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Hebron under selective and racist siege

2nd July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

The southern West Bank city of occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) has been put under siege by Israeli forces – exclusively for Palestinians.

Israeli forces declared a complete closure of the city as a ‘security measure’, closing all entries and exits into the city itself and the surrounding villages belonging to the Hebron governorate indefinitely. An exception to the rule is military and humanitarian cases.

Closures enforced on Palestinian villages by Israeli forces Photo credit: PNN English — Closures enforced on Palestinian villages by Israeli forces
Photo credit: PNN English

The official Israeli statement, though, does feature already, that this siege is only implemented on the Palestinian residents – deliberately excluding any settler living in one of the illegal Israeli settlements from these draconian measures. Punishing the entire Palestinian population with a siege like this, additionally, is a form of collective punishment prohibited by Art. 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that a person can not be “[…] punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited”.

Enforcing a siege on the entire Palestinian population in this area, furthermore illustrates the racism and apartheid-measures of the Israeli government, openly admitting to impose a siege specifically and exclusively on a certain group, the Palestinians, while deliberately excluding the illegal settler population from the same measure.

Closure on exit of Hebron used by Palestinians Photo credit: PNN English — Closure on exit of Hebron used by Palestinians
Photo credit: PNN English

Whereas measures like these are not new, they definitely illustrate how bluntly the Israeli authorities publicly state their racism, breaches of international law and human rights, and how they don’t even fear illustrating their apartheid-measures. The question that remains is, is the international community going to take notice – and especially action?

Curfew on Hebron neighborhoods imposed by Israeli forces

2nd July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Israeli forces, on 30th June 2016 enforced a complete curfew on several neighborhoods in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). Deliberately, this curfew was designed to be imposed only on the Palestinian population, with the expressive goal of allowing settlers to move around these neighborhoods without even so much as seeing Palestinians on the street.

After a 13-year old girl was stabbed, allegedly by a Palestinian youth, in the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba on the outskirts of al-Khalil, her funeral was scheduled to take place in the evening. With the procession scheduled to leave at 6pm from the illegal settlement, many neighborhoods along the way towards the Jewish cemetery in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood were closed down long before this time. Palestinians attempting to return home were aggressively denied access by the occupying Israeli forces.

In the Tel Rumeida neighborhood, the curfew was imposed long before 6pm and only lifted after about 4 hours. Residents of this neighborhood were thus trapped either inside their houses with doors well bolted in fear of common settler-attacks – or left without any possibility to reach their homes, as the curfew was not announced. This also left people trying to reach home for Iftar, the meal after fasting from sunrise to sunset during the holy month of Ramadan, stuck at a checkpoint where they were ‘not allowed’.

This curfew clearly constitutes a collective punishment imposed on the entire Palestinian population in these neighborhoods – which are deliberately punished merely on the basis for them being Palestinian. Furthermore, Israeli forces are enacting acts of collective punishment by sealing the home-town of the alleged Palestinian attacker, slating his families’ home for demolition and revoking their work-permits.

Two injured with live ammunition as Kafr Qaddum celebrates five years of demonstrations

1st July 2016 | IWPS | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine

The 1st July 2016, the last Friday in Ramadan, marked the fifth anniversary of Kafr Qaddum’s demonstrations. The Israeli military were present in the village and firing rubber coated steel bullets prior to the start of the demonstration. The soldiers continued to use full force against protestors, using high velocity barricade penetrating tear gas grenades, and live ammunition. Two young men were injured with live ammunition. One 15-year-old boy took a .22 caliber bullet to the stomach. He entered surgery in Nablus at approximately 3 PM to remove the bullet. In addition, a 19-year-old was hit in the lower leg. The injury is not serious, but still a cause for concern: the young man in question had been released from jail less than a month ago, after he was arrested for his participation in the weekly protests.

15-year old shot with live ammunition by Israeli forces loaded into ambulance

Every week the villagers, accompanied by international and Israeli activists, have marched down the road that once connected the village to Nablus. The road was shut down due to expansions in the nearby illegal settlement of Kedumim, and is now accessible only to settlers. The road closure has been an economic burden for Kafr Qaddum, and well as a public health and safety issue, as ambulances and fire trucks face restricted access to the village. Murad Shtawi, the head of the Popular Resistance Committee in Kafr Qaddum, says that the village does its best to keep the demonstrations nonviolent – shebab will throw stones at the soldiers, but only if they are attacked first, or the soldiers enter the town limits.

Israeli forces enter Kafr Qaddum village

Today’s protest followed a familiar pattern, soldiers entered the village prior to the protest, armed with tear gas, stun grenades, rubber coated steel bullets, and live ammunition. While most of the village took part in the midday Dhuhr prayer, a few shebab monitored the soldiers, risking injury from rubber coated steel bullets. After the prayer, approximately one hundred protestors marched up the road, but were repelled before even reaching the end of the village by more rubber coated metal bullets, and interior barricade penetrating tear gas. When the protest regrouped, undeterred, the military opened fire with .22 calibre ammunition. The military also employed a bulldozer during the protests, in an attempt to block off the road at the entrance to the village. The bulldozer struck the main water pipe to Kafr Qaddum, flooding the street, and ensuring it would be a dry day for many families.

