International Solidarity Movement - Page 285 - Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.

Call to action: join ISM in Palestine

27th June 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied Palestine

In the last two weeks, the Israeli military has arrested over 566 Palestinians in the West Bank, they have stormed homes, invaded cities, and murdered seven Palestinians.

ISM is sending an urgent call for volunteers to join us in Palestine. Check the join us section of our website or email ISM at palreports@gmail.com for more information.

Ahmad Arafat Sabareen, 20-years-old, was shot in the chest by live ammunition bullets in Jalazoun refugee camp, near Ramallah, during a raid by the Israeli army.

Ahmad Arafat Sabareen's father speaks of his son at the funeral (photo by Middle East Monitor). — Ahmad Arafat Sabareen’s father speaks of his son at the funeral (photo by Middle East Monitor).

15-year-old Mohammad Dudeen, was killed by a single live bullet during a night raid in his home village of Dura, near Hebron on June 20th.

Mohammad Dudeen (photo from Defence for Children International Palestine).

Hajj Jamil Ali Jaber Souf suffered a heart attack during a raid on his village of Hares, and died soon after.

Ahmad Sa’id Fahmawi (Abu Shanno) was shot and killed on June 22nd in the city of Nablus. The Israeli military fired several bullets at him from a close range when he was on his way to a mosque near his house for dawn prayers, because he “did not obey their orders to stop”.

Mahmoud Ismael Atallah was shot and killed as the Israeli military invaded the de-facto capital of the West Bank, Ramallah, in the early hours of June 22nd.

Mahmoud's wife and son (photo by Fadi Arouri). — Mahmoud’s wife and son (photo by Fadi Arouri).

Mustafa Husni Aslan, 24 years old, was shot last Friday during clashes that erupted in Qalandya refugee camp, north of Ramallah, he died from his injury yesterday afternoon.

Early yesterday morning, June 26th, Israeli soldiers raided el-Arrub refugee camp north of Hebron. During this raid, a 78-year-old Palestinian woman, Fatima Ismail Issa Rushdi, died of a heart attack.

The situation in the last weeks is escalating; Palestinians are facing increasing military violence and the largest campaign of collective punishment seen since the Second Intifada.

Now more than ever, internationals are needed to travel to Palestine and stand in solidarity against occupation and apartheid.

Document and report on the crimes committed by both the Israeli military and the colonial settlers living on Palestinian land throughout the West Bank. Take part in protests and demonstrations against the occupation, use your privilege as an international to stand alongside Palestinian communities, and join ISM.

ISM is also sending an urgent call for volunteers to join the 2014 olive harvest campaign.

ISM volunteers join Palestinian farming communities each year to harvest olives in areas where Palestinians face settler and military violence while working their land. Your presence can make a big difference, with Palestinian communities stating that the presence of international volunteers reduces the risk of extreme violence from Israeli settlers and the Israeli army.

The olive tree is a Palestinian national symbol, and the Israeli military systematically prevents agricultural fruition, in order to make life for Palestinians more difficult. The Israeli occupation provides a platform for Palestinian rights to be violated in an array of ways; the attack on agriculture is at the forefront.

Already documented this year, and to list a few cases; the trees have suffered settler sewage runoff, sabotaging fires, and being cut down. Olive trees comprise of an essential 14% of the Palestinian agricultural economy.

In January 2014 alone approximately 2020 olive trees were reportedly destroyed.

We support Palestinians’ assertion of their right to earn their livelihoods and be present on their lands. International solidarity activists engage in non-violent intervention and documentation and practical support, which enables many families to pick their olives.

The campaign will begin mid October and will last around 5-7 weeks. We request a minimum one week commitment from volunteers, but stress that longtermers are needed as well. We ask that volunteers start arriving in the first week of October, so that we will be prepared when the harvest begins.

Training

We request a minimum two week commitment from volunteers, but stress that longtermers are needed as well. The ISM will be holding mandatory two day training sessions which will run weekly on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Please see the join ISM page or contact palreports@gmail.com for further information.

In solidarity,

ISM Palestine

Israeli forces invade Madama

25th June 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team| Madama, Occupied Palestine

At 12:30 a.m. on June 22, 2014, approximately 50 Israeli soldiers invaded the village of Madama.

Madama, which is located 10 km southwest of Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank, has approximately 2000 residents. The soldiers raided close to 100 homes and took 80 men to the local elementary school, where they held them for several hours. The men were blindfolded, and their arms were tied behind their backs with handcuffs.

The soldiers released all of the men at 5 a.m.

At 1:00 a.m., the soldiers invaded the house of Nizar Abdullah Sadaq Ziyaada in Madama. They asked Ziyaada about the whereabouts of his money and proceeded to ransack the house. They drilled holes into the walls and threatened to destroy his home. They found a total of roughly 200,000 shekels underneath a cupboard and in various hiding places throughout the house. Finally, the soldiers took all of the money, two laptops, and several mobile phones before leaving.

