Tag: Qaryut

Palestinians in Qaryut reassert their right to visit their spring, despite IOF violence

On Friday 15th of September the people of Qaryut – a village between Nablus and Ramallah – held a demonstration reasserting their rights over the village spring.

The village is close to the illegal settlements of Eli and Shilo, and every Friday settlers come to wash in the spring. This is a clear act of provocation, aimed at staking a claim on even more of the surrounding land.

There are often clashes between village youth and the settlers at the spring, and the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) protecting them. This week, however, the community had called on other communities to join them in reasserting their rights to the spring. The protest was also over the closure of the main road into the village by the occupation forces. The demonstration began after Friday prayers and marched down from the village toward the spring.

The IOF blocked the road, firing tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets. One man was shot in the face and injured with a rubber coated bullet. Several people were treated by the Red Crescent medical services after inhaling gas.

Settlers could be seen on the hillside watching the army’s repression of the demonstration

The photo above shows the moment a tear gas canister was fired through the window of a building in Qaryut, you can see the gas billowing from inside.

The whole village of Qaryut was flooded with gas fired by the IOF. Canisters rained down onto residents – threatening to cause serious injury

Demonstrators persisted – however – and were eventually able to march to the spring. This video shows them dancing in celebration.

Palestinians from many communities in the West Bank had come to support the people of Qaryut in their demonstration.

“A message of peace” from the village of Qaryut met with violence from the Israeli army

19th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team| Qaryut, Occupied Palestine

The people of Qaryut began weekly demonstrations three weeks ago, due to the Israeli military’s decision to close the main road near to the village.

Yesterday, the 18^th April, approximately 300 from the village, of which 100 were children, decided to come to the hill to pray rather than to march. Israeli soldiers arrived immediately, with one soldier yelling: “Go back home!” A resident of Qaryut responded; “Insh’allah [If God wills it], this is our home.”

The prayer began despite the provocative military presence on the hill, during the prayers Israeli soldiers surrounded the gathering, one solider removed a Palestinian flag from its place in the ground.

As prayers finished, one of the villagers declared to the army that it was their intention to leave the area, repeating over and over that they brought “a message of peace”.

However, within a few steps of the people’s return to the village, Israeli soldiers started shooting tear gas at their backs. Due to the rocky terrain, many were unable to get away from the tear gas that the soldiers continued to fire. 15 people had to be treated by paramedics due to several tear gas inhalation, however it was difficult to access those in need because of the difficult conditions underfoot. Stun grenades were also used extensively by the Israeli forces.

Qaryut is surrounded by a number of large illegal settlements, including Eli and Shilo. The road closure could mean losing the part of the hill where prayers took place today. Loss of the road leading to the main route from the village to Ramallah has already caused significant economic hardship and many other problems.

Village of Qaryut without reliable access to vital road

15th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team| Qaryut, Occupied Palestine

The village of Qaryut, located almost halfway between Nablus and Ramallah, has been waiting for the last year to have a reliable and secure connection to Road 60. This road is essential to connect the village with the city of Ramallah, where most of the population carries out daily activities, such as working and studying.

Currently the people of Qaryut are trying to access this road through a two-kilometer dirt road that finishes directly beside Road 60. Only half of this road is properly paved, the rest of it is uneven and rocky, where vehicles need to slow down to travel safely. This dirt road was recently blocked by an earth mound, recently removed by the people of Qaryut to allow vehicles to get close to Road 60. The local Palestinian population then waits to be picked up at Road 60 by buses or taxis travelling to Ramallah.

According to Raed Muhsen (Local Councilor), this wasn’t always the case. The road was built in 1983 and the people of Qaryut could travel freely. This arrangement ceased in 1991, during the First Intifada, when Israel forces alleged “security measures” to withdraw the permits and close off the road.

Qaryut and Road 60 could be easily connected if Israeli authorities granted the permits that are requested from Palestinian local authorities. According to Mr. Muhsen, the Local Council presented all the necessary documentation to the Israeli authorities three years ago, however the Israeli legal system continues to delay the issue, claiming that there are important “security measures” to be taken into account. The permits necessary to finally establish a connection between the local road of Qaryut and Road 60 need to be granted by the Israeli Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Defence and the Israeli Settlement Security Council.

