Tag: Ethnic Cleansing - Page 53 - International Solidarity Movement

Daily harassment and boycott of Palestinian businesses in the Old City of Jerusalem

22th January 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Jerusalem, occupied Palestine

Three days ago, the ISM visited the Old City in Jerusalem to talk with different Palestinian residents who live and work there and see what the situation is like nowadays.

Harassment by the Israeli Police, particularly on the youth, is a constant burden. Every day, police are seen stopping youth in different corners to body check them and look at their ID’s. These actions, normally ignored by passersby and tourists who wander in the streets of the Old City, produces in contrast an enormous feeling of tension and threat on the Palestinian youth, since every movement or action they make is being permanently controlled.

Israeli police checking Palestinian youth

A parent advises his son, “When they check you, remain cool, don’t get nervous or upset. Don’t give them any reason to attack you, because in the meantime, the soldiers are looking for targets.”

Palestinian youth getting checked by the police

There are about 9 intersections in the Alwadi street with three to six soldiers standing in each intersection, stopping people and checking everybody’s movements. Palestinians get checked every time they walk in these corners. You can hardly see any tourists on this street and shop owners comment on how badly their businesses are doing.

Since the beginning of October, after Mohannad al Halabi carried out a stabbing attack and was immediately killed afterward, the Israeli authorities began harassing the shop owners of the area, blaming them for not preventing or aiding the soldier and settlers who were attacked. But this blame is completely unjustified, as one of the shop owners told the ISM. It was the end of the day, most shops were already closed and they were back home with their families in the night. He recalls hearing the news in the television. But even if they would have been present, people are very scared when these things happen.

The shop owners in Alwadi street are very exhausted with the situation. Nobody really wants to continue talking about this, after giving so many interviews to the international media in October, they feel tired and hopeless. Nothing has changed for them, and they don’t really want to remember the incidents.

The shop owner who talked with us, and who prefers not to give his name, gives us an example of the daily harassment they face. “Just today in the morning, a costumer who was sitting in the restaurant across the street, was smoking a cigarette. The Israeli police came inside and gave the owner a fine of 1.000 shekels. Not long ago,” he continues, “They gave a fine to the owner of a close by coffee shop of 6.000 shekels because he did not have a non-smoking sign on the window.”

“But as you can see, he hardly has any costumers and doesn’t have the money to pay this. Then the police came and confiscated the sign with the coffee shop’s name, and demanded he must pay another 500 shekels on top of the fine. They do not apply these policies to Israeli shop owners.”

A 50 year old Palestinian man from the Old City, who struggles with his personal business as a tour guide, told the ISM how the official tour guides boycott the Palestinian economy in the Old City. Part of the official tours include walking through the Palestinian neighborhoods, but the guides tell the tourists not to stop, talk, or buy anything from Palestinian shop owners, and not to go to Palestinian restaurants, hotels or other businesses.

Just like in Alwadi street, the shops around the Church of the Holy Sepulcher find themselves at risk of being bankrupt. The situation is the same for all Palestinian shops: now, they close earlier than usual, and more and more shop owners are finding themselves forced to close permanently and get low-wage jobs inside of Israel.

The harassment provoked from young illegal Israeli settlers is also notorious. They walk on the streets making provocative comments to Palestinians who, on the contrary, try as much as possible to stay calm. They know that if they answer back and a fight starts, the Israeli police will immediately go after them. Everyone is aware that the Israeli settlers are completely backed by the police and, as the shop owner who talked with us said, “Its very easy to just shoot you and place a knife next to your body, claiming you intended to stab someone.”

All this harassment and the boycott of their businesses are intended to produce pressure on Palestinians and make their life difficult enough so that they feel forced to leave Jerusalem.

ACT NOW ! Put an end to the ‘Closed Military Zone’ in Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street, Hebron

11th January 2016 | Action Alert

last updated 21st January 2016

*** Arabic version below ***

The undersigned organisations are calling on the international community to take immediate action regarding the continuous closure of the Tel Rumeida neighborhood and the part of Shuhada Street that has remained accessible to Palestinian residents since the Ibrahimi mosque massacre in 1994, in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). For more than two months, Palestinians and internationals have been denied access to this part of the city since the Israeli occupation forces have declared the area a ‘closed military zone’.

