International Solidarity Movement - Page 391 - Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.

Brother and sister arrested without charge in Kufr Qalil

12th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement | Nablus, Occupied Palestine

Team Nablus

Mother of arrested siblings Tahrir and Saddam

At 1:30 am on May 12, Israeli soldiers arrested a brother and sister from Kufr Qalil without charge and ransacked their home, terrorizing their family and leaving them with no information about the siblings’ imprisonment.

Israeli soldiers arrived at the residence of Abu Mahyoub Mansour in Kufr Qalil in south Nablus as at least five army jeeps surrounded the family home and eighteen soldiers entered looking for his daughter Tahrir, 29 and son Saddam, 27. All thirteen occupants in the house, including two small children, were woken and made to walk downstairs into one room, among them the youngest daughter, 19, who is severely disabled with cerebral palsy. She cannot walk and had to be woken up and carried down, crying in fear.

The children were scared and crying when soldiers put eye covers on them with slots for the eyes and then repeatedly screamed at them to be quiet. The noise of the raid woke up all the neighbours though no one dared to look out as more soldiers remained outside pointing their guns at windows.

Tahrir, who works as a seamstress during the day, was at home and taken into a separate room where she was searched and interrogated. After interrogation, her eyes were covered as she was taken into the other room where her sister asked her what they had said to her. Tahrir had laughed as they attempted to scare her and the commander said, “Don’t laugh because we we will give your family reason to be sad and cry about you and you will never see your family again.”

Saddam, married and father of two small children, was not at home as he works night shifts. His father was ordered to call him and ask Saddam to wait near a specific spot in Kufr Qalil. Abu Mahyoub and Tahrir were then driven by the army to locate Saddam. Saddam’s hawwiya (Palestinian ID) was taken and he was interrogated before being arrested and taken to the the house, eyes covered and hands bound.

The ransacked home of arrested siblings Tahrir and Saddam

This is the second arrest for Saddam, who was arrested previously with his sister Samoud in 2005 when they went up near the illegal Bracha settlement to look for their brother Mahyoub on the day he was killed by Israeli forces. Subsequently Saddam spent two years in prison and Samoud spent four and half years.

On return to the house, Abu Mahyoub saw all the soldiers were outside and that inside the house had been taken apart, searched and ransacked. Wardrobes were emptied onto the floor, cupboards broken and a toilet seat had been ripped off. A computer hard drive, laptop, camera memory sticks, mobile phones and municipality gifts for prisoners’ families were taken.

The army was there until the first call to morning prayer at about 4 am. The officers did not state a reason for the two arrests and gave no information on where the young brother and sister were being taken. The family still has no information about their whereabouts; meanwhile, Mawahib, Saddam’s 4-year-old daughter, believes her father is away at work.

Residents say that army jeeps often enter Kufr Qalil, making arrests randomly and whenever they want. Relatives of the two arrested in Kufr Qalil have a 42-year-old son who has been imprisoned for six years, a father of two sons, one 12 years old and the other 6 years old, who was still unborn when his father was arrested. The six-year-old met his father for the first time yesterday, May 12. The father, Shahir Mansour, is also said to need some medical attention which he is lacking in prison.

Askar: a new arrest in the midst of old issues

12th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement | Nablus, Occupied Palestine

By Team Nablus

On Tuesday 7th May, at 2am, Ahmad as-Sars was arrested whilst in his home with family and well wishers gathered to mourn the death of his grandmother the previous day. New Askar refugee camp faces many problems in its right to exist, economy and the support it receives. Despite their daily struggles, hope for the future remains strong in the next generation, of which the independently run Keffiyeh Community Center, located in the camp, is an impressive example.

P1010235 — Mahmoud Sars with his son Ahmad’s picture

New Askar camp is situated north-east of Nablus in the Askar area. It was created in 1965 to accommodate the increased number of refugees who were living in (old) Askar Camp that was established in 1950 after hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their homes in the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of 1948 that was part of the creation of Israel.

Ahmad as-Sars, 23 years-old, was arrested during the early morning. His grieving father pleaded with the soldiers not to take him until the next day. He was told, however, by the soldiers that they were ‘just’ taking him to Huwwara military base and would return him at 4am. During the arrest they searched the house, bringing dogs into the home and took all the mobile phones. They herded 40 family members into one room, the large number due to the death in the family.

