Improvised checkpoint by border police at the entrance to Isawiya
August 1 | International Solidarity Movement | Isawiya, East Jerusalem, occupied Palestine
For the past two months, Isawiya, a Palestinian neighbourhood of 17,000 in East Jerusalem, has been under a constant state of siege by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). Tactics used by the IOF include nightly raids, arbitrary arrests, indiscriminate use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition, as well as increasingly inhumane and bizarre actions such as the interrogation of toddlers and holding the body of an unarmed 20 year old killed by Israeli Border Police.
Palestinians have lived in Isawiya since the 1500s, as shown by Ottoman records, but has been occupied by Israel since 1967. Today, the Occupation continues in many forms, particularly through police raids and harassment day and night. Palestinians in Isawiya are interrogated, fined, and arrested on a near daily basis, regardless of age. Residents told ISM a man was fined 500 NIS for throwing a cigarette butt on the ground, while another villager fined 1,000 NIS because his motorcycle exhaust was “too loud”. On July 30th, a 4 year old child was summoned for interrogation on charges of throwing a rock at a police car, and less than 24 hours later, a 5 year old boy was summoned for interrogation for throwing a juice carton on the street. Under Israeli military law, it is illegal to detain a child under 12 years old.
11 year old injured by police who pinned him to the ground
Palestinian activists, as well as international and Israeli activists have been working to document and raise awareness of the ongoing police intimidation, harassment, and violence against the residents of Isawiya, who have continued to non-violently oppose the Occupation while struggling to carry on their work and daily lives in spite of the brutality around them.
July 25 2019 | International Solidarity Movement | Abu Dis, Occupied Palestine
On the morning of the 25th of July Huzaifa Bader, 27, was rushed to Ramleh Prison Hospital in the occupied West Bank after he had been on hunger strike for 25 days. With his health deteriorating and with no sign of progress in his legal battle, his family don’t know how much longer he can cope. It may be a matter of hours.
Huzaifa Bader, 27
Huzaifa began his hunger strike at the start of July having spent just over 13 months in administrative detention. Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have held him without charge, extended his detention arbitrarily and held him in solitary confinement.
Huzaifa, who became a father while in prison is still waiting to see his daughter, Majdal, who is now 6 months old. His family told us that with every extension of his detention he has become more and more desperate to hold her for the first time.
Bader’s six-month old daughter who has never met her father
The situation has only been made all the more unbearable for Huzaifa because of his medical condition. A childhood accident left him with burns on almost 90% of his body and he has required specialist medical treatment ever since. During the period of his detention, Israel has not only denied him any kind of justice (or even anything resembling due process) but has gone as far as to deny him the medical treatment he needs. His brother, Musaab, told ISM, ‘we wish to see him back with his family to enjoy a normal life and to come back and receive the medical treatment he needs’.
With the situation becoming more desperate for him and his family, Huzaifa took the decision to go on hunger strike at the beginning of the month and now 25 days in he is fighting for his life. His father appealed to all the human rights organisations to take notice of the appalling case of his son, saying ‘Huzaifa is strong and will keep fighting for his rights’.
The whole town of Abu Dis has been showing its support for his hunger strike and the 40 or so other prisoners from Abu Dis held by the Israeli Occupation. A protest tent was set up by his wife and his parents and has been visited by the people of Abu Dis every single night that the huger strike has gone on. Even his six month old daughter, who now faces the prospect of never meeting her father, has attended.
Demonstrators sit in the solidarity tent erected in Abu Dis
After hearing his news, his family, supporters and the people of Abu Dis have taken to the streets again while Huzaifa is fighting for justice, and his life. His family told this morning that IOF still have not let his lawyer see him.
ISMer’s neck shows strangulation marks where she was dragged across the floor by Israeli border police with her Kaffiyeh
July 23 2019 | International Solidarity Movement | Sur Baher, East Jerusalem occupied Palestine
Two Palestinian families lost their homes yesterday in unprecedented mass demolitions in East Jerusalem carried out by 900 Israeli soldiers who hospitalized Palestinians and ISMers in a sadistic and brutal eviction operation.
