Tag: Hebron

Israeli forces detain youth in Tel Rumeida

19 April 2009

Tel Rumeida, Hebron – 4 Palestinian girls, residents of Tel Rumeida, were detained for more than 3 hours as they left one of their houses.

Two of the girls were about 6 years old, and two were about 13. Two of the girls lived on Tel Rumeid Street and two lived on Al Shuhara Street. At about 5:50 PM, the girls were walking back to Al Shuhada Street, and a settler spoke with soldiers at a checkpoint. The soldiers then detained the girls until after 9 PM. There are Israelis living in illegal settlements on both streets, and Israeli forces are present on the streets 24 hours a day.

Two internationals observed and tried to talk with the soldier and the detained girls. Israeli police threatened the international with arrest, saying the area was a “closed military zone.” The soldiers refused to give reasons as to why the girls were detained.

Settlers vandalize Palestinian home

14 April 2009

At about 3 PM in the old city of Hebron, 5 Israeli settlers trespassed onto the roof of a Palestinian house, puncturing the 5 water tanks owned by the family and draining all of their water supply.

The house was owned by the Ewawi family, which is composed of a husband and wife, and 9 children. The wife and husband were the only members of the family at home when the settlers trespassed. The wife initially heard the settlers on the roof, and woke her sleeping husband. He woke up and tried to speak with the settlers, which he said were 5 in number, between 30 and 40 years old, coming from the adjacent building in Avraham Avinu settlement.

The husband described a settler with a gun entering the top floor of the house, pointing the gun at him and preventing him from observing what the other settlers were doing. The soldiers at the outpost did not do anything at all during the attack even though their post is just fifteen metres away form the roof.

Neighbors described the family’s house as being the biggest in the area, and a very important strategic location because it allows access to the main street in the old city. Members of the settlement have tried to buy the house twice, for $1 million and $2 million dollars about 5 years ago.

The house is adjacent to Avraham Avinu settlement, and has endured 3 attacks on its water tanks in the past 3 months.
Beside attacks on the house, members of the family have also suffered violence from the settlers, and in the past 2 weeks a 6 year old boy from the family was hit in the head by a rock.

Settler boys collide, Palestinian boy jailed

13 April 2009

Tel Rumeida, Hebron – After 2 settlers boys collided on their bicycles, a 16 year old Palestinian who was not involved in the accident was arrested and has remained in prison for 3 days so far. His accuser is a son of Baruch Marzel, the leader of the far-right Jewish National Front and the former leader of Kach, which is now outlawed and is considered a terrorist organization by the EU, the US, and Israel.

On Monday, April 13th, the 2 settler boys of about 10 -12 years old were riding their bicycles through the Tel Rumeida neighborhood when the bikes collided. 1 of the boys, identified by observers as a son of Baruch Marzel, injured his ankle or leg in the accident. A local Palestinian shopkeeper noticed the injured boy and alerted nearby Israeli soldiers. The soldiers spoke with the injured Marzel boy, who falsely accused the young Palestinian nearby of injuring him, and the Palestinian was then detained. The injured settler went home, presumably alerting his father of the accusations, and the elder Marzel returned with a group of male settlers, including other sons of his, who were hostile and physically threatening by observers’ accounts. As the soldiers spoke with the group of angry settlers, the 16 year old Palestinian fled, worried about his physical well-being.
The soldiers began looking for the Palestinian shortly after he left, asking Tel Rumeida residents the boy’s name and house. The following day, on April 14th at about 7 P.M., he was arrested and taken to Jerusalem then returned to Hebron the same day, where he remains in the Kiryat Arba police station. Police told the boy’s father that he would be released the following day, the 15th. The next day, police told the boy’s father that his son would be released the 16th. On the 16th the boy’s father was told that his son would come before a judge on the 19th, and will remain in prison until then.

The lawyer of Baruch Marzel informed the father of the imprisoned Palestinian boy that charges would be dropped if the Palestinian family paid Marzel 4000 shekels. Knowing that his son did nothing wrong, the father of the imprisoned boy refused on principle.

Settler violence on the rise in Hebron

Violence from illegal Israeli settlers directed at Palestinian residents in Hebron is an almost everyday occurrence.  Recently however, several incidents indicate that settler violence in the city is increasing.  On the 4th of April at around 3pm, Shah Aiwa, a 7-year-old Palestinian boy, was injured in his head after having stones thrown at him by settler children.  The stoning occurred near the boy’s home in the old city, next to Beit Romano settlement. Shah was playing with another child when two settler boys started throwing stones at them from a nearby roof.  According to both Shah and eyewitnesses who gathered at the scene, incidents like this are very common, happening 5 to 6 times a week.  The stone that hit Shah on the head weighed over a kilo, and the injury he received required attention by medical staff from Hebron hospital.

In a separate incident that same day, 17 Palestinian cars were damaged from stones thrown by settlers from Kiryat Arba.  Israeli soldiers were present and witnessed the vandalism, but did nothing to prevent it.   Recently, some Palestinian residences in that area have also had windows smashed from settler stones.  Testimonials from residents suggest that the violence from Kiryat Arba settlers has risen in recent weeks.

Additionally, in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of the city, several houses have been attacked by settlers at night.  The residents of these houses say that 20 masked settlers descended on their homes at around 10pm on the 4th of April.  Settlers threw stones at the windows, breaking at least three of them.  At around 8pm that same night, a 28-year-old Palestinian resident was beaten by settlers in front of his house.  The man sustained two broken bones in his wrist and a large cut near his eye as a result of the beating.  A civilian observer with TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) was also attacked by settlers while he was walking in al-Shuhada street on the 4th of April.

Masked settlers beat three Palestinian children, shoot at Palestinian shepherds for the second time in ten days

Christian Peacemaker Teams

5 April, 2009
Juwayya, South Hebron Hills, West Bank

[Note: According to the Geneva Conventions, the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and numerous United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law.]

At 4:00 pm, Israeli soldiers and the Ma’on settlement security guard took three Palestinian boys, ages 10, 11, and 14, and transported them Ma’on settlement.  Soldiers delivered the children to six masked settlers who beat the children, kicking and punching them.  At 4:45, the children arrived back in their village, after the settlers allowed them to leave to walk home through the hills alone.

Earlier the same day settlers shot at a teenage Palestinian shepherd as he grazed his sheep near Juwayya.  This is the second time settlers have shot at Juwayya residents over the last ten days.  On 25 March, twenty Israeli settlers left the settlement of Ma’on and shot at Palestinian shepherd grazing their sheep on land belonging to the village of Juwayya.  During the incident, four Israeli soldiers and the security guard of the Ma’on settlement were present and did not interfere with the settlers.  The shepherds refused to leave their land, despite the danger.

“Feel my heart beat,” the mother of the children said to a Christian Peacemaker Teams volunteer.  “Really, we are afraid of the settlers.”