September 11, 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
What would you do if 30 men armed with sticks and guns stormed into your home beat your little brothers and began beating your mother and ripping her clothes?
On August 28 this happened to sixteen year old Jalaal Daraghmah. He did his best to protect his family. He grabbed a pick used for gardening, and stood at the door of his house and told the settlers he would not let anyone in. When one of them tried to enter by force Jalaal hit him with the pick. The Israeli police arrived on the scene, and they ignored the two little boys that were beaten so badly they needed to be hospitalized, the mothers bruises and torn dress, and the family’s car that had been completely destroyed by the settlers. They instead arrested Jalaal and his father Khalid. No settlers were sought for questioning or detained. The Israeli press treated what happened as a “terror attack” and dubbed It a“Axe Attack”. Jalaal has been in Israeli custody since.
Jalaal’s little brother, Nour al-Deen being treated in an ambulance after the attack. (Photo courtesy of Wafia – International Communities Against Israel).
Starting today until Thursday Jalaal can be released on a five thousand shekel bail ($1300) Jalal’s family can not afford to free him. With your help they can bring him home before the long holidays that will force him to remain in Israeli custody.
Please send what you can through the ISM donate link make sure to send an email to palreports@gmail.com to say how much you have donated for Jalaal’s release.
For the past four years the Daraghmah family have faced regular attacks by Israeli settlers at their home in Khan al-Lubban, simply for attempting to remain on their land. Help Bring Jalaal home to his family.
On the morning of August 28, around 30 settlers armed with guns and sticks descended upon a Palestinian home located in Khan al-Liban, and attacked the Daraghmah family. The mother, Taghrid, and the two youngest sons, Mu’min, 13, and Nour al-Deen, 9, were injured during the attacks which lasted at least one hour until soldiers and police arrived. Mu’min and Nour were taken by ambulance to the hospital. The father of the family, Khalid, 45, and his second eldest son, Jalaal, 16, were arrested and are still being held in police custody.
At around 8:30 a.m. settlers from Ma’ale Levona arrived at the home of the Daraghmah family. The father, Khalid, two of his sons, Mu’min and Jalaal, and his wife, Taghrid, were sitting in the entry way. The youngest son, Nour, was asleep inside the main room. According to Mu’min, Taghrid went inside the main room, and was followed by 10 settlers. The settlers began attacking Taghrid, Khalid, and Nour inside the room.
“Nour was thrown at the wall by one of the big settlers, and they were laughing” Mu’min recounts.
Nour al-Deen being treated in the ambulance after the attacks. (Photo courtesy of Wafa – International Communities Against Israel).
After they attacked Nour, one of the men began beating Taghrid.
“The settler hit me on the shoulder with a stick, then grabbed me by the collar, and after that ripped my jacket and shirt. Then he began hitting me on the chest, my legs, and finally my hip.” Says Taghrid, who has just returned from Nablus after filing a police report and retreiving the medical reports about her two injured sons.
Taghrid Daraghmah shows how her clothes were torn during the attack. (Photo courtesy of Wafa – International Communities Against Israel).
According to Mu’min says that as the violence escalated, Jalaal and Khalid tried to defend the rest of their family by forcing the settlers outside the bedroom into the entry way. Then the settlers then began beating him, his father, and Jalaal with sticks as they attempted to push them away from the bedroom. Khalid picked up two stones and the settlers began firing into the air, and throwing stones at him.
Mu’min went with Nour and his mother to the roof of the home to escape the continuing attacks. As Khalid and Jalaal were being attacked in the house, settlers began destroying the bedroom, and threw the family’s clothes into the spring next to the house, while Mu’min filmed with his phone.
“After we had been on the roof for awhile, my father and Jalaal ran away from the house, so that the settlers would follow them. When they were far enough away I put my mother and Nour in the bedroom and locked them in so that they would be safe. Then the settlers began firing into the air and throwing stones at the windows to the bedroom.” Mu’min says.
The attacks continued for some time, with Mu’min, Jalaal, and Khalid being beaten. Taghrid says she heard laughing and yelling in Arabic that they planned to cut down all the trees on the land and put Jalaal in prison. During the attacks Khalid’s car was destroyed, with all the windows being smashed, one of the doors broken and the electrical wires ripped out.
