Tag: Hebron - Page 87 - International Solidarity Movement

Two arrests, three detentions and over 100 tear gas grenades used against children in Hebron since the school year began

2nd October 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

“The child are having problems concentrating on their school work due to their emotional state and the stress due to the daily attacks by the occupation forces, which are continuously escalating.” Stated Hebron teacher, Shukri Zaroo, to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).

Children in al-Khalil (Hebron) are forced to pass through a military checkpoint each morning and afternoon in order to reach and leave their schools. International activists try to monitor these military checkpoints, both to document the events and to stand with the children.

ISM activists monitor the Salaymeh checkpoint (29) each school day morning and afternoon. Since school began on August 24th, this is what the ISM activists have witnessed:

August 25th: Israeli forces fired 15 tear gas grenades and canisters, as well as five stun grenades at children as they waited to go to school. Tear gas drifted into the courtyard and many children and teachers choked and spluttered in the playground. School was delayed for over an hour. At one point a Red Crescent ambulance had to be called as two teachers and two children, aged 10 and 12-years-old, required medical treatment for excessive tear gas inhalation.

August 27th: At Salaymeh checkpoint Israeli forces fired six tear gas grenades in the morning.

August 31st: At the Salaymeh checkpoint, three tear gas canisters were fired at children on their way home from school. Similarly, children passing through the Qeitun checkpoint did not end their school day unharmed. A group of children threw stones towards the checkpoint from a rooftop. The soldiers fired a total of four tear gas canisters on the roof where the children were located.

September 2nd: Eight tear gas grenades were fired overall. Two young boys threw stones at the checkpoint. This was shortly followed by a short-range tear gas canister fired by one of the soldiers, which was aimed at the stone-throwing children but primarily affected those who needed to pass the cloud of tear gas in order to reach their homes.

As more tear gas canisters were fired, many of the smaller children became scared, crying and running in panic.

One tear gas canister landed in the path of three schoolchildren, no older than six-years-old, who were walking in the direction of the checkpoint, the ISM volunteers saw how one of the two girls was dragged away from the tear gas by the boy, however the other girl did not run away, seemingly too shocked and scared to move.

An ISM volunteer present said, “I ran into the cloud of gas to get the crying girl away and into safety. In a situation like that it is difficult to show a child, who is so terrified and wary of the world around her, that she can trust you. Especially as it becomes difficult to see and breath when surrounded by tear gas. Thankfully she took my hand and I led her to the other two children who she was walking with.”

September 8th: At Salaymeh checkpoint a seven-year-old child was forcefully detained and three more were arrested, including another child.

Israeli forces also threw two stun grenades and fired approximately three tear gas canisters towards the children standing outside their schools.

September 10th: In the afternoon at Salyemeh checkpoint, Israeli border police officers fired two tear gas grenades towards schoolchildren. ISM volunteers present witnessed the assault and did not see any stones thrown beforehand towards the military. Everyone in the street suffered from the tear gas, especially two girls approximately (six-years-old), who were standing outside their house. Other children and teachers took shelter in a nearby shop.

September 14th: Israeli forces fired one tear gas grenade in the afternoon.

September 15th: Israeli forces fired two tear gas grenades in the afternoon.

September 17th: Israel border police fired two tear gas canisters towards two to three stone throwing children who were aged between eight and 10-years-old. Schoolchildren and other pedestrians who happened to be walking past were caught up in the gas. Some took refuge in a local shop. Tear gas was also deployed when children were walking to school this morning. At no time were the Israeli forces under any threat.

September 18th: In the afternoon at Salaymeh checkpoint‬, Israeli forces fired three rounds of tear gas at schoolchildren. Israeli border police then prevented a horse & cart, several trucks and a car from passing through the checkpoint for 40 minutes, refusing to lift the barrier so that Palestinians could access the main road.

September 21st: Israeli forces fired one tear gas grenade in the afternoon.

September 23rd: At Salaymeh checkpoint, Israeli forces fired 29 rounds of tear gas and 5 stun grenades at children going to school.

Two ambulances were called to the scene due to the immense amounts of tear gas fired and a Palestinian teacher stated that 30 school children and 15 teachers suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation.

At Qeitun checkpoint clashes had erupted and were underway between unarmed Palestinian youths and Israeli forces. An excessive amount of tear gas was used in addition to rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades.

