Tag: Israeli forces

In Pictures: al-Khalil on lockdown as Israeli settlers and tourists celebrate Pesach

14th April 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | al-Khalil (Hebron), occupied Palestine

Israeli Border Police occupy the area around the Shuhada Street checkpoint. The concrete barrier was also moved further up the road recenty by Israeli forces, extending their control in H1.

Since the evening of April 10th, 2017, Israeli forces have imposed increased restrictions on the Palestinians of al-Khalil as colonial settlers and Israeli tourists celebrate Pesach – or Passover – across the city. So far, homes have been occupied, checkpoints closed, and Palestinian children attacked with teargas during the week-long holiday. Preparations for the festival began early in the week as an increasing number of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles arrived in Hebron.

Since the beginning of the week, an increased number of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles have arrived in al-Khalil.
Israeli soldiers gather in al-Khalil

Consequently, Palestinians have faced increased delays and harrassment from soldiers, both the areas of H1, officially under full Palestinian civil and security control, and H2, which is under full Israeli control – the two areas into which al-Khalil has been divided since this Ibrahimi Mosque massacre of 1997 by a Jewish settler. The number of ID checks, bag searches, and body checks have increased across the city’s checkpoints as well as in the Old Town, as a result of Israeli military incursions, both day and night. Israeli forces also entered the homes of Palestinians living on Shuhada Street – for whom the only entry is through the rear of the house – before occupying the roofs of the houses for hours at a time.

An Israeli soldier aims his rifle at Palestinians making their way past the boys’ school
A Palestinian is subject to a body check by Israeli soldiers outside Mutannabi boys’ school, H2.
Israelis and colonial settlers celebrate outside the kindergarten on Shuhada street, while Palestinian children are made to pass through a military checkpoint every day on their way to school.
A group of Palestinian boys are questioned by Israeli Border Police in the souk, al-Khalil’s Old Town.

On Wednesday 12th April Israeli forces closed and barricaded the Ibrahimi mosque and the adjoining checkpoints, further restricting Palestinians’ rights to free movement and worship in and around the mosque. ISM activists were also informed by the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) that teargas was being fired at Palestinian children by Israeli Forces outside Saleymeh checkpoint. Whilst the checkpoint nearby the Ibrahimi Mosque had reopened for Friday Prayers, Palestinians continue to face long delays and harrassment at the hands of Israeli forces.

The checkpoint leading to the Ibrahimi Mosque was closed on Wednesday, an barricaded with an upturned table.
Palestinian residents are made to wait outside the Ibrahimi Mosque checkpoint following its reopening on Friday.

Meanwhile that day, Israeli forces gathered outside Shuhada checkpoint for over five hours, shutting down a whole road in H1 to allow (often heavily armed) Israeli settlers and tourists to pass through the area. Two military vehicles blocked the road, causing significant traffic congestion along Bab es-Sawiyah, while upwards of ten Israeli soldiers and fifteen Border Police filmed internationals and prevented Palestinians from passing through. Shuhada checkpoint leads to Shuhada Street, an area where Palestinian vehicles – including ambulances – are forbidden. Palestinians are only allowed to enter the street if they are numbered and registered as residents of the area.

Soldiers escort heavily-armed colonial settlers during an hours-long incursion into H1, near Shuhada Street.
Colonial settlers walk through H1 as part of the Pesach celebrations.
Armoured personel carriers block off roads in H1

On both Wednesday and Thursday, the Palestinian-owned shops surrounding the Ibrahimi Mosque were ordered to close. Further closures and roadblocks were also imposed by Israeli forces during several incursions by large groups of colonial settlers which passed through the souk in Hebron’s Old Town. Whilst these settler ‘tours’ happen every Saturday in al-Khalil, this week’s incursions follow similar events in occupied Palestine this week, most notably in occupied East Jerusalem where 385 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa.

