International Solidarity Movement - Page 37 - Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.

Israeli Occupation forces Shoot Children in the Head and Then Arrests Them in Nabi Salah

6/9/2023 Nabi Salah, Occupied Palestine,

In the Aftermath of the Killing of infant Mohammad Tamimi the occupying forces invaded the sleeping village of Nabi Saleh again early Friday morning and aressted Wissam Tamimi, who had just turned seventeen, and twenty-two-year-old Mohammed Fadel Tamimi, from their homes. Both suffer from severe head injuries. The Israeli military blew up the doors of the family homes of two youths who are suffering from head injuries after being shot in the head by the occupying forces. Wissam who is still a highschool student and Mohammed who is now twenty two but still suffers from the sever injuries he sustained when he was shot in the head as a child, were both arrested from their homes by the military this morning.

Mohammed Fadel Tamimi surrounded by occupiying soldiers as he is taken from his home. Friday 6/9/23

Wissam Tamimi was shot last week on June 1, 2023, the same day infant Mohammed Tamimi was also shot in the head and fatally wounded. Wissam, who was still sixteen at the time, was standing behind his uncle Bilal Tamimi, who was filming the military’s attack on their village. Bilal was wearing a vest and a helmet marked “PRESS.” Wissam was shot with a projectile that had a condensed hardened foam tip, which fractured his skull and caused a concussion. Bilal filmed the entire incident and aired it live on Facebook. In the footage, Wissam’s injury can be seen starting at minute 22. Bilal continued to film and broadcast until he himself was wounded, with his hand fractured by the same kind of projectile that wounded Wissam.

Wissam Tamimi being treated in the Ramallah hospital for a fractured skull and concussion

Wissam was released from the hospital on June 5, a day before his 17th birthday. However, he still needs to return to the hospital for further evaluation. Due to his injuries, he was unable to complete his final exams, which took place this week. This morning, the occupying forces blew up the door of his house and arrested him from his home.

At the same time, Israeli forces stormed the house of Muhammad Fadel Tamimi, 22, and arrested him after blowing up the door. Muhammad has been repeatedly arrested since the age of 13, enduring months of imprisonment. He has survived being shot in the head twice, once in 20017 at the age of fifteen and then again last year. Like Wissam, he has been targeted, arrested, and intimidated while suffering from a fractured skull. Muhammad suffered severe damage and lost almost a third of his skull. He has undergone a series of complex reconstructive surgeries and had customized skull implants inserted. He still relies on medication to prevent seizures.

Mohammed Fadel Tamimi before reconstructive therapy in South Africa — Mohaamed Fadel Tamimi Before his skull reconstruction surgery

In a media statement, South African MP Nkosi ZMD Mandela demanded the immediate release of Muhammad Fadel Tamimi and his cousin Wissam. This follows a statment in which, MP Mandela called on the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant against Bibi Netanyahu.

Manal Tamimi, a human rights defender from Nabi Salah, expressed the following: “On Tuesday, Wissam was supposed to celebrate his seventeenth birthday, a milestone that marks the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. However, instead of celebrating, he spent the day recovering from his injury and participating in the funeral of his relative Mohammad. And now, he has to endure imprisonment while still in pain. The village is going through difficult days with the arrest of Muhammad and Wissam, the death of Muhammad, and the injury of six members of our family. We call upon the international community to ensure the protection of this small village, which has a population of fewer than 650 people and has already lost six members of our family and community to occupation-related incidents in the last decade.”

Mohammed Fadel Tamimi after recieving skull implants in South Africa

Silwan Bustan Neighbourhood Under Increased Threat

Silwan’s Bustan neighbourhood situation has worsened of late and is now even more urgent.

Report By Jahalin Solidarity

Silwan, Bustan neighborhood, Occupied East Jerusalem JUNE 6, 2023

1. The most recent meeting with the Mayor, and Adv. Ziad Qawar’s letter to him (1.6.23), have produced no further information as to City Hall demolition plans or the Elad (City of David) King’s Garden plan, which the 1550 residents are being asked to approve, STILL without being shown it.

