Tag: Ramallah - Page 4 - International Solidarity Movement

A call for solidarity from Kufr Aqab

24st November 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Nablus, Occupied Palestine

Six residential buildings in the Kufr Aqab neighbourhood in Jerusalem are currently facing demolition orders by Israeli authorities. The neighbourhood is the northernmost part of Jerusalem but is separated from the rest of Jerusalem by the Apartheid Wall. Most of the residents have Jerusalem IDs allowing them to enter the city, which sets them apart from most of the Palestinians living in the West Bank.

Six residental buildings are currently facing demolision orders by the Israeli authorities.

Both the houses and the demolition order are under the Jerusalem Municipality. The houses were built in the last two years and, according to one of the owners, around 200 families have bought or rented apartments in them, spending large sums of their life savings on what they believed would be their future homes. The Jerusalem Municipality claims that the reason for the demolition is its plan to make a street next to the houses that will make the road to Qalandia checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah easier. However, instead of moving the Apartheid Wall and using the existing road on the other side, Israeli Authorities are planning to demolish six residential buildings and leave many families in debt and without a home.

The entire neighbourhood will be affected by the demolitions.

An ISM report from last July reads:

The decision to demolish the houses is justified by Israeli authorities with the need to both expand the apartheid wall, part of the Qalandia checkpoint and to build a “security road“ alongside the wall. The apartheid wall already separates Palestinians living in Qalandia from several dunks of their land, which were confiscated and turned into a military airbase, no longer in use, or for other military purposes.

Dreams turned to terror

Ghana Ranya and her husband Ayman worked hard and spent their life savings on the dream apartment for their family, which includes their four children, aged 6 to 14 years old. The first year in their new home has been coloured by threats and terror from Israeli soldiers entering their home. The family is determined to stay in their home and is calling out for international solidarity. “We don’t want money, we don’t want anything except solidarity and support. We are staying here in our house and we will not leave,” says Ghana who used to work as an assistant nurse in a nearby hospital. Two months ago, she took the difficult decision to quit her job and stay in her home to protect it from the demolition order it’s facing. Ghana also describes how two of her neighbours, including her brother, have taken the same decision. “We don’t have anywhere to go. We want people to come and stand in support with us in stopping this. This house is our dream and the dream of our children. We just want to be heard.”

Both Ghana and Um Jamil describe how their sons could not go to school for days after soldiers from the Israeli military raided their homes in the middle of the night.

Not possible to make deals

Samen Shhade is the owner of one of the six buildings. Like the other owners, he has faced countless problems in the past months and years building the houses on his own land, which is cut by the apartheid wall. Shhade told ISM activists that they have been battling the Israeli legal system for months. “We went to the Israeli court, but we lost our case. They didn’t even explain it properly. We really tried to make an agreement but they just wouldn’t listen to us.“ He then continued to explain how they tried to make amendments with cutting down balconies on one side of the residential buildings, making space for the road. “We had a meeting with Noam,“ Shaade says, referring to their contact in the Jerusalem municipality. “We even recorded the meeting. He told us that they needed 7 meters for the road so we made space for seven meters.“

The owners went into costly operations, cutting off balconies from one side of the houses in attemt to co-operate with the Israeli municipality

But when the owners took it to court no one wanted to recognise the deal regarding the seven meters. “Then they said they needed 14 meters. We tried to deal with them but it’s not possible. We even proposed moving the wall and offered to pay for it but the city hall refused.“ Shhade, like the other owners, owns the land the houses are built on, but lost parts of it after the construction of the Apartheid Wall, which prevents him from accessing the other side. Shhade’s story is representative of many Palestinians in the West Bank whose land has been annexed by Israel.

