Tag: Kafr Qaddum - Page 13 - International Solidarity Movement

Women of Kafr Qaddum: Steadfastness and determination

12th August 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

In June 2013, a photo depicting Suriah Mahmood from Kafr Qaddum won first prize in a photography compitition in Qatar. International activists met Suriah to talk to her about non violent Palestinian resistance and the village of Kafr Qaddum.

Kufr pic — Suriah Mahmood in her house in Kafr Qaddum (Photo by ISM)

The people of Kafr Qaddum have organised non-violent marches every Friday, with men and women sharing roles in the demonstration according to Suriah Mahmood, a prominent woman from Kafr Qaddum. Women participate in the demonstration by directing the ‘shabab‘ – the young men of the town. The women tell the shabab demonstrators where to move and where the soldiers are hiding in ambush as they attempt to injure and arrest people.

‘We’ve suffered a lot over the decades, for the long distance and the time it takes to reach Qalqiliya and Nablus.’ The monetary cost doubles for travel due to the distance and checkpoints, not to mention the psychological costs of having a checkpoint to the entrance of the village, making people continually worry they are going to be detained, arrested or harrassed. The village suffers as they have to use longer and even more circuitous routes when the checkpoint is closed. These hardships are then multiplied again when the army invade the village. ‘I go out onto the street when the army chase shabab into the village. Something in my heart and emotions, activate me quickly, telling me to go out the house and protect the shabab from the army.’ Suriah has joined demonstrations along with other Palestinian women from Kafr Qaddum, although the demonstrators are typically male Palestinians along with some male and female international and Israeli activists.

‘I think to myself, who takes part in the demonstrations? The shabab are our brothers and sons from Kafr Qaddum. I think it is my duty to go out to make trouble for the soldiers to make them busy so they are unable to continue to chase the shabab. I again feel something internal in my heart. Sometimes I throw stones or block in front of the soldiers. I shout to make the soldiers nervous and crazy and can’t control my emotions because I think it’s the role of Palestinian women to stand with our brothers against occupation.’

kuf pic 2 — Photo of Suriah Mahmood that won the photography competition (Photo by Alaa Badasreh)

On Friday 2nd August the army invaded the village and shot teargas in all directions, some of the teargas canisters entering houses. ‘My husband and son’s wife and my grandchild Yakub, suffocated alot and suffered for two hours. Asma the wife of my son fell unconscious. I began to cry , shout and called an ambulance to make first aid. When the army left the village, the teams of first aid were allowed to do their job and help those suffocated in the house.’

When asked about what Suriah hopes for in the future for her village she replied, ‘I hope for a chance to come to the Palestinian people to be free and have peace in the land without having the army to storm the village. I hope to re-open the historic road that existed before the occupation. I hope that all over the world governments rule to protect people from occupation. I think decades of occupation is enough and it is time to live happy and free.’

Welcome to Palestine: tear gas and coffee

10th August 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Anna, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Tear gas spread throughout the village (Photo by Al Masira Kafr Qaddum )

I came to Palestine last Tuesday and joined the weekly protest held on Friday the 8th of August in Kafr Qaddum. The demonstration represented non-violent resistance against the land grab and for the freedom of movement in the village. Kafr Qaddum was my first demonstration in Palestine in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom, self-determination, human rights and international law.

In the past years the village has gone through several attacks by Israeli soldiers and police who raid the village in the night, threatening the population. Even children under 18 years old are menaced with arrest and when arrested, are beaten along with other Palestinians.

Yesterday as we got off the service (shared taxi), soldiers started firing tear gas and sound bombs directly at protesters. They had invaded the village and chased after Palestinians and several international and Israeli activists throughout the village. Even though I knew the answer I asked two international comrades who were there with me: ‘has the demo begun?’ – ‘No, that’s the pre-demo.’ I can now easily reply to anybody asking me the same. Actually, since early that morning soldiers and police (with at least three jeeps) had entered the village, scaring people and filling the air with so much gas people could hardly breathe.

