Tag: Hebron - Page 114 - International Solidarity Movement

Buildings demolished in Beit Awwa

by Team Khalil

11 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, West Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine

Four buildings were demolished in Beit awwa, one journalist hit in the leg with tear gas canister and treated in hospital.

On the morning of Monday 11th February Israeli occupation forces bulldozers protected by soldiers entered the village of Beit Awwa. They demolished four buildings. A chicken house, an agricultural storage house, a well and a house seasonally inhabited in the summer. The buildings had demolition orders put on them eight months ago.

Residents of Beit Awwa said that the army came into the village and destroyed the buildings very quickly. The Israeli army then wanted to demolish two more homes but the people of Beit Awwa rushed to the homes and locked themselves inside, preventing the houses from being demolished. Residents said that concerning the two houses the soldiers said “We will be back next week.” Around fifteen homes in Beit Awwa have demolition orders on them.

Clashes then ensued with the residents attempting to protect their village from the Israeli army incursion. The army responded by firing large amounts of tear gas, injuring six people. One journalist from Palmedia was hit in the leg with a tear gas canister and taken to hospital. The other people injured were treated at a medical centre in the village.

Soldiers around the demolition site. Photo from Beit Awwa facebook page

Beit Awwa has the aparthied wall and settler only roads on three sides of it and a new settler only road is being built along the other side of it. In recent days there have been regular flights over the village and officials have been seen suurveying the land. On the 10th of February two black hawk Apache helicopter gunships circled the village. When this new road is built the village will be completely isolated from the rest of the West Bank. There is a large military base next to the village housing an anti missile battery. In January 2009 a sixteen year old boy was shot dead as he placed a Palestinian flag on the fence next to a settler only road by a sniper from the base. There is also very close to the village the illegal Israeli settlement of Nogo Hot.
Team Khalil

A child sits on top of her demolished home. Photo from Beit Awwa facebook page

Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)

Families home destroyed for the second time in a year

by Team Khalil

11 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, West Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine

Israeli occupation forces demolished a home near Idna, without warning or having issued a demolition order. The Family had their house destroyed one year ago.

At 10am Monday 11-2-2013 Israeli bulldozers arrived at Dir Baluda, near Idna and demolished the portacabin home that Mohammad Badoei Tomazi and his family had lived in for a year. Mohammad and his family of 8 including 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys lived in a portacabin donated to them by the UN because the Israeli army demolished their house last year.

Mohammed Tomazi stands next to his destroyed home

At that time the army destroyed 2 wells belonging to the family said to be 2000 years old. There was no demolition order on the house and no warning was given to the family.

Mohammed is a farmer who has lived here for 19 years, his family grows crops of wheat, fool, courgette, cucumbers and lemons in the valley. The hillsides are covered in olive trees. There is excellent land in the valley for agriculture. A relative, lawyer, Dr Raid Tomazi said “There is not much land left here in Idna. They dont want anyone to build in the area at all, so nobody can take care of his land.”

Abdel Fatah Ahmad Tomazi sits infront of her destroyed home

About the soldiers Raid Tomazi said “Soldiers have no respect for international organisations.” He went on to say the soldiers said “We know this is supported by nice people, but we dont care for for anybody. Them or you, we dont care.” Mohammed said of his home and livelihood “It doesnt affect their security at all.”

Amongst the rubble of two homes, next to their fridge standing in the open air, with the food still inside, Abdel Fatah Ahmad Tomazi, Mohammad’s wife, sat stunned. When asked what the family will do now Mohammad gave an exasperated laugh, Raid explained “The family will stay here, sleep here, they have nowhere to go. It is too cold. They will hope to receive a tent or something from the red cross. Two of the girls went to university this morning, they do not even know yet.” Two of Mohammads daughters go to Hebron University, one studying to be a teacher, the other geography.

At 5pm volunteers from the PRCS (Palestinian Red Crescent Society) Brought an emergency tent, again donated by the UN. Mohammad enthusiastically helped pitch the tent in the gathering gloom of the February evening. He will stay on his land and tend the crops, but the open ended valley was getting very cold by then, and instead of their home the family have an emergency tent with no heating, for shelter.

Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)

Israeli politician attacks Palestinians in Hebron

Update: Issa Amro was arrested yesterday afternoon and accused of assaulting Baruch Marzel. Issa was released yesterday night on bail.

by Team Khalil

9 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine

A non-violent activist group was attacked last night by a gang of settlers including the ultra right-wing Israeli politician Baruch Marzel.

Members of the Hebron based non-violent Youth Against Settlements group say that Marzel’s son and friends came to their centre, located on the edge of the illegal Tel Rumeida settlement, and began throwing stones at the activists.

Baruch then arrived, entered their property without permission and attempted to strike Issa Amro, the group’s coordinator. This event was captured on film.

The group also told how Marzel attempted to kick Jawad Abu Eysheh. Soldiers soon arrived and separated the crowds. Amro and Abu Eysheh were detained and the settlers were allowed to return home, despite video evidence of their violence.

Marzel, who recently stood for election in the Knesset, is no stranger to violence. He has an extensive criminal record that includes assaulting Palestinians and vandalism. He used to be a member of the Kach party, considered to be a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union.

Video from the attack: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=493377500724787

Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)

17 year old youth arrested in Tel Rumeida, Hebron

by Team Khalil

7 January 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine

A 17 year old youth was arrested and 2 others, including a 13 year old boy, were detained at checkpoint 56 in Tel Rumeida, Hebron.

At around 8 pm on 7th February Israeli occupation forces soldiers detained three men, accusing them of throwing stones at the checkpoint. After an hour Munir Zehdeh, 17, was arrested and taken in an army jeep to the police station at Givat Havot, near Kiyrat Arba in Hebron.

The other two Palestinians detained, one 25 year old from the Sharabati family and the other 13 year old from the Atrash family, were released without any charges after being held for an hour.

This is the second such incident at this checkpoint in consecutive days. People at the scene claimed that no one had thrown stones at the checkpoint. In the incident that happened the day before a 14 year old boy was detained for throwing stones when he was on a family visit with his mother. Bystanders said that the soldiers lie about youths throwing stones at them to arbitrarily detain Palestinians for no other reason than to harass them.

Checkpoint 56 is located on the boundary between the H1 Palestinian controlled area, and the H2 Israeli controlled area of Hebron, at the end of Shuhada Street. This checkpoint is the main entrance for Palestinians to access Tel Rumeida and is often closed on the whim of the soldiers stationed there. The soldiers regularly abuse Palestinians’ rights to freedom of movement and routinely harass people passing through the checkpoint, making men take off their belts to pass through the metal detector and searching peoples’ bags at gunpoint. This customary harassment increases tensions in this volatile location, close to where there are illegal Israeli settlements in the centre of a Palestinian city. Checkpoint 56 was the focus of Palestinians anger during the clashes between the shebab and Israeli occupation forces during the November 2012 Israeli assault on Gaza, and after Mohammad Ziad Awwad Salayme was murdered by the Israeli occupation forces on his 17th birthday near the other end of Shuhada street from Checkpoint 56.

The arrest of a 17 year old youth in Tel Rumeida, Hebron

Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)

14 year old boy detained in Hebron

by Team Khalil

7 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine

A 14 year old boy was detained at checkpoint 56 in Tel Rumeida, Hebron.

At 2 pm on 6th February Amir Ibrahim Shawar was taken by soldiers of the Israeli occupation forces near the Jewish cemetery in Tel Rumeida, Hebron. He was accused of throwing stones at the soldiers, he was then marched down to the checkpoint where he was detained for about an hour. Amir from Azaria near Jerusalem was on a family visit with his mother when the incident happened.

Whilst at the checkpoint the soldiers said to Amir’s mother, “We know he is not guilty but we want him to tell us who threw the stones”.

Members of the local community came to the checkpoint to complain about his detention and filmed the incident to help deter the soldiers from any unnecessary abuse of the teenager. One person filming the incident had his ID checked by a soldier. At one point Amir was grabbed by his coat and forced inside the checkpoint out of sight of his mother and family members causing concern about the boy’s welfare.

The Palestinian police were called to the scene and Amir was handed over to them and taken through the checkpoint into Palestinian controlled H1 area of Hebron. He was questioned by Palestinian police and then released.

Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)