23rd April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team| Hebron, Occupied Palestine
At approximately 7 am this morning, Rami Rajabi, a six-year-old child, was 20 meters away from checkpoint 29 when he threw several pebbles in al-Khalil (Hebron).
As Rami walked away towards his school, three Israeli soldiers burst out of an alleyway, grabbed his arm, and detained him in the street.
Rami then burst into tears and was clearly terrified, the Israeli soldier tightly gripped his arm and began to pull him back towards checkpoint 29.
ISM activists tried to intervene, trying to convince the soldiers to release the child. The soldiers dragged him back to the checkpoint where local Palestinians implored the soldiers to release the boy.
While ISMers were filming the incident, Israeli Border Patrol watched on as a settler from a nearby illegal settlement to aggressively confront the ISMers, calling one activist a “killer” and tried to grab the camera.
After approximately 20 minutes of pressure from locals and activists, the child was released and was taken home by a friend of his family.
An ISMer present said, “What happened today is part of an ongoing campaign to intimidate the local population: Israeli soldiers harass children here in Hebron all the time”.
17th April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Pesach, or Passover, started Monday 14th April and is a seven day long holiday where many zionist tourists and settlers from illegal settlements travel to al-Khalil (Hebron). Increased violence and attacks towards Palestinians occurs during many Jewish holidays. During the holiday, entry into historic Palestine (the current state of Israeli) is completely closed to Palestinians, even those with the correct permits.
Restriction of movement is also inflicted on the Palestinians living within al-Khalil itself, as checkpoints and many local shops are forced to close, while settlers and Zionist tourists go on ‘tours’ guarded by Israeli soldiers and border police. The amount of tourists in al-Khalil during these seven days is estimated to be approximately 7000 people.
Yesterday afternoon, Israeli forces closed the main road in the center of al-Khalil, in order to allow settlers access to the Tomb of Othniel Ben Knaz, which is located in H1. Thousands of Hebronites were hugely disrupted as the major Palestinian access road was blocked by a mobile barrier and then occupied by hundreds of Israeli soldiers.
Many Palestinians in the recent days have expressed anxiety over the escalating violence during the holiday. In al-Khalil there is normally one “settler tour” every Saturday, when settlers from the illegal settlements enter the souq (market) accompanied by soldiers. During the tours they often harass the shop owners and Palestinian souq visitors. During Pesach, and particularly today, Thursday the 17th, many groups of tourists and settlers have toured through the market.
The checkpoint between the souq and the mosque has been closed since yesterday morning, stopping the Muslim population from entering the mosque. The closing of the checkpoint also means that local children are forced to walk a much longer path to school.
The school children in al-Khalil have suffered this holiday in several ways. Due to the increased military presence of Israeli soldiers, schools have finished earlier, although the children have still been forced to pass through large groups of soldiers while leaving and entering their schools. This morning ISM witnessed children forming ‘chains’ to avoid being split up while passing the soldiers. One teacher from a local primary school stated that only 25% of the pupils has been present in school today. An ISMer noted: “We see the kids walk through these checkpoints every day, but it is obvious that they have been even more scared these past days.
Israeli soldiers close to a school in Hebron (photo by ISM)
In addition to Pesach today it is also Prisoners Day, which has been highlighted with demonstrations all across the West Bank. In al-Khalil, families was gathering outside the stadium to pray for their imprisoned loved ones. Many had brought pictures of their family members and friends, and the people of al-Khalil, together with many organisations and political parties, was there to show their support for the prisoners. An ISMer at the demo said: “There was a lot of different speakers, drums and music, and I think the participants in the demonstration shows how Palestinians unite in solidarity for the prisoners.”
In recent days, stun grenades have been echoing through the city, accompanied by rubber-coated steel bullets and much tear gas. For the past three days, clashes have broken out between Palestinian youths and the Israeli army, with young Palestinians throwing stones, while the Israeli military fires their weapons. At the moment ISM has no exact information about how many people were injured in the clashes, but today an ISMer was informed by a participant in the clashes that rubber-coated steel bullets injured five young people today.