The reasons for the theft of Ziyaada’s money are unclear.

Ziyaada had worked in Israel until the year 2000 and kept all of his earnings from that time in his house in Madama. It is likely that the Israelis knew about this money, as they asked him about it as soon as they entered his house.

Hany Ziyaada’s house was invaded by 15 Israeli soldiers the same night at 1 a.m. They broke down the door, but Hany asked them to wait a few minutes, so that the women of the house could get dressed. The soldiers swore at him, and he responded in kind. They proceeded to kick him in the back and stomach for several minutes and dragged him to their jeep, where they continued to beat him. They blindfolded and handcuffed him and took him to the school, where they held him by the throat, forced his arms back and drove their knees into his back. At 4 a.m. they allowed him to go home.

“Why do they not respect human rights?,” Hany asked an ISM activist. “I’m a policeman, and I know about human rights. Why don’t they?”

Pressure on Firing Zone 918 residents continues

24nd June 2014 | Christian Peacemaker Teams | South Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine

On 15 May 2014, Israeli courts extended the mediation process between the Israeli army and the villages within Firing Zone 918 for another three months. The Israeli army wants to use this area for training. Israeli, Palestinian and international human rights organizations have condemned its bid to expel the villagers a violation of international law, which forbids forced transfer of the indigenous population of an occupied territory unless the occupying power is safeguarding them from an immediate danger.

During the previous period of mediation, the court allowed rehabilitation of damage done by storms, as well as access to the area by international humanitarian organizations. As a result, some development was possible in the area, specifically to the schools in al-Fakheit and Jinba. At the same time, as revealed in an article published on Ha’aretz, army officials admitted using firing zones as a way to deter the growth of Palestinian communities in Area C and to expel Palestinians from where they have lived since before the occupation of the West Bank in 1967.

Since 8 June, the Israeli military has conducted exercises in close proximity to, and on one occasion, inside the village of Jinba. Some weeks before, the army drove armoured vehicles over Palestinian fields close to Jinba and Mirkez, damaging their harvest.

Residents of Jinba told CPT that they received a “solution” to the current legal battle from the Israeli army via their lawyers at the beginning of June. The army asked that all of the Palestinian residents voluntarily leave the area for thirty months so that the Israeli military could conduct its exercises. After that, the Palestinians could return to their homes. The villagers refused the offer, affirming they would not have anywhere to go with all their livestock. Even if the army allowed them back, no one would care for their crops and flocks for that thirty months.

The army is not asking Israeli settlers in the area to leave Firing Zone 918.

Eleven houses raided in Hares as collective punishment continues

23rd June 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Hares, Occupied Palestine

During the early hours of Saturday 21^st June, before dawn, the Israeli army invaded the town of Hares and raided 11 houses. The house raids were generally violent and property was damaged.

During the raid, Jamil Ali Jaber (60-years-old) – whose house wasn’t raided according to a local witness – suffered a heart attack while arguing with the soldiers during the invasion and died soon after. Unlike other villagers, he was allowed to receive medical attention by Palestinian paramedics, although their ambulances are not equipped to deal with heart attacks and could not save him. No arrests were reported that night.

A local source stated that he heard a helicopter nearby which could have transported the soldiers by air. The Israeli army deployed approximately 150 soldiers loaded into 3 buses. Then at 01:30 the house raids began, starting at Dawood’s family house. At first he thought that the noises outside could have been wild animals but then the Israeli soldiers knocked on Mr. Dawood’s door and he opened up on their command. The rest of the family was detained outside the house while he was in one of the rooms. The search began, furniture was being turned upside down, crockery was broken, and a door lock was broken. The soldiers demanded silence while they searched the house, they did not state why they were raiding his house. Mr. Dawood stated that they used pepper spray in the room where he was held, exacerbating his delicate health condition as he has recently had surgery before and suffers from low blood pressure. He required medical attention but the Israeli army did not allow the Red Crescent ambulance to enter into Hares. Mr. Dawood only received medical attention, and was taken to the nearby town of Biddya, once the soldiers left, there he learned about Jamil’s death.

Jawad Muhammad Dawood, the brother that lives next door, went outside to see what was happening. He counted 30 soldiers approximately – many of them covering their faces – raiding his brother’s house and tried to support him, but him and a younger member of the family were pushed back by the soldiers. Jawad’s wife has heart problems and the situation worsened her condition. At that point Jawad, who is receiving psychiatric treatment, lost his temper and physically confronted the soldiers. They kicked and then hit him with the rifle butt on his hand which was still swollen when he was interviewed, but it wasn’t broken as some media outlets suggested. Jawad’s son called for an ambulance but again they were denied entry into the town of Hares. Fortunately, Jawad’s wife fully recovered from the episode.