2. City Hall is practicing a daily regime of gross pressure and harassment. e.g., Fakhri abu Diab just received a bill for estimated outstanding income tax of NIS1.5 million! The police served him personally with a new demolition order two days ago (4.6.23) and, working with City Hall, on Sunday 4.6.23 also served Fakhri yet another summons to an interrogation at City Hall, saying that if he refuses, they’ll issue an immediate demolition order. (Last month he attended an interrogation, but was told to wait outside. After three hours of waiting, he understood there was no interrogation, so he and his lawyer
left.) On legal advice, Fakhri won’t attend an illegal process, so there’s a possibility of imminent demolition of his home.

3. When the authorities arrive with such orders, they do so with high presence – at least 12 police officers: police, Border Police, riot police (Yassams) in full battle gear, helmets, guns.

4. The police have, as of late May, run a campaign of daily incitement against Fakhri – phoning residents’ committee members, warning them to have no dealings with Fakhri, as “he is preaching violence” (a total lie). The recent YNet live TV interview in Hebrew at Al Aqsa, when a policeman interrupted Fakhri’s TV interview (in Hebrew) knocking the phone out of his hand while on air, is another example of targeted harassment (the police spokesman accused him of incitement in Arabic!).

4. The mayor’s Jewish Israeli press spokesman, who also works in Arabic, recently asked Fakhri to please make his work easier by not speaking in classical “Fussha” Arabic, but in conversational Arabic. i.e. Fakhri’s media work is being watched by him. This echoes Adv Qawar’s report some months ago: City Hall sent him a list of links to Fakhri’s media work (as elected community spokesman for Silwan),reporting on demolitions, Al Aqsa updates, lack of services despite payments by East Jerusalemites of NIS 570 million per annum arnona [city rates] – with NIS 78 million p.a. being paid by Silwan residents
alone, heavy fines for “illegal building” but no available zoning for legal construction, or reportage as to 1000+ classrooms lacking in Palestinian E. J”m, especially in Silwan (meaning Hamas fills the vacuum for some 20,000+ children’s education). This was City Hall’s way of showing they are following his (totally unpaid) advocacy via Arabic TV, radio or print, and meetings with the diplomatic community – such as hosting US Sp. Rep. Hady Amr in his home last November or when asked to do a briefing at Al Aqsa for CEO of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer, a guest of EU Rep. Sven von Burgsdorff.

5. Fakhri calls on the international community to assert adequate pressure to preserve his homeand those of Bustan community, while upholding 3rd State responsibility for IHRL/IHL, not least to prevent the high likelihood such current policies will lead to major violence. Genuine concerns exist among East Jerusalemites that Israeli authorities, led by such as Minister for Public Security, Kahanist Itamar Ben-Gvir, Deputy Mayor, Kahanist Aryeh King et al., are deliberately stoking the fires, to achieve a conflagration. Such flames will be interpreted abroad in many places as deliberate attacks on Palestinians; responses in capitals may well ignite “anti-semitic” attacks, of an anti-Occupation nature, to then be exploited by far-Rightwingers in power. Such flames locally may be exploited by those in
power to shove through major displacement via demolitions, or more direct forms of transfer and expulsion. Kahane was a Jewish supremacist who espoused violence, Nakba and wanted to establish a theocratic Jewish state.

For further essential reading on the core ideals of Kach:
https://dawnmena.org/what-israels-new-kahanist-government-really-wants/ and
https://imeu.org/article/fact-sheet-meir-kahane-the-extremist-kahanist-movement

The Occupation forces that shot infant Mohammad Tamimi in the head invade and injure mourners at his funeral.

