14 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Azzun, Occupied Palestine
Azzun is a village of 10,000 people in the West Bank, located near Route 55 and located between the Qarne Shomron, Ma’ale Shomeron and Alfe Menashe settlements. Unemployment stands at 49%. Azzun is surrounded by the Israeli military, which raids the village arresting youths almost every night. The village suffers from the Israeli Total Punishment policy, where villagers cannot access work outside Azzun and are specifically targeted for harassment by the Israeli military for detainment at check points. In 2012, there were 80 arrests, 98% of which were under 16 years of age. In the last six weeks, there have been 28 arrests. Sentences for stone throwing can range from between 8 to 14 years.
On February 10, between ten and twelve settlers, with an Israeli military escort, assaulted the eastern section of the village, using stones, tear gas and rubber bullets. On February 12 at 2AM, the Israeli military raided the village, arresting 5 youths. The youngest of which was only 12 years old and, as a result of being beaten by soldiers, is in shock and cannot speak or stand.
Today the Israeli military has closed 3 of the 5 roads that lead into the village, with the promise that if “problems” continue the remaining two will be closed. When asked if Azzun is resisting, “protests and activities are not possible here” one villager replied.
Team Nablus is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Nablus
15 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Two brothers, Hani and Hashem Al Azzeh, who have had enough of the harassment they face on a daily basis from the Israeli occupation forces and settlers, are taking legal action to remove a military tower placed on the roof of one of their houses in Tel Rumeida, Hebron.
Watch tower built above home
In 1998 the lives of the two brothers was turned upside down when the army arrived with a map of houses and said “We need your roof for security reasons.” There used to be a military tower behind the two houses, suddenly the army decided to put it on the roof. Despite filing petitions to the Israeli court at the time, the tower stayed on the roof and the family has endured fifteen years of violence and terror, including weapons being fired from the roof, water tanks poisoned and destroyed, and physical attacks on all members of the family including children. Both Hani and Hashem’s wives have been repeatedly assaulted when they were pregnant, leading to the loss of their unborn babies.
New military orders were issued to the family in June 2011, to place a military tower on the other house, as well as lights and cameras. Again the Al Azzeh family took legal action to protect themselves. The military orders were sent to the Prime Ministers Office in Ramallah. They were sent to the Civil Administration Ministry, Palestinian Legislative Council members and the Palestinian DCO. Also contacted were Louisa Morgantini amongst other members of the European Parliament, a legal delegation from Belgium and the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC). A complaint was made through a lawyer who argued the military tower must be removed because of the harassment to the Al Azzeh family.
On Sunday 3-2-2013, Hashem and Hani Al Azzeh, received a visit from the Palestinian and Israeli District Coordination Office(DCO), a representative from the Israeli court, and lawyers from the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee who represent the Al Azzeh family in this case. The group made a fact finding tour of the two family houses and the surrounding area. They asked who made the escalations in violence, the army or the settlers? The Al Azzeh family replied “The army and the settlers.” The court representative suggested putting the tower on Hashem’s land, where he has olive trees. Hashem refused saying “when the tower is put on my land next will be more settlers in caravans and then I will lose access to my land. You can remove the tower and put it on the roof of the settlement which is higher and only a couple of meters away giving the soldiers a better view.” Hashem told the group about how the settlers who live directly behind his house were building on the balcony above his garden and planting trees, to expand the settlement. He argued that Palestinian residents had a right to drive a car in Tel Rumeida which at the moment they are denied, and that checkpoint 56 at the end of Shuhada street should be removed or moved to a location that allowed Palestinians access to Tel Rumeida by car. Of the military commanders present Hashem commented that some of them quoted ‘security reasons’ for not doing this and some appeared clueless. During the tour the violent settler Baruch Marzel leaned over the balcony and shouted down “We need the tower to stay there for security reasons because the Arabs are terrorists. These Palestinians make problems.”
There is a long history of abuse and terror which the family has endured. During the second intifada soldiers fired “all kinds of weapons” from the roof into the Bab Al Zawia area of the city according to Hashem. The water tanks on the roof of Hani’s house had the pipes cut, were poisoned, had feaces dumped into them and were eventually destroyed. Hani’s family now has to pump its water from a reserve cistern underneath the house adding an unnecessary cost to a basic human requirement. They also have had to rig up a series of hoses through the window to the taps and boiler with to get access to their water.
A makeshift water system collects water from below the house
Soldiers were sometimes seen naked on the roof and at other times danced or played football with stones in the middle of the night. The soldiers stomping around in their boots at night is very loud, Hani’s family has not had an undisturbed nights sleep in fifteen years. Hashem says that one day Hani’s daughter was playing in the garden and a soldier from the tower urinated on her head. Settlers threw stones at the families and their houses from behind the tower and then hid from the cameras of the family with the soldiers telling them, “You cant film them because this is a closed military zone.” The roof is declared a closed military zone but settlers are allowed onto the roof to harass. They have broken windows forcing Hani and Hashem to replace glass windows with metal shutters.
