Tag: Qalqilya

On Tuesday November 27th, at approximately 3 pm, 16 year old Mohammed Fathi Asad Swedan was on his way to visit his grandmother when he was shot by live ammunition by the Israeli army. One bullet struck him in the left side of his chest, heading down through his stomach before finally lodging in his spleen, on the right side of his body. He had been standing outside of his grandmother’s house in Azzoun, talking with his cousin, and unaware of the presence of soldiers until he was shot at. Given the angle from which the bullet entered his upper body, the conclusion can be drawn that the soldier who shot him fired from the rooftops above. Residents report that just prior to the shooting, some children had been throwing stones in that same area but then ran to hide.

After five days Mohammed is still hospitalized in Qalqilya, and will then need at least one year of physiotherapy to fully recover. About seven months ago, Israeli soldiers arrested him from his home, looking for children throwing stones and accusing him of participating. Soldiers held him for four hours while beating him, then dropped him by the gate of an Israeli settlement.

In addition to Mohammed, three other teenage boys were hit by Israeli army bullets that same day. Two of the incidents occurred in the same area as where Mohammed was shot. Fortunately, these two youths were luckier, as the bullets first hit the wall behind them before shattering and ricocheting into them. One of the boys, 13 year old Amjad Nedal Mahmood Mishill, was on his way home from school with with his brother when he was struck by a bullet fragment in the upper part of his right leg. Like Mohammed, Amjad also did not see the soldiers that shot him. The bullet left a large hole in his leg, resulting in the need to spend two days in the hospital in Qalqilya. Due to the open-wound nature of his injury, and the time needed for it to heal properly, it is very likely that Amjad will be able to go to school again until next semester, which starts in February 2008.

Since the injuries of the two boys were caused by the Israeli army, the hospital is paying for the expenses of the surgeries and hospital treatment, but the families have to take care of all other costs such as doctor’s treatment at home and the long physiotherapy needed in both cases. High expenses which can be very hard to cover for a Palestinian family.

According to both international human right laws and Israeli military law, it is absolutely forbidden for soldiers to shoot with live ammunition unless their lives are being threatened. Situations such as the throwing of stones by children are not considered as “life threatening,” and thus live ammunition is not legally allowed to be used. IOF soldiers invading Azzoun have repeatedly breached international law in firing live ammunition against unarmed civilians and innocent bystanders.

Wednesday night, the village of Azzoun once again was set under military curfew. Around 7pm the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) entered the village with approximately five vehicles, forcing the shops to close early and the people to evacuate the streets. Military vehicles drove up and down the streets, announcing their presence by firing sound bombs and flares as they declared over loudspeakers that the village was under curfew.

Earlier the same day, villagers spontaneously removed the concrete roadblock by the main village entrance. With the help of a truck, villagers pushed and laboured to move one of the many stone blocks, with the end result that for about one hour they were able to enter and exit the village as they wished, a novelty in a region which suffers regular roadblocks at the various exits from the villages.

On Thursday many of the villagers seemed to conclude that the removal of the roadblock was used this time as the pretext for the IOF to invade and collectively punish the village. Yet, the people of Azzoun concede that if it wasn’t for the removal of the roadblock, the IOF would have then come up with another excuse to continue on their path of collective punishment.

A partial roadblock removal at neighbouring Izbat at Tabib the same day was met with IOF aggression in the form of sound bombs and the threat of further army violence. Israeli soldiers later replaced the portion of the roadblock which had been moved, further fortifying the blockade with more dirt and gravel. An elderly man crossing over the mound asked the same question villagers of Izbat at Tabib and other like blocked-off villages: “Why do they block our roads? Why do they block access to our villages?” Long accustomed to such impediments, the villagers nonetheless are determined to resist being caged in their villages and pledge to continue removing the roadblocks.

Israeli Army Abducts Two Young Men From Azzun, Shoots Three Teenagers Critically Injuring One, and Assaults Human Rights Workers

Nov. 27

Approximately 10 military vehicles invaded and took over the residential streets of Azzun Tuesday mid-afternoon, abducting two young men, terrorizing the residents, and shooting 3 teenagers with live ammunition. Residents report that over 200 Israeli soldiers, including Special Forces, entered the old city quarter around 2:45 pm from different directions, positioning themselves at various points on the narrow lanes, firing live bullets and throwing sound bombs while closing in on the home of the young man they sought. IOF foot soldiers entered first, followed about 30 minutes later by a series of military trucks and jeeps, as well as two undercover Palestinian minibuses with further special forces inside.

Human Rights Workers (HRWs) at the scene were able to approach the vicinity but were held back at a distance by Israeli soldiers posted at street ends. At about 3:20 pm, one HRW saw approximately 10 Israeli soldiers exiting from a laneway, two young handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian men being forced along at gunpoint. IOF soldiers prevented the HRW from filming, then again assaulted another HRW further down the lane who had been assaulted by the same soldier the previous day. Soldiers then threw a sound bomb at close range at HRWs moving from the scene.

HRWs saw a convoy of military vehicles leaving the dense area approximately 20 minutes later, after which they were able to speak with the family of the two abducted young men.

Members of the Mourad and Behah Suhail Rachid Oduan family report that between 25 and 30 Israeli soldiers forcibly entered the home during the incursion, shooting live ammunition sporadically throughout the various rooms of the home, ransacking the house as they moved. The 23 year old sister of Mourad, 24, was asleep alone in one bedroom when soldiers entered firing. Evidence of the shots were visible in the various sizeable pocket-marks in walls and ceiling, shattered window panes, as well as in the holes left in clothing and other items in the room.

