Tag: Azzoun

Israeli forces put curfew on Azzoun

12 September 2009

On Saturday 12 September at 10:30am the village of Azzun in Qalqiliya came under curfew for the third time in 6 days. Soldiers stomped the village announcing curfew over a loudspeaker from a jeep with no explanation for villagers. Villagers were forced to stay in their homes until Iftar, the breaking of fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.

On Tuesday 8 September, one Israeli army jeep entered the village and fired live ammunition into the air. This was then followed by 7 more jeeps who declared a curfew and forced shop owners to close their shops at 5pm shortly before Iftar, and losing the shopkeepers their perishable goods that would be purchased in advance of Iftar. Curfew continued until approximately 2am in the morning when the army invaded and threw sound bombs and sealed off the exits to the village setting up checkpoints and earthmounds to prevent movement. They also harassed villagers in their homes along the main road close to Road 55, an illegal Israeli road which is open in parts to Palestinian traffic.

On Thursday 10 September at 19:30, 2 jeeps with approximately 15-16 soldiers in them, again invaded the village firing live ammunition and tear gas. They proceeded to the boys high school, where local boys were watching and taking part in basketball and other sports. The soldiers gave the boys 2 minutes to return to their homes and leave the school and their activities without any explanation. Upon entering the school the Israeli army arrested two 13 year old boys taking them away to an unknown location. The jeeps then patrolled the village for several hours imposing another curfew on the village.

After midnight the village was then invaded by around 35 jeeps and began searching several homes were they said ‘wanted’ boys were resident. They damaged property and harass the residents. During the searches the army arrested Samir Jamal Ishadey (20 years old), Mohammed Rafah Cartesh and Adham Saahar Saleem (15 years old) taking them from their homes to and unknown location. It is believed while trying to retreat Mohammed was shot by soldiers but when Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance drivers tried to reach the scene the army prevented them. Mohammed was arrested and his condition is unknown.

When the army arrested Samir the army assaulted his brother Muhammed Jamal, attacking him with the but of their rifle on his head and back. This attack was undertaken by a group of soldiers that had verbally abused Muhammed and Samir on Tuesday during the invasion that day, calling him a “son of a bitch”. Muhammed had returned the insult to the soldier and on Thursday the same soldier was part of the group of soldiers that then assaulted him and arrested his brother two days later.

At 5am in the morning of Friday 11 September the Israeli army again imposed curfew and this continued until noon prays that day. Internationals entered the village shortly after noon prayers and soldiers could be seen on the outskirts of the village. While assessing the earthmounds made by the Israeli army to prevent movement in and out of Azzun a farmer was assaulted by a group of soldiers sitting under a tree. He was slapped across his face and internationals proceeded to the area. At 16:00 a group of 20 settlers and 6 cars attempted to come to the outskirts of the village to harass and attack the nearby shops and houses but were prevented by the army.

During the last few months almost 105 boys from the village have been arrested and taken to unknown locations. They can be held for a period of 6 months in administrative detention without access to a lawyer or their family. These periods can be extended indefinitely for ‘security’ purposes that are not disclosed to the detainee. Red Cross and other NGOs organisations are also denied access to detainees or to know there whereabouts for anything up to 20 days. Under Israeli military occupation Palestinians are considered ‘adults’ when they are above 13 years old in direct violation of international law on the rights of children.

The village of Azzun and its neighbours are subject to constant army and settler violence. The village is surrounded by the Apartheid Wall nearby, the illegal settlements of Ma’ale Shomeron and Alfe Menashe and Road 55. The army claim that Palestinian youth throw stones at settler vehicles passing on Road 55. They have closed off by the use of earthmounds 3 exits to the village allowing only one exit via car through the village of Izbat at Tabib and Isla for villagers to gain access to Road 55 and the route to Nablus, Tulkarem and Qalqiliya, vastly extending journey times. During invasions they can easily block this route making it virtually impossible for villagers to move around or gain access to facilities in nearby towns.

