10th May 2016 | Open The Zone Campaign | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Yesterday, 9th May 2016, the Mayor of Hebron and several employees of the municipality of Hebron visited the closed military zone in Shuhada Street and the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood in the framework of the Open The Zone campaign.
The delegation on Shuhada Street, with Shuada checkpoint in the background and a group of settlers passing them
The delegation from the municipality arrived to the neighbourhood through the Gilbert checkpoint, where they were surprisingly allowed to pass despite not being registered as numbered residents in the area. During their visit, at several points they were denied to continue by Israeli forces. Walking on the tiny strip of Shuhada Street still accessible to Palestinians, they were denied to go up the stairs to Qurtuba school that for more than half a year have been closed for any Palestinian, despite them stating their function as a delegation including the mayor of Hebron. When trying to walk down the same stairs from up near Qurtuba school, they were again denied passage by the Israeli forces.
Delegation detained at the stairs leading to Qurtuba school
The delegation visited several families that have been living under closure in the closed military zone (CMZ) since 1st November 2015, and listened to the demands of the families. Additionally to electricity and water-connections for the Shuhada Street kindergarten, this included an ambulance, as recently several Palestinians in need of an ambulance were denied this medical assistance by Israeli forces, at times for ridiculous reasons such as ‘it’s Shabbat’. This problem has been long-running, as in the whole area, even before the CMZ, Palestinian vehicles – thus including ambulances – are not allowed to drive. With the CMZ ambulances are now required to get additional permits – additional to the permits to be driving on this settler-only road – before being allowed to enter the CMZ.
“There was a single Israeli army jeep that invaded the village late at night. This was very strange, as usually if the army come, they would come with 10 or more jeeps…“
This is what we were told when we visited Ni’ilin on Friday 6 May, referring to the start of the terrible Israeli incursion into the village a night earlier in the week – where a seven day old baby suffered tear gas inhalation and had to be taken to hospital.
The village of Ni’ilin. Photo credit ISM
The village children, concerned and curious about the invasion of the village, had followed the jeep and blocked the road which meant the jeep could not get out. The soldiers then called for back up and four more jeeps came into the village on a rescue mission. This is when the occupation forces started indiscriminately firing vast amounts of teargas. No one is clear about the reasons why the first jeep decided to invade the village nor why they felt the need to use so much teargas.
The army often come at night to arrest youg people accusing them of partaking in the weekly demonstrations, but no arrests were made that night even after all the violence. However in the last six months, five boys aged 16 and 17 have been arrested and are still in prison without any charges being made against them.
We had come to the village to establish what had happened on that night and to show solidarity by joining their weekly demonstration against the apartheid wall. Apart from a committed group of Israeli protesters, the demonstration no longer attracts many international activist or media attention.
However, as the paramedics from the Red Crescent told us, the Israeli occupation forces are far more aggressive when there is no international and/or media presence to record their actions and monitor their behaviour. The villagers would therefore welcome any support international activists can offer. For a relatively small demonstration, that has only been going for eight years, there have been a significantly high percentage of deaths. Five people have been killed since it started, most by live ammunition, and notable as well as heartbreaking for our organisation, an ISM activist was severely injured by a tear gas canister here in 2009 and has sadly not recovered.
The village of Ni’lin is located only about three kilometres from the Green line (which marks the pre-1967 border) and has suffered extensive land theft and settlement expansion. Our guide pointed out one of the many illegal settlements encircling the village: Hashmonaim, which was built in 1985, and is located next to the apartheid wall and is one of the reason it was built where it is.
Hashmonaim settlement and the apartheid wall. Photo credit: ISM
The village, being so close to the Green line mean the apartheid wall (which for the most part does not follow the agreed border anyway), has been routed through land belonging to the village. By positioning the wall well into Palestinian territory and thereby stealing large areas of land in the process, Israel ensures the further expansion of the illegal settlement. The Israeli supreme court judged it unlawful at one point but eventually the build went ahead, and since then residents have been protesting and campaigning against it.
The weekly demonstration has been ongoing since 2008 with the villagers of Ni’lin non violently protesting against the apartheid wall and the annexation of their lands. When the wall was first erected, some of the young boys in the village manage to cut through what was then a wire fence. The army responded by erecting the very high concrete wall now standing there, resulting in even more of Ni’ilins lands being lost. Many villagers are farmers and with the loss of their land, have also lost their main form of income. Many others used to work in ’48 (Israel proper) but because of the wall and the impossibility of gaining permits to enter Israel, they can now not continue to do so and have also lost their source of income.
