7 January 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Friday night, Israeli soldiers at Checkpoints 56 and Gilbert in the town of Al Khalil (Hebron) detained Palestinian and International Solidarity Movement activists for a total of five hours for unexplained reasons. The detainees, a mix of activists and community members, were held for hours out on a cold night while groups of settlers and military squads arrived to heckle, shout, curse and point their guns. The soldiers of the recently arrived Golani Brigade, one of whom, a checkpoint commander, said their reasons where because “because [he] said so.”
The detentions occurred one after another and involved activists and community members being sent back and forth between checkpoints. Each time they thought themselves free to go they were again detained a short walk away. In each round of detentions, the problems started with arbitrary detention of a Palestinian, after which ISM and Youth Against Settlements activist observers were asked to show passports and detained by Israeli soldiers without any pretense of justification.
Commander with international passports
The first person held, a man returning home to the Palestinian-controlled “H1” zone of Khalil, had been in military custody two and a half hours prior to the arrival of solidarity activists. According to the soldiers, this was because the man lacked identification, but they were unwilling to accept his personal information (including passport number) and did not offer any other options. The man was finally released when the soldiers’ superiors arrived and ordered him released.
Activists were stopped again a mere 300 meters away, where passports/IDs were again checked and more soldiers were called. A number of illegal settlers arrived to offer soldiers tea and treats and shout insults at ISM and Palestinian activists. One settler returned again and again to make threats, attempted to block or take cameras, and at one point persuaded soldiers to give him the activists’ passports. When all but one of the detainees (Izzat of Youth Against Settlements) had their identification returned, the rest remained in solidarity and as a group returned to the checkpoint to demand the last activist be released. This yielded yet another round of ID inspections and a police visit before all were finally allowed to head home.
First detention at the checkpoint
In the last two weeks since the Golani Brigade were shifted to checkpoint duty in the Israeli-administered H2 quarter of Hebron, military aggression and human rights abuses have increased, according to ISM activists and Palestinian residents of the area. While checkpoint stops and attacks on Palestinians have been historically commonplace in the divided city, Sami of Youth Against Settlements says that when the Golani Brigade is assigned the number of human rights abuses goes up many times over. Additionally with the Golani deployment in Hebron, military harassment of international activists has also increased, as witnessed by the repeat detentions of Friday night.
According to the Israeli news source Haaretz.com, the Golani Brigade has a ‘complex’ and special reputation for at once being particularly ‘tough,’ and routinely sent to front line combat “as a brigade that struggles with no small number of disciplinary problems and scandals, caused by bad behavior ranging from revolts against commanders to abuse of Palestinians.”
According to ISM and Youth Against Settlements activists this ‘bad behavior’ has been more than evident with the last few weeks’ upsurge in arbitrary detentions and harrasment.
On the following morning, one of the ISM activists detained Friday night was stopped yet again, her passport taken, threatened with arrest, and surrounded at her apartment. Another ISM volunteer asked, “Why do you keep breaking international and Israeli law?” The commander’s response, also present the night before, summed up his answer in four words: “I am the law.”
Aaron is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
20 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Over 1000 American and International Zionists joined 700 extremist settlers in Hebron this weekend to celebrate the reading of the Torah portion detailing Abraham’s biblical purchase of Hebron land, and to assert sovereignty over the Palestinian residents of Hebron.
On Friday, many Zionist visitors camped in tents on Israeli-controlled Shuhada Street. Inebriated from the Shabbat festivities, the visitors harassed local Palestinians throughout the night.
On Saturday, soldiers stationed themselves through the streets of Hebron’s Old City, forcing the shutdown of Palestinian shops, while swarms of visitors were treated to an extensive settler-guided tour championing the Jewish roots of Old Hebron. In what was advertised by the Hebron Committee as “the most unforgettable Jewish experience of a lifetime”, throngs of young, mostly American males clapped and chanted ‘Am Yisrael Chai’ (‘life to the people of Israel’) and other nationalistic chants, while Palestinian residents were forced to the sidelines of their own streets and kept there by soldiers. Throughout the day, 7 international activists and 2 Palestinians were arrested.
While a few visitors were respectful to Palestinian shop owners and residents, many were outright hostile. Mohammed Awawdeah owns a small shop in the old city, selling glass bottles filled with intricate colored sand patterns. Some of his bottles were smashed by a passing settler.
“He came and broke my stuff,” Awawdeah says. “I told the police but they are not here for us, they are here for the settlers…I am not even angry for my stuff, I’m angry at the soldiers who let them do this”.
Hamday Dwaik decided to close his bakery in the old city, since his shop was targeted by settlers during the event last year. “The settlers don’t want me to open. If I open they will throw my products on the ground, no one will buy it”.The Israeli police have taken the details of the incident and said that they intend to carry out an investigation.
