27th August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Umm al-Kheir, south Hebron, occupied Palestine
The villagers of Umm Al Khair look out at the remains of their EU-funded community center that now lies as rubble. Villagers tell of it as a place where they watched football, did education trainings, community meetings and how it would soon become a kindergarten. The destruction has come as no surprise however, since this is the third set of demolitions in Umm al Khair since the start of the year, with over 15 structures being demolished in a town of just 150 people.
The rate of house demolitions in the West Bank is at the highest it has been in 10 years, with more demolitions in the first 4 months of 2016 than the whole of 2015. As illegal settlements continue to expand Palestinians, especially in the south Hebron hills, are more at risk than ever of losing their homes. Despite condemning the demolitions the EU has not taken any action concerning the 74 million dollars worth of EU projects destroyed by Israeli bulldozers. As the town looks for aid to rebuild its fallen buildings the question is if the EU will continue to turn a blind eye to Israel’s destruction of their projects including schools, playgrounds and housing that have all fallen under demolition orders.
Both Umm al Khair and Susiya are in the process of court hearings to get permits for their buildings, but this hasn’t stopped the demolitions during the court process. Their only hope is the decision of the court to give villages the right to exist and permits for their housing, but currently it seems unlikely this will happen. We can only hope that pressure from the international community and opposition from inside Palestine will lead to the villages survival.
photo following the April demolitions in Umm al Khair Photo credits: Mairéad Nic Gabhann
23th August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
As a Palestinian you have to have your ID on you at all times, otherwise you may get detained or arrested. In Palestine they have 3 different kinds of ID. The green ID is for people who live in the West Bank. People who have this ID are not allowed to go to Gaza or Jerusalem. Then there is the green ID for people who live in Gaza, who are not allowed to be in the West Bank or in Jerusalem. And the last one is the Blue ID which is for Palestinians who live in Jerusalem, and they are not allowed to be in Gaza, a permit is needed.
Imagine yourself going to buy a few groceries, and before you leave you have to remember to take your passport with you. This is how it is for Palestinian people every day. Just the fact that you always have to have your ID on, shows clearly how controlled the Palestinian people are, and how there are huge difference on your rights, depending on what family they were randomly born into; Israeli or Palestinian.
Just imagine that soldiers can stop you any time, and there is nothing you can do about it. Not only constantly checked at checkpoints, but also randomly on the street. That’s called a flying checkpoint, and If the soldier is holding your ID you can’t go anywhere , it can be everything from minutes to hours, of them holding you from leaving.
Asking Palestinians how many times they have been detained, they normally don’t give a number, because its uncountable. When you are 16 you receive the ID, so if are younger than 16, but look older, the Israeli military can claim to see your birthday certificate. This is very humiliating, and its often just to show off their power. One of the Palestinian men explains how there is no doubt that it’s not for creating safety, but just pure harassment, when they take their IDs for hours without even checking it. A situation where they are without any kind of rights, and they face comments like:“Would you like to see your god” or “Are you hungry? You should eat something before you die”, which shows how they have no respect for them. And they express how powerless you can feel , cause you know they can do whatever they want without any punishment.
Israeli forces force Palestinian to lift up his shirt during a ‘control’
20th August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
People queuing up in lines at the checkpoint, a father with his wife, two toddlers and a baby in the arms. Trying to pass.
A soldier yells at the mother who is carrying the baby to go back, “akhora. AKHORA!”, with a loud voice, as if he is in a battle. She gets scared. The man is trying to tell the soldiers that she is his wife and these are his kids.
He keeps yelling.
“AKHORA!”
People outside stand in silence, scared. Some try to tell the soldier they are together. But the helmet upon his head prevents any human sound from reaching him.
The same soldier few days ago yelled at another girl, she panicked and ran away. He bravely he cocked his gun, she was trapped and in a panic, ran to her mother. He put his gun down when he saw a group of tourists wondering what is going on. The girl passed with her mom.