Peaceful protester at the demonstration. Photo credit: ISM
During the weekly demonstration, protesters walk from the village towards the wall with the aim of reaching it. However, the army now enter into the olive groves in the village preventing any chance of protesters reaching their goal. This means there are often clashes with the army firing teargas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. But on Friday we were fortunate that the army used no violence at all – instead they spent their time filming the protesters to be able to identify them, presumably for later arrests. This may be a worrying sign- since it was a repetition from the previous week’s demonstration which was also quiet- that further night raids may occur. The villagers, however, are not deterred and will continue to assert their rights and peacefully protest the illegal appropriation of their lands the, the apartheid wall and the injustices they face. I dearly hope to be able to join them soon again as they deserve all the support they can get.
3rd May 2016 | Open The Zone Campaign| Hebron, occupied Palestine
On May 3rd 2016, the Open the Zone campaign was launched in cooperation with Zleikha Mohtaseb with a children’s play about oppression, which took place directly outside the arbitrary borders of the closed military zone in Tel Rumeida, Hebron. The campaign targets the deliberate and unjust use of closed military zones to forcibly displace Palestinian residents.
The play, called “Matchsticks,” tells the story about a boy mistreated by his parents and his right to equality and security, which served as an allegory for growing up under occupation. The interactive play encouraged the children to analyse the impact of the Israeli occupation on their lives. Zleikha Mohtaseb stated: “The children showed great maturity in the way they expressed themselves. Their minds seemed beyond their age. A girl said that the play focused on breaking the silence; a boy pointed out the symbolism of the black wall. This is the first time we have heard such eloquent words from them since we started showing the play.” For the children living inside the closed military zone, this play offered a respite from the Israeli forces attempts to stifle any kind of social life and keep Palestinians restrained to the inside of their homes.
Children’s play in Tel Rumeida
The play was the initial event opening the Open the Zone campaign, organised by Youth Against Settlements and the International Solidarity Movement. The campaign calls for an end to the closed military zone in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood and Shuhada street, that was first declared on November 1st, 2015. The military order has been extended several times, and on December 12th it was expanded just enough to include the Youth Against Settlements media center, and has been used to to evict the International Solidarity Movement from the area. The closure enforced through the closed military zone attempts to strangle any and all Palestinian life inside the area, with only residents registered as numbers allowed to enter; thus keeping all visitors, friends, human rights defenders, press and repairmen barred from entering.
Highly militarised childhood for Palestinian children in the closed military zone in Hebron
The campaign focuses on the collective punishment of the Palestinian ṕopulation and the closure as a military strategy to ensure the forced displacement of Palestinian residents in the neighborhood to expand the Israeli settlements project. A press conference will take place on the 7th of May in front of checkpoint 56 to Shuhada street and Tel Rumeida in Hebron.
Zleikha Mohtaseb: “We can’t separate our reality from the occupation.”
Mufeed Sharabati, 50-years, Shuahda Street resident compares living in the closed military zone (CMZ) with prison – just worse: “Life here is even worse than being in jail. A prisoner knows when his sentence is over. A prisoner knows when he can have visits. No-one knows that here. We are caught between checkpoints and soldiers with no idea when it is going to end.”
From his various experiences at Shuhada checkpoint, that he crosses about four times a day, he recounts: “One day my daughter was on her way home from school. She had to go through Shuhada checkpoint, but when she entered the box, they closed the door behind her and locked both the doors in the interrogation box. This was at a time when many people were shot and had knives put next to them. I was afraid of loosing her, and she was terrified of the checkpoint after that. The soldiers checked her bag and eventually let her pass, but the fear and humiliation does not go away.”
The restrictions are clearly intended only for the registered – numbered – Palestinians, while settlers are free to do as they please within the closed military zone. “The closed military zone even made life easier for them. It only counts for Palestinians. Settlers have no checkpoints. No restrictions.”
Thursday, May 26th (Haitham Abu Aisha)
8-year old Haitham Abu Aisha explains that life in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood inside the closed military zone for him is difficult, and they get a lot of harassment from settlers. Sometimes they would park their car in the only entrance for the family to reach their house, blocking the entrance and preventing them from reaching their home. “They beat me, once they threw a stone at my head”.
Not only the way to his house is full of obstacles and dangers, also the way to school is difficult for him. When going to school, he has to pass a military post on Shuhada Street and go up stairs that only the school-children are allowed to pass, but sometimes the soldiers would not let them pass. Just like on the 10th of May, when they arbitrarily decided that the girls were allowed to go up, but not the boys. After about 15 minutes of the teachers discussing with the soldiers, they were finally allowed to go up the stairs and start their school-day. He recounts how one day on his way home from school he was followed by a settler that had a knife.