A group of colonial settlers make their way through the Palestinian souk, escorted by heavily armed Israeli forces.

This year, Pesach is celebrated from the evening of Monday, April 10th, until the evening of Tuesday, April 18th. For Israeli settlers, the holiday this year has an additional significance in marking the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of Rabbi Moshe Levinger and followers of the Greater Israel movement – the first colonial settlers in al-Khalil – to the Park Hotel in 1967, posing as Swiss tourists. Today, around 700 colonial settlers live in the H2 area of al-Khalil and are accompanied by almost 1,500 Israeli soldiers as well as Border Police and Israeli civil police.

Palestinian assaulted and work tools confiscated during early morning raid by Israeli forces

9th April 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Kafr ad Dik, occupied Palestine

Shahar with his son Bilal (5-yo) and daughter Sahar (8-yo). Photo: ISM/Charlie Donnelly

At 2am on Wednesday morning, three intelligence vehicles and six military vehicles arrived at the building where Shaha Dharma lives with his family in Kafr ad Dik; Salfit municipality. For over two hours, Israeli forces raided, harassed, and searched the apartments of the three families living in the building.

Soldiers kicked and banged on the door with their rifles until Shahar Dharma went down the stairs to open it. He told the soldiers that his children were asleep, and that they should wait until they had been woken up as they would be scared if they saw the soldiers. However, Israeli forces pushed him aside and almost 60 soldiers poured into the building to search the three apartments.

Shahar’s daughter, Sahar, awoke to the sight of Israeli soldiers in her bedroom and froze in fear. Her father managed to enter the room and reassure her as she started to cry, whilst waking the other children – Bilal, 5, and Sahjar, 13 – to take them into the living room. Sahar held onto her father with a tight grip, and asked for her mother. Shahar had to remind his daughter that her mother passed away last year, but Sahar insisted: ‘I don’t care,’ she cried, ‘I want to be with my mother.’

Israeli forces spent two hours turning the apartment upside-down, searching every nook and cranny of the home. During the raid, the family’s mobile phones were confiscated whilst they were forced to stand in the living room and were not allowed to sit down. Shahar’s wife, who is eight-months pregnant, became sick and dizzy, whilst his mother who suffers from cancer was not allowed to go to the bathroom.

Notice left by Israeli forces on Shahar’s workshop. Photo: ISM/Charlie Donnelly

A paper, written in Arabic, was posted on the workshop door claiming intelligence had informed them that people in the area were aiding terrorists by constructing military equipment, and were a threat to Israel and the security in the area. The paper continued to say that people would not be harassed by Israeli forces, but would be left to live and work freely if they did not support ‘terrorists’. On the other hand, Israeli forces could not guarantee the safety of anyone who helped ‘terrorists’, nor the safety of their families and livelihoods. The locals claimed this was part of a ‘media operation’ by Israeli forces to claim a victory over ‘terrorism.’ But, as Shahar says, ‘If they had found anything illegal in my workshop I would already be in prison’.

Shahar refused to sign the receipt for over half an hour, partly because he could not read what it said, but also because it became clear that the Israeli soldiers had written that only one piece of equipment had been confiscated from his workshop. In fact, Israeli forces had confiscated various tools and materials from his workshop, including a welding torch, a drill, and a disk cutter, with a total worth of over 4,000 shekels. Eventually, Shahar was punched in his left eye by one of the soldiers and told that if he did not sign the receipt, they would arrest him: ‘What do you think?’ asked one of the Israeli soldiers, ‘Sign and stay with your children, or we can arrest you? You choice.’ After signing the receipt under duress, Shahar was taken outside and pushed against a jeep by two Israeli soldiers, who held up a sign in Hebrew whilst a third took a photograph. Finally, the captain of the Israeli forces told Shahar that if he reopened his workshop they would return with a bulldozer to demolish the building, for which the family would have to pay. The soldiers finally left the house approximately at 3:30 am.

