Tag: Live Ammunition

Yitzhar settlers attack school children in Urif

by Chris Beckett

29 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Urif is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate of the northern occupied West Bank, located thirteen kilometres South of Nablus. The town has a population of just under 3000 inhabitants and is overlooked by the illegal Israeli colony of Yitzhar. Last week on Sunday, April 22, Urif’s boys school was attacked by mask-wearing settlers supported by four Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) soldiers who used tear-gas, sound bombs, and live ammunition against unarmed Palestinian children.

The training of armed, illegal settlers – Click here for more images (Photo courtesy of IMEMC)

The settlers were led by the head of security for the Yitzhar colony, a man suspected in the murder of a resident of Urif in 2004, a murder that nobody has yet been charged with. He continues to lead brutal assaults against the civilian population of six Palestinian towns in the lands surrounding Yitzhar: Burin, Huwara, Madma, Assria Al-Kalibya, Ein Nabous, and Urif.
The attack began when the Yitzhar head of security and a number of masked settlers approached the school from an overlooking hill. “The children were sitting their mock exams,” said Arif, a member of the local popular committee, “the settlers used foul language and began throwing stones at the windows of the school.”

The settlers were soon joined by four uniformed IOF soldiers who did nothing to stop the abuse and stones hurled towards the school.

“When the army came they were supposed to stop the settlers coming to the school, in fact the opposite happened, there was chaos,” said Arif. A number of Palestinian youth approached the armed Israeli settlers and soldiers on the hill, using stones to resist the attack. The IOF soldiers then threw tear gas canisters down towards them and the school. One canister landed on the roof where a member of the Israeli human rights group B’tselem, Adil Safadi, was filming the attack.

Following the attack teachers from the school collected sixty tear gas canisters, a number of sound grenades, and at least thirty rounds of live ammunition fired directly over their heads.

In the video of the incident wherein International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteers are shown, the screams of the children and the loud report of an assault rifle being fired in fully automatic mode can clearly be heard. At one point an IOF soldier took aim with his M16 directly at a Palestinian youth out of camera shot. The sustained assault lasted for around an hour before the settlers decided to leave with their IOF minders in tow.

Whilst some children hid in their classrooms during the attack under the watchful eye of their teachers, many rushed to their homes and were exposed to large amounts of tear-gas and required medical attention. The children of Urif’s boys school, aged between 13 and 18, have been subjected to this kind of brutality on a regular basis since the founding of the school which sits on the outskirts of the village and is thus vulnerable to these kind of attacks. Many of the older kids that attend the school were in the process of studying for their year final examinations which take place in early May.

“You can’t imagine the loss we have suffered as a result of this settlement,” says Arif,  “we would like to live in peace and prosperity, but that is something we cannot gain. The settlers are very aggressive, there is no word in the dictionary to describe them.”

This is not the first time the settlers, supported by the military, have attacked the school. Roughly one year ago they attempted and failed to burn it down. ISM was shown pictures depicting the charred remains of one classroom that was severely damaged during the attack.

Incursions from Yitzhar into Urif and Surrounding Villages

Arif and members of Urif municipality informed ISM of the following.

The illegal colony of Yitzhar was founded in 1984. It was not until the beginning of 2000 that it began to aggressively expand into the surrounding Palestinian lands. Yitzhar illegally annexed vast swaths of land and barred access to the Palestinian farmers, shepherds, and villagers that have lived and worked the land for countless generations.

The village of Urif is a mere 1500 meters away from the Israeli colony, and since 2000, over 2200 dunams have been stolen by the nearby settlement. In addition, four thousand olive trees cultivated by the village have been uprooted or burnt by settlers in the past four years.

The villagers of Urif have no access to running water, instead they rely on a small number of ancient wells. Two years ago, members of the village were dismayed to find tear gas canisters had been dropped into one of the wells by unknown settlers, poisoning the water supply.

Any attempt to expand infrastructure in the village is also met with settler attacks. ISM volunteers were shown the remains of a house that had been under construction before it was attacked and completely dismantled.

“Late at night they launch attacks on the residents in this area,” said Arif, pointing to the rubble strewn skeleton of the destroyed house. A tractor and a number of cars belonging to residents of the village had also been destroyed in a series of recent arson attacks.