On Sunday 13 April 2014 in the early afternoon, Israeli settlers with assistance from the Israeli occupation forces started moving into the so-called Rajabi building in Hebron. After seven years of litigation, on 11 March 2014, the Israeli Supreme Court handed over the building to the settlers despite previous court rulings that said that the relevant purchase documents and power of attorneys had been forged.
Early this morning, the Israeli Minister of Defence Moshe Ya’alon approved the settlers to move into the building. As a result, three families entered the building later the day and started preparing the building for occupation. The settlers were observed cleaning the house, bringing in pieces of furniture and fixing the windows. The occupation forces provided the settlers with power generators and water tanks to help them in their efforts as the building is not connected to the electricity or water grid. According to Israeli sources, the settlers are to hold a Passover Seder dinner on the site during the upcoming holiday and ten more families are to move into the building after the end of the Passover.
Local Palestinians voiced their fears that the creation of a new settlement will cause further violations of their rights and violence against them. During 2007 and 2008, when settlers were dwelling in the building, the community witnessed multiple attacks by the settlers as well as routine house searches and arbitrary detentions by the occupation forces. Following their eviction by the Israeli police and army in December 2008, the settlers went on a rampage torching Palestinian property and assaulting Palestinians.
12th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Yesterday afternoon in al-Khalil (Hebron), approximately 70 people attended a demonstration outside the Rajabi building where four protesters were arrested, two ISM activists and two Israeli activists.
Many different Palestinian groups working against the occupation organized the demonstration. The protest began after afternoon prayers in Hebron, many Palestinian activists, internationals, Israeli activists and members of the press attended the protest outside the Rajabi building. Demonstrators started by chanting against the occupation and the illegal settlements, while Israeli forces blocked the march and began to aggressively push activists who tried to non-violently resist.
Israeli forces threw one stun grenade into the crowd of demonstrators, clearly trying to disorientate and frighten those present. Shortly after this, an Israeli soldier reached into the crowd and grabbed a Swedish ISM activist, violently pulling him away. A Danish ISM activist tried to prevent the arrest and was also arrested by Israeli soldiers. The Danish ISMer was pushed to ground and soldiers grabbed hold of his backpack to drag him towards Kiryat Arba police station. Two Israeli activists then tried to intervene, which is when they were also taken away. The demonstration continued for more than two hours and there were no further arrests, and no serious injuries.
The two ISM activists were held in Kiryat Arba police station for six hours, although they were repeatedly threatened with deportation, they were eventually released after signing conditions to stay out of Hebron for two weeks. The two Israeli activists who were arrested were released at a similar time, signing the same conditions.
The Rajabi building case has continued for a number of years, culminating in a court decision this March, forcing the owner of the building to sell it to settlers. The Israeli Ministry of Defence must approve of the settlers moving in before they can officially live in the building, a decision is expected any day now. If the settlers move in to the house, it will function as a new outpost for the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba, expanding it dramatically. The Palestinian families who live in this area already face many problems from settlers, if they move into the Rajabi building this violence and harassment is expected to rise.
30th March 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
At noon today approximately 50 protesters held a demonstration outside the Rajabi Building, Hebron, in protest of the recent court decision to let settlers take over the building. Settlers taking over the house would mean a huge expansion of the illegal settlement of Kyriat Aba. Heavily armed soldiers from the Israeli army monitored the non-violent demonstration.
A court decision earlier in March is forcing the owner of the building to sell it to settlers. If the Israeli ministry of defence will approve the settlers moving in, the new outpost will make it possible for the settlement of Kiryat Arba to expand dramatically. The demonstrators wanted to raise awareness of this issue.
An ISM member attending the demonstration describes it as peaceful: “The Israeli army was there, with an ambulance, jeeps and many fully loaded guns. The demonstrators were showing signs in Arabic and English, and chanting against the occupation and the expanding settlements. It was really bizarre being so surrounded by soldiers, just because some people wanted to express their opinion in a peaceful way”.