6/6/2023, Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine

Today, the people of the village of Nabi Saleh bid farewell to the slain infant Muhammad Tamimi, who tragically died after being shot in the head by an Israeli soldier.

Slain infant Mohammad Tamimi’s funeral
Photo by Diana Khwaelid

The villagers of Nabi Saleh welcomed the child with flowers as they paid their respects. His mother, brother, sister, and father shared a final farewell look with baby Muhammad, and his mother embraced him, kissing him for the last time. “I want justice for my son, and for every person who shot at my husband and son to be held accountable,” she said.

The mother of salin infant Mohammed Tamimi Kisses her son for the last time Photo by Diana Khwaelid

According to the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem, two-and-a-half-year-old Mohammed is the 150th Palestinian killed by Israel since the beginning of 2023. Documentation collected by Defense for Children International Palestine shows that 27 Palestinian children have been killed this year.

The brother of Maohhamed Tamimi Kissing his brother for the last time, Picture by Diana Khwaelid

During the funeral, confrontations broke out between the village youth and the occupying military that surrounded the village. Later that afternoon, while mourners were gathered at the grandparents’ home, the occupation forces invaded the village for the third time since Mohammad was shot, beating and shooting villagers, injuring six people.

The video below was taken by Neriman tamimi before she was beaten and injured by Israeli soldiers invading her village after leathaly wounding toddler Mohammad tamimi

Among the injured is Maher Tamimi, whose brother Qusai was tragically shot dead by the occupation forces last September. Maher sustained a gunshot wound in the pelvis, with the bullet entering his intestines. Renowned human rights defender Neriman Tamimi was targeted by a soldier, who struck her in the face with a rifle, and another mourner was hit in the face with a rubber-coated steel bullet.

Reknown human rights defender Neriman Tamimi hospitilized after being hit in the face with a rifle by an Israeli soilder

Ayed Abu Eqtaish, accountability program director at DCIP, stated: “Unlawful killings of Palestinian children have become the norm as Israeli forces become increasingly empowered to use intentional lethal force in situations that are not justified. This is a war crime with no consequences.”

In response to Mohammed Tamimi’s killing, South African MO Nkosi ZMD Mandela, the grandson of the late Nelson Mandela, released a statement demanding accountability. He stated, “We are appalled by this level of inhumanity and the ongoing crimes against humanity, and we call for immediate charges to be brought by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu.”

The video below was taken by AlQuds TV

MP Mandela calls for charges to be brought by the ICC against Netanyahu

6/5/23

Media Statement by Nkosi ZMD Mandela, MP:

Apartheid Israel must be charged for state terrorism for the killing of 2 year old Muhammad Tamimi.

Mvezo Komkhulu (The Great Place), Monday 5th June 2023: The passing of 2 year old Palestinian infant Muhammad Tamimi as a result of being shot in the head four days ago by Israeli soldiers is another act of brutality that has come to represent the daily atrocities perpetrated by Apartheid Israel against innocent Palestinians.

Those responsible must be charged with his murder and Netanyahu, his regime and those who act in consort with them have the blood of this innocent child on their hands.

Muhammad Tamimi was brutally shot outside his home in Nabi Saleh and has become the latest victim of Apartheid Israel’s state terrorism.

We are appalled by this level of inhumanity and the ongoing crimes against humanity and call for immediate charges to be brought by the International Criminal Court against Netanyahu.

Apartheid Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands and its continued expansion of illegal settlements in violation of international law is the cause of these acts of brutality, ethnic cleansing and systematic genocide.

We call for justice for 2 year old Muhammad Tamimi and all Palestinian children being butchered by Apartheid Israel. His death brings the number of children brutally killed by Apartheid Israel in 2023 alone to almost 40 children and the number of Palestinians killed by Apartheid Israel to nearly 200 this year.

It is inconceivable that the UN Convention on the Rights of Children carries zero weight for the perpetrators of these heinous crimes against humanity.

We will not rest until the perpetrators of these crimes are brought to justice.

