Tag: Nablus

Israeli soldiers shot the ceiling of a home when they entered to set up snipers inside

by Anna

Early Wednesday morning, August 9, soldiers invaded Balata Refugee Camp. They began the operation by occupying 2 homes. The mother in the first house heard them outside the door preparing to blow it open, but jumped out of bed screaming “No, wait! Just let me open it!” Twenty soldiers and one spy entered the home and woke both of the sons by nudging them and shouting in Hebrew, “wake up!” The sons opened their eyes to see the barrel of an M16 a foot from their face. The entire family was rounded up and stuck in one room where they were held without being able to use the restroom and without water for 3 hours. The Isaeli military was using this house to monitor the target of the operation, the house across the alley. As this was happening the soldiers also occupied another home in order to set up snipers in the flat as it was overlooking the alley.

Meanwhile in the street, there were about 70 soldiers and 4 spies waiting outside the target house. They called for everyone to come out of that house. When no one immediately immerged they began throwing sound bombs and grenades through the windows. The family was forced out. Four of the young men were arrested and taken to Huwara detention center. The rest of the family, including an elderly mother and small grandchildren were forced to wait in the street as the soldiers destroyed many of their possessions. They searched with dogs while continuing to explode grenades. They left about 5am. This is not the first time the army has come and destroyed the home. On May 18, 2003 they came in the middle of the night and blew it up and a nearby home as well, despite the efforts of ISMers who had chained themselves inside. The army arrested them and then proceeded to blow up the house. The mother says, “Every time we rebuild, they destroy.”

Soldiers trashed the house before they left

The family has seven sons. One is dead, two are in jail and now they have taken the remaining four. The army has said that one of the remaining four is “wanted” and for what they did not say. “There are currently 1,000 Palestinians being held without charges or trial, and 8,000 being held after military courts have convicted them, almost always on the basis of confessions which were extracted by torture”, Norman Finkelstein stated in a recent interview on DemocracyNow.

They released 3 of the sons in the early morning. One of the sons, Ahmed, 28, had already served time in prison when he was 14 for being wanted and since then has been shot 5 times by the Israeli army. Once they made him get out of his taxi and then shot him in the head and hand. He was also shot during a nonviolent support ralley for the prisoners on hunger strike and has been shot just being outside in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had just returned yesterday from a hospital in Jordon where he was seeking treatment for his hand. As he explained this to one of the soldiers last night, the soldier looked at his hand and pushed his finger in the hole where the bullet hand been. Then he slapped the cuffs tightly across the portion of his wrist that had been deformed from the injury. After cuffing him, he was beaten with guns, batons and fists.

There is still no word on the son in detention. They have 18 days to return him or renew the order.

A woman waits after a long line for soldier to approve her passing

by Woody, Miss J and Ernesto

There is continual harrassment and human rights abuses at Beit Iba checkpoint, northwest of Nablus, which connects the largest city in the West Bank to Tulkarem and Jenin. Students and patients travelling in ambulances are routinely stopped, as human rights workers witnessed yesterday, August 7th. One international travelling through the checkpoint was also arrested, apparently for taking pictures.

Human rights workers monitoring the checkpoint reported that three students of Al Najah University were detained by Isaeli soldiers, which means that they were pulled out of line and put into a pen surrounded by razor wire until their name was cleared. It is necessary for these young men to travel through this checkpoint daily in order to attend the university.

There were an additional 15 men detained between 20 minutes and 3 hours. They reported to the internationals that they are detained almost daily because the last four digits of their ID numbers are the same as those of “wanted” individuals (meaning the Israeli army wants to arrest or assasinate these people). Some soldiers acknowledged that these men, many of whom are students, cross the Beit Iba checkpoint daily and are known to not be “wanted”. However, they still could not explain why these men are detained regularly nonetheless.

Ambulances with their lights on were stopped at the vehicle crossing and required to provide documentation and undergo a rigorous inspection in order to clear the checkpoint and transport their patient to the nearest hospital.

