Tag: Al Khalil - Page 6 - International Solidarity Movement

Two days of clashes in al-Khalil in connection with prisoners’ hunger strike

30th April 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | al-Khalil (Hebron), occupied Palestine

Heavy clashes broke out during two consecutive days as Israeli forces stormed the Bab Al-Zawiah neighborhood in al-Khalil, attacking young Palestinians protesting in solidarity with the ongoing prisoners’ hunger strike. It resulted in multiple persons being injured, caused by live ammunition and teargas, and at least one protester being detained.

Thursday

Clashes erupted on Thursday in the Bab al-Zawiyah area of Hebron between Palestinian youths and the forces of the Israeli Army and Border Police. Minor confrontations occurred in the souq in the morning before the situation escalated at noon when several platoons of Israeli soldiers, accompanied by Border Police, entered Bab al-Zawiah in the Palestinian controlled H1 area, causing anger among the hundred-or-so Palestinian youths gathered there.

Young Palestinian protestors, Bab al-Zawiyah

On Thursday, a general strike was held across occupied Palestine in solidarity with the 1500 Palestinians currently on hunger strike in Israeli prisons, demanding their right to humane and fair treatment in accordance with international law. Consequently, all shops and public transportation were shut down during the day. Many Palestinian youths had gathered in the Bab al-Zawiyah neighbourhood – not far from Ibn Rusht square, where the solidarity tent is placed in support of the hunger striking prisoners – to express their anger through spontaneous protests.

At around 12:30 on Thursday, at least two platoons of Israeli soldiers and around 10 border policemen made their way up the souq towards the vegetable market and Bab al-Zawiya. While initially seemingly halting their movements at the H1/H2 border, the soldiers soon took up positions around 200 meters into the nominally Palestinian controlled H1. From there, the Israeli forces began bombarding the surrounding area with teargas and sound grenades, as well as shooting live ammunition into the crowd of protesters.

Street leading up from vegetable market filling up with tear gas

Additional groups of Israeli forces soon swamped the roofs of the area, from which protesters were targeted with continuous showers of sound grenades. Swaying back and forth among a few centrally located streets, the clashes continued for several hours as the ground became littered with empty teargas canisters, grenades, and used bullets.

Israeli soldiers throwing sound grenades from a roof in H1

Fighting continued throughout the day as Israeli forces used live ammunition, sound grenades, and large amounts of teargas against Palestinians, who responded by throwing stones and burning tires. In addition to the numerous injuries caused by the indiscriminate firing of teargas canisters, ISM activists witnessed at least two Palestinians being seriously wounded after being shot with live ammunition in their feet. The two young protesters were quickly carried away and rushed to hospital.

Protesters halts a passing car to to bring an injured man to hospital. He was shot through the foot with live ammunition

Later in the afternoon the intensity of the clashes began to subside as the Israeli forces retreated back into H2. However, at around 17:30 several platoons of soldiers began to once again cross into Bab al-Zawiya which was by then all but empty. Their incursion soon caused renewed anger among the youths still present in the area, resulting in a resumption of clashes.

Israeli soldiers moving up through the souq towards Bab Al-Zawiyah

Two Israeli army jeeps sped towards Ibn Rusht square shortly before 18:00, followed by dozens of soldiers. However, the remaining protesters prevented them from reaching the square by setting up barricades. Soldiers began to enter private yards and parking lots adjacent to the streets leading up to the square. A standoff then ensued with Israeli soldiers yet again hurling grenades and firing rubber bullets into the crowd.

At the peak of the army incursion – which primarily went up Faisal al-Maliki Street – the soldiers reached almost 500 meters inside H1. As well as the army jeeps, there were also at least 50 soldiers accompanied by an Armoured Personnel Carrier and a water cannon truck.

Before finally retreating from Bab al-Zawiya into H2, a group of soldiers detained a young Palestinian man before escorting him, handcuffed and blindfolded, into the Beit Romano military base. When asked about the charges against the man, an Israeli army officer claimed that he had attempted to stab a soldier in the souq. Given the place of arrest and actions of the soldiers at the time – i.e., using live ammunition from long range – the ISM concludes that the stated scenario is highly implausible, but have not been able to obtain any other information on the background to the detention.

