12th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Yesterday afternoon, two girls were arrested by Israeli forces in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). International human rights observers documenting the ungrounded arrest were harassed by settlers in front of the Israeli police station.
Two young school-girls, aged 14 and 16, were stopped by Israeli forces at one of the many checkpoints at Ibrahimi mosque. Israeli forces accused them of having a knife and walked them to the police station at the Ibrahimi mosque. Both of them were eventually released after being taken to the police station in the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba, which clearly illustrates that the arrest was based on a random accusation. Child arrests in the recent weeks have skyrocketed in al-Khalil, with children facing the threat of arrest at any given time of the day. The rights of Palestinian children in al-Khalil are continuously violated by the Israeli forces, with illegal arrests, ill-treatment during arrests and detentions as well as violent attacks with tear-gas, rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition on children on the increase.
One of the girls walked to the police car by Israeli forces
International observers, documenting the arrest, were accosted by settlers while waiting outside the police station to find out the names of the children. After about two hours of waiting, the infamous and violent settler Ofer called another group of settlers to come to the police station, amongst them the infamous and aggressive settler woman Anat Cohen. Immediately after her arrival, she confronted the international volunteers and stole a notebook from one of the internationals, attempting to hit her in the face and punch her several times.
In order to make sure that the international would not be able to get her notebook back, Anat Cohen put part of it in her mouth and chewed it up. Even though all of this happened right in front of the police station, about five soldiers and two police men watching everything happen refused to intervene, even when the internationals present repeatedly asked them to stop the attacks. Instead, after they allowed the settlers to leave with the stolen notebook, they told the international to ‘go to Syria’.
Anat Cohen eating the notebook
This again illustrates the total impunity settlers are granted by the Israeli forces for their actions, even if it involves internationals – who usually receive more protection under the law than do Palestinians.
11th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Last night, October 10th 2015, Israeli soldiers and settlers harassed and violently attacked families and a local activist group in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron).
Israeli soldiers took over the roof of a Palestinian kindergarten close to Qurtuba school, and started harassing families living close by. As large groups of settlers, their faces masked, gathered close to checkpoint 55 next to the illegal settlement of Beit Hadassah, Palestinian families were on the roof of their houses watching out for possible settler attacks. Many neighbourhoods in al-Khalil have seen a sharp increase in violent settler attacks in the last days, resulting in worried families staying together on the roofs of their houses in order to be able to know about attacks happening. Israeli soldiers invading the roof started screaming at Palestinian families, yelling at them to leave and go home, even though the families – in stark contrast to the Israeli soldiers invading private family homes – were on their own roofs. When Palestinians started documenting the harassment of the soldiers, they pointed their guns and flashlights at the families, including small children and kept yelling at them to ‘go home’. In total, the soldiers stayed on the roof of the kindergarten for about an hour, constantly harassing the families staying there.
The same evening, a group of about 50 settlers, armed with machine guns, surrounded the house of the local activist group Youth Against Settlement, hurling rocks at them. Israeli soldiers that arrived later on, invaded the house, searched every room, then forced everyone present into one room. One by one, everyone was brought out of that room, to be ‘shown’ to a group of settlers. One of the settler women then picked one of the youth out of the group, accusing him of attacking her. Soldiers arrested the youth and took him to the police station in the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba, where he was held for three hours before being released. Even though the settler accused him of an attack, she did not file a complaint at the police station, resulting in the release of the young man. Clearly, the accusation was false and not based on any evidence – still, the Palestinian youth was arrested on one settler woman’s accusation. Complaints by Youth Against Settlement members regarding stone-throwing by the settlers was completely ignored by both the Israeli army and the Israeli police.
Palestinian youth arrested by Israeli forces on settler accusation Photo credit: Youth Against Settlement
This is yet another illustration of the total control settlers have over the actions and choices of the army and the police, who will not just follow settlers’ orders, but also condone and enable any of their illegal and violent behavior, be it stone-throwing or attacks on Palestinians. Recently, settler attacks have become an almost everyday event, an everyday event that for Palestinians can result in beatings, arrests, and deaths. Meanwhile, every incident clearly reinforces the message that Palestinians are absolutely not protected or even respected by the Israeli forces.
Israeli forces raiding the house of Youth Against Settlement Photo credit: Youth Against Settlement
9th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza team | Gaza, occupied Palestine
UPDATE – 8pm: 8 martyrs and close to 100 persons injured at today’s demonstration in Shijaia
Palestinians demonstrating in GazaIsraeli forces as seen from GazaPalestinian man shot in the stomach by Israeli forcesInjured Palestinian carried to an ambulanceInjured Palestinian carried away
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UPDATE – as of 6 pm today: From Osama al Jaro, Public Relations head at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza: 6 dead, 60 injured, 11 injured under the age of 18. Israeli forces are using exploding bullets, fired at the chest and head.
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The situation in Gaza this Friday has taken an even more dramatic turn, when this morning a large group of young people were demonstrating in support of Jerusalem and against the occupation, near the border of the Strip, in Shishaia.
The unarmed rally was cowardly and violently attacked by Israeli snipers, killing at least four people and injuring more than forty. In some cases the gun shots were fired directly at the heads of the demonstrators.
Also in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, another rally was brutally repressed, this time two adolescents, 15 and 19 years old, were killed and the number of injured is around twelve.
This is cruelty towards the unarmed young people, exercising their right to protest against the brutal actions of the illegal Israeli occupation, as the Gaza Strip is surrounded by military turrets, tanks, drones and fences equipped with high technology. Therefore the Israeli soldiers, from their hidden and protected distance, set about to kill unarmed and defenseless Palestinian adolescents in cold blood – just for the pleasure of killing.
