Tag: Ethnic Cleansing - Page 47 - International Solidarity Movement

Palestinian youth intentionally run over in Hebron

22^st April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On the afternoon of 21^st April 2016, an Israeli settler ran down a Palestinian youth with his car, causing critical injuries, near the Ibrahimi mosque in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron).

Two settlers were driving down the road connecting Shuhada Street and Kiryat Arba in occupied al-Khalil around 2 pm, and, seeing a group of Palestinian children playing on a parking lot bordering the street, turned around and deliberately hit Ala’a al-Rajabi with their car. The children that have been playing with Ala’a before the incident said that they were attacked by these two settlers several times before, and the last time were pepper-sprayed by the settlers that threatened them. According to eye-witnesses, the soldiers at a nearby checkpoint were merely watching and even allowed the two young settlers to attempt to drive off, before a group of Palestinians went up to the checkpoint to ‘inform’ the soldiers of what happened. The injured 17-year old boy, having been hit whilst on his bicycle, was lying on the ground bleeding from his legs and head for about 15 minutes, before any medical help was given to him.

The settler that was in the car when Ala'a was hit — The settler that was in the car when Ala’a was run down

A Palestinian ambulance was allowed to evacuate the youth, now in a critical condition, to a hospital. Big groups of settlers gathered, while more and more soldiers as well as civil police arrived. According to several eye-witnesses, a settler youth wearing an orange T-Shirt was driving the car, whilst another settler youth wearing a blue T-Shirt was in the passenger seat. After the police arrived and a discussion with the two settlers was had, however, it was claimed that it had been the settler with the blue T-shirt that was driving the car. Observers believe the reason for this to be that the settler driving the car did not in fact have a driving licence, whereas the passenger did. Regardless, the settler said by the police to have been driving, was seen walking free from the police station at Ibrahimi mosque, only an hour after the initial incident.

Police man next to the bicycle Ala'a was hit on — Police man next to the bicycle Ala’a was hit on

The street where the settlers ran down Ala’a connects the illegal downtown settlements on Shuhada Street and in Tel Rumeida directly with the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba on the outskirts of al-Khalil. Palestinians are prohibited from driving anywhere on this road, an apartheid rule that covers all traffic, including ambulances. Ala’a therefore was lucky that the Israeli forces did coordinate to allow a Palestinian ambulance to drive in to the area as quickly as they did.

The stretch of street where Palestinian traffic is completely barred includes Shuhada Street – the major part of which is entirely off limits for Palestinians. A small part of Shuhada Street is still accessible for Palestinians on foot, but has been under a ‘closed military zone’ order since 1^st November 2015. Only Palestinian residents registered as a number are allowed to pass and international visitors are completely barred. Settlers, however, can freely roam the streets. This a part of the Israeli forces’ policy of slowly but steadily driving Palestinians out of these areas, with a view to connecting all the illegal settlements as well as disappearing the last remaining Palestinians from these areas.

Excessive use of force and collective punishment at demonstrations in remembrance of Palestinian political prisoners

17th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Kafr Qaddum, Nabi Saleh & Ofer, occupied Palestine

On 15^th April, weekly demonstrations against the Israeli occupation were held throughout the occupied West Bank commemorating ‘Prisoner’s Day’.

Kafr Qaddum village has been separated from their main access road to the Palestinian city of Nablus for 13 years. They hold weekly demonstrations against the closure of this road, which was initially closed in order to allow free movement for settlers from the nearby illegal Qedumim settlement. This Friday Israeli forces inundated the demonstrators and part of the village with tear gas, resulting in dozens of people receiving emergency medical treatment for excessive tear gas inhalation. In an all too common act of collective punishment, Israeli forces did not only target the demonstrators with tear gas and rubber coated metal bullets, but also sprayed civilian homes in the village with foul smelling ‘skunk water’. Early in the morning, before the start of the demonstration, Israeli forces closed the village entrance, arbitrarily (and illegally) declaring it a ‘closed military zone’ in order to prevent international and Israeli activists from participating in the demonstration.

Israeli forces ready to shoot at demonstration in Kafr Qaddum

In the village of Nabi Saleh, villagers, international solidarity activists and journalists demonstrating the Israeli occupation and theft of land, were attacked not only by the Israeli forces, but additionally by settlers from the illegal settlement of Halamish. Israeli forces inundated the protest with tear gas, causing several cases of excessive tear gas inhalation.

Israeli forces equipped with tear gas grenades and foam bullets in Nabi Saleh

Israeli forces at the Ofer military prison complex fired stun grenades, tear gas, rubber coated metal bullets as well as live fire at unarmed protestors. They arrested four protestors and, in an act of collective punishment, entered the village of Beitunia arbitrarily shooting tear gas into the streets causing civilians to suffer from excessive tear gas inhalation.

Streets filled with tear gas in the village of Beitunia

Palestinians and supporters world-wide commemorate Prisoner Day on 17th April each year, in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. There are at least 7000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, 750 of whom are held under ‘administrative detention’ without charge or trial. This includes 1400 minors under the age of 18 since October 2015. Under Israeli military law – which is effect throughout the West Bank – Palestinian children as young as 12 years old can be arrested by Israeli forces. In many of these cases the children are denied access to family, lawyers and their most basic human rights. They are often interrogated, intimidated and physically and psychologically threatened without a family member or lawyer present. As a result these children can be forced to sign confessions in Hebrew, a language they do not understand.

Most Palestinian prisoners are transferred to prisons within the Israeli territories. This act is illegal under international law that prohibits the transfer of prisoners from the occupied Palestinian territories into an area where they can only receive family visits after applying and receiving permission from the Israeli government. This is a permission, of course, that is very rarely granted.