The sister and mother report that soldiers hit them and held them at gunpoint while continuing their search for Mourad.

Mourad and his younger brother, Behah, 20, were asleep in two different bedrooms when Israeli soldiers entered firing. While Mourad was the man IOF soldiers sought, they nonetheless, confused about his identity, abducted both he and his brother who resemble one another. Further bullet holes, some as wide as 1.5 inches in circumference, betrayed the soldiers’ random and excessive firing in the different bedrooms. As with the first bedroom, soldiers ransacked the rooms, overturning boudoirs and causing considerable damage to the walls and belongings within. A bedroom door was riddled with bullet holes, at least 7 bullets having penetrated the two inch thick door.

Mourad was hauled from his sleep and kicked and beaten in front of his mother and sister, blindfolded and handcuffed and taken away, along with Behah who received similar abuse.

Approximately 1 hour his abduction, Israeli forces left Behah at the gate to Azzun, having interrogated and beaten him while blindfolded in their custody in the military jeep. Chaffed wrists from the handcuffs and a swollen lip evidence some of the abuse the 20 year old received at the hands of IOF soldiers.

The whereabouts of Mourad remain unknown. The family confirmed that this hour long invasion was the fourth raid on their home in the past two months, the previous three coming in the late hours of the evening, the IOF unsuccessful in their search for Mourad. Previous raids have lasted for up to six hours, soldiers again ransacking and shooting liberally throughout the home.

Azzun residents confirmed that during the same IOF invasion, three teenage boys were shot while in the street: one, 16, was hit in the shoulder chest area and remains in critical condition. A second, 13, was shot in the midriff near his hip, while the third, also 13, was shot both in his arm and his calf. All were taken to hospital for emergency treatment.

Azzun remains a village besieged by senseless IOF violence, daily and nightly invasions, arbitrarily-imposed roadblocks, continual abductions and beatings of young teenage boys, imposed under an unending spate of terror by Israeli soldiers and their unpredictable collective punishment. The people of Azzun are faltering, their economy in shambles, and work and study continually disrupted by the ongoing IOF harassment.

The people of Izbat at Tabib, together with Israeli and international activists, partially removed a new roadblock cutting off their access to route 55, the road linking Nablus and Qalqilya.

Work started to remove the earth mound roadblock at approximately 11.30am. Within ten minutes the Israeli army arrived, who threatened to use force if the workers did not evacuate the area within ten minutes. Defiantly, the workers continued until more soldiers arrived on the scene and threw two sound bombs into the crowd, reducing a nearby elderly woman to tears.

The army advanced towards the crowd and arrested two Israeli activists, though both have now been released.

The roadblock was erected eleven days ago at the turnoff from Izbat at Tabib onto road 55, and has made the normally simple journey to Qalqilya, where many people work, into a long and arduous trek. 20,000 people from the villages of Isla, Jayyus, Azzun, Izbat Abu Hamada and Khirbet Sir are affected, as all use the turnoff to get to Qalqilya.

The roadblock is part of an ongoing crackdown in the Qalqilya region. Many new roadblocks have been erected in the last few days in the run up to Annapolis. From Al Funduq down to Isla, the new roadblocks, and system of curfews throughout the region, have made travel all but impossible.

Since 2000, the Izbat at Tabib roadblock has been put in place many times. Villagers have removed the roadblock before, and will continue to do so until they get their basic right to freedom of movement in their home region.

Last night settler riots ravaged the West Bank town of Al Funduq, causing an estimated $25,000 worth of damage. The riots began at approximately 8pm, after a congregation of 300 settlers from Qedemim, who had come to pray at the site of a recent shooting, turned violent. The settlers then proceeded to surround Palestinian homes, throwing stones, smashing windows, damaging cars, and beating local men who were walking in the vicinity of the riots. Human Rights Workers (HRWs) arrived at the scene at approximately 10:30pm to find the Israeli Military and police firing live ammunition at Palestinians. Making no attempt to stop the riots, they instead turned their attentions to the HRWs and local Palestinians, firing sound bombs, flares and live ammunition. Seven Palestinian men were beaten and one was arrested.

The settlers continued their riot unhindered until 1am, smashing the windows of approximately 20 houses, 10 cars, 1 truck, and a Palestinian bulldozer. Water pipes in the village were cut, and once again the marble factory was attacked, causing $7,000 worth of damage. This follows the raid on Monday 19th when settlers broke $17,000 worth of marble.

The marble factory, and Al Funduq, have borne the misfortune of being the site of a settler shooting on Monday night. Israeli soldiers have admitted to villagers that the shooter did not come from Al Funduq but last night’s riots, and the previous attacks, can be read as part of a strategy to collectively punish the village for the shooting. The curfew of Al Funduq continues, and the three recently erected earth mound roadblocks that seal off all passage to the north are still in place.

The people of Al Funduq have always coexisted peacefully with local settlers, who even came to village for shopping. Street signs are in Hebrew and Arabic. They are being punished for an incident in which they played no part.

Today the Israeli army have moved into the nearby town of Haja. A new system of roadblocks continues to obstruct movement between villages and hinder economic activity in the region. The collective punishment of the Qalqilya region shows no sign of abating.

above: the water pipe cut in last nights riots