Tag: Freedom of Access

The implications of arbitrary Israeli military night raids in Al Khalil

by Mira, Rune and Paige

19 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

With the change of the  Israeli army brigades last week, it has not been quiet in Al Khalil. It seems like the new soldiers are using the city as a training field.

It started about  one about a week ago, on Sunday March 18th, when the 100 soldiers from the Kfir brigade arrested one boy, closing down several streets in the process.  On Sunday the streets were once again filled with hundreds of soldiers, many houses were raided, and many more Palestinians were detained for several hours without reason.

The raids began at approximately 9:00 PM in the Tel Rumeida area, and continued well past midnight on Shuhada street, near the Qeitun checkpoint, and in the area of the Qordaba girls’ school.  At 10 pm around 100 soldiers escorted 17 men and teenage boys taken during the house raids through Qeitun checkpoint where they were forced to stand lined up against the wall while soldiers screamed at them in Hebrew.  All were eventually let go, though four young men were held until 1:00 AM.

Among the raided houses, is the home of the Abu Mohammad family which had suffered much harassment from the military in the past few months.  The house is split in two parts, and about 2 months ago the soldiers started to occupy the left half of the building, forcing the almost 30 people living there to move to the right part. The families living in the house have filed a lawsuit that is yet to be decided. Sunday night the soldiers raided the entire house, forced all the inhabitants outside and searched every room. After that they moved to the roof, were they broke the water-pipe, and stayed for several days. The water is leaking in the house, but the tenants are not allowed to go on the roof and fix it.

The house of the Abu Ahmed family was raided three times throughout the course of the night, the Israeli army forcing the family out on the street while the soldiers searched the house again and again. Three  generations live in the house  including four children all under the age of 7. The soldiers did not explain why they were there or what they were looking for. A 65 year old resident of this house explained  that this is normal for them.

In another house raid near the illegal settlement of Beit Hadassah, a young girl fell and hit her head and was unconscious for several minutes after soldiers forced her and her family out of their front door.  As the ambulance could only reach as far as the checkpoint at the end of the road, the girl was forced to walk to the checkpoint to meet the ambulance.  The soldiers at the checkpoint prevented her from crossing to the ambulance for fifteen minutes.

Mira, Rune, and Paige are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).

Video: Illegal settlers in Al Khalil attack Palestinian student

by Satu

19 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Sunday 18th of March, an 18-year old Palestinian student, Mustafa Abu Salime, got attacked by settlers between Checkpoints 56 and Gilbert. Mustafa passed the Gilbert checkpoint on his way to visit his friends. He saw three settlers talking to a soldier. Few meters down from the checkpoint the same settlers came behind him and sprayed him with pepper spray and started beating him.

The settlers hit him on his head, back and knee then pushed him on the ground and kicked him. In the attack Mustafa lost his eye glasses and phone. The soldiers did not interfere. After the beating the soldiers came and made him stand next to the wall while they did a body search of him before taking him to Checkpoint 56.   From the checkpoint Mustafa was taken to an army ambulance, in which he was driven around and questioned before they handed him to the Palestinian ambulance that took him to the hospital where he spent two hours. Issa Amro, a local human rights activist, filmed the ordeal and can be viewed  here.

Satu is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Beit Dajan gears up for continued resistance

by Robin

15 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On the 14th of March 2012 two internationals from ISM went to Beit Dajan to talk about the recent upstart of demonstrations in the village.

We met with Naser Abu Jaish who is the administrative manager in the municipality. Beit Dajan is a village with about 4000 inhabitants and is situated about 10 km east of Nablus. Since the beginning of the second Intifada, there has been a roadblock put up on the main road by the Israeli military.

This has made transportation difficult for the villagers as they were forced to take a 60km “detour” to reach Nablus. With the amount of time wasted by taking a longer road, both water supply and emergency health care cannot function normally anymore. The road block has not only been a disaster in logistics and services for the village, but more importantly four people have been killed by the army when trying to use the road.

In 2005 a new road was built to Beit Furik, a village nearby which shortens the travel distance to Nablus. However, it’s still a detour which complicates the daily life for Palestinians. It was rumored that the roadblock would be removed by Israel, but four months ago it became clear that this was not the case. The citizens of Beit Dajan organized and mobilized for their first demonstration on the 7th of March. The actions were carried out in order to open the road for Palestinians again, a cause which of course is very popular in the village. Naser was very happy with the action.

“More than 500 people participated, both young and old! And we are expecting even more people this week.”

The demonstration was outspokenly non-violent and this succeeded as not one single stone was thrown. Despite of this the Israeli soldiers used tear gas against the villagers.

Naser tells us that the demonstration has been warmly welcomed by the people and that a lot of excitement and unity has come from it.