The human rights workers spoke with the soldiers on duty and negotiated the crossing of several men across the checkpoint, despite official military orders that no men between the ages of 15 to 35 are allowed to cross under any circumstances. The Israeli authorities claim that it is a security risk to allow men of this age group to cross the checkpoint.

An international woman from Sweden, not working with the group monitoring the checkpoint, but on a tour with a group to Jenin, was arrested. The group noticed a Palestinian man being arrested although he had on a leg brace and said he was on the way to the hospital. She asked the soldiers why he was being held and took some photos after which the soldiers told her to stop or they would call the police. They passed the checkpoint and went to get food and water. When they returned the police had arrived and directly targeted the international who took pictures. The police were very aggressive and informed her that a soldier had filed a complaint against her, which justified her arrest.

The police took her to Qedumim settlement police station and then Ariel settlement police station and threatened to deport her. They asked her to sign papers agreeing she will stay out of the West Bank. She reported that,”They tried to bribe me with offers of ‘only being excluded from Nablus’. I said I wanted to move about freely: ‘Is Israel not a democracy?’ I said. They finally let me go with no papers being signed.”

Human rights worker is dragged by Israeli police

by M.W.

On August 5, seven Palestinian men were caged in a detention structure at Beit Iba checkpoint outside Nablus. They included 6 students and one assistant dean from Al-Najah University. All 7 men were given no reason for their detention, and were detained for periods ranging from 30 minutes to 2 1/2 hours in duration. The assistant dean was placed in detention after objecting to an Israeli soldier describing the Palestinians waiting to pass through the checkpoints as “animals”.

Three international activists, including one woman from Sweden and two women from the United States, attempted to negotiate with soldiers to obtain a reason for detention or a time of release. They were unsuccessful, and were told by soldiers to leave the checkpoint. The internationals stated they would not leave until the Palestinians were released, and were then told that the police would be called if they did not leave. After speaking with the detainees, the internationals entered the detention area, which is a metal roof held up by posts and surrounded with barbed wire, and sat down as a statement of solidarity with the Palestinians being held without charge.

After approximately 30 minutes, border police arrived and demanded to see the internationals’ passports. The police were told by the internationals that all three passports had been left in their hotel, and that they weren’t attempting to cross the checkpoint without passports, but merely to inquire as to why the Palestinians were being held for so long. The police stated that the internationals had to leave, and the internationals again stated that they would not leave until the Palestinians were released. The police and soldiers then forcibly removed the internationals from the detention center, dragging them over dirt, rocks, and barbed wire. The police stated the internationals were under arrest for not having passports; however, when the internationals offered to retrieve the passports, they were denied. The internationals asked where they were being taken and were again denied this information. It was during this time all seven Palestinians were released from detention.

The internationals were put into the back of a green army jeep, and were driven to the opposite end of the checkpoint where the soldiers put them back in detention. The soldiers began shouting, “There’s a terrorist with a bomb. Get down!” while aiming loaded guns at Palestinians waiting at the checkpoint and shouting at them. The police had left the scene, and the internationals again asked to be released to obtain their passports. They were denied. The internationals then attempted to leave the detention center, and were physically stopped by soldiers, who threatened to tie them up and drag them back into the detention center if they did not comply. The internationals continued to slowly walk away with their hands in the air, and eventually left the checkpoint.

by Michael
Yesterday, August 2nd, hundreds of people waited for hours at Huwarra checkpoint, which is the main entrance to Nablus from the south and one of the most restrictive in all of the West Bank. Everyone was packed into the terminal, while soldiers allowed one to pass at a time, after undergoing humiliating searches and questioning. Yesterday, the average waiting time at Huwarra was over two hours.

Over the course of six hours, international activists working with ISM were able to escort many people through the illegal barriers, and facilitate the release of men detained without charge. Through physical accompaniment, negotiation and other non-violent means, the ISM was able to pressure Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) soldiers into allowing the passage of many Palestinians. Using this tactic, they were able to allow many pregnant women, small children and people with medical issues to pass. Without international accompaniment, the soldiers do not have any interests in treating Palestinians as humans and often force them to wait the entire day in the hot sun.

