Tag: Qalqilya

Israel continues wave of West Bank housing demolitions in East Jerusalem

by Wahed Rejol

6 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Following the violent demolitions in Qalqiliya yesterday, and in Beit Hannina and Silwan on Sunday, Israel continued its displacement of Palestinians throughout the West Bank today in occupied East Jerusalem.

On the day Israel announced a plan to forcibly remove 2300 Palestinians from their homes, a demolition team arrived in Al Khalaylah, a small village in East Jerusalem.  Two homes, an animal barracks, and part of a hardware store were flattened within hours.  Palestinians watched as their homes were lost, leaving 6 children and several adults homeless.  Armed military and police guarded the area as bulldozers destroyed the structures.

One woman was visibly crying during the demolition of the second home.  When asked if the home was hers, she answered “No, my uncle’s.”

The ethnic cleansing of non-Jews from Palestine began in 1948 during the creation of the State of Israel.  Sadly it continues its ethnic cleansing today, through house demolitions, apartheid laws, and the refusal of Israel to observe the Palestinian right of return as guaranteed by UN Resolution 194 Article 11.

Wahed Rejol is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Home Demolitions: Child dragged out by his throat

by Sarah

5 December 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Monday the 5th of December, in the Azzun district of Qalqiliya, a stone factory was destroyed at 6:00 am. The owner, Hussain Anam, explained to us that the factory was built 3 years ago, but his only demolition notice was when the bulldozer came this morning. The demolition order stated that the building was built without permission. The bulldozer was accompanied by 15 jeeps and 50 soldiers to destroy the property. This factory employed 10 people and now they are asking,”Where will we work today?”

In Arab an Ramadin al Janubi, two houses were destroyed at approximately 7:30 in the morning. The demolition was executed by 50 soldiers using 2 bulldozers.

Demolitions near Qalqilia - Click here for more images

The first home belonged to the Shaour family. The home was built through donations by the 320 residents of the village. And today the Israeli Army forced this family out of their home with violence. One of the children was dragged out of the house by his throat. Their first demolition notice was sent two weeks ago and then another notice three days ago. The evicted family included 8 children and their parents. The only thing that was saved from the home was the grandmother’s medical bed. The grandmother had to watch her son’s home being demolished as she laid in her bed not able to move.

After the first demolition the soldiers continued their efforts to destroy homes. The next on the list was the home of Mohammed and his 5 children. Mohammed originally received a demolition order 10 years ago, and today the Israeli army fulfilled their threats by destroying Mohammed’s house.

He is now asking himself, “Where will I sleep tonight with my children?” All of their possessions including a refrigerator, TV, and sofa lay under the rubble of this 8 by 10 meter squared house.

“All the belongings we cumulated during these 10 years, the family souvenirs, pictures”, Mohammed said as he began to cry. They have lost everything .

In both of these home demolition cases the soldiers did not let the family save the furniture, electronics, or clothes. Now both families have no place to call home.

Sarah is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Israeli forces destroy house and barn in the Bedouin village of Arab Abu Farda, south Qalqilya

1 June 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

The Qader family
At 8am on Monday May 30, eight Israeli jeeps and two bulldozers destroyed two Bedouin “barracks” (shacks) in the village of Arab Abu Farda, south of Qalqilya. One of the barracks belonged to Abdul Qader and was home to 12 people and the other housed cows which belonged to his neighbor. According to Abdul Qader, the Israeli army came without warning, gave the family no opportunity to take out their belongings, (not even anything for the children) and used unnecessary force and aggression with them.

Abdul Qader lives with his wife and his eight children, the eldest being 13 years old, the youngest being one year old, plus two female cousins. They are agricultural people, who work with sheep. The barrack had no running water and no electricity; the family used a motor for electricity and had to buy very expensive water tanks to enable them to have water for them and their animals. They have lived like this for many years. Qader´s wife told ISM that one of her children had asked her: “Why do we live like this, we have no electricity, no water, no school”. And she has always tried to find an answer for her children. Now she has no answer for them when they ask why they have no house. They were struggling to find a place to stay for the night and repeatedly said “Where are my children going to sleep tonight?”

