13th May 2016 | Open the Zone campaign | Hebron, occupied Palestine
On 12th May 2016, the Open the Zone campaign held a press conference in front of Shuahda checkpoint in Hebron – protesting the continuous collective punishment and denial of human rights to Palestinians in the ‘closed military zone’.
Palestinian children waiting at the checkpoint
The press conference was launched with a children’s event offering a chance to the Palestinian children forced to live under a closed military zone order since 1st November to draw their hopes and dreams inside an outline of the closed military zone. During the children’s event, a few children, on their way home, were kept outside the checkpoint, causing a small boy to start crying as Israeli forces refused to open the turnstile for them so they could go through the checkpoint in order to reach their homes.
Children drawing outside Shuhada checkpoint, the ‘entrance’ to the closed military zone
The governor of Hebron, Dawood Zatari stressed how, even though the situation throughout the H2-area of Hebron under full Israeli control is difficult, the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood and Shuahda Street that are under the closed military zone (CMZ) order are a grave concern. Kamel Hamed, the mayor of Hebron, that visited the CMZ on 9th May reiterated the municipalitie’s commitment to the people living in this area and encouraged the steadfastness of the families. Abed Salaymeh, campaign spokesperson and Shuhada Street resident, illustrated the families perspective of life in the CMZ, while Zleikha al-Muhtaseb stressed the impact of the CMZ on the children living in this area.
Children’s drawing of Shuhada checkpoint
The Open The Zone campaign was initialised by the International Solidarity Movement and Youth Against Settlements to bring the thinly-disguised attempts of forced displacement by the Israeli forces within and through the CMZ to the world’s attention and achieve an end to this form of collective punishment.
While during the event, big numbers of Israeli forces gathered behind the checkpoint, closely observing the events, after the press conference was finished, they increased the scrutiny with which they checked every single person attempting to go home – ensuring that they are registered as a number. This dehumanizing numbering of Palestinians needs to stop – Palestinians are people, not numbers!
a group of children in front of Shuhada checkpoint, facing big group of soldiers
10th May 2016 | Open The Zone Campaign | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Yesterday, 9th May 2016, the Mayor of Hebron and several employees of the municipality of Hebron visited the closed military zone in Shuhada Street and the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood in the framework of the Open The Zone campaign.
The delegation on Shuhada Street, with Shuada checkpoint in the background and a group of settlers passing them
The delegation from the municipality arrived to the neighbourhood through the Gilbert checkpoint, where they were surprisingly allowed to pass despite not being registered as numbered residents in the area. During their visit, at several points they were denied to continue by Israeli forces. Walking on the tiny strip of Shuhada Street still accessible to Palestinians, they were denied to go up the stairs to Qurtuba school that for more than half a year have been closed for any Palestinian, despite them stating their function as a delegation including the mayor of Hebron. When trying to walk down the same stairs from up near Qurtuba school, they were again denied passage by the Israeli forces.
Delegation detained at the stairs leading to Qurtuba school
The delegation visited several families that have been living under closure in the closed military zone (CMZ) since 1st November 2015, and listened to the demands of the families. Additionally to electricity and water-connections for the Shuhada Street kindergarten, this included an ambulance, as recently several Palestinians in need of an ambulance were denied this medical assistance by Israeli forces, at times for ridiculous reasons such as ‘it’s Shabbat’. This problem has been long-running, as in the whole area, even before the CMZ, Palestinian vehicles – thus including ambulances – are not allowed to drive. With the CMZ ambulances are now required to get additional permits – additional to the permits to be driving on this settler-only road – before being allowed to enter the CMZ.
“There was a single Israeli army jeep that invaded the village late at night. This was very strange, as usually if the army come, they would come with 10 or more jeeps…“
This is what we were told when we visited Ni’ilin on Friday 6 May, referring to the start of the terrible Israeli incursion into the village a night earlier in the week – where a seven day old baby suffered tear gas inhalation and had to be taken to hospital.
The village of Ni’ilin. Photo credit ISM
The village children, concerned and curious about the invasion of the village, had followed the jeep and blocked the road which meant the jeep could not get out. The soldiers then called for back up and four more jeeps came into the village on a rescue mission. This is when the occupation forces started indiscriminately firing vast amounts of teargas. No one is clear about the reasons why the first jeep decided to invade the village nor why they felt the need to use so much teargas.
The army often come at night to arrest youg people accusing them of partaking in the weekly demonstrations, but no arrests were made that night even after all the violence. However in the last six months, five boys aged 16 and 17 have been arrested and are still in prison without any charges being made against them.
