Tag: Eviction - Page 5 - International Solidarity Movement

Susya faces demolition for the eighth time

27th February 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Susya, occupied Palestine

The village of Susya in the south Hebron hills faced complete demolition again yesterday as the Israeli court, and the villagers, waited for the Israeli government to announce its plan for demolition. The Israeli government asked the court for a 48 hour continuance, which means that the plan will probably be provided to the court on Tuesday 28th February and demolition may begin on Wednesday 1st March.

Internationals from ISM and from Christian Peacemaker Teams were asked by villagers to be present in Susya yesterday to give support should demolition go ahead. The presence of internationals cannot prevent demolition but may encourage Israeli forces to empty the tents about to be demolished with more care, and will provide the international community with documentation of the demolition.

Nasser al Nawajja from the village is used to facing situations like this. He told us that he felt that some demolition this year is inevitable, but that delays are good because when the weather is better it is easier to cope with the disruption and to rebuild. The Israeli government is under intense pressure from local settlers and Israeli right wing political groups to remove Susya altogether, but there is strong pressure and support also from the international community which will make complete demolition difficult. What is most likely, says Nasser, are piecemeal demolitions.

This will not be the first demolition or expulsion faced by the village: since the villagers were turned out of their cave dwellings half a mile away in 1986 for a ‘Jewish archeological park’ they have lived in semi-permanent tent dwellings which have been either demolished or expelled seven times already. This will be the eighth demolition and, Nasser says, ‘We will rebuild. We rebuilt seven times already. We will rebuild again. A seventh and an eighth time.’

Susya is a symbol of what is happening in the rural West Bank. Strong settler pressure for expansion of confiscated land meets weak international pressure to preserve some vestige of hope for a two state solution (still championed by the international community). Who will win this battle is anyone’s guess now that Trump is in the White House. But the lives of the people of Susya continue to be under threat. As Nasser says, ‘The settlers are in the White House now.’

As Israel steps up its demolition programme the EU logo gets lost in the rubble

27th August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Umm al-Kheir, south Hebron, occupied Palestine

The villagers of Umm Al Khair look out at the remains of their EU-funded community center that now lies as rubble. Villagers tell of it as a place where they watched football, did education trainings, community meetings and how it would soon become a kindergarten. The destruction has come as no surprise however, since this is the third set of demolitions in Umm al Khair since the start of the year, with over 15 structures being demolished in a town of just 150 people.

The rate of house demolitions in the West Bank is at the highest it has been in 10 years, with more demolitions in the first 4 months of 2016 than the whole of 2015. As illegal settlements continue to expand Palestinians, especially in the south Hebron hills, are more at risk than ever of losing their homes. Despite condemning the demolitions the EU has not taken any action concerning the 74 million dollars worth of EU projects destroyed by Israeli bulldozers. As the town looks for aid to rebuild its fallen buildings the question is if the EU will continue to turn a blind eye to Israel’s destruction of their projects including schools, playgrounds and housing that have all fallen under demolition orders.

Both Umm al Khair and Susiya are in the process of court hearings to get permits for their buildings, but this hasn’t stopped the demolitions during the court process. Their only hope is the decision of the court to give villages the right to exist and permits for their housing, but currently it seems unlikely this will happen. We can only hope that pressure from the international community and opposition from inside Palestine will lead to the villages survival.

photo following the April demolitions in Umm al Khair Photo credits: Mairéad Nic Gabhann — photo following the April demolitions in Umm al Khair
Photo credits: Mairéad Nic Gabhann

Closed military zone in Shuhada Street and Tel Rumeida extended yet another month

6th February 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Since the 1st of November 2015 the Tel Rumeida area and Shuhada Street in occupied Al-Khalil (Hebron) have been declared a ‘closed military zone’. The first declaration of the closure was for one month, but since then the order has been extended several times.
The newest order from the 1st of February declares the area as closed till the 1st of March with the chance of extension.

