Tag: Demonstration - Page 29 - International Solidarity Movement

Beit El demonstration under attack by Israeli forces after Martyr laid to rest

10th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Ramallah, occupied Palestine

Less than one hour after the Halabi family laid their son, martyr Mohannad al-Halabi, to rest in a cemetery in Ramallah, violent confrontations broke out in the nearby Beit El area. In a continuation of the sharp escalation in violence seen across the occupied Palestinian territories and Jerusalem, demonstrations across the West Bank today were met with an unleashing of brutality by Israeli forces that left hundreds injured and two dead.

After withholding the body of 19 year old Mohannad al-Halabi for seven days, his family received him at 2am Friday morning at a hospital in Ramallah. Thousands gathered Friday afternoon at the Abd al Nasser Mosque for prayers before bringing his body to a nearby cemetery where he was laid to rest near his grandfather.

As Palestinians filled the streets in the Beit El area for demonstration, Israeli forces began showering the crowd with rapid live ammunition fire, hitting 23 and seriously wounding at least 2. 44 others sustained injuries by rubber-coated bullets, stun grenades and clouds of tear gas which were fired in rapid succession by venom trucks. Water cannons filled the streets with foul smelling organic or chemical composition fluid.

Confrontations raged on during a demonstration near the Beit El settlement

A Palestinian youth was unharmed after being run over at the demonstration by an Israeli military jeep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unRWEnqmbm0

Video credit: Maan News

In Gaza City, where West Bank and Jerusalem solidarity demonstrations were held, 7 young Palestinians were martyred in similarly brutal Israeli military attacks that utilized exploding bullets aimed at Palestinian children’s heads and chests. 145 others were reportedly injured as Israeli military forces opened fire at the demonstration held by the border fence east of Gaza City, near Khan Younis on Friday, medics and the Ministry of Health confirmed.

Two Palestinians have been confirmed killed by Israeli occupation forces as of today, bringing the toll of Palestinians murdered in a week of sharply escalated violence in the West Bank to 16 martyred. Over 1,000 have been injured during the escalation. Tensions were sparked after the Israeli government, again, imposed restrictions and refused Muslims entry into al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

An Israeli governmental official in Jerusalem, days ago, made inflammatory statements in calling for Israeli’s to arm themselves amidst the conflict. These statements sharply conflict with other Israeli official’s statements claiming to want to calm tensions raging throughout the West Bank where Palestinians are undergoing not just Israeli military violence but brutal attacks by settlers which include attacks on Palestinian cars, homes and random attacks in the streets.

Days ago in the Tel Rumeida section of al-Khalil, (Hebron) nearly two hundred settlers marched, burning Palestinian flags, chanting ‘death to Arabs,’ and attacking Palestinians and human rights monitors with stones and physical violence.

Today, the 22 year old Palestinian man shot to death near the Kiryat Arba illegal settlement in al-Khalil will be laid to rest after funeral services. In the occupied Palestinian territories, violent escalation continues.

Young Palestinian man held in metal box in al-Khalil

10th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

As a part of the recent surge in violence, there has been an escalation in random ID checks and detentions across occupied al-Khalil,(Hebron) In the full Israeli military controlled H-2 section of al-Khalil this afternoon, several young Palestinian men were detained, interrogated and one was beaten during nearly five hours of interrogation.

At the Shuhada Street checkpoint at around 2:oo pm, a 17 year old Palestinian man was put into a small metal box where Israeli forces placed a large stone against the door to trap him inside. There is very little ventilation in the small space where he was contained and the sweltering afternoon sun only exacerbated the issue.

Israeli forces detained a young Palestinian man in a small metal box and trapped him inside by placing a stone against the door.

After approximately 30 minutes, an Israeli military jeep arrived at the checkpoint and half a dozen Israeli soldiers and border police surrounded the box and two went inside, presumably questioning the young man while one studied a laminated poster depicting Israeli forces captured photos of dozens of young Palestinians they wish to arrest before the teenager was finally released.

Israeli forces look over a poster of photos of young Palestinians they wish to arrest while detaining young man in metal box.

Detention of Palestinians occurred several times throughout the day. At around 3pm, also at the Shuhada Street checkpoint, Israeli forces detained, and subsequently marched to the Shuhada Street military base for interrogation, a 19 year old Palestinian man from the Abu Eisheh family. The young man was given the ambiguous explanation that he was being taken for questioning regarding an issue with settlers.

