27 July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Qalandia village, occupied Palestine
Late Monday evening, Israeli forces entered the village of Qalandia with 15 bulldozers and around 150 soldiers. In the village the Israeli military destroyed 11 new built houses, attacking the residents of the village with stun grenades, tear gas, rubber coated steel bullets and sponge bullets. 7 persons had to seek medical care for their injuries after the assaults from the military.
In 7 of the demolished houses, families had already moved in according to Yosef Awdalla, mayor of Qalandia. The demolition notices, claiming the houses had no permits, were left outside the houses on the ground only 24 hours before the army entered the village.
One of the homeowners, Fadi Awadallah describes how his friend was walking around the house the day before the demolitions, and found a piece of paper written in Hebrew on the ground. One hour after they had figured out what the document said and talked to their lawyer, the army was already entering the village to demolish their home. Fadi, who had applied and paid for an Israeli issued licence to build in area C, did not expect the demolition order since the Israeli authorities had accepted the money and the application. When he tried to explain this to the soldiers they answered him that “they were not there to talk, they were there to demolish the houses.”
The soldiers then pointed their guns to his head and told him that if he didn’t move away from the house they would shoot him.
“They didn’t deal with us as humans, they pushed us back with violence and force” says Fadi whose family had planned to move into their dream house the following week.
“Three years ago we started to build the houses. Why didn’t they come three years ago before we spent all our money on these houses? They destroyed the houses, they destroyed our dreams” says Fadi, explaining that most of the families not only spent all their savings on the buildings but now they are also left with loans that will take them years to pay.
“We came up with the idea about building a house here because we are not allowed to use our house on the other side of the wall.” says Fadi, whose father lives in a house on the other side of the apartheid wall surrounding the village. Without obtaining a permit every month from the Israeli occupation authorities, the family are not allowed to cross the wall that separates the West Bank from Jerusalem.
Since the signing of the Oslo agreement in 1995 most of Qalandia village was classified as Area C, where israel has full control over security and civil administration. Only 2% of Qalandia is constituted as area B, where construction is permitted. Palestinian building in area C has to be permitted by the Israeli Civil Administration and since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank 1967, Israeli authorities regularly demolishe houses in area C, thus breaking international humanitarian law. According to a report released this Wednesday from Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, Israeli authorities have demolished more Palestinian homes in the West Bank in the first six months of 2016 than they did in any year over the past decade .
The Israeli demolition policies systematically implemented by the government and the lack of possibilities to build legally in the area constitutes the ethnic cleansing and forcible transfer of Palestinians.
As Fadi Awadallah points out, “Where are we supposed to be? In the sky? In the space? No, we are staying here.”
Sameeh Huseen holding a picture of his home that was ruined by the Israeli army.“How are we going to explain this to the next generation? How can we teach our kids about peace when this is what they see?” says Fadi Awadallah.“We are still here. We will never leave.” Ajaleen Salah Mousa has worked as a teacher for 20 years and has spent all his savings on the house, his dream. “They try to make it hard for us to live here but we will never leave.”
12th July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Quds team | Kufr Malik, occupied Palestine
On July 9th at 4:00 in the morning, the Be’rat family awoke to find Israeli soldiers pounding on the door of their home in Kufr Malik, demanding that Jihad, the son of Mohammed Tawfik and Nadia Mustafa, report for interrogation. Jihad, however, passed away twenty two years ago, before reaching the age of fifteen days.
Israeli forces demanded that everyone in the house show some form of identification, including the children, and continued to ask for Jihad. After explaining the situation to the soldiers, Jihad’s mother was asked to present her son’s death certificate as proof. “They pulled open my heart and made me remember my son,” Nadia said of the experience. The soldiers did not return the death certificate. The children, though quite used to Israeli incursions into the village, were also traumatized by the event.