After one of the first clashes between the Palestinian youth and the soldiers had begun, everyone started running everywhere trying to protect themselves as best as possible. I ran like a hare, taking shelter in a Palestinian house where I was welcomed by a beautiful Palestinian woman dressed in white. A Palestinian man (I understood later he was her son, living in Dubai and returned to the village for the Eid holiday) and a bunch of children all of different ages, from three to 11 years old were also in the house.

I went up onto the roof where children behaved as “special watchers” running from one corner to another following the soldiers’ movements and screaming when they were throwing tear gas canisters and alerting the shebab (Arabic word for Palestinian youth) hiding in different areas of the village. I was offered a cup of coffee which I accepted with joy, longing for something strong and needing to drink so much because I couldn’t make enough saliva.

Soldiers invading the village, shebab defending it (Photo by Al Masira Kafr Qaddum)

Kafr Qaddum is a small village situated near the top of a hill facing the illegal settlement of Qedumin, which was established on Palestinian land and has been expanding to take over more privately owned Palestinian land. Furthermore the road to Nablus from the village was shut by the army with a roadblock in 2003 and this obstruction means an extra 14 kilometres distance to travel out of the village. The journey is emblematic of the restriction of movement imposed by the Israeli authorities on Palestinians in the West Bank.

The man started questioning me about the international presence in the village, showing he was curious about us, especially about why we decided to leave our own countries and come to Palestine struggling beside Palestinians in support of “another population’s cause”. He was puzzled but happy when I replied that it is our duty to act and stand up for Palestinians and that we speak out for them not only because as internationals we think they all have a right to resist, but as we are all human beings, we should take part in this cause for freedom and speaking out against ongoing violations of human rights amongst many oppressions that the Palestinians have been subjected to for more than 60 years. As we are generally Europeans or Western citizens coming from countries that strongly support Israeli apartheid through economic, cultural and institutional ties, we have the duty to speak out and stand up for international law and the human rights of Palestinians, with the best of efforts.

After the conversation, I joined comrades once again as the struggle was still going on. The demonstration ended but this time the soldiers and police were stopped from arresting protesters but not from injuring people. Children aged 4, 6 and 7 years old and a 75 year old woman suffered badly from tear gas inhalation when it was thrown and shot directly into their homes.

This is the daily life for Palestinians. This is their enduring resistance. Long live Palestine!

Resistance in Kafr Qaddum met with military violence and collective punishment

26th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

The Israeli military invaded the village of Kafr Qaddum multiple times on Friday 26th July, firing excessive teargas, sound grenades and rubber bullets at the people of the village. They were also armed and prepared to use live ammunition against peaceful protesters. Several hours later, the village was once again invaded, this time by an Israeli military bulldozer which created a roadblock in the centre of the village, restricting freedom of movement.

At around 11am on the morning of the 26th of July, over fourty soldiers walked directly into the village of Kafr Qaddum, heavily armed with sound grenades, teargas, rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition. They fired sound grenades and gas at Palestinians walking in the village, several hours before the village’s Friday demonstration convened. The soldiers started running at people several times, seemingly attempting to make arrests or physically attack the villagers – many of those affected by this, and by the offensive weapons that were fired, were on their way to pray in the mosque on the third Friday of Ramadan.

Youth of the village facing the force of the Israeli military (Photo by ISM)

As many people of Kafr Qaddum answered the call to prayer, the soldiers who had invaded the village then occupied a hillside overlooking the village. At around 1.30 after the prayers, the demonstration gathered, with a group of around one hundred Palestinians – along with Israelis and international supporters – marching towards the hilltop occupied by the soldiers. The protesters demanded that their road be opened for access and told the soldiers of the Israeli army that they would be held accountable for their crimes in The Hague.

Youth of the village defended their homes from the heavily armed soldiers, resisting the military invasion. The soldiers fired heavy metal tear gas canisters at head height and directly towards the protesters, as well as firing plastic coated steel bullets. Several protesters suffered from extreme teargas inhalation and one was hit in the leg with a tear gas canister. Soldiers ran from the hill towards the protesters, chasing them between the houses of the village – once again seemingly attempting to arrest or attack protesters during the nonviolent demonstration.

