International Solidarity Movement - Page 79 - Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.

Jewish Israeli activists call for Palestinian right of return, hang portraits of protesters murdered in Gaza on Apartheid Wall

Israeli-Jewish activists, calling themselves “RETURN” hung photos of the martyrs of the Great Return March on Gaza Apartheid Fence.

The following press release was sent to Mondoweiss regarding two actions in support of the right of return that were taken by Jewish groups in Israel today:

At 6 AM today, an anonymous group of Israeli-Jewish activists, calling themselves “RETURN” hung photos of the martyrs of the Great Return March on the Gaza Apartheid Fence. The protest was done against Israel’s extrajudicial killings of protesters during the Great Return March, including journalists, medics and unarmed demonstrators.

The action was inspired by a call from the #GreatReturnMarch in Gaza for international solidarity. The RETURN activists hung portraits of Gazans murdered by Israeli forces, including the now-iconic portrait of the young medic, Razan Al Najjar. Earlier this week, Gazan professor Haider Eid wrote, “the slogan of the Great March of Return is “I want to go home.” Seventy percent of Palestinians in Gaza are refugees from cities and towns in Israel… It’s time for the world to stand up and act– to impose sanctions on Israeli industries until Palestinians are granted freedom, civil rights, and justice.

One of the activists of RETURN stated, “The Palestinians besieged in Gaza are marching home, back to the villages and cities from which they were expelled. They are marching out of the desert that Israel has transformed Gaza into and because of this, the Israeli Occupying army is murdering them in cold blood. The courage and sacrifice of these people demand of us all to stand up and ensure an end to Israeli impunity. Apartheid must end and we are the ones who must end it.”

Later this morning “Israeli Jews in Support of Palestinian Return” posted posters of Akhmad Al-‘Adinie whos family was expelled from Bir As-Saba and ‘Abd Al-Qadr Al-Khawajry whos family was expelled from Bureir – Both were murdered by Israeli soldiers as they tried to return to their homes. The posters where posted near the Mosque of Bir AsSaba, in honor of their persistence and devotion. The group calls for the return of all the Palestinian refugees in Gaza and elsewhere.

Funeral held in Nabi Saleh for Izz al-Deen Tamimi, shot dead by Israeli soldiers

Mourners carrying the body of Izz Tamimi, 21 years, yesterday in Nabi Saleh

The funeral of 21 year old Izz al-Deen Tamimi was held yesterday afternoon on Wednesday 6th June in Nabi Saleh, a village north of Ramallah. Israeli soldiers shot the young man with three live bullets in the early morning, hitting his neck and chest. Israeli undercover agents and soldiers had entered the neighbouring village of Beit Rima in the early hours of Wednesday morning and arrested a Palestinian man. They also shot and wounded one other man using rubber coated steel bullets. As they were leaving the village of Beit Rima and passing through Nabi Saleh to exit to the south, young men from the village gathered to protest the Israeli army’s aggression. Izz al-Deen Tamimi was shot three times with live ammunition. Watch a video here of the aftermath of Izz’s shooting, as family and neighbours in Nabi Saleh rush to Izz and try to ensure his medical treatment.

The IDF released a statement on Twitter that a Palestinian man threw a ‘large rock’ at Israeli soldiers during an arrest, and that ‘in response, the soldier who was hit by the rock fired towards the suspect, who was injured and given medical treatment at the scene. Despite this, the suspect died. No IDF troops were injured.’ However, this conflicts with eyewitness accounts that after shooting Izz the Israeli soldiers took him and laid him down for thirty minutes before they allowed an ambulance to attend. During this time Izz reportedly lost a great deal of blood, and was later pronounced dead at the hospital in Ramallah. A local man told ISM that he went to the soldiers surrounding Izz and asked them ‘why did you have to shoot him in the neck? Why did you have to kill him?’ It should be asked whether shooting a man with live ammunition is a legitimate and proportionate response to a stone being thrown at heavily armed soldiers, none of whom was injured.