In response to the international presence, the soldiers brought an additional 15 soldiers, and threatened the ISM activists with arrest, while the soldiers pushed, screamed and physically attempted to stop the internationals from documenting the closure with cameras. The internationals witnessed IOF soldiers pushing Palestinians, grabbing some by the throat, and continuously touching Palestinian women after being asked not to do so. The internationals were also threatened violently by soldiers with M-16 machine guns. On one occasion, a female soldier told a female activist, “Fuck you, I will shoot you with my big gun,” after the international asked why the Palestinians were being delayed.

In the end, activists were able facilitate the crossing of about 20 people, forcing the IOF to create a “humanitarian line,” where women, children and the elderly were allowed to pass with more efficiency. After exhausting the patience of the soldiers at Huwara, the activists moved to Beit Iba checkpoint on the road to Tulkarem.

At Beit Iba, activists found eight young men in detention, one of whom was in isolation in a metal cell not much larger than the width of his shoulders. The man, named Bashir, had been in detention for over 8 hours, and when asked why, the soldiers told the activists that he was a “wanted, dangerous, terrorist.” After investigation, it turned out that the man had been detained that morning after he intervened in the case of an IOF soldier sexually harassing a Palestinian women. Once again, when the activists attempted to remain in the checkpoint to speak with the detained men, activists were physically assaulted, and threatened with arrest.

The other seven men were detained in a metal pen, surrounded by razor wire. Many had been there for close to six hours. The ISM activists brought them food, water and phones to call their families. Most of those detained were university students from al-Najah in Nablus, one was a Palestinian Authority policeman, and one was a taxi driver. The students had final exams the next day and most reported being stopped every day. When asked, the soldiers said they were detained because the Israeli intelligence had flagged their names.

After over one and a half hours of negotiation, the activists were able to pursuade the soldiers to let Bashir out of isolation and put with the other men. After an additional 30 minutes, all the men were released. As the ISM was leaving Beit Iba, a man of approximately 16 years of age was pulled from the crowd of waiting Palestinians and the IOF attempted to detain him. The man’s ID was not cross referenced with the list of “wanted persons,” and the soldiers gave no justification for singling him out. In response, ISM activists physically prevented the man from being taken by surrounding him with their bodies, and after de-esculating the situation, they accompanied the man to the front of the checkpoint. ISM activists remained with the man during his “interrogation,” in which the soldiers asked him very little. When this was over, the soldiers attempted to detain him again, but the activists were able to successfully accompany him out of the checkpoint. Although he was unable to pass into Tulkarem to visit his mother he was at least not arrested.

by W.B.

Asira Al Shamaliyeh, a town of about 12,000 located a few kilometers north of the mountains from Nablus, has come to suffer under a new aspect of occupation. Asira has in recent months been effectively cut off from Nablus by increasing restrictions at the Sabatosh checkpoint. In addition to the weekly incursions by the occupation forces located in the mountains next to the town, which Israel claims are of the highest security importance, soldiers at the checkpoint are now distributing a form of personal abuse to the Palestinians attempting to pass.

Villagers, most of whom can only cross the checkpoint by taxi or service (shared taxi), are being turned away unless they make personal purchases for the soldiers at the checkpoint. Demands for hummous, cigarettes, cola, candy, and the like are made by soldiers under threat of restriction of movement. Furthermore, the soldiers are demanding the drivers pay for the purchases themselves, with a false promise of reimbursement when they return to the checkpoint. This humiliating behavior is enforced on the drivers whose livelihood depends on fares between Asira and Nablus, often taking their profits for the day. Soldiers even selfishly take food, drinks, and candy bought by Palestinians while in Nablus for their families back in Asira.

This stealing and lying from the soldiers continues as another humiliating form of daily harrassment in the Nablus region.