Tag: House Demolition - Page 8 - International Solidarity Movement

Umm al-Hiran, a village off the maps

2nd December 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron/al-Khalil team | occupied Palestine

Umm al-Hiran is a Bedouin village in the Negev desert in southern Israel. The village is surrounded by open landscape, the only structures in sight line. About a fifteen minute drive away is a small city called Hura, where the children from the village attend school. In 1956, Israel moved the people in the village from their original home in Wadi Zubala near Rahat to Umm al-Hiran. Approximately 1,000 people inhabit the village now, and it is one of the many unrecognized Bedouin villages throughout 48. The State of Israel is now planning to uproot this entire family once again so they can replace their homes with an illegal Jewish Israeli settlement that they want to call “Hiran”. And, this time, they are offering to send them to Hura, without any real plan for where they can live. The village does not intend to move there, and are now working on negotiations with Israel.

The infrastructure of the village is divided in two, split by a road. On the far side, one house was already demolished one to two weeks ago. They were given two days notice. That family is currently living in the houses of their neighbors. On November 22^nd, many activists joined the village to be present for the threat of demolition, which did not occur, and to this day has not yet happened.

construction begins right outside the buildings

Currently, there are bulldozers and trucks already at work building roadways and a water system surrounding the outside of the village.

Building waterways for the new Jewish Israeli settlement — Building waterways for the new illegal Jewish Israeli settlement

Any new structures that are put up are immediately knocked down. A couple of months ago, a new wall that the village built was demolished. A mother said that she has all the parts for a play area for her children to put up, but she is afraid to set it up because she knows that it will be quickly destroyed.

Members of the Bedouin village have been going to court and are speaking with the members of the Knesset in Jerusalem daily to form some sort of negotiation plan. At the moment, they still do not know what the end results of these talks will be. They are not requesting presence right now in the village, but those in solidarity are watching closely to be available when the need arises again. Miriam, a mother in the village said, “they tell us that it is not ours, that we came and took the land. But we did not come out of the air- we have been here always”.

For more on this story:

https://www.palestinecampaign.org/umm-al-hiran-demolition/

https://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=771498

http://www.alternativenews.org/index.php/headlines/265-israeli-forces-a-no-show-umm-al-hiran-s-demolition-delayed

Two Palestinians killed and several injured in Hebron

16th September 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

After a peaceful Eid holiday, violence surged in occupied Hebron today. Earlier today Israeli forces shot and killed Moussa Mohammed Khaddour, 18 and injured his fiancé Raghad Abdullah Abdullah Khaddour. The couple allegedly tried to ram settlers from the illegal israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, at the entrance of the settlement. Moussa Khaddour was killed at the scene, while Raghah Khaddour were severely injured and taken to a medical facility.

Elsewhere in Hebron, in the H2 neighborhood of Tel Rumeida, a young Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces, the Palestinians identity is still unknown. The young Palestinian man allegedly tried to stab an Israeli soldier near the Gilbert checkpoint close to an illegal settlement in Tel Rumeida. The Israeli soldier suffered a minor wound in the face and was taken to a medical facility. Information about the incident is scarce, but testimonies from witnesses hearing the episode indicate that it might have been a extrajudicial execution. Locals explained ISM how they first heard 3 shots, and several moments after, heard 2 more.

After the killing of the Palestinian in Tel Rumeida, the whole neighborhood was declared a closed military zone, and the checkpoints leading in and out of the area were zealed off, preventing Palestinians from entering or leaving the area. The closure of the Tel Rumeida neighborhood created an assembly of Palestinians outside of the Shuhada street checkpoint, wanting to pass the checkpoint. The assembly subsequently led to a confrontation with Israeli forces. Palestinian youth threw glass bottles and stones and the checkpoint, approximately twenty Israeli soldiers and borderpolice responded by invading the H1 area. The Israeli forces threw a dozen stun grenades and fired tear gas into the Bab’a’zawie area just outside Shuhada street checkpoint. During the two hour long confrontation, three Palestinians were hurt with rubber coated steel bullets fired by the Israeli forces.

Hours after the confrontations the checkpoints were still closed, blocking Palestinians from entering or leaving Tel Rumeida.

224 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis since october 2015. Some of the killed Palestinians tried to attack Israeli forces, while others were alleged to do so. In many of the cases Israeli forces have carried out collective punishments on the slain Palestinians families, by demolishing their houses, and hitherto leaving them homeless, actions illegal under the Geneva convention. Several cases have also raised suspicion of extrajudicial killings, where attackers have been killed when they did not pose an immediate threat or could have been arrested through non-lethal methods.

Call to action: Olive Harvest 2016

9th September 2016 | International Solidarity Movement | Ramallah, occupied Palestine

At a time of increasing settler violence in the West Bank, the International Solidarity Movement is issuing an urgent call for volunteers to participate in the 2016 olive-harvest on the invitation of Palestinian communities.

The olive tree, a national symbol for Palestinians, is an affirmation of Palestinians historical connection to their lands. Israeli Forces and settlers have tried in numerous occasions to disrupt this special relationsship between the Palestinians and this thousand-year old crop. Thousands of olive trees have been bulldozed, uprooted and burned by Israeli settlers and the military, but Palestinians farmers refuse to be intimidated – under the Israeli occupation harvesting has become more than a source of livelihood; it has become a form of resistance.

