Tag: Jenin

Israeli forces kill Palestinian youth in Yabad

3 October 2009

On Wednesday, 30 September 2009, the Israeli army murdered a Palestinian youth outside his school, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam high school in Yabad village, west of Jenin. This school had been closed from 2001-2006.

Around 11:35am, a military jeep with the license plate number 655474 left the main road to turn into the access road to the school where a group of male students gathered close to the main entrance of the school. The jeep was driving at a fast speed and targeted Foad Mahmoud Naiyf Turkuman (age 17) who was crouching down close to a small concrete wall. According to eye witnesses (one of his teachers and three of his friends), the jeep hit Foad directly and pushed him against the wall. Due to the impact, Foad was thrown 2.5 meters and fell to the ground in front of the vehicle. The driver of the jeep then drove his vehicle forward running two wheels over Foad’s chest and torso of the already injured youth a second time. He then stopped the engine and called for reinforcement, claiming mechanical failure. The driver of the jeep closed the gate of the school and did not allow any of the teachers’ cars to go out and take the injured student from the ground, or help him.

A second jeep with the license plate number 611041 arrived. The newly arrived soldiers threw tear gas at three friends of Foad’s standing nearby as well as into the school court yard to prevent anyone from coming to the scene. About 24 students were injured by the tear gas. Eventually, the second jeep towed the first one away to underline the claimed mechanical failure. While the media portrayed the event as an accident, the Palestinians clearly see it as a deliberate murder. Some witnesses documented the event with their mobile phone cameras.

When Foad’s brother, Mahdi Mahmoud Naiyf Turkuman ran to the scene to help his brother, the soldiers blocked his way. He injured his wrist when he slammed his hand against the jeep in an attempt to get through. As teachers and students tried to come to Foad’s rescue, saying that they will call an ambulance to take him to the hospital, the soldiers allegedly asked what was the problem and if anyone was injured!

Foad, who was seriously injured, was left unattended for 30 minutes because the army prohibited anyone from approaching. Finally, the teachers and a relative were allowed to rescue him and take him to Jenin hospital in a relative’s private car. He died from his injuries at the hospital an hour later. His brother Mahdi had to be sedated by injection since he witnessed the murder of his own brother and was in shock.

Eye witnesses mentioned that the soldiers obviously assumed that the boys were about to throw stones. Since the Israeli army is not supposed to use their guns on stone throwers, they seemed to have opted to use their jeep as a weapon instead.

Most of the students were in their classes, but a few were finishing up and going to their homes.
Foad’s family, who are refugees from Haifa since 1948, decided to file suit for murder against the Israeli army.

Background

The village of Yabad is surrounded by five illegal settlements, Mevo Dotan, Hermesh, Rehan, Shaqed, and Hinnanit. The Separation Wall is located west of Yabad village. Since 2003, the new road 585, located south of Yabad, is used primarily for military vehicles. Before that, the military used the old road. There is a checkpoint with 3 towers close to the school.

The Separation Wall, the Israeli-only road and the illegal settlements claimed 2,000 donums of land belonging to Yabad farmers. Since 2001, a total of 40% of Palestinian land has been lost throughout the West Bank.

One of the reasons why the military jeeps are coming to the area of the school is that the Israeli army is checking the water level for Yabad village once a month. Water is a serious issue here as everywhere else in the West Bank. Only 9% of the total available water resources are accessible to Palestinians, 91% are appropriated for Israeli use.

IDF jeep hits, kills Palestinian youth

Efrat Weiss | YNet News

30 September 2009

A 17-year-old Palestinian high school student was injured after being hit by an IDF jeep in the village of Yabed near Jenin, and died shortly later of his wounds.

The IDF said the youth was injured during a riot in the area, but his relatives claim he was intentionally run over.

The IDF said the incident occurred during a routine tour of soldiers and representatives of the Mekorot water company, meant to improve the infrastructure in the village.

A violent riot reportedly broke out, and residents began throwing stones at the force. The military vehicle drove backwards and fatally hit the youth. He was evacuated to hospital in Jenin, where he died of his wounds.

The IDF is investigating the circumstances of the incident.

