Tag: Hebron

Report on Razor Wire closing entrance to the track leading to the Al Azzeh homes

by Mary Baxter, May 11th 2006

When razor wire was placed across the entrance to the track leading to the Al Azzeh homes in December 2005, it was done at the instigation of Israeli settlers from Tel Rumeida settlement.

The children of the Al Azzeh family need to pass it in order to get to school every day. The razor wire has been placed in a way that an adult and some teenagers could open it. An elderly person can not open it nor could the younger children. The wire was coiled, with coils of larger than 1 metre diameter and opened like a very wobbly gate. Younger children were dependent upon an Israeli soldier being helpful.

When the family appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court, the court issued an order that they should be allowed to access their home freely. But the soldiers were not briefed as to the court order that the family could pass and the Tel Rumeida settlement women would come out and tell the soldiers that the children were not allowed to pass. This often causes problems when children came home from school.

In February, someone (settler or soldier) placed a heavy sandbag on the wire near the opening. This made the wire too heavy for Janette or even a soldier to open up. So, a soldier helped tread down the wire and the children were helped across it. This was very difficult for the younger children.

On one occasion, a seven year old girl was by herself and had trouble crossing the wire. The soldier on duty would not help so a seventy-five year old ISM volunteer tried to help. The volunteers clothing got caught on the wire and she fell over, luckily not on to the wire. The soldier present did nothing. On some occasions, a helpful soldier held down the wire with his foot while the children passed.

In March, someone (soldier or settler) adjusted the razor wire so that the coils were of full height. This meant that the children had to go round the top of the wire on a narrow steep path which was difficult for the older girls with schoolbags on their backs. The younger children always needed help. Then, towards the end of Passover, a soldier pushed the wire so that the narrow path became extremely narrow. The older girls needed help and the younger children could only pass if an adult met them on the other side of the wire.

Last week, a helpful soldier managed to help fix the wire so that it could be opened at another place. The older girls were able to open it like a gate again. But then someone (settler or soldier) put a sandbag at that place, making the wire too heavy to lift open.

Another soldier tore the sandbag so that the sand fell out and no longer weighed the wire of the opening down.

Today, the older girls were able to open the wire. This was necessary because the soldier outside the settlement told ISM volunteers that he would not help the children. One of the soldiers on duty near the ISM apartment referred to Palestinians as “animals” when he detained them for no reason for 45 minutes.

At times, the soldier on duty refuses to believe that the court order exists. He will point to the wire and say that it would not be there if the children were meant to pass. It is not surprising that he would think this. It is hard to believe that children are expected to pass razor wire.

On one occasion recently, the children were held up by a soldier for an hour until the police came and said that they could pass. The same soldier aged 19 years was standing over a 14 year old girl, very close, trying to force her away.

Ezra’s Car

We are from the National Committee Against the Wall in the Beit Omar area of Hebron, Palestine. We work against the racial discrimination wall, Palestinians and Israelis together with the common aim of stopping the wall in the Hebron area, in villages and towns such as Beit Omar, Jabaa, Yatta and Twani. We have been working together for the past five years, and all this time we have been using the car that belonged to Mr. Ezra Nawi, an Israeli. Even though it was his own private car, we Palestinians used it more than him – he even paid for all the fuel.

He himself has been struggling literately day and night in an effort to strengthen the Palestinian villagers in the South Hebron area as the Israeli government and settlers try to expel them from their land. Rain and shine he was there, building water wells, planting olive trees, ploughing fields, organizing summer camps for the children, taking patients to the hospitals, and filing scores of complaints against settler violence.

With his car, we managed to reach areas that the Israeli army prohibits Palestinians cars from entering. We used it to travel all around the different areas in the Hebron region, and we were very grateful to him. Unfortunately, the car was stolen during a protest against the wall on Monday April 17th. We searched everywhere but had no luck finding it. It was a 4X4 Mitsubishi Magnum pickup truck, which Ezra used regularly for his political activities. Unfortunately, Ezra did not have theft insurance.

We’re sending this message to you, hoping to find some comfort. In this difficult situation, we can not afford to buy back Ezra’s car – and of course he did not ask us – as the amount is too much: nearly $23,000 (US). If you could contribute any amount of money to help us buy back the car for him, we would be very grateful.

Sincerely yours,

Mussa Abu Marya
National Committee Against the Wall, Beit Omar

Please send checks made out to Ta’ayush with a note added “for Ezra’s car” , to:

Dr. Neve Gordon
Department of Politics,
Ben-Gurion University,
Beer-Sheva, 84105
Israel

Yent: “Settlers Torch Cars, Beat Residents”

From Ynet
By Ali Waked


Car torched in Tel Rumeida. ‘This is not a life,’ residents say (Photo: ISM)

Residents of Hebron neighborhood claim settlers set fire to three Palestinian vehicles, beat several residents; ‘this was not a one-time incident,’ says Rajab Abeido, whose car was burned

Palestinian residents from the Hebron neighborhood of Tel Rumeida claimed that settlers, who flocked to the city Saturday night ahead of the evacuation of a Hebron house by the IDF, set fire to three of their cars. Earlier, the Palestinians said, the settlers also beat several of the neighborhood’s residents.

