16 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
When my friend and I decided to walk downtown, we didn’t expect that this walk could be dangerous. There was a funeral going on for a settler woman who had been killed by her ex-husband, who in turn committed suicide.
First we passed about 3 Israeli military jeeps and a couple of soldiers, and we followed the road inbetween two graveyards leading down to the Gilbert checkpoint.
When we arrived, there were many military cars and about 30 soldiers crowding the area as illegal settler cars and buses were coming and going.
Settlers were inciting Palestinians, by aggressively cursing at them and flashing lude gestures. But Palestinians were calm and did not react.
Illegal settlers and Israeli military team up – Click here for more images
After two buses came there were too many settlers. Some came from Kiryat Arba, where the deceased settlers were from, while other buses came from Shuhada street.
A settler spit on a Palestinian man, who also returned the gesture, causing a fight.
“After the Palestinian spit back, settlers started to beat all the Palestinian around. All the settlers came down and very angrily started to attack everyone. I saw how they attacked internationals and smashed their cameras, and some Palestinians were bleeding. Of course soldiers didn’t arrest any of them, they tried to arrest me and some of my friends,” said Issa Amro, a local Palestinian activist who tried to stop settlers from causing clashes.
Soldiers did not try to stop the settler who started the fight; instead they tried to arrest the Palestinians who were attacked. More and more settlers were running down from the graveyard and attacking all non Jewish people in the area. About fifty individuals were targeted by the settler violence, while women retreated into their homes for shelter. Palestinian men were actively seen defending themselves without causing transgression. After all, anything slightly malleable to mean “fighting” could have landed any of them in prison.
After our camera was smashed and settlers still wanted to beat us, we had to run away.
“I felt really scared when settlers were attacking me and the soldiers just supported them. When they wanted the card from my camera, they just smashed it. It was really horrible, when I realized that the soldiers are with the settlers, instead of protecting the people. I was so scared that they were gonna lynch us,” said one international activist, who wished to remain anonymous.
“I was so helpless and powerless, when I had to fight for my life and saw all that anger from settlers who were supported by the soldiers,” said another international activist, also wishing to remain unnamed.
Palestinians from about 5 households had to lock themselves in to avoid the settler mob. Afterwards the soldiers invaded the houses and took position to attack, stationing themselves atop the roofs of Palestinian houses.
After twenty minutes, when the situation became better, we wanted to go back and help the people that were in the houses, but soldiers didn’t let us go down and when they saw that we didn’t have our camera any more, they started to push us and beat and jab us with their riffles. One of them charged like a bullet into the room, pointing at us with his gun as he yelled, “I am gonna kill you all!”
Soldiers didn’t have the situation under the control and were out of their minds.
“When one of them went mad, and charged the riffle and pointed it at me I believed, that he was gonna shoot,” an activist said.
The atmosphere here in Khalil and all West Bank is escalating. Only this week the settlers burned two mosques, and last week they attacked a family and burned three houses.
This is evidence of apartheid here in Khalil, where there was so many soldiers who are not even aloud to arrest the settlers at all according the Israeli law.
Fida Far is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.
15 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Today on December 15, Israeli soldiers raided private property and at least one school in what appeared to be a military excercise in Hebron. Around 7:30 in the morning soldiers entered the playground of Ibrahimi elementary school and claimed that children had been throwing pieces of plastic. When the director was notified and went outside to talk to the soldiers, the military captain picked up a piece of glass from the ground and accused the children of throwing glass as well. The captain then threatened to close the school if it would happen again, but it remained unclear as to what excatly he meant since he was in the schoolyard of an elementary school where children frequently play during their breaks.
In the occupied area of Hebron known as H2, soldiers entered a family’s residential building and positioned themselves on the roof where they threw soundbombs and pointed their weapons towards civilians on the street. When ISM was notified soldiers on the street prevented them and other residents in the area from crossing the permanent barrier. One man living in the area referred to the event as an “excercise madness” and raised concern over children living in the area. After entering the homes the soldiers later withdrew into the nearby observation tower but returned back to the house after a short period of time. When internationals from the ISM followed the soldiers tried to block them from reaching into the building. When asked about the reason for the exercise in someone’s private home, the soldiers claimed that they needed “to stay in shape.”
Families living inside the apartment had not been notified of the exercise and did not know the reason why their homes were being used as military training camp.