Izz al-Deen Tamimi’s funeral procession left Ramallah hospital and passed through the city centre, with hundreds of people in attendance. After leaving the city centre, cars of family and other funeral attendees were stopped at ’Atara checkpoint north of Ramallah by Israeli military in an apparent effort to halt mourners from attending the funeral in Nabi Saleh. The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) released this video showing Israeli soldiers harassing and intimidating mourners trying to reach Nabi Saleh. After this provocation, mourners were allowed to pass through. Hundreds of attendees joined the funeral in Nabi Saleh as men walked with Izz’s body up to the cemetery at the top of the village. Meanwhile, many Israeli military vehicles and heavily armed Israeli soldiers gathered at the checkpoint to the south of the village.

After the funeral, men look on as Israeli soldiers gather on the road below.

Several Israeli military vehicles arrive and gather near the road below Nabi Saleh

Israeli soldiers stand behind concrete blocks and point their gun towards the village of Nabi Saleh after the funeral of Izz Tamimi

ISM spoke with Bassem Tamimi, from the Popular Committee of Nabi Saleh and prominent anti-occupation activist. He said, ‘what will the world do now? Will the occupation end? … The international community may produce another report, another human rights report, but today it will have Izz’s name on it, but then what will happen?’ He seemed frustrated that the brutal occupation and the disproportionate violence that goes with it continues despite periodic media attention when there is a ‘flare-up’ such as has marked the recent Great Return March and Nabka 70 demonstrations. Nabi Saleh has been an ongoing site of struggle against the occupation and the policy of illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank. To find out more about the resistance to the occupation in Nabi Saleh read this interview with Manal Tamimi published today which reveals the extent of Israeli army violence, repression and harassment the people of the village face.

Protestors in Ramallah honor Razan Al Najjer, young medic executed by Israeli forces in Gaza

3rd June, 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Ramallah, occupied Palestine

Yesterday at midday, hundreds of protestors marched through the streets of Ramallah to mourn the execution of Razan Al Najjer, the 21-year-old medic who was executed by Israeli forces in Gaza on Friday.

Members of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society from across the West Bank, largely students, marched with portraits of Razan. Protestors held signs calling for #JusticeForRazan and end to Israeli war crimes and the seige in Gaza.

Hundreds of protestors march through the streets of Ramallah to mourn the execution of Razan Al Najjer, the 21-year-old medic who was executed by Israeli forces in Gaza on Friday (photo by ISM)

“Razan was providing first aid for people in the Gaza area and she was killed by live ammunition by Israeli soldiers,” says Dr. Muhammed Scafe, of PMRS. Dr. Scaafi emphasized that the murder of medical personel is a war crime and a breach of international law. “In accordance with the Geneva international code, medical teams have the right to provide first aid.”

Shatha Sameer Zaydya, a member of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, says she started volunteering with PMRS when she was a student in university. “I’m from the Sarfit area. We work a lot in Safit, Nablus, and Ramallah when we can. We face a lot of attacks from Israelis, and especially the settlers in the Nablus area, who want to kill and harm [Palestinians] and make us afraid.”

In accordance with the Geneva international code, medical teams have the right to provide first aid (photo by ISM)

Members of PMRS have been active in the West Bank and Gaza for the past 40 years. Today the organization has over 1.5 million volunteers. PMRS has provided urgent medical care to Gazans following Israeli violence 2012, 2014, and now in 2018 during the #GreatReturnMarch.

Yesterday afternoon, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, president of the PMRS, welcomed mourners into the headquarters in Ramallah. The message, he says, of todays protest is to honor Razan and to show Palestinians in Gaza “that we are one people, that you are not alone, and that you are not going to suffer on your own.”