His father, an advocate for Palestinian’s arrested in H-2 Israeli military controlled al-Khalil, came as close as Shuhada Street segregation allowed to speak to Israeli forces across from the military base about his son’s arrest. The elder, who is helpful in communications during Israeli military detention of Palestinians due to his fluency in Hebrew, was told by the soldiers that they “knew him” and asked if he “thought he was the boss or the big king of al-Khalil” due to his concerned interventions during criminal detentions. Israeli forces were heard saying to ignore him because he “is an Arab,” and Israeli police completely disregarded him and international solidarity activists requesting information on the status of his son.

Nearly five hours later, the young man was released and spoke with ISM international human rights monitors about the violent treatment he received during his interrogation, which after five hours ended in his dismissal, another pointless instance of harassment and incursion into the daily lives of the occupied Palestinian people. “The soldiers blindfolded and handcuffed me during the entire five hours they held me. They kicked me again and again and hit me in my face.” Several bruises were visible on the young man who wished only to have his raw and cut wrists photographed.

19 year old Palestinian man detained, handcuffed and blindfolded for five hours shows the injuries to his wrists during Israeli military detention in al-Khalil

Violence continues to sweep like wild fire across the occupied Palestinian territories. Many Palestinians were injured today in demonstrations and confrontations with Israeli forces.

12 year old Palestinian killed in Bethlehem as violence explodes across the West Bank

5th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | West Bank, occupied Palestine

Abed al-Rahman Shadi Obeidallah, 12 was still in his school uniform when he was rushed in a civilian car to Beit Jala hospital from Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem today. The boy, from from a Al Kahder village, was shot in the heart during confrontations at Aida camp as violence explodes across the West Bank prompting the Red Crescent to declare a level 3 state of emergency across the occupied Palestinian territories. Another boy was shot in leg with live ammunition during the attack.

Abed al-Rahman Shadi Obeidallah, 12, just before being shot to death by Israeli forces in Bethlehem

Denouncing Israeli violations against humanitarian international law, the Palestine Red Crescent Society staff have endured 14 attacks on their emergency vehicles as Israeli forces and settler violence has sharply surged in a bloody three days. Attacks on PRCS have included medics being beaten by soldiers in Jerusalem, Israeli forces beating an ambulance crew with batons in the old city of Jerusalem and after one attack on an emergency crew in Jabal Al Taweel (Al-Bireh), two medics were injured. Israeli forces attacked an ambulance in al-Issawiya village in occupied East Jerusalem, before arresting an injured Palestinian who was being treated inside the ambulance. An ambulance windshield was also shattered by settlers in Burin village in Nablus. Burin underwent a frightening attack by settlers which left much of it in flames.

Reportedly 465 Palestinians have been injured thus far, including 28 shot with live ammunition and 68 injured with rubber coated steel bullets. Hundreds of others have been overcome by teargas that Israeli forces have been showering over villages and in cities where Palestinians have gathered to demonstrate against their murdering of several Palestinian youths since this past Saturday.

Young Palestinians martyrs recently murdered by Israeli forces.

Fadi Samir Mustafa Alloun, 19, from the East Jerusalem village of al-Issawiya, was shot to death by Israeli forces after allegedly attempting to stab a group of Israelis. 18-year-old Huthayfa Othman Suleiman was shot in the chest during clashes and died in the operating room. In a particularly heinous attack, Yousef Bayan al-Tabib, just six years old, was standing on the side of the road when a settler reportedly stopped his car, shot the child in the stomach, and fled the scene.

Across the occupied Palestinian territories, there have been reports of settlers slaughtering Palestinian’s sheep, attacking Palestinian cars with stones on roads and carrying out violent attacks on villages. As for Israeli forces, soldiers disguised as Palestinians assisting an injured Palestinian into a hospital in Ramallah, disabled security cameras and proceeded to arrest a Palestinian undergoing medical treatment. This is similar to other hospital raids in recent days where a variation of this tactic was repeated.

As for the Israeli government, Netanyahu today made an inflammatory statement to wage a “harsh offensive” against Palestinians; Zionist opportunism at its most typical. Collective punishment is the usual expectation when it comes to the illegally occupying force dealing with the civilian population whose land they are occupying. Israel launched three air strikes in the besieged Gaza strip targeting alleged Hamas ‘terror’ sites after two rockets were fired from Gaza, hitting nothing and injuring no one.

News reports of shootings, injuries, murders, arrests and raids continue to flood in as the situation unfolds at a lightning quick pace. For Palestinians enduring the brunt of Israeli incited race hatred and promoted retribution for the shooting of two Israeli settlers last week, the cavalierly imposed restrictions on al Aqsa Mosque, which have sparked outrage and violent confrontations- and the ensuing chaos, are yet another violent incursion into their lives.