The ‘closed military zone’, first declared on November 1st 2015, was designed to include Palestinian neighborhoods while excluding adjacent illegal Israeli settlements. This discriminatory closure is being upheld by continuously renewed ‘military orders’ that lack official signatures or stamps. Palestinian residents were forced to register with the army or else risk being barred from their homes, while Israeli settlers are free to roam the streets without being stopped.

“This is yet another step in pushing Palestinians out of Tel Rumeida and Shuhada street”, says Jenny, from the ISM team in al Khalil.

Such a restriction of movement clearly constitutes a collective punishment on the whole Palestinian community, illegal under international law. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva convention specifically states that “no protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.”

Tel Rumeida resident Abed Salaymeh explains : “soldiers and settlers are making life for the Palestinians intolerable to force them to leave their houses voluntarily. This is a crime under international law. They are targeting activists to silence the truth and stop the truth from reaching the whole world.”

International and local activists are increasingly at risk of direct attacks by Israeli occupation forces and settlers from the illegal settlements in al-Khalil, as activists are specifically targeted for their efforts to document and report on human rights abuses.

Activists are denied access to areas by Israeli occupation forces and face unfounded arbitrary arrests, such as on the 3rd of November, the 26th of November, 27th of November, and on the 28th of November; purely on Israeli forces’ accusations that lack any evidence. Human rights defenders, whose work the United Nations stressed as important, are increasingly threatened even inside their homes and offices or illegally kicked out of them. The closed military zone was expanded and extended until the 31^st January 2016.

The Israeli forces’ attempts to silence the Palestinian voice on the events goes hand in hand with the closure of Palestinian radio stations in clear infringement of the freedom of press and opinion, acknowledged in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948, article 19: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

“It is important to document in order to expose Israeli crimes”, explains Imad Abu Shamsiyyeh, a Tel Rumeida resident.

These inhumane measures come after Israeli occupation forces gunned down Homam Adnan Sa’id, 23, and Islam Rafiq ‘Ebeido on the 27th and 28th of October in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood. While the Israeli government claims that both were ‘neutralized’ when attacking Israeli forces, many eye-witness statements refute this claim; CCTV footage has not yet been released by the Israeli forces. Since the beginning of October, a total of 163 Palestinians have been shot and left to bleed to death without medical aid in a similar manner in what Amnesty International refers to as ‘unlawful killings‘.

The outlined measures, restrictions, and human rights violations are focused primarily and exclusively on making the Palestinian voice – and in the long run the inhabitants of the area – disappear altogether.

The undersigned organisations call for:

An immediate end to collective punishment and the ‘closed military zone’ order in Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street;
Cessation of threats and harassment of Palestinian residents as well as foreign and local human rights defenders;
Removal of restrictions on movement throughout the Old City of Hebron;
stopping the imposed military law on Palestinian residents as they are civilians;
Suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement until Israel complies with International Law;
Removal of all illegal Israeli settlements from Hebron.
Reconsideration of the status of “charity” of the Hebron Fund, that allows people to make tax-free donations to an organisation funding the illegal settlement of Israelis in the city of Hebron
Cessation of unconditional US Aid to Israel until it complies with international law.
Release of the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, as provided in article 17 of the 1949 Geneva Convention I “[Parties to the conflict] shall further ensure that the dead are honourably interred, if possible according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged, that their graves are respected, grouped if possible according to the nationality of the deceased, properly maintained and marked so that they may always be found”.

Signatories (continuously updated):

Alternative Information Center (AIC)
Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine (APJP)
Assopace Palestina
BDS Slovenia
Boston University Students for Justice in Palestine
Chico Palestine Action Group
Christian Peacemaker Teams Palestine
Delaware Neighbors Against the Occupation
Dominican Palestine Coordinating Committee
Edmonton Small Press Association
Education Equals Making Community Connection
Football Against Apartheid
Gaza Action Ireland
Health Work Committees
Hebron Defense Committee
Hebron Rehabilitation Committee
Human Rights Defenders Group
Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC)
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) – Finland
International Middle East Media Centre
International Women’s Peace Service
International Solidarity Movement
ISM Italy
Leeds Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Love without Borders
Memphis Voices for Palestine
Merton PSC
Middle East Crisis Support – Woodstock, NY
Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign
Newcastle Palestine Campaign
Operation Dove – Operazione Colomba
Philly BDS
Popular National Conference for Jerusalem
Rural Women’s Development Society
Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights
South Coast People for Peace and Justice
The Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC)
The General Union of Palestinian Teachers, Hebron
The Hampton Institute
The Palestinian Farmers Union
The Popular Committee for Palestinian Refugees in Hebron District
The Union of Palestinian Working Women’s Committees
The Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees
Unison Northumberland
Women’s Studies Centre
Youth Center – Palestinian Medical Relief Society

