Tag: Arrests - Page 51 - International Solidarity Movement

Meeting Samer Al Issawi in the holding room

16 January 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank, Occupied Palestine

By Neta Golan

After spending the night in the Russian compound detention center, known as Al Moskobia, I was taken to the holding cell in the court to await trail. Looking through the bars of the holding cell next to mine I was shocked to recognize Samer Al Issawi. I asked the young man standing near the barred door to tell Samer that I know him and that many others all over the world know his face, his name and his cause and are working to raise awareness and to support him.

When Samer heard that I had been arrested in Bab Al Shams he came up to the door to speak to me in person. He was too weak to stand without support and needed to lean himself against the door, but when he spoke he spoke with strength and passion. He sends his regards to all those who took part in Bab al Shams and says that this action has been giving him strength and pride and strengthens his resolve to continue with his hunger strike until his release. “I hope this model will spread and many similar villages will be created around Palestine. I hope to see Bab Al Muhabeh (the gate of love) Bab Al Huriya (the gate of freedom) and Bab Al Salam (the gate of peace).” Samer reiterated his resolve to continue his hunger strike until his release despite his deteriorating condition. “I will join you all on the outside soon,” he said smiling.

According to Dr. Daud Abdullah, Samer was Born in December 1979 and is now battling for his life. Long years of imprisonment, deprivation and torment have taken their toll. Still, he continues to resist with the only weapons left available to him; an undaunted spirit and an empty stomach. His resolve is never to succumb to what he regards as Israel’s racist policies.

“Shortly after his release in October 2011 as part of the exchange for the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shailt, Samer was rearrested; this time the pretext was that he broke the condition of his release by visiting the West Bank. He faces another twenty years behind bars to complete the original sentence.

Whether he survives or not, Samer Al-Issawi has placed before the free world its moral, legal and political duties toward the Palestinians in Israeli jails. They may be “disappeared”, but they’re not forgotten. The newly-recognised State of Palestine is no less culpable. It must take the lead by activating the 2012 Baghdad Declaration at the UN for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legal status of the Palestinians in Israeli occupation jails. That should be followed by similar action within the International Criminal Court.”

On the 16th January, the day I met him, Samer had a court hearing in Jerusalem in which his appeal was denied. The occupation authorities set another hearing on 5th February at Ofer military court to decide his case.

Israeli forces arrest man in Palestinian-controlled area of H1, Hebron [includes video]

by Team Khalil

8 January 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

A Palestinian man was arrested in Tel Rumeida, Hebron. Soldiers invaded homes without permission, indiscriminately beating men and children and forcing the residents out onto the streets.

At around 22:30 pm on Monday 7 January Israeli occupation forces entered the Palestinian-controlled H1 area of the city for the second time in a week. The soldiers forcibly entered homes; in one house five soldiers kicked the front door and forced their way past a young boy. On hearing the disturbance Sabri Dwaik aged 29 got out of bed and went downstairs. The soldiers attacked Sabri, pinning him to the floor and hit him with a rifle butt on his head. Sabri was handcuffed and still in his pyjamas was dragged out onto the street. The soldiers then threw a sound bomb towards the front door to deter anyone from following them.

One of Sabri’s cousins, who had gone onto the street to see what was happening, tried to intervene. The cousin attempted to free Sabri but was beaten, thrown on the floor, and dragged away by the neck. The Israeli occupation forces detained both men against a fence, pushing them and pointed their guns at them. After talking amongst themselves the soldiers decided to release Sabri’s cousin but Sabri was dragged passed the road gate into the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Tel Rumeida. Thirty soldiers brought people out of their houses and lined them up against a wall just inside H2 making them stand in the cold, wet night. Sabri was arrested, marched to a police vehicle and taken to Kyriat Arba police station.

Sabri Dwaik was charged with trying to steal a soldier’s gun as the soldiers were beating him inside his house. He informed the police officers that he wanted to make a complaint about the soldiers’ treatment of him. Sabri was told by the police officer that if he wanted to make a complaint he would have to stay in custody at Kyriat Arba police station for three days before he could make a complaint. Sabri was told by the police that he must apologise to the soldier who accused him of trying to steal his gun. “I do not have to apologise to the soldier because I have not done anything wrong,” Sabri said. After one and a half hours Sabri was released from the police station and returned home.

Sabri’s mother who is in ill health was very distressed by the events of the evening. The peace and quiet of another Tel Rumeida night was destroyed by the violence of the Israeli occupation forces. Local residents conjectured that the increased levels of violence and aggression of the Israeli occupation forces in the area is a response to the two well publicised incidents recently in Qufr Kadoum and Bab al Zawia, Hebron, where the Israeli occupation forces were seen to be weak in the face of Palestinian youth and their unarmed resistance. If the Israeli military are trying to send a message of intimidation to peaceful Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida, then the message is clear: the Israeli military has no interest in peace, breaking into houses and forcing people out of their home in the middle of the night. Also the Israeli military has no interest in the due process of law, attacking people for no reason and when they complain, threatening that they will have to stay in custody for three days to do so. These increased levels of aggression and violence will not bring peace or stability to the troubled community of Tel Rumeida.

Video: Israeli forces arrest man in H1 Palestinian-controlled area of Hebron, 7 January 2013

Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)

Israeli soldiers vandalise Hebron home and arrest a student

by Team Khalil

6 January 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Israeli occupation forces in Hebron raided a home, arrested a Palestinian and smashed his family’s belongings in the early hours of the morning.