Currently Ahmad is still in prison and the family have no news of his whereabouts. Ahmad was previously arrested at the age of 16, when he had just received his ID. His father commented that this signified the Israeli occupation forces seeing him as a ‘young person and man, although he was a child. Just because he received ID, they considered him a threat’.

Ahmad was imprisoned for 5 years, during his late teens until his early twenties. His education whilst incarcerated was partially restricted, although he was granted equivalent high school education and exams. Ahmad’s physical and mental health deteriorated in prison, where he became anxious and felt ill in his stomach; he did not get better until he was released.

Ahmad works in the family hardware shop and is the youngest brother of 6, all of whom, except one, have been in prison. One of Ahmad’s brothers has been in prison for ten years.

Two residents walk down a street in New Askar camp — Two residents walk down a street in New Askar

Arrests and incursions by Israeli troops are common in New Askar camp and they have suffered much in the ongoing occupation. New Askar is not officially recognised as a refugee camp by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) and as such there are no UNWRA installations in the camp. Although, in 2008, an UNWRA school was opened in the camp, but the 6000 residents are still expected to use the services in the old Askar Camp. An internationally funded sports centre was converted into a medical clinic to support the population, but the camp struggles to provide all the necessary services due to its unofficial status and by its position in Area B that is supposed to be under joint Israeli and Palestinian Authority control.

Children participate in a dakbah class in the Keffiyeh Communtiy Centre — Children participate in a dabkah class in the Keffiyeh Communtiy Centre

One community organiser in New Askar told international activists that the camp has many problems and that the youth have nothing to do, ‘no entertainment’. Very high unemployment is a factor in the camp, which combined with the lack of entertainment, leaves the youth of the camp disillusioned and without hope. The Keffiyeh Communtiy Center was set up independently by residents of the camp, to offer sports, activities and education to young people. The centre, although small, is a great success where children learn the traditional Palestinian dabkah dance, various sports and take part in field trips. The centre promotes international links and looks forward to one of its students traveling to France to take part in a boxing tournament.

A mural painted outside one of the schools in the camp

Ahmad’s story shows the harsh reality of young people living under occupation and the attempt by the army to deny children a childhood. Community centres set up all over the Occupied Territories successfully give some children a chance to be children and, in so doing, continue the resilience of the Palestinian people.

Beit Ommar: steadfastness and non-stop resistance against Israeli occupation

12th May 2013 | Beit Ommar Popular Movement, Beit Ommar, Occupied Palestine

On Friday 10th of April, tens of heavily armed Israeli occupation troops clashed with Beit Ommar’s defenseless youth, armed only with eagerness for freedom. Israeli forces shot countless tear gas canisters towards the young people, other civilians’ homes and shot numerous rubber-coated steel bullets, in addition to targeting citizens’ property. More than 50 people were injured, including 12 from rubber-coated metal bullets injuries and the rest due to tear gas suffocation. Two of the injured were hit in the head and urgently taken to al-Alia hospital in Hebron. Many cars, house windows and water tanks were damaged by the soldiers.

Israeli border police officer loads canisters into a tear gas launcher (Photo by Beit Ommar Popular Movement)

Tear gas canisters shot at the fields (Photo by Beit Ommar Popular Movement)

Protester injured from rubber coated steel bullets (Photo by Beit Ommar Popular Movement)

Injured protester being taken away (Photo by Beit Ommar Popular Movement)

“We don’t go to their homes throwing rocks, why do they do it to us?”

12th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Jalud, Occupied Palestine

By Nablus Team

At about 11 PM on Sunday, May 5, about 40 illegal Israeli settlers attacked Jalud, west of Salfit, attempting to set fire to two homes with firebombs.
Settler attacks on Jalud started two years ago from nearby illegal settlements of Yahyah (first outpost 13 years ago) and Esh Kodesh (more recent outpost). Attacks are typically on the homes of five families on the furthest edge close to the settlements, not within the village center. All those homes now have several metal protections on all windows to prevent harm based on previous attacks.