Bi’lin Protest on the anniversary of the death of Bassam Abu Rahma

17th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Bi’lin, occupied Palestine

This Friday 15^th April, the village of Bi’lin held their long-running protest against the illegal Israeli occupation and Apartheid wall. However, the protest on this day was tinged with further sadness, falling as it did on the seven-year anniversary of the death of Bassem Abu Rahma, who was hit directly in the chest by a long-range tear gas canister in April, 2009.

Abu Rahma’s death was immortalised in Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi’s film Five Broken Cameras. Footage used in the film proved that Abu Rahma was standing east of the fence, not engaging in violent demonstration (stone-throwing) and not endangering soldiers’ lives. Analysis of the documentation by imaging experts found that the gas canister that killed him was aimed directly at him, contrary to the rules of engagement as laid out by the Geneva Convention. It also clearly contradicts the instructions for the use of tear gas as a ‘less lethal’ weapon, which clearly states that it always has to be shot in an arch above protestors and never straight at them.

Seven years after his death, Subhiya Abu Rahma, Bassam’s mother, still does not have justice for her son’s murder. At this Friday’s demonstration, Palestinian, Israeli and international activists marched peacefully towards the Apartheid Wall holding pictures of Bassem, waving Palestinian flags and chanting songs. They were met and pushed back with a large volley of tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades. Dozens of people suffered the effects of the gas, with two children – who were in their house and not attending the protest, and thus uninvolved civilians, treated for serious inhalation. Once again the Israeli occupying forces used the deadly long range tear gas canisters in their attempt to end the demonstration. These canisters come with a potential range of 500 metres, are capable of piercing the walls of houses and are being aimed directly at protestors.

Sabiha, Bassem's mother, weeps over a photograph of her son — Sabiha, Bassem’s mother, weeps over a photograph of her son Photo credit: activestills

Bassem Abu Rahma posed no threat to the Israeli army the day he died and was a part of a peaceful protest against the illegal occupation of his land, much like the protest that still takes place every Friday in Bi’lin. If the army continue to respond with disproportionate and excessive violence, denying the Palestinian people (and those expressing solidarity) the right to peaceful protest, then it is only a matter of time before another life is lost in such tragic circumstances.

Non-violent protest in Ni’lin again met with collective punishment against whole village

12th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Ni’lin, occupied Palestine

On Friday, the 8th of April 2016, the villagers of Ni’lin nonviolently demonstrated against Israeli apartheid politics, the theft of the villagers land through the building of the apartheid wall and illegal settlements, and the increasing collective punishment of the village of Ni’lin by Israeli forces’ use of excessive force.

Israeli forces, yet again, were gathering near the apartheid wall that is stealing a majority of village land, long before the start of the midday prayer. After the prayer, the demonstrators walked up towards the soldiers in order to engage them in a dialogue about their actions in the village of Ni’lin and their excessive use of force against the civilian population in Ni’lin. They also questioned the soldiers about why they have been stopping the farmers – vast areas of the villages’ farming land have been illegally confiscated – even on the stretches of land that the villagers theoretically can still reach. A main concern for the villagers though was the shooting of tear gas inside the village center, where civilians not involved in the protest are affected by the tear gas. In the last few weeks, Israeli forces have thus targeted a public park including a playground and various family homes, shooting the potentially lethal long range tear gas cannisters right inside the homes.

Shortly after this non-violent questioning of the soldiers and their intentions, the soldiers ordered the Palestinians to leave the area, declaring it a ‘closed military zone’. Immediately after, they started using excessive force, inundating the fields and village of Ni’lin with tear gas. Again, soldiers were shooting endless rounds of tear gas towards the houses in an act of collective punishment that has become a weekly reality for the villagers. Additionally, they shot rubber-coated metal bullets directly at the protestors, injuring one young man in the stomach. Five persons required medical treatment after suffering from excessive tear gas inhalation.

Stomach injury caused by Israeli forces' shooting of rubber-coated metal bullets straight at protestors — Stomach injury caused by Israeli forces’ shooting of rubber-coated metal bullets straight at protestors

Targeting of civilians with excessive force in Ni’lin

1st April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Ni’lin, occupied Palestine

On 1st April, the weekly non-violent protest in Ni’lin village commemorated the Palestinian Land Day – and was, as every week, attacked by Israeli forces with endless rounds of tear gas, including long-range tear gas canisters that mainly targeted civilians.

The demonstrators, as every week, set off to march towards the illegal apartheid wall that separates them from the majority of the villages land, after noon-prayer. Behind the apartheid-wall, on land that belongs to the village of Ni’lin, where one of the many illegal Israeli settlements is located. In protest against this land-theft through the apartheid wall and the Israeli forces weekly excessive force and targeting of innocent civilians, the villagers protest every Friday.

Israeli forces, that were ready and waiting for demonstrators before the prayer had finished, were located very close towards the villages centre, thus preventing them from even approaching anywhere near the illegal apartheid wall. In a clear example of excessive force, Israeli forces inundated not only the protestors, but the whole village with endless rounds of tear gas. Five persons required medical care due to excessive tear gas inhalation. Both a bakery and the mosque were targeted with tear gas this week.

This use of excessive force in Ni’lin is not directed against the protestors, but targets innocent and completely uninvolved civilians. In the recent weeks, Israeli forces’ use of excessive force when targeting civilians in Ni’lin became obvious with private homes and a public park with playground repeatedly the main target of Israeli forces attack on the villagers of Ni’lin.

Additionally, Israeli forces have re-introduced the use of the dangerous and potentially deadly long-range tear gas canisters that can cover an area of more than 500 meters and due to the extremely hard black-tip not only break through windows and walls, but also severely injure and kill any civilian hit.