We had come to the village to establish what had happened on that night and to show solidarity by joining their weekly demonstration against the apartheid wall. Apart from a committed group of Israeli protesters, the demonstration no longer attracts many international activist or media attention.
However, as the paramedics from the Red Crescent told us, the Israeli occupation forces are far more aggressive when there is no international and/or media presence to record their actions and monitor their behaviour. The villagers would therefore welcome any support international activists can offer. For a relatively small demonstration, that has only been going for eight years, there have been a significantly high percentage of deaths. Five people have been killed since it started, most by live ammunition, and notable as well as heartbreaking for our organisation, an ISM activist was severely injured by a tear gas canister here in 2009 and has sadly not recovered.
The village of Ni’lin is located only about three kilometres from the Green line (which marks the pre-1967 border) and has suffered extensive land theft and settlement expansion. Our guide pointed out one of the many illegal settlements encircling the village: Hashmonaim, which was built in 1985, and is located next to the apartheid wall and is one of the reason it was built where it is.
Hashmonaim settlement and the apartheid wall. Photo credit: ISM
The village, being so close to the Green line mean the apartheid wall (which for the most part does not follow the agreed border anyway), has been routed through land belonging to the village. By positioning the wall well into Palestinian territory and thereby stealing large areas of land in the process, Israel ensures the further expansion of the illegal settlement. The Israeli supreme court judged it unlawful at one point but eventually the build went ahead, and since then residents have been protesting and campaigning against it.
The weekly demonstration has been ongoing since 2008 with the villagers of Ni’lin non violently protesting against the apartheid wall and the annexation of their lands. When the wall was first erected, some of the young boys in the village manage to cut through what was then a wire fence. The army responded by erecting the very high concrete wall now standing there, resulting in even more of Ni’ilins lands being lost. Many villagers are farmers and with the loss of their land, have also lost their main form of income. Many others used to work in ’48 (Israel proper) but because of the wall and the impossibility of gaining permits to enter Israel, they can now not continue to do so and have also lost their source of income.
Peaceful protester at the demonstration. Photo credit: ISM
During the weekly demonstration, protesters walk from the village towards the wall with the aim of reaching it. However, the army now enter into the olive groves in the village preventing any chance of protesters reaching their goal. This means there are often clashes with the army firing teargas, rubber bullets and live ammunition. But on Friday we were fortunate that the army used no violence at all – instead they spent their time filming the protesters to be able to identify them, presumably for later arrests. This may be a worrying sign- since it was a repetition from the previous week’s demonstration which was also quiet- that further night raids may occur. The villagers, however, are not deterred and will continue to assert their rights and peacefully protest the illegal appropriation of their lands the, the apartheid wall and the injustices they face. I dearly hope to be able to join them soon again as they deserve all the support they can get.
4th May 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza team | Gaza, occupied Palestine
On May 1st, the workers of the Gaza Strip gathered to demand that Mahmoud Abbas and Rami Hamdallah work towards the end of the blockade. The blockade has already strangled the life in the Gaza Strip for 10 years and has raised the unemployment rate above 60%. The workers also remembered all the martyrs who died at the hands of the zionist entity while working for a free Palestine; farmers, fishermen, tunnel diggers.
Every day the farmers of the Gaza Strip are harassed by the Israeli army, who shoot at them with live ammunition and tear gas, even though they only want to work their land and do nothing to provoke such attacks. They choose to work, instead of relying on the humanitarian aid that is offered to them by the same states that conduct business with the zionist oppressors; buying and selling the very weapons that execute Palestinians.
Every day Gazan fishermen go out to sea with the sole intention of providing for their families, as workers everywhere do. However, many do not return to their home because they are ‘caught in the nets’ of the Israeli army, imprisoned and sometimes murdered- without posing a threat.
As one worker told ISM at the demonstration, “I don’t want food baskets… I am 35 years old and I’m healthy; keep the food baskets for the old and the disabled. Give me the opportunity to work and I’ll feed myself and my family”.
Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street are among the oldest areas of the city of Hebron. They are also among the most difficult places for Palestinians to now live. The first illegal settlements set up after the Israeli occupation in 1967 were along Shuhada Street and in Tel Rumeida. Populated by ideological Israeli settlers who believe they have a divine claim to the land, some of the settlements’ mostinfamousmembers belong to parties now recognized as terrorist even within Israel. Despite this, their continued presence in the area is facilitated by the protection of hundreds of Israeli soldiers. Over the years settlers have attacked and harassed Palestinians in Tel Rumeida and Shuhada street, with little or no accountability for their actions.
