International Solidarity Movement - Page 236 - Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.

Four families made homeless in a day

28th of April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement & Jordan Valley Solidarity | Fasayil, Jordan Valley, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday morning (27th of April 2015) at 5 am in the area of al Makhrouk, al Jiftlik, the Israeli military arrived with bulldozers and demolished four houses belonging to Fathe Abdullah Ahmad, Tareeq, Yakub, Mohammed and Mahmoud Lahafe Dadoub. The houses were located right next to the agricultural settlements of Masu’a and Argaman.

The first house to be demolished was owned by the Tareeq family, where Mohammed Abu Amer lived with his family of five. This was the second time in less than a year that their home was destroyed, despite not receiving a demolition order. As farmers of dates and vegetables they lived next to the land they were working on. Three of the family members are children aged 1, 5 and 3 years old.

Fathe Abdullah Ahmad Tareeq in front of Mohammed Abu Amers family's demolished home. — Fathe Abdullah Ahmad Tareeq in front of Mohammed Abu Amers family’s demolished home.

Their first house was demolished on the 10th of March this year. This house was built in August 2014, and received a demolition order straight away. After losing that house of 114 square meters containing bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, balcony and a barn built at the cost of 35 000 shekels (9000 US dollars) the family rebuilt the house. The second house was 50 square meters, consisting of a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom and cost 8000 shekels (2000 US dollars) to build.

When activists from Jordan Valley Solidarity and the International Solidarity Movement arrived at the site the family was already building a tent for shelter. They explained that just ten minutes before the army was there taking photos of them working. Ever since they rebuilt the house last month the family has been under heavy surveillance by the Israeli military, which has been looking for evidence of building work at least five times. The military came again last night, just hours before the demolition.

The father of the Tareeq family, Fathe Abdullah Ahmad Tareeq, has a house in the village of Jiflik. This was also demolished. Instead of the previous breeze block structure, this time it was rebuilt in tin.

At 5.40 this morning the army bulldozed the neighbouring houses of Yakub and Mohammed Lahafe Dadoub. Each of their houses had two rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. The older parts of the house, (consisting of bathrooms and kitchens), was built of breeze blocks two years ago. When the families started building the other rooms out of tin 9 months ago the army came, took photographs of the houses and left a demolition order under some rocks outside their home. This was the only communication the family had received concerning the demolition. The family does not have a lawyer to represent them in the Israeli court. Their previous experience is that the Israeli court system systemically and deliberately discriminates against Palestinians.

Wreckage of the family homes of Yakub and Mohammed Lahafe Dadoub.

Yakub and his wife lived in their house together with their 1 month old and 2 year old daughters. Mohammed and his wife have five daughters between the age of 1.5 and 8. The houses were built for 50 000 shekels each (13000 US dollars) and it will cost more than that to rebuild. The family are determined to clear away the rubble from their demolished home and rebuild on the same spot again.

In a neighbouring house their brother Mahmoud Lahafe Dadoub lived with his family of 10, including 4 children. They built their house there to live closer to the family’s farm land in the Jordan Valley. The construction of the house cost of 30000 shekel (7500 US dollars). Today, after receiving a total of three demolition orders, their house was demolished for the second time. The family will rebuild the house on another part of their land, which will cost them the same amount again.

Mahmod Lahafe Dadoub on the spot where his family's home was. — Mahmod Lahafe Dadoub on the spot where his family’s home was.

93.4% of the Jordan Valley is in ‘area C’ (full Israeli control), with 37 illegal Israeli settlements, most of which are agricultural. The expansion of these settlements and the theft of Palestinian land and demolition of Palestinian homes are part of Israel’s policy of ethnic cleansing and colonisation of the most fertile and profitable areas of the West Bank. Whilst Palestinians are violently forced out of their homes and forbidden by law to build the smallest farmhouse, Israelis are encouraged to build both homes and businesses in area C.

Most Palestinian houses in the area have pending demolition orders. Meteyb Lahafe Dadoub, the father of the three brothers has 15 children, and in 2012 his son Ayman’s home was demolished three times (see article). The neighbouring houses of Mahmoud, and Mohammed and Yakub, (another son of Meteyb), also have demolition orders, in place since 2006.

(Left) The settlement of Masu'a's fences right next to the brothers demolished houses. (Right) Meteyb Lahafe Dadoub's family have faced repeated harassment from the Israeli army. — (Left) The settlement of Masu’a’s fences right next to the brothers demolished houses. (Right) Meteyb Lahafe Dadoub’s family have faced repeated harassment from the Israeli army.

