Israeli forces hold Palestinian youth hostage during invasion of Jayyous

6th February 2009

Armored Israeli bulldozer in Jayyous
Armored Israeli bulldozer in Jayyous

The Israeli Occupation Forces continued their most recent assaults on the village of Jayyous, near Qalqilya, invading on the 5th and 6th of February.

On the 5th February , Israeli forces invaded at 2pm, imposing curfew on the village until 10pm.

The following day, at around 12.30pm, the army once again entered the village, this time using a bulldozer to pave the way for 6 jeeps, dozens of soldiers and border police firing tear gas and rubber bullets. They then proceeded to occupy one family home, taking up position on the roof as the village attempted to resist the invasion by throwing rocks.

The IOF also attempted to break in to another house nearby. When their attempts to break open the lock on the front gate with a rock failed, they employed the bulldozer to break it open creating much damage to the gate. Yet they then failed, after many attempts, to break down the front door, all the time threatening international Human Rights Workers (HRWs) who were filming while trying to stop them.

Israeli forces entered Jayyous in armored jeeps and bulldozers
Israeli forces entered Jayyous in armored jeeps and bulldozers

Several jeeps accompanied by soldiers on foot then descended into the village continually firing at residents. When the international HRWs confronted the soldiers they were told that the area was a closed military zone and threatened the internationals with arrest if they stayed. Throughout this time the Israeli soldiers did not show the required paper for declaring a closed military zone.

The army pushed further through the whole village, firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition indiscriminately, even to the point where they seemed to be treating the invasion as a game. The soldiers moved towards a house in the centre of the village when two HRWs came into view of the house. The international HRWs were quickly fired upon from around 10 metres away, despite being clearly unarmed having even been acknowledged moments before by the soldier who shot at them.

Villagers in Jayyous protest detention of youth
Villagers in Jayyous protest detention of youth

The soldiers then came out of the house with a young man and were taking him towards the jeeps, when his brother who was trying to prevent his brother’s arrest was shot at close range with a rubber-coated steel bullet causing serious injury to his arm. While one international HRW headed to the area where Israeli soldiers were arresting the young man, they were fired upon, with the soldier, anxious that no film or photos were captured, obviously aiming for the head.

During the next half hour many of the residents of the village, supported by internationals, came out of their houses and argued with the soldiers demanding they release the boy and leave the village. On more than one occasion the soldiers used sound grenades, throwing them into the crowd mainly composed women and elderly men.

Attempts to release the boy were met with physical violence and the pointing of weapons in peoples faces. The Israeli military eventually made their way to the edge of the village near the south gate. They told villagers that they would stay there and if the village was quiet for 5 minutes they would release the boy, thus making it obvious that they were holding him for no other reason than for blackmail.

After another half hour, the Israeli DCO arriving and the grandfather stubbornly negotiating with them, the boy was released. During this time the army had gained access to the house they tried to break into previously and took up sniping positions on the roof. After several clashes between the village youth and the Israeli army they retreated temporarily to the south gate before once again entering the village, this time on foot with no support from jeeps.

As it got dark they once again retreated to the south gate, before spreading themselves out along the fence that runs along the edge of the village. Youths from the village attempted and were successful a couple of times in setting tires alight on the fence but the army used flares and were repeatedly shooting with automatic rifle fire. This continued for a couple of hours until at this point the village has been invaded again by many jeeps and soldiers with the whole village yet again under curfew.

Israeli army shoots flares in Jayyous
Israeli army shoots flares in Jayyous

One million and a half broken hearts

Natalie Abou Shakra | Gaza 08

Wednesday February 4, 2009

Tears drop on her hands, hands that he had once kissed passionately, on her engagement ring, that ring he chose for her, on her cheeks that oust the redness of burning coals within her. The funeral is over now; his body is away, but the memory of him is as vivid as his own being yesterday. Dreams of a wedding, now written in the history of numerous deaths, is beyond of what reality can bring.

Her name is Hanaa, what means felicity. But, Hanaa shall know no felicity for many years now, overcoming the killing of her lost love, Mohammed, who was killed by IOF whilst at the Abu Middeen police station on December 27th, 2009. Red roses are thrown over Mohammed’s tomb as he is carried through the streets of his neighborhood. Hanaa, her head bent towards the ground, stroking the ring on her right hand, nods her head accepting a reality imposed, one of which she had no choice in determining.

This is the case of many here in Gaza, where love has been targeted, where intimacy has been destroyed, where sentiments are victims of slaughtering and massacres. “We are just numbers in the media,” says Hanan, a student at the Aqsa University in Gaza. “But, behind the numbers are stories, are loves lost, are childhoods devastated, choked.”

As I visited my friend’s house in the eastern neighborhood of Jabalya Town, I saw beds being torn apart, as the holes in them mark the aiming of an Apache rocket in the middle during the twenty two day attack on Gaza.

Since we are living in a culture of a so-called ‘human rights’ production, then perhaps those that declared those aforementioned rights can issue a declaration of a right to love.

