Every Friday for the past two months now, there are pitched battles between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the Old City of Jerusalem.
But what makes these battles unique is that on one side are the Israeli soldiers and police, with their assault rifles, barricades, tear gas, water cannons, “skunk” machines and assorted weapons, and on the other side are Palestinians, unarmed, without even stones to throw at their Goliath. The only weapons these Palestinians carry with them are their prayer rugs.
Palestinians – men, women, youth, and elders – walk miles attempting to reach Al Aqsa Mosque, trying every gate. Each path is blocked by Israeli guns and barricades.
People prevented from entering Al Aqsa pray as close to the Mosque as possible
Palestinians hear the call to prayer, put down their prayer mats, and pray as close to the holy site as possible. Israeli soldiers and police then attack the worshippers.
The next week these same acts are repeated.
Israeli authorities have now issued demolition orders for the housing complex where the Imam of Al Aqsa, 84 year old Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, lives, in apparent collective punishment and retaliation for encouraging Muslims to pray at Al Aqsa, or as close as they can get.
Imam of Al Aqsa, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, and home demolition papers. photo credit: isramudallal on Instagram
For those who have criticised Palestinians for a lack of commitment to nonviolence, or otherwise hypothesized the end of nonviolent resistance among Palestinians, one need only follow the voice of the muezzin in the Old City of Jerusalem to see the creative, steadfast, courageous, living embodiments of peace and grace under pressure—the noble worshippers of Al Quds—who, week after week, face down an army with a prayer.
Muslims were prevented from entering Al Aqsa for Friday prayers on November, 17 2023. According to Palestinians in the Old City of Jerusalem, this is the sixth week in a row that the majority of people coming to pray have been denied entry.
Israeli border police denied many worshippers entry into Al Aqsa Mosque and pushed them at multiple gates and checkpoints in the Old City.
Israeli Border Police repeatedly told worshippers that they could not enter the Al Aqsa Mosque and to go back to their houses. One elderly man said, “Even we elders cannot enter?” And a woman asked, “Not even a woman can enter?” The Israeli Border Police repeatedly said, “Go. Go. Everybody go.” The Border Police supervisor reiterated to his subordinates, “Everybody coming, just tell them to go.”
A Palestinian just denied entry explains the situation, “We try. We do the best to enter. We are not allowed because we are Arab, but we will do our best.”
Worshippers began to do their jum’ah (communal Friday prayers that are considered a religious obligation in Islam) as close to the Muslim Holy Site as they could get, but Israeli police attacked them there too as they kneeled in prayer.
The loudspeaker from inside the Mosque can be heard reciting a Hadith, a saying of the Prophet Muhammad, familiar to many Palestinians experiencing oppression. According to tradition, Muhammad stated, “Help your brother whether he is an oppressor or an oppressed.” A man responded, “I will help him if he is oppressed but if he is an oppressor, how shall I help him?” The Prophet said, “By preventing him from oppressing, for that is how to help him.”
Al Aqsa Mosque is at the heart of the current escalation, termed a war by Israelis and genocide and ethnic cleansing, a continuation of the Nakba begun in 1948 by Palestinians. Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza have regularly been denied entry into Al Aqsa, but now Israeli border police are denying more and more worshippers entry, even those with the “right” documents.
Israeli Border Police deny access to Al Aqsa Mosque
Israeli border police pushed worshippers attempting to enter Al Aqsa. Somebody cried out חילול השiם (chillul hashem) to those barring entrance to the Muslim Holy Site. Chillul hashem is Hebrew for desecrating the Name of God. In Judaism, Jews are supposed to be representatives of God and God’s moral code, so when a Jewish person acts in a shameful, oppressive manner, they have represented God poorly, thus desecrating God’s name. The concept of chillul hashem is prevalent in the Torah and Tanakh and is often referenced by Jewish people as a reason to uphold the highest moral standard.
In 1994 a settler from the Kach terrorist group opened fire on worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Kahlil (Hebron) killing 29 people and injuring about 150. Afterwards, the mosque was divided in half, with half staying open to Palestinian worshippers and the other half turned into a synagogue, closed to Palestinians.
Violent extremist Israeli settlers have made no secret of their plans to destroy Al Aqsa Mosque and the Haram-e-Sharif on which it rests, and replace it with a third Jewish Temple.
There has been a decentralized leaderless movement to defend Al Aqsa through sit-ins at the historic Mosque. But many of these Mosque protectors have been blacklisted and are now barred from entry.