Israeli forces threw stun grenades and brutally grabbed and arrested two young Palestinian boys between the ages of 14 and 15-years-old. One of the boys whilst in a headlock and handcuffed was punched several times in the side.

September 22nd: Israeli forces fired three tear gas grenades in the morning at Salaymeh checkpoint.

September 24th: Two tear gas canisters were shot at the children, one of which was fired directly at them instead of an arc (to lower the impact velocity). This practice is extremely dangerous and can cause severe injuries or death.September 25th: One tear gas grenade was thrown and four tear gas canisters were shot, one after another, at high speeds towards the children leaving school at Salaymeh checkpoint..

September 28th: At the Salaymeh checkpoint in the morning, Israeli forces fired three tear gas grenades and one stun grenade at schoolchildren.

In the afternoon, Israeli border police entered through Salaymeh checkpoint and fired 14 tear gas grenades and one stun grenade at children leaving school. Several teenagers threw stones towards the checkpoint and the soldiers began firing tear gas.

An ISM activist present stated, “Four young girls were walking past the boys throwing stones. The boys deliberately stopped throwing stones so the girls could pass safely, but the border police fired tear gas anyway.”

At one point two border police grabbed a 12-year-old boy by the arm, dragged him to the checkpoint, and detained him for 20 minutes.

October 1st: At the Salaymeh checkpoint, Israeli border police fired excessive amounts of tear gas at schoolchildren. ISM activists present counted at least 24 grenades fired.

Violence and detention of children in Hebron

28th September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

This afternoon Israeli border police entered through Salaymeh checkpoint and fired 14 tear gas grenades and one stun grenade at children leaving school.

Several teenagers threw stones towards the checkpoint and the soldiers began firing tear gas.

Children running from the soldiers and the tear gas.

At one point two border police grabbed a 12-year-old boy by the arm, dragged him to the checkpoint, and detained him for 20 minutes.

In a separate incident close by, nine-year-old Razain was walking near another local school when Israeli forces threw a stun grenade close to her legs. Shrapnel from the stun grenade injured her as it exploded in close proximity, stated Razain’s grandfather to ISM volunteers.

This morning at the Salaymeh checkpoint, Israeli forces fired three tear gas grenades and one stun grenade at schoolchildren.

An ISM activist present stated, “Around three young boys ran towards the checkpoint and threw stones towards the armed Israeli soldiers. They then fired a tear gas grenade towards the the children walking to school, forcing them to run through clouds of gas. This continued for around 40 minutes, with several more children throwing stones and two more tear gas grenades being fired. At one point the soldiers entered through the checkpoint towards the schools and threw one stun grenade. Many of the children were very afraid, it’s clearly no way to begin a day of education. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to concentrate and learn when your day begins with military violence.”

Two young Palestinians arrested and abused

24th September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

20140922_204351 — Muhammed (Photo supplied by family)

Monday afternoon in Hebron, two young Palestinian men were arrested and abused north of Qeitun after being falsely accused of stone throwing.

21-year-old Muhammad Ghaleb Abu Sbeih was walking home from work when soldiers from the Israeli military force arrested him. Six boys had been throwing stones in the area and Muhammad was accused of taking part even though the soldiers had no evidence. A local Palestinian stated that Muhammad had been beaten while walking up to the checkpoint where he was held for two hours along with 19-year old Shadi Abdel Hamed Al-Atras.

When the boys’ families arrived the soldiers were rude to the mothers and Muhammad’s sister. Muhammad’s mother heard her son’s screams from inside the army jeep in which he was being held captive and beaten. Initially, the soldiers denied that anyone by that name was in the jeep but then changed their tactics and started mocking the family, saying bad words to the women in both Arabic and Hebrew.

The soldiers kept laughing and joking around and at one point they wanted the password for Muhammad’s iPhone to access it. After being held inside the jeep for two hours, Muhammad and Shadi were finally driven away and the soldiers shouted, “with love Muhammad“ and clapped.

The young men were driven to Kiryat Arba police station and are still being held. According to the DCO (District Coordination Office) Muhammad is being transferred to Ofer court and Shadi has been moved to a checkpoint in Hebron where he will hopefully soon be released.

