26th April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine
ISM is bringing the story of Friday’s weekly demonstration in Nabu Saleh, 20 kilometers northwest of Ramallah, the Occupied West Bank, in photos.
Israeli forces shot one Palestinian teenager in the head with live ammunition and fired stun grenades at the press.
24th April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine
Yesterday’s Friday demonstration in Kafr Qaddum continued the trend of senseless and extreme violence from Israeli forces against Palestinian villagers, as the ISM has reported on numerous occasions. Even before the villagers had begun their march, one Palestinian teenager was shot in the foot with live ammunition (a 0.22 caliber bullet) by an Israeli sniper and rushed to the hospital.
This weeks march had only lasted for a few minutes before protesters were met with tear gas and stun grenades, causing around 100 protesting villagers to run for cover behind nearby houses.
Teenager most likely loses his eye after getting shot
Sudden panic arose seconds later, when another young Palestinian teenager was shot straight in his eye with a rubber-coated steel bullet. At the time of writing, non-confirmed reports suggests that the boy will not be able to recover from the damages inflicted and will lose his eye. The injured Palestinian was first taken to the Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, only to be quickly transferred to Ramallah Hospital for surgery. The ISM is waiting for a final confirmation on the outcome of the injury.
The brutality of the Israeli occupation forces only continued after this, first shooting Friday’s third victim in his leg and the fourth in his back, both with rubber-coated steel bullets. Yet another two Palestinian teenagers were subsequently shot. While it remains unclear where the bullets hit their bodies, reports from the ground said they only suffered superficial damages.
The march continues
The villager’s march towards the eastern outskirt of the village resumed after the extreme violence and finally reached a point overlooking the illegal Israeli settlement Kedumim, established in 1975. This is a focal point for the weekly demonstrations, because Israel has closed the road which prior to 2003 connected Kafr Qaddum with Nablus, located 14 kilometers to the east and an important Palestinian commercial center. The road closure therefore significantly increases traveling costs and sharply reduces employment opportunities for the villagers of Kafr Qaddum. Since the Second Intifada the village has seen a staggering unemployment rate of 75 per cent. Some estimates suggest that the road closure has led to a yearly emigration rate of between ten and fifteen per cent of the total population.
Rubber tire burning “not good” for settler laundry
Upon reaching this point of the road, the protest assumed its usual form of villagers setting fire to tires.
This is done as a response to the massive amount of tear gas used against them by Israeli forces and to send a strong signal demanding the road re-opened. Israeli forces usually respond quickly to the burning of tires, as Israeli settlers have issued several complaints that it leaves a terrible smell over the settlement and prevents them from hanging out their laundry to dry.
As yesterday’s fire grew and there was a surprising lack of response from the Israeli military, the Palestinians called of for the discontinuation of the protest shouting halas, Arabic for “enough”.
17nth April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine
This week’s Friday demonstration in Kafr Qaddum followed the same violent pattern as the previous ones during the past weeks. The Israeli occupation forces began their shooting before the demonstration even started. Soldiers and border police fired tear gas, stun grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammonition at the protestors. Hammam Khalid Aqil, age 19, was hit by two rubber-coated steel bullets, one in his leg and one in his head.
He was badly injured and while he was still unconscious the Israeli army arrested him and took him to a hospital in Israel where he is now under intensive care. His condition is extremely serious, even so it took several hours before his parents were allowed to come and see him at the hospital.
The demonstration was slightly bigger than usual with between 150-200 villagers and activists participating. Because April 17th is Palestinian Prisoners Day many protestors were carrying pictures of family members and friends who are currently suffering in Israeli jails.
The occupation forces met the demonstration with terrifying brutality. They used the skunk-water truck to spray down not only protestors but family homes and gardens covering the village in a foul stink.
At least five more people were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets. Maamoun Shtaiwi, 36, and Anna Johnson, a 30 year old ISM volunteer, were both shot in the head and taken to the hospital in Nablus where they were treated for their wounds. Maamoun’s injury required 13 stitches. One Palestinian activist was hit in the leg, and one in the chest, and an Israeli photographer had the camera on his helmet smashed.
17th April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Bil’in, Occupied Palestine
Over 300 people attended the Prisoners’ Day demonstration in Bil’in. The Israeli army fired endless amounts of teargas and shot one person in the chest with a live ammunition.
