December 17th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al Khalil team | al Khalil, occupied Palestine
On Thursday, December the 17th, hundreds of Palestinians in occupied Al-Khalil (Hebron) gathered to protest against Israel’s policy of withholding the bodies of Palestinian martyrs killed since the beginning of October.
The peaceful demonstration started at Haras Mosque and continued towards Ibn Rushd roundabout with many martyr posters, signs, Palestinian flags and chanting. Many friends and relatives of the martyrs were present, mourning the loss of the more than thirty martyrs from Al-Khalil and more than 123 martyrs from all around the occupied Palestinian territory killed since the beginning of October this year.
The demonstration was organized by the movement “We need our children” (Bidna awladna). This movement was created recently on the initiative of the families of the martyrs in Al-Khalil to demand the release of Palestinian bodies, still being kept in Israel. This unlawful policy not only violates international law but also denies the families the right to mourn the loss of their husbands, sons, mothers and daughters. “Some of the mothers haven’t realized that their sons are dead. Some times the fathers try to call their sons on the mobile”, a brother of a martyr explains.
For the past two weeks a solidarity tent has been established near the Haras mosque in order to create a space for the families to mourn, share the pain and support each other. Not only the relatives waiting for the return of the martyr’s bodies are present in the tent, but also the relatives, who already received the bodies of their loved ones, attend the tent in solidarity, as the father of Dania (17 years) and Udey Irsheid (24 years) who both were killed by Israeli forces in the last two months.
Solidarity tent for the martyr’s families
The policy of withholding the bodies of killed Palestinians constitutes another measurement in the collective punishment against the Palestinian people, which is illegal according to international law.
17th of December, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm team | Tulkarm, occupied Palestine
In the early morning of the 17th of december, Israeli security guards kept parts of the al-Tayba checkpoint closed, causing tension and frustration among the waiting Palestinian workers.
Every morning, 8000 to 10 000 Palestinians have to cross the al-Tayba checkpoint, located in the outskirts of Tulkarm, to be able to go to work in Israel. For them, commuting to work is frustrating, time-consuming and dangerous.
Crossing the Al Tayba checkpoint near Tulkarem in the morning. Photo credit : ISMCrossing the Al Tayba checkpoint near Tulkarem in the morning. Photo credit : ISM
Crossing the Al Tayba checkpoint near Tulkarem in the morning. Photo credit : ISM.photo credit: ISMPhoto credit: ISM
One of the Palestinian workers that ISM-activists spoke to this morning explained that under normal circumstances, it would take him a maximum of one hour to go from Tulkarm to his work in Tel Aviv. But with the checkpoints, it adds multiple hours to his daily commuting. Every morning he leaves his home before three, and after spending several hours at the checkpoint, he arrives in Tel aviv at around 6-7 o’clock, just in time to start working. Not knowing how long it will take him to get through, or if he even will be allowed to cross at all, is for him worst part.
When the security guards open the checkpoint at 4 o’clock, workers have already been waiting for hours. All workers goes through four lanes leading to four separate turnstiles, that they have to pass one-at-a-time, before finally passing metal detectors and being ID-checked by the staff.
Workers also complain that the turnstiles often remain closed for no reason. Between 4:00 and 5:15, each turnstile was open for an average of 21 minutes. At one point, one turnstile was closed for 40 minutes, leaving the Palestinians to choose between climbing over to the next lain, risking to upset other workers, or having to go back to the entrance, and start the process all over again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCx9S5axBjQ
Many people suffer from the overcrowded checkpoint. The owner of a coffee stand located next to the entrance says that people get injured almost every day. According to Maannews, 2 Palestinians were squeezed to death at this checkpoint in 2014.
Even though Israel needs Palestinian workers, as they are cheap labor, the Israeli forces are still forcing workers to cross these deadly checkpoints everyday. The economical situation of the West Bank often leaves no other choice for Palestinians than to go and work in Israel, despite all the challenges they face as doing so.
16th of December, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm team | Tulkarm, occupied Palestine
Today, on the 16th of december, Israeli forces, yet again, entered the center of the campus at Khadori university, leaving several students injured.
“I am so afraid! The situation here is so bad, the soldiers open fire at anybody” says a student, who wishes to be anonymous, as he wipes away tears from his face caused by the tear gas.
According to medics on the ground, several people were injured during this afternoon raid on campus, both by live ammunition and rubber coated steel bullets. ISM-activists estimate that more than 200 students suffered from inhalation of the tear gas, some of whom needed medical attention.
Earlier this morning, at the outskirt of the campus, a student was shot with live ammunition on his left foot by the Israeli soldiers.
As we have reported earlier, the attacks on the university started in October, when Israeli soldiers from the nearby checkpoint begun entering the campus. The Israeli forces have also caused severe damage to the university buildings. Multiple windows have been shattered. The greenhouses located close to the military training area have been badly damaged by the tear gas canisters and were put on fire, last week, by the Israeli soldiers.
Almost every day, students witness Israeli soldiers using a small military training field, built on the university ground in the 90’s, as a base from which they sit and aim at students. Since october, ambulances are parked on campus every day, being ready to take the next injured student to the hospital. To this date, Israeli forces have injured more than 400 students.