We convey our heartfelt condolences to the Tamimi family and the Palestinian people on the occasion of the martyrdom of Muhammad Tamimi. We demand justice for him, for all Palestinian children murdered by Apartheid Israel and condemn in the strongest terms these crimes against humanity.

ENDS

Nkosi Zwelivelile
Royal House of Mandela
Mvezo Komkhulu
P.O. Box 126
Viedgesville 5102
Eastern Cape Province
South Africa

Child dies of his wounds as occupation forces escalate attacks on occupied Nabi Salah

6/5/23 – Update: 2,5 year old Mohammed Tamimi has died of his wounds inflicted by Israeli soldiers who shot him in the head.

6/4/23 Nabi Salah, Occupied Palestine: The Israeli occupation forces have escalated their assaults on the Palestinian village of Nabi Salah targeting civilians including a toddler with live ammunition.

Two and half year old Mohammad Tamimi has a bullet lodged in his brain and is currently in critical condition.

On Thursday, June first, 2023, the occupation forces placed a military checkpoint at the entrance of the village and prevented cars from passing. They forced some young men to get out from their cars and began to attack them physically without any reasons

At approximately 7:30 pm one of the soldiers stationed near the military tower shot Haitham al-Tamimi, 40, in the shoulder and his son two and a half years old, Mohammed Al Tamim in the head as they were about to get onto their car warning. Haitham was operated on in Ramallah Hospital but his son, Mohammed is in critical condition with a bullet lodged in his brain.

Haitham AlTamimi after being operated on after Israeli troups opened fire on him and his son

At around 8:00 pm, a military jeep stormed the village and started firing live bullets directly at the houses, which led to breaking the windows in some houses. As a result, Wissam Al-Tamimi 17 was injured by a sponge bomb in his head while he was standing on the roof of the house, which fractured his skull.

17 year old Wissam AlTamimi was hit in the head with what is called a ponge bomb while on the roof of his house. He suffers form a fractured skull.

After that, three snipers positioned themselves on the roof of one of the shops opposite the citizens homes and fired live bullets and sponge bombs at anyone who moved, whether inside the houses or on the roof tops. The journalist and volunteer at B’Tselem, Bilal Al-Tamimi, who was wearing a press uniform, helmet, and shield, was wounded after a soldier fired a sponge bomb directly and from a close range which broke his wrist and required surgery for a platinum implant. The house of journalist Bilal Al-Tamimi continued to be targeted with live bullets, gas canisters and sponge bombs, as a result of which his mother, who had kidney failure, suffocated.

Journalist and Human rights defender Bilal Al Tamimi after being operated on due to the occupation forces breaking his wrist with a so called sponge bullet

On Friday, June 2, at approximately 4:30 P.M, Noura Al-Tamimi was hit by a sponge canister in her stomach, which caused severe convulsions, which necessitated taking her to the hospital. Kafa Al-Tamimi, who is seven months pregnant, suffocated from the gas after a tear gas canister broke the glass of her bedroom window.

Many of the village residents, including children, women, and the elderly, were detained outside their homes and were not allowed to return until the withdrawal of the occupation forces at dawn.

On Saturday night, June 3, 2023 the occupying military invaded the village, once again entering homes, The occupying soldiers took one young man from his home, beat him up, and then released him. This morning the children of Nabi Salah went to school to sit their final exams after another sleepless night.

Manal Tamimi of Nabi Saleh stated: “ The incitement for this attack stems from the settlers’ repeated attempts to intimidate the villagers, with the most recent incident occurring just last week. In light of these distressing events, we urgently call upon the international community to ensure the protection of this small village, with a population not exceeding 650 people. It is imperative that international humanitarian law and international treaties are upheld, and immediate action is taken to halt the repeated attacks by both the occupation forces and settlers. Over the past decade alone, these aggressions have tragically resulted in the martyrdom of five young individuals from the village.”