In this episode, we share an interview with Um Ramadan. We met her at a demonstration outside the district court in Jerusalem in December 2022. Alongside other mothers, she is protesting her son’s imprisonment. In this moving interview, she talks about the conditions her son is kept in and how mother’s are organising to support each other. Please note there are references to suicide and abuse.
The East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah has been an important part of the struggle against colonisation in Palestine. The residents of Sheikh Jarrah are refugees, or descendants of refugees, who were forced from their homes by the ethnic cleansing carried out by Zionist Forces in 1947-9. This ethnic cleansing is known by Palestinians as the Nakba (or catastrophe).
After 1948, East Jerusalem was under Jordanian control – and the Jordanian government struck a deal with the UN to settle Palestinian refugee families who were living in Jordan in Sheikh Jarrah. In 1967 the Israeli military militarily occupied East Jerusalem, and since then the Israeli state and settler movements have been trying to evict the Palestinian residents – both through legal processes and by violence.
Many families have already been forcibly evicted from the neighbourhood, and replaced by settlers. The community has resisted by holding sit ins outside the threatened homes, by mobilising, international solidarity and by building a culture of solidarity.
In 2020 Israeli courts ordered the eviction of more families from Sheikh Jarrah. And in 2021 the harassment and violence against people in Sheikh Jarrah helped trigger an uprising across Palestine.
In 2022 right wing politician Itamar Ben Gvir – the minister of national security – led a mass of settlers to the neighbourhood backed up by cops. The settlers attacked the community as the police looked on. Ben gvir famously shot his gun in the air that day, as Palestinians defended themselves by throwing stones. These kind of provocations are routine in sheikh jarrah – and that’s the context that led to um Ramadans son’s arrest.
We would like to apologise about the sound quality of this interview, due to its impromptu nature and lack of equipment with us! But we wanted Um Ramadan’s story to be shared. A big thank you to Noah for translating.
[Intro music] Hey, welcome to international solidarity movement [translation into Arabic]
Nicole 00:18
Welcome to the International Solidarity Movement podcast. We hope you’ve enjoyed our episodes so far. Today is April 17, which is the Palestinian Prisoners Day. We hope you’ve already listened to our interview with Addameer who are doing incredible work to support Palestinian prisoners. We wanted to share another interview today that has a prison focus. So this is an interview with Um Ramadan, we met her at a demonstration outside the District Court in Jerusalem. And, alongside other mothers, she was protesting her son’s imprisonment. It’s a really moving interview, she talks about the conditions her son is kept in ,and how different mothers are organising together to support each other. And I just want to flag that there are references to suicide and abuse. So for a bit of context the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah has been an important part of the struggle against colonisation in Palestine, the residents of Sheikh Jarrah are refugees, or descendants of refugees, who were forced from their homes by the ethnic cleansing carried out by Zionist forces in 1947 to 1949, this ethnic cleansing is known by Palestinians as the Nakba, or catastrophe. After 1948, East Jerusalem was under Jordanian control, and the Jordanian government struck a deal through the United Nations to settle Palestinian refugee families who were living in Jordan in Sheikh Jarrah. And then in 1967, the Israeli military occupied East Jerusalem, and since then, the Israeli state and settler movements have been trying to evict the Palestinian residents, both through legal processes and by violence. Many families have already been forcibly evicted from the neighbourhood and replaced by settlers. The community has resisted fiercely, you know, by holding sit-ins outside threatened homes, by mobilising international solidarity, and just building you know, a general culture of solidarity. In 2020, the Israeli courts ordered the eviction of more families from Sheikh Jarrah, and in 2021 the harassment and violence against people in Sheikh Jarrah helped trigger an uprising across Palestine. So yeah, we just wanted to give this context that it’s a real hotbed of struggle. And then in 2022, right wing politician, Ben Gvir, the Minister of National Security led a mass of settlers to the neighbourhood, backed up by police. The settlers attacked the community as the police looked on. And Ben Gvir famously shot his gun in the air that day as Palestinians defended themselves by throwing stones. These kinds of like provocations are routine, and that’s the context that lead to Um Ramadan’s son’s arrest. We’d really like to apologise about the sound quality of the interview. It was kind of like an impromptu thing, and we didn’t have our proper recording equipment with us. We just had to use phones. But we really felt it was important to share her story and share her son’s story. I want to say a big thank you to Noah for translating for us and once again, please find all the resources in the show notes
Um Ramadan 03:12
[Speaks Arabic]
Translation 03:17
Today we had a demonstration against the arrest of the Palestinian children by the Israeli court.
