Tag: Hebron - Page 148 - International Solidarity Movement

Hebron witnesses increase in settler harassment following al-Shuhada street demonstration

02 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Sunday a shop in Tel Rumeida was attacked by a middle-aged settler who smashed the shop’s window with a stick. Of the two shopkeepers inside, one was disabled in a wheelchair. The other went out and was then attacked by the settler. Soldiers from the nearby checkpoint did not aid or intervene on behalf of the shopkeeper. When ISM arrived at the site, nearly 20 soldiers were pushing away the palestinians near the shop, while allowing settlers to pass. A Palestinian teenager was arrested and brought in for questioning. He was released the same night.

On monday about 50 settlers bearing arms held a demonstration. They gathered at the same shop to pray, claiming that it was a settler who had been attacked there the day before by a Palestinian. No Palestinians were on the streets, and they warned ISMers to hide on the roof for fear of settler violence. When the procession left the street, three settlers remained under the protection of soldiers to antagonize Palestinians as they came down from there houses. At that point a soldier blocked road access for TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) and other international organizations. A settler pushed an international, and a soldier removed that international from the scene. Half an hour later the procession returned to the site for another prayer, once again blocking Palestinian access to the street. Finally, according to locals, two Palestinian men were arrested and a third was detained for two hours after making a complaint.

Many injured and several detained at al-Shuhada street demonstration

26 February 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Hundreds gathered in Hebron on Friday to march against the continued closure of al-Shuhada Street. The non-violent protestors were met with tear gas, sound grenades, and rubber bullets from the Israeli army. Witnesses also said that the army fired tear gas canisters directly at the protestors, which is illegal under international law. Organizers say 20 people were taken to hospital – around half for physical injuries, the rest to be treated for tear gas inhalation – and one Israeli, two Palestinians, and three internationals were detained. Military sources say that only one arrest was made.

One of the city’s major streets, al-Shuhada (Martyrs) Street was forced to close following the Baruch Goldstein massacre of 1994, in which a Jewish extremist murdered 29 Muslims at prayer in the Ibrahim mosque and wounded a further 125. Friday’s march was held on the anniversary of the massacre as protestors demanded that the street be reopened.

Protestors chanted slogans including “Hebron is Palestine!” and “Down with the occupation!” and waved Palestinian flags. The soldiers and border police occupied the centre of Hebron, blocking movement throughout the city and confining many in the city’s old town.

As the protestors were displaced widely throughout the city, estimates of the numbers vary widely. The Israeli military claim that only were 300 present, however the Temporary International Presence in Hebron – an international civilian observer mission mandated by the Israeli and Palestinian Authority to report on events in Hebron – estimate that 1,500 people took part in the demonstrations.

The demonstrations began from several locations throughout the city following midday prayers, and the clashes with the Israeli army continued for several hours. Palestinian Authority soldiers were also present in stopping the demonstrations.

Hebron is home to around 600 Jewish settlers, living in settlements which are regarded as illegal under international law. In 2003, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the settlers should be evicted from the area and that al-Shuhada Street should be reopened, but no action has been taken against the settlers and the street remains closed.

CPT: Israeli military demolishes village of Amniyr

22 February 2011 | Operation Dove & Christian Peacemaker Team

Amniyr, South Hebron Hills, West Bank: At 5 AM this morning the Israeli army, accompanied by members of the Israeli District Coordinating Office, arrived at the village of Amniyr and demolished five tent-houses, two cisterns and the village’s olive trees. The demolitions effectively destroyed the entire village and left its three families homeless. All that remained unharmed after the military left was a cave and a small taboun oven.

According to villagers, the military had been coming frequently for the past several months and delivering demolition orders and maps claiming that the village was on Israeli state land, and that their homes would be demolished unless everyone left.

Residents of Amniyr told CPT that they have suffered from years of settler and army harrassment. Years ago, members of the Jaboor family lived in the cave in Amniyr, but Israeli military and settler harassment forced them to move to a different area a few kilometers away. The harrassment continued in their new location, however, convincing the family to move back to tents close to their original cave just over a year ago.

What was once a small village is now a pile of dirt mounds, uprooted olive trees and shattered clocks and dishware.

“Where are we supposed to sleep tonight?” said Moath Jaboor, who lived in a tent with his mother. “We’ll have to rebuild our homes so that we can sleep.”

Operation Dove and Christian Peacemaker Teams have maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

CPT: Masked Israeli settlers chase schoolchildren, give directions to Border Police

8 February 2011 | Operation Dove & Christian Peacemaker Team

On the afternoon of 7 February 2011, three Israeli settlers from Havat Ma’on outpost chased a group of 12 Palestinian schoolchildren who were walking home from school. The Israeli military had failed to arrive to escort the schoolchildren, forcing the children to take a longer path without the army’s escort.

Shortly after the schoolchildren and Christian Peacemaker Teams(CPT) volunteers set out on the path towards Tuba and Maghayir al-Abeed villages, Israeli settlers, two of whom were masked, emerged from the grouping of trees which encompasses Havat Ma’on and began moving towards the children. Upon seeing the settlers, the children turned and sprinted to distance themselves from the settlers. Several children began crying and screaming in fear as they ran away from the settlers, one young girl began shaking uncontrollably as soon as she stopped running from the settlers.

The Israeli Border Police, who were located on an adjacent hill for the duration of the incident, arrived at the scene after the Palestinian children had safely distanced themselves from the settlers. The Border Police stopped and spoke with the settlers, two of whom remained masked during the entire conversation with the authorities.

The Border Police then approached the edge of At-Tuwani village where the children, CPT volunteers, and Palestinian adults had gathered. Border Police officers spoke with a CPT volunteer and an At-Tuwani resident, seeking to understand what had happened. After hearing their accounts but refusing to hear the role the settlers had played, the officers suggested that the Palestinian children, internationals, and At-Tuwani villagers were the ones causing problems, rather than the settlers.

Before the children had set out on the longer path without the military escort, CPT volunteers had called the Israeli military four times inquiring as to the whereabouts of the escort. During CPT’s final call to the military – more than 30 minutes after their initial call – the military dispatch office said that they hadn’t yet called the soldiers, who were to provide the escort, because they were too busy and had more important duties to perform.

Operation Dove and Christian Peacemaker Teams have maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.

Two youths detained in Hebron

5 February 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

A 14-year old boy was arrested at a checkpoint in Hebron on Friday morning. His family have contacted the Israeli authorities, but have received no answer as to his whereabouts. The following day, his cousin was detained at the same checkpoint, apparently for calling someone German. The Palestinian youth claimed he was just joking around with his friend; he was released an hour-or-so after his family promised to discipline him.

Hebron is unique in that the town has the presence of Jewish settlers within the city itself, with five illegal settlements in the city centre. Since the Goldstein massacre in 1994 – when Baruch Goldstein fired on Palestinians while they prayed in the mosque, killing 29 men and boys, and injuring a further 200 – al-Shuhada street (which is located in the heart of the city) has been closed to Palestinians. This has severed the city in two, paralyzing trade and destroying the commercial centre. More than 500 shops and businesses have been forced to close under military order. The continued repression enforced by the occupation has led to the mass abandonment of more than an additional thousand shops, businesses, and homes in the city centre.