21st October 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Jordan Valley, Occupied Palestine
On October 20th, the Israeli military destroyed six structures belonging to a family in the village of al Jiftlik, in the Jordan Valley.
At approximately 6:00 am, Israeli soldiers destroyed the family home of Mohammed Mousa Mohammed Abohernam, as well as five other buildings, including his family’s storage unit and two buildings used to house goats.
Mohammed and his father.
The village of al Jiftlik belongs in “Area C” of the occupied West Bank, which is under full Israeli military civil and security control.
Al Jiftlik village is also used as a testing area for Israeli weapons.
As ISM activists interviewed the family, four Israeli jets flew in formation over the village in two, separate passes.
Abohernam said he intends to rebuild his home.
His father, and grandfather, lived on the same land. “This is my land and I am not leaving,” he stated.
5th September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Yesterday, 300 orphans staged a protest following the demolition of Al-Rayyan Dairy Factory, north of Hebron, which occurred in the early hours of 1st September 2014.
Photo by ISM
The future of the children remains unclear as the two orphanages they live in, the Hebron Charity House for Girls and The Hebron Charity House for Boys, are dependent on the profits made by the dairy factory. Both the orphanages and the dairy factory are owned by the Islamic Charitable Society.
The dairy factory, which housed 150 cows and produced six tones of milk products, such as yogurt and cheese, had run for 24 years, ever since the Islamic Charitable Society received funding from the Kuwait government in 1991 to set up the factory. The purpose was for the Society’s orphanages and schools to have their own source of regular income, rather than relying on donations. The dairy products were distributed to Hebron and the surrounding villages.
The Israeli government, since 2002, has targeted the dairy factory. The first demolition order was based on concerns about environmental regulations, saying that the waste produced by cows was not dealt with suitably. Despite solving this problem, the dairy farm continuously fell under threat by the Israeli military, especially since it was located in Area C, the area of the West Bank completely under Israeli military control. Claims were also made by the Israeli Council for Planning that parts of the farm were illegally built; however, Abed Al-kareen Farrah, one of the lawyers working with the Islamic Charitable Society, confirmed that the farm received approval from the Israel Antiquities Authority for a license to build. He said, “The farm has been under fire for years with a lot of administrative issues, and Israel constantly put pressure on it to close.”
In June 2014, the dairy farm received a second demolition order, accusing the Islamic Charitable Society of having affiliation with Hamas because one of the dairy farm’s workers had been an administrative detainee for the past twenty months. The Chair of the Islamic Charitable Society’s Board of Directors, Hatim al-Bakri, stated that the society is not funding Gaza. On the 3rd of July 2014, Israeli forces confiscated all of the farm’s machinery before demolishing the entire farm a few days ago.
Photo by ISM
Hatim al-Bakri added that the farm would be impossible to rebuild, not only because it would cost two million dollars to do so, but also because of the heavy resistance they would face from the Israeli forces. Anything built on that plot of land would risk being demolished again and again.
“The future is dark for the orphans in Hebron,” he says. “I don’t know how we will be able to continue to fund the orphanages, or the seven schools the Islamic Charitable Society runs in and around Hebron. This question should be asked to the occupation.”
The demolition of the dairy farm is yet another example of how collective punishment affects hundreds of Palestinian people every day. Not only does the entire workforce of the farm have to lose their jobs because of one administrative detainee working there, but children, far removed from the workings of the farm, will also suffer the consequences.
30th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Khirbet al-Taweel, Occupied Palestine
Update 15th May:
On Monday the 12th of May, at 7AM, approximately 350 Israeli soldiers, two buses, and several military jeeps arrived at the remote village of Khirbet al-Taweel and ordered the inhabitants of two houses to remove all furniture in order to proceed with their illegal demolition. Previously the IRC (International Red Crescent) had aided the village providing tents as temporary shelter. However, two tents were ultimately seized and one destroyed that morning. The owner of one of the houses apparently offered the soldiers tea saying, “You may take away my house, but you can’t take away my hospitality”.
Currently the villagers are planning to establish a temporary camp 200 meters away from the previous demolitions as under Israeli law this requires a new demolition order to be enacted. Some of the buildings are historical landmarks under Israeli Law; however any renovations (fixing the roof, adding a toilet) are photographed by the Israeli military in order to ‘justify’ their demolition.
Photo by ISM
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On Tuesday the 29th of April, at 02:00AM, the Israeli army arrived at the small Bedouin village of Khirbet al-Taweel to demolish several structures claiming that they were built without permits. In total, three houses, several animal shelters and the village’s mosque were destroyed.