“We have tried to cooperate”

All the families that ISM activists spoke to described how Israeli soldiers enter their homes at night, waking children in their beds and scaring the families. Even though the families have pictures proving it, the lawyers from the Jerusalem Municipality argued that no one lives in the apartments. “After midnight the soldiers come and raid many apartments, but then they say that no one lives there. Maybe two weeks ago they were coming every day, they also entered the basement to test out explosives.“

Soldiers from the Israeli occupation forces have repeatedly raided the homes in the past months, counting residents and demanding ID’s

In the building owned by Samen Shhade, there is a mosque with two prayer rooms. “It’s the only one in the neighbourhood and it’s used by many,“ Shhade said proudly. But the lawyers from the Jerusalem Municipality still use the same tactic in court, denying the existence of the mosque. Shhade still hopes to keep his building, since he has made financial promises to the families that have spent their life savings on the houses. “I think and I hope I can win this case. I hope the city hall in Jerusalem will believe us and sit us down face to face. There are other options. If you want to help us by making a road to Qalandya, why take away the homes of 200 families?“

No solutions for Palestinians in the Israeli system

Qusi Shhade, Samen’s son, also spoke to ISM activists about the situation. His brother recently moved into one of the apartments with his wife of only few months. Qusi described the constant problems the families face and how they have tried to cooperate with the Jerusalem municipality in order to keep their homes safe. “They came on the 14th of May and said that six houses will be demolished, since they want to make a street and some parks. Instead of pushing the wall back they want to demolish the houses. All the families from the house we visited went to the city hall in Jerusalem and were willing to cooperate. They told us they needed 7 meters so we gave them 7 meters. We did that,“ Qusi says firmly. Then Qusi continues to describe how the soldiers have been raiding homes for the past weeks and months, waking children in their beds.

A soldier from the Israeli military detaining a Palestinian boy during one of the night raids of the houses.

“We will not leave”

Um Jamil is one of the residents in Kufr Aqab. She and her husband have lived with their four children in their apartment for around 11 months. The youngest one – only three years old – biked around the apartment, unaware of the situation he and his family are in, while his mom described the past months for the ISM activists. “I am always tense about any car that drives by in the evening. One evening three weeks ago, soldiers came at 2:00 in the morning and took information about all the buildings here, except this one. Our neighbour who lives here went down and they told him this is the last time they will come, next time they will demolish our home.“

Um Jamil described to ISM’ers how she is tense about every car that drives by the families home, terrified that the Israeli army is just around the corner.

Um Jamil says her mental health is bad even though the children don’t really know what is happening. The family has already left the house once with only 48 hours notice. After the 48 hours had passed and nothing had happened, the family returned. Now Um Jamil is sure that they will not leave the home again. However, the constant military presence in the area has had an effect on many of the children. Both Ghada and Um Jamil describe how their young sons were scared to go to school in the days after soldiers from the Israeli Military woke them up in the middle of the night.

In the building owned by Samen Shhade, there is a mosque with two prayer rooms. “It’s the only one in the neighbourhood and it’s used by many,“ Shhade said proudly. But the lawyers from the Jerusalem Municipality still use the same tactic in court, denying the existence of the mosque.

According to the ICAHD (The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions), 351 Palestinian structures have been demolished in 2017 alone, displacing 528 Palestinians. Demolishing the six residential buildings in Kufr Aqab would be devastating to many Palestinian families, and would come as a part of Israel’s ongoing, illegal effort to annex East Jerusalem and push Palestinians further into the West Bank.

Settlers from illegal Halamish settlement block Route 450 for Palestinians in revenge

20th August 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara-team | Nabi Saleh, occupied Palestine

On 23rd July, two days after the killing of three settlers from the illegal settlement of Halamish, settlers blocked Route 450 with self-made barricades preventing Palestinians from using the main road, which connects Nabi Saleh village with the south Baytillu .

The road blockade was built at the roundabout in the south of Nabi Saleh, where Route 465 goes into Route 450 and was accompanied by the building of an new illegal settler outpost on the land of Nabi Saleh. According to eyewitnesses settlers were since then seen dancing and sitting behind the self made blockades to overlook their illegal roadblock. Exclusively settler-cars and army vehicles have been allowed to cross the blockade, thus enforcing a racist roadblock only on Palestinians. Route 450 is one of the main connecting roads from the Salfit area to Ramallah and is used as an everyday passage for students at the Birzeit university and farmers to reach their land. The normally twelve minutes ride from Baytillu to Nabi Saleh now, given the roadblock, takes one and a half hour as Palestinians are forced to make a detour through Ramallah to reach their destination. And not just Baytillu is affected by this: the people from the surrounding villages Jamala, Deir ´Ammar, Deir ´Ammar Camp and Deir Nidham next to Nabi Saleh are heavily restricted in their movement, because of the closed street segment, which is now just accessible for settlers from the illegal settlements Halamish, Nahiel, Talmon and Dolev.