During the invasion of the two occupied buildings Israeli border police shot Palestinians at close range with rubber-coated steel bullets and kicked them down flights of stairs. ISMers were stamped on, dragged across the floor by the hair, strangled with a scarf and pepper sprayed by Israeli border police.
The International Solidarity Movement activists, Bethany Rielly, 25, Beatrice-Lily Richardson, 27, Chris Lorigan, 30, and Gabriella Jones, 20, were carrying out a non-violent action by sitting in the house of Palestinian Ismail Obeide with 30 locals in the Wadi al-Hummus neighbourhood of Sur Baher, in an attempt to delay the demolition.
12 Palestinians were also hospitalized after being kicked in the back down flights of stairs and two were illegally shot at close range with rubber-coated steel bullets.
At around 3am yesterday morning 900 hundred Israeli soldiers were bussed to the area with trucks of demolition equipment to bulldoze three Palestinian apartment blocks, including an unfinished block which they spent 15 hours rigging with dynamite.
At around 5am they smashed down the door of Mr Obeide’s house. He was standing in the doorway holding his hands out in disbelief when dozens of soldiers invaded his home immediately pepper spraying him in the face.
They used excessive force, seemingly with enjoyment, whilst firing tear gas into the enclosed space and brutalising Palestinians and international activists.
The four British nationals were sitting in a small unventilated bathroom with the door closed when a soldier opened the door and threw in a tear gas canister.
Chris said: “When the soldiers found us in the bathroom, they threw multiple tear gas canisters and shut the door. As we started to suffocate in the smallest room in the house, soldiers burst in and dragged us violently, pulling at every possible part, regardless of safety or policy.
“I was dragged by my feet and lifted up, kicked in the stomach, then one soldier in particular stamped on my head four times, at full force, then standing on my head and pulling at my hair, he then stamped on my throat and others started punching my torso. It was a sadistic display of violence by the border police.”
After he told the soldiers he would leave, they continued to beat him, throwing him through a table. At one point they also tried to pull his trousers off. He suffered a fractured rib, and severe bruising to his chest, legs and face.
ISMer in hospital being treated for a fractured ribISMer with severe tissue damage to right hand
Beatrice was also dragged out and her hands crushed so badly that she suffered severe tissue damage to her right hand which will be permanently misshapen unless she gets cosmetic surgery and a fractured knuckle on her left hand. She was bruises across her arms, hips and inner thighs.
Gaby was severely pepper sprayed in the face and hands and soldiers ripped her shirt revealing her bra, leaving large bruises on her right arm.
Bethany was dragged by her Keffiyeh around her neck out of the bathroom. Soldiers then pulled her out of the room by her hair. She said: “A soldier dragged me by my keffiyeh across the floor strangling me until I screamed when he then crushed my neck under his knee. I couldn’t believe the pure aggression they were using against us. I was in such a state of shock the whole time that I couldn’t open my eyes. As they dragged me by my hair as I choked from being strangled and the tear gas I heard them laughing at me. We were unarmed civilians using peaceful means to try and delay them destroying Ismail and his family’s home that they worked so hard to build. Hundreds of soldiers were bussed in to do this. Is a house demolition a military operation anywhere else in the world? This is the reality of life for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation.”
ISMer with bruising on arm and ripped shirt where soldiers pulled it apart
The four activists were all admitted to Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem where they were treated for their injuries.
Three international activists, from Britain, the US and France were locked in a different room in the same house with around 15 Palestinians. Soldiers threw sound grenades into the room and continued to throw two more even after the Palestinians said they would leave.
A US national who did not want to be named said: “The Palestinian men began saying ‘hallas’, saying they were done, ‘open the door.’ They held hands up and then again, a soldier threw a sound grenade in and closed the door, and then again. And this was after everyone had stopped resisting, but the brutality kept going. Then one by one they very roughly, very aggressively, unnecessarily rough, as these men were holding their arms up in the air, grabbed the men and shoved them out of the door. They grabbed people fingers, it appeared as though they intended to break them. Then we got to the stairs and they were kicking us down the stairs in the lower back and several of the Palestinian boys they kicked so hard that they tumbled down the stairs and this was when there was no resistance at all going on.” A video of the moment when soldiers burst in is shown below (taken by US ISMer).