The Qader family's home after demolition

Arab Abu Farda is a small Bedouin village with approximately 75 inhabitants in the south of Qalqilya, but it is located on the other side of the separation barrier, which makes it isolated from the West Bank.

Settlers attack Palestinian vehicle with rocks, wounding four, and set fire to land in Qalqiliya district

International Women’s Peace Service

1 June 2009

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Palestinian critically injured by settler during attack on a bus.

On Monday, June 1st, settlers from the Havat Gilad settler outpost in the Qalqiliya district of the West Bank reportedly attacked a minibus transporting 17 Palestinians to their jobs in Israel, critically injuring one. The settlers later burned an estimated 100 dunams of Palestinian land, leaving scorched earth and trees.

At approximately 4:30 a.m. on Monday a busload of 17 Palestinian men, mostly young and all with Israeli work permits, was stopped on the road near the entrance to Qedumim settlement by an estimated 50 settlers, who proceeded to throw rocks at the vehicle. Four workers were injured, one critically, and he remains in hospital.

The workers said Israeli soldiers were just 50 metres away from the settlers at the time of the attack. However, they reported, the soldiers did nothing to stop the settlers, nor did they take subsequent action. One uninjured worker asked soldiers to call an ambulance, but, he reported, they refused and even threatened to shoot him if he did not leave the area, which they had declared a closed military zone.

At around midday the settlers proceeded to burn Palestinian farmland, estimated by Nasser Sedda, the mayor of Jit, to cover 100 dunams and belong to eleven local families. Some of the land was planted with olive trees and with wheat, and an estimated 100 trees were destroyed in the fire. The Israeli army prevented farmers from reaching their land after the fires were set, the mayor reported, and consequently they were not able to extinguish the flames until between 4 and 5 p.m., by which time the damage was extensive.

One farmer with land near the neighbouring village of Immatin said that during last autumn’s olive harvest settlers from Havat Gilad burnt trees on his land. Four dunams of land had also been taken from the 17 dunams he owns for the construction of the outpost, and olive trees destroyed.

Farmers attempting to reach their fields in Deir Istiya turned back by settlers

International Women’s Peace Service

20 March 2009

IWPS was asked to accompany around 20 farmers, including children, from Deir Istiya to their fields in Wadi Qana. The only road leading to their fields passes from the illegal Israeli settlement of Yaqir, which is also illegal according to Israeli law. The farmers were planning on preparing the ground to plant olive trees which would be partly funded by PARC the Palestinian Agricultural Council. The farmers were in contact with both the Palestinians DCL and Israeli DCO who both gave their consent and approval for the farmers to go to their fields.

When the villagers arrived at the entrance of the Yaqir settlement a settler immediately came towards the farmers and asked them to go back. The farmers told him that they wanted to work in their fields. The settler was joined by three other settlers. They were very aggressive and shouted at the farmers telling them that the road was an Israeli only road and that no Palestinian could be there. One army jeep arrived on site and after asking one farmer to put up his t-shirt and jumper they asked the farmers for why they where there.

Another jeep with four other soldiers and a police car with four police officers also arrived on site. The farmers explained that they had permission from the Israeli DCO to go to their fields to which the Police said that he would not let us go to their fields regardless of what the Israeli DCO had said. The farmer phoned the Palestinian DCL , who had been communicating with their Israeli DCO, and asked the police to talk to him over the phone. The police arrogantly refused to talk to the Palestinian DCL. A few minutes later the Palestinian DCL came in person and spoke with the soldiers. Finally, the Israeli DCO together with Yasser Hamed, the Palestinian General Manager of Civil Affairs for Sulfit promised to meet together this Sunday and find a sustainable solution to this problem. A soldier excused himself with an IWPS volunteer for not being able to allow the farmers to go to their lands.

Former attempts to reach their fields ended always in being heavily attacked by the settlers. The fields consist of 7000 dunams and they belong to several families who in all number more than 200 people.