Settlers have shot through the windows of a number of the homes. Graffiti reading ‘revenge’ in Hebrew was scrawled across one residents house. The widespread attacks of agricultural land has lead to a vast “wasteland” between the outskirts of Urif and Yitzhar. Hundreds of goats, sheep, and a few horses have been stolen.

This is not to mention the violence towards the villagers themselves. Arif reports that hundreds of villagers have been injured since 2000, with as many as 40 serious injuries (many of which were gunshot wounds) and one murder.

The combined effects of this systematic assault on Urif residents’ way of life, economy, and civil society is akin to a form of ethnic cleansing. One of the most stark indicators of the impact of the measures taken against the village of Urif by Yitzhar settlement is that unemployment is as high as 40%. Many people simply cannot survive under these conditions and are thus forced to abandon the village of their birth, leaving behind their friends, family, and identity.

Chris Beckett is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Mahmoud, 19 years old, killed at Erez during Land Day between dreams and hopes: The words of his family

by Rosa Schiano

11 April 2012 | il Blog di Oliva

On Friday 30th March, during the “Land Day,” Gaza joined the Global March in order to remember the confiscation of Palestinian lands by Israel which were protested against on the 30th March 1976. 6 Palestinians were killed and hundreds were injured.

In Gaza this event had the color of blood and the sound of Israeli bullets.

We all met in Beit Hanoun to head to the Erez border. Many people could not continue the march because of the blockade created by the Israeli police.

However, while we were there we learned that many people were able to reach the border, and we also knew about the injured. And so, following alternative ways, bypassing the blockade of the police, we joined them.

What we saw next was at the verge of madness.

A group of young people demonstrated by singing, some were there just sitting or standing, others were trying to remove a barbed wire fence, some were throwing stones  of protest, stones that could have never reached the Israeli soldiers and surely not cross the border.

Nonetheless, the Israeli soldiers did not hesitate. They targeted. They fired. Precisely.

The injured were many. It was chaos. Guys riding motorbikes were bringing the injured quickly towards the ambulances and then they were coming back.

The soldiers fired at the arms, at the legs.

I saw grimaces of pain; I heard the screams of pain.

Also Mahmoud Zaqout, 19 years old, was there with us. They also shot Mahmoud, but he was hit straight in the chest.

Mahmoud would have turned 20 on April 19.

After that terrible day we went to visit his family.

He was a calm boy, a lovely boy, his father Mohammed told us, “Mahmoud was 19 and he was still a child. Mahmoud graduated and he worked in his shop near home.

He was very much beloved by the children, and by his brothers and sisters. He always played with them. Mahmoud was the tenth of 12 children.

His parents told us that Mahmoud was preparing himself for this demonstration since two weeks prior. He really wished to do something for the Palestinian cause. Four days earlier he had taken a picture of himself and he asked his family to use that picture in case he was killed.

Mahmoud’s family thought that he was joking, that he said that for fun.

They did not think that this could happen.

Maybe Mahmoud felt that this could happen. Or simply he knew that whoever goes to the border to demonstrate risks his life under the fire of Israeli bullets.

On Friday, after the prayer, Mahmoud went to the demonstration.

His mother told us that before leaving he told her: “If I am late, keep lunch ready for me.”

These were his last words to his mother.

Mahmoud was trying to put a flag at the gate when he was shot by an Israeli bullet. He was transported to Kamal Odwan Hospital. But because he was badly injured, the medical staff decided to carry him to the Shifa hospital, but he died before arriving.

One of his brothers showed us the flag still stained with his blood.

We asked Mohammed from whom his son had inherited this sense of struggle and resistance. The father told us that his family is from Askilon. Mahmoud is not the first martyr of the family. One of his uncles was killed during the shelling of Gaza (Cast Lead Operation).

Mohammed told us that they feel they must fight for their own rights, for their freedom and for justice.

All his family believes that one day the Palestinian people will go back to their land.

The family of Mahmoud

One of his brother told us that Mahmoud was anxiously waiting for the following Tuesday, 3rd April, in order to watch the football match of Barcelona, because Mahmoud was a fan of the team.