The settlers are supported by the Israeli occupation forces wh just recently installed metal gates on Route 450 at the entrance of Baytillu and close to the illegal Halamish settlement. Therefore, the inhabitants of Baytillu fear that this will be a permanent roadblock and their land will be confiscated by settlers.

Around 10.000 dunums of Baytillu land is cut off from their owners, as well as a spring, which is essential for the farmers in the area. Moreover nine houses are located behind the road gates, which means the inhabitants can only reach their houses by foot and are forced to leave their cars at the gate in Baytillu.

With the olive harvest coming up in a month, accessing the crops is crucial for the farmers. The DCO, which is responsible for coordination between Palestinians and the occupying power Israel, postponed a scheduled meeting to discuss the road blockades without setting up a new date.

The case of Route 450 however is far from the only one of its kind: the blocking of roads is a common means of control by the occupation forces to limit the movement of inhabitants in Area C. Likewise the connecting road between Baytillu and Korba, also a path used by farmers for agricultural purposes was closed off recently.

Both blockades limit the freedom of movement and the access to farmland in the area, often also enforced as a measure of collective punishment. In this particular case the Israeli forces blocked off the whole village of Korba with several street blockades at every entrance of the village after the killing of three settlers in Halamish. Furthermore the COGAT (Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories) decided on the punitive house demolition of the family house [comment: house demolition was carried out in the night from Wednesday the 16th August to Thursday at 01:30 am accompanied by soldiers using rubber coated steel bullets against protesters and causing casualties] from the 19 year old Omar al-Abed, who is accused of stabbing the three setters, as well as arrested several members of his family, accusing them of not preventing the young man from carrying out the act.

Punitive demolition measurements are against Article 33 of the fourth Geneva Convention, which was ratified 1951 by Israel: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited. Pillage is prohibited. Reprisals against protected persons and their property are prohibited.”

These cases illustrate again how the illegal settlers in the West Bank enjoy complete impunity for their actions under the protection of the Israeli occupying forces, who act brutally against the civilian population in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.

Israeli forces threaten Palestinian families with house demolitions

7th April 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | al-Bireh, occupied Palestine

The map presented by Israeli forces showing the Qar’an home (top left) running along the boundary of Area B, but within Area C

On 5^th April, 2017, Israeli forces told Abbas Qar’an and his family that their home in al-Bireh was going to be demolished. The homes of two other anti-occupation activists in the area recieved similar threats. ISM activists met with Abbas, the son of the homeowner, to hear his story.

Israeli forces arrived at the family home, located west of the illegal Israeli settlement of Psagot, whilst Abbas was at work and presented the demolition notice to his wife. After his wife refused to take the order, the soldiers left it outside the house, weighed-down with a rock. The notice comes from the district coordination office in the illegal Israeli settlement of Beit El, charging the Qar’an family of building a house without the right permit.

On the local municipality map, Abbas’ home lies well within the boundaries of Area A – under full Palestinian control. However, Israeli authorities claim the boundary line runs straight through the family’s home, with a majority of the rooms lying within Area C – under full Israeli control. Whilst no specific date has been given for the demolition, the order states that he must go to the illegal Israeli settlement of Beit El within three days of the notice to challenge the demolition. The family home was built in 1960 – decades before the Oslo Accords that created the so-called “Areas” (A,B,C) – and the family insists that all of their paperwork is in order. It is also unclear if the demolition order is against a single house or the whole building, meaning that a form collective punishment is looming over all of the residents in the building.

The local municipality map, showing the home (red) within the boundaries of Area A.

Abbas lives in Jabal al-Taweel with his wife and four children: fifteen year old Hamza; twelve year old Murad; five year old Jenna; and his eighteen month old daughter, Judy. Abbas tells us that he and his family have been targeted by Israeli authorities due to his past involvement in activism against the occupation for which he spent seven years in Israeli military prison. Despite both he and his father being American citizens, Abbas was denied all travel beyond the occupied West Bank for twenty years.

