Both as Internationals and Palestinians.

Like any other Saturday, today was marked by this event. Unlike other Saturdays, however, the number of participating settlers exceeded our expectations – 120 settlers had signed up for the tour, and with them came a herd of soldiers from different brigades.

One thing that remained the same, however, was the complete lack of interest in the stories delivered by the “tour-guide”. The participating crowd – many of whom are very young – are seemingly not there to listen. Instead, they line up right behind the soldiers only to point, spit, give us the finger and otherwise harass the population of the old city. As such, the tour has become a way of establishing the power relations between the settlers and the Palestinians. So while Palestinians have to ask for permission to pass the group in order to reach home, the settlers are allowed to walk freely, and verbally assault whomever they see fit.

Not only are they protected by the soldiers and their own arsenal of weapons, they are also protected by their legal rights. When you are a settler in this area, the border follows your corpus. If you pass into H1 area, your rights are still protected by the Israeli government. If you are Palestinian, however, it’s a completely different story.

Israeli colonial settlers and soldiers harassing palestinian shop owner in the Old City — Israeli colonial settlers and soldiers harassing Palestinian shop owner in the Old City

Friday Noon Prayer, Hebron (al-Khalil): Oppression, harassment and discrimination

13th January 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On Friday the 13th of January, during the Friday noon prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron (al-Khalil), large numbers of Palestinians were delayed on their way to the prayer, and subjected to ID checks, bag searches and random detainments, carried out by Israeli forces.

Friday is the sixth day in the Islamic week, and as such it represents the day of congregation. It was a day celebrated by the prophet Muhammed, who declared the prayer of Jummah (the noon prayer on Fridays) as a weekly eid. And as such, it is important to many muslims that they are able to go their local mosque, receive the readings from their Imam, and perform the prayer.

Since the Ibrahimi mosque (the fourth holiest sights within Islam) is located in occupied Hebron (al-Khalil), muslim citizens of Hebron attend the Friday prayer here – though not without obstacles. At every entrance to the mosque, checkpoints are put in place, and a new ones built. It is impossible to enter the mosque without first passing through a metal detector and worshippers risk being detained till the prayer is over, which happens often.

On Friday the 13th, two ISM volunteers were stationed at the checkpoint located in the old city, in order to monitor and report back on the number of detainees and other violations of the right to free movement. 38 adult males had their IDs checked by a soldier and 10 were detained. On top of this, 9 boys where detained and had their IDs checked, while one female had her bag searched. Having already waited in line, about sixty individuals in total were hindered from entering to the mosque freely.

The weekly oppression at the Friday noon prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque, is one of many examples of how Israeli forces suppress the Palestinian people’s right to freedom of religion.

Palestinians waiting in line at the checkpoint

Israeli forces detain and ID check Palestinian male.

Group of Palestinian men being detained at the checkpoint.

Israeli forces sit on graves: ‘securing’ Islamic cemetery with barbed wire

16th January 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Israeli forces on Sunday, 15th January 2017, have put up new barbed wire at the edge of an Islamic cemetery in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), showing no respect for the graves.

The Islamic cemetery is located alongside Shuhada Street in the heart of the city. After the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in 1994, in which an Israeli settler killed 29 Palestinians praying inside Ibrahimi Mosque, Shuhada Street was slowly but steadily ethnically cleansed of Palestinians by the Israeli forces. Nowadays, the larger part of the road, once the main thorourghfare and market of al-Khalil, is completely forbidden for Palestinians, whose presence has been outlawed by the Israeli forces. Only a tiny strip near Shuhada checkpoint remains, where Palestinians are allowed to walk, but not to drive any kind of vehicles, including ambulances. Shuhada Street is a clear example of the Israeli forces’ steady measures of ethnic cleansing.

The Islamic cemetery borders directly onto the larger section of Shuhada Street where Palestinian presence is entirely outlawed, as the main illegal settlements in downtown al-Khalil are situated here. On Sunday, Israeli forces installed extra layers of barbed-wire at the side of the cemetery bordering Shuhada Street. During a break, soldiers were sitting on grave-stones, without any respect for the dignity and peace of the dead, or their loved ones’ feelings as they see the occupying army stomping through the cemetery, ‘resting’ on grave-stones and lying barbed-wire on the graves. Israeli forces in the past have repeatedly bluntly disregarded this cemetery as a resting place, regularly conducting military exercise inside the cemetery.

Israeli soldier comfortably sitting down ongrave-stone in Islamic cemetery.
Photo credit: Zleikha Muhtaseb

Newborn baby – a security-threat?

14th January 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Imagine coming to a checkpoint, manned by a relentless occupying army, on your way home from hospital, holding your new baby who is less than a month old. At the checkpoint, the occupying army refuses to let you pass – insisting that you put your baby on the dirty table, so they can force you through ‘security’ checks. They have no regard for your tiny baby: any Palestinian is considered a threat.

That’s exactly what happened on Friday night at Shuhada checkpoint in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). This is the same checkpoint where, just two days before, Israeli forces denied passage to Palestinians trying to reach their homes, as they were sleeping inside the checkpoint. Israeli forces show no mercy or humanity, no regard for life. Whether it’s a old woman hardly able to walk, or a 20-day old baby, ‘security’ is the word used to excuse the occupying army from treating Palestinians with respect and dignity. Palestinians are collectively considered a population that is a threat to the “Jewish Democratic State.” The state neglects, marginalizes and abuses this exact civilian population in the name of security.

With this mindset, even a 20-day old baby, wrapped up in blankets against the cold and freezing winds is just that – a ‘threat’, stripped of all humanity, not regarded as a human being. Occupying forces demanded that the man put the baby on a table in order to go through normal ‘security’ checks. The baby was treated just like anything else a Palestinian may attempt to bring through a checkpoint: a plastic bag of vegetables, a school-bag filled with books, all a potential threat. The baby had to be kept on a table next to the metal detector, like a bag of vegetables, while the man passes through the metal detector. The metal detector is yet another opportunity for the soldiers to harass Palestinians. Regardless of whether the detector indicates that there’s any metal, a person cannot continue through the checkpoint until the occupying army decides that the person is fine to pass. Maybe they will force them to lift up their shirts for a little extra humiliation. Then the plastic-bags have to be opened one by one, so the occupying army can inspect the contents.

In the midst of this humiliating procedure, the Israeli soldiers forced a man to put the tiny, fragile 20-day old baby on the table like any other possession. There was no respect for the baby’s wellbeing. No consideration of the freezing temperatures, or the possibility of bodily injury. After precariously leaving the baby on the table, the soldiers then forced the Palestinian man to bring the baby through the metal detector, with the baby in his arms. Any arguments appealing to the humanity of the occupying army were ignored.

The absurdity and cruelty of this situation demonstrate how even the youngest Palestinians – babies – are treated like potential terrorists by the occupying army. This child, who has been alive less than a month, has already been forced to feel the full brunt of the continuous illegal occupation that is attempting to ethnically cleanse Palestine of any Palestinian presence. Every Palestinian is a threat. This dangerous ideology is perpetuating a culture of remorseless ethnic cleansing by Israeli forces.