When asked for his wishes and hopes for the future, he says: “ I want the settlers to leave and not see any checkpoints anymore.
Monday, May 24th (Sundus)
When the checkpoints are open, Sundus and many others often have trouble going in and out of them. “It is sometimes difficult to pass the checkpoint because of some specific soldiers. They search me, search my bag and sometimes shout at me. Also the Palestinians living in the area have been giving numbers by the Israeli military, which makes us able to get in. Anyone without a number is not allowed.” For Sundus’ family and the other families in the CMZ, this means that they can not have family and friends visit them.
Marwa says: “The time it takes to go through the checkpoint depends on the soldiers there. Some soldiers just want it to go fast, but others have before emptied my schoolbag on the ground in the checkpoint.” It has before been a problem for her to bring her metal ruler with her through the checkpoint to school – it beeps in the metal detector.
There is not any logic to who are stopped or when there are delays “it depends on the mood of the soliders”, explains Arwa. “Last month we were left in the rain for hours”, recounts Sundus.
Saturday, May 21st (Yara picture)
Personal account: Yara
Another resident in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood within the closed military zone is 7-year old Yara. For her, both her home and the way to school is difficult, mainly because of settlers, but also the soldiers. “I feel scared of the settlers, once a soldier pointed a gun at my father”.
On the way to school, all the children gather to go to the school as a group with the teachers. “When I am with my teacher at a checkpoint, I’m not scared, but when I am alone, I am”. For Yara, on her way to school, she has to pass at least three checkpoints daily each way.
But even her home is not safe from harassment by Israeli forces. “Once when we were not at home, soldiers broke our door and got in the house”, she recounts. When they got back home, soldiers had not only broken the door, but also their wardrobe. In the H2-area of Hebron, that is under full Israeli control, both soldiers and settlers enjoy complete impunity for their deeds and there’s no way for Palestinians to address any of these crimes.
13th May 2016 | Open The Zone Campaign: ISM & YAS | Hebron, occupied Palestine
10 tear old Shada lives inside Hebron’s closed military zone. Watch her talk about growing uo under closures. #OpenTheZone
An old man trying to get through a checkpoint to his home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VkRhlMcTgk..
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Headmistress of Qurtuba school, Nora Nassar, about the hardships of having to navigate through a closed military zone and past settlements on the way to and from school and the basic human right to education of every Palestinian child.
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On a personal level, the implementation of the closed military zone affected 22-year old Sundus a lot. Sundus explains: “At first it had a really bad effect on me and also on others living in the area. I felt really scared walking in the streets because of the increased amount of Israeli soldiers and the many settlers in the area. Sometimes, I even stayed at home from university, because of the fright from the closed military zone and the chance of the checkpoint being closed going back home. I do not feel free living in here.”
On her way to university, where she studies to become an English-teacher, she has to pass both through Gilbert checkpoint and Shuhada checkpoint. After the closed military zone was implemented, Israeli forces have started shutting down checkpoints on a regular basis. This leaves people in a situation, where they have to use alternative ways. These often include climbing over walls and walking through agricultural land.
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Marwan is a 12 year old boy who describes very precise, how the closed military zone deprives him from his childhood, being exposed to violence at any time
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Ramzi, 21, talks about being a student and young man living inside the closed miltary zone on Shuhada street
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Children under 16, that do not have an ID, are not assigned a number like their parents and are thus not degraded to a number – but can also not prove that they are ‘registered’ residents in the closed military zone. Instead, if ordered by soldiers, they have to show their birth certificates.
13-year old Marwa explains: “I was once asked to prove that I live in Tel Rumeida. The soldier told me to go home and get my birth-certificate and come back. I never went back, but since then, I always bring it in my back. It does not say where I live, but there is a number on it, that they can check in the computer.”
Since the closed military zone was implemented, Marwa has become more scared of going to school, because of the checkpoint. She does not feel safe and the whole set-up of the checkpoint is frightening, as she is inside a ‘box’ where no-one on the outside can see what is happening to her.
Watch an interview with Marwa:
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To live under a closed military zone (CMZ) is something extremely stressful, annoying and unpleasant. We are few, yet many families living under this system, which was implemented half a year ago. To live under a CMZ means that you can not obtain your very basic rights, which was a problem even before that; the Palestinians who are living in H2 area in Hebron (under total Israeli control) are suffering from so many restrictions. For instance the Palestinians who are living here can not welcome visitors to their homes, no family members nor friends are allowed to enter the closed military zone unless they are registered as numbers at the checkpoint. The people who are living here can not get plumbers or electricians into their houses for repairs, some families may need to take their fridge out of their house in order to fix it then returning it, but unfortunately they cannot take their house out of the CMZ to fix it.