Photo by ISM
Khirbet al-Taweel has an approximate population of 180 inhabitants. 30 of them are now without homes because of the demolitions, 17 of which are children; the youngest child is only one-year old.
Three families were forced out of their homes at gunpoint at 02.00AM. They had no time to collect their belongings and were only able to take the most necessary items before the demolitions started. The Israeli army took two hours to carry out the demolitions, until 04:00AM, destroying three houses and the village mosque, which was built in 2008.
The three families also lost their water tanks to the demolitions carried out by the Israeli army. In order to get drinking water, they now have to walk 30 minutes uphill to get to the nearest town (Aqraba), and then back.
During the day, the Red Crescent provided the families with some tents. However according to one of the women who were evicted, the Israeli army told them that they were not allowed to stay in the area and had to leave immediately.
The woman stated that: “We have nowhere to go. This is our land, our homes. Where should we go?”
During the past five years, Khirbet al-Taweel has had many demolitions. According to several local villagers, this is a strategy from the Israeli authorities to force local populations to move, and thus expand the illegal farming settlements, located on the other side of the mountain from Khirbet al-Taweel.
3rd April 2014 | Operation Dove | At-Tuwani, Occupied Palestine
On April 2 the Israeli army together with some Border Police and District Coordination Office (DCO) officers demolished six shelters made of concrete in the Palestinian village of At-Tuwani.
At 9:20 am a convoy made up of one bulldozer, two army Jeeps, three Border Police vehicles, and two DCO cars entered the Palestinian village of Al Mufaqarah. The convoy passed through and reached the hills surrounding the gravel road that connects the Palestinian village of Al Mufaqarah to the village of At Tuwani. The area is Palestinian private land, cultivated with wheat and olive trees. On those fields the Palestinian owners from At-Tuwani in the past three years had built shelters made of concrete, in order to have a backing place during the harvest seasons when Palestinian families work hard for entire days under hot sunbeams.
Under the directions of DCO officers six shelters were demolished by the bulldozer; two of those were already completed and two others still under construction. On March 2, a DCO officer had come to the area and took pictures of the shelters but no demolition order was delivered.
At 10:10 am the convoy left. Palestinian inhabitants of Al Mufaqarah, the owners of the shelters, B’tselem operators and international volunteers were present on the place.
At-Tuwani and Al Mufaqarah villages are located in Area C, under Israeli military and administrative control. That means that all the constructions must be approved by the Israeli administration. Israel denies Palestinians the right to build on the 70 percent of Area C, which is about the 44 percent of all the West Bank, while within the remaining 30 percent a series of restrictions are applied in order to prevent Palestinians from the possibility of obtaining permits (source: OCHA oPt).
While the Palestinian and Bedouin villages of Area C suffer from Israel’s ongoing policy of demolitions and threats, the nearby outposts and settlements continue to expand. The Israeli illegal outpost of Avigayil since three years has been expanding in south-east direction with new houses and a fence that annexes always more Palestinian land. The Israeli illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on is always expanding despite continuos complaints from Israeli activists and International volunteers who fornish proofs of the works. The Israeli settlements of Ma’on and Karmel are expanding in particular since the Israeli government’s planning commitee approved the construction of 5170 new units in West Bank settlements in the spring of 2013. In the beginning of February 2014 a new fence was built around the south-eastern side of Ma’on, annexing even more meters of Palestinian owned land.
Photo by Operation Dove
Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.
[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]
2nd April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Bruqin, Occupied Palestine
On the 1st of April, at approximately 5.30 AM, a bulldozer and eight military jeeps arrived in the village of Bruqin close to the city of Nablus. The bulldozer first destroyed a farmers shed, killing the ten rabbits inside. The destruction continued as a caravan belonging to another farmer was also demolished, and finally later the same night, a building belonging to a farmer in the nearby village of Beit Furik was also destroyed.
This is just one of many nights where Palestinian property has been demolished by the Israeli army. Inside the village of Bruqin a girl’s school, recently financed by US Aid, is threatened by a demolition order.
The mayor of Bruqin spoke to an ISM activist after the demolitions:
“I talked to some Israeli settlers one week ago, and told them that we could live in peace, together. But they replied that they want another 700 dunums of land from Bruqin. So, I don’t think that they want peace. If you really want peace, you wouldn’t take what’s mine”.
The resistance in Bruqin against the illegal expansion of settlements continues. The day after the demolitions, men, women and children of the village went out on the hills close to a nearby illegal settlement and planted olive trees.