This particular event serves as an example of the Israeli military’s arbitrary and indiscriminate methods in their selection and targeting of “suspects.” The case also highlights the absolute lack of legal rights those living under Occupation have, as Palestinians are always considered guilty until proven innocent, and accusations are filed regardless of whether or not one is already dead or imprisoned.
According to the Palestinian prisoners rights group Adameer, there are currently at least seven thousand political prisoners in Israeli jails. Over 400 of these prisoners are children. Of those arrested, few are immediately notified of the crime they are being accused of committing, and many are never informed of the specific allegations. Israel’s policy of administrative detention allows Occupation forces to arrest Palestinians without charge and hold them for an infinitely renewable period of six months. Over seven hundred Palestinians are currently being held without charge in administrative detention.
Delivered at 4:00 in the morning, the Israeli document demands that the deceased member of the Be’rat family report for interrogation
9th of April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | West Bank, occupied Palestine
Held on the 68th anniversary of the Deir-Yassin massacre, the fifth annual BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanction) Conference took place in Ramallah. The event featured a keynote address from Ahmed Kathrada – an icon of the South African Anti-Apartheid movement and former political prisoner. The conference was taking place in the tenth year of non-violent resistance by the BDS movement.
The day was extremely well attended, in spite of recent statements by Israeli Intelligence Minister Israel Katz, that euphemistically encouraged assassination attempts against BDS Activists by calling for: “civil targeted killings.” This aggressive attitude was demonstrated in Israel’s attempts to deny and/or obstruct travel to the conference for Palestinians living inside the 1948 borders of Israel and from the West Bank in general. This resulted in coaches of attendees from Jerusalem being delayed and some being denied access.
Mr. Kathrada’s keynote address concerned the mirroring of aspects of the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa and the current struggle by Palestinians against the illegal Israeli occupation: “[The Palestinian experience] is similar to the experience of black South Africans under Apartheid. However, in some ways the violence of Israel’s occupation is even worse than that which South Africans had to contend with.”
Mr. Kathrada went on to describe his 26 years and 3 months in prison, 18 years of which were spent on Robben Island. He drew an audible response of sadness and disbelief when comparing his own experience and that of Palestinians, as he observed that he was, “convinced that Palestinian political prisoners under Israel’s Apartheid policies have it worse.”
In addition to the keynote speaker, other speakers at the event were split between between those linking BDS to the “Globalised Nonviolent Struggle for Justice and Rights” and speakers on “Spreading the BDS anti-Normalisation Culture Among Palestinian Communities in the Homeland and Exile”.
Notably at the conference, Dr. Wassel Abu-Yousef, speaking on behalf of the PLO Executive Committee said: “the PLO has taken into consideration the importance of having a relationship with the BDS movement at all levels.” This demonstrates a committment in the wider Palestinian political community to the policy of non-violent resistance as espoused by the BDS movement.
This peaceful commitment stands in contrast, however, to the arguments put forward at the anti-BDS conference in Jerusalem last month, where various pro-Zionist figures put forward their agenda against BDS. That conference included Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan inexplicably linking BDS to jihadism and Islamic terrorism.
Speeches on the day in Ramallah, however, (both live and pre-recorded), far from calling for jihad, were secular, peaceful and informative in their detailing indivdual groups committment to BDS.
Representatives of a wide variety of groups spoke, demonstrating their community’s links to the BDS movement. These included speakers from BDS in Jerusalem and Gaza (the latter prevented from travelling by Israeli blockade and delivering a report via pre-recorded message); those representing Palestinian women’s groups – Women’s Campaign for Boycotting Israeli Products and the General Union of Palestinian Women – political prisoners, media, schools, trade unions and refugees. As well as local campaigners, international groups provided updates on their BDS campaigns from the USA (specifically in relation to progressive American Jews) South America, Egypt and the EU.
The conference concluded with an address by Omar Barghouti – co-founder of BDS – and a conference-wide discussion on the future of the movement.