If your organisation wishes to support the call, contact us at: palreports@gmail.com

********************** Arabic version **********************

نداء عاجل، ضعوا حدا لأمر الاحتلال العسكري الذي يغلق (تل الرميده) و (شارع الشهداء) في الخليل.

إن المنظمات والهيئات الموقعة على هذا النداء تدعو المجتمع الدولي الى اتخاذ إجراءات فورية تجاه الاغلاق المستمر لحي تل الرميده وذلك الجزء من شارع الشهداء الذي بقي متاحاً أمام حركة المواطنين الفلسطينيين عقب مجزرة الحرم الإبراهيمي في الخليل المحتلة في عام 1994. منذ أكثر من شهر منع الفلسطينيون والدوليون من دخول هذا الجزء من المدينة حيث أعلنت القوات الإسرائيلية عنه كمنطقة عسكرية مغلقة.

المنطقة العسكرية المغلقة أعلنت اولا في مطلع شهر تشرين الثاني/ نوفمبر 2015 وتطال السكان الفلسطينيون والأحياء الفلسطينية بينما تستثني البؤر الاستيطانية غير القانونية، هذا الإغلاق المعبر عن التمييز العنصري مفروض بأوامر عسكرية مكتوبة متجددة وتفتقر حتى إلى التواقيع والاختام الرسمية. السكان الفلسطينيون اجبروا على تسجيل أسمائهم لدى الجيش والا فإنهم سيقعوا تحت خطر الإبعاد عن بيوتهم، بينما المستوطنون يحظون بحرية التجوال والحركة بدون قيود.

هذه خطوة إضافية للضغط على الفلسطينيين لمغادرة بيوتهم الواقعة في تل الرميده وشارع الشهداء” كما قالت جيني (Jenny) من حركة التضامن الدولية (ISM) في الخليل.

هذه القيود على الحركة تشكل بوضوح عقابا جماعيا لكل المجتمع الفلسطيني وتعد خرقا فاضحا للقانون الدولي. تنص المادة (33) من اتفاقية جنيف الرابعة على أنه “لا يجوز معاقبة أي شخص محمي على مخالفة لم يقترفها هو شخصيا. تحظر العقوبات الجماعية وبالمثل جميع تدابير التهديد أو الإرهاب”

يقول المواطن الفلسطيني عبد السلايمه الساكن في تل الرميده: “الجيش والمستوطنون يعملون على جعل حياة المواطنين الفلسطينيين لا تطاق من أجل دفعهم لأن يتركوا بيوتهم بشكل طوعي. هذه جريمة وفق القانون الدولي. انهم يستهدفون النشطاء من أجل طمس الحقيقة ومنع وصولها للعالم“.

يعيش النشطاء الدوليون والمحليون في خطر متزايد جراء الهجمات المباشرة من القوات الإسرائيلية والمستوطنين غير الشرعيين، انهم مستهدفون بسبب ما يقوموا به من توثيق ونشر لانتهاكات حقوق الإنسان.

النشطاء يمنعوا من الدخول إلى مناطق بأوامر قوات الاحتلال ويواجهون خطر الاعتقال التعسفي، مثلما حصل في 3 تشرين الثاني/نوفمبر الماضي وأيضا في 26 و 27 و 28 من ذات الشهر دون وجود أي أدلة لدى الجيش على اتهاماتهم الباطلة الموجهة للنشطاء. المدافعون عن حقوق الإنسان والذين يقومون بعمل تؤكد على أهميته منظمة الأمم المتحدة يواجهون مخاطر متصاعدة حتى داخل بيوتهم ومكاتبهم ويطرَدون منها بصورة تعسفية وغير قانونية.