They would have watched the football match together.

Mahmoud was aware of the possibility of getting killed.  He was ready for that, for the love of his land. But at the same time Mahmoud was also thinking about his future and, as all the youth of his age, he was also thinking to watch the football match of his football team together with his family and friends.

“The loss of Mahmoud is a disaster for the whole family,” his father told us. “But now Mahmoud is with God and we hope he will be ok.”

“In the West Bank more than 300 people were injured. There Israeli soldiers used rubber coated  bullets. In Gaza there are F-16 and the soldiers use real bullets, in Gaza the Israeli soldiers shoot to kill the Palestinian people”, concluded Mohammed.

Finally, I asked the relatives of Mahmoud if they feel like sending a message to the international community.

Mohammed, the father, said, “I want to know what Mahmoud has done in order to be killed by Israel. We thank you for your solidarity, and we thank the internationals who are here to support the Palestinians.”

Nedal, one of Mahmoud’s brothers said, “If my brother had been a soldier, and if he had killed an Israeli boy, what would have been the response of the entire world? This question is above all for the governments of the other countries. Me too.. I would like to know what Mahmoud has done to be killed.”

I asked Haiaa, Mahmoud’s mother, how she feels. With her eyes still in disbelief she replied, “I feel like a fire is in my heart. Everyday I go to his room, every day I approach his bed, and I start to cry.”

The mother accompanied me into her son’s room. She showed me his computer, she touched the screen. She showed me a small cupboard with some objects. Toothpaste, a toothbrush, a comb, and some hair gel. She took the toothpaste, she handed it to me and she put it back where it was before.

She showed me Mahmoud’s jeans hanging on a hook, she hugged them. His jeans are still there at their place. Mahmoud’s mother keeps his room as he left it, as if he was still alive, as if he will come back.

I felt out of breath in front of her pain.

I hugged her, a hug full of feelings of helplessness, aware that my embrace could never relieve her pain, aware that nothing will ever bring her son back.

On Tuesday Barcelona won. Mahmoud could not sit on the armchair at home watching the match, but maybe from up there he would have smiled. Now he will wait for the greatest victory, to see the rights of the Palestinian people.

Rosa Schiano is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.

The march from Erez to the iron doors of Al Aqsa

by Nathan Stuckey

30 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

Sometimes, the more things change the more they stay the same.  On March 30, 1976 during protests against the confiscation of Palestinian land, Israel killed six protesters, injured over one hundred and arrested hundreds more.  This was the first Land Day.  Every year for the last thirty six years Palestinians have commemorated the heroism of those protesters and reiterated their attachment to their lands.  This year was no different.  This year protests occurred in over eighty countries, thousands of people tried to march to Jerusalem.  Almost everywhere whoever was in power tried to prevent these marches.  Gaza was no different from everywhere else.

The march from south of Beit Hanoun - Click here for more photos

Today’s protest began at a gas station south of Beit Hanoun.  Thousands of people gathered for the protest, many of them made it obvious that they wanted to march to Erez, and, God willing, on to Jerusalem.  Rows of police prevented this.  On a stage speaker after speaker spoke of resistance and return.  Off to the side, tires burned, youth on top of a billboard rhythmically pounded on it, demanding to go to north toward the border.  The police were having none of this, armored, carrying Plexiglas shields and batons; they stopped anyone who attempted to push north.  For three hours thousands of people stood under the sun in honor of Land Day.

At about four o’clock we were told that some people we know had moved past the police lines that were preventing protesters from reaching Erez.  The Israeli army was firing on the demonstrators.  Live bullets from soldiers ensconced in concrete towers embedded in a giant concrete wall shooting at protesters on the narrow road to the border.  That is a constant in Gaza, all protests are met with live bullets.  We set out to Erez to see the situation.

We arrived at Erez at about five o’clock.  There were a couple of hundred young men on the street leading to the border.  They were blocked from coming close to the massive concrete wall in which the soldiers hid by a fence of razor wire.  Israeli soldiers shot at young men burning tires and throwing stones.  None of the stones made it within a hundred meters of the concrete towers, but that did not stop the Israelis from using deadly force, their bullets smashed into body after body.  One young man, Mahmoud Zakot, 20, from Jabalia was killed.  Thirty one others were injured.  There were no ambulances.  Young men would be shot, their friends would carry them to waiting motorcycles, the motorcycles would roar off to take the injured to ambulances waiting by the checkpoint behind us.

