Photo Evidence From the Last Incursion into Nablus

This photo series is meant to visually document some of the claims made by international human rights observers in their reporting of the crimes of the Israeli Occupation during the seige in Nablus on 26th August. These pictures were all taken by international activists throughout the day. The original press release documenting these incidents is on the ISM website.

The occupation forces’ wrecking equipment destroys a small home in order to reach the Labadda house. Three homes were destroyed in this manner, to make room for the Caterpillar equipment to park within wrecking distance. While the Labadda house appears to be the target of the demolition, three homes were completely leveled that surround the three-story structure.

On the north side of the Labadda house, Ameican-made Occupation bulldozers destroyed three cars and dumped the wreckage on top of a neighboring house. The bulldozer is about to drop the third car; in view are two cars previously dropped onto the porch of the neighboring home. Earlier in the day, these cars were used by Occupation forces to blockade the street, and when they were no longer useful, they were dumped on the house.

The southern side of the Labadda house. Throughout the day, Occupation soldiers shot relentlessly into the building with machine gun fire and grenades. These bullet holes represent only a small section of the pock-marked wall. Most of the southern wall below this image was completely destroyed by Caterpillar wrecking equipment.

A man, trying to reach his home is made to unbutton his shirt and turn around to show that he is not carrying explosives. Occupation soldiers forced many Palestinians to do this while residents attempted to evacuate family members from their homes within the firing range.

An elderly man is detained on top of a neighbor’s car from the begining of the incursion until late in the afternoon. Many neighbors confronted the soldiers to seek the elderly man’s release but were unsucessfull. Though the man lived very close to the point of detention, he was prevented from returning to his home and instead made to wait on the car in the hot sun.

The top floor of the home was occupied by soldiers and used as a firing position. This is the site of one incidence of the Occupation’s illegal use of Palestinian human shields. When soldiers seized the apartment as a sniper nest, they kidnapped six Palestinian men and forced them to remain in the apartment, while the soldiers fired over their heads. This was intended to prevent Palestinian resistance fighters from returning fire into the sniper nest.

A small sample of spent M-16 shells collected from the apartment used as a sniper nest. After the incursion, the residents bagged the shells and showed them to international human rights observers. From their post in the apartment, Occupation forces fired hundreds of rounds at the Labadda house, neighboring homes and Palestinian demonstrators.

A Palestinian ambulance is prevented from entering the area to evacuate a Palestinian child hurt during the incursion. After a great amount of delay, intense negotiations, and a military search of the vehicle, the ambulance was permitted passage to evacuate the child. If the child’s injuries had been severe, this delay could have resulted in his death.

The position Occupation soldiers started firing at unarmed Palestinian demonstrators from a distance of over 100 meters. During these encounters over 20 demonstrators were shot and injured, and 15 year old Montasir from Askar refugee camp was killed.

Occupation soldiers forcefully enter and occupy the elemtary school bordering the Labadda house. From this position, soldiers fired at Palestinian demonstrators assembling on Amman street and the neighboring smaller streets.

A small home demolished in order to allow the American-made Caterpillar wrecking equipment a parking spot to position itself in order to demolish the main target building. Three homes surrounding the target building were demolished in a similar manner.

The damage sustained to the north eastern corner of the Labadda house, an apartment complex that housed 17 families, 8 of which are from the Labadda family.

Palestinian volunteer medics escort residents through the partially demolished Labadda house in search of their valuables and keepsakes.

Palestinian volunteer medics escort residents through the partially demolished Labadda house in search of their valuables and keepsakes.

A Palestinian boy stands in front of a pile of rubble, formerly a home, and two demolished cars crushed during the incursion. At least eight Palestinian cars were destroyed during the incursion.

Palestinian Child Attacked by Israeli Colonist in Hebron

Click here to view video of the interview with the boy’s father mentioned below. Click here to download it.

by ISM Hebron and Tel Rumeida Project

At 1:15pm on September 1, 2006, in Tel Rumeida, Hebron, two Human Rights Workers (HRWs) were approached by a young boy of approximately six or seven years, and an older man, later identified as his father, Idris Zahadi. The boy lifted his shirt, displaying a contusion on his chest, and said something in Arabic that the HRWs were unable to understand. The young boy communicated that he had been injured, but did not speak either of the HRWs’ languages with sufficient fluency to describe the details to them since they did not speak much Arabic. With permission from Mr. Zahadi, one HRW photographed the victim’s injuries: a small contusion with broken skin on the left temple, and a larger contusion without skin breakage on the lower left chest. The victim then described the incident to his father, who related the events to the HRWs in a videotaped interview.