تحاول السلطات الإسرائيلية إسكات الصوت الفلسطيني خلال الأحداث الجارية تزامنا مع إغلاقها لمحطات إذاعية فلسطينية في خرق فاضح لحرية الصحافة والرأي والمقرة في الاعلان العالمي لحقوق الانسان لعام 1948 والذي ينص في المادة 19 منه “لكل شخص الحق في حرية الرأي والتعبير، ويشمل هذا الحق حرية اعتناق الآراء دون أي تدخل، واستقاء الأنباء والأفكار وتلقيها وإذاعتها بأية وسيلة كانت دون تقيد بالحدود الجغرافية“.

التوثيق مهم جدا لفضح الجرائم الإسرائيلية” كما قال عماد أبو شمسية المواطن الفلسطيني من سكان حي تل الرميده.

تأتي هذه الإجراءات غير الإنسانية عقب قيام القوات الاسرائيلية بإطلاق النار وقتل كل من همام عدنان السعيد “نحو 23 عاما” و إسلام رفيق اعبيدو في 27 و 28 تشرين الأول/أكتوبر في حي تل الرميده، وكانت الحكومة الإسرائيلية حينها قد بررت عمليتا القتل بأنهما جاءتا ردا على هجمات حسب ما ادعته، في حين نفى شهود عيان هذه الإدعاءات ولم تقم قوات الجيش بنشر تسجيلات كاميرات المراقبة خاصتها والمثبته في المكان لتأكيد ما تدعيه.

منذ بداية شهر تشرين الأول/اكتوبر أطلقت النار على ما مجموعه163 فلسطيني تركوا ينزفون من دون تقديم اسعافات أولية لهم أو علاج طبي حيث وصفت منظمة العفو الدولية ( Amnesty International ) ذلك بالقتل خارج نطاق القضاء.

الإجراءات الاحتلالية المذكورة المناقضة لحقوق الإنسان هدفها إخماد الصوت الفلسطيني وفي المدى البعيد هدفها إجبار سكان المنطقة الفلسطينيين على الرحيل والإختفاء بشكل كامل.

إن المنظمات والهيئات الموقعة على هذا النداء تطالب بما يلي

الوقف الفوري لسياسة العقاب الجماعي بحق الفلسطينيين في حي تل الرميدة وشارع الشهداء وإنهاء الأمر العسكري بإغلاقهما.

وقف التهديدات والمضايقات ضد السكان الفلسطينيين، وكذلك ضد نشطاء حقوق الإنسان المحليين والدوليين في تل الرميده وشارع الشهداء.

إزالة الحواجز والقيود على الحركة المنتشرة داخل البلدة القديمة من الخليل.

وقف العمل بالقوانين والأوامر العسكرية الاسرائيلية على السكان الفلسطينيين المدنيين.

إيقاف اتفاقية التعاون بين الاتحاد الأوروبي وإسرائيل حتى تلتزم اسرائيل بالقوانين الدولية.

إزالة كل البؤر الاستيطانية غير الشرعية من الخليل.

إعادة النظر بمكانة “الخيري” التي يحظى بها صندوق الخليل (Hebron Fund) والذي يتيح الفرصة للأفراد من عدة دول بتقديم التبرعات التي تخصم من ضرائبهم للمنظمة التي تمول الاستيطان في الخليل.

وقف المساعدات الأميركية غير المشروطة المقدمة لإسرائيل حتى تنصاع للقانون الدولي.

إعادة جثامين الفلسطينيين الذين قتلتهم القوات الإسرائيلية لذويهم وفقا لما تنص عليه المادة (17) من اتفاقية جنيف الأولى لعام 1949 والتي ورد فيها “على أطراف النزاع التحقق من أن الموتى قد دفنوا باحترام وطبقا لشعائر دينهم إذا أمكن، وأن مقابرهم تحترم وتجمع تبعا لجنسياتهم إذا أمكن وتصان بشكل ملائم، وتميز بكيفية تمكن من الاستدلال عليها دائما“

الموقعون:

حملة مقاطعة اسرائيل في سلوفينيا

حركة التضامن الدولية
غزة اكشن, ايرلاندا
الحركة الاسرائيلية ضد هدم البيوت
الحركة الاسرائيلية ضد هدم البيوت, فنلندا