The broken wheel of Israeli ‘justice.’ The case of Mahmoud Abujoad Frarjah

4th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Gaza, occupied Palestine

Sireen Frarjarh and her husband Mahmoud Abujoad Frarjah met eyes numerous times during this past Tuesday’s trial in an Ofer military court hearing. The trial was to determine if the young, newly married Palestinian man from the Deishah refugee camp in Bethlehem, would be held in detention until the conclusion of his court proceedings. The judgement, to continue Mahmoud’s detention was passed down by the blind eyes of the Israeli ‘justice’ system for an alleged crime over a year old.

Mahmoud and his wife Sireen, married just three months at the time of Mahmoud's arrest in Jordan by Israeli authorities. — Mahmoud and his wife Sireen, married just three months at the time of Mahmoud’s arrest in Jordan by Israeli authorities.

On September 9th, Mahmoud was arrested whilst traveling to Jordan on a family holiday. He was blindfolded and detained for 8 hours, during which he was denied water, food and toilet facilities. He was charged with throwing stones at a demonstration a year ago near Rachel’s tomb in Bethlehem. Mahmoud had his initial hearing on Wednesday 16th September, which was then postponed until Sunday, September 20th. And although the judge ruled that Mahmoud should be released on September 29th, he subsequently refused his release.

The backdrop of this case is key. Minimization: Israel committed a human rights atrocity, an international law destroying massacre which claimed the lives of nearly 2,200 Palestinians, nearly a quarter of them innocent children during a military operation handily termed Protective Edge. (To date, no Israeli military or governmental personnel have sat in a courtroom, legs in chains, as were Mahmoud’s, and faced a judge for these heinous, reprehensible acts.) Maximization: Thanks to new legislation which perpetuates the critically and intentionally lopsided imbalance in Israeli courts for those on the wrong end of the class divide, Palestinian (alleged) stone throwers are more likely to face detention without bail until the end of their court proceedings. These regulations are applicable to Palestinian children as young as 12 years old.

Collective punishment was the overall tone of Military Judge Lt. Colonol Shmuel Keidar in his decision in this past Tuesday’s trial to accept the appeal of the military prosecution against the decision to release Mahmoud on bail, “With the security reality that to my sorrow exists in the area, I believe that the court can deviate from the micro-considerations regarding the defendant himself and yes to considerations of general deterrent, the touch considering the wide population in the area. Because of these things I believe it is not wrong to use the the reason of general deterrent straightaway or for detention and should express it as much as the situation needs. For all of these reasons I accept to keep him until the end of proceedings.”

The micro-considerations Keider is so cavalierly referring to here is that the alleged witness to the stone throwing was one man who was arrested and during interrogation gave twenty Palestinian’s names to investigators, Mahmoud’s being one of them. With such baseless evidence, the Keider is willing to continue Mahmoud’s imprisonment until the trial’s conclusion; likely a considerable amount of time.

The micro-considerations being that Mahmoud is of no security risk and is being held and tried on a basis so flimsy it wouldn’t get so much as a peek inside a courtroom in most places the globe over. In the end, Mahmoud is yet another young Palestinian who will fall under the weight of the broken wheel of the Israeli ‘justice’ system.

The fact alone that Israeli lawmakers can seriously argue for harsh sentence structures for Palestinian stone throwers, this is an act of resistance to an internationally noted criminal six decade military occupation, whilst silently they make space between each passing day and the dark hallway of massacre and subjugation left in their wake, is an utter absurdity.

In the end Mahmoud will possibly face the same road most Palestinians in Israeli courts face. In order to avoid languishing in Israeli prison for up to two years while court proceedings drag on to the punchline crescendo of a trial which ends, almost across the board, badly for every Palestinian enduring it- Mahmoud can plead guilty and take a deal giving him several months imprisonment. And it makes it that much easier the next time Mahmoud, or any Palestinian for that matter, is arrested to show a history of supposed criminal behavior with previous guilty pleas and sentences served.

The case of Mahmoud Abujoad Frarjah is another sounding of the death knell for any kind of justice being seen for the Palestinian people.

Israeli forces escalate restrictions and violence against Palestinians during Sukkot-holiday

2nd October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the 28^th – 30^th September 2015 is the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. In the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron), while Israeli settlers from the many illegal settlements within al-Khalil celebrate their holiday, Israeli forces have escalated restrictions and violence against the Palestinian residents, further infringing on their most basic rights.

