Tag: Denial of Entry - Page 11 - International Solidarity Movement

Children: marvelous examples that life must go on whatever happens

29th November 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Children: marvelous examples that life must go on whatever happens, even if their growing up is influenced by negative experiences with settlers, soldiers, torture, humiliations…

We experienced this in the two days of the Jewish festival of “Chaye Sara” in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) in which 2.500 settlers arrived, camped in tents, went on their tours along the Palestinian souq and all the streets around the Ibrahimi Mosque. Apparently they prayed, but… what did they ask to their God?

Palestinians and internationals were expecting the usual violence against people and shops. In fact, groups of youngsters, feeling protected by their army, destroyed a shop window, insulted shop owners, made exercises with their third finger… violently stole handcraft souvenirs from many shops. To steel is a crime…. But here in Palestine, it depends on who you are.

Some of the settlers in their tour, just in front of a soldier, threw stones at houses on the hill over the Ibrahimi Mosque. So we spent two nights in the area, trying to reduce more violence: soldiers and settlers could see us and ours cameras…

As usual, the families were very welcoming, never complaining… they knew… this is their life. And the children? After the first moments, the explosion of their innocence, of their hunger of attention, thirst of joy.

children-and-soldiers — drawing made by Palestinian child

In front of the houses, soldiers equipped and ready for the most terrible fight, the rifles pointing to a possible enemy and hundreds of Jewish settlers walking proud to demonstrate their presence there.

And the children? They went on playing with us, laughing, jokeing, even when we accompanied them to a shop.

The rifles and the most sophisticated guns against the incredible strength of these children able to smile and play with the simplest things in their streets, in their homes, thanks to their minds still free of a gray and oppressive wall.

The right to be a child – also in this situation of human stupidity and of too many adults against them. The international society has the duty to protect them. Too many of them have already had their lifes ruined. It’s enough!!!

Not business as usual: colonial settlers in al-Khalil for Jewish festival

27th November 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

The Jewish holiday/celebration of Chayei Sarah and the reading of the Torah regarding Sarah took place in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) on 25th and 26th November 2016.

Beginning of Friday hundreds of Jews from illegal colonial settlements within the West Bank as well as Jews from Israel began arriving. It was estimated there may be as many as 1500 coming for their festivities. Huge tents and designated camping areas were set up (some in areas owned by Palestinians). They were also staying with families and friends in the existing illegal settlements here in al-Khalil.

This lot was the play area for the Palestinian elementary and secondary school. Now it's being used for The Sarah event. — This lot was the play area for the Palestinian elementary and secondary school. Now it’s being used for The Sarah event.

This automatically meant more Israeli occupation forces, more border police, much more “security” at checkpoints that Palestinians need to pass through on a regular basis as part of their normal daily routines (going to work, shopping, etc.) It also meant a complete closure of many of the checkpoints, not allowing anyone who was not here for the festival (that is a colonial settler) to go through.

Israeli Occupation Forces preparing for the "Settler Tour" with their guns and dogs — Israeli Occupation Forces preparing for the “Settler Tour” with their guns and dogs

On Saturday “security” was at its peak. Every Saturday afternoon there is a tour of the Palestinian Old City by settlers from the illegal settlements. This usually consists of around 20 to 150 settlers. With about as many Israeli occupation force soldiers to “protect” them. This weekend the tour consisted of nearly 2700 settlers. This obviously meant more soldiers, on roof tops, police dogs sniffing out the route before the tour began, soldiers positioned approximately every 50 meters along the entire route and at the beginning and end of the group. Many shop owners closed early for fear of trouble by the settlers parading through the Old City.

Sniffing for bombs on the parade route before it starts.

Soldiers and settlers parading through the Palestinian market where some shops closed early

The settlers who participated were singing, dancing, acting provocatively aggressive towards the Palestinians and internationals who were trying to mind their own business or observing the events. There were many “shouts of “welcome to Israel “ by the settlers as well as “f*ck you’s” and “this is our home not yours, we will never leave” at the Palestinians. An observer witnessed a number of incidents of harassment by the settlers toward anyone who was not Jewish and part of the group.

An obvious "welcome" from one of the settler youth — An obvious “welcome” from one of the settler youth

One Palestinian family in the Tel Rumeida area had their home invaded for approximately 10 hours by soldiers who set up observation on the roof and using their bathroom and kitchen as if it were their own place to do as they wished. An international who was invited to the home by the family to observe the goings on was forced to leave after an hour by the soldiers. The family was frightened by these events, but to the best of this writers knowledge there was no real damage done in the home by the soldiers.
An observer witnessed at least two Palestinian youth who were detained by the Israeli occupation forces for one reason or another. A third Palestinian was detained for trying to defend himself after a settler spit on him.
This is life in illegally settler occupied al-Khalil. The Israeli’s pretty much do as they wish and the Palestinians residents pay the consequences.

Israeli forces shoot and kill Palestinian man at Qalandiya checkpoint

24th November 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Ramallah, occupied Palestine

It has been confirmed that Jihad Mohammad Khalil, 48, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers at Qalandia checkpoint early Tuesday morning, 22nd November. Khalil is from Beit Wazan village, west of Nablus in the northern part of the West Bank. He was shot on the spot by an Israeli soldier, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. A spokeswoman from the Israeli Police claims that the man was approaching a security guard welding a knife and so he was neutralized, while another spokesperson says that he was attempting to stab Israeli security forces.

So far there has been absolutely no evidence shown to prove these claims. No soldiers were hurt during the incident and no other injuries reported. After he got shot, Jihad Khalil was left to bleed to death by the soldiers, as they would deny access to the medics rushing to give first aid. After the killing, the soldiers shot down the checkpoint and prevented the Palestinians from crossing into illegally annexxed al Quds (Jerusalem).

