Tag: Ethnic Cleansing

“If you don’t leave this house, I will slaughter your children”

17th February 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

UPDATE: Child arrested after settler death threats. Link here.

On the night of February 16, ISM activists joined a number of local Protection Unit activists to go on a night patrol of the old city in Al Khalil. During the night patrol, we were brought into the home of of a family who have recently experienced intimidation and aggressive harassment from illegal settlers and the military.

Our hosts described to us how settlers, including prominent Hebron settlement spokesperson Noam Arnon invaded the family home by climbing down the stairs from their rooftop, accompanied by the Israeli army. Our host described how, in the presence of the army, Noam Arnon threatened that he would murder the entire family who lived in the house if they did not submit to the demands of the settlers and give up their home. This disgusting threat was allegedly made by the man who is often portrayed as a man of peace, and a reasonable voice in the settler community. Our host went on to describe how Anat Cohen, another prominent settler in Al Khalil, was watching this interaction from a nearby home, encouraging the soldiers and settlers to kill the homeowners. Also among the mob was Baruch Marzel (ברוך מרזל), the extreme right-wing politician and previous spokesperson of the Kach organisation – a party outlawed in Israel and the US as a terrorist organization. In 2000 Marzel organized a party at the shrine of Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli terrorist who murdered 29 Palestinians in the Ibrahim mosque, to celebrate the massacre.

Nighttime invasions of homes by the military are common throughout occupied Palestine. However, instances like this shine a light on the inner workings of the occupation. The event described above is the occupation in a microcosm: one of the world’s most technologically advanced armies, acting on behalf of a group of extremists with an agenda of ethnic cleansing. There is no justice in an occupation.

Occupation forces shoot 9 demonstrators near Ramallah

9th February 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Despite being condemned by all authoritative bodies, the occupation continues to expand it’s settlements throughout the ‘West Bank’, with total disregard for international law. All the settlements are built on Palestinian land and these illegal settlers often raid local villages, lacerating olive groves and destroying crops. In addition, violent, unprovoked attacks by settlers against Palestinians have increased alarmingly over the past year, with 200 race-related incidences recorded in 2018. The village of Al-Mughayyir north-east of Ramallah has experienced constant harassment, including settlers setting fire to the local mosque.

Last week, a group settlers invaded and attacked Al-Mughayyir, shooting indiscriminately toward houses. As residents gathered to resist the invasion with stones, the settlers immediately and randomly fired a barrage of bullets at the crowd, killing 38-year-old Hamdi Nassan who was shot in the back. Many others were hit with live ammunition, leaving three wounded in serious conditions.

After performing Friday prayers in the field of the village, the residents gathered to commemorate Hamdi and to protest the continued annexation of their land. Despite being on village land and posing no threat to the surrounding settlements, dozens of occupation soldiers were positioned across the hills surrounding the field. Within moments of shebab throwing stones toward fully-armored soldiers standing more than 100 metres away, the occupation began firing tear gas canisters from a machine known as ‘venom’- capable of shooting 64 canisters per launch. While protesters scattered in order to dodge hailing canisters, soldiers descended from the hills, firing rubber-coated steel bullets indiscriminately into the crowd. Yet as a cloud of tear gas smothered the field, the youth surged forward, using the toxic gas as cover to lob rocks at the armoured vehicles. At no point did anyone get within 50 meters of a soldier but in a reality that is all too familiar for the Palestinians – yet no less deplorable – snipers started ‘picking off’ protestors. Nine youths were wounded by live ammunition and many others injured.

Salama remembers Razan

In response to a call for solidarity from Gazan women, a Jewish activist group dubbed “Return” gathered to hold a memorial for Razan AlNajar, at the location of her village of origin, Salameh.

While thousands of women marched towards the border in the Saja’iya area in Gaza, the activists held a ceremony honoring Razan and the protesters shot dead by Israeli snipers. The activist called for the implementation of the right of return and hung photos of the slain protesters placing flowers and candles on a structure that proceeded the Zionist state.