The closure effects the residents of the area every single day. Every family living in the area has been given a number and was forced to register with the Israeli forces. When entering the area, through checkpoints, the residents have to show ID, give their number and often also answer questions and get bag and body searched. Friends and family of the residents are unable to visit them inside the area; even doctors or craftsmen are completely barred from entering the area.
Furthermore, the closed military zone has let to the eviction of two human rights organisations based in Tel Rumeida. These are now banned from living in their houses and working from their offices and since they are banned from the whole area are not able to observe and document the rampant Israeli human rights violations. The closed military zone is clearly intended to force out Palestinian residents in order to allow for an expansion of the illegal Israeli settlements, and to evict human rights defenders to silence the truth of the Israeli forces’ harassment, attacks and human rights violations.

Arbitrary use of closed military zone orders in Hebron

22nd November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

After being allowed back to their legally owned apartment in Tel Rumeida in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) on Thursday, international human rights defenders were kicked out from their home for the third time by Israeli forces the following day.

Internationals kicked out from their home Photo credit: Human Rights Defenders — Internationals kicked out from their home
Photo credit: Human Rights Defenders

The draconian restrictions of the ‘closed military zone’ orders had been slightly lifted on Thursday with no new order issued.

Israeli forces preparing the paper to kick out internationals from their home

The lifting of the closed military zone orders gave the impression that Palestinian residents could, for the first time since weeks, be able to pass the street without being detained while Israeli forces would check their IDs and names on a list of ‘residents’. The international solidarity activists returned to their legally rented house on Thursday afternoon. After only one day, police and soldiers came into the house on Friday afternoon ordering them to leave immediately. The order Israeli forces showed to the internationals was clearly only a photocopy without an official stamp or signature. When the internationals showed their rental contract, the police officer started yelling at them and threatened them saying if they ‘don’t leave within ten minutes, [he] will use force’. Due to the threat of physical violence – that was used on internationals before when they were illegally evicted from this apartment – they decided to leave.

Photocopy of a military order with handwritten dates

Two days later, on Sunday, when attempting to go back to their house, Israeli forces showed the internationals an order dated to the end of the week. When internationals then requested to be allowed to go to their apartment, as this order was not in place at that particular time, they were ordered to wait for no reason. A few minutes later, a jeep with more soldiers drove up and one of them was clearly seen holding a pile of papers, writing something on one of them. He then handed the paper to a soldier that presented it to the internationals as a new closed military zone ‘order’ for that day. It was obvious that soldiers are now having blank copies of ‘closed military zone’ orders that they can fill in arbitrarily with any dates.

Closed military zone order for the end of the week

Since 1^st November, the Israeli forces have been bringing new ‘closed military zone’ orders, renewing them every day. Virtually every Palestinian passing in any direction has to undergo humiliating, degrading and violent bag- and body-searches at gunpoint as well as ID-checks. The area covered by that order was deliberately designed to encompass only Palestinian residents and international human rights defenders while excluding the neighbouring illegal Israeli settlement, thus entirely exempting Israeli settlers from these tactics.

Human rights activists evicted from Tel Rumeida apartment again

12th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Yesterday, international activists regained access to their Tel Rumeida apartment after being denied entry for a week. This morning at 8.45am another activist tried to enter the apartment but was prevented by soldiers, even after showing them the rental contract granting her the right to reside in Tel Rumeida. Soldiers then came up the stairs to the front door and threatened the three activists with arrest if they failed to leave the apartment within five minutes.

After a short delay, the police arrived and demanded the activists open the door and leave the building. When the activists questioned this, the Israeli forces replied that they were in a closed military zone and were not allowed to be there. This was despite the activists having demonstrated the right to reside in the property on the previous day.

The Israeli forces began to batter down the front door with a crowbar. When they were unable to get in after 10 minutes, other soldiers climbed onto the roof and smashed their way in through the roof access door within a few minutes. The commander and two soldiers entered the room where the activists were sitting without showing any resistance.

They demanded the activists leave, stating they had no right to be in the area and they were acting illegally. They then claimed that they had checked with their lawyers and the contract ‘is illegal…because it’s a closed military zone’. The commander said the activists are not residents, just ‘guests’ and that they didn’t understand the contract because it was written in Arabic.

Then several more soldiers entered, together with 2 police officers. They took the activists’ passports and told them to leave aggressively. They also showed them the closed military zone document. When the activists questioned the army’s right to break in to the apartment, the police officer told them to take the case to court.

The commander then twisted the arm of one activist, forcing him to the floor, although none of the activists offered any physical resistance. The activists were then escorted out of the apartment, down the street to checkpoint 56 and out of Tel Rumeida.