Tag: Awarta

Three Scandinavian ISM activists trapped by curfew in Awarta village following settlers’ murder

15 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

UPDATE:

At 5:30 pm last night a large mob of settlers came down the hill and attacked villagers with stones, breaking one 15-year-old boy’s arm. At 5pm the soldiers had announced that their curfew was finished, but it became clear today that the curfew is still in effect as soldiers shout at people to go back inside if they step outside their homes. Though ISM activists could have left last night, they stayed in the village anticipating disturbances from settlers, and are now trapped again by the continuing curfew. Villagers have told the activists that their presence is influencing the behavior of the settlers: the soldiers are less abusive when internationals are present. Regarding the investigation into the murder of the settler family, evidence has yet to be presented incriminating a Palestinian. Most Palestinians, such as Hani Awad from Awarta, strongly doubt that a Palestinian would have committed the crime and think it would have been impossible for anyone to break into the settlement.

14 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

UPDATE:

As of 12:30pm the ISM activists are locked in a room with the children of the family that they’ve been staying with while soldiers search the house. It’s difficult for the ISMers to confirm information they receive as they’re not allowed to leave the house, but they’ve heard that 100 village men were taken into detention at the school for interrogation a few hours ago.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today the village of Awarta, near Nablus, is facing the second day of a severe curfew imposed by the Israeli military, following Friday morning’s murder of a settler family in the settlement Itamar . Three ISM activists–Cinda, 23, Chad, 25, from Sweden, and Cissy, 53, from Norway–are currently trapped in the village. Anyone caught stepping outside of their house is arrested. Soldiers have said that they’ll maintain the curfew until they’ve apprehended the settler family’s murderer. The army hasn’t presented any evidence that the murderer was from Awarta, and villagers have said to the ISM that they strongly doubt the murderer was even Palestinian as the settlement is so heavily guarded it would be impossible to break in. Soldiers are beating people and continuing their house raids: destroying houses from the inside, cutting off electricity, and polluting the drinking water by throwing mud in the water-tanks. 30 homes were occupied by soldiers last night. Computers and phones have been destroyed and money and property were stolen by the soldiers. In the last two days soldiers have been throwing sound grenades inside and outside the houses, and shooting in the air. The ISM activists may be arrested soon, but they intend to stay as long as possible because they feel their presence improves the behavior of the soldiers, and villagers have asked them to stay.

For more information:
Cinda, ISM activist inside the village: +972 59 741 4023
ISM Media Office, Ramallah: +972 59 760 6276

The village of Awarta face repression from soldiers after attack on settlers

12 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Today the village of Awarta, the Palestinian village located closest to the illegal settlement Itamar which witnessed the murder of an entire settler family this morning, was put under severe military restrictions. According to the village council, 19 people are still in custody after the Israeli military raided the village early this morning. Around 8 am the Israeli military cut off the roads to the village, preventing anyone from entering or leaving. Around 25 people were arrested in total, among them a 14-year-old boy.

When the soldiers entered the houses to arrest people they flipped over furniture, smashed windows, threw sound grenades and shot bullets in the air.

Around 3 pm the soldiers returned a second time to search houses of the families who’s sons had been arrested. They forced the families to stay outside under armed guards for an hour while about 20 soldiers with dogs entered their houses. As they had done in the morning, the soldiers turned the houses completely upside-down, destroying the electricity by cutting the cables to the fuse box, and polluting the drinking water by throwing mud in the water-tanks. Computers and phones were destroyed and money and property were stolen by the soldiers. Once again the soldiers threw sound grenades inside and outside the houses.

While the soldiers were searching the houses, the families, including women and small children, were forbidden to drink or eat.

It has been reported that an 80-year-old woman who suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure was beaten by the soldiers. She was taken to the Rafidia hospital in Nablus.

Around 6 pm the soldiers left the village, but residents of Awarta are scared that settlers will attack again during the night. No one knows if or when the army or the settlers will return to the village.

The families of the men and boys that were arrested do not know where their sons, fathers, and brothers are or when they will come home.

Even though this kind of systematic collective punishment is illegal according to International law, is it frequently used by the Israeli military all over the West Bank and in Gaza.

Settler Family Stabbed to Death; Troops Attack Northern West Bank Villages

12 March 2011 | Palestine News Network

Five Israeli settlers from the same family were stabbed to death on Saturday at dawn in their homes located in the settlement of Itamar in northern West Bank.

Israeli sources said that the five killed were the father, mother and three children aged 11, three and three-month old baby. According to Israeli police and army reports the attacker entered the home at around 1:00 am and stabbed the family as they slept, three children of the family aged 12, 6 and 2 managed to escape to nearby house and call for help.

Large forces of Israeli military and police closed all roads around the settlement and engaged in a manhunt for the attacker who escaped the scene; police reports say maybe it’s more than one attacker. The Israeli army also started an investigation on the fact that the alarm system of the security fence around the settlement did not go off when the attacker jumped the fence into the settlement.

Later on Saturday Israeli troops stormed a number of west Bank villages in northern West Bank and searched homes.

Palestinian sources said that soldiers invaded the villages of Zababda, Mislya, Sanour and Awarta and searched homes and farm lands nearby. Troops enforced a curfew on Awarta village and announced all northern West Bank as a closed military zone, Palestinian sources added.