The family had previously owned a successful agricultural export business, which specialised in exporting olive trees to the United States, Jordan and Gaza. Their business was ruined by Israeli restrictions that prohibited the export of their products.

When interviewed, Meteyb explained that the Israeli court usually does not care about the demolitions; even on the rare occasions when Israeli courts demand that a demolition order should not be carried out the army will sometimes still choose to continue with the demolition.

South Hebron Hills – farming under occupation

27th April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Team Al Khalil | South Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine

Located in the tip of the West Bank, the South Hebron Hills are dotted with farming and shepherd communities.
We are currently in the wheat harvest season and the children are spending their last few weeks at school before the holiday break.
But just like everywhere else in Palestine, the population is threatened by the Israeli occupation and the illegal settlements that overlook, menace and harm their daily lives.
“Existence is resistance”

At-Tuwani - village in the South Hebron Hills where Operation Dove is located, helping provide an international presence in the area. — At-Tuwani – village in the South Hebron Hills where an Italian organisation, Operation Dove, is located, helping provide international presence in the area.

School children amusing themselves before taking the dangerous walk home.

Israeli jeep accompanies the children on their walk to and from school. The path is squashed between a settlement and an outpost, which make the children at risk of settler attacks.

Palestinians harvesting their land. They are at constant risk of being attacked by the illegal settler outpost overlooking them.

Donkeys are a common way of getting around in the area.

Nestled in the hills, lies the community of Tuba. — Nestled in the hills, about a 40 minute walk from At-Tuwani, lies the community of Tuba.

Like many other communities in the South Hebron Hills, people live inside caves.

Inside one of the caves. Mattresses get spread around the floor in the evening to chat, share meals, watch tv and lay their heads.

TV inside the cave. Electricity is powered by their wind turbine.

The second to youngest of Tuba, posing in front of the pile of mattresses.

Communal breakfast for the sheep of Tuba.

The family’s breakfast - composed mainly of products that came from within a radius of 50 metres from their home. Bread from their wheat, eggs from their chickens, cheese and butter from their goats. — The family’s breakfast – composed mainly of products that came from within a radius of 50 metres from their home. Bread from their wheat, eggs from their chickens, cheese and butter from their goats.

Hiding away from the view of settlers and soldiers, men and women harvest their land.

Bundles of wheat collected during the harvest season.

Donkeys are used to carry up the harvested crops. — Donkeys are used to carry the harvested crops.

Siggy and Frida.

Journal: House demolition in East Jerusalem

27th April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Team Al Khalil | East Jerusalem, Occupied Palestine

The family and internationals sitting around a fire during the night

This has been hard to write down. The three of us put off again and again the thoughts and fears of that day, to remember them and to finally write them down. We have been avoiding it, because it is easier to simply try and forget. But then at the same time, for us it was just this one night, whereas for the families living in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi al-Joz this is everyday life.

An illegal demolition of the majority of the Amro-family home on the 31^stof March, 2015 left all the families in Wadi al-Joz scared for the future. If Israeli forces can just turn up one early morning and tear down half a family home without prior notice or any legal grounds, might this also happen to the other few families still living in this neighborhood?

On a Sunday night, the 18^th of April, 10 international activists and journalists as well as a few members of the Tutalji family sat outside the family’s home. It was a cold night but we had set up a fire to warm us up. The stars were shining and we were drinking tea and chatting. The children were asleep inside.

Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?

The truth is, the atmosphere was filled with fear and despair. Only a few days earlier, the Tutalji family had received a demolition order for their house, home to Aref Tutalji, his wife and adult daughter, as well as twelve children, aged between 4 and 18 years. They were told the Israeli army would come to demolish their home at four o’clock that night. At very short notice the family now stood to be homeless. After seeing what happened to their neighbours, the Amro-family, the Tutalji family tried to store their life, their most precious belongings, in cardboard-boxes to be kept outside the home.

The Amro family told us that they wanted to get rid of the rubble of their house, but felt it difficult to do so due to their connection to the house. They felt attached to the rubble. The house of your family is not just four walls and a roof- it is your history. You feel the memories in the walls, and you know every corner and every crack, even if you are blind – as is the case with Nureddin, the father of the Amro family.

It was a long night; sitting outside the house, listening to the family’s stories, their fears and desperation. What are they going to do if their house, the only home they’ve ever known, gets destroyed? What kind of future would that bring for their children? Were they going to be killed by the army, that told them that, when they come, they “see nothing in front of them”? As a precaution, the family-dogs were given away and animal shelters were moved to the outer limit of their land.