15th of December, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Nablus, occupied Palestine
On the night of the 10th of December, the Israeli forces raided the Palestinian cultural Centre Tanweer, near the old city of Nablus, and stole hardwares, wifi keys and a laptop after searching the whole centre. The organisation lost all of their data from the raid.
When the volunteers arrived at 11 am the next day, they found the door broken and everything spread on the floor. Volunteers from the centre have been working on getting the place back into shape since then, but much of the furniture and computer equipment have been severely damaged. The Rachel Corrie computer room, established in 2011, was as well raided and the computers are at the moment unusable. The team is thinking of launching a fundraising campaign to help replace the lost equipment.
The volunteers’ coordinator has been arrested around three weeks ago during a night raid, as well as about seven of the organisation’s volunteers. Tanweer is not involved in any political activism; it’s a cultural center working to educate the youth from the old city of Nablus and therefore the volunteers don’t understand the reason for this targeting of their work.
The coordinators, along with Palestinian volunteers, organise activities, support classes, computer courses and any cultural events. “You attack a cultural center, it means that you don’t want people to be enlightened”, said Mustafa Azizi, one of the volunteers.
Night raid in Tanweer Center in Nablus. Photo credit : Ziad Ameireh.Night raid in Tanweer Center in Nablus. Photo credit : Ziad Ameireh.Night raid in Tanweer Center in Nablus. Photo credit : Ziad Ameireh.Night raid in Tanweer Center in Nablus. Photo credit : Ziad Ameireh.Night raid in Tanweer Center in Nablus. Photo credit : Ziad Ameireh.Night raid in Tanweer Center in Nablus. Photo credit : Ziad Ameireh.Night raid in Tanweer Center in Nablus. Photo credit : Ziad Ameireh.Night raid in Tanweer Center in Nablus. Photo credit : Ziad Ameireh.Night raid in Tanweer Center in Nablus. Photo credit : Ziad Ameireh.night
14th December, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement | occupied Palestine
Today, Palestinians are facing an enormous amount of pressure in their lives due to the growing violence of Israeli forces. Israeli politicians have fueled the motivation to kill Palestinians by making open statements encouraging Israeli citizens to become executioners.
Since the beginning of October, Israeli occupation forces have started to exceed their abuse of power by carrying out a series of extrajudicial killings of Palestinians, in a manner that is completely unjustified and, in most cases, constituting crimes of war.
In addition, Israeli forces are applying measures of collective punishment towards the families of Palestinians who are killed in this unlawful manner. In many cases, the army does not return their bodies to their families, preventing them from carrying out their funerals. Furthermore, Israel has been demolishing the houses of these families, leaving many people homeless.
When you come to Palestine, there are many things you can do.
In Al-Khalil (Hebron), we need volunteers to continue walking children to school and monitor the three checkpoints were the children cross two times a day, on their way to school and back home. Our presence there is crucial because we witness and document what we see and can show the world what is happening on the ground. We do our best to prevent Palestinians from being harassed, and more importantly, to show them we are there in solidarity with them.
One of our volunteers walks a group of children to school in al-Khalil
In Jerusalem, you will document human rights violations and report them in the media. You will be present in checkpoints such as Qalandya, the Shufat Refugee Camp, and nearby villages. You will monitor violence from settlers and police in the old city during the day, and the monthly settler march were settlers roam in the streets of the old city at night. During these marches, Palestinians are forced to close their shops and face the danger of being attacked.
In the area of Jerusalem, you will also monitor schools and hospitals. In addition, there are many child arrests that need to be covered in the media, where you will visit the families and write their stories. In Jerusalem there are also many home demolitions and evacuations that you will need to document and report in the media.
In Tulkarem, which has recently seen regular violent attacks from the Israeli army towards university students inside the campus while they are studying and attending exams, we need volunteers on the ground to continue documenting these crimes of war and create awareness on the situation. Watch video of army’s incursion here.
Furthermore, in Tulkarem, the army is threatening to permanently close gate 623 that gives access to farmers to their land, in other words, to their sustenance for living. This gate needs international human rights defenders to monitor on a daily basis from 7:00 to 8:00 in the morning.
In Nablus, several houses have been demolished since October. We need to continue being present and reporting on these human rights violations when they arise. You will visit the families who suffer from being left homeless, and write their stories.
In the city of Ramallah we receive calls from prisoners’ families to attend military court hearings, in the Ofer military prison. We believe that being present in these hearings can put pressure on the Israeli authorities and decrease their abuse of power when giving sentences to Palestinian political prisoners.
Moreover, all throughout the West Bank, in cities and villages, the popular committees organize regular demonstrations were the ISM is called to participate.
As ISM is a Palestinian led movement all our actions are initiated on invitations from or initiative of Palestinians following their lead and wishes.
When you come to Palestine, try to bring your computer with you and a camera, as you will need it for the media work. To plan your trip to the West Bank, please read our traveling information.
We ask our volunteers to commit for a minimum of two weeks after completing our two day training, but keep in mind that we always prefer to have volunteers stay for longer periods of time.
When you decide to come to Palestine to join us, or if you have any further questions, please write us to palreports@gmail.com.
In solidarity,
ISM Team
ISM volunteers raising Palestinian flag in front of the Apartheid wall.