Afterwards, at 02:00 a building nearby hosting five families was raided. The soldiers knocked on the door and went into the house quickly when they realized the door wasn’t locked. All the family members were detained in a room, sitting on the floor for the duration of the search which lasted over two hours and there were no witnesses while the soldiers searched the various floors. The families asked if the 13 kids could carry on sleeping but the Israeli soldiers insisted in waking them up and keeping them with the rest of the family. Their mobile phones were temporarily confiscated so they couldn’t contact anyone.

Shops nearby were also searched and the soldiers noticed that in one of the shops, they were recording the surroundings of the residential building. “They demanded the cameras to be turned off or else they would break them” said Bilal, one of the residents in the building. His brother quickly turned off the cameras and deleted the footage from the hard drive to avoid further problems with the soldiers.

As in other houses, while their homes were being searched the soldiers used excessive and unnecessary force. Again the soldiers turned the furniture upside down, using knives to cut into the sofas in the living room and also broke one wardrobe. Bilal speaks Hebrew fluently, but the soldiers refused to answer any questions and simply demanded him to translate their commands to the rest of the family members.

One of the last houses to be raided was that of Talal Hosni Dawood. The Israeli soldiers knocked loudly on the door at around 03:30. One of the family members opened the door soon after after seeing that that soldiers were about to break into the house. The eleven family members were held in their the living room, again sitting on the floor until 05:00 when the soldiers left.

Israeli forces, with their faces covered or painted in black, searched the house without any witnesses to oversee them. In this house, many items and valuables were broken. Among the items or furniture broken are: a door, a sink and a couple of sofas that were cut open, two windows were cracked, one smartphone, and one laptop valued at around 4,000 NIS (850 euros). In fact Israeli soldiers turned on the computer and they saw a Palestinian flag as the desktop image, they turned to Talal and questioned him as to why he had that photograph on his laptop. He said it is the flag of his government, to which the soldier replied: “if you want you can go to Ramallah and show it [Palestinian flag] to Abu Massen [Mahmoud Abbas]” and then smashed the laptop on the floor. The laptop was taken to a repair shop in Salfit, hoping it can be repaired.

Talal’s eldest son was taken apart from the rest of the family into another room and the commander asked him “where is it?” He didn’t know what the Israeli soldiers were talking about nor did they specify, so they continued ransacking their home.

Under the pretext of an Israeli military operation in search of the three missing settlers – initiated 10 days ago – episodes of collective punishment are erupting all over the West Bank. This is just another example.

One Palestinian killed and over 25 injured as Israeli military invade Ramallah

22nd June 2014 | International Solidarity Movement| Ramallah, Occupied Palestine

In the early hours of the morning, the Israeli military invaded the Ramallah district of the West Bank; at least 25 people were injured, mostly from the many rubber-coated steel bullets fired by the soldiers. One youth was shot with live ammunition in the head. Mahmoud Atalla Ismael was found dead one hour ago in a building close to al-Manara, shot with live ammunition.

Ramallah, according to the 1993 Oslo Accord, is classified as area A, supposedly under full Palestinian Authority, civil and security control. This did not stop the military from invading the city, continuing their campaign of collective punishment against the Palestinian people since three settler youth disappeared on Thursday (12th June).

At approximately 01:00 this morning, the Israeli army invaded the city of al-Bireh (near Ramallah); next they moved to the Alginan neighbourhood, raiding a local school. In the Imalsharait neighbourhood, Israeli forces tried to arrest a Palestinian youth, who was fortunately able to run away. Clashes broke out as Palestinian youths threw stones to try and repel the military from the area, the army fired many tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets.

Large numbers of Israeli forces then took control of Al-Manara Square in the center of Ramallah. From there Israeli soldiers threw stun grenades, fired tear gas canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets, and live ammunition.

At some point during this military violence, Mahmoud Atalla Ismael was killed.

One Palestinian woman was injured after Israeli forces threw a stun grenade that hit her in the head. She received treatment from Red Crescent paramedics, stayed until the military left the area, and then left to Ramallah hospital for further treatment.

Palestinian woman holding bloody gauze she used to stop her wound bleeding (photo by ISM).

Ala, a 21-year-old youth, was standing close to Al-Manara when he was shot in the head with live ammunition. “I touched my head and felt the blood, then I fell down to the ground. I was carried to a taxi and taken to hospital, I thought I was gonna die. Five doctors surrounded me and I was covered in blood”.

Ala was fortunate; the bullet struck his skull, and then glanced away. He required four stitches and was able to leave the hospital several hours later.

21-year-old Ala after being released from hospital, his shirt still bloody (photo by ISM).

13 youths were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets and taken to hospital for treatment, an additional two had to be treated for tear gas inhalation. However it is impossible to state exactly how many people were injured by the Israeli military, as many youths shot with rubber-coated steel bullets did not require hospital treatment, some continuing to stay in Al-Manara until the military left the area.