For more information on BDS and to learn how you can get involved visit: https://bdsmovement.net
26th March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Ofer, occupied West Bank
On 25th March 2016, Israeli forces at Ofer military prison injured 8 Palestinians with various kinds of weapons, and later on attacked the nearby village of Beitunia, injuring even more.
A demonstration against the Israeli military occupation and for the freedom of the prisoners held in Ofer military prison – often in so called ‘administrative detention’ where the accused can not even expect to be charged or have a trial – was violently attacked by Israeli forces. They shot endless rounds of tear gas at protestors, as well as rubber coated metal bullets which injured 8 Palestinians. Additionally, Israeli forces used a new kind of stun grenade and fired live ammunition, including 0.22 caliber bullets, directly at protestors. 5 Palestinian protestors were arrested by the army and taken to an unknown destination.
Demonstrators run from tear gas
Later the same day, Israeli forces attacked the nearby village of Beitunia, where the army again used an excessive amount of stun grenades, rubber-coated metal bullets, live ammunition and showered the village in tear gas. During this assault, 5 more people sustained injuries from rubber-coated metal bullets. In total 13 Palestinians were injured, including one in the head and one in the chest with rubber-coated metal bullets.
Israeli forces regularly use excessive force and injure protestors in demonstrations against the illegal settlements and Israeli occupation throughout the West Bank.
15th January 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team| Ni’lin, occupied Palestine
A walk through the olive groves of Ni’lin village, down the dirt road between stone walls and cacti and past the scattered remnants of spent tear gas canisters, grenades and bullet casings reveals a striking vista: the Israeli-constructed, illegal Apartheid Wall cuts sharply across the fields, the 8-meter-high concrete slabs marked in some places by activist slogans and in others blackened by years of smoke from clashes with Israeli forces.
Walking down a road strewn with tear gas canisters during January 8th demonstration
The Wall, completed in 2009 despite a strong campaign of resistance from the villagers, renders completely inaccessible hundreds of dunums of what was once Ni’lin’s farmland and cuts off travel west from the village, which lies close enough to Tel Aviv for its skyline to be clearly visible from a third floor window. Behind the wall lies the illegal Israeli settlement of Hashmonaim, the large, neatly arrayed houses and orange roofs a constant reminder of the continuing colonization of Palestinian land in the West Bank. Every Friday Palestinian activists from Ni’lin, often accompanied by Israeli and international supporters, attempt to reach the Apartheid Wall in demonstrations against the theft of their land, against the Wall, against the Israeli occupation which has made life in the village so difficult and has in recent months claimed so many lives across Palestine.
Ni’lin residents gathered on January 1st and January 8th, as they do every Friday, in the olive groves between the village homes, school and mosque and the wall and illegal settlements. Israeli forces, as always, were waiting for the demonstrators and quickly attacked with tear gas, rubber-coated metal bullets, and foam-tipped bullets. On January 8th, despite the hundreds of rounds of tear gas fired from the ‘venom’ devices mounted on Israeli military jeeps, protesters managed to advance all the way to the Apartheid Wall itself. Many Palestinian youths climbed the wall in a daring display of resistance.
Young boy climbing Apartheid Wall in Ni’lin
Fortunately no one in Ni’lin on the 1st or the 8th of January needed extensive treatment or hospitalization. On New Year’s Day the weather was stormy enough that the demonstration ended quickly, with the only reported injury being one ISM activist hit with a foam bullet for attempting to take photos near the soldiers. On Friday the 8th of January Palestinian Red Crescent medics reported treating seven people for excessive tear gas inhalation, and at least two were hit with rubber-coated metal or foam-tipped bullets fired by Israeli forces.
