International Solidarity Movement - Page 179 - Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.

Israeli forces injure 3 Palestinians before shooting tear gas at bypassers in the market of Hebron

December 20th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al Khalil team | Al Khalil, occupied Palestine

Sunday, 20^th December 2015, Israeli forces shot and injured three Palestinians at Shuhada checkpoint in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), before arbitrarily firing towards civilians and journalists in the area.

Israeli forces shot a girl in the head with live ammunition. A Palestinian bystander, trying to help the girl and pull her towards the Palestinian side of the checkpoint right after she was shot, was shot in the mouth by Israeli forces. The man was trying to help, knowing that Israeli forces would most likely deny the girl any medical aid if the Palestinian ambulance was unable to reach her. Another Palestinian bystander was shot. The Palestinian girl, according to eye-witnesses, did have a knife, but instead of trying to disarm her, Israeli forces directly shot her in the head.

The ambulance was denied access to the injured Palestinian girl

Israeli forces used the roof of a Palestinian family's house to shoot — Israeli forces used the roof of a Palestinian family’s house to shoot

Whereas the Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance, at the scene after only a few minutes, was denied access to the girl in order to deliver first aid, the two Palestinians injured were taken to hospital. After this happened, the Israeli forces threw stun grenades and shot tear-gas at passer-bys and Red Crescent medics to prevent them from coming any closer and seeing what happened. Journalists that arrived at the scene were also attacked with stun grenades and threatened by Israeli forces with rubber coated steel bullets.

Israeli forces entered the H1-side of al-Khalil, that is under full Palestinian control, running into the Palestinian market and indiscriminately shooting tear gas at civilians going about their everyday life. They entered the roof of a Palestinian family’s home to use it as a base for shooting tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets at Palestinians in the street. A 5-year old boy was injured when Israeli forces fired directly at a school-bus passing by the checkpoint.

Israeli forces entered the market into the H1-area of Hebron

Shuhada checkpoint has recently been closed for ‘renovations’, stopping Palestinians from accessing the Palestinian neighbourhood of Tel Rumeida, located in the H2-area under full Israeli control. This neighbourhood, including the small stretch of Shuhada Street that Palestinians still had access to, has been declared a ‘closed military zone’ on November 1^st. With the closure of the checkpoint, the restricted freedom of movement of Palestinians, has been completely brought to a halt.

UN : “Stop unacceptable harassment of human rights defenders in occupied Palestinian Territory”

December 18th, 2015 | UN Press release | al Khalil, Occupied Palestine

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst. Photo: MINUSTAH

GENEVA – United Nations independent experts today expressed grave concerns at continued reports that human rights defenders are being subjected to physical attacks, harassment, arrest and detention, and death threats, particularly in Hebron in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), in an apparent bid by Israeli authorities and settler elements to stop their peaceful and important work.

“Amidst a charged and violent atmosphere over past months in the OPT, Palestinian and international defenders are providing a ‘protective presence’ for Palestinians at risk of violence, and documenting human rights violations,” said the UN Special Rapporteur the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst.

“The continued harassment of human rights defenders in the OPT, who are exercising their rights to freedoms of expression and association, is simply unacceptable. It should cease immediately,” Mr. Forst stressed.

Earlier this month, a group of UN human rights experts urged the Israeli Government to ensure a protective environment where human rights defenders in the Occupied Palestinian Territory can work without unlawful restriction and without fear of retaliatory acts.

“We recently addressed concerns to the Israeli Government regarding retaliatory acts by Israeli authorities against members of one organisation based in Hebron, Youth Against Settlements, after its Centre was subjected to raids and settlers allegedly called for it to be closed,” noted the UN Special Rapporteur the situation of human rights in the OPT, Makarim Wibisono.

“The Centre has now effectively been shut down as a result of the Israeli military declaring the surrounding area a military zone,” Mr. Wibisono said. “We urge Israeli authorities to lift this military order.”

The experts’ statement has been endorsed by the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Mr. Juan E. Méndez, and by the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Mr. Maina Kiai.

Read our action alert calling for an end of the closed military zone in al Khalil.

Palestinians remove roadblock restricting movements of villagers near Tulkarm

December 18th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm team | Shufa, occupied Palestine

UPDATE 22nd December: After the removal of the road block during last weeks demonstration in Shufa village, Israeli forces told villagers that they will keep the road open in the future. But since then the road has remained closed almost every day, causing Shufa residents a lot of trouble.

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Yesterday, on the 18th of December, residents of Shufa village removed a roadblock, that was imposed on them last week as a collective punishment. The soldiers announced that the road will remain open from the 19th of December.

During the last week’s closure of the Tulkarm district, Israeli forces placed a road block between the two villages Shufa and Esba Shufa. As a result, residents of Shufa had to drive 32 kilometers in order to get to Tulkarm city, instead of just 4 km.