Laila Slemiah, who works in Women In Hebron, a woman’s collective in the old city selling kiffiyehs and embroidery, was determined not to close her shop.
“I know I won’t have any business today,” she said, “but I have to stay open. I’m not scared of them.”
Clashes were also reported between visiting Americans and international activists. One activist relates that “as we were walking, a group of young American Jewish boys got into an argument with us. They became threatening towards us, and one of them had an M16 around his waist. They told us they would break our camera, they told the nearby Palestinian shop owner they would burn down his shop, they told me I would be dead on the floor.”
As this event is touted by the Zionist community as a Biblically-ordained ‘return to the homeland’, an organization called Project Hayei Sarah has been founded in the U.S. and Israel, offering alternative interpretations of Abraham’s Biblical relationship to Hebron that challenge the attempted Zionist appropriation of this legend to legitimize territorial conquest.
Video: “Only Jews Can Walk Here”
Seven international observers were detained by the Israeli police over the course of the day. At around 8 am, five international activists were detained after they were observing the checkpoint in Israeli controlled H2 area. They were held at Kiryat Arba police station for 8 hours and were threatened with charges of ‘interfering with police work’ unless they signed a statement agreeing not to be in the H2 area for a week. Two other international activists were detained at around 2:35pm today after attempting to film settlers passing through the old city; they were taken to Kiryat Arba and held there for around 2 hours. They were released without any further action being taken.
As darkness fell and the rain became harder, the tour ended. Large groups of settlers gathered in Palestinian areas of Tel Rumeida. A rowdy group of around 15 settlers chanted and attempted to intimidate Palestinians outside a shop in Tel Rumeida at around 5pm. The Israeli police were called and the group dispersed shortly afterwards.
Alistair George and Ben Lorber are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement. Ben Lorber also writes for the Alternative Information Center.
13 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On November 12 a young teenage girl was being detained at the main checkpoint in Hebron. When internationals were notified she had been detained for more than an hour without any obvious reason.
The girl was on her way home with a friend when she passed the checkpoint and soldiers refused to hand her back her ID. When activists from the International Solidarity Movement got to the checkpoint, the two soldiers in question refused to give any further information or explanation. As a crowd of people was gathering one of the two soldiers said that he had a bad headache and that the people were driving him “crazy.”
After some minutes several military vehicles and heavily armed soldiers showed up and tried to move the internationals to the side, with the commander taking the leading role in pushing the activists when they asked for an explanation. The girl was handed back her ID after approximately three hours of waiting at the checkpoint. No explanation was given, but it appeared that the refusal to hand back her ID was a retribution for her participation in the demonstration against restrictions being imposed on Palestinian teachers which was staged earlier in October this year.
Roadblocks, closures and checkpoints restrict daily life for Palestinians living in Hebron. These restrictions are the result of the approximately 500 Jewish settlers occupying the city center. There are five settlements inside the city mainly located in the area of the Old City and other settlements on the outskirts of Hebron. This has divided the city into two pieces known as H1 and H2. While H1 remains under Palestinian control, H2 is under Israeli control. Up to 4000 soldiers are present in H2 as a way of “protecting” the approximately 500 settlers that are illegally occupying the city center where currently half a million Palestinians live. Many international organizations have argued that these roadblocks and checkpoints could be removed without compromise security.
Consequences of these restrictions have badly affected many Palestinians who have been forced to move and close their business. Beside economic consequences, Palestinians have also lost many parts of the Old City which holds great cultural value since large parts have been closed down by the military or been destroyed by Israeli settlers. Families living in the area as well as school children on their way to schools regularly suffer from harassment from both settlers and military. Peacekeeping organizations beside ISM have maintained a presence in the area as a way of observing and de-escalating violence committed by the Israeli soldiers as well as Zionist settlers with little or no success.
It is part of a broader Israeli agenda which aim at forcing people to leave in order to expand Israeli illegal settlements inside the city.
Emma Evertsson is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.
20 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Today, Friday 15 of July, the Israeli army violently repressed the weekly non-violent demonstration of the Palestinian city of Nabi Saleh. During the repeated attacks on the peaceful demonstrators four activists were arrested: two Palestinians, one Italian and one Israeli. The following is the testimony of the Italian activist.