Abbas and his family are not alone, as the homes of other activists have been targeted for demolition in the al-Bireh area: Abbas’ cousin, Rami Ishtawi, has also been threatened with demolition orders by Israeli authorities; while the home of Bajes Nahkleh – currently in an Israeli prison – in nearby al-Jalazone refugee camp (Area B – Palestinian civil control, Israeli security control) has also been threatened with the demolition of his home.

The Qar’an family does not know what they will do should the demolitions go ahead and the family home lost, but they claim that the Palestinian community has already offered them places to stay if Israeli forces carry out their threats. At the end of the interview, Abbas wished to thank all the internationals who travel to Palestine to hear the stories of families like his and to support all Palestinian people, who suffer daily under the occupation. The family are currently pursuing a legal case against the demolition.

Justice for Nadeem? Attorney General rumored to drop manslaughter charges against soldier who killed Nadeem Nuwara

17th January 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Ramallah, Occupied Palestine

Palestinian teen, Nadeem Nuwara, was fatally shot in the chest by Israeli forces on Nakba Day, 2014. 17-year-old Nadeem allegedly threw a stone at soldier, Ben Dery, who proceeded to fire live ammunition in return. Israeli Forces killed both Nuwara and another teenager, Mohammed Salameh, during the Nakba Day demonstration near Ramallah.

The tragedy of Nuwara’s death still weighs heavily on his family, friends, and community. In an interview with Roya TV, Nuwara’s mother tells a reporter: “I wish [the soldier] gave him sometime to go back to his mother so I could at least get enough of him before he took him from me.” But, to the soldier, Nadeem was not a son or a brother. He was not a friend. He was not a talented basketball player or mischievous teenager with hopes and dreams. To the soldier, Nadeem was a faceless threat. He was fit to be cast aside, destroyed, murdered. The soldier did not conceive of the fact that Nadeem was human—exercising his right to protest the injustices that the occupation has imposed on the Palestinian community.

According to reports, the Israeli forces were not supposed to use live ammunition during this Nakba Day demonstration. They were given red-marked magazines with rubber-coated steal bullets and blanks. Allegedly, Dery replaced the contents of the marked magazine in an M-16 with live ammunition in order to hide the fact that he was disobeying orders. Now, over 2 and a half years later, the Attorney General is rumored to be dropping the manslaughter charges against Dery. He is being offered a plea bargain in which he will admit to negligence—claiming that the live ammunition was accidentally in his weapon. The plea bargain is to be presented at court on January 19. Nadeem’s father, Sayim Nuwara, told Ma’an News that he wrote a letter to the Attorney General expressing the family’s sadness and frustration with the plea bargain. There will be a demonstration during the hearing to pressure the court to reject any plea bargain.

Unfortunately, this case is not unique. When Palestinians are killed, the cases are often dragged out so that the families will grow tired and drop the case. The supposed immunity of Israeli soldiers is all too common here. But, the issue here is so much bigger than a corrupt justice system. Israeli soldiers have been trained to dehumanize Palestinians. The prevailing attitude of the Israeli forces is one of hatred, fear and impunity. Until Israelis and Palestinians can recognize the humanity in each other, the violence will continue. The injustices become normalized. Everyone lives in fear and frustration.

“It is true that death has become a norm and a ritual in our life which is crowded with sorrows, disappointments, and losses” (@JusticeforNadeem)

Israeli forces shoot and kill Palestinian man at Qalandiya checkpoint

24th November 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Ramallah, occupied Palestine

It has been confirmed that Jihad Mohammad Khalil, 48, was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers at Qalandia checkpoint early Tuesday morning, 22nd November. Khalil is from Beit Wazan village, west of Nablus in the northern part of the West Bank. He was shot on the spot by an Israeli soldier, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. A spokeswoman from the Israeli Police claims that the man was approaching a security guard welding a knife and so he was neutralized, while another spokesperson says that he was attempting to stab Israeli security forces.

So far there has been absolutely no evidence shown to prove these claims. No soldiers were hurt during the incident and no other injuries reported. After he got shot, Jihad Khalil was left to bleed to death by the soldiers, as they would deny access to the medics rushing to give first aid. After the killing, the soldiers shot down the checkpoint and prevented the Palestinians from crossing into illegally annexxed al Quds (Jerusalem).