In an excessive use of lethal force, on Tuesday morning, 20 August 2013, Israeli occupation forces killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded 3 others, including 2 children, in Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.
Majd Mohammed Lahlouh al-Shahla (Photo by Ma’an News Agency)
According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 04:30 on Tuesday, 20 August 2013, Israeli forces in 12 military vehicles moved into Jenin refugee camp. They patrolled the streets and surrounded a house belonging to the family of Bassm al-Sa’di, a leader of Islamic Jihad. They then raided and searched the house. In the meantime, a number of Palestinian children and young men gathered and threw stones and empty bottles at the Israeli forces. Immediately, Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas canisters and sound bombs at the stone throwers. As a result, Majd Mohammed Lahlouh al-Shahla, 21, was seriously wounded by a live bullet to the chest. He was evacuated to Dr. Khalil Suleiman Hospital in Jenin, but medical efforts to save his life failed. According to medical sources, the bullet entered al-Shahla’s right armpit and settled in his heart. Additionally, another 3 civilians, including 2 children, were wounded:
1- ‘Alaa’ Jamal Abu Khalifa, 17, wounded by a live bullet to the side;
2- Kareem Subhi Abu Sbaih, 17, wounded by a live bullet to the side; and
3- Hadi Jamal Lahlouh, 23, wounded by a rubber-coated metal bullet to the chest.
PCHR expresses deep concern for this crime which reflects the continued use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in disregard for their lives.
PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions to put an end to such crimes and reiterates its call for the parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention 1949 to fulfill their obligations under Common Article 1; i.e., to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, and their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Article 85 of Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions.
15th August 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine
Update 19th August: The three young men from Qaddum had court in Salem today. One of them, Bashar, was released today, but the situation for the other two is less certain. They are currently still imprisoned and are reportedly facing charges which could sentence them to five or six months in jail.
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Shortly after the release of 26 prisoners by Israel on the evening of the 13th August, as part of the ‘peace’ negotiations, thirteen people were arrested in the West Bank during army night incursions including three youths from Kafr Qaddum. At 3am on the 14th of August, Israeli occupation forces raided three homes taking three youths away from their families, 22-year-old Bashar, 21-year-old Abraham and 17-year-old Omran. Although several people have been arrested during the demonstrations at Kafr Qaddum, this is the first time in a year that the army has arrested people from their homes.
Photo of arrested youth, Bashar (photo provided by his family)
International activists visited two of the three families who had loved ones ripped away from them in the night to fill the spaces in prisons, still warm from Israel’s prisoner release. Bashar’s family hurried to get dressed when the army pounded on the door and shouted at three in the morning. When the family answered the door, the army released two dogs into the house as the children were still sleeping. Four soldiers then followed into the house and demanded the family wake the children and all wait in one room. The army proceeded to ‘check’ the house scaring the children who were distraught after their brother’s arrest, unable to sleep the rest of the night. The family were not allowed to leave the room as the army proceeded up stairs as the father who was weak, ill and disabled was still sleeping and unable to move. The soldiers demanded he be woken, something the family members tried to prevent, especially when the dogs were brought upstairs. The family pleaded not to wake him as he was unable to move, but the army woke him and told him to stay, an act clearly intended simply to intimidate.
Meanwhile one soldier pointed a gun and aimed directly at Bashar and told him to ‘come here,’ then proceeded to ransack the cupboards and rooms. After half an hour they took Bashar and took him into one of the army jeeps where a Shabak agent confirmed Bashar’s identity before they took him out the jeep and walked him away from the village through the olive trees. The family was scared when this happened as they remembered Hamada a 17 year old Kafr Qaddum martyr from 2007. Hamada was arrested in a similar night raid, blind folded and bound, then was led through the olive tree field in a similar fashion before being shot first in the head and then in the leg. The incident was reported by the Israelis that Hamada was shot whilst trying to escape.