The increased military presence protecting the settlements has exclusively impacted Palestinians. Since 1993, when an extremist Israeli settler massacred 23 Muslim worshippers at the city’s Ibrahimi mosque, checkpoints and closures have severely restricted Palestinian movement. Most of Shuhada Street, once Hebron’s main thoroughfare and marketplace, is now off limits to Palestinian vehicles, and a 1 kilometre stretch –where three illegal settlements are situated- is completely prohibited even to Palestinian pedestrians. Faced with a daily life of restrictions, harassment and violence, an estimated 1000 Palestinians were effectively forced out of their homes. The latest Closed Military Zone has further stifled Palestinian life in the area, and increased fears that all Shuhada Street and Tel Rumeida will be lost to the settlements.
Wednesday, May 25th
“The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” – Article 49, Fourth Geneva Convention.
The establishment of the Israeli settlements all over the Israeli occupied West Bank, thus, evidently contravenes international law. The Israeli state is transferring their own citizens into settlements built on Palestinian land in the Israeli occupied West Bank. These settlements all over the West Bank, built exclusively for Israeli citizens, are not only illegal under international law, but also directly cause the expropriation and expulsion of Palestinians from their own land.
The 4 Israeli settlements in down-town Hebron are no exception from this – and here, by making the majority of Shuhada Street a settler-only road and not allowing any Palestinian to be present there – the apartheid policy, and attempts at forcible displacement of Palestinians is even more obvious. There is one last tiny stretch of Shuhada Street where Palestinians are still allowed to walk, but not to drive, thus allowing only “numbered” Palestinian residents access.
Monday, May 23rd
Whereas Palestinian ‘numbered’ residents are not allowed to receive any kind of visitors – their sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, grandparents, cousins or nephews – settlers from the illegal settlements are free to go and even drive cars anywhere inside or outside of the CMZ.
Can you imagine having your whole family barred by a foreign occupying army from visiting you at home? This rule is strictly enforced and has no exceptions – whether it is your brother’s birthday, your daughter’s wedding or your parents are seriously ill – you will not be allowed to visit them.
Sunday, May 22nd
Marwa recounts when her and her two brothers were attacked by settlers: “Me and my two brothers were near the checkpoint, and there was a group of settler kids between the age of 8 and 15. They started yelling at us and saying bad things, so I yelled at the soldiers for help. The soldiers held all three of us back and said we could not leave before the settlers had gone. One of the settler kids told the soldier that I was a ‘troublemaker’, and then the soldier threatened me with putting me to jail if I made any trouble.”
“I live right next to the worst settlers in Hebron. I have never seen people as bad as them. I was attacked by them multiple times – everyone in my family has been injured by settlers. And the worst part is that the Israeli Police, that controls the area, does nothing about that. But if a settler accuses a Palestinian of doing anything, the Palestinian is guilty till they prove the opposite. The settlers throw stones at us without any consequences, but we can not do anything against them and no one can or will stop them from hurting us”, explains Sundus.
Friday, May 20th
Deliberate targeting of human rights defenders & press.
Once the area was declared a CMZ on 1st November 2015, Israeli forces started deliberately and directly targeting human rights defenders documenting and monitoring the Israeli forces’ and illegal settlers’ violations of human rights of Palestinians. This is by no way a coincidence; Israeli forces are deliberately trying to silence not only human rights defenders, but also the press, both of which are entirely banned from accessing the area.
Both the local Youth Against Settlements (YAS) activist group, as well as the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in Hebron where evicted from their respective centers. Whereas YAS was afterwards included in the boundaries of the CMZ, ISM was repeatedly kicked out of their office by the Israeli civil police with photocopied ‘CMZ-orders’ without stamp or signature and despite them having a legal rental contract. The Israeli forces are trying to silence any voice speaking out against their crimes and violations and to stop the world from knowing the real face of ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’.
18th May 2016 | Open The Zone Campaign: ISM & YAS| Hebron, occupied Palestine
Again and again you hear Palestinians comment that the soldiers are only there to protect the Israeli settlers. If settlers behave aggressively towards Palestinians, the Israeli forces tell the Palestinians to leave, with no consequences for the aggressors. Illegal Israeli settlers are allowed to walk around freely and are not checked at checkpoints, and they are not required to be registered with a number. Regularly groups of Israeli and other jewish tourists from around the world enter the closed military zone for guided tours, with no restrictions on movement. Those Palestinians who reside in the closed military zone (CMZ) and are allowed to enter, still face delays and harassment. Additionally their friends and family living outside are not allowed to enter the area to visit them, which further hollows out the community and their ability to continue living under what was even before very difficult circumstances.
Not only is this a racist apartheid strategy but it constitutes collective punishment for the whole Palestinian community. Under the 1949 Geneva Conventions, collective punishments are a war crime. Article 33 of the Fourth Convention states: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed,” and “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.
