Tag: Arrests - Page 28 - International Solidarity Movement

UPDATED: Palestinians continue the struggle against the Adei Ad outpost

20th December 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Turmusaya, Occupied Palestine

Update 22 December:

Palestinian activists Mohammed Khatib and Jaffar Hamayel, both arrested on December 19 while peacefully demonstrating in Turmusaya, were released today, December 22, on bail of 7500 shekel each.

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Hundreds of Palestinian children, women, and men gathered at Turmusaya on Friday December 19th to complete the tree planting began by Palestinian Authority minister Ziad Abu Ein, who was killed by Israeli soldiers on Wednesday December 10th.

“Ziad was planning to plant olive trees on private Palestinian land near the illegal outpost of Adei Ad, but was violently prevented from reaching the site by the Israeli military who assaulted and killed him. We thought that after killing the minister, yesterday the military would allow us to plant trees peacefully but we found the same soldiers prepared to use even more violence against us,” Said human rights defender Abdullah Abu Rahmah.

“Despite the occupation forces’ violence, we planted trees in the place where Ziad had planned to plant them. Despite their violence, we will continue to struggle with the farmers whose land is stolen and the farmers who are prevented from cultivating their land by the occupation. ” Abu Rahmah was injured by a stun grenade that was thrown directly at him while he was planting an olive tree.

After praying near the spot where the minister was stopped by the army, protesters with olive trees climbed the hill to the site where Abu Ein had intended to plant trees. They began planting under a barrage of tear gas, stun grenades, and beatings by Israeli border police.

Two Palestinian activists, Mohammed Khatib and Jaffar Hamayel, Israeli citizen and ISM co-founder Neta Golan, and US citizen and activist Danika Padilla, were all violently arrested.

Danika Padilla, to the left, and Neta Golan as they are arrested.

In another area of the protest, youths responded to the military assault with stones as the army sprayed demonstrators with putrid water known as “skunk”, fired rubber-coated steel bullets and .22 caliber live ammunition. Many demonstrators suffered severe tear gas inhalation and two Palestinians sustained leg injuries from the .22 bullets.

The four arrested activists were taken to the Binyamin settlement police station. Neta and Danika were released in the early hours of this morning. Mohammed and Jaffar have been charged with assaulting and disturbing the border police and rioting after being told to disperse. They were taken to the Russian Compound police station in West Jerusalem where they remained in detention until their court date at Ofer military court.

Jaffar Hamayel

Palestinian family’s home invaded, two youths arrested by Israeli soldiers in Azzun village

11th December 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Azzun, Occupied Palestine

At 3 am, on the 8th of December in Azzun whilst the Radwan family slept, dozens of Israeli soldiers surrounded their house and broke in. They damaged the door as they entered, sweeping through the house and also breaking the doors of the kitchen cupboards. They ushered the nine family members into one room and forced them all sit on one sofa at gunpoint. The mother, speaking to ISM volunteers the day after her home was invaded and her sons arrested, recalled that there were too many soldiers to count that night. They were everywhere, all over the inside and outside of the house.

The soldiers took everyone’s mobile phones and the hard drive from their computer. They asked for seventeen-year-old Abdallah first, ordering another brother to get clothes and shoes for him. No one was told what was happening or why. The army then told the mother to say goodbye to her seventeen-year-old son, but he was surrounded by soldiers so she could not reach him or see him. She was was only able to cry out “ma’a salama!” – goodbye.

The soldiers then asked where 20 year old Mohammed was. They ordered his clothes and shoes to be brought as well. Again his mother was told to say goodbye, but again she could not because there were so many soldiers in the way.

Neither the family nor the boys were told why they were being arrested or where they were being taken. The ordeal lasted two hours. By 5 am, the army left and the family watched soldiers jumping from their roof and leaving from all sides of the house they had been surrounding.

The Radwan family lives in Azzun, a Palestinian village of about 12,000 people near the city of Qalqilya. Several illegal Israeli settlements surround the village, including Ma’ale Shomron, Ginot Shomeron and Alfei Menashe. The settlements encroach on Palestinian land, taking more and more each year. The Radwan family’s home is at the far end of the town, the closest house to the Ma’ale Shomron settlement. It is constantly targeted by the Israeli military and settlers. CCTV cameras watch the house constantly, even as settlers and Israeli military attack the area with impunity.

One of the highest levels of detainees per capita of anywhere in the West Bank, coupled with 47% unemployment, has a severe impact on Azzun’s youth, a local municipality worker reported. Young prisoners are often unable to finish university degrees after their imprisonment, having lost the
motivation to go back to school. Released prisoners and their family members are also unable to obtain permits to work in Israel, making employment opportunities even more rare.

Every year about a hundred and seventy Palestinians are arrested in Azzun. Around seventy of the arrestees are under the age of sixteen. Some are imprisoned for ten months, others for one to five years. Prisoners have reported suffering torture, including isolation for weeks at a time.

Since Abdallah and Mohammed were arrested, their mother found out that her sons are being detained in Al Jalama prison, Haifa. Israeli forces have given no reason for their detention, nor set a date for their trial.

Photo shows the illegal settlement of Ma'ale Shomron, this is the view from the house where the boys were arrested. — Photo shows the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Shomron, this is the view from the house where the boys were arrested (photo by ISM).

