Tag: Nablus - Page 7 - International Solidarity Movement

Closure of Kifl Hares following several night raids and arrests

19th September 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team| Kifl Hares, Occupied Palestine

“They punish us in all the ways they can”

The last two weeks, 17 boys and men aged 16-25 have been arrested during night raids in the village of Kifl Hares. Since a week ago, the Israeli military have also closed off the main entrance to the village, which is located south west of Nablus in a hot spot next to the illegal settlement of Ariel. The villagers now have to go through the surrounding villages in order to get out, which leads to an increase of 20 minutes to their daily commute.

(The closed gate to Kifl Hares leading to the main road is guarded by Israeli military.)

Some nights, the raids happened during some of the Jewish holidays. The settlers made a circle in the village square, dancing, guarded by soldiers placed on the roofs of the Palestinian homes around the square. ISM met the father of two of the young men who have been arrested. The home of the family has been raided six times in the last two weeks.

The first night raid, the father asked the soldiers what they were looking for, and after searching the entire house they replied: “We are just checking if you are OK.” The night raids have been following the main pattern of conduct: the military storms the village and closes it off, enters family homes, forces the families to get up where they then lock them in one room, whilst they destroy the family’s belongings in their search.

The second raid, the Israeli forces woke the village and the family up at 2 am to give them a document with a call for a court hearing. The third time, the Israeli soldiers forced two of the sons to the Ariel police station, detained them there for two hours, and then released them. The fourth raid, the military searched the house violently again. The fifth time they arrested a 19 year old son and the sixth time, the 22-year old son. The sons endured days of questioning, and after a rubber stamp in Salem court, they were then taken to Meggido, awaiting another trial in Salem court. The family only managed to see their sons briefly in the court hearing. In 2013 their older son was also kept in military detention for 16 months.

The father told ISM that he asked the commander of the military raiding their home why they come in the middle of the night. The commander replied: “I choose when I want to come”. The commander then threatened the father to steal the family’s land, to revoke his potential work permit and confiscate his car if he would protest more. “They punish us in all ways they can”, the father told ISM.

He told us his wife started screaming when the soldiers entered her bedroom, and the military then questioned why she was screaming. When the father emphasised the horror of the situation,the soldier said: “I have the right to do what I want. If you protest I will have your house demolished.” The soldiers also pulled their 85-year old grandmother up from her mattress in order to check her room.

Several families in Kifl Hares have suffered from similar horrific experiences during the last two weeks. Several villages around the occupied West Bank have also been raided during the night, and the villagers have seen their sons and neighbours being arrested by the Israeli forces. What are these Palestinians being punished for? The father answered: “For being Palestinian.”

Israeli occupation forces suppress peaceful protest with rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition

20th August 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara-team | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine

Israeli occupation forces suppressed another non-violent demonstration on Friday the 18^th of August, in the village Kafr Qaddum, in the occupied West Bank. The weekly demonstrations protest the closure of the main road connecting the village with Nablus, which is the main city in the area.

The blocking of the road was enforced, to “secure” the nearby illegal settlement Kedumim, thus prohibiting Palestinians from using the main road to Nablus. Kedumim illegal settlement is currently being expanded further.

Smoke from burning tires rising at the demonstration

Within the first 30 minutes of the demonstration the Israeli forces were firing both live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets at protestors. This went on for two and a half hours, before the army retreated and the participators of the march went home. Throughout the demonstration the Israeli forces circulated the area with a drone, filming the participants of the protest. Additionally, the soldiers were carrying cameras on their bodies.

Palestinians demonstrating the illegal land theft

Apart from keeping files on individuals supporting the popular resistance, such pictures can serve as ‘evidence’ against Palestinians for the participation in ‘illegal’ demonstration.

While it was not the case this particular Friday, the occupying army has been raiding houses regularly in the early hours on days of demonstrations, taking pictures of all young men in the given homes.

Israeli forces in Palestinian civilians homes

During this Friday’s demonstration however, various homes were raided, as Israeli soldiers made their way unto balconies and rooftops of strategically located houses, to control the protest. This is a common protocol for the Israeli army, and an intrusion the local residents can do nothing about.

Israeli army restrict international access to Kafr Qaddum during confrontation

17th August 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus-team | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine

Israeli occupation forces blocked international access to Kafr Qaddum on Saturday, before apparently attacking Palestinian demonstrators for the second time in two days.

Israeli force searching Palestinian cars

The Israeli military set up a road block at the entrance to the village, which has seen weekly demonstrations for several years, searching cars and checking IDs. Internationals who attempted to enter were detained for three hours with their passports confiscated. No reason was given for their detention, other than that the village was ‘dangerous’.