Confiscation notice signed by Shahar under duress. Not all confiscated items were listed. Photo: ISM/Charlie Donnelly

Shahar does not know if he will ever get his property back. Having contacted the DCO (Distric Coordination Office) regarding the confiscation he was told that they would not help him as they were on holiday for Pesach for the next week.

The last time Shahar’s mother experienced a similar raid was ten years ago, during which four of her sons were detained. Two were released shortly after, but the other two men spent three years and four years in prison respectively.

The young Sahar has been unable to attend school or leave the house at all since that early morning, saying that she is ‘scared of the army’. Of the 25 people living in the building, sixteen of the residents are under the age of eighteen. Shahar sees this as just another form of ‘psychological warfare’ conducted every day against Palestinians by the occupying Israeli forces.

Israeli forces demolish Palestinian farm in Abu al-Ra’eesh, west of Salfit

5th April 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Abu al-Ra’eesh, occupied Palestine

Israeli forces demolish residential tents and livestock pens in Abu al-Ra’eesh

On the morning of April 5, 2017, the Israeli occupation forces demolished residential tents and six sheep pens in the area of Abu al-Ra’eesh, southwest of Dirbolut, west of Salfit.

The structures belonged to the Shheibar family and were located between the villages of Deir Balout and al-Lubban. They were forcefully removed by Israeli forces, who ordered the owner to remove the remaining structures within a week. According to the owner, Mohammad Shheibar, the demolition order was only issued three days ago.

 

2016 saw an average of 156 Palestinian structures a month demolished by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, displacing over 1,500 people and destroying the livelihoods of another 7,000. Meanwhile, building permits are frequently granted to the 550,000 colonial Israeli settlers in occupied West Bank, and Israeli authorities remain intent on expanding the nearby illegal settlement of Elqana.

 

Silwan Occupied

25th December 2016 | International Solidarity Movement |Huwarra team | occupied Palestine

Yusef Sheukhy is one out of many Palestinians in Silwan who has already suffered much from the Israeli presence in occupied East Jerusalem. Five of his children have spent time in Israeli jails; the most recent released on 27 May this year. And on Tuesday 29 November, he and his wife and children got brutality woken up at 3am by Israeli soldiers and workers who had arrived to demolish half of the family’s home.  According to Yusef Sheukhy, between 150 and 200 soldiers were surrounding the home and neighboring houses, blocking off the roads, as the workers began destroying his family home.

The Palestinians living in Silwan area of occupied East Jerusalem, Palestine, have faced much suffering from the Israeli military occupation. Daily encounters with violent illegal settlers, several killings and arrests by the Israeli forces, as well as an unnumbered amount of home demolitions.

More than 150 families in the East Jerusalem area of Silwan have recently been given demolition warnings by the Israeli authorities. The exact dates of the demolitions have yet to be revealed, and are very likely not to reach the Palestinians until (at the very best) a couple of days before. The families do not know where to go when their homes are destroyed, and many people are expecting to be homeless in the middle of winter.

Yusef Sheukhy was born and raised in the Old City in East Jerusalem, but when Israel began their illegal occupation of Palestine in 1967, the family was forced to leave the home that had belonged to them for generations. As many other families, they left the city and moved to the poor nearby village of Silwan. Several houses were empty and ready to move into, as many families that were originally living in Silwan had fled to Jordan, fearing for the future under Israeli military occupation. Today, Silwan families are once again being forced to leave their homes without any kind of justifications or proper alternatives provided.

Yusef Sheukhy and his sons built the second house as an extension to the original two years ago, in order to house the big family. Yusef Sheukhy and his wife have six boys and two girls and the three small rooms in the first house are not nearly enough to house a family of ten. His three youngest boys are already sharing a small room, and it is almost impossible to imagine how they will manage to fit in another six adult children in this small space.