Cameras and lights installed above the home by the military
The stress and anxiety of this long term abuse is enormous. Hani’s wife lost her pregnancy six times due to harassment and assault. Hashem’s wife has been assaulted by settlers twice while she was pregnant, losing the pregnancy both times. Hashem’s children have regularly been assaulted by settlers. One time a rock was put in his sons mouth and his head smashed against the floor. Hani’s wife recieved long term care from ‘Doctors without borders’, a psychologist from the UN and with the support of her family and has given birth to triplets.
After the tour, the Israeli court representative said that within 90 days the court will decide whether the tower will be removed or not. Hashem fears that the court will ask the army commanders if there is a security reason for the tower to stay and the commanders will of course say yes, despite there being none, and that the Israeli court will simply concur.
Hani is a security guard in the Hebron Municipality building and Hashem used to be an administrator in a UN medical clinic. Hashem lost his job in September 2011, after recieving the military orders in June 2011, because he was absent from work. Hashem had to go to Ramallah many times for meetings with lawyers, council members and the Civil Administration Ministry which coordinates between the Palestinian Authority and the Israelis. Hashem does not regret taking the time to fight for his home, his family and his rights, or losing his job to do so. One day a representative of the settlers came to Hashem’s house and offered him “twenty million dollars to leave”, he refused.
Hani and Hashem will go on resisting the illegal Israeli occupation of Tel Rumeida, until one day they can live with dignity and freedom. They will carry on quietly working on their case until the military tower on the roof of their house is taken away for ever.
Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)
12 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Sabastiya, Occupied Palestine
Sabastiya is an ancient city located just 10 km north of Nablus, West Bank. It contains Canaanite, Israelite, Hellenistic, Herodian, Roman and Byzantine ruins as well as the tomb of John the Baptiste. The winding city streets along with its history make Sabastiya an ideal place to visit. Yet, as charming and beautiful as the old city is, the nearby Israeli settlement of Shafi Shamrom is making lives of Sabastiya’s residents very difficult: settlers uprooted olive trees, introduced wild boars into the environment to damage the land, and most recently, sewage has started leaking from the settlement flooding Palestinian fields.
In 2001 settlers uprooted and destroyed around 1000 olive trees, substantially damaging the land of several families. In 2006 the army put up a fence in an attempt to confiscate the land where the trees had originally been. Sabastiya’s farmers acted: they pulled the fence down in a defiant act of resistance and since that time there have been no further attempts to install it again.Flooded Palestinian agricultural land
The most recent and disturbing action on the part of illegal settlers of Shafi Shamron is pumping their raw, untreated sewage directly onto Palestinian fields. As the sewage is absorbed into the land, olive and apricot trees are rendered diseased and, according to the residents, “poisoned”. The flow of human waste begins from a pipe on the perimeter of the settlement, creating a sort of reservoir which then runs through the adjacent Palestinian fields, compelling each subsequent land owner to create a canal in order to drain the sewage water on to his neighbors land and further away.
Residents of Sabastiya are currently bringing legal action against Shafi Shamron in order to stop the settlement from dumping its sewage on Palestinian lands. The malodorous sewage running through the fields must remind a regular visitor of non-violent protests of a very effective strategy used by the army; the “skunk” water, which is chemical liquid smelling of excrement commonly sprayed on protesters. Settlers are evidently using a similar technique to make local residents’ lives even more difficult. The Shali Shamron settlements sewage pipe
11 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, West Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine
Israeli occupation forces demolished a home near Idna, without warning or having issued a demolition order. The Family had their house destroyed one year ago.
At 10am Monday 11-2-2013 Israeli bulldozers arrived at Dir Baluda, near Idna and demolished the portacabin home that Mohammad Badoei Tomazi and his family had lived in for a year. Mohammad and his family of 8 including 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys lived in a portacabin donated to them by the UN because the Israeli army demolished their house last year.
Mohammed Tomazi stands next to his destroyed home
At that time the army destroyed 2 wells belonging to the family said to be 2000 years old. There was no demolition order on the house and no warning was given to the family.
Mohammed is a farmer who has lived here for 19 years, his family grows crops of wheat, fool, courgette, cucumbers and lemons in the valley. The hillsides are covered in olive trees. There is excellent land in the valley for agriculture. A relative, lawyer, Dr Raid Tomazi said “There is not much land left here in Idna. They dont want anyone to build in the area at all, so nobody can take care of his land.”
Abdel Fatah Ahmad Tomazi sits infront of her destroyed home
About the soldiers Raid Tomazi said “Soldiers have no respect for international organisations.” He went on to say the soldiers said “We know this is supported by nice people, but we dont care for for anybody. Them or you, we dont care.” Mohammed said of his home and livelihood “It doesnt affect their security at all.”
Amongst the rubble of two homes, next to their fridge standing in the open air, with the food still inside, Abdel Fatah Ahmad Tomazi, Mohammad’s wife, sat stunned. When asked what the family will do now Mohammad gave an exasperated laugh, Raid explained “The family will stay here, sleep here, they have nowhere to go. It is too cold. They will hope to receive a tent or something from the red cross. Two of the girls went to university this morning, they do not even know yet.” Two of Mohammads daughters go to Hebron University, one studying to be a teacher, the other geography.