Settlers groups accused Palestinians of the attack, the reasons and the group behind the attack remains unknown. Eleven Palestinian civilians were reported injured by Israeli army and settlers attacks in the past week, Palestinian sources reported. Settlers attacks on Palestinians escalated in the West Bank shortly after Israeli troops evacuated a settlers post in northern West Bank two weeks ago.

Israeli forces arrest four prominent grassroots activists during Nablus night raid

9 December 2009

The Israeli military kidnapped nine Palestinians from the Nablus region in the early hours of Tuesday, 9 December 2009, including four leading civil society activists.

The Israeli army in the force of 200 armed soldiers invaded several districts of Nablus city, refugee camps and a nearby village in a coordinated operation last night, raiding houses of targeted grassroots activists and arrested nine. Eight of them are currently held at the Huwara military detention center, another one has been detained at the Hasharon prison.

Amongst the arrested are four leading grass roots organizers from Nablus, a fifth activist from Awarta village and four children from Al-Ein Refugee Camp. Their families remain in the dark as why these activists have been taken from their homes, though the targeting of active members of civil society is immediately apparent.

Wa’el Al Faqeeh Abu As Sabe, 45 years old, was taken from his home at 1am last night when 50 Israeli soldiers entered his house in the north of Nablus, aiming their weapons at Al Faqeeh and his family. He is renowned for his championing of non-violent struggle, and years of work in grassroots community activism, reaching out to all Palestinians across the political spectrum. The Israeli military District Co-ordination Office threatened Wa’el a month ago that if he continued organising protests over land theft by settlers in Iraq Burin village, he would be imprisoned.

Mayasar Itiany, 45, and her brother Abdul-Nasser Itiany, 38, were taken Tuesday night when their home was stormed by 20 Israeli soldiers and a further 100 surrounding the house. Mayasar is known for her work with the Nablus women’s union and campaigning for prisoners’ rights. Her brother is a well-known grassroots activist in the Nablus region.

Mussa Salama, 47 years old, who is active in the Labour Committee of Medical Relief for Workers was seized from his home in Nablus and Nabih Abdul-Aziz Awwas, 47 years, was taken from his home in Awarta village. Four young boys were also arrested in a raid on Al-Ein Refugee Camp outside Nablus: Mahmud Huleiman, Muhammad Ibrahim Dahbour, Yousef Raja, Rubi Abu Khalifa.

Israeli Forces kill Palestinian near Awarta

23 October 2009

A 29 year old man was killed by the Israeli Occupation Forces yesterday, Thursday 22 October, outside Awarta village in the southern region of Nablus. Mohammad Abed Ar-Rahman Qawariq suffered a violent death when he was thrown from his car as it was rammed by a military jeep.

Mohammad, 29 years old, was born and lived in Awarta and worked as a labourer in Israel. He leaves behind a widow and two children, one of 2 years and one of 3 months. At 4pm yesterday he drove to meet his family in their olive groves along a small road (used exclusively for farming purposes and until now has always been accessible to Palestinians) to the east of Awarta and passed two Israeli military jeeps. According to eyewitnesses, the jeeps took off after him, the first immediately attempting to ram his car from behind. The chase continued only about one kilometer further down the dirt track before soldiers fired four shots at the car’s tires, forcing Mohammad to slow quickly or come to a complete standstill, at which point he was rammed a second time by the jeep. This second collision launched Mohammad through the windscreen of his car to where he lay on the ground, convulsing and evidently still alive, as blood poured from his head.

Approximately 20 Palestinian farmers, who were working nearby and heard sounds of the crash, approached the area and witnessed Israeli soldiers, having exited the jeeps, kicking Mohammad’s legs and screaming for him to get up whilst he lay helpless on the ground. As the farmers drew nearer hoping to help him, they were forced back at gunpoint while the soldiers refused to administer first aid themselves. When asked what had happened, the soldiers repeatedly claimed to have ordered Mohammad to stop, and when this was ignored they forced him. One hour passed before an Israeli military ambulance arrived on the scene, and attempted unsuccessfully to resuscitate Mohammad. A Red Crescent ambulance arrived a few minutes thereafter from Awarta. The senior military officer present then refused to claim knowledge of the criminal act taken place, and when an army paramedic inquired as to who had been driving the jeep he was rebutted and ordered not to ask. Red Crescent paramedics subsequently attempted a second resuscitation but after an hour of intentional IOF neglect it was much too late to save Mohammad, and he was declared deceased at the site of the crash.

This senseless act of murder highlights the dangers faced constantly by Palestinians trying to live their lives under the illegal occupation of their lands. The Israeli Occupation Forces do not hesitate to handle even the slightest irregularity on the side of the Palestinians civilians with the use of excessive force, and when obvious crimes, such as the one perpetrated this Thursday occur, there is little if any hope that it will lead to a criminal investigation. It has been proven time and time again that the Israeli establishment considers the paranoias of its soldiers and settlers to be much more important than the lives of the Palestinians. Awarta has suffered more than its share of harassment and suffering, this year as well as previous ones, and it is no coincidence – It is surrounded by Israeli settlements. When looking out from atop the village, one sees the settlements of Itamar to the east, Yitzah to the west and Bracha to the east. All of these are illegal under international law and are trying to swallow up more of the Palestinian land around them, making necessary the Israeli army’s presence to protect these criminal land grabs. The tragic killing of Mohammad was but one of the more extreme results of this situation.