Call to action – Join the ISM in 2013

2001 – 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Palestine

Prior to ISM’s foundation in 2001, live ammunition was the most commonly used weapon to quell Palestinian demonstrations, resulting in huge casualties. Since it’s foundation, ISM has seen live ammunition become far less common over time and the Israeli Army now utilize tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber coated steal bullets, more often as alternative crowd dispersion techniques. This is largely due to the presence of international and Israeli activists at demonstrations, something ISM has been central to.

During the second intifada we notoriously ran past soldiers into the Mukataa, Arafat’s compound which was under siege, the shelling stopped with a mixed International presence. A similar story unfolded at the same time in the siege of the church of the nativity in Bethlehem.

In 2004 ISM marched with Palestinian and international activists along the route of the Apartheid wall in the West Bank at the invitation of the effected villages. The march gathered momentum over a number of days, and upon arrival at the Qalandia checkpoint numbers had reached over 1000. The Israeli Army was unable to stop the march as it crossed into occupied East Jerusalem.

We cannot fail to mention that through the years farmers have gained increased ability  to implement their rights to access their lands during the olive harvest with help from international volunteers and advocacy.

Since the most recent 2012 bombardment  activists have accompanied Palestinian farmers onto their fields in the military ‘buffer zone’ enabling them to work their land, despite coming under fire on occasions. In Israel’s buffer zone for the first time, soldiers have begun using tear gas and firing warning shots rather than shooting to kill.

In the West Bank, ISM activists have recently been vital supporters in Palestinian actions such as blockading settler roads, invading settler-only supermarkets, and we continue to join Palestinians on their weekly Friday demonstrations against the Occupation. We have been and continue to be ready for whatever arises on a daily basis.

In a time of an increased need for international presence in Gaza and what looks to be a upsurge of violence in the West Bank, we call on international activists to join the ISM on the streets of Palestine. Volunteers of the ISM are requested to make a minimum of a two week commitment, long term volunteers are always needed. Please see more information on how to join.

As an inspiration, you can read also “ What YOU can do as an International to help people in Palestine“.

Teenager critically injured in Hebron clashes

by Team Khalil

13 December 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Nasser Sharabati (16) was shot three times by live ammunition on Thursday night during clashes in Hebron. He in Hebron’s hospital and in a critical condition. Around 90 people were injured and had to receive hospital treatment. It is evident that Israeli army snipers were firing to cause maximum injury.

On another day of clashes between the Israeli army  and Palestinian youth, Nasser Sharabati was shot in the chest, side and arm with three rounds of live ammunition. The clashes in the city began in the Bab Al-Zawiya area of the city centre around half past one in the afternoon. The Israeli military fired large amounts of tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets into this shopping area causing great distress to many people, the vast majority of whom were not involved in the clashes. Shops and businesses had to hurriedly close as the whole area was disrupted.

Palestinian police in the streets of Hebron

At around half past two the Palestinian police drove inbetween the Israeli military and the Palestinian youth. They got out of their vehicles and a uniformed officer backed up by police in riot gear tried to talk the crowd out of confronting the heavily armed soldiers. Only the previous evening however Mohammad Zaid Awwad Salayme had been murdered in Hebron by the Israeli military. The passionate and indignant Palestinian youth were intent on defending their city from yet another incursion into the Palestinian-controlled H1 area of the city by the Israeli army and the attempt was unsuccessful. The Palestinian police withdrew and the clashes resumed with increased intensity. Massive amounts of tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets were now fired by the soldiers.

In a worrying new development snipers taking up prone positions on the Palestinian streets were deployed by the Israeli military. It was clear that these snipers were firing to cause maximum injury, to maim and even kill the Palestinian teenagers and children that confronted them. Undaunted the Palestinian youth defended their territory and the stuggle continued for several hours into the evening. Sometime between 8 pm and 9 pm Nasser Sharabati was struck by three live rounds, was critically injured and taken to hospital. Reports suggest up to 10 people were injured by live ammunition during the day. Nasser Sharabati was operated on and the hospital issued a call for blood donations on the local radio to which many people responded. Around 90 people suffered injury or problems from tear gas inhilation and had to recieve hospital treatment. Nasser Sharabati remains in a critical condition at the hospital in Hebron.

It is clear that the Israeli army has decided that increased and lethal force against teenagers and children defending their streets is an acceptable way to enforce their illegal occupation of Palestine.

Passionate and indignant Palestinian youth intent on defending their city from yet another incursion into the Palestinian-controlled H1 area
Israeli soldiers taking up prone positions on the streets in Hebron

 

Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)

Settlers attack children in Hebron

by Team Khalil

13 December 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

After school on the 13th of December in Al Khalil (Hebron) two children were attacked by a group of settlers. Younes Azzeh, age nine, and his sister Raghad Azzeh, age fourteen, were attacked by three male settlers that are speculated to be between seventeen and nineteen years old. Younes was kicked in the shins, thighs and generally roughed up as Raghad was accosted by a hurled stone hitting her lower back.

The attacks ensued as the children were walking home after school at around one o’clock in the afternoon. Their families’ house is next door to the Ramat Yeshay settlement which has historically caused numerous problems for Hashem Azzeh’s family, who is the father of the children.

The Azzeh family is of the few Palestinians allowed to walk on the road close to where the incident took place besides Zionists. The incident took place around checkpoint 57 in Tel Rumeida, this means that Israeli soldiers were nearby while the aggression took place.