Thanks to the group who were there at the right place, and at the right time.
Tuesday morning at 8:30 we received a call from Badee Dwaik, one of the co-ordinators of Human Rights Defenders, a Palestinian human rights group, about the unfolding situation in Al Fawwar refugee camp.
Around 2:00 that morning, hundreds of Israeli soldiers invaded the village. Claiming they were looking for weapons, they went from home to home, searching each one. In homes that they searched, the soldiers destroyed furniture and made a mess. Their invasion caused clashes, as young Palestinian men and boys rushed out to confront them with rocks.
As we drove close to the village, we could see a roadblock and multiple Israeli Army jeeps stationed and not letting any cars in. We saw a UN car and spoke to the drivers, they too were denied entry. X, my fellow activist, and myself, decided to try getting into the village. The soldiers at the roadblock stopped us and asked us who we were. Knowing that the UN were denied entry and that in greatest likelihood if they were denied entry then our group would face the same treatment, we told the soldiers we are tourists. One of them looked at us and asked “OK, but are you sure you want to go in? It’s not very quiet there”. We feigned ignorance and asked the soldier what is going on. He said he can’t tell us, but advised us not to go in.
We said we would like to go in anyways. I resisted the urge to tell the soldier that the reason things were “not very quiet” in the village was because he and his comrades were attacking it.
As we entered into the village, we ran into a group of soldiers from Hebron. We knew each other well from previous encounters, especially settler tours and their forays into H1. They were very hostile and tried to stop us from filming, by blocking and attempting to grab my camera. They snapped at Palestinians to get into their homes or to keep moving. We could hear gunshots and sound bombs exploding in further areas of the village.
Pretty soon, we saw some Palestinian men throwing rocks at soldiers. The soldiers opened fire on them with rubber coated steel bullets, we could hear the loud “bang” noises as we sat behind a wall and observed.
A Palestinian family invited us to their house, and we observed from the rooftop as Israeli soldiers entered people’s houses. Groups about a dozen armed soldiers would enter through the door. Of course the families were not consulted. We visited a home that just about 15 minutes before was searched by the soldiers. We came to room after room of upturned furniture, clothes strewn over the floor, beds and tables flipped over. We witnessed a group of soldiers come into a home of a Palestinian family, a big dog with them.
Sometimes the houses were searched, but not always. During other times the soldiers went on the rooftops and made themselves comfortable. They were using these people’s homes- with the families still inside- as impromptu military vantage points. Had there been any real fighting- ie the people being victimized actually having weapons and being able to shoot back- these families would have been in great danger. Deliberately endangering civilians is a war crime.
We witnessed a group of Israeli soldiers throw sound grenades and gas grenades at school-age Palestinian children who were throwing stones at them. They also pointed their guns at these kids, as well as at us, in an attempt to intimidate. The soldiers swore at the Palestinian family who allowed us to stand on their roof and observe, yelling “sharmuta” (whore) at them.
Later, we witnessed clashes in another part of the village between older Palestinian youth and men, and the Israeli Army and a special unit of Border Police forces, who were shooting off round after round of rubber coated steel bullets and live ammo. There were three International Committee of the Red Crescent (ICRC) ambulances standing by, and very unfortunately they were kept busy throughout the whole day. By the time the “operation” was over, forty Palestinians were wounded and one seventeen year old boy was dead- shot in the heart with a live bullet. Some people later told us that the soldiers were stopping and detaining these vehicles as they rushed to take the wounded away… if so, it would be another war crime.
Being witnesses to the cruelty and brutality of the soldiers, we also were witnesses to the kindness of the people whom we met in the village. The Palestinian man who with his family allowed us to observe from their roof knew he was taking a big risk, since the military could target him next.
As the siege was progressing and one could hear gunshots and the explosions of sound grenades in the village, the first family we stayed with not only offered us cup after cup of coffee and tea, but later a delicious Palestinian breakfast. Their kids asked again and again to have their pictures taken.