In preparation for the celebrations of Sukkot, already heavily restricted Palestinian freedom of movement has been almost entirely grinded to a halt by Israeli forces. Especially in the area around the Ibrahimi mosque, food-stalls and entertainment has sprung up for settlers not only from al-Khalil but also visiting from other West Bank illegal settlements. In order to completely barr Palestinians from this main venue of celebration for the settlers and Israeli forces, the mosque checkpoint leading to this area from the Palestinian market has been closed down for two days. Shopkeepers were handed notices by the Israeli army forcing them to again close their shops for the Jewish holiday, imposing more days of forced closures and lost income.

Palestinian schoolchildren forced to squeeze past armored Israeli jeep on their way to school

Families that for generations have lived in this neighbourhood directly next to the Ibrahimi mosque are also barred access. Even if not physically prevented from leaving their houses by closed checkpoints or soldiers randomly denying them entry into the area, large crowds of settlers and soldiers right outside their doorsteps pose an immediate threat for leaving the house. With settlers, at times ‘wearing’ machine guns or hand-guns just like an accessoire, known for their attacks on Palestinians, that seem to escalate especially during the Jewish holidays, Palestinian families are locked up in their houses as if under house arrest, caged inside their homes while right outside their doorsteps settlers and soldiers merrily celebrate their holiday together without even having to think about the local families hoping for the holiday to pass as uneventful as possible.

But in most of the cases, that was not the case, with huge groups of settlers flooding into al-Khalil, Israeli forces did everything possible to facilitate their movement. New checkpoints and road-blocks popped up randomly, leaving Palestinians with their cars parked on the wrong side of them without any possibility to access their cars, soldiers took over several Palestinian houses, using their roofs or even the whole house as a military base to ‘keep an eye’ on Palestinians’ every movement in the maze of obstacles, dead-ends and military checkpoints – almost impossible to navigate in every-day life in a militarily occupied city – further exacerbated by this holiday.

Israeli forces further restricting Palestinian freedom of movement with additional roadblocks

Even in the H1-area of al-Khalil, that is supposedly under full Palestinian control, Israeli forces evicted Palestinian civilians going about their everyday lives attacking them with stun-grenades and rubber coated steel bullets, to facilitate access exclusively for Israeli settlers. Sudden attacks like these didn’t allow even for a few minutes for shopkeepers and vendors to protect their produce from violent assaults by Israeli forces or for families and mothers to hurriedly whisk their small children to safety out of the range of indiscriminate fire. In the area around Bab al-Zawwiyya and Shuhada checkpoint, where Palestinian student Hadeel al-Hashlamoun was ruthlessly gunned down and killed by Israeli soldiers just last week, endless rounds of stun-grenades and rubber coated steel bullets fired at protectors have echoed throughout the days. Israeli forces’ fire has also been directly targeting Palestinian families, with tear gas and stun grenades continuously exploding on the roofs of their homes, leaving them scared and hurriedly closing windows to minimise tear gas slowly seeping into their homes.

Israeli soldier shooting rubber-coated steel bullet from a Palesitnian house

In this escalation of violence, harassment, attacks and restrictions, it doesn’t matter if you’re a small child, a grown up adult or an old person. The stepped up ‘security’ is only imposing further hassles and obstacles on Palestinians’ already severely restricted everyday life. Israeli settlers on the other hand, under the watch of the Israeli forces are free to attack Palestinian families and shops or keep them locked up in their home by blocking their front door. And age doesn’t matter in these cases either, while some of the settlers use their children to block international observers’ cameras, other parents encourage them to join the attacks and insults on Palestinian families. Soldiers idly standing by watching these incidents happen, just a few minutes afterwards, receive pizza delivered by the same settlers or giving them a hug on their way home after their shift is finished.

For Palestinians, every day life is children coming home from school crying, coughing and choking from tear gas shot at them by Israeli forces at one of the many checkpoints they have to cross, passing heavily armed military. Every day life is mothers and fathers anxiously waiting for the return of their children from school if they’re late, hoping and praying they were not randomly snatched by Israeli forces and arrested for ‘dirty hands’ that would indicate they were throwing stones – just because children would never play and get dirty hands. Every day life is families having to endure Israeli settlers attacking a son, brother or father with Israeli forces standing by not intervening and later on arresting the person attacked.

Every day life is a struggle against the illegal Israeli military occupation of every aspect of Palestinian life, a daily struggle against the denial of most basic human rights.

When celebrating a holiday makes this struggle through every day life even more miserable and seemingly impossible, where is humanity?