Tag: Jenin

Israeli forces use excessive force killing Palestinian civilian and wounding 4 others, including 3 children, in Jenin refugee camp

18th September 2013 | Palestinian Centre for Human Rights | Jenin, Occupied Palestine

Islam al-Tubasi (Photo by MaanImages)
Islam al-Tubasi, killed in Jenin by Israeli soldiers. (Photo by MaanImages)

In an excessive use of lethal force, on Tuesday morning, 17 September 2013, Israeli occupation forces killed a Palestinian civilian and wounded 4 others, including 3 children, in Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.

According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) and the testimonies of the victim’s two brothers – Kamal, 34, and Mustafa, 23, at approximately 02:30 on Tuesday, 17 September 2013, Israeli forces in about 22 military vehicles moved into Jenin refugee camp, west of Jenin town. A number of young men gathered and threw stones at Israeli military vehicles. In response, Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated metal bullets and sound bombs. The clashes continued for a few hours, but no casualties were reported. At approximately 06:00, Israeli forces moved back to edges of the camp. Half an hour later, a special unit of Israeli forces backed with 4 military vehicles moved into the camp. They stationed in the center of the camp. Israeli soldiers who were in black military uniform raided 3-storey apartment building belonging to Hussam al-Tubasi. Israeli soldiers blew up the doors of the house and stepped up to a room on the roof where the owner’s sons, Islam, 20, and Mustafa, 23, live. Islam and Mustafa got out of their room to find out what was going on as they heard explosions. Immediately, Israeli soldiers kicked Mustafa, pushed him to the ground and handcuffed him. He saw Israeli soldiers pushing Islam into the room. Two Israeli soldiers then pulled Mustafa down to the second floor and held him in a bathroom. In the meantime, sounds of shooting were being heard on the roof. A few minutes, Israeli soldier stepped down taking Islam who was bleeding. They fired at his legs again in front of the building and took him.

Soon after, Israeli forces brought backups into the camp. A number of young men and children gathered and threw stones and home-made hand grenades at Israeli forces that were surrounding al-Tubassi’s house. Israeli soldiers opened fire indiscriminately. As a result, 4 civilians, including 3 children, were wounded:

  1. Saladin Na’el Ghazzawi, 23, wounded by a bullet to the right thigh;
  2. Mohammed Khaled Taleb, 12, wounded a by a bullet to the thigh;
  3. Abdul Rahman Taha Abu Sirriya, 12, wounded by a bullet to the right knee; and
  4. Mohammed Wa’el Ghazzawi, 16, wounded by a bullet to the right foot.

    5. In the afternoon, an ambulance of Palestine Red Crescent Society moved to Salem military post, northwest of Jenin, and received Islam’s body as he had be pronounced dead in an Israeli hospital. The body was taken to Jenin Hospital, where medical sources stated that the victim was hit by 2 live bullets to the abdomen and 2 ones to the legs.

    It should be noted that Tubassi is the third civilian killed in Jenin refugee camp in 4 weeks. On 20 August 2013, Israeli forces killed Majd Mohammed al-Shahla, 21, and wounded 3 others, including 17-year-old Kareem Subhi Abu Sbaih, who succumbed to his wound on 31 August 2013.

    PCHR is deeply concerned over this crime, which further proves the use of excessive force by Israeli forces against the Palestinian civilians in disregard for the civilians’ lives. Therefore, 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 High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to fulfill their obligations under 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 Protocol (I) Additional to the Geneva Conventions.

Israeli forces use excessive lethal force killing Palestinian civilian and wounding 3 others, including 2 children, in Jenin

20th August 2013 | Palestinian Centre for Human Rights | Jenin, Occupied Palestine

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)
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.

The Battle of Empty Stomachs: Khader Adnan highlights the consolation of solidarity

by Sylvia

24 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On the 17th of April, Palestinian political prisoners launched a mass hunger strike against the Israeli Prison Service’s (IPS) dismissal of the Fourth Geneva Convention and basic international law. The call for action comes on Palestinian Prisoners Day after a wave of high-profile hunger strikes evoked a global reaction.

Palestinian Support and Human Rights Association Addameer originally estimated that some 1,200 Palestinian prisoners would participate, along with approximately 2,300 others refusing meals in preparation for a wider campaign. Today, Israeli lawyers say the campaign has reached 3,000 participants.

The hunger striking prisoners’ demands include: an end to the IPS’s abusive use of isolation for “security” reasons, currently affecting 19 prisoners, some of whom have spent 10 years in isolation; an end to the detainment of Palestinians without charge or trial in administrative detention, under which 322 Palestinians are currently detained; a repeal of a series of punitive measures taken against Palestinian prisoners following the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, including the denial of family visits for all Gaza prisoners since 2007 and denial of access to university education since June 2011.

These demands were echoed yesterday when Khader Adnan visited the village of Tubas, where the relatives of political prisoners gathered in a tent outside the Municipal offices. Standing before a wall covered in the cherished photographs of absent men, Adnan spoke of his 66 day hunger strike, giving solace to worried parents and siblings:

“We have a message for those mothers; we honour you. If the doors to the prisons are closed, the door of God will always be open.”