In the Old City soldiers entered several families homes and continued to move up to the rooftops were they took firing positions towards the street were men, women and children were moving. At one instance soldiers lined up approximately twenty teenagers against the wall choosing two of them to stay and ordering the rest to leave. The two teenagers that were left were encircled by 6 soldiers who staged an arrest in what appeared to be part of the exercise.
Israeli soldiers frequently raid Palestinian homes and property in the occupied area of Hebron known as H2.
ISM regards the recent aggression against Palestinian civilians as part of escalating harassment, violence and attacks made by Israeli soldiers and settlers stationed in the area and surrounding illegal settlements. Israeli occupation of the Westbank and Hebron is considered illegal under international law. Many international organizations and human rights organizations have expressed deep concern over the situation in Hebron where between 3000 to 4000 soldiers are protecting the approximately 500 settlers who are occupying the city centre from within.
Carol Vans is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
13 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement West Bank
“I see my situation as a cowboy film, like the wild west” says Hani Jaber, showing ISM a poster, written in Arabic saying: ‘Wanted: if anyone has any information about the whereabouts of the killer Hani Jaber, please call us on this number and you will receive a reward.’
The number goes through to an answer machine where the message instructs callers to leave a phone number, promising to guarantee confidentiality and to pay good money. Other leaflets have been handed out showing pictures of Jaber and other recently released prisoners, offering rewards for information and leaflets for soldiers so that they can alert settlers if Hani passes through a checkpoint. Reports in the Israeli media suggest that the reward is $100,000 for information on Hani’s whereabouts.
Hani Jaber, ex prisoner
After serving eighteen years of a life sentence, Hani was released from prison on 18 December 2011, as part of the prisoner exchange deal which saw 477 Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in 2006.
In 1993, Hani, 18 years old at the time, took a kitchen knife and stabbed to death the settler Erez Shmuel, who Hani claims had attacked his nine year old sister as she came come from school. Hani’s rage had built as he and his family experienced frequent attacks by settlers over many years. Hani had his jaw broken during an attack by four settlers, on another occasion his leg was fractured. His cousin, Aziza Jaber, was shot and killed by a settler as she was in labour and on her way to hospital – she was 30 at the time.
Hani was sentenced to life imprisonment and was kept in isolation for a total of five years. He spent two years without seeing his family – the only person who could visit relatively regularly was his mother; his father only got permission around once a year to visit and he has a brother which he didn’t see for 18 years.
Despite his prison term, Hani looks strong and healthy, his beard neatly trimmed and hair carefully side-parted. He seems calm and relaxed as we talk in a quiet corner in a nondescript café in Hebron. However, Hani and his father, Rasami, are careful to sit with their backs to the wall where they can see the layout of the shop. Rasami has rarely left his son’s side since his release from prison. “It’s a very difficult time, I’m afraid to leave him in case something happens – I stay with him or his brother stays with him to protect him.”
“I take the situation seriously” says Hani – “I don’t give any opportunities to anybody. I believe that I won’t lose my happiness with my freedom but I should be afraid sometimes…I don’t have any weapons or anything to protect myself, I only feel safe when I am with my family”.
When he was released from prison, Hani was given clearance to travel anywhere in the West Bank. However, a few days after his release, the police gave him a verbal order that he had to remain in Hebron for his own safety and that he had to sign in with the DCO (District Coordinators Office) every two months. But Hani says that his confinement to Hebron makes him feel like he is living under huge pressure in a “big jail” and is more vulnerable from attacks.
He says that his primary fear is from Palestinian collaborators rather than from settlers or soldiers. He is also fearful for his family, who have been attacked by settlers many times since his release.
Hani Jaber lives in secret location in Hebron for his own safety, it is too dangerous for him to return to his family’s home in Wadi Al-Hussain, a valley situated on the edge of Hebron’s old city. Their house faces Kiryat Arba, an illegal Israeli settlement of around 7,000 people, a few hundred metres away on the opposite side of the valley.
The Jaber family’s house has always been a focus of attacks by settlers, due to its proximity to the settlement. However, the attacks have escalated since it was announced that Hani would be released from prison. The house was attacked on the day of his release and Ibtisam Jaber, 33, Hani’s sister-in-law, was beaten and suffered a miscarriage three days later.
“The settlers came and attacked the house. Ibtisam lost her baby, nobody else was here because we were celebrating [Hani’s release]” said Moutasem Jaber, 21 – Hani’s brother.