The main demonstration lasted under 3 minutes. Three Palestinians blindfolded themselves behind a wooden structure covered in barbed wire, to symbolise the imprisonment of all the Palestinians in Israeli prisons which is illegal under international law. As soon as the demonstrators appeared in the soldiers view, a barrage of tear gas hit them and they were dispersed. The first Palestinian was arrested in the course of the morning (not sure about the second Palestinian and the Israeli). Around five in the afternoon they attacked a group of people that took part in the demonstration in the morning but that at that moment was just standing by. I was sitting a little further away from the group. The soldiers were out to get anyone who participated in the demonstration, regardless of whether they did anything illegal, so I did not have any other choice but to run. A soldier came after me. I stepped on a wrong spot and fell down, injuring my right leg.
Marks of aggression are left upon the wrists of an Italian volunteer, illegally arrested and beaten.
The soldier caught me and put his knee over me to prevent me from running. After a few moments I was surrounded by soldiers. One of them took my left hand and twisted it for no apparent reason other than to intimidate me since I was already incapable of fleeing. They handcuffed me using a plastic zip lock, pulled me on my feet and asked me why I was running. I answered that I know that they routinely arrest people for doing nothing illegal and I did not want to be taken. They started leading me to their jeep and at that point I started asking where I would be taken. They were not answering me so I decided to resist what was an arbitrary and unjustified arrest. I shouted that I am an Italian citizen and I have the right to know where I am going to be taken.
They continued refusing to give me an answer so I resisted being put into the Jeep. There were many of them trying to force me into the vehicle and they started using violence on me. They were hitting me on the legs and the soldier next to me first showered me with water using the little water pipe coming out of his helmet, then he elbowed my groin. Another soldier put his fingers on my throat, trying to prevent me from talking. He then threatened to pepper spray my face, if I wouldn’t tuck my legs in the vehicle. But it was an empty threat he did not carry out. They couldn’t manage to place me in the jeep fully, so they began to move the vehicle with the back door open and my legs dangling out. They brought me to the junction or entrance of the village, where the rest of the troops were gathered and loaded me on another military jeep. A man with a camera filmed everything and from the second jeep I managed to describe to him what they did to me during the arrest, stressing that I was a peaceful demonstrator and I did nothing illegal. The soldiers did not like that and as soon as the jeep moved and they closed the backdoor the physical abuse began.
The soldier next to me, the one who previously elbowed my groin, started punching me in my face, and gestured me to shut up; another two soldiers joined the gratuitous display of power, hitting me on the arm and the head using a helmet. One of the punches in the face left me without glasses, when I asked for it back, I received another punch landing on my nose. They brought me to the army base in the settlement next to Nabi Saleh, although I discovered this only later.
They took me out of the Jeep and put me on my feet. I asked for my glasses and hat. One of the soldiers slapped the hat on my head and the other put my glasses in my bag. Still handcuffed I was taken upstairs, in what looked like the prisoners’ room. On the way they asked my religion and I answered that I am an atheist, the soldier did not understand so I said I was educated as a Christian Catholic. Two Palestinians were sitting blindfolded and handcuffed at the left corners of the room.
One soldier told me “You are a terrorist” and I replied “what makes me a terrorist?” He remained silent. They then cut the plastic zip lock and took my backpack. They replaced a new zip lock around my wrists and one around my thumbs, blind folding me again. They offered me water and I drank. They then started playing with me saying contradictory things like “turn around” and when I did they went “don’t move.” They invited me to sit down on the floor in one corner of the room. They started asking how long had I been in Israel, which day I came in, and when I was planning to leave. This question was repeated several times.
The second time he asked this question, this was the exchange:
“I’m flying back on Tuesday”
“Maybe you will stay with us in jail”
“I didn’t do anything illegal”
“Maybe we’ll find something”
“Yeah, I’m sure”.
They went through my things and found pills, I explained they are for my light narcolepsya and the soldier asked me whether I needed one now.
Some 10-15 minutes of silence followed. They probably wanted to wait until I was a little scared before starting the interrogation. At a point I heard a very loud sound, but could not figure out what it was. I asked about it and was given no answer. Later they sparked the loud sound again, and I think they obtain it hitting a wooden chair in that closed empty environment. I then heard them playing with their rifles, probably to scare me into thinking they were about to shoot me. Then the questioning began.
The soldiers asked where I was from, I answered Italy. The same soldier then asked me if my car was a Maserati or a Ferrari.
“Do I look that rich?”
“You look very poor. What car do you have ?”
“I have a fiat marea”
“That’s a piece of shit!”
He asked me what I am doing in Israel and I answered I am here for tourism and I stay in Jerusalem.
“Which hostel?’
“I don’t remember the name”
“How do you get back there then?”
“I know how to walk there”. I spent my first week in the country travelling around so I had in my bag a list of tourist locations and a map of Jerusalem, which gave strength to my story. Another soldier asked me “Do you love Arabs?”
“I have no particular feelings towards any ethnicity”
“Have you got any relation to the conflict?”