Khalid’s car sits with all of the windows smashed after the attack. For more pictures of the aftermath please click here.
In a video, posted on Ynet news, viewers can see the Daraghmah family surrounded by settlers carrying sticks. Jalaal swings what appears to a pick at a settler who tries to enter the bedroom of the home. The Daraghmah family car is also present in the video, without any damage, before it was destroyed. The headline of the Ynet story reads “Settler attacked with axe”.
According to Taghrid, around an hour after the settlers, 5 Israeli soldiers arrived, and immediately arrested Jalaal after settlers accused him of hitting them. Khalid was detained in one of the rooms by the police. An ambulance arrived to take Mu’min and Nour to the hospital, and Khalid was taken by Police to Sha’ar Binyamin after being accused of interfering with Police work. No settler were arrested.
Khalid Daraghmah being arrested by Israeli Police. (Photo courtesy of EAPPI).
In 2002 the Israeli High Court ruled that the land in Khan belongs to their family, but settlers claim it is a public spring. For the past four years, Khalid al-Sanih Daraghmah and his family have faced regular attacks by Israeli settlers at their home in Khan, 2 kilometers south of the West Bank village al-Luban. When Khalid bought the two homes on the road to the illegal Ma’ale Levona settlement 5 years ago, he imagined restoring them and planting the 20 dunums of land that they sit on.
More information on the constant settler attacks against the Darahmah family can be found here, here, and here.
Marshall Pinkerton is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
18 August | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On Saturday August 11, 2012 the same events of three days earlier repeated themselves in Khan Al Luban. A group of 4 illegal Israeli settlers, from Ma’ale Levona, armed with guns and wooden sticks, came into Khan al Luban at 10:30 p.m. The settlers yet again broke into the house owned by Khalid al-Hamed Daraghmah where international activists and the 2 sons of Khalid were staying.
When the settlers arrived, Khalid’s sons and the international activists asked them to leave the property, but they refused and instead sat down near the spring on the Daraghmah land. After about half an hour, 2 Israeli police cars arrived along with 2 military jeeps after having received a call from the settlers. A few minutes later, 2 more military jeeps arrived at the scene. By then, the Daraghmah land was full of Israeli police, soldiers, and security guards from the illegal settlement. The soldiers entered the house searching for weapons, but as usual they did not find anything.
Click for more pictures. Photo by Marcus Fitzgerald.
Around midnight, the soldiers, police, security personnel, and settlers left the area while Jamal, the oldest son of Khalid, and the international activists remained in the house. Throughout the night settlers stayed on patrol in the street near the Daraghmah house, shouting and honking the horns of their cars.
At 7:30 a.m. the following morning, a border police car stopped near the Daraghmah house on the road leading up to the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Levona. The border policemen then proceeded to break into the house, aggressively asking for passports and other documents. Like the night before, the house was searched and no bag, cigarette package, or piece of clothing went unturned.
Jamal was brutally pushed into one of the rooms by the police officers where he received several blows to the face before he was handcuffed and taken away. Jamal was taken to the Israeli police station of Binyamin, wrongly accused of having hit a soldier. He was released on bail the day after.
The continued pressure of the Israeli occupation forces and illegal settlers remain a a constant threat during both days and nights in Khan al Luban.
Alex Marley is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
17 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
At around 10:30 p.m., a group of Israeli settlers from the nearby illegal settlement of Ma’ale Levona arrived in Khan Al Luban, a Palestinian hamlet located in the vicinity of Al Luban village. Armed with guns and wooden sticks, the settlers broke into a house owned by Khalid al-Hamed Daraghmah.
Israeli settlers armed with guns and sticks on the land of Khalid al-Hamed Daraghmah.
The owner Khalid Daraghmah was alerted by his dogs when the 6 armed settlers arrived by car. Khalid went out and asked the intruders to leave his property. The settlers refused claiming that, “this is not private property, but property of the state of Israel.” The settlers forcefully entered his house, going into every room, shouting and kicking household objects.