Thirteen soldiers who came with two dogs broke down the door, arrested Ahmed Sharabati, 22, and vandalised the property without giving an explanation. As of this moment, Sharabati’s whereabouts are currently unknown.

The soldiers were present in the home for an hour and a half, during which time the terrified family was harassed, furniture was turned upside down and a window was smashed. The family spent six hours cleaning up after the raid.

The soldiers took Sharabati, a student at Hebron university, without telling the family why or where he was being taken.

The family’s home is located in H2, the Israeli controlled part of Hebron. The close proximity of soldiers and illegal settlers means that Palestinians are always under threat from violence and harassment. Palestinians returning home from the city centre are subjected to humiliating checkpoints and the area is infamous for its “Gas the Arabs” graffiti.

The Israeli occupation forces soldiers in H2 are soon due to be replaced by other soldiers and the locals believe they are intentionally being more aggressive to leave a lasting impression.

Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)

Ransacking and arrests in Sarra and Tell

22 December 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Sarra and Tell, Occupied Palestine.

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers raided the neighbouring villages of Sarra and Tell, south of Nablus, broke into seven homes and arrested three people in the early hours of Thursday morning.

A family in Sarra, a village of around 5,000 inhabitants, told us how 50 Israeli soldiers violently entered their home at 1:00am. The soldiers first forced the family of seven, including two children of ages three and ten, to stand outside the home in the cold, and then later locked them in one room inside the house. This while soldiers ransacked their house and deliberately smashed electronic appliances, furniture and tiles. A flight of stairs leading to a garage was entirely destroyed, furniture was overturned, doors were dislodged and broken and stored wheat was mixed with oil. One person was arrested and taken to the Huwwara Military Camp. No reason was given for the raid or the arrest. The mother who had one of her sons arrested expressed concern at the fact that when persons are taken away by the military they might be kept in prison for weeks, months or even years. Israeli law allows the military to keep Palestinians in administrative detention for years, without informing them of the charges against them.

In the nearby village of Tell, where around 6,000 people live, hundreds of Israeli soldiers with eight military jeeps entered the village and ransacked six homes at one in the morning. One family told us how Israeli soldiers with dogs came into their home by breaking the door and forced the family to stay in one room during the 4-hour raid. As in Sarra, they left the houses in a complete disaster. They threw the trash from garbage-bags all over the place, broke tiles and window panes and smashed furniture. A woman told us how she saw her son being tied, blindfolded and taken away by the soldiers. A 60-year old man holding clutches recounted how he was violently pushed on the ground by the soldiers when he complained of the treatment they were receiving. Two persons from Tell were arrested during the raid.

The ransacking of houses in Sarra and Tell comes amidst a surge in violence and intimidation by the occupation forces in the West Bank in these last weeks, with an increase in violent raids at night and the use of live-ammunition in a number of situations. This is thought by many to be revenge for the successful non-member state bid at the UN. People in Tell told us weeks ago Israeli soldiers entered the village and started shooting at youths playing football. No one was hit during the incident, in what seemed to be another exercise in intimidation by the Israeli military.

Palestinian youth arrested and 4 detained at Nabi Saleh weekly demonstration

By Naseem Roberts

2nd November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

One Palestinian Youth was arrested and four others: two Israelis and two internationals were detained during the Friday non-violent weekly demonstration in Nabi Saleh.

People from the village met in the main square of the village from 11:30am onwards. At 12pm the demonstration began and everyone walked down the main street of the village singing songs and clapping along. Children were in the procession waving flags and chanting into the megaphone.

The demonstrators turned a corner and headed towards their objective: the natural spring to which the people of Nabi Saleh have been denied access to because of the illegal settlement of Halamish. This is the point at which the day turned ugly. In front of the demonstrators was a line of Israeli soldiers. At 12.30pm without any threat to the soldiers and without any warning, the Israeli military fired tear gas canisters directly into the demonstration while they were still inside the village. People carried on walking up the hill undaunted. The soldiers then fired tear gas canisters at head height, missing one person by mere inches. The demonstrators walked up as close as they could to the soldiers, waving flags and putting their hands in front of the guns as the soldiers aimed to prevent them from firing more tear gas into the village. Once more the children of Nabi Saleh came courageously to the forefront of the demonstration, waving their hands in victory signs and holding kaffiyas in front of the soldiers faces to prevent them firing their guns, singing songs and chanting as they did so. The Israeli military were forced back over the hill and down towards the spring, followed all the way by the men, women and children of Nabi Saleh.

At 1.05pm a cry came from behind the demonstrators that the Israeli military were arresting someone in the village. People went back to the village to find that Waed Bassim Tamimi aged 14 had been arrested. Waed’s mother raced to her sons aid. Two Israeli activists, a French journalist and an international activist were detained by the Israeli army while they were trying to support Waid’s mother’s remonstrations with the soldiers. After this seven or eight live rounds were fired at demonstrators in the village.

Only a few weeks ago Waed was injured when struck in the side by a tear gas grenade fired at him during the Friday demonstration. On Wednesday 24th of October Bassim Tamimi, Waed’s father was arrested by Israeli police officers suffering three broken ribs. Nabi Saleh encourages the involvement of the village’s children in their peaceful activities. The Israeli military can imprison the organizers of protests but the culture of non violent resistance lives strongly in the next generation of Nabi Saleh.

Naseem Roberts is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).