The young men were not deterred by the gunfire.  They had come to Erez to protest forty five years of occupation, sixty four years of dispossession, no one had any illusions about how Israel dealt with protests in Gaza with bullets.  Young men would move forward with whatever they could light on fire and leave it in the razor wire which blocked the road.  Other young men would try to pull the razor wire out of the way so that we could advance toward Jerusalem.  Bullets would ring out; young men would fall into the arms of their friends and be put on motorcycles for the trip to the hospital.  While the Israeli’s shot them the young men chanted, “The doors of Al Aqsa are made of iron” and “We are going to Jerusalem, martyrs in the millions”.  Freedom is more valuable than life.

We did not reach Jerusalem today.  We remember though, and we are grateful, that Jerusalem is not Lifta and is not Jarash, Palestinians still live there, it has not been ethnically cleansed.  We will be back on May 15, in commemoration of the Nakba, we will return on June 5th to commemorate the Naksa, we will return to this border until the occupation disappears.

Nathan Stuckey is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement.

Soldiers Invade Al-Boreij Refugee Camp in central Gaza

by Saeed Bannoura

25 February 2012 | International Middle East Media Center

Israeli soldiers invaded, on Friday evening, an area east of the Al-Boreij Refugee Camp, in central Gaza, firing dozens of rounds of live ammunition, while military choppers flew overhead firing flares.

The motives of the invasion remain unknown as the soldiers just searched the area and withdrew later on; no arrests or injuries were reported.

On Friday at dawn, two Palestinians were wounded after the Israeli Air Force fired missiles in the Car Market area in Gaza; one of them was treated by field medics while the other was moved to a local hospital.

Also on Friday, Israeli troops shot and killed one Palestinian near the central West Bank city of Ramallah during clashes that took place after the Palestinians held a protest against the ongoing settler attacks, and the Friday attack carried out by the soldiers against worshipers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

In its weekly reported for the week of 16 – 22 Feb. 2012, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights found that 25 civilians were wounded, and 21 were abducted in 74 invasions carried out by the Israeli military into the Palestinian territories.

Protester shot and killed at a demonstration at Qalandya checkpoint today, clashes continue in Jerusalem and the West Bank

25 February 2012 | Palestine News Network

During a violent protest in which the IOF used live bullets, tear gas and rubber bullets, twenty five year old Talat Ramia, was shot in the shoulder and died later from his injuries. According to medics, five other protesters were injured.

An Israeli army spokesman said the incident was under investigation. The official said initial indications showed that one of the protesters had “fired fireworks at IDF soldiers from several meters away, putting the soldiers’ lives in danger”. The soldiers “responded by firing, injuring the Palestinian in his shoulder.”

Funeral procession for Talat Ramia, 25, who died on Friday after he was shot by Israeli forces at a protest near Qalandiya checkpoint. (Maan Images)

The demonstration was held in response to rumours of a possible raid by Israeli settlers of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem today. Consequently there were violent clashes at Al-Aqsa mosque, in which four Palestinian people were arrested and more than fifteen sustained injuries from riot police.

This followed a week of unrest in Jerusalem, as the extreme Israeli group Likud threatened to break into the mosque last Sunday.

Al Aqsa Mosque is considered to be one of the most sensitive places in the Middle East and is considered the third holiest place in Islam, while it is considered by the Jewish as Temple Mount and is revered as one of the most sacred sights.

Witnesses stated that the police fired tear gas, forcing people to run inside for cover.

“We were praying when they started shooting tear gas towards us,” 58-year-old Umm Mohammad told AFP by telephone from inside the Dome of the Rock.

“At first, they were shooting at the Al-Aqsa mosque but we hid in the Dome of the Rock, and now they have started firing tear gas and sound bombs towards the gates,” she said.

Clashes continue this evening in Al-Rum, a town near Jerusalem city. Medical sources state that there are many injuries as the IOF are currently shooting live rounds.