Imprisoned life: the feeling of a ‘closed military zone’

30th October 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

‘Closed military zone’ – a sterile term for an act of deliberate apartheid policies and dehumanisation with the clear and deliberate target of forcibly displacing Palestinian civilians: women, children, elderly, anyone that is Palestinian, from the Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street neighborhood with the deliberate aim of connecting the illegal Israeli settlements in the heart of the city of occupied al-Khalil. A connection of illegal settlements: ‘sterile’, ethnically cleansed of any Palestinian presence.

‘Closed military zone’ – such an objective term for obliterating human rights and even a sense of security and justice for Palestinians – in ambitions to in the end, finally, obliterate the people as well.

‘Closed military zone’, a sterile and objective term, that is hard, if not impossible to grapple. A term, just like ethnic cleansing and genocide that seems very far away, and hard to get the gist of, the feeling, what it means to struggle with it every day. Day in and day out, no escape.

‘Closed military zone’ (cmz) means degradation, dehumanization. Every Palestinian is made a number, stripped of their humanity, at the endless checkpoints, only numbers will pass.

‘Closed military zone’ is the denial of friends and families to visit relatives and friends, as humans aren’t allowed in the cmz by the Israeli forces, only the few ‘registered’ and listed- yet still human – Palestinians will pass – if a soldier, emboldened with impunity and the privilege to act on their own whim, allows them to.

‘Closed military zone’ is the all-to-familiar humiliation at the checkpoint, the yelling, having to empty your handbag, all your grocery-shopping. To put it in plain sight, on a table, for the soldiers behind the bullet proof glass to stare and gaze, to crack jokes and laugh. It’s being forced to lift up your shirt, undershirt, trouser-legs and take off your shoes, after passing a metal detector twice. The soldier enyojing the spectacle laughing with his comrade.

‘Closed military zone’ is the wait, the endless wait, when soldiers at the checkpoint turn up the music, so they can’t hear you asking to open the gate at the checkpoint for you. The endless wait, when you ask them to open, the soldier looks at you, and with impunity just goes back to playing on his phone, pretending not to have noticed your presence, with a smirk on his face. The endless wait, when a ‘busy’ soldier is reading, talking to someone on the phone, watching a movie, playing an ego-shooter, or simply decides to not allow you to pass.

‘Closed military zone’ is the obvious and deliberate instrument for the humiliation and dehumanization of a whole people. The Palestinian people. Humans. Humans denied basic human rights, treated like prisoners in their own homes, simply because they’re Palestinian. Because they don’t move out of the way for a racist, zionist, apartheid venture of an ethnically cleansed strip of illegal settlements.

Last but not least, the ‘closed military zone’ can only succeed, if the world turns a blind eye, if the injustice perpetrated by the Israeli forces is allowed to prevail, if the dehumanization of a people with the aim of their obliteration is silently accepted by the international community, by a country, and by an individual.

‘Closed military zone’ means ethnic cleansing of humans not spoken against, dehumanization not spoken against, the forcible transfer of humans not spoken against; even the idea of a human being behind the term of ‘Palestinian’ being denied, the existence of Palestinian human beings denied, their existence destroyed.

Imprisoned lives: closed military zone in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron)

30th October 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

It’s like living in a prison. That’s how residents describe what Israeli forces are doing to their lives in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood and Shuhada Street in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). The area was first declared a ‘closed military zone’ on 30th October 2015 – solely and deliberately affecting the Palestinian residents. One year of collective punishment, open discrimination, racism, apartheid policies and rampant attempts at ethnic cleansing in this area, commonplace tactics of an illegal occupying force in an obvious attempt to rid the area of any Palestinian presence and instead, create a continous ‘sterile’ strip of illegal settlements.

The ‘closed military zone’ has several times been extended within this year of collective punishment of the Palestinian population, adding even more areas and ‘re-inforcing’ and creating more checkpoints, exclusively for the Palestinian civilian population. Only the Palestinian civilian residents, who must register to pass through a checkpoint to gain access to their family home, have been degraded to a mere number on a list by the Israeli forces. Only ‘registered’ residents are allowed to reach their homes. The lists of Palestinian residents have been changed repeatedly lately, arbitrarily dropping various names from the list. Apparently registering with the occupying force as a resident in one’s own home just once often isn’t sufficient. This dehumanization of the Palestinian civilians who at the checkpoint are reduced to a number, is a deliberate tactic to create a forcible environment directly furthering ethnic cleansing. For some time Palestinian residents were assigned numbers that were marked on their IDs, completely ridding these civilians of their human aspect, instead making them a mere number on a list. Now, with those numbers temporarily not in use, Palestinians are reffered to by their ID-number. The Palestinian civilian trying to live in their own home is just that for the Israeli forces, a number, void of any humanity.

During the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Israeli forces basically declared a curfew on the whole area, closing Shuhada checkpoint, denying Palestinians passage while allowing exclusive access tor settlers at the same time. The prison this area is becoming for the Palestinian civilian population is further exacerbated by the fact that, if there’s a large number of Israeli forces or settlers from the nearby illegal settlements on the street, leaving the house is not an option. One year of collective punishment – a sad anniversary that proves that the Israeli state does not need to fear an outcry by the international community when implementing their racist, apartheid measures, ethnically cleansing an entire neighborhood. During a year in which the residents have not been allowed to receive visitors like family or friends, workers of any sort have been denied entry and even medical personnel will be turned away at the checkpoint.