Tag: Eviction - Page 4 - International Solidarity Movement

Bedouin village of Um al-Kheir fights against new demolition threats

The illegal settlement Carmel looks over the Bedouin village of Um al-Kheir

June 26 | International Solidarity Movement | Umm al-Kheir, south Hebron Hills, occupied Palestine

The Bedouin village of Um al-Kheir in the South Hebron Hills have launched a new bid to save their homes from demolition.

On Monday, activists from the village submitted a new master plan to the Israeli Civil Administration which, if accepted, would protect their community from the bulldozers.

Since 2011, 32 structures including houses, animal barns and a bread oven have been demolished in Um al-Khair with almost every family losing at least one home.

The village has been in crisis mode over the past week, going to bed each night with the fear that bulldozers could be rolling towards them in the morning.

An international presence (including people from the Good Shepherd Collective, Christian Peacemakers Team, All That’s Left and ISM) has been set up in solidarity with the people of Um al-Kheir and to provide a possible deterrence.

The community hopes to have a response from the Civil Administration in the coming days, which if given, will freeze the demolition orders for a few years.

But until a response is given, the village remains at risk of demolition.

The Civil Administration, the governing Israeli body in Area B and C in the West Bank, recently rejected the villagers’ previous master plan submitted three years ago. During this time period, demolition orders were frozen, giving the Bedouin community a brief respite. But now the freeze period is over and Um al-Kheir is once again at risk of demolition with orders against 45 homes.

The villagers are expecting a response from the Civil Administration tomorrow, which would begin the process again of freezing the orders while the master plan is deliberated.

Um al-Khair is one of the villages in the South Hebron Hills that is particularly at risk of expulsion.

It is gradually being surrounded by the illegal settlement of Carmel which is just feet away with a fence separating the two.

Villagers live in fear and uncertainty as four more homes demolished in South Hebron Hills

June 18, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement | South Hebron Hills, occupied Palestine

The al-Dababsh family watch as their home is demolished. *Pic: Basil Adraa*

Occupation forces went on a demolition spree yesterday in the South Hebron Hills, bulldozing the homes of four families in two villages.

A convoy of border police, Israeli Civil Administration officials, soldiers and two JCB bulldozers arrived in the village of Khalet al Dabeh at around 9am to destroy a house belonging to Mohammad al Dababsh.

Twelve members of the al Dababsh family including seven children, who have lived in the region for generations, are now homeless and have been given tents to sleep in by the Red Cross.

“People used to live in tents and caves and they had their dream come true to live in a house – they came up from under the ground into the light,’ Basil Adraa, a youth activist from the neighbouring village of al-Tuwani, told ISM.

“Now they have gone back 10 years, living before without light and houses.”

Adraa along with other local activists and ISMers arrived to Khalet al Dabeh just ahead of the demolition.

Members of the al Dababsh family were shouting in distress and at one point attempted to run through the line of border police – who had announced a closed military zone around the house – in a bid to protect his home before it was raised to the ground.

Omar al Dababsh was thrown to the floor by soldiers as he ran. His injuries required urgent medical attention and he was taken to Hebron hospital.

Soldiers also shoved local activists and ISMers in the scuffle.

A Palestinian man lies injured after being thrown to the ground by occupation forces by his demolished home

Adraa was filming the demolition from a roof near the al Dababsh house when soldiers threatened to throw a sound grenade at him if he refused to get down.

A separate building storing solar panel batteries was also destroyed and the panels were confiscated.

After forcing a family of 12 into homelessness, the convoy moved on to the village of al Halawe where they destroyed a further three homes belonging to the Aram family.

Adraa told ISM that a ‘demolition day’ has happened every week this year, except during Ramadan when there were two demolitions in five weeks.

The region of the South Hebron Hills is in Area C of the West Bank where almost all construction by Palestinians is banned by the Israeli government.

Most of the region’s 30 Palestinian villages have demolition orders on at least one building meaning they could be bulldozed at any time.

Local activist group, the Good Shepherd Collective, which raises awareness about demolitions in the South Hebron Hills area stated on its Facebook page: “It is worth noting that these demolitions, injuries, and confiscations do not simply impact and traumatize the families and individuals immediately affected – demolitions, especially during the oppressive heat of the summer, force families to rebuild in order to meet their basic needs, and in the meantime rely on their extended family and community members.”

An Israeli border police aggressively pushes locals and humanitarian observers

Adraa added: “It seems like a Nakba for these people, because the biggest goal for the occupation is to evacuate the people from these villages to the cities. So in this kind of demolition, big demolition, it’s a serious step to evacuate the people and take them from their land which is illegal by international law. They want to demolish houses so that the settlement can expand.”

Despite the ban, which also forbids Palestinians to hook up to the electricity grid and water supply, illegal settlers in the region continue to construct new buildings unimpeded by Israeli forces.