Photo of arrested minor, Omran (photo provided by his family)
Omran’s family home was raided also at 3am when at least two jeeps and 40-50 soldiers surrounded the house. The army entered the house straight away as the door to the house was unable to close properly. The family was gathered in one room after they had collected all their IDs. The younger children of the house were scared and could not stop shaking or crying. The soldiers demanded the sons say their names in turn until they identified 17 year old Omran. Omran was one of the four children the Israeli army previously pasted up leaflets about, containing the photographs of four children and issuing a threat that they will arrest them in their homes.
They questioned Omran whilst his father asked to know why they were detaining him. The army said that Omran makes problems for Israeli security and participates in the demonstrations. His father explained that Omran cleans the mosque and so could have been seen walking from the house to the mosque and back, which is in the route where the demonstration takes place. His family report that Omran is one of the best students in his class. His father pleaded with the army that his son is innocent, to which the army replied that if the investigation finds him innocent, then he will be let go. This investigation time has many of those arrested for at least 5-6 months. Omran would be considered a minor under Israeli civilian law as he is under 18. However, under Israeli military law, which is applied to Palestinians, anyone over the age of 12 is charged as an adult.
A list of names was spotted when the soldiers came and so the villagers of Kafr Qaddum fear and feel through experience that there will be other night raids soon. A year ago, the army raided arresting three people every week and on the 5th of April arrested twenty people in one night. When Bashar was arrested he shouted to his family as he was led away blindfolded and bound to ‘make your duty and go on the demonstration, that way I will be with you in Kafr Qaddum and not in prison.’
Palestinian families have many problems due to the occupation that affect their economic well-being. Poverty and unemployment are a big problem and so when families have their loved ones arrested this puts upon them a far greater strain as they attempt to find funds to pay legal costs in spite of having very little hope in the Israeli ‘justice’ system.
The interview was cut short when the army started shooting teargas at a group of youths on the outskirts of the village. The army pushed people further back into the village shooting teargas before retreating back up the hill at sunset. In spite of repeated army repression and collective punishment of the village, Kafr Qaddum has continued demonstrating against the closure of their historic road that was made accesible only for settlers.
12th August 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Anna, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine
Yesterday afternoon, we received a call from the village of Kafr Qaddum asking for our intervention because the Israeli soldiers had stormed the village and erected a flying checkpoint.
Road where Israeli army set up the flying checkpoint (Photo by ISM)
On the road to the village we got another call saying soldiers had left, but we decided to reach Kafr Qaddum to take some pictures and report what had happened.
We met one of the organizers of the Popular Committee who told us that at 2,30 pm, three Israeli army jeeps full of soldiers coming from the East, crossed the village and erected a flying checkpoint at the West entrance.
“To be honest that’s the alternative entrance – he says- as the historical and real access to Kafr Qaddum (whose name means “ancient agricultural village”) is the main road where Palestinians are denied access because of the Quedumim settlement.”
They stopped all cars, checking the people’s IDs and questioning them with the intention to intimidate and ask information about the shebabs involved in the protests. Some of the people were taken into the jeeps before being questioned.
After one hour the soldiers left and then residents held a demonstration to protest the army harassment. The army immediately arrived again but could not invade the village as youths had set up burning tires barricades across the road. During the demonstration, confrontations erupted and soldiers shot large amounts of tear gas canisters in all directions directly at the protesters.
Road after Palestinian youths erected burning tires barricades (Photo by ISM)
After a while, residents finished the protest and Israeli soldiers retreated from the area. One of the organizers stated, “We will stop the demonstration now but Kafr Qaddum won’t kneel down, we will keep on protesting and resisting against the Israeli oppression, and for the reopening of our street.”
12th August 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
On Sunday, 11/08/2013, at approximately 4 o’clock in the afternoon, two activists from Youth Against Settlements (YAS) were arrested. Twenty-one-year-old Abd AlMajeed Bassam Amro, and twenty-year-old Ali Talib Amro were playfully throwing olives at each other when an Israeli soldier came up to them and accused them of throwing stones at his colleague. The colleague in question initially denied having any knowledge of this, but after a brief period, many more soldiers came to the scene and the two youths were arrested and handed over to the police. The police interrogated the youths and rejected to even hear the testimony of eyewitnesses supporting them. The police found enough grounds to charge them based on the accusations of a single soldier, and Ali and Abd AlMajeed were sent to Atsion prison later that night.
