Tag: Ethnic Cleansing - Page 12 - International Solidarity Movement

Israeli forces raid Palestinian home without warrant in occupied Hebron

21st August 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On August 9th Israeli occupation forces invaded a home in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). The soldiers came in the early hours at 01 am and stayed inside the house for three and a half hours until they left at around 04:30 am.

The soldiers could not produce a warrant for the invasion, however the police did not react when the incident was reported. Nor did the civil administration of the area. This procedure is nothing unfamiliar for the family: earlier this year the families house was raided, all phones were confiscated and the family was not allowed to film the incident or to get any information about the reason for the invasion afterwards.

Israeli forces in the family home
Photo credit: Ayatt Jabari

This time, resident Ayatt Jabari filmed the incident as it took place, and it appears that 35-40 soldiers took part in the operation, ravaging the family’s home. K9´s were also deployed.

The Israeli forces forbid Ayatt to film what happened, but she refused to acknowledge this command in her own home. She has a permission to film and showed it to the soldiers but they still tried to prevent her filming the scene.

Apart from this, the soldiers confiscated all phones in the household, as well as breaking personal belongings, and amongst others the wifi-router, thus prohibiting them from contacting either police, lawyers, friends or international presence, effectively holding them hostages. This is standard procedure for house invasions according to the Israeli human rights NGO, B’Tselem.

During the raid, exit and entrance was denied to anyone but the soldiers carrying out the invasion. The residents, including small children, were forced into a single room in the house and guarded, as the rest of the building was being raided. TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) was however contacted by Ayatts brother who saw the invasion from his home, before he was also detained for doing so.

Israeli soldier checking ID of one of the family members
Photo credit: Ayatt Jabari

The household that is home to 25 residents is located in Wadi Al-Hussein, in the H2-area, the part of al-Khalil that is under Israeli authority. Surrounded by various illegal Israeli settlements including Kiryat Arba, the biggest settlement in al-Khalil, the families are regularly subjected to systematic as well as arbitrary violence and harassment both by settlers and Israeli occupation troops. During Ramadan new checkpoints were built in this area to further limit the residents from already restricted freedom of movement.

As a journalist visited the family the day following the raid, he was stopped and detained at a checkpoint leaving Wadi Al-Hussein.

According to Ayatt Jabari, the motive behind the invasion seemed to be a matter of intimidation or revenge following a recently made court decision in favour of the family regarding their legally owned land. This sort of action is and has long been part of the occupation forces intimidation tactics.

Israeli forces when entering the family home
Photo credit: Ayatt Jabari

Ayatt Jabari is part of B’Tselems project, giving video cameras to residents and families often attacked and harassed by the Israeli forces and/or illegal Israeli settlers, giving Palestinian communities a chance to document the regular suppression and violence of the occupation.

Settlers from illegal Halamish settlement block Route 450 for Palestinians in revenge

20th August 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara-team | Nabi Saleh, occupied Palestine

On 23rd July, two days after the killing of three settlers from the illegal settlement of Halamish, settlers blocked Route 450 with self-made barricades preventing Palestinians from using the main road, which connects Nabi Saleh village with the south Baytillu .

The road blockade was built at the roundabout in the south of Nabi Saleh, where Route 465 goes into Route 450 and was accompanied by the building of an new illegal settler outpost on the land of Nabi Saleh. According to eyewitnesses settlers were since then seen dancing and sitting behind the self made blockades to overlook their illegal roadblock. Exclusively settler-cars and army vehicles have been allowed to cross the blockade, thus enforcing a racist roadblock only on Palestinians. Route 450 is one of the main connecting roads from the Salfit area to Ramallah and is used as an everyday passage for students at the Birzeit university and farmers to reach their land. The normally twelve minutes ride from Baytillu to Nabi Saleh now, given the roadblock, takes one and a half hour as Palestinians are forced to make a detour through Ramallah to reach their destination. And not just Baytillu is affected by this: the people from the surrounding villages Jamala, Deir ´Ammar, Deir ´Ammar Camp and Deir Nidham next to Nabi Saleh are heavily restricted in their movement, because of the closed street segment, which is now just accessible for settlers from the illegal settlements Halamish, Nahiel, Talmon and Dolev.

The settlers are supported by the Israeli occupation forces wh just recently installed metal gates on Route 450 at the entrance of Baytillu and close to the illegal Halamish settlement. Therefore, the inhabitants of Baytillu fear that this will be a permanent roadblock and their land will be confiscated by settlers.

Around 10.000 dunums of Baytillu land is cut off from their owners, as well as a spring, which is essential for the farmers in the area. Moreover nine houses are located behind the road gates, which means the inhabitants can only reach their houses by foot and are forced to leave their cars at the gate in Baytillu.

With the olive harvest coming up in a month, accessing the crops is crucial for the farmers. The DCO, which is responsible for coordination between Palestinians and the occupying power Israel, postponed a scheduled meeting to discuss the road blockades without setting up a new date.

The case of Route 450 however is far from the only one of its kind: the blocking of roads is a common means of control by the occupation forces to limit the movement of inhabitants in Area C. Likewise the connecting road between Baytillu and Korba, also a path used by farmers for agricultural purposes was closed off recently.