On 19 November 2011 thousands of Israeli settlers and Zionists crowded into Hebron for Shabbat Chaye Sarah – celebrating Abraham’s biblical purchase of land on the site of the Ibrahimi Mosque. The family experienced a surge in attacks; they were attacked around 10 times – at one point there was over 100 settlers outside the house. They threw stones, urinated in the family’s well, and chanted “We will kill you” outside the house. The soldiers responded by entering the house and forcing the family to stay in one room for seven hours.
According to Hani, the family’s shop has been attacked and the house has been attacked at least seven times since his release. The Jaber family have reported the attacks and the threats to kill Hani to the police but they don’t expect any action to be taken.
“The government does not do anything against the settlers,” said Hani. They also say that the Palestinian Authority is unable to offer any kind of protection to Hani and his family.
“My case is not the only one” says Hani – “Many people have the same pressure. There are much harassment to all Palestinians – even if you’re not resisting and no settlers have been arrested after they harassed my family. They have evidence against them but the Israeli government will not do anything.”
Now that he has been released, does Hani think he can ever have a normal life with the death threats hanging over him and a bounty on his head?
“I’m not a terrorist, I didn’t do anything wrong and I think that I deserve to live a normal life, to get an education, to get married and to live like normal people” he replied “but now after all this harassment from the settlers I’m afraid to get married because I will destroy someone else’s life.” Hani says that if he was to study or work it would be a huge risk to take at the present time.
Even considering the brutal attacks that his family has faced from settlers, does he not think in hindsight that his actions were wrong? Does he have any regrets?
“I believe that I haven’t done anything wrong, and I have the right to live a normal life, and I have the right to be a fighter if there is an occupation in Palestine. With all the attacks from settlers it makes people react and to fight and resist – this is the normal thing, it’s not normal to sit and do nothing.”
But does he still believe that this is the most effective way to resist?
“At that time I was 18 years old, it was impossible to take all this darkness from the Israelis except in this way. Even after 18 years in the prison I see that the settlements are larger, the occupation is stronger and everything is getting worse. I believe that I did the right thing at the time but now I want to live as a normal person. I believe that I have to stay in one place, and that is the only resistance I can do because I think the fighting time is over.”
Alistair George is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
10 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Over two weeks have passed since the El Gelwe family’s home was demolished. They remain homeless and are currently living in a tent which was provided by Palestinian neighbors in the village of Idna, of the Hebron Governorate. The family’s tent is erected just meters away from the pile of concrete that was once their home. It undoubtedly represented so much for this family.
Saving just to be demolished - Click here for more images
The father, Jamel was visually broken as he stated, “Someone saves money their whole life and they come and demolish it.”
This home was the family’s first house and within minutes the Israeli army turned their dreams in rubble.
On the 24th of November the Gelwe family received a visit from the Israeli military “demolition services.” As is common practice in house demolitions, the Israeli military arrived in the village of Idna at 5:00 in the morning. The family was still asleep and thus in a vulnerable state. They were not given any time to save any of their property. Their house was demolished along with all of their possessions. Jamel tried to reason with the soldiers to allow them to keep their water well, but that just resulted in the soldier ordering him to move away. The family was forced to watch everything they ownedcrumble to the ground. Now they have no clothing, food, or water and with no justifiable reason as to why.
One can only conclude that the timing of these raids is a strategy used by the Israeli military to create as much terror as possible, in addition to the destruction. The family never received a demolition notice: this visit was a complete surprise to them. After living in the house for a few months they were notified this past May to stop building their house. Not only was the house already built, but the land is in Jamel’s name. The land has been passed down to the Gelwe family for generations. It is the only land they have left after the Israeli Army stole 47 dunums of their land to build the Apartheid Wall.
During a recent visit to the family it was clear to the ISM activists that this experience has caused significant emotional trauma to the family. The children were obviously distraught and scared of their bleak future. As with many Palestinian families there is little or no regular income
Just to ensure that the family adequately suffered from the experience of having their home destroyed, the Israeli military charged the family 2,500 NIS for their “demolition services’. If the family fails to pay, their fifteen year old son will be imprisoned indefinitely until they pay the fine. Not only were the Gelwe’s human rights violated, but they must pay for this abuse.
Over the last few weeks there appears to have been a significant increase in the number of house demolition orders being served and homes being demolished. The reasons for this increase are currently unclear, but one thing is certain: illegally destroying the homes of Palestinian family’s in the West Bank is not about the security of Israeli citizens. With the onset of the winter season it is inevitable that the suffering of the homeless will be more severe during this period.