Child arrested after settlers’ death threats

February 18, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Al-Khalil, occupied Palestine

The day after a group of illegal settlers and soldiers invaded a Palestinians’ home and threatened to slaughter their children in front of them, one of their children was arrested by the Israeli police.

On Saturday, a group of settlers climbed down onto the rooftop of Emad Eqneibi’s home. Among them was Noam Arnon (נעם ארנון)–a right-wing settler who referred to Baruch Goldstein (the mass murderer of 29 worshipers in the Ibrahimi Mosque) as an “extraordinary” and “lovely” person.

Under the protection of heavily-armed Israeli soldiers, Arnon told the Palestinian homeowner “If you don’t leave this house, I will slaughter your children one-after-the-other in front of you.”.

Responding to settler complaints, a group of soldiers descended on Eqneibi’s house the following day and arrested his 14-year-old son, Amer Eqneibi. Video was captured as the soldiers were taking the child away:

Amer is currently being held in an adult prison Ofer outside Ramallah. Locals expect that it may be more than 40 days before the child is released.

Activists stand in solidarity with the residents of Khan al-Ahmar

7 September 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Khan al-Ahmar, occupied Palestine

After an Israeli court ruling on September 5 2018 confirmed the eviction and demolition of the Palestinian Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, residents of the village, Palestinians from across the West Bank and international activists have gathered each day in solidarity at the village, awaiting the arrival of the Israeli forces.

On the morning of September 7, 2018, around 09:40, as approximately 40 Palestinians and internationals were peacefully enjoying morning tea and coffee, a busload of an estimated 40-50 people from the Israeli zionist hate-group “Im Tirtzu” pulled off the highway by the village and approached. The Palestinians and internationals who were gathered at Khan al-Ahmar met the Israeli hate group at the entrance of the village before they entered it. The Palestinians questioned the purpose of the group’s presence were met with verbal insults and accusations of anti-semitism.

The non-violent presence of the Palestinians and international solidarity activists put pressure on “Im Tirtzu” to retreat back to the highway. Israeli forces; police, military, and border police, met the groups by the highway and proceeded to don their full riot gear. As “I’m Tirtzu” awaited their bus for pick up, the police demanded that the Palestinians and internationals return to Khan Al-Ahmar, even physically pushing several individuals. Police also forcefully grabbed the Palestinian flags in a show of unnecessary aggression as people were retreating.

By September 7 at 13:00, between 400-500 Palestinian solidarity activists, official Palestinian activist groups, government officials, media personnel, and international activists gathered under the tent at Khan Al-Ahmar for a prayer service. Following the prayer service, the group migrated to the highway, referred to as Route 1, to occupy the street in a peaceful demonstration of their resistance to the threatened eviction. Dozens of Palestinian flags waved in the breeze as demonstrators blocked highway traffic, chanting songs of resistance in Arabic. Fully armed police and military officers forced demonstrators off the street under threat of physical violence. The demonstrators moved but continued the protest for another 45 minutes by the side of the highway.

Palestinian and international solidarity activists will maintain a presence over the coming week in the village of Khan Al-Ahman alongside the village’s residents, who are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Israeli army set to carry out their eviction plans.

Protest against house demolition in al-Walaje

19^th August 2017 | International Solidarity Movement | Al-Khalil team, Occupied Hebron

Friday 18^th of August, the villagers from al-Walaje, a village near Bethlehem, were peacefully protesting the demolition orders of 22 houses in their village. The residents received the demolition order last month.

Friday protest in al-Walaje against house demolition

The Israeli forces want to demolish the houses in order to expand the construction of the apartheid wall, and build new settlements on the villagers’ land. Farmers from the villages have lost access to their olive fields due to the apartheid wall, and they are forced to apply for permission to access their own land for the olive harvest. In this case they are granted permission for only a few days to harvest their fields.

One of the houses with a demolition order

The residents of al-Walaje have been facing repeated harassment and house demolitions in the previous years. Just last May, two jeeps and 16 soldiers from the Israeli military went into the village at 3 AM, and demolished four houses. The military closed off the entrances to the village, preventing people from entering or leaving. The residents were not given any previous warning, and people were not able to defend themselves or pack their belongings. Residents tried to protect their houses, but faced violence from the soldiers, and several Palestinian men were arrested. The 11^th of August, the Israeli military raided the village at night, photographing and video-recording residents, claiming that they were searching for a wanted individual.

Young woman protesting against the demolition orders and the Israeli occupation

Earlier the same week, residents in al-Walaje resisted a house demolition, by peacefully standing in front of the house and refusing to move. The Israeli forces decided to call off the house demolition until further notice. The villagers protest regularly against the Israeli occupation and land grabbing. Usually the peaceful protests are violently dispersed by the Israeli occupation forces.