27th July | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Deir Abu Mash’al
Palestinians demonstrate for Israel to return the dead bodies of their sons, husbands and fathers
Some 300 Palestinans from the West Bank (including occupied East-Jerusalem) gathered today in Deir Abu Mash’al to protest Israels practice of withholding the bodies of dead Palestinans from their families. The practice of doing so is a war crime that creates immense suffering for families already dealing with the trauma of having lost a loved one. Deir Abu Mash’al is a village of roughly 5000 inhabitants, 25km from Ramallah.
Palestinians—women and men, children and elderly—gathered on a main road of the village to demand the return of their lost family members, whose bodies are still being kept by Israel. Many of the men died during their imprisonment, others were shot and killed during protests or other incidents. Some families have been waiting for decades, for their husbands and sons to receive a dignified burial in their homeland.
Amongst the protestors were also the families of Baraa Saleh, Adel Ankoush and Osama Atta from Deir Abu Mash’al. The three young men were shot after having stabbed an Israeli border police in occupied East-Jerusalem on June 17, 2017. Immediately after the incident, Israeli soldiers and border police blocked all roads in to and out of Deir Abu Mash’al, raided the villagers’ houses, searched their cars and revoked the villagers’ permits to access Israel for work and family visits; these repercussions are internationally regarded as collective punishment. Such measures are considered a war crime, in direct violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Namely article 33: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed.” Moreover, it constitutes a breach of customary international humanitarian law. The roads to the village have been opened successively, but today the villagers are still traumatized and suffer from ongoing repercussions (for example punishments regarding their work permits or their house demolition).
Additionally, the families of the three men killed on June 16, 2017 received punitive home demolition orders. These families were made homeless. It’s not only the three families, but the whole village and all Palestinian families who haven’t received the bodies of their lost sons, brothers, cousins and husbands yet; thus, still suffering from collective punishment. Indeed, Israel’s practice of holding the bodies of the slain Palestinians is considered collective punishment, therefore a violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law by the Committee against Torture, the United Nations Secretary-General and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Two days before the protest in Deir Abu Ma’shal, a young Palestinian, Mohammad Tareq Dar Yousef (17) from neighbouring village of Kobar was shot and killed, after having stabbed three settlers in the illegal settlement Adam in the West Bank. One of the settlers died of his injuries. The village of Kobar has allready been raided, the roads in and out have been blocked and the family of Mohammad are facing homelessness as their home is now about to be demolished (reported by IMEMC). It is expected that the body of Mohammad will also be witheld by Israel.
Between 2008 and 2015 Israel held back 253 corpses, since 2015 Israel has held back another 26 corpses.
In 2011, 91 corpses were returned to Palestine, 11 of those remain in Ramallah as their identity remains unknown. From 2013 to 2014 Israel returned 21 Palestinians who lost their lives in the Second Intifada. One body was kept for 35 years before it was given to the family.
UN Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations on the fifth periodic report of Israel, UN Doc CAT/C/ISR/CO/5, 03 June 2016, para. 43.
UN General Assembly, Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, UN Doc A/71/364, 30 August 2016, para. 25.
26th July 2018 | Steve Dhiman, International Solidarity Movement | Khan al-Ahmar, occupied Palestine
An ISM volunteer describes his experience of being arrested and almost deported by Israeli forces
On Wednesday, the 4th of July, I began training with the International Solidarity Movement, an organization where Palestinians and Israelis, Jewish people and Muslims work together in non-violent and peaceful resistance to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. There are supposed to be two full days of training, but at the end of the first day, there was an urgent situation we had to respond to. Therefore, any new recruits were invited to join, provided they felt up to it, and I volunteered myself.
We travelled to the Palestinian village of Khan al-Ahmar outside of Ramallah late in the evening. The Israeli court had ruled that the village should be destroyed and the children’s school there along with it. They were bringing in a digger to make a path for the bulldozer to come through.
They had started the day before, and online I had seen terrible scenes of violence inflicted by the Israeli soldiers upon defenceless Palestinian women and children that were protesting the destruction of their home. We knew it would be more of the same, so we had to go there. I stayed awake all night and was on look-out, because they had arrived at 5 A.M. the day before. I smoked cigarettes and contemplated how horrific the situation was until the sun came up.