Now the family is left with nothing, but they question. “Where are we going to go now?” asked Jamel. “We are thrown into this tent and tomorrow it will rain, then what?” The family of 15 is sleeping outside during the cold winter night for the 20th consecutive day.
6 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Mohammad Awad is a 16 year old Palestinian boy, he is in an Israeli jail and he is gravely ill – his family believe that he is not receiving the right treatment and that he may be dying.
As they sit in their house in Beit Ummar, a village near Bethlehem, Mohammad’s parents Ali and Amina, grow visibly angry and distressed as they recount their son’s treatment.
Documents showing the fines that the Awad family must pay to secure the release of their sons Mohammad (left, 3000 shekels) and Ahmad (right, 1000 shekels).
“He has fever, he sweats very much, he can’t sleep on the bed – he has to sleep on the ground to get some cold – he overheats and he cant move at all” says Ali. Despite the fact that he is barely eating, Mohammad’s weight has ballooned from 58kg to 92kg since he has been in prison.
Mohammad suffers from Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), an inherited condition characterized by recurrent episodes of painful inflammation in the abdomen, chest, or joints. These episodes are often accompanied by fever and sometimes a rash. Without treatment to help prevent attacks and complications, a buildup of protein deposits (amyloidosis) in the body’s organs and tissues may occur, which can lead to kidney failure or congestive heart failure.
Amina and Ali Awad – parents of Mohammad – at their home in Beit Ummar.
Ali says that Mohammad was first arrested in February 2011 after he attended a peaceful protest in Beit Ummar. He was severely beaten by Israeli soldiers during his detention and was subjected to extreme cold. Amina says, “They beat him so badly, and he was shouting and screaming and crying ‘Please stop you’re hurting me’ but they said ‘no’. I believe that is the cause of his current condition – he had the fever [FMF] in the past but it was not serious as the thing he has now.”
Ali added that, ” When he told the solider that he had hurt him in the waist they beat him again and again on purpose in his liver and they caused internal bleeding.” The bleeding in his liver was so severe that Mohammad required a blood transfusion. He was released from prison in June, only to be arrested 14 days later and sentenced to six months imprisonment for attending a demonstration in the village and throwing one stone.
Mohammad is currently being held in Ofer Prison but the family has learned that he has been repeatedly sent to hospital at Ramle or Hadassah during the past two months and then returned to prison.
In the immediate family, only Mohammad’s sister Rahaf, 7, has been allowed to visit him. She first alerted the family that Mohammad’s condition had deteriorated when she visited him in prison with a cousin – she returned saying that her brother was swollen and dreadfully ill.
On 2 November 2011, Mohammad had a court hearing which his mother attended – but Mohammad was not in the court. “We didn’t get information why he wasn’t there,” said Ali, “but the manager of the prison himself came to the judge – we knew this from the lawyer – and told the judge that [the prison] can’t be responsible if anything happens to Mohammad, [since] he’s now in hospital, in very bad condition, and we recommend that we release him.” The judge also recommended that he be released, but he needed approval from the Israeli intelligence – and they refused.”
According to Ali, “The manager of the prison himself called [him].”
“He told me, ‘your son is in a very bad condition and we can’t do anything for him so I will try to release him to be treated on the Palestinian side.’ So I’m afraid that my son is dying.”
Amina last saw her son in court on 28 November 2011. “He was very bloated and swollen all over his face and body, and it was not normal at all.”
Mohammad’s parents believe that the prison authorities have been giving Mohammad the wrong treatment that may be harming him even further. “When he was released for the first time, he smuggled some drugs out that he was being given [in prison]” says Ali, showing ISM the Allopurinol tablets given to Mohammad. “We asked a doctor what these was for, and he said these pills were for another disease, not for Muhammad’s condition. The doctor told him that it is vey dangerous to take this drug, and we’re sure now that they are giving him the same drug.”
The family has asked the prison authorities for Mohammad’s medical reports but they have refused to produce them. There is no cure for his condition but when he was out of prison Mohammad was taking Colchicine and antibiotics to manage his symptoms. Yet his rapidly deteriorating health and the statements from the prison manager suggest he is not receiving the correct medical attention.