Having chased many demonstrators out of the centre of the village, four military jeeps and a bulldozer raided the village, accompanied by around thirty soldiers on foot. The bulldozer dug up piles of dirt and stones from the side of the road, piling it into a roadblock in the centre of the village. This new roadblock would severely restrict access for villagers living east of it, meaning that they would not be able to enter or leave the village by car at all, as their eastern access to Nablus is already blocked by the settlement of Qedumim. Collective punishment, which this roadblock constitutes as it indiscriminately punishes the citizens of the village, is a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Soliders behind the new roadblock as the bulldozer retreates — Soliders behind the new roadblock as the bulldozer retreats (Photo by ISM)

However, the resistance continued as after the demonstration ended, the village municipality prepared to remove the roadblock with their own digger. The village of Kafr Qaddum will continue to resist occupation, settlements and military violence.

Around 4,000 dunums of Kafr Qaddum land has been appropriated by the illegal settlement of Qedumim and the demonstrations started as it was threatened that this amount would increase as the settlement expanded. Kafr Qaddum’s main road was closed in 2002, making access to their neighbouring villages of Jit, Sarra and the city of Nablus impossible without a 14 kilometre detour on badly paved roads through olive groves.

Video- Kafr Qaddum demonstration against the Prawer Plan violently repressed by the Israeli army

20th July 2013 | International Women’s Peace Service | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

On Friday 19 July, the residents of Kafr Qaddum gathered for a demonstration against the Prawer Plan, an Israeli government plan that will ethnically cleanse the occupied al-Naqab desert. Protesters were violently attacked by Israeli soldiers who repeatedly raided the village firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and sound grenades.

At approximately 11:00, residents attempted to construct a defensive barricade at the eastern edge of the village to prevent soldiers from entering; however, while they were building, nearly 50 Israeli soldiers ran down the main road closest to the illegal Israeli settlement of Qedumim, attempting to make arrests. The soldiers chased the people, including small children, back to the center of the village, where they fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets directly at the people. Nearly 25 soldiers then took a position on the top of the hill overlooking the village, which prevented many people from traveling down the main road in order to attend the Friday Ramadan prayers.

In the hours that followed, the Israeli army attempted to surround the village; they hid themselves in the olive groves and in the private gardens of several residents, effectively trapping the people inside their own homes. Several times the army attacked the protesters, firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and sound grenades. Some residents reported that the soldiers also fired live ammunition, just as they did during last week’s demonstration, when they fired at four teenage boys.

No arrests were made, though three people suffered from tear gas inhalation.

Tear gas canisters and sound bombs shot at protesters during the demonstration (Photo by IWPS)

Kafr Qaddum is a 3,000-year-old agricultural village that sits on 24,000 dunams of land. The village was occupied by the Israeli army in 1967; in 1978, the illegal settler-colony of Qedumim was established nearby on the remains of a former Jordanian army camp, occupying 4,000 dunums of land stolen from Kafr Qaddum.

The villagers are currently unable to access an additional 11,000 dunums of land due to the closure by the Israeli army of the village’s main and only road leading to Nablus in 2003. The road was closed in three stages, ultimately restricting access for farmers to the 11,000 dunums of land that lie along either side to one or two times a year. Since the road closure, the people of Kafr Qaddum have been forced to rely on an animal trail to access this area; the road is narrow and, according to the locals, intended only for animals. In 2004 and 2006, three villagers died when they were unable to reach the hospital in time. The ambulances carrying them were prohibited from using the main road and were forced to take a 13 km detour. These deaths provoked even greater resentment in Kafr Qaddum and, on 1 July 2011, the villagers decided to unite in protest in order to re-open the road and protect the land in danger of settlement expansion along it.

Kafr Qaddum is home to 4,000 people; some 500 residents attend the weekly demonstrations. The villagers’ resilience, determination and organization have been met with extreme repression. More than 120 village residents have been arrested; most spend 3-8 months in prison; collectively they have paid over NIS 100,000 to the Israeli courts. Around 2,000 residents have suffocated from tear-gas inhalation, many in their own homes. Over 100 residents have been shot directly with tear-gas canisters. On 27 April 2012, one man was shot in the head by a tear-gas canister that fractured his skull in three places; the injury cost him his ability to speak. In another incident, on 16 March 2012 an Israeli soldier released his dog into the crowded demonstration, where it attacked a young man, biting him for nearly 15 minutes whilst the army watched. When other residents tried to assist him, some were pushed away while others were pepper-sprayed directly in the face.