Peaceful demonstrators march through Ramallah to protest against Israeli forces targeting medical personnel, journalists, children and unarmed civilians during the ongoing Great Return March in Gaza

Settler tourists given weekly armed escort through the streets of Al Khalil

On Saturday May 19th, over twenty soldiers escorted armed settlers through the souq

Every Saturday, Zionist settler tours take place in the narrow alleys of the souq in Al Khalil’s (Hebron). These guided tours usually last for about an hour, and settlers are always accompanied by armed Israeli forces, intimidating local Palestinians who are trying to make a living by selling their goods in the market.

The tours began in 2008. At the moment they are usually made up of 50 or more settlers, accompanied by around 30 armed soldiers and border police.

Palestinians often have to stop and wait as the tour makes its way down the narrow streets of the souq. If they are allowed to pass at all, pedestrians are forced to walk through a crowd of settlers, soldiers and border police. Businesses in the souq are affected, as shopping streets are brought to a standstill.

On recent Saturdays, ISM volunteers have seen small children attempting to get past the tour, but repeatedly being told to wait by the army escort.

Each week international volunteers from ISM, the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme for Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) and Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) walk ahead of and behind the tour, in an attempt to monitor and observe the situation. These observers often face harassment from Israeli forces. For example, on Saturday 5^th May, after the tour had finished, six international volunteers were surrounded and detained by 13 paratroopers. The commander of the group demanded IDs from the internationals, and threatened that if they ‘made problems’, they would be imprisoned for one month, barred from Al-Khalil, or from entering Israel in the future. This is one small example of how the Israeli military works to prevent any scrutiny of its illegal occupation.

One shopkeeper in the souq told ISM, “We don’t know the settlers’ intentions in coming into our streets, why do they have to come here? Perhaps they are wanting to take over this area.”

Another shopkeeper told us, “I really feel distressed and unsafe during the tours. Even though they have army units with them, some of the settlers carry shotguns. I think they come here [on the tours] because they think think this is their city. It puts a lot of pressure on us Palestinians. I have even seen the people on the tours spitting at international volunteers.

We never know when they are going to come, sometimes they come late afternoon. Sometimes, when there are hard times here, they even come at night.”

Read more about the settler tours here and here.

Israeli soldiers fire tear gas and stun grenades into two schools in AlKhalil/Hebron on first day of Ramadan

Israeli paratrooper backup arrives to deal with small boys throwing stones at heavily armed checkpoint in Al Khalil

On the morning of Thursday 17^th May, the first morning of Ramadan, at around 7.30, several small boys were seen throwing stones at the Salaymeh checkpoint in the occupied H2 area of Al Khalil/Hebron. One soldier above the checkpoint responded by pointing a live ammunition rifle at a small boy. The soldiers on the checkpoint called for backup to deal with the small boys, and a truck full of paratroopers arrived. At around 8am the soldiers went out through the checkpoint, split into two teams and occupied two rooftops above schools in the Palestinian neighbourhood, then fired tear gas into 2 school playgrounds as children were gathering for the start of the day. Children and teachers were affected by tear gas inhalation.

Tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers on rooftop landing in Al Khalil boy’s basic school

Israeli soldiers on rooftop firing tear gas at two school playgrounds

In total in the next hour, around 15 Israeli soldiers came into the Palestinian neighbourhood outside of Salaymeh checkpoint and continued to fire more tear gas bombs and stun grenades from rooftops into the two school playgrounds. One school was Al Khalil Basic School (UN) for 8^th and 9^th grades, and the other was a boy’s school next door for grades 1-4. In total around 10 tear gas bombs and around 7-10 stun grenades were fired into the school playgrounds and street outside in the course of an hour, as children continued to walk to other schools in the neighbourhood.

Soldiers in street facing school, after tear gas fired by another team of soldiers on roof

After the soldiers finished firing tear gas and stun grenades at the children, they returned through Salaymeh checkpoint. ISM activists were detained for a short time at a checkpoint because they had been filming the soldiers’ violence. While being detained, they witnessed border police making a Palestinian family wait outside the checkpoint while the border police ate sandwiches in front of them and said “everybody loves Israel… That’s why they moved the embassy,” in an apparent reference to the recent relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem.