Blood on the streetIsraeli soldiers killed a 17 year old Palestinian youth and injured around 20 others on Friday during a demonstration in the H-2 (Israeli-controlled) Abu Sneineh neighborhood of Hebron.
The Israeli soldiers opened fire on the crowd assembling near the Wasaya Rasol mosque before the demonstration had even begun. A large barrage of tear gas dispersed some of the people nearest the soldiers, but the demonstrators quickly reassembled. The soldiers retreated up the street as protesters advanced throwing stones.
The death and several injuries occurred in the first half hour of the protest as the soldiers fired rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition in addition to the tear gas. Soldiers fired on the demonstrators from various locations including rooftops.
Clashes at demonstrationMus’ab Da’na arrived at a local hospital in critical condition and died shortly afterwards of bullet wounds to the head. About 20 others were treated for various injuries, hospital officials said, including three shot with live ammunition in the thighs.
The funeral began at Al Hussein mosque with the body then transferred to the Cemetery of the Martyrs in the Haret Al Sheikh neighborhood in Hebron.
This Friday’s demonstration was the second major demonstration in the Abu Sneineh neighborhood following a turnout of 5,000 – 7,000 on the previous Friday. Many other demonstrations and protests occurred in Hebron this Friday including the entrance to the Old City near the Bab Al-Zawiye neighborhood. There also, stone throwing youths were attacked with tear gas and rubber coated bullets.
While the world watches in horror as the death toll in Gaza continues to rise, in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army is taking the opportunity to unleash a level of deadly force, in the knowledge that, under the shadow cast by their war on Gaza, these atrocities will go unseen by the international community.
Palestinian communities in the West Bank have responded to the war on Gaza with daily demonstrations in cities and villages throughout the region. Taking the form of marches, sit-ins and candlelight vigils, as well as stone-throwing by young boys, these demonstrations have met with lethal repression from Israeli soldiers in their role as an occupying army.
In the village of Ni’lin, West of Ramallah, two young men, Arafat Al-Khawaje and Mohammad Al-Khawaje were both brutally murdered in a spray of live ammunition from Israeli soldiers during a demonstration against the war on Gaza. Arafat, aged 22, was killed immediately as a bullet cut through his back, stopping his heart. Mohammad, who was shot in the head, held-on in Ramallah hospital in a critical condition for four days, before dying on the evening of Wednesday 31st December. A third young man, Mohammad Sror, was shot in the leg. International eye-witnesses to the slaughter describe the attack as being “callous and calculated”, with Israeli soldiers feigning an invasion of the village to lure the young men into the olive groves, where they had concealed themselves, before opening fire from a distance of just 15 metres.
The attack took place with full knowledge that there was no ambulance in the village, as Israeli forces had refused to permit it to pass through the checkpoint. Once the shooting occurred, the ambulance was detained for a further five minutes at the checkpoint, before the soldiers allowed it to enter the village.
In the village of Silwad, another young man, 17 year old Mohammad Hamid, was shot by Israeli soldiers from a guard-tower whilst at a demonstration – dying in hospital from three gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen.
On 4th January, in Qalqiliya city, another young man was assassinated by Israeli soldiers for throwing stones over the Apartheid Wall that surrounds the city. Mofed Saleh Walwil, 20 years old, was killed with a single sniper bullet to the forehead, when an Israeli jeep opened fire on the boys.
Two more young men are in a critical condition after also being shot by Israeli soldiers whilst demonstrating against Israel’s “Operation Cast Lead”. Hammam Al-Ashari, 17 years old, from Abu Dis, near Jerusalem, was shot in the head with three rubber-coated steel bullets at close range, while he was walking up a stairwell with friends. For 30 minutes, the soldiers prevented a waiting ambulance from reaching Hammam, significantly worsening his condition.
17 year old Mohammad Jaber is also in a critical condition after Israeli soldiers again opened fire on a Gaza protest in Hebron, on Sunday 28th December, shooting him in the head. In the period of two days from 28th-29th December, Israeli soldiers in Hebron wounded at least 21 demonstrators with live ammunition, according to doctors at Hebron’s al-Ahli hospital. International human rights workers living in the area, describe this as a significant “escalation in the violence used by the Israeli Occupation Forces”.
The number of Palestinian youth shot by Israeli armed forces in the West Bank continues to rise, with at least 3 more young men injured by live fire from Friday 2nd to Sunday 4th December.
Severe repression has also been leveled at Gaza demonstrations in the form of arbitrary mass arrests. In East Jerusalem 90 people were arrested for taking part in a non-violent street march. Protesters were all released upon the condition that they not enter Jerusalem’s old city for ten days, despite the fact that many of the arrestees reside there. Many Palestinians living in East Jerusalem now express fear of taking part in non-violent demonstrations, saying that the consequences for such acts are too high.
Suppression of public dissent seems to be the motivation behind many of the repressive tactics being executed by Israeli Authorities. This is exemplified by the denial of entry to Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s old city on Friday 2nd January for any men under the age of 50 years, under the pretext that the first Friday prayers since the air strikes on Gaza began would foment further protests. Further, Thursday 1st January saw Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak momentarily invoke of curfew across the entire West Bank for Friday 2nd; later downgraded to a closure of all checkpoints between the West Bank and Israel, including East Jerusalem.