More young men and teenagers arrested by the Israeli military

9th December 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Nablus, Occupied Palestine

On December 8th in Nablus, the Israeli army broke into the homes of two families in Balata refugee camp and arrested two young Palestinians, 19-year-old Mujahed al Shekhalil and 17-year-old Yazan Hta.

In both cases, their homes were raised by the military in the middle of the night (3am and 3:30am) damaging doors and property inside the houses. At the time of the incursions, all family members were sleeping. The military forced all family members into one room whilst they arrested the teenagers. Both families state that between 15 and 20 soldiers broke into their homes, and they were given no reason for either the intrusions or the arrests.

In the village of Madama, on the same night, the Israeli army also entered the home of the Wajeihqut family and arrested 23-year-old Assad Allah. The army spent an hour inside the house between 2:20am and 3:20am, again forcing all family members inside one room. The family reported to ISM that the soldiers told Assad’s 9-year-old brother that if he did not stop speaking they would take him with his brother. Another brother was told that if he did not go into the room with the family then they would cut his head off.

The army confiscated every family members phone and stole the sim cards from them and the hard drive from the family computer. They also smashed the apartments heating system.

This was the fifth time Assad has been arrested and the family home has been raided by the army on numerous occasions.

In all cases, the families were not given a reason for the arrests or for the damage done to their homes, and do not have any information as to where their sons have been taken.

Israeli military court sentences Murad Eshtewi to 10 months in prison and a 10,000 NIS fine for participating in Kufr Qaddum protests

4th December 2014 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Salem military court has sentenced activist Murad Eshtewi, from Kufr Qaddum village, to 9 and a half months of prison, with an additional 10,000 shekel fine. Israeli forces arrested Eshtewi on April 29th, 2014 in the middle of the night accusing him of participating in and arranging Kufr Qaddum demonstrations.

The unjust decision of the military court states the following:

9 and a half months of actual prison time.
10,000 shekel non-refundable fine.
A 5-year probation period after his prison term, where he cannot participate in any Kufr Qaddum peaceful demonstrations, or he will face a sentence of no less than 12 months in prison.
A 3 year probation period after his prison term, where he cannot participate in any peaceful demonstrations against the Israeli military anywhere else, otherwise he will face a sentence of no less than 6 months in prison.

Murad has been detained in Majedo Military Prison since his arrest in April, and has been suffered from many health problems during this time. His lawyer, Adel Samara, states that Murad has lost over 9 kilos in weight due to harsh and unsuitable holding cells.

In a letter from Murad, he stated the following:

“The accusations that I am charged with is unfair because it is our legal right to protest and participate in demonstrations against the occupation and to struggle for our self-determination as Palestinians.” He added that the peaceful marches in Kufr Qaddum will continue even if the occupation suppresses them over and over again.

Since the arrest of Murad, the Israeli army has raised its level of brutality in dealing with Kufr Qaddum demonstrations. 15 protestors have been shot by live bullets, last week alone recorded two live bullet injuries, a local youth and an Italian supporter, shot in cold blood just for participating in peaceful protests.

Murad calls on the international community and the United Nations to support Kufr Qaddum, to open the road closed by Israeli forces, to support the fair quest of a free Palestine, and to end the occupation and its settlers.

“They fine us so they can pay for more guns and weapons to kill us with,” Murad added. Finally, Murad calls on the people of Kufr Qaddum to keep on struggling against occupation and to never give up.

20-year-old Palestinian activist violently detained and arrested at Hebron checkpoint

28th November 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Israeli forces violently detained and arrested twenty-year-old Palestinian activist Imad Altrash at approximately two o’clock yesterday in al-Khalil (Hebron).

Photo by Human Rights Defenders Palestine (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Human-Rights-Defenders-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B9%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D8%AD%D9%82%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86/705136872867221?fref=photo). — Photo by Human Rights Defenders Palestine (http://tinyurl.com/psgc7yd).

Soldiers accused him of insulting and yelling at them at Shuhada checkpoint. No soldiers claimed that Imad threatened them or behaved violently.

On the way to the checkpoint, ISM activists ran through cold and rain as sheets of water poured down the street. Imad stood exposed, standing just behind a cement barricade on the side of the road leading up the checkpoint. One of the first things he said was, “I’ve been standing here for two hours.”

Shuhada checkpoint has been closed for the past seven days as part of a policy of collective punishment directed at the Palestinians in surrounding neighbourhoods after the checkpoint was burnt during clashes last Friday. The checkpoint connects Bab a-Zawiya, a neighbourhood in H1 (supposedly under full Palestinian authority) to Tel Rumeida, an H2 residential area under full Israeli military and civil control. Israeli soldiers have been for the past several days denying passage through the checkpoint to Palestinians including children, elderly people and teachers from nearby schools who should have special permission to pass.

Video footage from Human Rights Defenders Palestine shows soldiers violently dragging Imad up the stairs of the checkpoint and holding him in a headlock as they push him around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k-urfN5bsM&feature=em-upload_owner-smbtn

After about two hours of detention at the checkpoint, Israeli police took Imad to a nearby police station where he was held for approximately an hour before being released to the Palestinian DCO [District Coordination Office].