Kafr Qaddum has paid a high price for its protests. According to Murad Shtawi, there have been up to 84 injuries from live ammunition. In 2014, a 75-year-old man in the village died from tear gas suffocation, and countless others have passed out from inhalation. There have been over 200 injuries from rubber coated metal bullets, including one young man who lost an eye, and another who can no longer speak due to brain damage. 120 villagers have been arrested, and their families have paid a collective 250,000 NIS in fines. Today was the 7^th time the water pipe has been damaged.

Still, the villagers remain optimistic that their protest will be effective someday, in opening the road, and pushing out the settlers of Kedumim. They’ve held 330 marches and actions against the settlement and road closure in the past five years, and will keep going, as long as it takes.

“We see the victory in our children’s eyes” Shtawi proclaimed at the end of the day, “the strangers [settlers] who came later must be the ones who will leave earlier.”

Worshippers for Ramadan prayer harassed by settlers and soldiers

1 July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On 1st July 2016, Israeli forces severly restricted access to Ibrahimi mosque in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) for noon-prayer, while settlers were demonstrating at a checkpoint nearby the mosque.

After pregnant 27-year old Sarah Tarayra was gunned down by Israeli forces at Ibrahimi mosque checkpoint in the morning, the mosque checkpoint stayed closed for more than two hours, while Palestinians intending to attend the noon-prayer of the last Friday of Ramadan, were queuing up at the checkpoint, but denied access. Upon inquiry, Israeli forces gave the information that they would open the checkpoint eventually, but refused giving a time. With all checkpoints leading to the mosque from other directions open for passage, it is unclear why the Ibrahimi mosque checkpoint was closed down for such a long time. At some point, about 150 Palestinians were gathered at the locked gates, on their way to noon-prayer.

Palestinians stuck at Ibrahimi mosque checkpoint, as Israeli forces deny to open the checkpoint — Palestinians stuck at Ibrahimi mosque checkpoint, as Israeli forces refuse to open the checkpoint

On all the other checkpoints, restrictions and checks were increased, with Palestinians only allowed to pass one-by-one, an increase in bag-searches of women and body-searches of male adults and youths. Once Ibrahimi mosque checkpoint was finally opened, all women and girls were stopped for bag-searches, considerably slowing down the process.

Israeli settlers set up a protest at a checkpoint on the other side of Ibrahimi mosque, waving huge Israeli flags. Several of them attacked Palestinians and had to be stopped by Israeli forces. The settlers were chanting and yelling, and Israeli forces moved back Palestinians ready for prayer in order to create a greater distance. Israeli forces, additionally, missappropriated a Palestinian family home to use it’s roof as a look-out over the events.

Israeli settlers with flags attacking two female Palestinians on their way to prayer

Once the prayer was finished, Israeli forces arbitrarily at some point stopped anyone on their way home, quickly leading to large groups of Palestinians gathering as they were forced to wait while settlers passed on the street.

Israeli forces stopping any Palestinian in order to allow free movement of settlers

These kind of infringements and restrictions on the basic human right of freedom of religion and to practice one’s religion in occupied al-Khalil, is rather the norm than the exception for Palestinians.

Youth reminds Palestine of need for Boycott movement

26th June 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Dura, occupied Palestine

On June 25th 2016, the Tomorrow’s Youth Forum (Moltaqa Sawa’d) in cooperation with the Partnership Institution For Development distributed water and date packages in Dura’s city center near occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) to raise awareness about the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement (BDS) against the Israeli occupation. Along with the bundle, kids and youngsters from the center handed-out leaflets and stickers to shop owners and car drivers in the street to inform them about the common Israeli goods in the West Bank.

Awareness-raising about boycott in local shops Photo crecit: Tomorrow’s Youth Forum (Moltaqa Sawa’d) — Awareness-raising about boycott in local shops
Photo crecit: Tomorrow’s Youth Forum (Moltaqa Sawa’d)

Although sales of Israeli goods in the West Bank have recently decreased by half, at least 70% of Palestinian imports continue to come from Israel or through it. Consumers in the West Bank have usually no access to substitute products from their own markets, and hence, are forced to buy staple-goods like fruits and vegetables from illegal Israeli settlements. The few Palestinian products currently competing in the market need to be fostered by local communities, and the youth promoting the BDS movement are there to give them the boost they need.

Advocates of the BDS movement in Palestine and from across the globe continue the boycott campaigns. Representatives from different community groups — including BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti — spoke about their work and links to the boycott movement last April 2016 at the 5th Annual BDS Conference in Ramallah.

As international awareness of the occupation increases, Israeli officials grow anxious about the economic and political impact that the BDS movement is having in Europe and the United States. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reported that Israel had lost half of its foreign direct investment in 2014 mainly due to BDS efforts across the globe.

Palestinian produced drinking water with stickers reminding of boycott-movement

According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), since the Naksa in 1967, Israel has established about 150 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in addition to 100 “outposts” erected by settlers without official authorization.

The settler population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is quickly approaching 600,000, and up to 43% of the occupied West Bank is allocated to local settler councils.

Logo of the youth group
Photo credit: Tomorrow’s Youth Forum (Moltaqa Sawa’d)