لفرق المسيحية لصنع السلام/ فلسطين

لجنة التنسيق الدومينيكان فلسطين

اتحاد لجان العمل الصحي

لجنة الدفاع عن الخليل

لجنة إعمار الخليل

مركز الشرق الأوسط الدولي للإعلام

خدمات نساء السلام الدولية

حملة التضامن مع فلسطين/ ميرتون/ المملكة المتحدة

مجموعة دعم منكوبي الشرق الأوسط/ وودستوك/ نيويورك

حملة مقاطعة اسرائيل في مينوسوتا/ الولايات المتحدة

حملة التضامن مع فلسطين في نيوكاسل

منظمة حمامة السلام/ ايطاليا

هيئة مؤتمر القدس وشدوا الرحال

الاغاثة الزراعية

اتحاد المزارعين الفلسطينيين

اللجنة الشعبية للاجئين في محافظة الخليل

اتحاد لجان المرأة الفلسطينية

نقابة العمال “يونيسون” نورث أمبرلاند/ المملكة المتحدة

مركز الدراسات النسوية في الخليل

المدافعون عن حقوق الانسان

الاتحاد العام للمعلمين الفلسطينيين/ الخليل

اتحاد لجان المرأة العاملة الفلسطينية

حركة التضامن الدولية, ايطاليا

منظمة ادمنتون للصحافة الصغيرة

حب بدون حدود

مهندسون ومزارعون للعدالة في فلسطين

مركز تدريب الشباب المجتمعي/ الإغاثة الطبية

معهد هامبتون

الرجاء التواصل معنا على:

palreports@gmail.com

في حال رغبة مؤسستكم بمساعدتنا في نشر ندائنا

Six families in Jerusalem wait for their homes to be demolished

On Thursday, January 7th, the ISM went to visit Kifaya Rishek, a widow who lives in Beit Hanina, occupied East Jerusalem, waiting for her home to be demolished.

But Kifaya is not alone, she lives in this house together with her five children and 16 grandchildren, including 11 year-old, Malak, who is physically disabled. Their financial situation is very difficult; Murad and Ashraf, who have 4 children each, both work cleaning the Cinema City. Sharif has 5 children, and works selling toys in a store. Mohannad has 1 child and works in construction, but his salary is unstable since he works when he is called in by the company. Her daughter, Faiza, is divorced and also lives here with her 2 children. These 5 families who live here will be left homeless.

Friend Nuredin Amro and his son, Abedkarim sit on the far left side. Seven of the children who live in this house are, from left to right: Mira, Mayaan, Ahmad, Yara. On top, Fajer. On the floor, Mohammad and Badar. — Friend Nuredin Amro and his son, Abedkarim, sit on the far left side. Seven of the children who live in this house are, from left to right: Mira, Mayaan, Ahmad, Yara. On top, Fajer. On the floor, Mohammad and Badar.

In 2012, the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem came to Kifaya’s house to tell them that they planned to build a road that would pass through the land where they live and that they would demolish only the outdoor kitchen that sits in the terrasse. With time, the Israeli authorities changed their plan and said they would demolish the whole house.

Kifaya brought her case to court, with the intention of having the lawyer convince the municipality to change the direction of the road so that it would pass through another piece of land that her family owns together with another family, named Zaloum. She would attend the court hearings, but they were always in Hebrew, which she does not understand. In the end, she lost her case in the High Court, leaving her and her family with no more options in the Israeli controlled legal system. All of this is happening even though the house and land belongs to them: all payments are up to date, including their monthly taxes.

This decision on the part of the court and the Israeli authorities only shows that, in reality, the intention behind the demolition of Kifaya’s home is just part of a much larger Zionist plan to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians who live in Jerusalem, and make them refugees inside the West Bank.

The demolition order became effective a week ago, which means that the family lives in the house waiting every day for the workers to come with the bulldozer.

This kind of collective punishment creates a horrible life for Palestinians, as they are all incredibly anxious, sad and absolutely uncertain of not knowing when they will lose their house, because Israel does not give any prior notice as to when they will come with the bulldozer. The demolition can happen at any time, maybe a week, a month or a year ahead. And the family will not only lose their house, since the intention is to build a road, they will also lose their land. Unlike other families who, after the demolition, can still build another home on the same land, the Rishek family is being expelled.