The events of the past week are part of a continuous campaign by the Israeli military to harass and intimidate the people of Kafr Qaddum into passively accepting the human rights violations the Israeli occupation, military and the illegal settlers inflict upon them.

Two years of demonstrations in Kafr Qaddum: “Our struggle will continue until we fulfill our rights”

5th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

On the 4th of July 2013, the village of Kafr Qaddum defiantly celebrated two years of Friday demonstrations, which began in July 2011. The celebration, which included speeches and performances by village youth, was followed the next day by a further demonstration, the first of their third year, in which the Israeli military invaded the village before the demonstrators even gathered, attempting to make arrests.

The celebration on Thursday succeeded in showing the steadfastness and spirit of the people of Kafr Qaddum as they listened to speakers denouncing the occupation, danced to Palestinian music played by a live band and watched a theatrical dubke (Palestinian dance) performance showing the Palestinian shabab (youth) of the village vanquishing the invading Israeli army.

Kafr Qaddum celebrating two years of resistance (Photo by ISM)

The demonstration which followed the next day was yet more evidence of this spirit of resistance, with hundreds of demonstrators from Kafr Qaddum and further afield marching towards the roadblock hindering their access to the nearest city of Nablus, chanting, dancing and clapping. The Israeli army had invaded the village before the demonstration even began, chasing and attempting to arrest people who were walking to and from Friday prayers. During the demonstration this campaign of attempted arrests continued, with the army surrounding the village from all sides and invading down side streets in attempts to grab peaceful demonstrators. Tear gas and sound grenades were fired regularly by the Israeli military, who tried unsuccessfully to quash the protest.

The village of Kafr Qaddum has been directly affected by the occupation, both through settlement land annexation and the closure of the main access road to Nablus. However, the protesters maintain that their focus is not just local, they are looking at the wider issues of occupation. Protester Murad Shtiawi said on Thursday; “The popular resistance is not related to achieving only a very simple aim or target. It is not only the road – we know the road will open one day. We feel that the real resistance is related to the occupation, so if the occupation is still on our lands, our struggle will continue until we fulfil our rights.” They also insist that the resistance cannot be limited to Friday demonstrations – “Our struggle will extend to other days in the week, because the occupation is still occupation on Thursday and Saturday. We will continue our struggle every day.”

Tyre fires on the main blocked road to Nablus, with Qedumim illegal settlement visible in the background (Photo by ISM) — Demonstrators set fire to tyres on the main blocked road to Nablus, Qedumim illegal settlement visible in the background (Photo by ISM)

More than 120 Kafr Qaddum villagers have been arrested since the demonstrations began, spending from around four to ten months in prison. This in turn has led to payments of over 120,000 shekels to the Israeli courts for their release. Around 200 people have been shot with teargas canisters, six of whom were shot directly in the head. One of these injuries resulted in a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain and a loss of speech for the injured demonstrator.

The children of Kafr Qaddum have been targeted, most recently with threats of arrest by the Israeli military, who stuck up pictures of four children around the village, accompanied with the message “we will arrest you if we see you, or we will come to your homes.” Children as young as six months have suffered from the serious effects of teargas inhalation as teargas has been fired into homes in the village.

But despite this suffering, the village’s commitment to resisting the occupation continues, as Murad once again reinforced on Thursday, with a message to the world:

“The real resistance is related to the occupation, so if the occupation is still on our lands, our struggle will continue – until we fulfil our rights. This includes letting the people of Kafr Qaddum and all of Palestine live free in an independent state on the 1967 borders, without settlements; releasing all of the prisoners from prison; and letting all the refugees from all over the world come back to their homeland in Palestine. Our message to the world is that we will continue to struggle until we fulfil our rights.”