The Israeli team of Physicians for Human Rights has attempted to visit Mohammad in prison but has so far been denied access by prison authorities. The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem picked up some medicine for Mohammad but was also denied access to the prison by the Israeli authorities. The family claims that they have not been able to give him any supplies at all whilst in prison.
Mohammad is due to be released on 22 January 2012 – however, the family must pay 3000 shekels as a fine to secure his release. If they are unable to do so, he will serve a further three months in jail. His parents believe that his life is in danger and if he spends much more time in jail, without receiving correct treatment, the likelihood is that he will die. Mohammad’s brother Ahmad is due to be released from prison in three months but the family must find a 1000 shekel fine to secure his release, otherwise he will serve an extra month in jail. Ahmad also suffers from Familial Mediterranean Fever but his health is much better than Mohammad’s. If they do manage to pay the fines, the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners usually pay it back – but Ali says this only happens around three years later.
As Ali shows us the documents from the military detailing the fines, he says that he doesn’t have the money and has no way to raise it as he is currently unemployed. “We are suffering from a very bad economic situation” he said. “I cant work inside settlements or inside the green line and most of the work is there. Also I am ill – I have asthma and I have heart problems now and can’t work.”
The targeting of the family
Mohammad’s parents have not been allowed to visit him in prison and they have difficulty getting information. Two of Mohammad’s brothers, Saddam, 21, and Ahmad, 19, are also in prison. Mohammad’s younger brother Hamza, 15, is not allowed to visit. When he was 14, he visited Mohammad during his first sentence, yet Israeli authorities detained and interrogated him for three days and then banned him from visiting in the future.
Now that all of his brothers are in jail, Hamza is terrified that he will soon be arrested. At night he paces around the house, looking out the windows for the Israeli military. “I am very depressed,” said Hamza, “I don’t have any hope that I will stay here at home, the Israeli army can come here at any time and detain me and take me to jail.”
The military has arrived in the night to arrest members of the family before – Ali has been detained eighteen times, although he claims that he has only resisted the occupation nonviolently by attending peaceful protests. “The detention of our children caused a medical condition for my wife,” said Ali – “She takes drugs for her nerves as she’s always worried and the doctor told her this is very serious. She’s on medication for anxiety and depression.”
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a “child” as “every human being below the age of eighteen years.” According to Israeli military order 132, Palestinian children aged 16 and older are tried and sentenced by Israeli military courts as adults. By comparison, juvenile legislation defines Israeli children as age 18 or younger. A Palestinian child’s sentence is decided on the basis of the child’s age at the time of sentencing, not when the alleged offence was committed.
According to Addameer, a prisoner support and human rights organisation, there were approximately 176 Palestinian children (under the age of 18) detained in Israeli prisons, as of September 2011 and around 700 Palestinian children from the occupied West Bank are prosecuted every year through Israeli military courts. Since 2000, more than 6,500 Palestinian children have been detained. The most common charge brought against children is for throwing stones – an offence which can incur a 20 year prison sentence.
Addameer reports that “the majority of children report being subjected to ill-treatment and having forced confessions extracted from them during interrogations. Forms of ill-treatment used by the Israeli soldiers during a child’s arrest and interrogation usually include slapping, beating, kicking and violent pushing. Palestinian children are also routinely verbally abused.”
With three of their four sons in prison, it seems that the family has been singled out and targeted by the Israeli authorities.
“All Palestinians are targeted, not just my family” said Ali. “But from the first Intifada I have been a member of a legal movement – I’m not doing anything illegal, I’m just demanding my people’s rights. I don’t do anything to hurt anyone, I just demonstrate.”
Amina says that she believes that the Israelis are doing this as “revenge.” “My sons are innocent and they don’t do anything bad.” Ali added that he believes it to be “revenge against all Palestinians, but we are a special case as I was detained [so often] in the past. Also I have land near Karmei Tzur [an illegal Israeli settlement] and they are trying to take this land. They have made me many offers to buy the land and I refused so they hate me. I told them go to hell this is my land I will stay here, and I will die here.” Ali also shows us the protruding bone in his hand which was broken by the Israeli military a few months ago after he was detained during a peaceful protest in Beit Ummar.
Ali is trying to stay hopeful but he admits that it is difficult. “My son is only 16 years old, he is very ill, he needs medical treatment but they don’t care. My son is ill, I have a problem with my heart, my wife has a problem with her nerves, but I thank God that we are still alive.”
Alistair George is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