Shufa village is located on a hill next to the illegal Israeli settlement of Avne Hefez. In the past, the residents of the two villages have suffered greatly from Israeli roadblocks. Since the beginning of the second intifada, the roads between the villages have been more or less permanent, not only forcing villagers to drive a 30 minutes de-tour in order to get to Tulkarm, but also making it more difficult for the residents of Shufa and Esba Shufa to meet friends and family in the other village.

The roadblock was removed in the autumn of 2014, but occasionally, Israeli soldiers block the road and check IDs of everyone wanting to cross. Even though the road block is illegal, even according to an Israeli court-decision, the Israeli soldiers re-closed the road during last week’s closure of Tulkarm, and it has remained closed until today.

Since last week, the water pipe that provides Shufa with water has been cut. Earlier this autumn, Israeli settlers entered the village of Shufa in a bus and started building a roadblock with stones and branches, threatening villagers and throwing stones towards houses.

Villagers are very concerned by the expansion of the existing illegal settlement of Avnei Hefetz, as well as the newly built illegal Hahar outpost next to Shufa. The illegal Hahar outpost, with the potential of growing to a big settler-city, will link the illegal Avne Hefez settlement with the bigger, illegal Enav settlement.

Villagers are already being carefully monitored by Israeli soldiers and their surveillance cameras. Many farmers are denied access to their farm, even if it is located next to the village. Neighboring villages have had problems with trash being dumped by settlers on their land. Last week we reported about a demolition of a farm in Kafa village, a neighboring village to Shufa, located on the other side of the Avnei Hefetz settlement. Residents of the Shufa village told activists from the international solidarity movement that by denying them access to their own land, Israel is trying to make them leave their village, in order to give room for expanding illegal settlement. Our village is under constant threat, they say.

Farmers protest closure of gate blocking them from accessing their land

18th of December, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm team | Deir al Ghsoon, occupied Palestine

Hundreds of farmers protested on the morning of the 18th of December against the closure of an agricultural gate, which led Israeli commanders to agree to reopen the way. In 2002, 3200 dunumns of farmland got cut of from the rest of the two Palestinian villages of Deir Al Ghsoon and Al Jarosheyyah by building of the Israeli apartheid wall. Ever since, farmers have to cross one, out of two, agricultural checkpoints in order to get to their lands. The process of getting through the checkpoint takes a lot of time and not all farmers manage to get a permission to cross.

Farmer Abdullah Ghaner arrives at 6 o’clock to the checkpoint every morning in order to be among the first half of the farmers to cross the checkpoint. The soldiers are supposed to open the gate at 7 o’clock, but farmers often complain that opening hours are unreliable.

“When, and even if, we get through is depending on the mood of the soldiers”, says Abdullah.

He and his family own 16 dunnams of land on the other side of the Apartheid wall. The farm has been property of the family for three generation, and Abdullah is hoping to pass it on to his daughter. “We are born farmers. By enclosing our land they are trying to demolish her heritage !”, he says.

This part of the wall doesn’t in-circuit any settlement or military base. The only thing between the wall and the green line is Palestinian farmland. “This piece of land has not been surrounded by the wall for security reason, they surrounded it in order to steal our land”, Abdullah explains.

Yesterday, soldiers told the farmers that they would close checkpoint 623, one of the agricultural checkpoint leading to the farmland. Closing the checkpoint would be devastating for Abdullah and the 300 farmers that are dependent on this checkpoint for making a living. “What can we do ? he asks. We are farmers, we can only shout. They are soldiers, they can shoot”.

It it is not even certain that the farmers affected by the closure will get permission to enter the other checkpoint. Even if they do, the lack of roads on the other side of the apartheid wall will force them to walk for hours in order to reach their lands. It would take Abdullah 1,5 hour of walking from the other checkpoint to reach his land. That means he would only be able to work for a few hours on his land before having to return back to the checkpoint, in order to get there before the soldiers close it.

Yesterday morning farmers and Palestinian activists together with politicians gathered to protest Thursday’s announcement to close the checkpoint. After demanding the checkpoint to remain open, and threatening to take this decision to court, Israeli commanders agreed to leave the checkpoint open. For the farmers, this is a small but important victory. But the future of the checkpoint is still uncertain and farmers will not be satisfied until the apartheid wall has been removed, and the farmers guaranteed unlimited access to their land.

Photo story: daily harassment by Israeli Forces on the way to school

December 18th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al Khalil team | al Khalil, occupied Palestine

On Thursday, 17th December 2015, Israeli forces yet again body-searched every male adult – and also youth – passing Ziad Jaber school in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). Most female adults were also searched by male soldiers, a clear violation of their privacy. Various female students were also searched or had their bag searched.

These body-searches by Israeli forces are humiliating and often conducted aggressively with soldiers kicking the legs of the Palestinians and pushing them in the kneepit almost making them fall.

Not even children and youth – especially protected by UN-Conventions and international law, are exempted from these rigorous, frightening and humiliating searches. All of this hapens regularly both on the way to and from school thus also infringing on the children’s basic right to education.