Um Ramadan 03:25
[Speaks Arabic]
Translation 03:34
We went to tell the Israeli courts that what they’re doing with our children is not justice.
Um Ramadan /Noah 03:43
We are the ones who are being attacked [Um Ramadan speaks Arabic], the people who attacked us have been set free
Um Ramadan 03:52
[Speaks Arabic]
Tom 03:58
And we demand that justice should see with both eyes and not just one eye
Um Ramadan 04:12
[Speaks Arabic]
Tom 04:14
They’re saying that that if things continue like this, there will be a popular uprising. Because they’re not being respected by the Israeli authorities.
Um Ramadan 04:28
[Speaks Arabic]
Tom 04:37
The settlers are coming here and throwing rocks on their cars and their houses, and how are they supposed to defend themselves?
Um Ramadan 04:44
[Speaks Arabic]
Tom 04:46
The police and the military were here and they just did nothing. [Um Ramadan speaks Arabic]. So her son saw that there were throwing rocks on them, and he went out into the street [Um Ramadan speaks Arabic].
Um Ramadan 05:02
[Speaks Arabic]
Tom 05:05
So so her son, by himself, went out into the streets and was arrested while 50 people at least were throwing rocks on her house, and they were not arrested.
Um Ramadan 05:24
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 05:29
Okay, so now the Israeli courts are demanding five to eight years imprisonment, which she says is completely unprecedented.
Um Ramadan 05:45
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 05:50
Why is this happening? She says, because the extremists are now the ones who are running the Israeli justice system. And as you know, we were just talking about Ben Gvir, who set up his parliamentary office right here and is now going to be the Minister of Internal Defence.
Um Ramadan 06:10
[Speaks Arabic].
Um Ramadan /Noah 06:32
So her son went through a terrible series of events after he was arrested. He was taken to small cells – very small – where, where he was basically tortured. They didn’t let him sleep, they hit him. She said that he told her things, you know, she couldn’t imagine spending even one day like that but he spent – [how many days?] – 29 days.
Um Ramadan 07:00
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 07:00
Okay, so he’s been in prison now for 11 months, and out of that, 29 days were in these these, these small like, you know, cells- like a holding cell which is basically torture.
Um Ramadan 07:13
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 07:17
And he also tried to commit suicide.
Um Ramadan 07:31
[Speaks Arabic].
Um Ramadan /Noah 07:36
She is saying that this is the same thing [that] happened to everybody [who] was arrested in this area. And then then I said how many people are we talking about? So she said: Well they’re six from this neighborhood, but if you start looking at the nearby neighborhoods as well, then it’s it’s probably much more.
Tom 07:55
How many people live in the neighborhood?Second speaker: First of all, one day, one day it was four of my son[s] [that were] in the jail. Four, in jail [how many people?], about 200. [Nicole – and what are the conditions like in prison]?
Um Ramadan 08:23
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 08:25
Now they’re a little bit better They’re allowed to visit him. But for those 29 days when he was in a holding cell, they couldn’t see him.
Tom 08:45
She says that her son has changed because of these 29 days that he spent – during which they don’t really know what happened to him. It’s clear that he was not given enough, enough food to eat, and that he was beaten, and didn’t have the ability to sleep. And now that she can see him she makes sure to know every single day what it is that’s been happening to him so that she can, you know, somehow try to control this.
Um Ramadan 09:28
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 09:34
She says if they can see the brutality of the Israeli police and soldiers here, right in front of the house. But when they’re by themselves in an area – which isn’t accessible to everybody – she can only you know, she can’t imagine what it is that they actually do.
Another speaker 09:59
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 10:06
Okay, so he says, one of the things that he knows that happened, is that his son was was made to sit with his hands tied behind his back and his eyes covered for about 14 hours. And then he was taken to see a judge with his eyes still covered and then somebody said: Oh, but he hasn’t eaten. So they gave him like, you know, nice food to eat. And then just as he was just about to begin eating, they kicked away the table with all the food.
Nicole 10:43
How old are all the children?
Another speaker 10:45
Now he is 15 years old?
Nicole 10:47
15
Um Ramadan 10:47
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 10:50
Her son was sentenced to 30 months in prison for throwing rocks.
Um Ramadan 10:59
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 11:03
Meanwhile, the settlers who were here throwing rocks were – were not even arrested. I was here at one of these events, they were throwing rocks for about 5 hours.
Um Ramadan 11:15
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 11:17
Her son just celebrated his 18th birthday in prison.
Um Ramadan 11:26
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 11:31
And on the 26th of the month her son will be twenty in jail.