ISM activists from Britain, Spain and Austria were in another house which was also demolished.
Nine Israeli and international activists were in the house of Ghaleb Abu Hadwan, with his 4 daughters, son and grandfather.
Edmond Sichrovsky, an Austrian activist of Jewish origin, who was in the house said: “Border police broke into the house and dragged out the Palestinians, knocking the grandfather to the floor in front of his crying and screaming grandchildren. Everyone with a cellphone was forcibly removed from the house. Once there was no one filming present, they attacked me and 4 other activists. I was repeatedly kicked and kneed, which left a bloody nose and multiple cuts, as well breaking my glasses from a knee in the face. Once outside, they slammed me against a car while shouting verbal insults at me and women activists, calling them whores (Sharmuta).”
ISMer holds glasses which were broken after being kneed in the face by a soldierSpanish ISMer after being hit in the face with a gun by the border police
A US activist was kicked in the stomach and Spanish activist Ivan Rivera was hit in the head with the but of a gun.
Yesterday’s demolition of Wadi al-Hummus has made national news but due to the lack of media presence inside the family homes the extent of the violence and sadism perpetrated by IOF on Palestinian citizens and international activists has remained largely unreported. ISM activists are sharing their personal accounts of yesterday morning’s events including being brutally beaten, tear gassed, pepper sprayed, strangled and laughed at in the process of non violent resistance even after compliance, but urge the international community to recognise the fact that the treatment of Palestinians is incomparable.
After everyone was evicted from the two occupied buildings, Israeli forces proceeded to destroy them while continuing to put dynamite on every floor of the unfinished building. The three buidlings, which are in Area A under full Palestinians Authority control, were destroyed yesterday for ‘security reasons’ using an Israeli 2011 military order that states any house within 250m of the apartheid fence could be demolished. The Wadi al-Hummus neighbourhood is on both sides of the fence, which is illegal under international law. 17 people including Mr Obedi, his wife and their six children are now homeless (a video of the demolition of their home is shown below) as well as the family of Mr Hadwan. And the 350 people who were to live in the unfinished block now have lost their future homes. A video was posted of Israeli soldiers laughing and cheering as the unfinished block was demolished by thousands of explosives. Evidence of the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine is more apparent than ever in efforts like the destruction of these three blocks in Wadi al-Hummus, and hundreds more demolition orders, by the Israeli government.
Ismail stands proudly in his beautiful kitchen the day before its razed to the ground
Buildings in Wadi Al-Hummus with looming demolition orders (Photo: OCHA)
In less than 24 hours, 42-year-old Ismail Obeidiya, his wife Nida, and their six kids, could be made homeless. It’s a terrifying reality that Obeidiya is struggling to grapple with, his unease and frustration more palpable with every word.
“We fought so long and so hard, for years, to try to save our home. But in the end, the Israeli courts, the ‘High Court of Justice’ as they say, could not offer us any justice,” Obeidiya told Mondoweiss from the front yard of his home.
The Obeidiyas’ home is one of 10 buildings slated for an unprecedented mass demolition by Israeli authorities in the occupied East Jerusalem town of Sur Bahir.
While Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem are commonplace, typically under the pretext that the homes were built without Israeli-issued permits, the homes in question stand on ‘Area A’ and ‘Area B’ land under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA), as designated by the Oslo Accords.
While most of Sur Bahir is located inside Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, the area that Obeidiya lives in, called Wadi al-Hummus, borders the Green Line and is technically a part of the West Bank; but when Israel began constructing the Separation Wall in the area in 2005, the barrier was routed around Sur Bahir so that Wadi al-Hummus was annexed into the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem side of the barrier.
Despite the fact that residents of the area duly obtained building permits from the PA, Israel has continued to move forward with orders to demolish the homes on the grounds that they violate a 2011 Israeli military order prohibiting construction within a 100-300-meter buffer zone of the separation wall.