Detained Palestinian being escorted blindfolded by Israeli soldiers towards the Beit Romano base

Friday

The following day, a “Day of Rage” was called by Fatah and the national committee in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners. The day started calmly as Palestinian security forces attempted to separate protestors and Israeli soldiers. However, they eventually failed and Israeli forces yet again advanced into Bab al-Zawiyah, firing rubber bullets and teargas. Several army vehicles, including a water cannon truck, spearheaded the charge before grinding to a halt half a kilometre into H1. Clashes continued for several hours, only to calm down when the contingents of soldiers retreated into their base at around 20:00.

A Friday prayer was conducted at Ibn Rush Square where people gathered to support the relatives of prisoners. Meanwhile,Palestinian security forces were stationed close to the infamous Shuhada checkpoint in an attempt to keep Israeli forces from entering H1 and to keep away potential protestors.

Friday Prayer conducted at Ibn Rusht Square

At 15:30 in the afternoon, with Palestinian forces now gone from the scene, Israeli forces once again approached Bab al-Zawiyah from the souq. The forces were spearheaded by a water cannon truck which immediately began to spray water towards protestors and into nearby buildings, accompanied by torrents of teargas grenades.

At least 50 Israeli soldiers quickly advanced towards Ibn Rusht square and the area around Alia hospital; effectively occupying most of the Bab al-Zawiya neighbourhood within only a few minutes. As well as attacking protesters, soldiers also broke down the doors of private buildings to occupy the rooftops. Border Police also shot so-called “sponge grenades” at the crowds.

Clashes continued until 17:00 when the soldiers withdrew to H2, only to erupt again half an hour later as Israeli forces poured into the city firing teargas indiscriminately. The drivers of cars who unknowingly tried to pass the area were violently harassed by soldiers who had set up flying checkpoints throughout the city.

Water cannon surrounded by tear gas around 500 meters into H1, Faisal al-Maliki Street

The sun had already set when the soldiers finally began to retreat towards the military base, leaving behind them screens of teargas which mixed with the smoke of burning tires over Bab al-Zawiyah.

Checkpoints for humiliation: a journal piece

4th April 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Shuhada checkpoint gate. To the left, the closed-off room through which one must deal with Israeli forces behind a bullet-proof screen before being allowed – or denied – passage.

Earlier this month, an international woman was ordered to ‘take off her clothes’ after setting off the alarm whilst passing the metal detector at Shuhada checkpoint, occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). This is a personal journal of the events.

Humiliation, harassment, intimidation – a daily occurance for anyone required by the Israeli occupying forces to pass through Shuhada checkpoint to reach their home. This is how the Israeli occupation makes it’s presence felt and enforces its inhumanity, and it rarely comes as a surprise anymore. Still, when the metal detector alarm sounds and the soldier nonchalantly tells a woman to ‘take off her clothes’, she’s is taken aback: Who gave them the right to even ask something like that? Do they not have the tiniest bit of decency? Do they think that their automatic weapons – ready to shoot at any time – give them the right to make such a request?

Inside the checkpoint – in a room closed to outside observation – heavily armed, stern-faced young soldiers ask a woman to undress. It is painfully apparent that this is not simply a bad joke. The small room begins to feel as though it’s getting smaller and smaller as more soldiers begin to enter from outside and gather behind the bullet-proof glass. With all their buddies present for this show of power and superiority, one of them claims that it’s just for “security” – to ask a person to remove their clothing in plain view of heavily-armed soldiers. It’s “just about security” when they tell you that, if you’re not willing to take off your clothes, you’re hiding a gun – all the while firmly gripping theirs.