The steering committee of the Great march of return  published  a call   for people to commemorate the fallen protesters. Return has been organizing commemorations inside historical Palestine in locations including the Gaza border fence and the Israeli parliment. Other such memorials are taking place around the world.

The protestors changed Hertzel streets on the road between Salamah and Jaffa to Al-Awda street and Ben-Zvi street to Razan Al-Najar street.

“Razan did not see Salama, but she and all the refugees who are not present here physically are always present here with us, as a void an absence, something that is missing here until their inevitable return. ” stated one of the activists.

Settler tourists given weekly armed escort through the streets of Al Khalil

On Saturday May 19th, over twenty soldiers escorted armed settlers through the souq

Every Saturday, Zionist settler tours take place in the narrow alleys of the souq in Al Khalil’s (Hebron). These guided tours usually last for about an hour, and settlers are always accompanied by armed Israeli forces, intimidating local Palestinians who are trying to make a living by selling their goods in the market.

The tours began in 2008. At the moment they are usually made up of 50 or more settlers, accompanied by around 30 armed soldiers and border police.

Palestinians often have to stop and wait as the tour makes its way down the narrow streets of the souq. If they are allowed to pass at all, pedestrians are forced to walk through a crowd of settlers, soldiers and border police. Businesses in the souq are affected, as shopping streets are brought to a standstill.

On recent Saturdays, ISM volunteers have seen small children attempting to get past the tour, but repeatedly being told to wait by the army escort.

Each week international volunteers from ISM, the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme for Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) and Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) walk ahead of and behind the tour, in an attempt to monitor and observe the situation. These observers often face harassment from Israeli forces. For example, on Saturday 5th May, after the tour had finished, six international volunteers were surrounded and detained by 13 paratroopers. The commander of the group demanded IDs from the internationals, and threatened that if they ‘made problems’, they would be imprisoned for one month, barred from Al-Khalil, or from entering Israel in the future. This is one small example of how the Israeli military works to prevent any scrutiny of its illegal occupation.

One shopkeeper in the souq told ISM, “We don’t know the settlers’ intentions in coming into our streets, why do they have to come here? Perhaps they are wanting to take over this area.”

Another shopkeeper told us, “I really feel distressed and unsafe during the tours. Even though they have army units with them, some of the settlers carry shotguns. I think they come here [on the tours] because they think think this is their city. It puts a lot of pressure on us Palestinians. I have even seen the people on the tours spitting at international volunteers.

We never know when they are going to come, sometimes they come late afternoon. Sometimes, when there are hard times here, they even come at night.”

Read more about the settler tours here  and here.

Settlers often carry weapons

 

 

Palestinians pray in the streets of Bethlehem and march against Donald Trump

16th March 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, al Khalil team | Occupied Palestine

This morning, Palestinians gathered in front of the apartheid wall by the Intercontinental Hotel in Bethlehem for Friday Prayer, which was held in the street. After the prayer, Palestinian and international protesters marched peacefully to the gate of the apartheid wall chanting and began banging their backs against the metal gate of the apartheid wall. Border Police quickly came through the gate pointing their weapons in protesters faces and throwing stun grenades, accompanied by an armored police carrier topped with multiple rounds of tear gas.

Border police then advanced on demonstrators firing rubber coated steel bullets and stun grenades at Palestinians and internationals. Luckily no one was hurt or arrested today and the Police retreated back through the apartheid gate.

Today’s demonstration surrounded Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and his decision to move the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Palestinians remain outraged at this decision, as East Jerusalem is Palestinian land and home to Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site for Muslims.

Protests have been consistent since Trump’s meddling and aren’t likely to stop anytime soon as we approach May 14th, the proposed day for the embassy move to Jerusalem as well as the anniversary of the Nakba day or “day of catastrophe.” Palestinians have been under Israeli occupation almost 70 years, facing humiliation and human rights abuses every day.