Um Ramadan 11:35
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 11:36
She’s going to throw a party in prison.
Nicole 11:38
How are they organising together, the mothers?
Tom 11:44
[Speaks Arabic].
Um Ramadan 11:49
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 11:51
They meet together, they talk together they go visit their children together, they have a WhatsApp group.
Um Ramadan 11:58
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 12:01
they have the same pains but still
Um Ramadan 12:03
a little confused I’ve seen that whole ad for has
Translation 12:06
And they have the same pains. They have good relations because they understand each other’s feelings.
Um Ramadan 12:13
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 12:31
Okay yeah there is a bigger group that involves women – mothers from different neighborhoods. And this larger group, they visit together, I think they might have to coordinate their visiting hours. So there is some kind of contact – you know the split between different Palestinian neighborhoods inside Jerusalem is quite strong, and it’s you know, one of the characteristics of the occupation. She is saying that in this country, there are no rights for Palestinian children or women. And they saw on television how a four year old was either arrested or actually was being summoned to the police station. He given a summons… for a four year old. So there is no rights.
Another speaker 13:36
His father when he [went to the] police station he take bamba with him – because he’s a child.
Tom 13:42
And are the prisoners able to organize when they’re in prison? Can they organize together? [Speaks Arabic].
Um Ramadan 13:52
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 13:56
According to what her son says yes, they have some kind of organisation.
Um Ramadan 14:06
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 14:11
She’s saying that even if he has some kind of organization, it’s still prison.
Tom 14:21
Are there things that people – that comrades – can do outside of Palestine in solidarity?
Um Ramadan 15:04
[Speaks Arabic]. [Speaks Arabic].
Translation 15:09
She’s saying this – the occupation is claiming that it’s a democratic country. And you who have now seen the reality – and you see sometimes pictures… And she’s talking about a specific case. Where an older man was beaten in Al-Aqsa for no reason by a policeman. So, she would like these pictures to be spread, and the stories about – you know – the truth of what is happening to be, you know, well known.
Nicole 15:39
Is there anything else you would like to share
Translation 15:43
[Speaks Arabic].
Um Ramadan 15:48
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 15:53
They demand that their human rights be respected and you know, take shape in you know reality here.
Nicole 16:05
When will their children be sentenced?
Um Ramadan 16:10
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 16:16
Her son will be sentenced on the eighth of January
Um Ramadan 16:22
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 16:23
And they’re asking for five to eight years in prison.
Um Ramadan 16:30
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 16:32
So now he’s 20, and he might be out when he’s 28.
Um Ramadan 16:35
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 16:35
She’s saying, you know when he went in he was, you know, just a child playing in the neighborhood and now he’s gonna come out and he’s gonna be like you know a middle aged man. And she has no idea what, you know, what he’s going to have in his head when he comes out.
Um Ramadan 16:43
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 16:43
She’s saying, you know when he went in he was, you know, just a child playing in the neighborhood and now he’s gonna come out and he’s gonna be like you know a middle aged man. And she has no idea what, you know, what he’s going to have in his head when he comes out.
Um Ramadan 17:05
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 17:06
Maybe now he’s making plans, but she has no idea what he’s making plans for.
Tom 17:12
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 17:17
Maybe now he’s making plans. And she has no idea what he’s making plans for.
Tom 17:27
thank you so much. We hope for freedom for all of them, all of the prisoners
3rd November | Wafa Aludaini | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
Gazans march in protest on the 102nd anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
On the 102nd anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, churches rang bells and mosques called for prayer at the same time, while tens of thousands of Palestinians entered the buffer zone this Friday between the besieged Gaza Strip and Israel in the massive weekly Great March of Return protest.
This 81st week of protests was called “Down with the Balfour Declaration!”. It marks the 102nd anniversary of the British declaration announcing support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. Palestinian masses now are calling on Britain to not only apologize but also rectify this major historical disregard for Palestinian self determination and statehood.
Palestinian children at the 81st week of the Great March of Return in Gaza.
Ali Salim, 55, stated that the Balfour Declaration, in fact, is the cause and source of all the Palestinian tragedies and sufferings since then: “The 102nd anniversary means 102 years of displacement, expulsion, massacres, and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.”
Khawla Khalil added, “We came here today to confirm our rights, and our rejection of Balfour! These days, we are experiencing the declaration through Trump’s Deal of the Century, when he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”
Palestinian women holds a key, symbolizing the right of return for Palestinian refugees, at a protest in Gaza on Friday, November 1st.
