Tag: Hebron

CPT: Settlers Injure Palestinian with Stones

2 June 2011 | Christian Peacemaker Teams

For Immediate Release

In the old city in Hebron, two boys, ages 14 and 15, residents of Beit Hadassah Settlement, threw multiple stones, some as large as 5 inches, at Palestinians walking past in the market place. One nine year old boy was struck with two stones causing a head injury that splattered the sidewalk and storefront with blood. An ambulance arrived to rush the boy to the hospital for emergency care.

An IDF soldier stationed beside the settlement had neither tried to stop the boys nor take any action against the two teens who had hurled these stones at the people shopping below. An Israeli Policeman later called on a resident who saw much of the incident and took information to investigate further into this tragedy.

This same resident’s house is back to back with the Beit Hadassah settlement. Besides enduring daily harassment from settlers, he needs to board his windows to protect his family from the violence of the settlers. Lately, he reported several incidents, including settlers from Beit Hadassah smashing his car windows and throwing eggs at his store.

Random arrests and assaults during and after Nakba day in Hebron

29 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Head injury after assault by Israeli soldiers
Several teenage boys were arrested after the 15 May Nakba Day demonstration in Hebron. On May 24 the International Solidarity Movement met one 16 year old boy and his father to hear his story.

The boy had been on his way home from work at around 6 pm on May 15 when he was stopped by Israeli soldiers near the old city of Hebron. Suddenly and without reason, two soldiers jumped on him and without saying anything started to beat him in his head and chest with the stocks of their guns. The boy was then dragged into a military jeep where there were other arrested Palestinian boys and was handcuffed and blindfolded. The soldiers kept on beating the boys as they drove them to the police station. The boy ISM met was bleeding heavily from a cut in his head, for which he did not receive medical care until the day after the arrest. The boy required three stitches for his wound.

In the police station, the boy saw 15 other young boys who had been arrested the same day. After nine hours of arrest, the boy was told that he was accused of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. Throughout his arrest and detention, the soldiers and police humiliated the boy, calling him a donkey and making him stand for hours facing a wall. They also asked him continuously which Palestinian party he was part of.

That night the boy was taken to a different jail which is used for longer detentions, where he was kept for four days. He was eventually released from prison after being made to sign a paper in Hebrew which he didn’t understand. He later discovered that the paper said that if he gets arrested again he has to pay 2000 shekels.

At the time of writing, several boys who were arrested on Nakba day were still being held without charge. ISM does not have any information about the number of arrested boys.

Apartheid expanding in Hebron

24 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

During Sunday 22nd May several streets were closed in the H1 area of Hebron for illegal settlers to walk through the city followed by approximately 50 soldiers. Meanwhile the shops in the Palestinian area were closed and Palestinians were prohibited from walking through the streets and entering through checkpoint 56.

Hebron is divided into two areas, H1 and H2. H1 is under the rule of the Palestinian Authority and the illegal settlers are usually prohibited from entering it, while the H2 area which includes illegal settlements is under the Israeli military’s control. In contrary to these rules, the illegal settlers were allowed to walk the streets of H1 area on Sunday whilst the Palestinians were put under curfew.

On Saturdays, illegal settlers are normally allowed to take a tour in the old city of Hebron followed and guarded by the Israeli military. A few hours after the settler tour on Saturday May 21st the main street of the old city was attacked by the Israeli military with two sound bombs. One man was injured in his head after being hit by the sound bomb. He and a woman, who became temporally deaf, needed hospital care for their injuries.

Fire at field near Kiryat Arba, Hebron

22 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Israeli settlers suspected of starting a fire on Palestinian land near Hebron.
Israeli settlers suspected of starting a fire on Palestinian land near Hebron.

On Thursday May 19 a part of the field of Abd al Kareim al Jabari in Western Hebron, where International Solidarity Movement activists have been present for the past ten days, was set on fire.

Settler children started to throw stones at the ISM activists as soon as they arrived at the farm on Thursday. At 3:40 PM, when the activists were helping the farmer on the land, smoke appeared from another part of the field which is just below a kindergarten in the illegal settlement of Givat Ha’avot. After approximately ten minutes the fire brigade of Kiryat Arba came and started to extinguish the fire, while children from the settlement sang songs and chanted “Death to the Arabs”.

The Israeli military, boarder police and police arrived and straight away requested proof of identity from the ISM activists, a B’tselem activist and one of the daughters of the family. Abd al Kareim al Jabari was told that a man from the illegal settlement claimed that he had seen the ISM activists setting fire to the field! This accuse was apparently confirmed by a settler guard from Kiryat Arba. After checking the identity of the activists and keeping their passports and ID cards for half-an-hour, the military and police drove away.

Israeli settler children overlook area of burned Palestinian land.
Israeli settler children overlook area of burned Palestinian land.

As ISM has reported earlier, the Jabari land is very exposed to settler violence as it lies between the illegal settlements of Kiryat Arba and Givat Ha’avot in Western Hebron.

Settler attacks with Molotov cocktails on Nakba day in Hebron

17 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

The school of the illegal settlement Kiryat Arba and the house which was attacked
A Palestinian house was attacked by settlers from the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba in Western Hebron on May 15, the Nakba day.

Jamal Abu Saifan told the International Solidarity Movement that around 6.30 pm on Sunday, four masked settlers appeared and started to throw Molotov cocktails and glass bottles towards one of the houses of the Abu Saifan family in Western Hebron. 19 people live in the house which was attacked, including several children. The family has five houses, situated just below a religious school of the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba. The attackers were standing in the school yard.

When the settlers appeared the family called The Red Crescent and TIPH, Temporary International Presence in Hebron, also appeared. Jamal Abu Saifan told ISM that the settlers threw bottles and some Molotov cocktails towards the TIPH personnel when they started to take photos to document the attack.

On Monday 16, the same day as ISM spoke to the family, around 14 settlers appeared at the school yard and threw stones towards the houses. Israeli police arrived and gathered stones and bottles from both attacks. The family has made a complaint to the police about the events. No one was injured in the attacks.

Damage caused by a Molotov cocktail

The family has been exposed to settler violence many times. In December 2009 two members of the Abu Saifan family were shot by settlers. Jamal Abu Saifan told ISM that most of the 90 members of the family have been exposed to stone throwing by settlers from the illegal settlement Kiryat Arba. Water tanks and satellites on the roofs of the houses have also been destroyed by settlers on several occasions.