“I chose this area to build my home because it’s Area A, we thought this would protect us,” Obeidiya told Mondoweiss. “Contrary to what they say — we are here legally. Their demolition orders are illegal.”
One week later, the court issued a notice to residents saying that they had one month, until July 18th, to demolish their homes. If they did not do so, Israeli authorities would demolish the homes for them, and send the residents the bill for demolition fees.
Should Israel follow through with the demolitions, local and international officials fear it could pave the way for Israel to enforce widespread demolitions in PA-controlled border communities across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“This will set a dangerous precedent for the Israeli occupation to take control of this area and others like it,” Hamada Hamada, 54, a local activist in Wadi al-Hummus told Mondoweiss, expressing fears that Israeli authorities will try to enforce similar measures across the occupied Palestinian territory.
“If these demolitions go through, all Palestinian towns on the border lines, close to settlements — basically anyone living on any land Israel wants, even if it’s controlled by the PA, they will be in danger and under threat.”
International attention
The case of Sur Bahir and the residents of Wadi al-Hummus has drawn widespread international attention in recent weeks, given the political gravity of the situation.
According to UN OCHA, if the demolitions are carried out, they would result in the displacement of three households, comprising 17 people, including nine children. Some 350 people whose homes are still under construction would also be affected.
“Additionally, residents fear a heightened risk of demolition of some 100 buildings that were built after the 2011 military order in the buffer zone in Sur Bahir,” UN OCHA reported.
Dozens of Palestinian, Israeli, and European officials descended upon Sur Bahir on Tuesday at the behest of residents and local activists in a last-ditch effort to save their homes.
Diplomats from some 20 countries toured Sur Bahir, visiting the 10 buildings — comprising 70 apartments — slated for demolition as per last month’s Supreme Court order. All but one of the buildings, some of which are still under construction and uninhabited, are located on the Jerusalem side of the wall.
One of the residents to speak to the officials was Obeidiya, who urged the international community to intervene on behalf of him and his neighbors, telling them that him and his family would be left on the streets if their home was demolished.
During the tour, the French consul general for Jerusalem, Pierre Cochard, told journalists “he did not think the security explanation provided by Israel was sufficient to move ahead with the move,” the Times of Israel reported.
“I think it’s important to underline that we cannot deny their right…they are here in Palestinian territory,” Cochard said.
One of the officials present was Israeli MK Ofer Kasif of the joint Israeli-Palestinian left-wing Hadash party. “I came here today to show my support and stand with all the Palestinian families whose homes are under attack and threat of demolition,” Kasif told Mondoweiss.
“The current Israeli government has opened a war against all the Palestinian people. Home demolitions are one part of all of the things they are doing. They have one goal, to kick all the Palestinians out of their homes,” Kasif said.
The Palestinian Liberation Organization released a report on the situation in Sur Bahir, urging the international community to move beyond “mere condemnations,” and take direct action against the Israeli government for its policies against Palestinians in the occupied territory.In a statement on Wednesday, several UN officials called on Israel to immediately halt its plans to demolish the structures in question, and to instead “implement fair planning policies that allow Palestinian residents of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the ability to meet their housing and development needs, in line with its obligations as an occupying power.”
“Israeli breaches of international law and violations of Palestinian rights, necessitate urgent action by the international community,” the report said, adding that “without accountability, Israeli impunity will prevail.”
Dividing Sur Bahir
Crucial to understanding the current fight in Wadi al-Hummus, is to understand the geography of Sur Bahir, how its land has been divided over the years, and the effects it has had on the local community.
With an estimated population of 24,000 Palestinians, Sur Bahir is one of the largest Palestinian towns in East Jerusalem, situated around 4.6 kilometers southeast of the Old City.
While the total original land area of Sur Bahir is around 10,000 dunums (approx. 2,471 acres), much of the town’s land has been confiscated by Israel over the years for the use of settlement construction, settler bypass roads, and the separation wall.
Following the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, Israel illegally annexed some 70,000 dunums of Palestinian land and extended the boundaries of the Jerusalem municipality to dozens of Palestinian towns along the border, including most of Sur Bahir’s land.