“Of course we fear that the military will use even more violence, but it will not stop us from delivering our message: That we have the right to use the road,” Naser says.

“We would like ISM to show their presence at our demonstrations every Friday along with other international observers”, Naser said with hope in his eyes and emphasis on the importance of peaceful resistance in order to regain their road.

Robin is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

New military gate limits access to Beit Iksa land

12 March 2012 | WAFA News Agency

A new military-controlled road gate the Israeli army had set up on Monday in the village of Beit Iksa, northwest of Jerusalem, raised concern of possible takeover of almost 2000 dunums of land as it limits access to agricultural land, according to residents.

The soldiers also took over a house in the area and turned it into a military outpost, said residents.

They said soldiers manning the new gate prevented village residents from reaching their homes for hours under the pretext of security reasons.

Villagers said they expect that the army will not allow them to reach their homes and land behind the new gate without an army-issued permit.

They expressed concern that this Israeli measure aims to eventually seize their land for the benefit of expanding the nearby settlement of Ramot, built illegally on village land.

T.R./M.S.

The strangulation of a village

by Sylvia

10 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Sheikh Nasri looks resigned as he describes his home as “the most terrorised village in the country”. With 34,000 uprooted trees in the last two years and some 4,800 dunams of land stolen, the village of Al Jab’a has little to smile about.

Bedouin camp given until the 15th March to demolish their home
Bedouin camp given until the 15th March to demolish their home

Eighteen of the one hundred houses in Jaba have demolition orders on them, their inhabitants unsure of when the Israeli army will storm their homes with bulldozers. Even the Mosque has a demolition order. Homes with licenses from the Israeli courts are none-the-less destroyed to make way for the ever expanding Israeli borders. Nasri laughs as he points out the demolished “Welcome to Al’ Jab’a” sign.

It is difficult for visitors to come anyway.

Set among endless rolling hills, Al Jab’a would appear to be the hidden gem of the Holy Land. Look a few miles south and you will see the great snake of the Israeli segregation wall, winding its way around the village and strangling it economically. Settlements Batayim and Nahal Gebaot are expanding quickly, swallowing up Palestinian land in the process. Israel sees Al Jab’a, located in between, as simply an obstacle to connecting both settlements. If the segregation wall is finished, Jab’a will be enclosed from all sides and any movement in and out will be under complete Israeli control.

Nasri explains that they will probably build in Jab’a a tunnel, manned by Israeli military, of course. Nasri describes the Israeli plans for the village as a form of strangulation.

“They aren’t killing us with bombs or shooting bullets at us. They don’t need to. They are killing us another way.”

Nasri’s home was demolished five months ago. He had just finished building it. Now he pays rent on inadequate accommodation for his 13 family members. Nasri is a man in his senior years and his abject attitude is excusable after experiencing years of brutality and oppression.

In 1997 Nasri’s wife was turned away from a checkpoint whilst in labor, forcing her to give birth at home. His 14 year old son was badly beaten by a soldier 6 months ago when he ask him not to turn his jeep around on his fathers crops. His 15 year old son was held for over 6 months in an Israeli prison for attempting to farm part of Nasri’s confiscated land. In all it is no surprise that the people of Al Jab’a are afraid to demonstrate against this illegal occupation, but their absence from the media makes the Israeli Occupation Force’s job of strangling Al Jab’a even easier.

Some 4800 dunam’s of land stolen in Jab’a

Al Jab’a resident and farmer Abu Feras has had 980 of his olive trees uprooted over the last 4 years, some of which were over a decade old. One hundred and eighty of these trees were planted by the YMCA just last year. He has just been given a notice of demolition on a further 300 olive trees, amounting to 68 dunams of Abu Feras’ land stolen by Israel for the erection of the segregation wall. Abu Feras explains that his house is very close to the proposed segragation wall, so he fears this too will be demolished. A similar eviction notice has been given to a family of Bedouin’s living on the outskirts of Jab’a, who were given until the 15th March to demolish their home or face a demolition by the army. The notice is written in Hebrew.

The strangulation of this village goes beyond the outrageous theft of property and suffocation of economy, but through the humiliation villagers have to face when denied entrance to their land and use of their roads to access such basic things as a hospital when in labor. The main road which passes through the village is for Israeli vehicles only, large road blocks prevent Palestinians from passing through it, The surrounding Palestinian houses watch as Israeli citizens pass freely through the Palestinian land they are denied using.

When asked about life under occupation Nasri speaks with an understanding that life is not like this elsewhere.

“Its not easy to live here. I lived in the States for 12 years. I know what living is. The people here aren’t living, they are waiting to die.”

Sylvia is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).