The children’s teachers are seeing signs of distress. They have told the parents that they are not concentrating and their grades are going down in school. Malak says, “I’m afraid that when I go to school, when I come back the house will not be there anymore.”

Malak is 11 years old and has a physical disability in her legs. She gets treatment in the ALYN Pediatric Hospital in Jerusalem.

But the extent of their loss goes far beyond the material loss of their home and land. Since the family is very poor, they cannot afford moving to another neighborhood inside Jerusalem, therefore, they will be forced to relocate inside the West Bank, becoming refugees. This means they will lose their jobs, the children’s school and Malak’s therapy program, their health insurance, and pension plans. Once the family leaves Jerusalem, they will lose their Jerusalem identity cards, together with all their social benefits, such as the insurance for all the children (according to the Jerusalem Municipality Regulation), widow pension plan, health insurance and special disability insurance. The men will also lose their jobs, since they will not be able to move long distances and cross checkpoints to get to their current jobs. All the children go to school in the Shuafat Refugee Camp. When they move into the West Bank, they will need to find a new school. They will lose all their friends, and probably the whole school year, too. Malak’s physiotherapy program, which is covered with insurance in the ALYN Hospital, will also be lost and her parents are afraid they won’t be able to afford another therapy program in the West Bank.

In a situation that produces such levels of anxiety and the feeling of not having control of one’s life, Kifaya has developed a habit of collecting all her important belongings then putting them back in their place. The family has no idea where they will go live afterward.

The living room of Kifaya's family — The living room of Kifaya’s family

In a second interview, we visited Rajeh and Nadia Hawareen, the neighbors who live next door, facing the exact same situation. The road will also pass on top of their land, and this house will be the second house that Israel demolishes for Rajeh and Nadia as collective punishment.

The couple lives in the house with their four children. 2 of them are engaged and plan to marry in August next year, but living with this kind of threat does not allow them to plan their weddings appropriately.

Rajeh explains how they suffer from the same psychological distress as Kifaya’s family. They used up their savings paying all the lawyers, engineers, and professionals they could to find a way to prevent this demolition. But just like Kifaya, they lost their case.

The Hawareen's living room. — The Hawareen’s living room.

“This is our land. They can kill our people, but we will stay. We will never leave it,” Rafeh reassures us. “When you try to prepare your house, you prepare your dreams. And Israel destroys it. I am 50 years old, and I don’t have another 50 years to build my life again. This is very stressful, especially for my wife.”

Rajeh also explains how the situation inside the court is absolutely unfair. Palestinians are not allowed to talk and the hearings are held in Hebrew. The law, of course, is also different for Palestinians and Israelis. Israel also passes special laws for Palestinians who live in Jerusalem, in order to evict them.

“I’ve had enough of 60 years of documentation from international organizations,” Rajeh continues. “We lose our dignity, they treat us like less than animals. We lose everything, we are thrown out to the street. That’s why I don’t like international organizations, establishments or institutions, because they take orders from governments.”

“65 years of writing documents, and nobody listens, no one wants to hear. I made thousands of documents for the UN and OCHA in New York, but nobody does anything. There are no results. We need answers, even if these answers are negative to know what to expect. Governments are hypocrites. They just care about relationships and mutual benefits. They don’t care about the humanitarian issues, the oppressed people. Politics has no mercy.”

“But we never give up. We believe that one day they will hear us.”

The bulldozers are working on the land nearby. Anytime soon they will arrive to the families doorsteps. — The bulldozers are working on the land nearby. Anytime soon they will arrive to the families’ doorsteps.

Photo story: newly expanded Shuhada checkpoint is even more difficult to traverse

January 6th 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | al-Khalil, occupied Palestine

At the end of December Israeli forces re-opened the newly expanded Shuhada checkpoint in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). The checkpoint had been closed since December 7th, when Israeli forces had declared they would be conducting “renovations” for a then-unknown period of time.