According to the residents, the incident was not a one-time harassment, but rather a phenomenon they have been suffering from for a long time now.

Rajab Abeido, the owner of one of the torched cars, told Ynet that he returned to his home at around 9 p.m. Saturday evening after spending the evening with his son. The son, Abeido said, broke his hand while being chased by settlers.

“The settlers rioted in the neighborhood all day. In one of the incidents, a group chased my 8-year-old son Hassan and wanted to hit him. While escaping, he stumbled upon a stone and broke his hand. We spent the entire evening at the hospital and prepared the report which I planned to submit to the police today,” he said.

Soldiers ‘settle in’

But according to Abeido, the day’s troubles had only begun. A short while after entering his home and sitting down for dinner, one of his neighbors knocked on the door and told him that “settlers are setting fire to three vehicles in the neighborhood, including my car.”

“We immediately went outside and tried to put out the fire using everything we could get our hands on, but the damage was already done – my car was completely burned, and to tell you the truth, it wasn’t insured.”

Abeido’s neighbor told Ynet, “a group of settlers, standing not far from soldiers securing the site, poured flammable material on cars and set them on fire.”

According to Abeido, the incident was not the first in which settlers harassed him.

“Every few days they come into our home and beat me and my family up. But the bigger problem for me is the soldiers – they come in every few weeks, send the entire family to a room and ‘settle’ in the home. When I ask them ‘what do you want?’ they say ‘we have work to do; (military) duties’,” he charged.

“Each time I try to explain to them that ‘this isn’t (Ariel) Sharon’s home, nor is it (Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert’s. Carry out your military duties wherever you want, but not in my home, not near my wife and children; this is not a life’,” he concluded.

Settlers Assult Humans Rights Workers in Hebron – Soldiers Refuse to Intervene

Graffiti of the Kach party slogan sprayed on a Palestinian home in Hebron. Kach is a Jewish terrorist organisation banned in Israel and the US. Photo from Jan. 2005

May 6, 2006: At 2:30 PM, six settlers in their 30s, with white kippas (One settler had the Kach symbol, a fist inside of a Star of David, on his kippa.) approached Mary, a 75 year old international HRW (Human Rights Worker) sitting at the top of the Tel Rumeida hill 70 meters from the Tel Rumeida settlement. An Israeli male HRW, age 21, went over immediately and sat next to Mary. They surrounded the HRWs and asked questions aggressively, such as “Where are you from?” “What are you doing here?” “What, you like Arabs?” They were also cursing them.

The oldest settler, approximately 40 years old, got close to their faces and whispered “I like to kill Arabs. I like to kill Arabs.” Then another settler punched the male HRW, who was still sitting down, in the face. At that point, the soldier located 6 meters away approached but did and said nothing.

The oldest settler grabbed Mary’s purse off of her that was strapped to her body, threw it on the ground and kicked it 10 meters away. The Israeli HRW got up and picked up the purse. He began to return, then a settler came and kicked his right leg very hard from the side.

At this point the soldier told the settlers to leave the HRWs alone. The settlers spat on both HRWs repeatedly. The settlers cursed the HRWs in Hebrew. The soldier hugged the settler and said “I understand.”

10 minutes later the HRW called the police and told them of the attack. The police said “come to the police station and file a complaint.” He told them that he had no way to get to the police station as it is inside the settlement. Then they said that a patrol car was on its way and he could speak to them when it arrives. HRWs waited there for 1 and 1/2 hours but no police car came to the area at all. Then he called the police station again to ask why they had not come. The police answered that a patrol car came and saw that everything was ok and left.

Protest against settler violence in Mt. Hebron

Message from Taayush South Hebron Committee:

Saturday, May 6, we will protest against settler violence.
Please contact us at the two email addresses below for times and locations.

roeemet@yahoo.com
avichay@shovrimshtika.org

We shall protest against their violence and the indifference of the security forces in South Mt. Hebron. Last week, children from Tuba were attacked on their way back from school by settlers from Maon. In spite of the presence of military and police forces, the harassment of the children continued for an entire hour till Ta’ayush activists reached the spot.

Settlers from Avigail, Sussya and its outposts continue to attack and harrass Palestinians living in the region and damage their property. The Israeli security forces always manage to arrive when it is too late to prevent the destruction. Those wishing to join should send their name and phone-number to one of the following

From our experience in this region, the number of participants makes a great difference. Do try to help us.
South Mt. Hebron Committee”