Israeli forces inspecting Palestinian cars

Kafr Qaddum, a small town in the Nablus area, has seen biweekly demonstrations for 6 years, since Israel blocked off their main access to Nablus in order to facilitate settler travel. The roadblock has doubled the length of journeys into Nablus, including for ambulances which are forced to take a 13km detour.

8th Kite Festival in Burin

18th July 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Burin, occupied Nablus

At the beginning of July the local committee of Burin invited to the town`s 8th Kite Festival of the City. The festival is kind of a tradition for this town, but has not taken place for the last three years, because the main organiser and head of the Burin Youth Committee, Target Organisation for Rural Development, Ghassan Najar was in prison, having been arrested for hosting the last Kite Festival in 2014.

Burin is a small village west of Nablus with 2,000 inhabitants.

Around 400 people participated in the festival, which saw the community organise food, water and music for the attendees, who gathered on a hill in the north of the village. Families from Burin, children form the Jordan Valley and also kids from the Balata refugee camp in Nablus were able to come together to spend a sunny day in the hills and to compete to see whose kite flew highest. The children brought colourful, handmade kites, the men danced and the women handed out delicious homemade treats. The atmosphere was full of peace and joy.

Every child got a medal as memento for this great day after the competition was over.

Some children proudly showing their medals

The main organiser, Ghassan, has been head of the Target Organisation for Rural Development for several years. This Committee is heavily targeted by the Israeli forces: 25 of the 40 members were once detained up to three years without a charge, laptops were stolen, their belongings were broken and relatives of the members threatened.

Military raids are common in Burin, as it is located directly next to the illegal Ariel settlement and surrounded by illegal military and settler outposts. Settlers are constantly threatening the farmers of the village when they go out to work on their land. A huge part of the land is not even accessible for the farmers, as entering the property which is close to the settlement is simply to dangerous. Settler violence is one of the major problems of the community: burned olive trees, stolen olives and harassment are part and parcel of the olive harvest season.

Madama village marks Land Day 2017 under heavy military violence

31st March 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Madama, occupied Palestine

Palestinians gathered in Madama village to plant olive trees during Land Day

Thursday the 30th of March was Land Day, a day in which Palestinians and their supporters commemorate the loss of huge amounts of land, stolen by the Zionist colonisers in 1976. In Madama village, in the Nablus area, around 300 Palestinian activists with some internationals marched to the outskirts of their village to plant olive trees on village land which has been stolen by the extremist illegal settlement Yitzhar. This non-violent action came under heavy attack by the Israeli Forces with more than 45 people shot with rubber-coated metal bullets and many more suffering from tear gas inhalation.

At around 12pm the march set off from the centre of Madama with many people carrying flags and singing songs, including women, children and men. After climbing a steep street up onto the fields at the edge of the village people began to plant olive trees. There were Israeli Army vehicles and around 20 heavily armed soldiers waiting for the demonstration on the hillside. As people began to plant olive trees the soldiers started to shoot tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets without any warning. Despite this repression, people continued to plant trees and a small group of people responded to the tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets with stones.

Israeli settlers stood next to the Israeli Forces while tear gas was being shot

Over the next two hours or so, the Israeli forces became more and more aggressive firing rubber-coated metal bullets at anyone who was there, often at head height. If someone was injured and on the floor they would fire upon them again and at the people coming to rescue them, even if they were clearly marked as medics. According to the Red Crescent at least 45 people were injured by rubber-coated metal bullets throughout the demonstration. An activist from ISM was also shot with both a rubber-coated metal bullet and hit with a tear gas canister upon their lower legs whilst providing medical support to the injured.

Extremist settlers from the illegal settlement of Yitzhar also came to attack the demonstration with stones. They were held off by the people of the demonstration and after talking to the army sat and watched the Israeli forces fire upon unarmed demonstrators.

More than 45 people suffered injuries and needed assistance

Despite this extreme repression of a group of unarmed demonstrators, people did not leave until all the trees were planted, demonstrating that this is their land and they will not be threatened into not using it.

The villages around the illegal Yitzhar settlement have suffered a huge amount since it was set up in 1983. The extremist inhabitants of this settlement regularly attack Palestinians with impunity, sometimes even killing them. They regularly intimidate Palestinians off their farm lands, attack buildings and lands in the local villages, throw stones at Palestinian cars, and, block roads, these attacks are done with the protection of the Israeli Army. Yitzhar is just one example of the over 196 illegal settlements built throughout the West Bank, supported by Israel, but deemed illegal by the international community.