In light of the violence and repression being leveled at Palestinians in the West Bank, claims made by Israeli military spokespeople – that they are attacking Gaza in order to put an end to rocket fire – ring hollow. As Israeli authorities protest that their massacre in the Gaza Strip is self-defensive, and that the civilian casualties are an unfortunate by-product of Hamas members “hiding” amongst the civilian population; as they proffer their occupation of the West Bank as an example of their even-handed, democratic restraint in the terrain of Palestinian Authority governance (“There are no rockets fired from the West Bank, so we don’t need to attack them”); the realities on the ground paint a very different picture.
As the Israeli government continues their brutal occupation of the West Bank – killing and injuring youths; firing tear gas in to Palestinian civilian homes (leading to a house fire in the village of Ni’lin on Thursday 1st January); continued invasions of cities and villages, involving curfews, house occupations and arbitrary arrests; the continued imprisonment of some 11000 Palestinian political prisoners – including 327 children; and continuing settlement expansion and settler violence – claims that Israel is not targeting Palestinians as a people are increasingly difficult to believe.
Amidst the barrage of rehearsed Israeli government rhetoric, Palestinian civilians are being killed by Israeli soldiers, in greater or lesser numbers, regardless of where they live, or what their political affiliations. In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian youths will continue to die under the shadow of Gaza, as Israeli forces act with impunity – immune to the international gaze and any potential censure that may accompany it.
On Sunday 28th December at mid-day, the people of Hebron continued their demonstrations in solidarity with Gaza. Around 300 participants gathered in Ain Sara and walked in the direction of the city centre and the old market.
When the demonstration reached the old city, Israeli soldiers started shooting live ammunition from the checkpoint in Bab al-Baladiya and from three parked jeeps.
At least three people were severely hurt. Muhammad Jaber 17 year old was shot in the head near the Ibrahim Mosque from 200 meters distance with live
ammunition.
Muhammad Ja’aberi, 20 years old, was shot in the thigh.
The Israeli soldiers’ reactions towards the demonstrators mark an escalation in the violence used by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).
Two weeks ago, 14 year old boy Ya’qub Al-Qasrawi was left brain-dead by the IOF with a rubber-coated steel bullet outside his home in al-Karantina neighborhood, he was brought to the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem.
Near Bani Na’im, outside Hebron, around 50 people gathered on Sunday in a demonstration of sympathy with the people of Gaza. A settler from a nearby outpost shot one of the demonstrators Muhammad Tarahya, 19 years old, in the thigh. He was taken to hospital in Hebron for treatment.
Students from Hebron University gathered at 11:45 Saturday in a spontaneous march in show of sympathy and solidarity with the people of Gaza.
When they reached the Manara many more people joined the demonstration, mainly from Al-Quds Open University and the Polytechnic University. Around 500 demonstrators were carrying banners asking for an Arab and international reaction towards Israel’s crimes. They chanted “Gaza we are coming” and “We are with you”.
A big group of the demonstrators moved on in the direction of Bab Azawie to confront the Israeli soldiers at Checkpoint 56. They reached the checkpoint around 1pm and the popular resistance continued until sunset.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) responded violently to the demonstrators by shooting huge amounts of teargas cannisters, rubber-coated steal bullets and sound grenades directly at the crowd.
Five soldiers occupied a roof top next to the checkpoint and 15 soldiers hid behind concrete blocks from where they could easily shoot at the demonstrators.
Fifty people were treated in hospital for gas inhalation or being directly hit by gas cannisters. An international solidarity activist hit by a canister shot directly at her, fracturing her toe.
14 years old Ya’qub Al-Qasrawi was shot in the head by the same soldiers only two weeks ago. He could not be saved by the doctors at Hadasa ain el Karem and was declared brain-dead from his head wound.
On Christmas Eve, Dec. 24 at 10:40pm, three international human rights workers (HRW’s)were assaulted by a group of six soldiers on the roadway after the Jewish cemetary in the Tel Rumeida district of Hebron.
The HRW’s had just returned from celebrating Christmas Eve in Bethlehem and had been denied entry through Checkpoint 56 to the roadway leading up to their residence.
The HRW’s used an alternate route to reach the roadway leading to their residence, climbing up an embankment and entering the roadway at the corner near the Jewish cemetary. As they entered the roadway, they were met by a group of six soldiers including one whose face was covered by a black ski mask. The soldiers yelled at the HRW’s in Hebrew and then began shoving them back towards the embankment.
One of the HRW’s was then kicked in the back as he retreated and another was kicked in the crotch and then pushed over the rocky drop-off. After waiting for the soldiers to depart, the HRW’s then returned to their residence via another route.
The area past Checkpoint 56 has been declared a closed military zone through Dec. 31, 2009 and internationals have been repeatedly denied entry by the soldiers at the checkpoint and the police, but it has been understood that the internationals could still access their residence via an unofficial route including another roadway and trail through a field. The police officers denying entry at #56 in the past have told internationals to use the alternate route.
It is believed by the HRW’s that the military closure is illegal in that it is a long standing order in a residential area denying internationals access to their contracted residence. Their is no current military conflict and Palestinian residents are permitted passage through the checkpoint to their residences although harassment is a common occurrence. The singling out of internationals appears designed to eliminate witnesses to abuses committed by Israeli settlers, police and military. The HRW’s are determined to maintain their presence in hopes of helping to curtail such abuse.