Two members of the ISM, as well as many other locals were present as the incident unfolded. Ali and Abd AlMajeed chose to hold their ground and defend themselves against the soldier’s accusations, putting their trust in reasoning with the Israeli forces, hoping that the testimony of many eyewitnesses to the event would be enough to counter the claims of the soldier. Sadly, this was not the case. The soldier accusing the youths called for backup, and within a few minutes, 9 soldiers in total were present. They discussed the incident among themselves for a while and then decided to arrest the youths. The boys were blindfolded as they were led from the scene and handed over to the police.
The two members of the ISM who were present at the scene, immediately approached the police vehicle where Ali and Abd AlMajeed were being kept blindfolded, and demanded that their testimony as eyewitnesses in defense of the accused be heard. The presiding officer asked them to follow in a taxi to Aljabri police station where the youths were being taken for interrogation and ask at the gate to be admitted in to provide evidence.
At the gate of the police station, the eyewitnesses were made to wait for two and a half hours, while the investigating officer initially denied that the youths were being kept in the station. Eventually admitting that the boys were indeed being held there, the witnesses were then told to wait while he considered whether or not he needed to hear their testimony. After a while, the officer told them to go home and that he would contact them if needed, to which the eye witnesses pointed out that the interrogator did not know neither their names nor their phone numbers. Finally, the interrogator came out and told the eyewitnesses to go home, the interrogation was over. “Are you releasing them then?” was the reply of the eyewitnesses, to which the interrogator answered: “no, they’re going to prison.” When questioned as to why the other side of the story was not heard at all, the investigator answered that he required only the word of the soldiers in this case. Later that night the boys were transferred to one of the worst reputed jails in the West Bank, Atsion prison between Hebron and Bethlehem.
Unfortunately this kind of story is by no means a special case in occupied Palestine. Palestinians are tried under military law, granting them little or no rights. In fact the only thing the Israeli occupation court system needs in order to reach a conviction is the testimony of one eyewitness, in many cases the testimony of the very person making the accusation. Twenty-one-year-old Abd AlMajeed father is currently in prison following a conviction of 7 life sentences. He, like his son, was arrested on the testimony of the person accusing him. He had allegedly shot a gun at one of the 400 illegal settlers living in the Tel Rumeida area.
The arrest of the two YAS activists comes less than a week after Israeli soldiers were filmed assaulting a twelve-year-old boy and about 9 days after a seventy-one-year-old woman died because the occupation forces would not let the ambulance through Hebron’s many checkpoints. Neither of these incidents has had any consequences for the soldiers involved.
10th August 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Ni’lin, Occupied Palestine
Yesterday at around 1pm, Palestinians together with Israeli and international activists marched through the olive groves towards the annexation wall on Ni’lin’s land.
Protesters marching to the wall (Photo by ISM)
Demonstrators approached the area of the wall chanting slogans against Israel’s apartheid policies and the annexation of land for the illegal Israeli settlements. Israeli forces, located behind the wall, shot numerous amounts of tear gas canisters and sound bombs at people as they approached.
Demonstrators reaching the wall (Photo by ISM)Israeli forces shot multiple rounds of tear gas canisters at protesters (Photo by ISM)A Ni’lin resident flies the Palestinian flag as tear gas rains down (Photo by ISM)
After an hour of continuous shooting of tear gas canisters, Israeli forces crossed through the gate in the wall and chased protesters up the hill shooting more gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets.
In the distance, the black figure of an Israeli soldier who has come out from behind the wall in an attempt to intimidate protesters. Behind him are the illegal settlements (Photo by ISM)
The protest finished at around 3pm when Israeli forces retreated. Two Palestinian demonstrators needed medical treatment after being shot with rubber coated steel bullets.
For five years the people of Ni’lin have been demonstrating against the Apartheid Wall that has taken 2500 dunums of Ni’lin land.