The ISM activist who was hit with a foam bullet recalled the experience:
We were walking slowly toward the soldiers, watching the ones who had gone off the road to hide among the olive groves and rocks. In Ni’lin’s extensive fields and olive groves it is always important to watch for ambushes; Israeli military forces might lay low out of obvious sight and attempt to attack or arrest Palestinian youths. As we approached, I was photographing the soldiers in the trees, not even aiming my camera at those standing directly ahead of us in the road, arrayed beside their military jeep.
One of the Israeli soldiers in the olive groves
As we got closer I followed my friend’s lead, holding my camera in one hand and my other hand open, in sight of the soldiers, to make it clear I was not a threat and had no weapons. Both of us obviously held cameras, he a video camera and I a DSLR – even if the Israeli forces could conceivably have mistaken them for something else or not been able to see them clearly, one soldier had binoculars and had been aiming them at us earlier.
Though neither of us wore reflective vests and my face was partly covered to guard against the rain and wind, there is no way the heavily armed Israeli military forces could have viewed us as anything other than civilians documenting the demonstration and the actions of the army. They never shouted or warned us away; one second we were walking toward them and the next we heard the loud pop of the bullet being fired and, before I could react, I felt a sudden, sharp blow to my upper thigh and saw the bullet bouncing away. We turned and fled, feet pounding the mud, hoping that none of the soldiers would feel inclined to fire at our retreating backs.
Earlier as the demonstration began, Israeli forces had fired several foam baton rounds down the road, mainly in the direction of activists holding cameras. My friend had warned me to be prepared to run fast if they fired, but I never though they would aim to hit on the first shot.
Palestinian photographer holds one of the foam bullets Israeli forces aimed at people filming in Ni’lin
When they shot at us, we were nearer the soldiers (within 10 meters) than anyone else participating in the demonstration. No one nearby was throwing stones; far back down the road the ambulance had parked and Palestinian medics were standing outside, but other than them the area was nearly deserted. Fortunately the foam bullet hit the large muscle at the top of my leg and did not penetrate my clothing. It could be treated with an ice pack and within half an hour I could barely feel where the bullet had impacted; even as it happened, I was more startled than anything else. Palestinian medics, however, have documented cases of significant injuries from foam baton rounds (especially from the black, longer range type) when they hit sensitive areas such as the face or are fired from close range.
The ‘foam baton’ ammunition Israeli border police fired in Ni’lin was, in previous years, used mainly in Jerusalem by the Yasam (Israeli ‘riot cops’), but incidents like this show that the military has expanded their use in recent months, with Israeli forces aiming them at demonstrators in areas well inside the West Bank.
Israeli forces a few minutes before they fired and hit ISM activist (border police armed with foam baton rounds has back to camera)
When I came back toward the ambulance, one of the medics explained that the Israeli border police who shot me probably thought I was Palestinian. It was raining, and I had a kuffiyeh covering part of my face; on that day no other internationals or Israeli activists had come to the demonstration. I do not know if they would have shot me if they knew I was from the United States instead of just another Palestinian from Ni’lin attempting to record what was happening. Perhaps they would have shot the young man beside me instead, for nothing more than crossing some invisible line, stepping too close to Israeli forces while filming a clash that at that point the storm had already rendered nearly nonexistent. After we had run far enough from the soldiers to be able to speak to each other, he told me that in his past participation at protests Israeli forces had already shot him with live, rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas rounds. As it was, I got a tiny taste of the casual violence the Israeli military occupation inflicts on Palestinians every day, no matter what method of resistance they choose.
On December 25th Ni’lin residents did not escape so relatively unscathed; as many in Palestine celebrated Christmas, Israeli forces not only violently repressed Ni’lin’s demonstration against the occupation but also invaded the village and ran over Ayoub Srour, a 44-year-old father of four, with a military jeep. On Friday the 8th of January, a Palestinian Red Crescent medic reported that Ayoub was still in hospital suffering from multiple fractures in his foot.