About one hour earlier, Mr. Zahadi’s son was walking to his home, which requires that he pass in front of the Beit Hadassah settlement on Shuhadah Street. An adult settler with a beard and glasses, possibly in his late twenties, began throwing stones at the boy, who was very afraid. He was struck by two of the stones, in his head and his chest. Mr. Zahadi was not at home at the time, and only found out about the attack upon his return.

Mr. Zahadi was obviously upset by the attack on his son. After finishing his description, he added, “Every day is like this; the soldier can’t do anything! Even if he has bullets it’s no good. You need a policeman here, not the soldiers.”

Freedom Summer 2006

Freedom Summer 2006 in Palestine was a success! We had just under 100 internationals join Palestinians in solidarity to resist the occupation in places all over the West Bank.

The ISM continued its support for Bil’in village in its weekly
demonstrations against the wall and settlements as well as having a continued presence in the village and “outpost”, which is a structure on Palestinian farmland that is separated from the village by the Apartheid Wall.

In Beit Ummar village, south of Bethlehem, internationals joined farmers and villagers in their demonstrations against the expansion of settlement outposts near the village and in documenting human rights violations and accompanying farmers to their land near settlements in Beit Ummar and nearby villages.

Internationals also continued their support in Tel Rumeida, Hebron,
consistently documenting and intervening in attacks against Palestinians by settlers and military.

ISM has formed a permanent presence in Nablus, in order to continue working at checkpoints: monitoring and intervening in aggression against Palestinians by the Israeli military. Internationals have also meet with victims of Israeli violence to document and voice their support for the Palestinian people.

ISM volunteers stayed in the village of Ezbat al-Tabib, outside of
Qalqilia, providing support for the community and assisting in removing a roadblock that isolates the village.

Internationals visited and stayed in villages of South Hebron, such as
Suseya and Qawawis to participate show support for their struggles
against the settlements and document attacks by settlers on Palestinians.

Internationals participated in building a house that was demolished by the Israeli army in Anata, outside of Jerusalem, and also worked with people Farkha village near Salfeet in a summer festival.

In Ramallah internationals attended many demonstrations against Israeli aggression in Lebanon and Palestine and against US interference in the Middle East, and also documented Israeli military invasions in the city.

Finally volunteers traveled to: Al Khader, Bethlehem for demonstrations against the wall surrounding Bethlehem, Jericho to meet with farmers in the Jordan valley, and Tulkarem to show solidarity with their continued resistance to the occupation.

Husband shot dead in Ramallah by undercover Israeli agents

by Arno

On Monday, September 28th, at about 10PM, two ISM activists were walking back to the ISM apartment in Ramallah after having bought falafels.

They were on one of the main roads leading to Al-Manara square, which was behind them. They left this road to walk on a smaller street. Suddenly, they witnessed a man running, crouched over as far as possible, in our direction but on the opposite sidewalk.

After a few seconds, armed men dressed as civilians appeared down the street. They were simultaneously running towards the man and shooting at him.

The two ISM activists flattened theirselves against the wall of a house, with their hands raised in caution, to avoid being caught in the line of fire.

The man being chased disappeared at the top of the street. The armed men, numbered five or six, went on running after him. There was a minivan parked at the corner of the street from which the men came.

I saw a soldier next to the minivan and realized that the armed men were undercover units.

Behind the van, a man was lying on the pavement and a soldier had put his foot on the man’s head.

Some of the armed men arrived at the top of the street and went on shooting on both sides, left and right.

A second group of armed men stayed behind them, to protect those in front, and they used hand signs to signal us to get down.

The activists had not moved since the first second, in order to stay out of the line of fire.

The men then returned to the van from the top of the street. The van started and some young Palestinians started throwing bottles at it.

Several minutes after the undercover units had left, we went up the street to see what was happening on the main road. There was a great deal of confusion; an ambulance had arrived, and a large crowd of people had gathered.

We then returned to the apartment.

I learned the next morning that a man had been killed as he was shopping with his wife.