They arrived around 7.30 A.M. Me and ten other activists, one of them Israeli, made a human chain with actual chains. Our arms were linked and our hands were chained together as we saw the soldiers around us approaching, along with a huge digger. A senior soldier came over and smiled while slow clapping at us, and then went away to decide what to do about us.
We went directly in front of the massive tyres on this big machine and sat down in front of it in an attempt to stop it in its tracks — which luckily worked. It’s was a very scary moment.
I was at the end of the human chain, so the soldiers started with me. Three of them jumped on me, one of them stamping on my arm, almost breaking it. Another soldier came at me with a huge pair of bolt cutters and jammed it into a gap in the chain to cut it, almost cutting my thumb off in the process.
In the chaos, while they were focusing on me, a brave fellow young 20-year-old American activist named Liam Wheeler actually jumped up onto the digger and chained himself to it. At this, the Israeli soldiers went crazy and jumped all over him, yanking him away with everything they had while he was chained. Again, they could have broken both his arms but luckily, he only got a sprain on the inside of his elbow while mine is just bruised and tender with the skin still healing.
They dragged us over to their vans and trucks. I’d heard another one of our young activists screaming so I knew they had done something to her. It turned out she had been arrested as well. This was the 21-year-old Canadian Michaela Wheeler.
Up against the truck, one of the soldiers tried to snap my thumb back. Once arrested, we were calm and peaceful, so this was just to put me through pain. My thumb went back as far as it could without snapping and was held like that for about a minute while I just stood there in pain.
An older, senior soldier came over to me and started shouting. I told him were peaceful people and that this was a non-violent and peaceful protest against the demolishing of these people’s and their children’s homes. He looked me dead in the eye and said, “YOU’RE PEACE, I’M WAR”.
They then humiliated us. The soldier who arrested us proceeded to drag us one by one, bruised and shaken, our hands bound with cable ties which my wrists were bleeding from. Meanwhile, all his friends got in a circle around us, took out their smartphones and commenced to photograph us while laughing. It was like an animal trophy hunting shot. I could take it, but seeing it done to these 20 and 21 year olds cut me pretty deeply.
They then forced us into the back of a van. Not in the back seats, but down on the floor with virtually no spare room, so we were basically in the fetus position. They kept us like that for an hour.
At this point my nerves started to go a bit. I looked to the left of me and the saw these brave young people taking it in their stride and remaining dignified. I drew inspiration and strength from them. I then saw the digger go straight through into the village, before they took us to a police station in the nearby illegal settlement.
They then cut the cable ties, which had been fastened as tight as they could so they cut our wrists and had slowly began cutting off my blood circulation. Quite remarkable given the fact that we hadn’t been difficult with them, just calm and still. However, we still got thrown around.
They then sat us in a room with them all around showing each other the videos of everything that had happened, they were just laughing and loving it.
After a few hours of the same of thing they put us in a cell, me and Liam together and Michaela in the next one. The cells, as disgusting as they were, weren’t as bad as the treatment we received. They starved us of water throughout the whole day. Internationals in this heat need around 2-3 litres of water a day, but they would give us one tiny plastic cup, nowhere near enough to quench our thirst, and then we would have to beg for an hour or two before we would get another tiny plastic cup. I probably had just five of those from about 9 A.M. up until 9 P.M.
Throughout this time our interrogators were always trying to make us sign things, sometimes in Hebrew, which we didn’t understand. I later learned they would have used this to expedite the deportation orders of us back to our homes. Israel doesn’t want internationals here who are even sympathetic to what is happening to the Palestinians, let alone people who stand by their side.
As it approached 8 A.M. and getting dark outside our cell window, we got worried about where our lawyer was. We reasoned with ourselves and held firm, trusting that our case was being worked on.
Around an hour later there was a bang on the cell door. This time they said that our lawyer was here and took Liam out of the cell. 10 minutes later, they switched us and there was an amazing Jewish Israeli Human Rights lawyer waiting for me. She explained that she had been on the case for us all day and was planning to meet us in court the next morning, telling us that they were planning to deport us. This was our biggest fear. She said my consulate was putting pressure on Israel to allow them to visit me, using that to complicate things for them and delay them moving us to the Russian compound. In the nick of time, another Israeli supporter of Palestine signed something for us in Tel Aviv and with that we were being released. I couldn’t believe it, relieved that now we could stay and do more work. If they had decided to deport me, it might have taken a day or two and I could have ended up missing England’s World Cup Quarter Final game against Sweden!