“No, I’m here just for tourism. You probably asked this because I look Arab. That is because my father is from Sicily, which was under
Arab domination, so I have some Arab features, but no actual relation to the conflict.”
“Have you been to Syria?”
“No, this is my first time outside Europe”
“Did you do tourism in any other conflict area?”
“As I said this is my first outside Europe, and there are no armed conflict in Europe”.
They wanted to know who pays for my trip, I answered that I pay for myself and my last job was in a coffee shop, they also asked if they pay was good in which I answer it was the minimum wage.A soldier said “I saw your pictures” (soldiers using tear gas on demonstrators)
“You are a bad guy.”
“They show you, aren’t you proud of what you do?”
“I’m very proud of what I do.”
“Then you should like my pictures.”
After a little while the blindfold was taken away and there were five soldiers in front of me. They wanted to know why did I run if I was doing nothing wrong.
I answered again “I ran because I know you arrest people for no reason to make sense of your job, and I did not want to be taken.”
“We only arrest people that throw stones.”
“Look, you have your incentive structure and I understand it, you have to get someone,” and then repeated I was not doing anything illegal.
I told the group the amount of violence that was used against me and indicated the soldier that did most of the beating. He apologised and I said, “If you wanna make me happy don’t do it again to anybody”. They blindfolded me again and played the trick “Turn Around Don’t Move”.
One soldier said “So he hit your balls, did you like it?”
“I might like it when my girlfriend touches me, I certainly don’t like a man hitting me there with his elbow.”
“Well, you know, some people like it rough” and he said to another soldier, “We have a gay here’” and they had a laugh, and turned to me to say “Just joking.”
I replied “Don’t worry”
“What, do I look worried?”
“I don’t know how you look like, I’m blindfolded, remember?”
“Then why did you say don’t worry?”
“You said just joking, and in English when someone says something like that you reply don’t worry.”
A third soldier intervened with a sentence in Hebrew that finished with the word ‘intellectual.’
After some silence he smugly said “So you won’t have children, that’s good”
“I don’t want children”
“Why?”
“It’s a waste of time.”At that point my story was: I’m Italian, I’m an atheist educated as a Christian Catholic, I’m here for tourism. And they began playing their tricks to verify it. He asked me if I wanted to eat something, not knowing when the next meal would have been, I accepted. He said we have chicken, turkey and another variety of meat that I can’t remember, probably pork. I said I’m vegetarian and he said they have broccoli. Broccoli and bread will do I said in which he shouted “One broccoli please!” As it was a restaurant. At that point I realised he was not actually offering me food, but probably, trying to check if I was Muslim offering me a variety of meats. Israel’s wine industry was mentioned and from there he asked me which wine I like, I replied that although I’m Italian I don’t drink wine and generally speaking I don’t drink alcohol, puzzled he asked, “Why, are you Muslim?”
“No, I’m just a healthy person.”
“Are you traveling alone?”
“Yes, I travel by myself”
“Are you part of any peace organisation?”
“No, I’m by myself”
“Come on, you can tell me, I’m not the Shin Bet!”
“What’s the Shin Bet?”
“Like the Mossad… What is it called… like the Israeli FBI.”
“You asked me a question and I gave you an answer, I have no reason to lie to you.”
They then brought a female soldier into the room that supposedly was planning to move to Italy, and knew some Italian. That was probably to verify that I was actually Italian. She spoke some Italian words and I checked if they were correct. The male soldier who had done most of the talking asked me whether I had been arrested before, “This is the first time.”
“You look like you’ve been in this situation before”
“People are afraid of what they don’t know”.
The female soldier had a brief conversation with me and asked me what I was doing in Israel, I replied I studied history at University, and I was a tourist interested in the historical sights. She asked me what kind of history I studied and I said modern and contemporary. She asked which cities I visited and I listed a few, she then asked if I like the country and I said I did like it. To further check they called someone that probably knew Italian and passed me the phone. The other person did not speak back so I only kept asking in Italian who was it.
They then said they were willing to release me, but needed my full name and some ID. I told them my name and said I don’t have my passport with me, but I can call someone who can bring it here. They asked me to tell them my passport number and I said I don’t remember it. He got upset about it and said, “They say they want to release you, but you want to spend the night with us. Come on, everybody remembers their passport number” and kicked my foot lightly.
“Well, I don’t. Do you remember yours?”
“Yes, of course I do!’
“I’m happy for you then, but I don’t. Let me call someone and they will bring my passport.”
“Can you call and ask them to tell your passport number?”
“Yes, let’s do this.”
After they checked the passport number they released me within 10 minutes. The Israeli activist was released with me, the Palestinians remained in the room.