Officially known as Checkpoint 56, Shuhada checkpoint separates Bab al-Zawiye, a Palestinian neighborhood in the H1 (nominally Palestinian-controlled and administered) part of al-Khalil and Tel Rumeida, part of Israeli military-controlled H2 and currently covered in part by a closed military zone order first issued on November 1st.

walking through wm — Palestinian family leaving Tel Rumeida, crossing toward Bab al-Zawiye

The checkpoint was rebuilt with a high fence blocking the entire street and additional turnstiles and metal detectors. The turnstiles make it very difficult for anyone carrying heavy, bulky luggage or even several bags of groceries to pass. Israeli authorities also added a completely closed off room in the center of the checkpoint, where Palestinians are questioned and searched entirely out of site of any onlookers, media, or human rights monitors.

As in previous versions of the checkpoint, there is no possibility for any car or truck – even an ambulance responding to an emergency – to pass; any vehicle larger than a baby carriage must take a time-consuming detour in order to enter or leave Tel Rumeida.

woman walking high view wm — Shuhada checkpoint as seen from a nearby window in Bab al-Zawiye, an imposing barrier Palestinian families living in Tel Rumeida must navigate

The new checkpoint has already become a flashpoint for Israeli military aggressions against Palestinians, which include the arrest of 38-year-old Wafa’ Sharabati on Monday afternoon by Israeli forces who first claimed she had a discrepancy in her ID then accused her of being a troublemaker and threatened to plant a knife on her. Wafa’s family and local activists staged a sit-in outside Shuhada checkpoint to protest her treatment and the continued humiliation and harassment faced by Palestinians forced to endure the checkpoint and the closed military zone.

family waiting for release copy — Wafa Sharabati’s family staged a sit-in awaiting her release

ppl in front of shuhada wm — A large group of local activists and residents gathered after Wafa’s arrest in front of the checkpoint, which has has been the site of countless demonstrations against the Israeli occupation of al-Khalil

rubber coated metal soldier wm — He never fired, but this Israeli soldier spent much of Monday afternoon on the roof of Shuhada checkpoint, prepared to attack nonviolent Palestinian demonstrators with potentially deadly rubber-coated metal bullets

A sign on the H1 side of the checkpoint explains the protocols for passing through: metal detector, bag search, no animals allowed through, checkpoint closed if there are any clashes. The 4th instruction reads “wait until the soldier will allow you to pass.” Sometimes people can pass in six minutes; sometimes they must wait for over an hour, outside and exposed to any weather, before being allowed to pass the few meters of turnstiles, metal detectors, fences and walls between them and the streets leading to their homes.

Lines on Monday evening left many, including young children, waiting for nearly half an hour in the cold night. Only Palestinians who are registered in the closed military zone can ever pass through the checkpoint; family members of residents, journalists, human rights defenders and internationals have all been barred. Even Palestinians who are registered have reported being forced to wait for over an hour only to be harassed and threatened by the soldiers inside the checkpoint.

Activists have planned another protest for Thursday morning to continue the struggle against the closed military zone, the even harsher regime at the newly reopened checkpoint, and the continued closure and Israeli military occupation of al-Khalil.

boy fire wm — A young Palestinian boy enthusiastically fanned the fire local residents and activists gathered around on Monday night to protest the checkpoint and all it represents

14 Palestinians finally laid to rest in occupied al-Khalil

2nd January, 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | al-Khalil, occupied Palestine

On the 2^nd of January 2016, thousands attended the funeral of 14 martyrs in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). A demonstration following the funeral, against the continued killing of Palestinians with impunity by the Israeli military and Zionist settlers, was attacked by Israeli forces.

Part of the massive funeral procession walking up the road toward the Martyrs’ cemetery

The new year in the occupied West Bank began with the handover of 23 bodies that the Israeli government had been withholding from their families, some for over two months. These 23 young Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces or settlers claiming that they had been carrying out attacks; in many cases, eyewitnesses reported that Israeli forces planted evidence on the bodies or killed the alleged attackers when they posed no imminent threat. Israeli forces then took the bodies of the Palestinians killed and the Israeli government refused to return them to their families, denying them funerals and proper burial.

17 of the 23 bodies that were finally returned to their families were from the al-Khalil district. Of these 14 were from al-Khalil city itself, and were thus buried on Saturday in the Martyrs’ cemetery of al-Khalil. Thousands of people marched in the funeral procession from the Hussein mosque to the cemetery, with the fourteen bodies carried on the shoulders of their families. The families of the young men killed finally had the chance to bury their loved ones in an appropriate manner and grieve their loss.