Meanwhile, Palestinian sources in Jenin said the youth, Fouad Naif Turkman was hit by the IDF jeep intentionally. The youth’s uncle, Muhammad Naif, told Ynet, “The students that were with him told me the jeep hit him once at the entrance to the school, drove forward and then backed up again to hit him and run him over a second time on purpose.”

Naif said the soldiers left his nephew to bleed for 20 minutes. “They didn’t let the body be removed, which attests to their intention to hurt the boy,” he said.

The family is preparing to lay the youth to rest later in the day.

Palestinian youth run over by Israeli military jeep outside school in Jenin-area village

For Immediate Release:

30 September 2009: Palestinian youth run over by Israeli military jeep outside school in Jenin-area village.

At around 11am, Foad Mahmoud Naiyf Turkman, 17 years of age, was run over by a military jeep as he was standing outside of his high school.

Witnesses say that the students had finished school and were gathered outside Izz ad-Din al-Qassam high school in Yabad village, west of Jenin.

According to the uncle of Turkman, Mohammad Naiyf, who is a teacher in the school and witnessed the event,
“The jeep was driving fast towards a group of students. Foad was run over, the jeep backed up and drove over him a second time. Then the soldiers wouldn’t allow us to get Foad for about 15 minutes. ”

Turkman was taken to Jenin hospital and died an hour later from his injuries.

Yabad village is surrounded by several illegal settlements to the west and south; Mevo Dotan, Hermesh, Rehan, Shaqed, and Hinnanit. The Separation Wall is located west of Yabad village. Road 585, located south of Yabad is used primarily for military vehicles.

Nakba demonstration held in Aneen village

15 May 2009

Jenin residents demonstrate against the Apartheid Wall
Jenin residents demonstrate against the Apartheid Wall

In commemoration of the 61st year of al Nakba, residents from all over the Jenin area went to Aneen to demonstrate against the Apartheid Wall built on Palestinian land. About 300 woman, children, and men marched together in a peaceful protest towards a gate in the Wall, chanting in Arabic and English.

When the crowd reached the gate, the chanting increased and people fixed posters and Palestinian flags on the razor wire. Several speeches were held at the scene; amongst the speakers was the founder of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The non-violent demonstration went on for an hour. Then everyone walked back to the village without incident. Three military jeeps were parked by the gate even before the demonstration had started, and about a dozen soldiers were standing on the other side of the gate with their weapons pointed at the crowd initially.

Aneen is a village northwest of Jenin, with a population of 12,000 inhabitants. The Wall was built on Palestinian land in 2002 during the massacre at the Jenin refugee camp.

11,000 dunums of Aneen’s land were appropriated for construction of the Apartheid Wall Wall. Even more land is unreachable for the farmers, because it is situated on the other side of the wall. The Palestinians need permits to enter the gate to go to their land.

For the olive harvest last year, 1,600 farmers received permits. This year, only 30 farmers where granted a permit to go to their land, mainly elderly and often sick farmers who are not able to work their land themselves. Last year, two of the permits that were handed out to the villagers were in the name of individuals who had already died more than two years ago.

Even those who receive a permit are not sure that they will be able to pass the gate. The people who want to pass have to stand in line from 4 o clock in the morning to have a chance of passing since the gate is only open until 7 am. After that, they are closed until the afternoon.

The Israeli army only lets one person at a time pass the gate. There are four doors to be passed, the third door has electrical sensors so it alerts the Army if someone tries to pass the gate unattended.

Rummana village marks Land Day by planting trees near Israeli military base

On Land Day, the 30th of March, around 75 men, women, and children from Rummana village protested Israel’s Apartheid Wall and a nearby military base. Rummana, located in the Jenin region of the northern West Bank, has lost many dunums of farmland due to the construction of the military base.

Villagers, supported by international solidarity activists, held a demonstration about 200 meters away from the Wall. Demonstrators made speeches against the occupation and planted more than 20 olive trees near the Israeli military base. During this time, here was no army in sight so the villagers were able to continue their demonstration without repression from Israeli forces.

This demonstration was organized to commemorate Land Day. Land Day remembers the 1976 murder of six Palestinian demonstrators by Israeli forces in Galilee. Every year, Palestinian communities mark this day with activities and demonstrations to reclaim their land and to resist the continued Israeli occupation.