Before building the house, Yusef Sheukhy made sure to obtain the necessary building permission from the Israeli authorities that are in control of the occupied city. But a couple of days before Tuesday, the Chief of Police in Jerusalem told the family that there were definite plans to demolish the house, as it was an “illegal construction”. Unfortunately, at this point Yusef Sheukhy was not able to find the permission papers that prove his right to having built the house, and the Israeli authorities did not give him the opportunity to get the papers reissued.

As the Chief of Police, on Monday 28, informed one of Yusef Sheukhy’s sons that the demolition would happen within the next 48 hours, Yusef Sheukhy contacted the Chief of Police in order to gain more time to, through his lawyer, receive a new copy of the original permit. So Yusef Sheukhy had a meeting with his lawyer Monday afternoon, and they would meet Tuesday morning at 8.30 to go through the process of regaining the papers. When Yusef Sheukhy told the Chief of Police that he was in the process of getting a new copy of the permit, he was relieved as the Chief of Police seemed to be willing to wait for this. “He said, “okay, if you can do it we will not do it”, Yusef Sheukhy told us.

But in the end, the Chief of Police gave the family no opportunity to prove their rights or object to the order, as the soldiers arrived without warning in the middle of the night only five hours before Yusef Sheukhy was meant to meet the lawyer and hopefully get his papers again.

But Yusef Sheukhy will not let the illegal occupiers succeed once more in dispossessing his family. He is determined to stand his ground: “We will rebuilt, don’t worry. We will not give up. We are suffering but we will never give up.

Apartheid and racist restrictions around Ibrahimi mosque

5th July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

During the last days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Israeli froces have implemented further restrictions in the area of the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron.) These restrictions deliberately and exclusively target Palestinians in attempts to further cleanse this area of any Palestinian presence.

After 27-year old Sarah Tarayra was gunned down and killed with her unborn baby by Israeli forces at the checkpoint at Ibrahimi Mosque on Friday, 1 July 2016, the checkpoint leading to Ibrahimi Mosque was blocked by Israeli forces for more than two hours. Due to this closure, large numbers of Palestinians on their way to the noon prayer of the last Friday of Ramadan, were stuck at the checkpoint, forced to wait till Israeli forces decided to open and allow the Palestinians to reach the mosque for prayer.

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Palestinian man detained and search before being denied entry while children play in the street

In the days following, Israeli forces at the three checkpoints leading to the area immediately around Ibrahimi Mosque implemented age-restrictions, barring access for any Palestinian between 15 and 30 years old. As these restrictive measures on Palestinians was enforced at all three checkpoints leading to the mosque, it effectively prohibited from anyone in this age group from reaching Ibrahimi Mosque, thus denying them their freedom of religion. In the last few days, a 10-year old Palestinian girl was arrested on settler childrens’ accusations and a Palestinian man beaten up by Israeli forces.

The restrictions though, were implemented not consequently at all times – leaving Palestinians without any possibility to know whether they’d be allowed to pass the checkpoint. Thus, any Palestinian in this age-group is at the mercy of the Israeli forces and the only way to find out whether they’d be allowed to reach the mosque for prayers would be to go to the checkpoint and try to pass. Palestinians have reported, that often certain soldiers at the checkpoints would strictly enforce the restrictions, while others would allow some people in this age group to pass. This uncertainty of whether one would be allowed to pass, leaves Palestinians without any possibility to plan or know whether they’d be allowed to pass, leaving them entirely in the dark about whether they’d be able to reach prayer. At times, even residents in this age-group were denied passage through the checkpoint, denying them to reach their own homes.

As these age-restrictions, as any other restrictions, are only enforced on Palestinians, they clearly illustrate further the apartheid-measures implemented by the Israeli forces, during the last few days especially around the Ibrahimi Mosque. But this is not just yet another illustration of the apartheid system in occupied al-Khalil, but also the continous denial of freedom of religion and movement for the Palestinians in attempts to ethnically cleanse the area of any Palestinian presence.