The CMZ is a crime against humanity, a crime against civilians whose fault is that they were born as Palestinians. Non of these families participated in any kind of violence against the soldiers or the settlers, but their life is miserable because of something that they are not responsible for. It is important that the world wakes up, and stops this crime, as the developed countries are signing their conventions about human rights, they must put pressure on whoever is violating these rights.
– Abd Elrahman Salayme, Shuhada Street resident
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10-year old Aisha about her life in the CMZ
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My name is Ahmad Azza, I’m 16 years old and I live in an area called Tel Rumeida, in the H2 area, under full Israeli military control in Hebron. Every time I go to school I have to pass 2 checkpoints. I can’t be free even in my area, I can’t go anywhere because of the soldiers and checkpoints. I live with my family next to Ramat Yishay illegal settlement (or Tel Rumeida settlement). We were attacked by Israeli settlers many times – physically, or they would throw stones, eggs and dirty water. They can easily attack eany Palestinian and soldiers would do nothing about it.
Last month, it was the worst month in 2015/16 in Palestine in general, and in Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street in Hebron in special, because of the killing of Palestinians by Israeli forces in my area. The army closed the checkpoints, arrested many people without any reason and now the area is a closed military zone (CMZ) – no one can visit us. Only the Palestinians who live in this area can pass the checkpoint with special numbers assigned by the Israeli army and by their ID numbers. Anyone that has not been given a number – even if they live inside the area, is not allowed by the Israeli army to enter inside the area. The situation since the CMZ is getting more and more difficult.
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14-year old Mu’awya talks about the fears of living in the closed military zone in Tel Rumeida in Hebron.
3rd May is number 186 of the closed military zone in Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street. Since November 1st, only Palestinian residents have been allowed to enter the area due to “security reasons,” as stated by the Israeli military. This violation of the freedom of movement means that no friends, family, or repairmen are allowed, and Palestinians have to pass through checkpoints to reach their homes. However, it is possible for people to access the neighbourhood by using alternative routes to avoid being detected by the army, rendering the so-called security useless.
Instead, the closure serves another purpose, namely to pressure people out of their homes by making their lives there impossible. So far, more than ten families have left the neighborhood. The closed military zone is not only collective punishment (illegal under international law,) but also a thinly-disguised attempt at forced displacement of the Palestinians in the Israeli-controlled part of Hebron. Furthermore, the army assigned numbers to each Palestinian inside the closed area and required people to state their number when entering through the main checkpoint. Today we are launching a campaign to end the closed military zone in Tel Rumeida. Palestinians are people, not numbers.
had a really bad effect on me and also on others living in the area. I felt really scared walking in the streets because of the increased amount of Israeli soldiers and the many settlers in the area. Sometimes, I even stayed at home from university, because of the fright from the closed military zone and the chance of the 
To live under a closed military zone (CMZ) is something extremely stressful, annoying and unpleasant. We are few, yet many families living under this system, which was implemented half a year ago. To live under a CMZ means that you can not obtain your very basic rights, which was a problem even before that; the Palestinians who are living in H2 area in Hebron (under total Israeli control) are suffering from so many restrictions. For instance the Palestinians who are living here can not welcome visitors to their homes, no family members nor friends are allowed to enter the closed military zone unless they are registered as numbers at the checkpoint. The people who are living here can not get plumbers or electricians into their houses for repairs, some families may need to take their fridge out of their house in order to fix it then returning it, but unfortunately they cannot take their house out of the CMZ to fix it.
My name is Ahmad Azza, I’m 16 years old and I live in an area called Tel Rumeida, in the H2 area, under full Israeli military control in Hebron. Every time I go to school I have to pass 2 checkpoints. I can’t be free even in my area, I can’t go anywhere because of the soldiers and checkpoints. I live with my family next to Ramat Yishay illegal settlement (or Tel Rumeida settlement). We were attacked by Israeli settlers many times – physically, or they would th
residents have been allowed to enter the area due to “security reasons,” as stated by the Israeli military. This violation of the freedom of movement means that no friends, family, or repairmen are allowed, and Palestinians have to pass through checkpoints to reach their homes. However, it is possible for people to access the neighbourhood by using alternative routes to avoid being detected by the army, rendering the so-called security useless.