How dare a woman have the audacity not to immediately follow an occupying soldiers’ orders? To even dare to call out their lack of decency? But occupation has never heard of human dignity. To the eyes of the occupation, having a number male soldiers and surveillance cameras watch at arms length whilst a female soldier commands a woman to get undressed in a checkpoint just another part of the routine treatment of the occupied population. Just another case of a heavily-armed Israeli soldier ordering someone to do as he wishes as a show of power: a power bestowed upon him by a machine-gun and the knowledge of the unfaltering support and impunity – both social and military – behind his actions.

When it is finally discovered to be the woman’s boots setting off the alarm (a daily and usually unproblematic occurance) and noone cares to check the boots nor the woman’s bag, it is clear that the objective here is not security but humiliation. But this is how the Israeli occupation operates: by inflicting the most humiliation possible on the occupied population to break its spirit. Humiliation, humiliation, humalition. Day in and day out.

Beatings, theft, and humiliation: Dismantle the Ghetto activist speaks of his ordeal following arrest at Land Day demonstrations

15th April 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

ISM activists spoke to Badee Dwaik the day following his release from Ofer military court.

Last week, amidst a slew of arrests by Israeli forces and subsequent court hearings, ISM activists had the opportunity to meet with Badee Dwaik; one of the four men arrested during the Land Day demonstrations in occupied al-Khalil. Badee, a seasoned activist of many decades and committee member of the Dismantle the Ghetto campaign, believes his arrest was targeted and spoke of how conditions inside the jails were “worse than they’ve ever been before” during his four nights of detention.

Badee Dwaik being detained by Israeli soldiers during a peaceful demonstration for Land Day in al-Khalil.

The peaceful Land Day actions began with the planting of olive trees near Kiryat Arba – an illegal settlement of roughly 8,000 people in occupied al-Khalil. The decision to plant olive trees was made because, as Badee put it, “we fear this land will be confiscated in the near future.” Throughout the action, many settlers attempted to provoke the demonstrators with violence, but nobody gave in: “They try to break us or block us but we ignore it and the army does nothing,” Badee says. He’s only a day out of jail, but seems calm and eager to tell his story. Every so often he takes breaks from talking to put a hand on his ribs, where he says they beat him.

“After we planted the trees, we marched up to the hill where we continued to protest,” where one of the soldiers held a sheet of paper which – as revealed during military court hearing – declared the area a “closed military zone.” Out of nowhere, Israeli forces began pursuing individual demonstrators and Badee found himself on the ground beneath a group of soldiers who beat and arrested him. Those detained by Israeli soldiers were taken down the hill, where Israeli police and Border Police were waiting: “They took us to the police. I was surprised to see Annan there.” It had appeared that the soldiers knew exactly who they wanted to arrest, and picked them from the crowd. They arrested three active members of the Dismantle the Ghetto campaign in what Badee believes to be part of a wider effort by the Israeli occupiers to silence the campaign and put an end to their non-violent demonstrations.

An Israeli soldier films demonstrators whilst holding a piece of paper declaring the area a Closed Military Zone during the Land Day action in al-Khalil. This image was taken an hour after the arrests made that day.

During their time in jail, Badee spoke of how the Israeli guards sometimes would not give the detainees their meals and did not administer Badee’s diabetes medication. When he told the guards that he suffers from diabetes, they told him “it’s not our business to bring your medication to you.” Only after being moved to another prison later that week was he taken the the medical doctor who told him he was at serious risk and he was injected with insulin on the premises. Badee was then moved to a third jail, where he said he was subject to conditions he had never experienced before. “The conditions were bad. When we arrived to this jail they made us throw our belongings away.” Here, Israeli guards made the men remove their clothing and do humilating acts while naked. When Badee refused, he was punished for it later: “We had no mattresses. We slept on the metal. They didn’t feed us a few meals and only gave cigarettes to those who cooperated with him.”