VIDEO: Seven-year-old violently detained, one child and two adults arrested

8th September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

This morning in al-Khalil (Hebron), through the Salaymeh checkpoint, a seven-year-old was forcefully detained and three more were arrested, including another child.

At 07:40, approximately six young children started throwing small stones towards the checkpoint. A few minutes later a group of Israeli border police emerged running from a road close to the schools, and more border police ran down from the checkpoint.

Israeli forces threw two stun grenades and fired approximately three tear gas canisters towards the children standing outside their schools.

Two border police officers grabbed 12-year-old Yousef Hajajreh by the neck and walked him to the checkpoint where he was later arrested and driven away in a police car.

Two more border police officers forcefully dragged and carried Oday Rajabi, a seven-year-old boy, who was also on his way to school, and detained him for approximately 40 minutes.

Border police officers aggressively pushed Palestinian men, including teachers from the nearby schools, whilst they were trying to protect the children.

A teacher, Abd al-Aziz Hmad Rjob, from the UN school was forced into a headlock as he was trying to intervene with the crying seven-year old. He was also dragged up the road where he was arrested.

Palestinians and internationals then gathered at the Salaymeh checkpoint where an 18-year old man, Malak Salaymeh, working at the same school was also arrested as he confronted the soldiers. Another man was also briefly detained.

Palestinian children threw several more stones, and Israeli forces fired three more tear gas canisters.

An ISM volunteer who was present stated, “The situation was terrible, I felt like it was a planned operation where the aim was clearly to terrify schoolchildren and the soldiers were out to arrest.”

Yousef, Abd, and Malak were released at noon, roughly three hours after they were arrested.

Israeli forces have previously targeted extremely young children as they wait for school in al-Khalil; ISM has documented a number of these incidents while monitoring Salaymeh checkpoint as children pass through to go to school.

Orphans protest demolition of dairy factory

5th September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday, 300 orphans staged a protest following the demolition of Al-Rayyan Dairy Factory, north of Hebron, which occurred in the early hours of 1st September 2014.

The future of the children remains unclear as the two orphanages they live in, the Hebron Charity House for Girls and The Hebron Charity House for Boys, are dependent on the profits made by the dairy factory. Both the orphanages and the dairy factory are owned by the Islamic Charitable Society.

The dairy factory, which housed 150 cows and produced six tones of milk products, such as yogurt and cheese, had run for 24 years, ever since the Islamic Charitable Society received funding from the Kuwait government in 1991 to set up the factory. The purpose was for the Society’s orphanages and schools to have their own source of regular income, rather than relying on donations. The dairy products were distributed to Hebron and the surrounding villages.

The Israeli government, since 2002, has targeted the dairy factory. The first demolition order was based on concerns about environmental regulations, saying that the waste produced by cows was not dealt with suitably. Despite solving this problem, the dairy farm continuously fell under threat by the Israeli military, especially since it was located in Area C, the area of the West Bank completely under Israeli military control. Claims were also made by the Israeli Council for Planning that parts of the farm were illegally built; however, Abed Al-kareen Farrah, one of the lawyers working with the Islamic Charitable Society, confirmed that the farm received approval from the Israel Antiquities Authority for a license to build. He said, “The farm has been under fire for years with a lot of administrative issues, and Israel constantly put pressure on it to close.”

In June 2014, the dairy farm received a second demolition order, accusing the Islamic Charitable Society of having affiliation with Hamas because one of the dairy farm’s workers had been an administrative detainee for the past twenty months. The Chair of the Islamic Charitable Society’s Board of Directors, Hatim al-Bakri, stated that the society is not funding Gaza. On the 3rd of July 2014, Israeli forces confiscated all of the farm’s machinery before demolishing the entire farm a few days ago.

Hatim al-Bakri added that the farm would be impossible to rebuild, not only because it would cost two million dollars to do so, but also because of the heavy resistance they would face from the Israeli forces. Anything built on that plot of land would risk being demolished again and again.

“The future is dark for the orphans in Hebron,” he says. “I don’t know how we will be able to continue to fund the orphanages, or the seven schools the Islamic Charitable Society runs in and around Hebron. This question should be asked to the occupation.”

The demolition of the dairy farm is yet another example of how collective punishment affects hundreds of Palestinian people every day. Not only does the entire workforce of the farm have to lose their jobs because of one administrative detainee working there, but children, far removed from the workings of the farm, will also suffer the consequences.