They took me back to the cell and I shouted to Michaela that were out of here. We were all really relieved, but as international activists, we must be prepared to stand alongside the Palestinians when Israel are committing these crimes, and yes, that means we must be prepared to be arrested when necessary. For us internationals, we can be sure that we will appear in front of an Israeli court judge within 24 hours, and the worst thing that can happen is that we get deported. However, when a Palestinian gets arrested for the same thing: protesting against the destruction of his house, his water supply, his land or lack of free movement, whatever it might be, that’s it — he’s gone. It could be a year, or it could be five. We must stand firmly in solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinians. We must pressure our governments to stop selling arms to Israel and to recognise Palestine as a full UN member state.
I wish Israel would say “OK, we have enough land now”. But they keep expanding the settlements, it never stops. It’s time to take a stand.
Upon going back to Jerusalem with my fellow activists and then on to Bethlehem not far from the beautiful Church of Nativity, I found out we had won a temporary injunction from the Israeli High Court against the destruction of Khan al-Ahmar village. I was elated, as this will hopefully allow for more international activists and media to gather and bring attention to the case.
The day after my arrest, my Norwegian friend was arrested in a separate location near Hebron. It’s not even occupied yet; some settlers have just decided they live there now and have started ploughing the ground that belongs to the Palestinian community there. I would say it’s unbelievable but it’s not, it’s entirely typical
These are just small examples of what Israel is doing and how they’ve occupied almost the entire country of Palestine with systematic repression and brutal force. It’s important to remember that one side has all the power, all the money and all the guns and artillery, and that the other side is near defenceless.
I appeal to international activists to join the Palestinian cause now, to come over and get involved. If activism isn’t for you, then take a non-activist and perfectly safe trip to Palestine, both to learn, and because it’s a beautiful place with some of the most kind, helpful and caring people I have ever met — and I’ve been to many places.
Israeli and international protesters demonstrated at Gaza fence in solidarity with The Great Return March
On the 20th of July, Friday afternoon, a group of anti-zionist Israeli and international solidarity activists approached the Gaza siege fence at the same time that Gazans gathered by the fence on the other side during the weekly ‘Great Return March’, calling for the right to return to their land and for an end to the decade-long siege.
The activists carried a large banner saying ‘Liberate the Gaza ghetto’ along with flying the Palestinian flag. Additionally, the protesters held posters depicting the faces of Gazan protesters, journalists and medics who have lost their lives to Israeli soldiers since March 30th this year.
Protesters on both sides of the fence were visible to each other and interacted.
The activists read short biographies of the slain Gazans to Israeli soldiers who were trying to get them to leave the area. Finally, the solidarity activists were forcibly removed from the site and briefly detained by police before they were released. A sister action was held in New York City the same day
On Thursday 13th July Israeli forces came to the village of Bardala in the northern Jordan Valley, Palestine, and confiscated water pipes that supply water to the village, cutting off the water supply for all of the farmers in the village. The villagers are currently trying to reconnect the water supply that is so crucial to their livelihoods. The village relies on agriculture as its main source of income, and is currently preparing for the harvest of guava and corn as well as other fruit and vegetables, and so the recent Israeli attack on the water supply comes at a critical time for farmers.
This is not the first time that Israel has deliberately targeted the water supply in Bardala. On Thursday 5th July Israeli forces came to the village of Bardala and confiscated water pipes that supply water to the village, cutting off the water supply for around 20% of farmers there. Two months ago, Israeli forces entered the village to cut Bardala’s water supply and confiscate the water pipes, also arresting two farmers. Read the report from that incident here. Water is a critical way in which the Israeli occupation is deliberately squeezing the livelihoods of Palestinians from the Jordan Valley. Much of the village of Bardala is in Area C, where the Israeli occupation controls building permits and almost all areas of local administration. 87% of the Jordan Valley is designated as Area C, and Palestinians living in Area C are not given permits for building any structure, including water tanks. This means that farmers from land in Area C cannot legally set up their own irrigation systems, even though there is plenty of water in the Jordan Valley. The Israeli government deliberately restricts the water supply to Palestinians in Area C, using most of the water to supply illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Save the Children estimates that the 9,000 Israeli settlers in the Jordan Valley consume almost 7 times as much water per day on average than the 60,000 Palestinians living there. Due to building restrictions in Area C, Palestinian farmers living in the Jordan Valley have no choice but to resort to connecting their water pipes to the Israeli-controlled water supply, which is deemed ‘illegal’ by the Israeli occupation. Read more about Israel’s ‘water apartheid’ policies in the Jordan Valley here.