Most of the family was unable to sleep that night. They were too scared they would wake up to their house being demolished or not being able to get out of the house fast enough. Listening to the family talk about their fears, not only for this night, but also for the longer run, it was hard to hold back the tears.

Earlier that night, the three of us sat down for a pizza in the old town of East Jerusalem – self-care, we called it. We went through possible scenarios for the coming night, scared and unsure of what was about to happen. What would we do, if the army immediately starts demolishing the house? Were people going to get hurt – were the children going to be beaten by the army, as happened during the demolition of the Amro-family’s home? It was good to talk about all the possibilities, but also hard to admit how scared we were of what might happen during this night.

We felt the frustration of the father who kept asking why this was happening to his family. Why did their house pose a threat to the Israeli state? Where were they going to sleep? What about the kids? He pleaded that he doesn’t hold grudges against Judaism, Christianity or any other religion, and told us that he wanted nothing more than to live in peace, side by side with his neighbours. But how can he live in peace when they come and ruin his home? These house demolitions are strange. After having lived for several generations on their land, these people are pushed out of their homes in order for Jews from Brooklyn to come and replace them. You have to wonder why.

In the early evening, we tried to get some sleep, but every time we heard the sound of a car driving past the house, we would sit up, turn our heads and look at each other, sure that now, they were coming to tear down the house. It would take some time listening to what was going on to realise that again, this was just a car driving past – until we heard yet another car. Next morning the Amro-family told us that having internationals stay with them meant they were able to sleep through the whole night for the first time for three weeks. Having stayed only one night, not being able to fall asleep dreading what might happen, we were able to understand that easily.

For us it was only one night. For the families living in this neighborhood, this is everyday life. Every night, the families wonder what to do, how to continue their life, if all their belongings are destroyed with their house. Every night, going to bed they are worried they might not have a house the next morning. Every night, they have to worry about getting beaten, to have their home – and their future – destroyed.

Maja, Siggy and Jenny.

In photos: Demonstration in Nabi Saleh

26th April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine

ISM is bringing the story of Friday’s weekly demonstration in Nabu Saleh, 20 kilometers northwest of Ramallah, the Occupied West Bank, in photos.

Israeli forces shot one Palestinian teenager in the head with live ammunition and fired stun grenades at the press.

Israeli military training critically damaging to Palestinian farmers

25th April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara Team | Aqraba, Occupied Palestine

On 25^th April 2015 ISM volunteers met with the mayor of Aqraba, Ayman Bani Fadl, who has asked internationals to document the intrusive Israeli occupation forces’ actions over the past week. The Israeli forces have been using civilian farm land to carry out training operations. The military have an encampment where they have stationed around ten tanks and approximately fifteen more armored vehicles, as well as numerous troops.

Israeli occupation forces present on Palestinian land near Aqraba (Photo by Aqraba Muncipality 24.04.15)

The military training in this area is hugely damaging to the farming economy, due to the fact that this seasons harvest began earlier in the month. Farmers are now prevented from carrying out their harvest by the presence of the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). The mayor stated that it is likely the military chose the time and area in a deliberate attempt to disrupt the harvest and the livelihoods of the civilian population. He also claimed the actions of the IOF were strategically designed to expropriate the land, forcing the farmers to leave the area. He went on to say that the military have already designated 150,000 dunams of Aqraba land as a military zone. Meaning, the military have full control of the area. Despite this, the IOF have chosen to carry out their present training operations on the 10,000 dunams that remain accessible to the farmers.

aqra4 — Photo by Aqraba Muncipality, 24.04.15

These military operations occur on a regular basis and have a permanent and damaging effect on the community. Not least of which is the unexploded ordinance, carelessly left by the military, which has been responsible for killing four individuals and maiming tens of others, mostly children.

To add to the continuing persecution of Aqraba civilians, four months ago the electricity network, financed by the Belgian government, was demolished by Israeli forces. Due to a lack of funds, the municipality has only been able to temporarily reconstruct a portion of the network.

Furthermore, this continual land grab results in Israeli control over highly fertile agricultural soil and cuts off Palestinian access to the Jordan Valley, restricting freedom of movement and their right to cultivate their own farming land.

The present military operation in Aqraba is just one example of the ongoing violent harassment and disruption that is one of many tactics used by Israeli forces, to make life so intolerable for Palestinians they will leave and abandon their land. Oppressive tactics of a similar nature are rife throughout the West Bank, with towns and villages in and around the Jordan Valley being particularly subject to persecution from the Israeli forces.