Afte four nights of detention, Badee was sat before Ofer military court, near Ramallah, on spurious charges largely based on a “secret file.” “I’ve never seen this [secret file],” he said, and was alarmed at the allegations they presented. Badee is convinced that there’s an initiative to break their coalition. The judge claimed Badee and the others were “dangerous, holding an illegal demonstration” and that the Israeli state should be “harder on these men,” however his lawyer managed to negotiate their release late that night on the condition that they paid 3,500 shekels per person. When Badee and the others were finally freed, many of their belongings had been stolen.

Whilst Israeli settlers living in the West Bank are subject to Israeli civil law, the Palestinian population lives under Israeli military law. Under this law, Palestinians like Badee can be held indefinitely in ‘administrative detention‘: detained without trail and often based on secret information. There are currently 500 administrative detainees in occupied Palestine.

A night of protective presence needed

3rd April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | al-Khalil, occupied Palestine

The two boys met us at the store, shouting the name of our Palestinian contact and waving us along. The cobbled stones in the alley made a nice contrast to the darkness of the night. My feet landed softly on the mud where we started our climb. Glimpses of trash were seen from the flickering flash lights, as if we were threading our way across the city dump. We were going to the house of Imad Abu Shamsiyyeh, the man who had managed to catch last week’s execution on film. His name was out in the media and he and his family had received death threats. The local illegal settlers had also put up posters with his name and face on them, saying they wanted him skinned alive. The house had already been firebombed. We were going there as an international presence to act as a deterrent to what seemed a likely further attack.

Emad in his family home — Imad in his family home

This night his backyard looked like your average neighbourhood barbecue, except that nobody was eating. Imad was sitting by the brazier alongside ten other men from the surrounding houses. His children were buzzing about, and his wife Faisa made sure everyone got their coffee and tea. When the soldiers showed up she made sure everything got caught on film.

There were three of them, all dressed in green, with black automatic rifles and some form of knee pads, which went well with the beret of their leader. They reminded me of turtles with their inability to look back over their shoulders. The execution had been condemned by president Netanyahu at first but later on, as the Israeli public opinion cleared in favour of the soldier, the shooting was surrounded with excuses. The situation for the messenger had however deteriorated.

As the soldiers walked in to the backyard a handful of camera LCDs lit up the night, like torches keeping the wolves at bay. Faisa brought her camera close to the officer’s face, where he hopefully saw a reflection of himself, a harasser of ordinary people.

The soldiers stood around for a while as they checked our passports and IDs. The situation was a bit tense but as everyone had the right to be there, they turned on their heels and left. They were the second delegation from the Israeli army that night. A lone soldier had come at first, to see if there was any protection present, and Issa guessed, to go back and tell the settlers. Luckily, there were a lot of people showing Imad and Faisa their support.

As the hours passed people started to leave for their homes. Our delegation from the ISM spent the rest of the night at Imad’s place. There was an Indian soap opera on TV, dubbed to Arabic, and the children surfed the internet. It could have been a quiet night in a home anywhere in the world, if it hadn’t been for the occupation, or the death threats.

Youth Against Apartheid

29th March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On Sunday, the new team of Youth Against Apartheid was honored to meet with each other for the first time. The wonderful youth of al-Khalil city (Hebron) who have dedicated their time during the past few years doing voluntary work and activities to help their community, mainly in Tel Rumeida neighbourhood and Shuhada Street of al-Khalil City (Hebron).

The members have never before been part of any group, but have happily volunteered with all groups and entities that have asked for their activism. Just a few days ago they decided to form and establish an organized group (popular committee) and officially named themselves, Hebron Youth against Apartheid.

The group is filled with a mixture of very intelligent, energetic and enthusiastic youth while all of them are strongly attached to their people and land, all of who are hopeful for a better tomorrow. The group wishes show to the world what daily life is like under the zionist regimes occupation, the daily attacks and violations of human rights towards the Palestinian people, along with organising voluntary activities in their areas, nonviolent protests against zionist occupation, working for justice and human rights for their people at all levels and providing legal aid to the community. They are based in the old town of al-Khalil city (Hebron), mainly Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street areas.

This new team would appreciate your support and solidarity at all levels. Please share the word of the great work these young youth are doing and let the world know who they are.