Ni’lin village is no stranger to collective punishment. Since the start of October, Israeli occupation forces have also constructed an addition at Ni’lin’s entrance: a sturdy gate, yellow metal bars mounted on concrete, which Israeli forces can use to close off the main road leading into the village.The village has suffered a heavy toll for it’s persistent resistance against the Israeli occupation; from 2008-2009 five Palestinian from the village, including a 10-year-old boy, were killed by Israeli forces.
On New Year’s day protesters braved not only the Israeli military jeeps but also rain, wind and sleet to protest. As the rain rendered tear gas less effective, Israeli forces aimed foam-tipped bullets at demonstrators, often aiming toward Palestinian activists holding cameras. The practice of targeting journalists is common at protests, whether with tear gas, stun grenades, “less lethal” ammunition or even live bullets. Many Palestinian journalists have similar stories: they were clearly holding their cameras and showing that they were unarmed, some wore press vests or shouted that they were journalists, and the Israeli military attacked them in a clear effort to force them to move and to render them unable to carry out their work of witnessing and documenting military violence against Palestinian protesters.
Palestinian photographer at Ni’lin badly tear gassed at Jan 8 demonstration
The following Friday was dusty and windy, but without the rain that had impeded both impact of the tear gas and the enthusiasm of protesters the week before. Familiar clouds of tear gas billowed through Ni’lin’s olive trees, shot close enough for the canisters to hit fleeing protesters as they ran.
Palestinian youths managed to aim some of the tear gas back at the Israeli forces, most also using slings to hurl stones at the military jeeps and soldiers invading their land.
Ni’lin youths throwing stones up the road toward the Israeli military jeeps
Israeli forces continued to fire tear gas as the demonstration spread out across the fields and continued to advance toward the wall, at one point targeting a group of Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators who had simply been attempting to walk through a field near the wall armed with nothing more than a cameras and a Palestinian flag.
Man from Ni’lin stands in the field near the Apartheid Wall
Eventually the jeeps retreated back through the gate in the wall after firing a few final rounds of tear gas, and Israeli forces positioned themselves inside military towers atop the wall as many protesters attempted to take cover while still approaching the length of wall farther from the snipers.
Two young boys protesting shelter behind a tree as Israeli snipers aim up at protesters
As the first Palestinian protester climbed the far edge of the Apartheid Wall, Israeli forces aimed what looked to the international activist present like either rubber-coated metal bullets or black foam-tipped rounds (possibly both) at demonstrators in the field above the wall. One twelve-year-old Palestinian boy was shot in his ankle by the snipers on the wall. Undaunted, he took cover behind an olive tree and briefly applied an ice pack offered to him before returning to the clash and joining young protesters gathered where the far end of the wall merges into a fence guarding the illegal Israeli settlement road.
Photo taken a few minutes before this boy was shot in the foot by Israeli forces
Palestinian youths scaled the wall, constantly on the alert for assaults from Israeli military forces still lying in wait behind it, and aimed a few stones over the wall and fence that had stolen both their land and freedom of movement. One youth was hit by Israeli forces with a rubber-coated metal bullet in the hand as he looked out around the wall.
Palestinian youths gathered where the Apartheid Wall turns into a fence
Despite the constant threat of attack and the sobering symbols of oppression the protesters had gathered to oppose, Ni’lin’s youths smiled at each other as they gathered beside the wall near the end of the demonstration. One teenaged Palestinian played a recently popular song on his phone calling for an uprising against the occupation as others helped each other onto the wall, striking poses for the cameras and defying the Israeli forces on the Apartheid Wall’s far side.
Many young men and boys from Ni’lin scaled the wall on January 8Palestinian youth makes victory sign on the wall – behind him lies the illegal settlement of Hashmonaim
Even with the constant the setbacks, dangers, and collective punishment imposed on Ni’lin by the Israeli forces, Palestinians from the village will continue to protest. Every Friday, they make clear their resistance to the injustice of the Israeli occupation.
Peering over the wall, checking for soldiers who might be aiming to fire
