Tag: Hebron

By Missy

At approximately 4:00 PM August 14th, while sitting at Checkpoint #56 in Tel Rumeida, Hebron, three Israeli soldiers escorted two Palestinian boys who appeared to be around ten years of age to the police station. The boys were holding a kite and nothing else. They looked very nervous and scared, staring mostly at each other and the ground. Three human rights workers (HRW) followed the soldiers and boys; the soldiers said nothing. At the top of the hill, the soldiers then began physically blocking the HRWs by walking in front of them. Another soldier came down the hill from the direction of the Tel Rumeida settlement and started shouting at one HRW, “You can’t go here. Fucking bitch!” They told the soldier to stop cursing, and he replied, “I don’t give a fuck!”

The soldier claimed that the boys were throwing rocks at the settler boys. He said they were taking them to the military base for about an hour. The soldier replied to a human rights worker, “Don’t worry. We’ll keep them for about an hour. We’re going to punish them.” The soldiers then walked away quickly with the boys.

An HRW called the District Coordination Office (an administrative wing of the Israeli military) and told them the situation. They said they would find out immediately what the soldiers were doing with two young boys. About three minutes later, two men from B’tselem pulled up in their Jeep Cherokee, and said they were immediately going to the military base to check on the welfare of the boys. The police arrived about ten minutes later, and went directly to the military base.

About half an hour later, the boys were released. B’tselem reported that the Palestinian boys were walking down the steps near Shuhada Street, and settler boys were throwing rocks at them. The settler boys then told the soldier that the Palestinian boys were throwing rocks at them, so the soldier at the post near the settlement called for another soldier near the checkpoint. He then detained them. The man from B’tselem said the police told the boys they could file a complaint, but would have to come to the police station and identify them from their collection of mug shots.

The boys then went home.

Soldiers invade the home at night and keep internationals from entering. Settlers taunt internationals and watch.

by Sunbula

At around 10 pm on Friday August 11th in Tel Rumeida, 12 soldiers of the Israeli Occupation Forces entered an apartment building where 3 Palestinian families live as well as international volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement. The internationals approached the soldiers in order to speak to the families inside, but the soldiers prevented them from entering the house and attempted to close the front door. The soldiers were aggressive and pushed one Austrian man to the floor. A member of the household tried to relay to the internationals that soldiers woke the entire family in the middle of the night, including the elderly and children, ordered them to leave the house, and then destroyed the contents inside.

The soldiers remained inside the house with the family. The Israeli Police arrived at the request of the internationals, and at the same time, a few soldiers left the house. The army told the police that their entrance was a mistake. The Police then declared that the Army had no right to act in such an aggressive manner and if they were searching for something they are forbidden to destroy the house. One Palestinian quoted that the Police told him that the soldiers act as ‘stupid as donkeys’. The Policeman stated that he can only tell them to not be destructive in the search, but he cannot order them not to search houses without a warrant or just cause, since it is their legal right to do so.

The remainder of the soldiers finally retreated at 11:15 pm leaving the house a mess and many broken household items, inlcuding a washing machine. The soldiers then ran up a hill close to some nearby houses and internationals began to follow them in fear they might raid more houses, but stopped when they became worried that their actions would provoke the soldiers.

A woman from Sweden, Gabby, and a man from Austria, Sebastian, were kicked, pushed, jumped on, and bitten by settlers while they walked on Palestinian farmland the evening of August 8th.

The internationals live in Suseya in order to accompany farmers to their land, provide support for the community, and prevent attacks from settlers. They were living in a valley where eight Palestinian families live, and staked their tent on the Palestinian-owned land nearest to the Israeli settlement of Suseya.

At about 7pm on the 8th, two internationals and one Palestinian were confronted by two Israeli settlers, with their sheep at first. One of the settlers began yelling and charged at the internationals and the Palestinian. The settler attacked the internationals by kicking and pushing, as the internationals attempted to document the attack. The settler and the internationals both backed away, but the internationals noticed that the settler was calling for others.

Soon after, six additional settlers (two of whom were armed with guns), and one Israeli soldier appeared. Three settlers jumped on the Austrian man, grabbing his camera. The settlers grabbed the Austrian man by the throat, hit and pushed him. They kicked him in the back and another settler bit him on his hand. While the Austrian man was pinned to the ground, the Swedish woman appealed for help from the Israeli soldier, who appeared to be escorting the settlers. The soldier responded in English, “I don’t speak English.”

The settlers managed to steal the video camera that contained the footage of the first attack, before retreating. The internationals called the police to file a report, and while the police initially agreed to meet, they later claimed that they were unable to find the area and did not respond.
“I have to admit, I am really scared,” said the Austrian man. “I mean, there is no law here, it is just gang violence and I don’t know what those people want, or what they will do to me.”

On August 5th, two Human Rights Workers (HRWs) from Denmark were sitting on Shuhada Street in Tel Rumeida. At around 2:45 PM a Palestinian boy, around age 15, wanted to use the stairs at the end of Shuhada Street, opposite the Beit Hadassa Settlement. A group of six settler children, around ten years of age, were hanging out next to the stairs. A Palestinian boy asked the HRWs to accompany him. The settlers tried to trip the Palestinian and the HRWs and kicked one of the HRWs from behind. One of the internationals accompanied the Palestinian all the way up the stairs, while the other stayed at the bottom of the stairs. When the HRWs descended the stairs and went back onto Shuhada Street, one of the settlers kicked one of the internationals on the back of her leg and threw a rock at her neck. Only one soldier was present in the military post opposite the stairs. He yelled at the children and ran towards them, and they backed off.

Around 3:20 PM two elderly men wanted to descend the stairs. A group of about ten settlers blocked their way at the end of the stairs. The soldier told the settlers to leave, but they refused. Two settlers around eight to ten years of age and one teenager, around fifteen years old, hit the elderly men with sticks, and other children threw rocks at them. One of the HRWs began screaming very loudly and ran towards the settler boys, while the other HRW started video taping the attack. The HRWs called the police, but they did not answer. The soldier told the attacking settlers to leave and called the police. The settlers still did not stop.

Four more HRWs came down to Shuhada Street. As the elderly men were leaving, the settlers began throwing numerous rocks at the HRWs. At this point, around 25 settler children and teenagers, between the ages of 8 and 14, and one adult settler woman were present. One American HRW from the Tel Rumeida Project was hit with a brick-size rock in her back and two other HRWs were lightly hit on the legs. At least three TIPH members arrived and observed the situation. The entire attack on the HRWs is recorded on video tape.

At 3:46 pm the police arrived and the attacks stopped. The adult settler woman told the police that the HRWs had entered the Beit Hadassa settlement and were causing problems. The soldier present during the entire incident said that it was not true. One police officer, who the HRWs recognize from daily interactions while on the streets, wanted to hear their version of the story. However, the head border policeman told the HRWs to leave Shuhada Street or he would arrest all of them. The HRWs attempted several times to talk with the head border policeman, but he refused. Since there were no Palestinians in the area, the internationals left Shuhada Street. During the interactions with the police and soldiers, settler girls under the age of 12 stood next the HRWs and mimicked their words and body language.

Approximately 45 minutes later, the internationals went back to Shuhada Street. The police were still present and told the internationals to go away.

Around 6:00 PM, the HRW who was assaulted with the brick-size stone was again sitting on the street, this time at the top of the hill. The soldier who was present during the attacks on Shuhada Street stopped by and asked her, “Are you OK? Are you injured?” The HRW told the soldier that her back was hurting. He said that the boys were very stupid and bad, and then apologized for her injury. He then said that he wasn’t allowed to do anything about the settler boys.