Similarly, the 1973 Apartheid Convention declared apartheid a crime against humanity. Article 2 defines it as ‘inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them’. It includes “ Denial to a member or members of a racial group or groups of the right to life and liberty of person by the infringement of their freedom or dignity” and “denying to members of a racial group or groups basic human rights and freedoms, including the right to freedom of movement and residence”.
For Palestinians the restrictions caused by the CMZ are suffocating. Children are urged by their parents to only make absolutely necessary journeys due to the fear of soldiers and settlers. Not being able to play with friends outside in the CMZ, does not make for a happy childhood.
Understandably, this makes many families consider moving away from the area, in effect forcibly displacing them from their homes.
17th May 2016 | Open The Zone Campaign: ISM & YAS| Hebron, occupied Palestine
200 days – can you imagine your home suddenly being inside a closed military zone (CMZ), your friends and family not allowed to visit you anymore, you and your family being assigned a number that suddenly replaces your identity and decides whether a foreign army will allow you to reach your home?
This form of collective punishment for Palestinians in the CMZ in Shuhada Street and the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood today marks 200 days – 200 days too long of being a number and not being treated like a human being. It is a sad anniversary that proves that the international community has turned a blind eye on the plight of the Palestinians, that in the CMZ have been reduced to numbers. This dehumanization historically has already led to genocide.
The impunity of the Israeli forces deeds against the Palestinian population needs to stop.
Ethnic cleansing of Shuhada Street
In the aftermath of the 1994 Ibrahimi mosque massacre, only a tiny stretch of Shuhada Street has remained open for Palestinians. Whereas the majority of this once thriving Palestinian market was forced closed by the Israeli forces and Palestinian movement there is strictly prohibited, a tiny stretch of the street located between Shuhada and Daboya checkpoints, is still open for Palestinians.
As it is located on a settler only road, Palestinians are only allowed to walk through there. The declaration of the closed military zone on 1st November 2015 now further limits Palestinians’ ‘movement’ to a degree where only registered, or rather numbered, residents are allowed to walk down the street. The street is a dead end for any Palestinian, as they are not allowed to proceed past Daboya checkpoint (ironically, except for when blindfolded, handcuffed and dragged to the military base on Shuhada Street). It is obvious that the Israeli forces are attempting to ethnically cleanse even the last tiny bit of Shuhada Street of any Palestinian presence.
Numbering Palestinians
When entering the closed military zone, any Palestinian resident – unlike settlers that can freely walk anywhere inside the zone without ever being stopped – has to be registered with the Israeli forces. At the checkpoint, Palestinians are not regarded as human beings – they are registered with a number, that for most of them was written down on their IDs by the Israeli forces. When crossing the checkpoint, Palestinian residents thus have to give their number, in order to be allowed to proceed to their own homes.
The only information asked for by the Israeli forces is the ‘number’ that was assigned to the residents. To be degraded to a mere number and not considered full human beings, draws terrifying parallels to other historical events. Whereas Mohammad is not allowed to pass the checkpoint, number 938 is.
Freedom of movement at Shuhada checkpoint and numbering Palestinians
Suffocating Palestinian life – emboldening settlers
The closed military zone (CMZ) is suffocating Palestinian life in the area – while facilitating freedom of movement for settlers, and complete impunity for their actions. It is strangling Palestinian daily life by hour-long waits for an eventual humiliating passage through the checkpoint – and then merely as a number, not as a person. It is also preventing access for any outside visitors like family or friends; clearly it is not a way of life anyone would choose, nor does it make for a happy community. Thus it directly, and deliberately, creates a coercive environment that culminates in leaving no option for the Palestinian residents but to leave their homes in a search for a better life.
The sole aim of the closed military zone, therefore, clearly is the forced displacement of the Palestinian population – a population that has already been degraded to numbers. Creating such a ‘coercive environment’ that directly causes forced displacement – exactly like the closed military zone in Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street in occupied Hebron – is considered a crime against humanity.
rea, does nothing about that. But if a settler accuses a Palestinian of doing anything, the Palestinian is guilty till they prove the opposite. The settlers throw stones at us without any consequences, but we can not do anything against them and no one can or will stop them from hurting us”, explains Sundus.
In the aftermath of the 1994 Ibrahimi mosque massacre, only a tiny stretch of Shuhada Street has remained open for Palestinians. Whereas the majority of this once thriving Palestinian market was forced closed by the Israeli forces and Palestinian movement there is strictly prohibited, a tiny stretch of the street located between Shuhada and Daboya checkpoints, is still open for Palestinians.