At 5pm volunteers from the PRCS (Palestinian Red Crescent Society) Brought an emergency tent, again donated by the UN. Mohammad enthusiastically helped pitch the tent in the gathering gloom of the February evening. He will stay on his land and tend the crops, but the open ended valley was getting very cold by then, and instead of their home the family have an emergency tent with no heating, for shelter.
What remains of the Tomazi house
Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)
17 October 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Majd and Abdelateef’s family, waiting for the brothers to appear.
On Monday 15th October, Palestinian political prisoners Majd and Abdulateef Obeid appeared before a military court for a third time. Their lawyer argued that, as four international activists arrested at the same time with the same evidence had previously been freed, Majd and Abdelateef should be released also.
In advance of the hearing, the Obeid family and their lawyer had been optimistic that Abdelateef would be freed, as he has no previous convictions, and there are legal precedents for challenging the detention of Palestinians where international activists on the same charges have been freed. Majd, as he had a previous conviction under similar charges, was expected at worst to receive a light sentence.
However, the military judge said that “Majd and Abdelateef are not the same as you” – referring to the two international activists present in the court. It was therefore ruled that Majd and Abdelateef’s detention would continue, pending a further hearing at an unconfirmed date in Ofer military court.
The outcome now looks bleaker than previously expected, as it appears that the military court has rejected the argument that Palestinian prisoners should be treated the same as international prisoners. This reflects the apartheid nature of the Israeli system of ‘justice’.
Sign a petition demanding freedom for Majd and Abdelateef here.
Majd and Abdelateef Obeid’s case was due to be heard in court today, October 11th. However, Israeli military treatment of Palestinian lawyers at Salem court today led to strike action. Lawyers were protesting about being subjected to full searches when entering the military compound – Israeli lawyers also joined the strike in solidarity with their Palestinian colleagues.
Majd and Abdelateef arrived into the courtroom in handcuffs and leg shackles, wearing the same clothes that they were detained in three weeks ago. Their hearing went ahead without a lawyer present and they were informed that their detention would be extended until their next hearing date, which will be Monday 15th October.
International activists were initially prevented from entering the court, despite having prior permission. This is a typical tactic of the Israeli army to avoid international observation of the Israeli military justice system.
Please sign our petition highlighting the disparity of treatment between the international activists who were arrested and Majd and Abdelateef. The petition signatures will be presented to the judge at Monday’s hearing.
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Original article published 3 October 2012:
In advance of their hearing in military court tomorrow, Majd and Abdelateef Obeid’s mother Sahra Fayez Obeid has recounted to ISM the events of their arrest on the 21st September in the village of Kufr Qaddoum.
Neither Majd or Abdelateef attended the demonstration – they were both in their family home, which happens to be on the route of the demonstration. Abdelateef was eating lunch with his family, while Majd was asleep in the bedroom, when three Israeli Occupation Force soldiers attempted to enter the house with force. They pushed Sahra to the ground, forcing their way into the house. There were also a number of soldiers surrounding the property. Ignoring the pleas of the family to leave, they stated “we want the young men, not you”.
Finding Majd and Abdelateef, the soldiers grabbed them by the neck and marched them to an army jeep on the road outside. Both men were arrested in shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops. When the family followed the soldiers to the jeep, they were threatened and ordered back to their home at gunpoint. Faruq Obeid, the men’s father was told that if he did not leave, the soldiers would create an excuse to arrest him as well and keep him in jail.
The Obeid family have also been threatened that their home is classed as a Closed Military Zone during the weekly Friday demonstration in Kufr Qaddoum, and that male members of the family are at risk of arrest if they remain at home.
Majd and Abdelateef attended a five-minute military court hearing on the 30th of September, at which point their detention was extended and they were charged with endangering the lives of soldiers, throwing stones and with preventing the army from carrying out their military operations. Six soldiers testified against the two men, but the military presented no photographic evidence to back up their claims.
They await a second court hearing on the 4th of October, at which point their detention is likely to be extended once more, still without a conviction.
Majd, who is 20 years old, is a farmer and sweet-maker – as the olive harvest begins in Kufr Qaddoum, his absence will be felt greatly. Abdelateef is a 23 years old mechanic and was married just one week before his arrest – his new wife Maysam Nasek Obeid will attend the court hearing on 4th October, along with their mother Sahra and other family members.
Four international activists who were detained and arrested at the same time as Majd and Abdelateef were released unconditionally on the 30th September, following 48 hours in prison and 7 days under house arrest. They were detained under the exact same charges and “evidence”.
A three-tier justice system is applied by Israel in the territories that it occupies – favouring Israeli citizens first, international citizens second, whilst Palestinians face the harshest sentences, contrary to international human rights law and the Geneva Convention. The tactics of the Israeli military seem aimed at quashing resistance to the Israeli occupation in Kufr Qaddoum.