The settlers then headed towards the water spring that is next to the house. International activists that Khalid called for support also tried to stop the settlers and explain that they are intruding on private property, but again the settlers refused to leave. On this occasion they argued that it is their right to be there, because “the prophet Abraham was here 2000 years ago. “
About half an hour after the settlers’ arrival, a white jeep arrived at full speed. Two Israeli soldiers ran out of the car and headed aggressively towards Khalid. The soldiers grabbed Khalid, shouting, and pushed him violently into a room of the house. The international activists tried to enter the room but were prevented by the soldiers.
Some 20 minutes later, another car arrived carrying 4 soldiers as well as 2 Israeli police cars carrying 4 policemen. The soldiers interrogated Khalid and the police spoke to the settlers who claimed to have been attacked by Khalid.
The soldiers scoured the house, ‘looking for weapons’. They entered all the rooms of Khalid’s house which have been emptied since a previous settler attack. After finding nothing at about 1:00 a.m., the police, soldiers, and settlers left.
Khalid says, “they are gone now but unfortunately, they will be back.”
Alex Marley is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
15 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
For the past four years, Khalid al-Sanih Daraghmah and his family have faced regular attacks by Israeli settlers at their home in Khan, 2 kilometers south of the West Bank village al-Luban. When Khalid bought the two homes on the road to the illegal Ma’ale Levona settlement 5 years ago, he imagined restoring them and planting the 20 dunums of land that they sit on.
Khaled Daraghmah sits in his house, originally a police station from the Ottoman era – click to see more photos
Today, the two houses sit with the insides burned and gutted, without doors or windows, and under constant threat of further attacks. Only Khalid is left to protect them, as he has moved his family to another home for their safety. The move was especially motivated to protest his two eldest sons, who have been unjustly arrested several times, simply for being present on their own property.
Five years ago, Khalid purchased the two buildings from his cousin believing that he could restore them and turn the property into a paradise.
“I sold everything to buy this property,” says Khalid, “including my family gold.”
The first six months were strange, admits Khalid. Israeli real estate agents constantly inquired if he would sell.
“Everyone came saying, ‘Habibi (my dear), how much will it take for you to sell.’”
Over time, the voices became less friendly, and when it became clear he would not sell, the attacks began. The settlers began coming on to his property several times each week to cut trees, steal food, and use the natural spring that flows under his property.
One year after moving to the building that rests on the west side of the road, it was set on fire while he and his family were away visiting friends. The family then decided to live in the second home, which sits next to the coveted spring.
“We lived in the first house for one year, and this house for two, but after that I could not keep my family here, they were in too much danger,” says Khalid.
After several arson attacks on the home, and an incident where settlers swam naked in front of his wife and children, he decided that only he and his two eldest sons would stay in Khan to cultivate the land. The settler attacks continued and after his sons were arrested several times, he was the only one left to work and defend the land.
In April 2012, Khalid was arrested by Israeli forces and accused of attacking settlers. Three members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), as well as four from the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) were present and filmed the incident that led to his arrest.
He spent three months in jail, and was forced to pay 20,000 shekels to Israeli authorities to secure his release. His release came with the condition that he was not allowed on his land, except on Saturday, until his court date on October 28.
While Khalid was in prison, settlers removed all of the doors and windows to his homes, destroyed the irrigation lines that fed his crops, and destroyed a section of wall in one house.
A section of Khaled’s house desetroyed by Israeli settlers. Khaled has temporarily rebuilt part of it, but lacks money for concrete – click to see more photos
“They feel that I am weak now, as I do not have the money to continue replacing everything they destroy. So they come every day, watching me die slowly with no one to help.”
Illegal Israeli settlements
According to the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem, Israel has taken control of 50% of the land
of the West Bank by legalizing Settlements as Israeli territory. 500,000 Israeli settlers are living in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Although all settlements are illegal according to international law, Israel officially recognizes 121 settlements in the Occupied West Bank. Another 100 settlements in the Occupied West Bank are smaller ‘outposts’, which are established with government assistance and are not even recognized as legal by the state of Israel. Nonetheless, most of them still stand.
Marshall Pinkerton is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