Both blockades limit the freedom of movement and the access to farmland in the area, often also enforced as a measure of collective punishment. In this particular case the Israeli forces blocked off the whole village of Korba with several street blockades at every entrance of the village after the killing of three settlers in Halamish. Furthermore the COGAT (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories) decided on the punitive house demolition of the family house [comment: house demolition was carried out in the night from Wednesday the 16th August to Thursday at 01:30 am accompanied by soldiers using rubber coated steel bullets against protesters and causing casualties] from the 19 year old Omar al-Abed, who is accused of stabbing the three setters, as well as arrested several members of his family, accusing them of not preventing the young man from carrying out the act.

Punitive demolition measurements are against Article 33 of the fourth Geneva Convention, which was ratified 1951 by Israel: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited. Pillage is prohibited. Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.”

These cases illustrate again how the illegal settlers in the West Bank enjoy complete impunity for their actions under the protection of the Israeli occupying forces, who act brutally against the civilian population in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.

Israeli occupation forces suppress peaceful protest with rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition

20th August 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara-team | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine

Israeli occupation forces suppressed another non-violent demonstration on Friday the 18^th of August, in the village Kafr Qaddum, in the occupied West Bank. The weekly demonstrations protest the closure of the main road connecting the village with Nablus, which is the main city in the area.

The blocking of the road was enforced, to “secure” the nearby illegal settlement Kedumim, thus prohibiting Palestinians from using the main road to Nablus. Kedumim illegal settlement is currently being expanded further.

Smoke from burning tires rising at the demonstration

Within the first 30 minutes of the demonstration the Israeli forces were firing both live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets at protestors. This went on for two and a half hours, before the army retreated and the participators of the march went home. Throughout the demonstration the Israeli forces circulated the area with a drone, filming the participants of the protest. Additionally, the soldiers were carrying cameras on their bodies.

Palestinians demonstrating the illegal land theft

Apart from keeping files on individuals supporting the popular resistance, such pictures can serve as ‘evidence’ against Palestinians for the participation in ‘illegal’ demonstration.

While it was not the case this particular Friday, the occupying army has been raiding houses regularly in the early hours on days of demonstrations, taking pictures of all young men in the given homes.

Israeli forces in Palestinian civilians homes

During this Friday’s demonstration however, various homes were raided, as Israeli soldiers made their way unto balconies and rooftops of strategically located houses, to control the protest. This is a common protocol for the Israeli army, and an intrusion the local residents can do nothing about.

Israeli army restrict international access to Kafr Qaddum during confrontation

17th August 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus-team | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine

Israeli occupation forces blocked international access to Kafr Qaddum on Saturday, before apparently attacking Palestinian demonstrators for the second time in two days.

Israeli force searching Palestinian cars

The Israeli military set up a road block at the entrance to the village, which has seen weekly demonstrations for several years, searching cars and checking IDs. Internationals who attempted to enter were detained for three hours with their passports confiscated. No reason was given for their detention, other than that the village was ‘dangerous’.

Israeli forces inspecting Palestinian cars

Kafr Qaddum, a small town in the Nablus area, has seen biweekly demonstrations for 6 years, since Israel blocked off their main access to Nablus in order to facilitate settler travel. The roadblock has doubled the length of journeys into Nablus, including for ambulances which are forced to take a 13km detour.

Supporting Fayzeh

15th August 2017 | Supporting Fayzeh | occupied Palestine

Many of you know Fayzeh and Issa Souf from the West bank village of Hares. Fayzeh has been recently diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer. She has been hospitalized for the last month and has began receiving chemotherapy. Issa and Fayzeh’s dedication, generosity and kindness have touched and given hope so many people. Now, their friends who have received so much from them over the years are trying to do all we can to support them through this challenging time. We invite you to send prayers, encouragement, and support through this group. We have also created a fund to support the family with the expected related expenses and to try to support them in whatever way we can in this time. You can send money via paypal by going to https://palsolidarity.org/donate/ and clicking “Support Fayzeh Souf”.

Background: In May 2001, When Fayzeh was pregnant with their first child, Israeli soldiers invaded Hares. Issa went out to bring his brothers children, who were playing outside, indoors. As soon as he stepped out of the house one of the soldiers shot him. Issa fell to the ground. The soldiers surrounded him, kicked him and yelled at him to get up, he tried, but he couldn’t move. The bullet was lodged in Issa’s spine and he remains paralyzed from the waist down.

Most people would not have survived. But with Issa’s emotional and physical strength and Fayzeh’ s devotion and care, Issa not only survived, but he and Fayzeh continue to contribute to their community and to anyone that comes in touch with them. Their home remained an open and supportive center for nonviolent activism. In the last ten years Issa has organised retreats and healing camps for children, adults and teenage female ex-prisoners.

When Fayzeh gave birth to Ward, their first son, Issa was already paraplegic. I remember how tall Issa used to be, but Ward only knows his father in a wheelchair. Issa and fayzeh wanted Ward to not miss anything because of Issa’s injury, so when Ward said he wanted a brother, Fayzeh got insemination treatment and gave birth to twins, a beautiful girl, Heba, and a beautiful boy, Hamudi. After that, when Heba said she wanted a sister, she repeated the treatment and gave birth to another set of beautiful twins, Bissan and Ibrahim. Ward is now 16, Heba and Hamudi 14 and Bissan and Ibrahim are now 7.

A few months ago Fayzeh began complaining of stomach pains. The hospitals in the West Bank do not have the equipment to do the necessary scans so It took another month and a half to get a correct diagnosis. This time, it is Issa that has not left Fayzeh’s side, though it has meant that they have both been away from the children more than they would like. We will do our best to keep you posted on how Fayzeh and the family are doing.

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