Azzun like many other villages has lost thousands of dunams of land to the settlements and the Wall. The Israeli Government has granted permission for a further road connecting the illegal settlements on Azzun land, furthering annexing land, part of PM Netanyhu’s ‘natural growth’ philosophy. The road itself will also have a 600 metre closed military zone surrounding it. A further ‘industrail zone’ has also been granted permission by the Israeli Government for construction and consistently over the last 2 months larger numbers of settlers have been visiting the area which is on land for the Palestinian villages of Azzun and Izbat at Tabib. The area will annex 2,500 dunums of Palestinian land. Villages that were once 2km apart are now separated by a mixture of closed military zones, Walls, fences, earthmounds and settlement buildings.

The Apartheid Wall and settlements are illegal under international law and the International Courts of Justice ruled in 2004 that the Wall should be taken down. Israel continues to build the Wall and expand settlements in direct violation of these rulings. Only 27 per cent of the land behind the Green Line (the armistice line drawn after the 1967 war) in land considered the West Bank is considered free for Palestinians. Over 450,000 settlers reside in the West Bank annexing Palestinian land and demolishing homes to create a network of roads and infrastructure not open for Palestinians despite the land being owned by Palestinians.

Israeli forces impose curfew on Azzoun

9 September 2009

Israeli soldiers create a checkpoint to Azzoun

The village of Azzoun, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilya, was invaded and placed under curfew by the Israeli Occupation Forces on the 9th September 2009. The village was surrounded by Israeli soldiers with checkpoints established at the major routes in and out of the village, and there were reports of live ammunition being used in the village’s streets.

Two ISM activists arrived in Azzoun around 4.30pm and with the help of local Palestinians managed to enter the village to make contact with those inside. The curfew had been in place for several hours at this stage. All shops were ordered to be closed, people were told to stay indoors, and depending on the duration of the curfew (this had not been communicated to the villagers) people would not be allowed to leave even to go to school, to the hospital, etc… Young people returning from university were forced to enter the village on foot through the surrounding fields and hills.

After speaking with the villagers, the activists proceeded to walk through the deserted streets of the village. The Israeli presence was quickly obvious, with jeeps regularly passing through the roads and some stationed at significant sites, including the mosque. The soldiers here seemed sheepish and nervous, unable to provide a good reason for the curfew or to find a commander to explain the army’s actions.

At around 7pm the army withdrew from the village and removed their checkpoints. The villagers had not been informed of the end of the curfew and many stayed inside from fear of reprisals should the army still be present somewhere in Azzoun.

Azzoun’s inhabitants regularly suffer from military invasions, curfews and restrictions of movement by Israeli Occupation Forces. While ISM activists saw no sign of live ammunition during their three hours in the village, many residents reported previous use of tear gas, sound bombs, rubber-covered steel bullets and live ammunition against the Palestinian population. Commonly, curfews are put in place for any number of arbitrary reasons, most often accusations of stone throwing.

Azzoun is one of a number of villages in the region between Nablus and Qalqilia in the north of the West Bank that has been subjected to settler attacks and army curfews recently. It is surrounded by several large illegal Israeli settlements – Ginnot Shomeron, Ma’ale Shomron and Alfei Menashe in particular – and the Apartheid Wall, which already almost entirely surrounds the village, has been tightening in the name of the ‘security’ of these illegal settlements, squeezing Azzoun into a smaller and smaller territory.

Yesterday’s aggressive army actions came in the context of a number of settler attacks against Palestinians across the West Bank, from Susiya in the south to Yris and Asira al Qibliya in the north. These attacks have been seen as an aggressive message from the settlers to the Israeli government as it prepares a response to international pressure to at least temporarily freeze the construction of these illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land.

IWPS: Israeli forces invade village, abduct youth

International Women’s Peace Service

28 June 2009

At 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 28th, the village of Azzun in Qalqiliya governorate was invaded by 120 soldiers looking for a wanted teenager. After entering and ransacking three homes, they entered a fourth through the back door after throwing rocks at the door and adjacent window. There they found the youth for whom they were searching: a 16-year-old high-school student who was apprenticing with his father over the summer months as a carpenter. He was taken into custody by soldiers in his underwear and without shoes. The teen’s parents pleaded with soldiers that he be allowed to get dressed, but the soldiers assured the parents that there was no need as they would only take him for a minute or two and then return him. His family has not seen him since.