After the prayer, protesters marched towards the apartheid wall and the illegal settlement of Modi’in, situated just outside of Bil’in. A truck loaded with a sound system led the chanting crowd. Most were either waving Palestinian flags, holding up banners in support of the Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons to mark Prisoners’ Day, or were holding posters of Bassem, a local who was killed six years ago by the Israeli army. As the march got closer to the wall, Israeli forces fired over 50 rounds of teargas canisters towards the protesters. The area was heavily clouded with this gas during most of the afternoon, which caused many to suffer from its inhalation. The shooting of this teargas also caused the dry grass between the olive trees to repeatedly catch fire.
During the protest, one person was shot with a rubber-coated steel bullet, while a 17 years old boy was shot in the chest with live ammunition. He was immediately taken to hospital by the ambulance. His condition is stable.
The 17th April is Prisoners’ Day in Palestine. Thousands of Palestinians are arrested arbitrarily on a daily basis by the Israeli forces, despite prohibition by international law. According to B’Tselem, “at the end of February 2015, 5,609 Palestinian security detainees and prisoners were held in Israeli prisons”. Since 1967, when Israel furthered its occupation to the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, an equivalent of approximately 20% of the total population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), and 40% of all males have been detained (CEPR). While in prison, they are subject to wide-ranging violations of their rights and dignity. Such practices may include physical and psychological torture, deprivation of family visits, denial of access to lawyers and unlawful transfer out of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, among many other things. The Israeli occupying forces continue to violate the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, in particular against the Palestinian prisoners.
Today also marked the 6th anniversary of Bassem Abu Rameh’s death. Nicknamed Pheel, he was a much loved figure in the town of Bil’in. On the 17th April 2009, the Israeli army shot him with a teargas canister projectile which killed him shortly after. Aged 30, Pheel had been to all the non-violent protests, activities and creative actions against the apartheid wall in his town. Those who knew him remember him as a caring person who made everybody laugh and had the heart of a child, says Mohammad Khatib, a member of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements.
According to the report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs within the occupied Palestinian Territories, 442 people in the West Bank and 15 people in Gaza have been injured by the Israeli forces since the beginning of this year. On top of this, five people have been killed.
3rd April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Nabi Saleh, Occupied Palestine
The weekly Friday protest in Nabi Saleh was met with extreme violence by Israeli Occupation Forces. Four people were shot in the first five minutes of the protest. One man and one woman were shot and wounded by snipers using .22 caliber live ammunition. Both were shot in the leg. Two others, including a 14 year old girl, were later hit with rubber bullets. 6 more hours of protest saw two more injured protesters, private homes attacked with stun grenades, and live fire from M16 assault rifles during the army’s invasion of the Nabi Saleh village.
After midday prayer Palestinians and internationals gathered for a peaceful protest against the Israeli occupation in the village of Nabi Saleh. Villagers in Nabi Saleh are protesting against the confiscation of their community spring, taken by Halamish settlement in 2008. As the protest made it down the main road leading out of the village it was very violently attacked by Israeli occupation forces:
“We had very little warning. We had only been protesting for 5 minutes before two people were on the ground, shot with .22 caliber live ammunition,” reported an International Solidarity Movement volunteer at the scene.
A young man named Hammad from Al Am’ari Refugee Camp near Ramallah, and Manal Tammimi, a woman from Nabi Saleh, were both shot. In both cases the live bullets tore through their shin bones and they were immediately taken to the hospital. Medics on the scene say their injuries will take several months to heal and then only if no complications arise.
Children in the line of fire
A rubber bullet struck a fourteen year old Palestinian girl in the head. The girl is a native of Nabi Saleh village and medics say she was lucky to not be more severely injured.
Home invasions and M16 live ammunition
After the initial attack the protest changed location to a hill on the west side of the village of Nabi Saleh. This time the army responded by invading the village itself. Soldiers shot tear gas down the village streets and stun grenades in private houses. At one point an entire Palestinian family including around 5 children had to flee their home with severe tear gas poisoning after the army shot tear gas canisters into their back yard and the nerve gas spread through the windows.
The military shot with M16s (firing 5.56 NATO rounds) down the narrow streets of the village. “People were shouting to be careful of stray bullets and ducking behind anything that might pass for cover. Being shot at by M16 machine gun fire at a completely peaceful protest that even includes children is both absurd and extreme,” recalled one international activist on the scene.
Israeli occupation forces are escalating violence on the West Bank
The injuries in Nabi Saleh today and the use of lethal weapons are novelty. In both the villages of N’ilin and Kafr Kadum the Friday demonstration were also met with shots of M16 live ammunition. Internationals present in occupied Palestine report that the use of lethal weapons has never ceased since the massacre on Gaza last summer. In fact, they say the level of violence used by the Occupation, including both .22 and the much more lethal 5.56 live ammunition, is escalating.
Video by Anarchists Against the Wall