Get involved with Jordan Valley Solidarity: http://jordanvalleysolidarity.org/
Not content with continuous demolition of school classrooms, the Israeli authorities have now moved on to the demolition of homes in the Palestinian Bedouin community of Abu Nuwar.
Around 8.30am on Wednesday 4 May, Corporate Occupation witnessed Israeli soldiers, border police and representatives of the civil administration arriving in the village, which is in the West Bank district of Jerusalem, and declaring the area a closed military zone.
According to B’Tselem, nine homes were destroyed, along with three farm buildings, leaving 62 people – about half of them children – homeless. Bulldozers made by the British firm JCB were used to demolish buildings as a surveillance drone was flown overhead.
Like Khan al-Ahmar, just down the road, the Bedouin community of Abu Nuwar is being threatened with relocation by Israel. It stands in the way between annexed East Jerusalem and the huge settlement of Maale Adumim which looms over the village. The Israeli authorities plan to build thousands of settlement houses here, in the “E1 corridor”, and further divide the West Bank.
Abu Nuwar, which has around 600 residents, is tucked away behind the main road – a road people can only use by car, massively restricting people from moving with their animals. Before the Apartheid Wall was built, people from Abu Nuwar were able to sell their sheep in Jerusalem, now they can only sell in cities within the West Bank, which they say brings in a much smaller income.
Several demolitions were reported in the West Bank on 4 July. As demolitions in Abu Nuwar took place, the authorities prepared to demolish the village of Khan al Ahmar, home to nearly 200 people. Israeli Civil Administration officials took down barriers at the side of the road to give access for bulldozers and vehicles. Several people were arrested during a protest which blocked a bulldozer from getting through. Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of demolishing Khan al Ahmar in May, after an international campaign to save the village and its school.
Military shouting at us to leave house demolitions in Abu Nuwar. Woman asking if they have demolition order & military laugh& tell her to leave. Now they have come and shown us order. Drone overhead. At least 4 houses demolished #jahalin@jahalin@K_Anckarstrom@BrightonPSC
In February 2018, Israeli forces demolished two classrooms of Abu Nuwar’s school, affecting over 25 students. This was the fifth demolition or confiscation of classrooms since February 2016. In April, we interviewed community representative Abu Imad about the community’s struggle for survival. We spoke inside Abu Nuwar’s community centre which was being used as a temporary classroom for the third grade.
Why is this building now being used by the school?
An order declaring a closed military zone
We are forced to use it because of the demolition of the classrooms.
The closest school to this community was 2km away. There is no transportation and there is no good road. It’s very tiring for children to make it the whole way – children as young as five or six years old. In collaboration with some associations in the European Union (EU) we established the kindergarten and we got an order from the court that prevents the occupation from demolishing it.
Since then we have built many classrooms for the school which have been demolished or confiscated. We have been working with our lawyer and going to the Israeli court try and stop this happening.
The most recent demolition was on 4 February 2018. They did it between 2.00am and 5.00am and they used JCB machines. When they come to demolish they close the entire area and make it a closed military zone.
The remains of a classroom in Abu Nuwar, after February’s demolition
What support have you had from international governments and NGOs?
There is always logistical support from organisations providing us with water tanks. They just provide us with material to be demolished again. They try to put pressure on the occupation to stop these practices but it’s not enough. They are always shy when talking to the occupation.
We had welcomed a lot of groups of British politicians as well and we asked them to support us with a bus for students, but they have not tried to help.
Our fight is to keep presence on the land in the first place. Even though nowadays our options are getting narrower. Internationally speaking we can see that there are many countries supporting the state of Israel and we can predict that we will be living in more enclosed and pressured situations in the future.
It’s frustrating and depressing. We have many international agreements that Palestinians have the right to live peacefully and safely and they don’t respect these laws at all.
For three years they have been trying to make us willingly leave. The Civil Administration said they would give us money to leave. We didn’t even open the door to ask how much, but they seem to be ready to pay anything.