Despite efforts by Israeli settlers and soldiers to prevent them from accessing their land, Palestinian communities have remained steadfast in refusing to give up their olive harvest.

Palestinian farmer and internationals discussing picking permit with Israeli forces.

In solidarity with Palestinians farmers, ISM volunteers help with the olive harvest each year. If you join ISM over the olive harvest you will work with other ISM’ers in Palestinian olive groves especially exposed to violence and harassment from Israeli settlers and military. Our presence can make a big difference. It has been proven in the past to deter the number and severity of attacks as well as harassment, hence supporting the Palestinians universal right to be and work on their lands. International solidarity activists engage in non-violent intervention and documentation and this practical support enables many families to pick their olives. In addition, The olive harvest also provides a wonderful opportunity to spend time with Palestinian families in their olive groves and homes, there is nothing like sipping tea under a olive tree after a long days work.

The harvest will begin in start-October and run until mid-November. We request a minimum 2 week commitment from volunteers but stress that long-termers are needed as well. We kindly ask that volunteers start arriving in the first week of October, so we are prepared when the harvest begins.

Training

The ISM will be holding mandatory two day training sessions which will run weekly on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Please contact palreports@gmail.com for further information.

Ongoing campaigns

In addition to the olive harvest, there will be opportunities to participate in grass-roots, non-violent resistance in Palestine.

ISM maintains a constant presence in Hebron, where settler harassment and violence is a regular occurrence. Lately, Israeli army violence has escalated for Palestinians living in proximity to the illegal inner-city settlement. Israeli forces have used the Palestinian neighborhoods for military training. Harassment, humiliations and violence is an almost daily occurrence. A valuable part of the ISM’s work in Hebron is to monitor checkpoints near Palestinian schools. In the morning and afternoon schoolchildren have to pass through the checkpoints, which often lead to violent situations. From time to time young Palestinian boys throw stones on the occupying forces, which leads to collective punishment by the Israeli Forces as they lob dozens of teargas canisters and stun grenades, onto the schoolchildren. ISM is present at these checkpoints to document these extremely violent responses to boys throwing pepples, and to serve as an protective presence.

ISM also has an apartment in Nablus from where we work on a number of projects including resisting demolitions in various villages, and supporting Palestinians resisting settler theft of their lands. In addition to these activities, we participate in the weekly demonstration in Kafr Qaddum, where protesters face excessive force by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).

Come! Bear witness to the suffering, courage and generosity of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation.

Experiencing the situation for yourself is vital to adequately convey the reality of life in Palestine to your home communities and to re-frame the debate in a way that will expose Israel’s apartheid policies; creeping ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem as well as collective punishment and genocidal practices in Gaza.

In Solidarity,

ISM Palestine

As Israel steps up its demolition programme the EU logo gets lost in the rubble

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 — photo following the April demolitions in Umm al Khair
Photo credits: Mairéad Nic Gabhann

Israeli military destroys six homes in Umm Khaeyr

9th August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Umm Khaeyr village, occupied Palestine

On the morning of August 9, 2016, ten Israeli military jeeps each filled with five soldiers, arrived in the village of Umm Khaeyr. It was 6:30, and most people were still in bed. The soldiers made the people sit down, and did not let them move.

Then they destroyed six houses, three of which were built with funding by the European Union.
According to Bilal, one of the villagers who took us around, the homes were destroyed for allegedly having been built without permits. Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank are very rarely given permission to build homes, even though it is in their own land.

One of the houses was inhabited by an elderly woman and her children. They now live in a shack.

Shockingly, one of the homes had an EU sticker on it, it could not have been more clear that it was built with international assistance.

According to Bilal, the commander told him “everywhere I see this paper, I will demolish without reason”.

As traumatic as this demolition was for the community, it was not the only one they experienced. Such actions are terrible at any point in time, but especially during the winter, when it is cold outside.

One winter, Bilal asked the soldiers how will the women and children whom they made homeless survive.

The answer he heard was short and cruel.

“It is not our business”.

Bilal’s own house had been demolished two years ago.

Fuming, he told us “I worked for this house. The settlers are paid to live here”.

Israeli soldiers not only demolish people’s homes, but also last year destroyed an oven that the villagers use to make bread.

Umm Khaeyr is literally only meters away from the settlement of Carmel. We could see the homes just beside us, most of them nice looking buildings with red roofs. Most were in an area that is surrounded by barbed wire.

According to Bilal, the settlers sometimes come down from their red roofed homes and harass the villagers. In 2012, the settlers stole ten goats.

He described another incident when they came down from the settlement, and beat up some women- then accused the women of assaulting them. Fortunately, the villagers had a camera with them and filmed what took place. The soldiers released the women- and the settlers, although there was video evidence showing them committing assault- and then fined the women one thousand shekels.

While in the village, we saw two army helicopters fly overhead, and later heard a loud BOOM far off in the distance. The village is evidently close to a military training ground. Bilal said that sometimes the choppers land very close to people in another village, and their propellers cause dust and dirt to fly everywhere, including on people whom they land close by.

Despite the demolitions and harassment that they face on a regular basis, neither Bilal or the other villagers plan to give up. They will in most likelihood try to rebuild, even though they know the structures will probably be knocked down again sooner than later. Even as we speak, many other of the buildings in the village- homes as well as buildings where animals are kept- have been given papers that state their demolition is imminent also.

However, they will not be chased away.

“I will stay here, I will not leave this area. This is my land”.