Tag: Ramallah - Page 4 - International Solidarity Movement

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).

Call to action to #FreeSalah!

21st November 2016 | International Soldiarity Movement, Ramallah team | occupied Palestine

On the morning of October 26^th, Israeli forces raided the home of and arrested Salah Khawaja, a Palestinian human rights defender and Secretary of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee. ISM joins Stop the Wall and other human rights organizations asking Internationals from around the world to contact their governments to take action and put pressure on Israel to #FreeSalah.

Almost a month since his arrest, Salah is still waiting for the Israeli courts to give him a charge of any kind. Since he has been imprisoned, he has undergone 40 interrogation sessions, each lasting from eight to sixteen hours. According to Stop the Wall, he has reported physical aggression such as being beaten, interrogators spitting in his face, screaming in his ears, kicking his genitals. Psychological pressure and ill-treatment has been used against Salah, including threats against his family members. In his most recent court hearing this past Wednesday, the Israeli state decided to extend the interrogation period for another eight days.

At weekly demonstrations across the West Bank on Friday, Palestinians, Israelis and internationals held signs demanding Israel #FreeSalah, and called for an end to the systematic targeting by Israel of human rights activists.

Protestors hold Khawaja-poster at last week's demonstration in Ni'lin — Protestors hold Khawaja-poster at last week’s demonstration in Ni’lin

Support this call for justice by contacting your own government to take action to put pressure on Israel to #FreeSalah. Follow this link to support this effort.