The youth’s parents did not know why he was arrested, but the family has faced a similar experience before. When their eldest son was 12, he was also taken by soldiers who said they would return him after a couple of minutes. Instead, he was imprisoned and released three years later. A second son was reportedly shot to death by soldiers beside Highway 55, which borders Azzun to the north, in March 2003 when he was with two friends. Soldiers (who did not deliver first aid) then left that son’s body outside the District Coordinating Office in Qalqiliya, and the army later claimed the youth had died after he fell and broke his neck.

Palestinians protest closure of Azzoun Atma gate

20 June 2009

Today there was a demonstration, led by the P.P.P., the “People’s Party of Palestine,” at the `Azzoun `Atma gate, in the Qalqilia district. This was the first demonstration in one year. The last demonstration ended with arrests, so the objectives of the demonstration were to maintain peace and to feel out the situation in order to better plan for future protests. It appears that these objectives were fulfilled.

There were approximately fifty people in the demonstration, approximately half Palestinians and half internationals, Israeli activists, and members of the Palestinian, Israeli, and international press. Groups present included EAPPI, IWPS, ISM, Anarchists Against the Wall, as well as others possibly. Internationals maintained silence and documented with cameras and video recorders, while the Palestinians waved flags, displayed banners, and chanted in Arabic.

At the start of the protest, two military jeeps parked in the middle of the gate, which set the limit on the group’s ability to make forward progress. Approximately five or six soldiers stood in front of the jeeps. Shortly after that, before the demonstration had gotten going, three Israeli soldiers occupied the high ground in our rear. Then, two soldiers stood behind the jeeps.

The soldiers were mostly young guys, and it appeared that they didn’t quite know what to do with this group of peaceful protesters. The soldiers used no violence. In fact, at one point, a senior-looking soldier told a member of the press that he could take off his helmet. This might have been done to look good for the press.

The demonstration lasted for approximately one and a half hours, at which time the group peacefully disbanded.

The village of `Azzoun `Atma is approximately 90% surrounded by the separation wall (see Figure 1). There is only one entrance and exit from the village and only residents are allowed to pass through the gate. Beyond the humiliation and injustice of this blatant occupation action, there are regular problems with woman being denied back to their family’s village due to having married names. This is just one example of the plethora of problems created by the separation wall and this closed gate. The purpose of this demonstration was to open the gate to nonresidents. There were approximately 1,000 locals in the last demonstration, one year ago, from surrounding villages. None of the villagers came to the demonstration today, because they were afraid to participate given the Israelis’ severe response to the last demonstration. The organizers will use their observations from this demonstration to decide whether it will be safe for the villagers from the surrounding area to hold regular, weekly Friday demonstrations in the future.

Israeli forces kidnap 2 farmers in Qalqiliya region

11 May 2009

At 7 am Sunday morning, May 10, 2009, two farmers from Izbaht Tabib, Jaefar Tabib, 23, and Naem Tayayhe, 30, were arrested as they went out to work their land. They remain in custody.

In the evening of the same day, a bus with about 60 settlers, accompanied by the Israeli army, came to the area. They appeared to discuss the area while looking at maps. The farm land is vital for the farmers, and they suspect that the objective of the settlers’ visit may be a first step towards constructing a new settlement.

Izbaht Tabib, a small village established before 1948, has a population of 226 Palestinian refugees.

Despite the 2005 court decision to alter the route of the Wall which is already constructed between Izbaht Tabib and Azzun, the Apartheid Wall in the northern West Bank continues to be built. Fifty percent of Palestinian land has already been taken by the construction of the Wall in Azzoun. Azzoun is isolated by the Wall on the east side and the west side as well as road 55 in the south. Today, 60 % of Palestinians in this area are living below the poverty line since there are no jobs.

According to the mayor of the Azzoun Municipality, Mr. E. Iyad Khalaph, this is part of Israel’s ‘transfer’ tactic to impoverish residents so that they will leave their land on their own to make a living elsewhere.

Checkpoints are often set up around the village and soldiers in jeeps enter in the daytime and evenings, asking to see I.D.cards and questioning the local population. Additionally, Israeli settlers often enter the village and harrass Palestinian residents.

Several residents are also threatened with home demolition orders with no specific time line.