In 1995, under the Oslo Accords, the remaining eastern neighborhoods of Sur Bahir that were not officially under the Jerusalem municipality — Wadi al-Hummus, al-Muntar, and Deir al-Amoud — were classified as PA-controlled land, split up into Areas A, B, and C.
Map of Sur Bahir and the homes under threat of demolition (Photo: UNOCHA)
When speaking to Mondoweiss Hamada broke down the 10,000 dunums of Sur Bahir land into the following categories:
An estimated 1,700 dunums have been confiscated for the construction of nearby Israeli settlements Some 4,800 dunums were classified as being under the control of the Jerusalem municipality.
Out of those 4,800 dunums, the municipality has allocated only 1,500 dunums for the construction of homes. The majority of Sur Bahir residents live in this area.
The remainder of the land in Sur Bahir, approximately 3,500 dunums, is PA-controlled land, where Wadi al-Hummus is located. Some 6,000 Palestinians live there.
For decades residents of Sur Bahir, like many other Palestinians living in communities bordering Jerusalem and the West Bank, were forced to navigate the complex network of zoning and housing laws.
Despite some residents technically living in Jerusalem, and others living in the West Bank, the community remained unified, with the majority of them holding permanent residency in Jerusalem.
When Israel began construction of the wall in 2004, the community was faced with another problem that threatened to complicate their lives even further.
“The original planned route of the wall was to cut directly through Sur Bahir, between the separating the Jerusalem municipality area from the West Bank area of the village,” Hamada told Mondoweiss. “But the people didn’t want this, so we protested and protested against the construction of the wall.”
It was only after then US National Security Advisor Condolezza Rice intervened, that Israel changed the route of the wall to be placed further north, effectively annexing the West Bank part of Sur Bahir onto the Israeli-controlled side of the barrier.
Even though the residents “won” their battle to have the route of the wall changed, Hamada says that its construction has still caused irreversible harm to the fabric of the community.
Living in limbo
After the construction of the wall, despite being physically separated from the West Bank and put on the Jerusalem side of the barrier, the areas of Wadi al-Hummus, al-Muntar, and Deir al-Amoud and their residents have not been incorporated within the municipal boundaries.
“It’s like we are living in limbo,” Hamada told Mondoweiss. “We are legally under the jurisdiction of the PA, but the Israeli government does not allow the Palestinian to exercise its authority beyond the wall.”
“We are living in Areas A, B, and C, and thus, everything from the permission to build, paving roads, electricity, water, etc. should all be under the responsibility of the PA,” he continued. “But the wall doesn’t allow the Palestinian government to fulfil any of their responsibilities to the people.”
While the Israeli government does not allow the PA to service these areas, the Jerusalem municipality also refuses to provide services because the areas are technically outside the boundaries of the municipality.
With no one one to protect them, residents of Wadi al-Hummus and the other PA-designated areas of Sur Bahir have been subject to widespread attacks from the Israeli government.
According to UN documentation, since 2009, “Israeli authorities have demolished, or forced owners to demolish, 69 structures in Sur Bahir, on the grounds of lack of building permits, of which 46 were inhabited or under-construction homes,” resulting in the displacement of some 400 Palestinians.
With the issuance of the Israeli military order in 2011, hundreds more homes in Areas A, B, and C, despite already have building permits from the PA, were put under threat of demolition due to their proximity to the wall.
“The buffer zone includes more than 200 buildings, of which about 100 were built after the 2011 military order, according to local sources,” UN OCHA reported.
During their conversations with Mondoweiss, both Hamada and Obeidiya stressed the fact that the demolitions would not just cause families to lose their homes, but so much more than that.
“With these demolitions, people’s entire lives will be destroyed, all the money that they saved and spent on building their dream homes will be crushed,” Hamada said.
Obeidiya says he is more than 400,000 shekels (approx. $112,940) in debt between building costs, lawyer fees, and Israeli fines.
“We are absolutely devastated. I worked for years to build a home for me and my family, a future for me and my kids,” Obeidiya told Mondoweiss. “But the Israeli occupation has destroyed us, not just our homes. They are slowly killing us.”