House set on fire by settlers (Photo by ISM)

Recent attacks have been at night, but have also happened during the day lasting just 5-15 minutes, say locals. The attacks nonetheless cause great damage and are always unexpected. The army arrives within minutes after the settlers and has used tear gas on residents to clear any gatherings due to settler attacks.
This attack fortunately left just scorched ground and walls as Jalud residents put out the fires immediately. However, the previous attack in February this year left a 4-year-old in the hospital with six stitches from a rock thrown at the head. Settlers also attacked a family’s car, breaking windows and causing reportedly 2000 Shekels worth of damage. Furthermore, 17 people in the past year have been hospitalized for injuries; in one instance, young children and a 3-month-old went to the hospital suffocating from a tear gas canister thrown in their home by soldiers arriving at a settler attack from Yahyah settlement near Jalud.
B’tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, reported in a press release of October 2011 that “in spite of repeated complaints by the residents of Qusra and other villages in the area – Duma, Qaryut and Jalud – and by human rights organizations, the law enforcement authorities routinely violate their obligation to protect local residents from settler attacks.”
Jalud exists in Area B, meaning the area is under Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control (Area B covers about 21% of the West Bank; another 61% is Area C, with full Israeli civil and security control). However, tear gas has been used on Jalud residents to clear gatherings of people coming to confront settler attacks.
“We don’t go to their homes throwing rocks, why do they [come attack our homes]?” said one Jalud resident. He also said that the illegal Yahyah settlement first became established, slowly taking more and more land, and then began attacks on surrounding Palestinian villages.

Broken bottles thrown at houses (Photo by ISM)

Remains of fire set by settlers (Photo by ISM)

‘Price tag’ attack in South Hebron Hills

10th May 2013 | Operation Dove, South Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine

On May the 10th at about 6 a.m. some Palestinians from At-Tuwani and two Operation Dove volunteers found out that 62 olive trees had been cut during the night in a field next to the Bypass road 317.

Olive trees cut down (Photo by Operation Dove)

On a small wall nearby the olive field the sentence “price tag for those who steal” was found. The “price tag policy” (Hebrew: מדיניות תג מחיר) is, according to B’Tselem, the name given to “acts of random violence aimed at the Palestinian population and Israeli security forces” by radical Israeli settlers, who, according to the New York Times, “exact a price from local Palestinians or from the Israeli security forces for any action taken against their settlement enterprise”.

The olive trees grove belongs to the Amor Palestinian family and had been planted approximately 30 years ago. The members of the family which were present on the scene were particularly shocked for the loss.

The first jeep of soldiers arrived at about 7 a.m. followed by another army vehicle and a DCO (District Coordination Office) car. Around 7.30 a.m. a police car reached the area and an officer taped the incident’s scene with a camera. One member of the owner family spoke with the policeman giving him some information about the history of the olive trees. The Israeli police did not speak with the international volunteers and did not give any further details about the investigation. Around 8 a.m. Ma’on security chief arrived near the olive trees, spoke with the police and the soldiers and took some pictures. Some ten minutes later a DCO officer tried to detain a Palestinian shepherd from At-Tuwani accusing him of lacking respect to his authority. The Palestinian man denied and claimed that he did not say nothing bad to the officer.

Around 8.30 a.m. an Israeli soldier in charge of analyzing footprints started his investigation on the field. At the end of his research he declared that 6 people damaged the olive trees (5 men and 1 woman) while others were watching from distance.

In the afternoon, at about 2.30 p.m. a group of settlers set fire to a Palestinian wheat field close to the Palestinan village of Tuba. A Palestinian teenager saw them from distance while they were running away. The field belongs to the Aliawad family that has immediately called the Israeli police. When the police arrived the kid and his brother have been driven to the police station of Kiryat Arba for filing a complaint.

The olive trees and the wheat are an essential resource for the Palestinian community in South Hebron Hills area and their damaging causes a serious economic loss.

Nevertheless the Palestinian communities of the South Hebron Hills area are still strongly committed in the nonviolent popular resistance against Israeli occupation.

Operation Dove maintains a constant presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Palestinian woman protests the destruction of the olive trees (Photo by Operation Dove) — Palestinian woman expresses her devastation at the destruction of the olive trees (Photo by Operation Dove)

Message from settlers "price tag for those who steal" (Photo by Operation Dove) — Message from settlers: “price tag for those who steal” (Photo by Operation Dove)