One of the 14 bodies of Palestinian youths being carried down the road in al-Khalil

As the procession was passing by a road that leads down toward Shuhada checkpoint, Israeli forces threw stun grenades into the street even though no one was approaching or even near checkpoint.

The fourteen people buried this Saturday in occupied al-Khalil are:

Basil Bassam Ragheb Sidr, 20, shot dead on 14^th October 2015
Fadil Abdullah Qawasmi, 18, shot dead by Israeli settlers on 17^th October 2015
Farouq Abd al-Qadir Sider, 19, shot dead on 19^th October 2015
Saad Muhammad Youssef al-Atrash, 19, shot dead on 26^th October 2015
Shadi Nabil al-Qudsi, 22, shot dead on 27^th October 2015
Izz al-Din Nadi Abu Shkheidem, 19, shot dead on 27^th October 2015
Humaaam Adnan al-Saeed, 23, shot dead on 27^th October 2015
Islam Rafiq Hammad Ibeido, 23, shot dead on 28^th October 2015
Mahdi Muhammad al-Muhtaseb, 23, shot dead on 29^th October 2015
Malik Talal al-Shareef, 25, shot dead on 5^th November 2015
Mustafa Fadhil Fanoon, 15, shot dead on 4^th December 2015
Taher Faysal Fannoun, 19, shot dead on 4^th December 2015
Ibah Fathi Miswadeh, 21, shot on 7^th December 2015
Abd al-Rahman Miswadeh, shot dead on 7^th December 2015

The three Palestinians buried in the al-Khalil area are:
Hamzeh Moussa al-Imla, 25, shot dead on 20^th October 2015. Buried in Beit Ula
Fadi Hassan al-Froukh, shot dead on 1^st November 2015. Buried in Sair village
Omar Arafat Issa al-Zaaqiq, 19, shot dead on 27^th November 2015. Buried in Beit Ummar

After the funeral procession for Omar al-Zaaqiq, Israeli forces injured 12 protesters with rubber-coated steel bullets, including two that were shot in the head.

After the funeral in al-Khalil dozens of young Palestinian men braved wet, cold weather to gather in the streets of Bab al-Zawwiya neighborhood around Shuhada checkpoint to protest the murder of these martyrs. Israeli forces advanced from Shuhada checkpoint and threw stun grenades into the streets. They also pursued a Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance that was driving up the road with its lights and sirens on in the H1 area of al-Khalil, the part supposedly under full Palestinian control. Israeli forces stopped the ambulance and threw a stun grenade at it, forcing medics to drive back in the direction they had come.

Israeli forces occupied a building and roof in Bab al-Zawwiya, using their vantage to aim down at protesters, mock the demonstrators and throw stones at them.

Palestinians and internationals documenting the Israeli forces’ violent attackon the demonstration were directly targeted by Israeli forces. Local activist Imad Abu Shamsiya was shot in the foot with a rubber-coated metal bulle by Israeli forces. One international was hit in the hand with a rubber-coated metal bullet when clearly holding a camera filming the event. “We were standing in the street taking photos of the soldiers aiming their rifles at demonstrators and realized that they were aiming right at us when a rubber-coated metal bullet hit right above my head,” another ISM activist recalled.

soldier further away — Photo taken just before Israeli border police aimed a rubber-coated metal bullet just above an ISMer’s head

Israeli forces indiscriminately fired rounds of plastic-coated metal bullets that, in contrast to the rubber-coated metal bullets, were not aimed and targeted at individuals but would instead hit anyone in the vicinity. The clashes ended after over two hours of confrontation with Israeli forces, with no severe injuries.

While the families of the 23 young Palestinians returned on New Year’s Day were finally able to bury their loved ones, other families are still waiting and demanding the return of the bodies of their family members killed by Israeli forces or settlers. This inhumane tactic of keeping the bodies from the families, thus denying them the possibility of holding a funeral according to their beliefs, clearly violates article 17 of the 1949 Geneva Convention: I “[Parties to the conflict] shall further ensure that the dead are honourably interred, if possible according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged, that their graves are respected, grouped if possible according to the nationality of the deceased, properly maintained and marked so that they may always be found.”