“How can one express the broken dreams inside of him? How can one express himself?” asks the late Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani in “I have Married You, o Freedom!” a similar rhetoric now demanded on the streets of Gaza.

“There are no theatres, no cinemas, not even public libraries!” There is not even the right to go to the sea… to smell the ocean. Three years ago, the adolescent Huda Ghalyeh came out of the sea after she was swimming to find the eleven members of her family, slaughtered on the coast. The Israeli gunboat had missed shooting at her as she swam far from where her family was walking. Huda came out of the ocean as she heard the nearby sounds of the ambulance siren and people screaming to the images of killings. From three years of living within what is now described as the largest collective prison modern history has witnessed to what has become a largest concentration camp of killings and slaughtering, that many compare to the Warsaw and Auschwitz concentration camps, which still bring shivers to those who recall it during WWII.

In Gaza, where normality of habit and routine does not exist, in Gaza where the thought of a coming death is a consistent companion, amid a struggle to maintain a meaning to one’s life. “After one’s home is demolished, leveled down to ruins, one’s love, one’s family no longer existent… can you tell me what is worth living for?” asks twenty five year old Firas, who lost it all. He works at a local media agency, and manages to control the torn life that dwells bellow his childlike facial expressions.

“I missed eating fruits. We had no fruit. But, after the killings, they opened the crossings for a day or two to bring in fruit… I was nauseated by the fruit they [IOF] allowed to enter. I do not want to eat any fruit anymore after they killed 1500 of us” I hear from a young lady.

On the balcony of a friend, I observe the sun setting down on Gaza. My friend’s eyes are now an ocean of sadness. His expressions changed since before the war; he now looks into empty space, losing everyone around him. When he jokes and we laugh, his smile returns back to the land of forlornness, and it leaves a façade of an expressionless existence. We speak about the numbers of the dead, but there are also those six thousands citizens who have lost a body part, who are now physically challenged. How will they live the rest of their lives? How will the rest of the million and a half broken hearts in Gaza go on living in a time where the human condition is too worthless to be a condition from the start?

When asked about hell on earth, my answer is not Gaza: Gaza’s hell is… other people.

Settlers confiscate more land from Yasuf village

On February 4th, settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Kfar Tappuah began clearing land for building outposts, despite the fact that this land legally belongs to the Palestinian village of Yasuf.

The settlers brought a bulldozer with them to clear village fields, and it is expected that extensions of Kfar Tappuah in the form of trailer outposts will be erected in the next few days.

Yasuf village, which is located in the Salfit region, has already lost over 1500 dunums of land in the creation of the nearby settlements of Ariel, Rechel and Kfar Tappuah, along with two smaller outposts.

Yasuf land is now almost completely surrounded by these settlements, as well as an Israeli-only road that connects Ariel and Rechel settlements that villagers are prohibited from accessing. Large parts of village land have been declared closed military zones by the army, which forbids Palestinians from being in these areas. This allows settlers to more easily confiscate land for expansion, even though it is still legally owned by Palestinians.

Yasuf residents, who often face harassment from the illegal settlers, can only view the work of the bulldozer from roughly 1 km away. If they approach any closer, they risk attack from the armed settlers or arrest from Israeli forces stationed nearby, but do nothing to stop this illegal confiscation of land.

International Human Rights Activists to continue accompaniment work with farmers in Al Faraheen

6th February 2009

At 9am on Saturday 7th February 2009, 10 international Human Rights Activists will be accompanying Palestinian farmers in Al Faraheen village, east of Khan Younis. Farmers and international accompaniers were fired upon by Israeli Forces in the same area on Thursday, February 5th.

International Human Rights Activists will accompany Yusef Abu Shaheen, a Palestinian farmer, in Abassan Jedida of Al Faraheen village. Shaheen’s land is approximately 500 metres from the ‘Green Line’ and 5 kilometres south of Kissufim (Al Qarara) Crossing.

“We are accompanying these farmers to harvest their crops because they have a right to their land. Palestinians who live or have land within 1 kilometre of the Green Line are being driven out by Israeli military violence. We consider this to be a form of ethnic cleansing. With international accompaniment, these farmers are able to harvest their crops with a much greater degree of safety than if they were to come to these areas alone”

Andrew Muncie (Scotland) – International Human Rights Worker

This action comes after farm worker Arwan was shot and killed by Israeli forces as he worked his land close to the ‘Green Line’.

On Tuesday 27th January 2009, in Al Faraheen, Israeli forces shot at several farmers, killing one.

27 year old Arwan was working picking parsley and spinach in the village agricultural lands, approximately 700 m from the Green Line, when Israeli jeeps opened fire with machine guns from behind the Green Line – shooting more than 30 bullets in quick succession, eyewitnesses reported. Many of the seven farmers working in the area scattered, taking shelter from the shower of bullets. Arwan, however, was shot in the neck, dying instantly.