Hashem has been under house arrest, his extended and immediate family have regularly received abuse and is under constant threat of settlers or soldiers intruding on their property and/or well being.

 

Illegal outpost with settlers above Hashem Azzeh’s house. Photo taken in October 2012 during olive picking in Hashem’s garden. Credit: Ryan Rodrick Beiler

 

Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)

Israeli forces kill teenager on his 17th birthday in Hebron [Updated]

by Team Khalil

12 December 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Palestinian youth Mohammad Ziad Awwad Salayme was shot dead on his 17th birthday in Hebron. Live ammunition was fired injuring another man and several journalists had to be hospitalised after being beaten on the street. Clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli Occupation forces erupted throughout the city and surrounding areas.

At around 7:30 pm on Wednesday 12 December 2012 a soldier of the Israeli army shot dead Mohammad Salayme, killing him with two bullets to the body and head in the Salayme neigbourhood of Hebron near to the Ibrahimi mosque. Mohammad had spent the day in school and was on his way to buy some cake for him and his family to celebrate his birthday, when suddenly his life was cut short. Another Palestinian man was shot with live ammunition and injured, he was taken to a hospital in the city. The Israeli military claimed Mohammad Salayme was carrying a fake gun, therefore shot him. Mohammad’s father who rushed to administer first aid to his son said he saw no fake gun on him. Sound bombs, tear gas and rubber bullets were fired at Palestinians who tried to help the dying teenager.

The Israeli military closed off all the streets around the area where Mohammed was killed to prevent any journalists from reaching the incident. A car carrying four journalists was hit with several rounds of live ammunition and the journalists were stopped and forced from their car. The journalists, two from Youth Against Settlements, one from Reuters and one from Palmedia were forced to strip to their underwear in the cold evening air. The soldiers took their cameras and physically beat up the journalists resulting in them needing hospital treatment. A filmmaker who works for the Israeli peace group Btselem who lives close to the shooting was surrounded by 12 soldiers, beaten up and arrested. Officers from the District Coordination Office For Military Affairs informed local activists the cameras would be returned to them tomorrow after being checked for evidence.

The Israeli military flooded the city with an enormous amount of soldiers who attempted to clear the streets in a very aggressive manner, throwing sound bombs into groups of remonstrating Palestinians, shooting tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets. This behaviour only antagonised the residents of Hebron turning the tense situation into outright confrontation as clashes erupted throughout the city. The areas of Salayme, Bab Al-Zawiya, Qtoun and Dar Al Binzaid all echoed to the sound of live ammunition, concussion grenades, tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets. Clashes were reported in the nearby city of Yatta and in Dura.

Tensions in Hebron are rising as the Israeli occupation forces are using increased levels of violence in the city ever since the recent Israeli assualt on Gaza. Hamdi Alfalah was killed on November 20th and many people have been injured. Hebron will see another funeral on Thursday 13th of December.

Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)

Israeli forces fire on Gaza farmers and internationals in Khuza’a [Update: Video Added]

12th December 2012 |  Khuza’a, Besieged Gaza.

Gaza- Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas at unarmed farmers and international activists working in Khuza’a, a small village outside of Khan Younis located near the Israeli border.  At 10:30 AM, the farmers arrived and began to plough approximately 100 meters from the separation fence while internationals lined up in between the border and the farmers. They were quickly met by an Israeli military jeep and transport vehicle. An Israeli soldier issued a warning in Arabic to leave the area and then fired two rounds into the air. The farmers and internationals remained calm and continued their work and the Israeli soldiers left the area.

At around 11 AM, approximately 20 Palestinians and farmers gathered around 300meters back from the fence. Two military jeeps returned to the area.  One soldier exited his vehicle and fired four shots in the direction of the farmers and activists.  The fourth shot crossed the line of the activists and landed in the field being ploughed.  Again, the Palestinians and internationals were not deterred. The Israeli jeeps left and the farmers finished working on this section of land and moved on to an adjacent plot.

Fifteen minutes later, two Israeli jeeps returned, one equipped with an automatic machine gun.  A soldier fired three canisters of tear gas directly in front of the activists.  He proceeded to shoot at the tractor, damaging its engine and bringing the work to a halt.  An international was accompanying the driver aboard the tractor. The accompaniment team included participants from Spain, Italy, France, England, Scotland, Germany and the United States

Gazan farmers successfully ploughed and sowed wheat in adjacent plots, with the presence of internationals, during the two days prior to the incident.  Though they were issued warnings by Israeli forces to stay 100 meters from the fence, they were not fired upon in a similar fashion. “This incident is a prime example of the military harassment and unpredictability of the Israeli occupation forces that farmers routinely face while working their land in Gaza,” said a solidarity activist from Spain.  For a report from the previous days farming, see https://palsolidarity.org/2012/12/gazan-farmers-at-work-in-kuzaa/.

Residents from Khuza’a said they have not planted in this area, declared a closed military zone by Israel, for the past thirteen years.  Formerly an orchard, Israeli forces bulldozed the field multiple times during military incursions and regularly shoots at farmers who attempt to work there.  Farmers were under the impression that this area was now accessible after the November 21st ceasefire’s stipulations that Israeli forces would “refrain from targeting residents in the border areas” and to “stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip land, sea and air including incursions and targeting of individuals.”  This is the optimum season for planting wheat and the Gazan farmers only have a small window of time in which to work before the land will be rendered unusable.