As we walked through some parts of the village when it was safer to do so, people guided us to the places where the soldiers were engaged in their “action”. The second family we visited- whose furniture was trashed by the soldiers- also offered us drinks and warmly welcomed us.
How they were able to maintain their hospitality and kindness in the midst of this horrific event is beyond me. I really have no idea how I would have responded in their place if I had guests come at a time like this. Tragically, such raids happen there on more or less a regular basis. As traumatic as this particular attack was, it was nothing new.
After about six hours there, we had to leave. We could hear the sound bombs and gunshots continuing on our way out. We made sure to hide our memory cards prior to exiting, but the soldiers manning the checkpoint did not even check.
The “operation” was very military well planned out. The village was surrounded from all sides, with soldiers blocking the road leading into the village, and others being staked out in the hills. Small white drones buzzed overhead, taking photos. No one was able to get in (although after about a few hours the UN was allowed passage) and everyone was carefully screened on the way out.
The Army and Border Police I later learned pulled out the next morning, after spending about 24 hours in the village.
The Israeli military had tremendous success- forty wounded and one dead on the Palestinian side, and on the Israeli side, one lightly wounded soldier who was hit by a rock.
A truly resounding military victory. Except that the targets were not uniformed members of an enemy army, or even armed militants. The targets were civilians. Refugees. People already living a life that is economically difficult, who were now hit (again) by this type of calamity.
What happened three days ago was a criminal action. State ordered, and supported and sanctioned and even military made possible by certain powerful governments.
However, it was a crime nevertheless. Hopefully one day justice will come to this land, and events like this will be remembered as history of a tragic past, not the current and ongoing reality of today.
Israeli soldiers harass Palestinian and international human rights workers in Al Fawwar refugee camp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us2tYpKWlXM
Israeli Army jeeps block off entrance to Al Fawwar refugee camp.A group of Israeli soldier in the camp.Palestinians watch from a rooftop as Israeli soldiers enter another Palestinian home.An Israeli soldier takes aim an internationals, in an effort to intimidate.
14th August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Surrounded by many Israeli Army and Border Police personnel, a group of several dozen Israeli settlers two days ago went on a tour of Bab E Zawiyeh, an area in Hebron.
Prior to the tour, the Israeli military made a show of force, leaving their base and patrolling down the streets in great numbers. Some of the soldiers ordered Palestinians to move out of the way, others took up positions on rooftops.
Both Israeli Army and Border Police obstructed freedom of movement for Palestinians, denying some permission to go to their homes because the settlers were in the way. Israeli Border Police and Army soldiers got into verbal confrontations with Palestinian youth, and several times forced people to move back. A Palestinian journalist was briefly detained by Israeli Border Police, and forced to show his camera and phone to them.
The event lasted several hours, and caused lots of harassment for the Palestinians in Bab E Zawiyeh. This is not the first time Israeli settlers, protected by the Border Police and Army, entered H1.
H1 is a part of Hebron that is supposed to be under control of the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli Army enters it regularly, showing disregard for Palestinian sovereignty. What happened yesterday was only one example of this.
The tense situation could have ended in bloodshed or even deaths, if clashes broke out. During the tour, the Israeli military settlers once again displayed a lack of consideration for the human rights and dignity of the Palestinian people living in Hebron.
Israeli soldiers blocking traffic in H1A Palestinian man and woman are denied entry to cross the street, as Israeli settlers are escorted on their tour.Two Palestinian woman are denied permission to move past the soldiers.
Israeli Border Police detain a Palestinian journalist and demand he show them his camera and phone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gPrKUzLqNk
Israeli Border Police try intimidating Palestinian young men and boys, ordering them to move back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFI3Caxu7CQ
Despite intimidation efforts by the Border Police, the young men and youth refuse to submit to the occupation.