Duaa Abdellateef — spokesperson for the Women’s Committee adjunct to the Committee for the Great Return March — said the weekly marches will continue until Palestinian rights and demands are met.
“We will defeat all the local and international conspiracies that aim at liquidating our Palestinian national cause, including the ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem, disregard of the internationally recognized right of return, and the proposed Israeli annexation of the West Bank.”
On Thursday afternoon, October 31st, mosques in Gaza called for prayers at precisely the same time local churches rang their bells, marking the 102nd anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. The public statement was intended to show all faiths in Gaza renewing their rejection of the British empire’s edict. The coordinated actions by mosques and churches across Gaza were organized by the Great Return March’s higher committee.
One of the churches in Gaza which took part in the coordinated actions for the 102nd anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
Wafa Aludaini is a journalist and activist in Gaza who writes a weekly column for ISM on the Great March of Return.
August 11 | International Solidarity Movement | Old City, East Jerusalem, occupied Palestine
Hundreds of settlers invaded the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem’s Old City this morning after Israeli soldiers used tear gas, sound grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets to clear out Muslim worshippers.
61 Palestinians were injured and 15 hospitalised when soldiers and police let loose on tens of thousands of Muslims celebrating the first day of Eid al-Adha.
Just minutes after the morning prayer, the peaceful scene descended into chaos as men and women were beaten by riot police and children ran screaming from tear gas and sound grenades.
A Palestinian from East Jerusalem who witnessed the violence told ISM that he saw an elderly man hit by soldiers, and three other men beaten and covered in blood before being arrested.
The Red Crescent reported that one man suffered a broken jaw while others were treated for rubber-coated steel bullet wounds and burns from exploding sound grenades. ISmers also saw two men arrested inside the Lion’s gate.
Muslims pray at the Lion’s Gate entrance in Jerusalem’s Old City
After many Palestinians fled from the compound, 1,700 settlers in total were given permission to enter – the second time this year during a Muslim holiday. They were escorted by heavily armed soldiers in smaller groups of 100-200. The ultra-nationalists claimed to be seeking entry to commemorate Tisha B’Av, a Jewish holiday, which coincided this year with Eid al-Adha.
However Palestinians believe that the invasion was entirely politically motivated. “It’s a political issue and nothing to do with religion,” the East Jerusalem resident told ISM. “They want to show who has the power, who are the ones in charge. Don’t forget, it’s election time and these fanatics are very important to win over for the Israeli government.”
Hundreds of settlers were waiting by the Dung Gate entrance of the compound near the Western Wall from around 8am, chanting over the bangs of sound grenades exploding inside.
The number of settlers permitted to enter was 17% more than on Tisha B’Av last year when the Jewish holiday did not coincide with Eid al-Adha.
Ultra-nationalist Jews wait at the Dung Gate to enter Al-Aqsa compoundUltra-nationalist Jews wait at the Dung Gate to enter Al-Aqsa compoundUltra-nationalist Jews praying in Jerusalem Muslim Quarter
They continued their provocations for the rest of the day, trying repeatedly to enter the Al-Aqsa compound through different gates. As late at 8.30pm, ISMers saw the fanatics holding a ceremony by the Lion’s Gate entrance to Al-Aqsa. A local told ISM that this display has never happened before. “There’s no limits, no limits to what they are doing today,” he said.
The extremist groups had released a call out earlier this week to raid the compound on Sunday.
In an attempt to prevent the settler invasion the Muslim Waqf – the authority that controls the compound – had delayed the prayer by an hour and encouraged worshippers to stay in Al-Aqsa afterwards to deter the Israeli government giving them the green light.
Ultra-nationalist Jews praying at one of the gates of Al Aqsa mosque in the afternoonUltra-nationalist Jews praying at one of the gates of Al Aqsa mosque in the evening
But after thousands of Palestinians fled the compound the numbers inside were low enough to be deemed ‘safe’ for settlers to enter.
Muslims were also prevented from re-entering the site for around two hours after.
A Palestinian woman sat crying at the Lion’s Gate after being refused entry and a man was briefly detained and searched. Another woman who was also denied entry and aggressively pushed back by soldiers when she tried to pass said: “I am a Muslim. I am outside. There are Israelis inside. Inside my Al-Aqsa.”
Worshippers were eventually allowed back in to the compound after being forced to wait for hours while settlers roamed free inside.
For the past 10 years, Israel has been making steps to control the holy site, allowing more and more ultra-nationalist Jews to enter.
A movement in Israel’s far right is behind this push for more access to the compound. They are also seeking permission which would allow Jews to pray at the site which is currently forbidden.