The International Solidarity Movement accompanied members of Tubas Prisoners Club and Khader Adnan to visit families of prisoners in their homes. Mohamamad Taj, who is 42 years old, has been on hunger strike since March 15. His family has not been given permission to visit the prison and await news of his condition. Adnan’s visit brought strength and resolution, stressing the need for solidarity amongst prisoners with sight of a clear goal. He mentioned that prisoners are united despite political differences outside the prison walls.

Acts like these are being mirrored all over Palestine. The prisoners’ solidarity tent has been standing since Palestinian Prisoners Day and is welcome to visitors to express their support and write a message in the visitor book. The face of Hassan Safadi is present amongst the many photographs plastered to the tent’s walls. As he enters his 53rd day of hunger strike, his family are still being denied contact with him and his health condition is still unknown. As his struggle is replicated by some 3,000 prisoners, the international community stands in solidarity against Israel for the same goal.

FREE HASSAN SAFADI

FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS OF PALESTINE 

 

Sylvia is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Night of Israeli violence: Al Aqsa Mosque barricade, house demolition, gang beating, arrests

22 August 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Just after midnight on Monday, August 22  the Israeli military took the opportunity to trap 1500 Palestinian youth inside al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, blow up a house in Hebron (injuring 30 people in the ensuing riots), and arrested a member of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin.

In Jerusalem, thousands of Palestinians gathered to protest the Israeli escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip. Starting from the Bab Al ‘Amoud (Damscus Gate) area and marching toward Salah El Deen Street, the protesters suddenly found themselves under attack by Israeli soldiers after the latter claimed that a soldier had been stabbed. Israeli soldiers and border police closed off the Bab Al Amoud area and Salah El Deen Street and kidnapped several Palestinian youth who were taken to the Al Maskobiyya interrogation center, west of Jerusalem. They also ttacked Palestinian medics and ambulances in the area.

The protesters continued their march into the Old City, prompting hundreds of policemen to break into several homes and cause damage in the area. The protesters ended up inside al-Aqsa mosque, where policemen trapped them inside, closed off the mosque, placed ladders on walls surrounding the mosque, and provoked protesters and those who were simply there to pray and worship during the last ten holy days of Ramadan.

In another incident in Jenin, Israeli soldiers surrounded the Freedom Theater at 2 am, closed off the area, and arrested Mohammed Naghnaghiye, the security guard and technician of the theater. On the way out, they fired live ammunition to disperse the crowd of Palestinians who had gathered.

This is the third attack on the Freedom Theater by the Israeli military this month.

This comes following a daytime attack by a gang of 15 masked settlers of a 10 year old Palestinian boy near Ramallah, outside the settlement of Ramat Migron. The boy is in the hospital being treated for deep wounds.

Israeli military forces attack the freedom of theatre

13 August 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp has faced targeted repression by the Israeli Army in recent weeks.  At 3pm on August 6th, 2011, Israeli Occupation Forces arrested a Freedom Theatre actor at the Shave Shomeron checkpoint on his way from Ramallah to Jenin.  Rami Awni Hwayel, a 20 year old acting student, was returning to Jenin from Ramallah to visit with family over the weekend during Ramadan.  Rami’s acting colleagues and friends describe his arrest as “devastating” as Rami plays a main role in “Waiting for Godot” which is scheduled to perform in New York in early September.  Rami has so far been denied his right to see a lawyer, and his loved ones still have not been informed of where he is. Israel is citing ‘security’ concerns for their refusal to release his whereabouts or any other information concerning his arrest.

A member of the Jenin Freedom Theatre points to the location where Israeli armed military threw bricks at the theatre, vandalizing it.

Rami is the third member of the Freedom Theatre to be abducted by Israeli Occupation Forces in recent weeks.  In the early morning hours of July 27th, 2011, Head Technician Adnan Naghnaghiye and Chairperson Bilal Saadi were arrested by Israeli Occupation Forces.  The soldiers also caused damage to the theatre, smashing windows with bricks and destroying what they could from their position out in front of the building.  Night guard and technician student Ahmad Nasser Matahen was forced to remove his pants by IOF after being ordered out of the theatre.  The general manager of the theatre, British citizen Jacob Gough, and the co-founder, Jonathan Stanczak from Sweden, arrived to the theatre and attempted to call the Civil Administration to inform them that the army was attacking a cultural venue.  The person in charge hung up on their phone call.

The Freedom Theatre is a cultural centre which has operated in the north of the Occupied Palestinian West Bank since 2006.  The theatre aims to assist the youth of Jenin in coping with the stresses they face living under continued brutal Israeli military occupation.  It serves to provide a safe space where youth can express their emotions through the arts with the aim of constructing a free and healthy community.  The Freedom Theatre offers a drama workshop space, acting school, filmmaking and photography studio, library, talent campus, and various performances.

 

Windows smashed by bricks thrown by the Israeli military makes for just some of the damages caused.

The targeting by Israeli Occupation Forces of the Jenin Freedom Theatre and its community members is one of many instances clearly demonstrates the campaign of intimidation Israel has embarked on in the minds of Palestinians and international observers. Israel continues to repress with ruthless violence those who nonviolently oppose the illegitimate occupation of Palestine.

For more information on the Freedom Theatre, and to express your solidarity and support with the Freedom Theatre Community, please contact:

Jacob Gough, acting General manager at +972 (0)595348391, jacob@thefreedomtheatre.org

Jonatan Stanczak, co-founder of The Freedom Theatre at +46 (0)707908296 jonatan@thefreedomtheatre.org