7th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Yesterday night, October 7th 2015, a large group of settlers harassed, insulted and physically assaulted Palestinian residents and internationals in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood of occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), injuring several.
Around 08:00 pm, more than 50 settlers from the illegal settlements within al-Khalil, most of them children and teenagers, accompanied by a few adults, marched around the Palestinian neighbourhood of Tel Rumeida, chanting insults and hate-speech, calling for the death of Arabs. The group was not only chanting racist abuse, but also demonstrated a high level of violence and aggression towards the Palestinian residents of the neighbourhood.
After marching through the streets loudly chanting, they attacked Palestinians right outside a shop, running towards them and beating them, and hurling rocks at Palestinian youth and internationals documenting these violent assaults. Instead of intervening, Israeli forces watched these attacks happen at first just to point their loaded guns at Palestinians that just a few seconds before were standing in a hail of stones, threatening to shoot. Two persons were injured with stones thrown by the settlers, a Palestinian youth in his hand and an international in his chest. In the meantime, the settlers openly picked up more stones and rocks from the ground, attacking families that opened their main gates to find out what the shouting was about. Again, instead of preventing or stopping attacks by the settlers, the army violently pushed Palestinians to move back into their homes, yelling at them. All complaints made by Palestinians against the attacks by the settlers were ignored by the soldiers. But not only the settlers, also the Israeli soldiers violently attacked several Palestinians and beat them.
Many families rushed into their homes upon hearing the yelling, locked their doors and then had to watch the settlers chanting abuse at them from behind their windows – protected only by the metal grids installed in the past due to frequent settler attacks. Soldiers, in the best case, are standing idly by. Last night, they were pointing their guns at children and women watching in fear from the roof of their houses – the one place farthest away from the settlers down on the street; and soldiers were banging on the door of Palestinian family homes, while the group of settlers are aggressively chanting and threatening the familieswhile standing right behind the soldiers.
When the march proceeded down the hill towards Shuhada checkpoint, where over two weeks ago the Israeli army ruthlessly gunned down and killed the Palestinian student Hadeel al-Hashlamoun, more than two dozen activists from Youth Against Settlement arrived to document the racist abuse and attacks against Palestinians. Israeli forces that by then finally arrived, immediately stopped the Palestinians and isolated them in an alley, preventing them from going anywhere. The group of settlers on the other hand was allowed to keep on chanting racist abuse and burned Palestinian flags, cheering and clapping. Israeli soldiers were getting their guns ready, facing the Palestinians that were clearly upset when their flags were being burned, but did not do anything to stop the flag-burning.
In order to allow for the greatest possible space for the settlers to move around and keep on chanting, Israeli forces pushed back the Palestinians, with one soldier threatening an international that he would ‘break his face’ if he didn’t move right away. Settler children and women also attempted to break cameras of internationals, blocking them from documenting the events and spit at them.
Infamous, aggressive settler Anat Cohen repeatedly attacked an international observer while she was standing right in front of a police car with two policemen inside, that did not even bother to get off the car and instead just kept watching from inside. Soldiers did at no point try to prevent Anat Cohen’s attacks and instead ordered the internationals to go back up the hill, which at that point was not safe with settlers still roaming the streets. The settler woman both tried to grab the international observer’s camera and attempt to punch her in the face without soldiers intervening. When the international observer was ordered by soldiers to move towards the Palestinians detained on the other side of the road, Anat Cohen pushed her as she was passing in front of the police car, and her daughter kicked the her in the stomach. Soldiers still did not intervene and refused to take a complaint about this attack, forcing her and another international to leave.
This incident again illustrates the power settlers hold over the Israeli army. Even when attacking Palestinians – or internationals that enjoy a greater protection than any Palestinian – settlers enjoy the protection of the Israeli army.
Last evening, most Palestinian families, did not go to sleep, staying up late scared of what might happen during the night. Unfortunately, this incident in al-Khalil is only a case in point in a long record of settler attacks, that recently have been escalating not only in al-Khalil, but throughout the occupied West Bank.
8th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | West Bank, occupied Palestine
Wednesday 7 October ’15 Surda Ramallah
Palestinian civilians joined by International solidarity activists will gather tonight, Wednesday 7, October ’15, at the home of the bereaved family of Muhannad Halabi, which is threatened by demolition in retaliation for the fatal stabbing of two Israeli settlers in the Old City Jerusalem on Saturday 3 October ’15.
Muhannad Halabi, who was a 19 year old student, was killed by the Israeli military at the scene of the stabbing. A home of his family in the village of Surda, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, was ransacked on Sunday morning and the family was violently attacked by the Israeli military and Muhannad’s uncle sustained a head wound requiring five stitches in the raid. Occupation forces are expected to carry out a revenge demolition of the family home.
Revenge demolitions of the houses of Palestinians accused of attacking Israelis, as a means of collective punishment, has been Israel’s long established practice. To further the retaliation, Muhannad’s body is being held by the Israeli government and refused return to his mother, who has been hospitalized three times due to grief and anxiety.
Following a series of new measures announced by Benjamin Netanyahu the retaliatory house demolitions have been moved forward. On October 6th two houses were blown up which were former homes of two Palestinians who carried out attacks against the Israelis last year.
Marie, an international activist from the US staying in the house stated: ‘Punishing a family for something that one of their members have done, is just not acceptable. This is illegal and should not happen in any country which respects human rights and considers itself democratic’.
‘We have to be present at this horrible and violent miscarriage of justice, whose only aim is to humiliate and make destitute even more innocent Palestinians living under a brutal Israeli occupation’, added Dezeray also from the United States.