Given the current situation, the local population of Qaryut has grown impatient with Israeli authorities. Mr. Muhsen states that a non-violent demonstration has begun in the last month to demand a reliable and secure access to Road 60. The last demonstration took place on the 11^th of April, when people from Qaryut reached Road 60 on foot and held their ground on the road for approximately one hour. The Israeli army shot tear gas canisters and stun grenades at the demonstrators, despite the non-violent nature of the protest.

The village of Qaryut, with a population of approximately 3,000 people, is surrounded by several illegal Israeli settlements such as Eli and Shilo. Taking into account nearby Palestinian villages, it could be up to 8,000 people that are forced to find a lengthy alternative route to reach Road 60. This could be approximately 20 kilometers in length, compared to the two kilometers between Qaryut and Road 60. Such distances in case of emergencies can have a critical impact on the local population, on top of the obvious economical effects.

A family in Qaryut was stopped by Israeli soldiers from harvesting their olive trees

14th October 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qaryut, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday, Sunday 13^th October, Palestinian farmers and international activists were picking olives in Qaryut when it was observed that two members of settler security from the illegal settlements of Eli and Shilo were nearby. The settler security then attempted to intimidate the olive farmers, before soldiers arrived and forced both the Palestinians and internationals from the land with a supposed military order.

Israeli soldiers force Palestinians from their land with a supposed military order

At around 9am yesterday, two armed members of nearby settler security approached the Palestinian land and stood on a hill overlooking the farmers, shortly afterwards a military vehicle arrived. Fifteen minutes later six soldiers approached the property of the farmer and declared the place Area C and a closed military zone. The farmers and international activists were informed they had to leave. The farmer and the internationals were given 30 minutes to remove themselves from the area, and were threatened with force. They also confiscated the ID of a Palestinian man who came to mediate and wouldn’t return it for 90 minutes.

The farmer and internationals then moved to another area as the soldiers had said, the day before, it would be safe for harvesting. Suddenly that area had also become a closed military zone. When the commander was asked for some justification for this order, he showed a map printed on paper without any official stamp or signature and refused to allow any photographs of the map to be taken.

This behaviour from the Israeli army was not unsurprising as on Saturday 12^th October, also in Qaryut, Israeli soldiers forced the same farmer from his land after nearby settlement security arrived.

Updated: Three Palestinian activists arrested during demonstration against road closure in Qaryut

10th September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Qaryut, Occupied West Bank

Protesters marching towards the road (Photo by ISM)

Update 11th September: Abdallah Abu Rahmah was released at around 10pm last night. Bashar Qaryouti and Salah al-Khawaja have also been released. Bashar has needed medical attention after being beaten during his arrest.

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Three Palestinian activists have been arrested today related to a demonstration against a road block in the northern West Bank village of Qaryut.

More than 150 Palestinians participated in the protest marching from the village towards Road 60, connecting Ramallah to Nablus. As a group of protesters were approaching the road, two military jeeps blocked them, throwing stun grenades and shooting tear gas canisters. Israeli soldiers arrested two activists, Bashar Qaryouti and Salah al-Khawaja and beat others as they attempted to arrest more. Soldiers pursued activists from the road from many different directions and came through the olive trees trying to trap activists, shooting many teargas canisters.

More soldiers arrived in twelve military jeeps and fired teargas at demonstrators who had moved back to the hill. The soldiers occasionally moved forward but mainly stayed positioned by the road. Many demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation and three were treated by medical personnel in the field. The demonstrators withdrew at 7pm.

Israeli soldiers taking Bashar (Photo by Issam Rimawi)

A flying checkpoint was set up on the road from Ramallah to Qaryout and Abdallah Abu Rahmah, a prominent Palestinian activist was arrested. Soldiers approached the car with a list containing the names and ID numbers of three local activists. Abu Rahmah was handcuffed and detained for forty-five minutes until the Israeli police arrested him.