February 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
The Old City, Al-Khalil, occupied Palestine
I have spent about 30 days in Al-Khalil this year. A short stay by ISM standards, and nothing compared to the tens of thousands of people who call this place home. Despite this, I already feel that the city has got under my skin. The beauty of Al-Khalil creeps up on you. First impressions can be rough; the soldiers, the police, the armed settlers, the wire and halogen lamp monsters that are the checkpoints, but after a while you begin to see it. The limestone brickwork glowing in the sunlight, the echoes of conversation that bounce up and down the tunnels of the old city souk. It creeps out and makes itself visible. The more you look for it, the more you see. Places have energy and tell stories, but these places would be nothing without the people.
The occupation: horses hate it too!
Above all else it has been the people of Al-Khalil that have made this place beautiful for me. The smiles as warm as the sun on the buildings, the shouts of “welcome!”, “ahlan wah sahlan!” and the endless offers of coffee make it hard to go anywhere fast, but they make your heart sing. Some people call Ireland the land of a hundred thousand welcomes, but I think that Palestine is more deserving of that title. There is so much beauty in the warmth and openness of the people here, but there is beauty in the daily acts of resistance against the occupation too.
There is a deep and dignified beauty in the story of Abdulraouf Al-Mohtaseb, an Al-Khalil shopkeeper who refused to sell his shop and family home to settlers, even when offered 100 million US Dollars. There is a beauty in the fact that day in, day out he opens his shop, right in plain sight of settlers & border police and greets everybody with warmth and respect.
There is beauty in the fact that Leila, a member of the Palestinian Women’s Embroidery Co-operative, keeps her shop open every Saturday when her street is invaded by occupation forces and extremist settlers. Shop keepers, local activists and internationals all band together; cooperating to ensure that no violence is enacted against the residents of the old city during this time.
Palestinian children watch as tear gas floods the streets of Qeitun outside of their school
There is beauty in the fact that whenever an act of harassment, oppression, or injustice occurs in H2, there is a good chance that Imad Abu Shamsiyya, or one of his comrades in Hebron Human Rights Defenders will have trained their camera lens on the perpetrator and victim. Despite violence against them and threats on their lives, these activists fearlessly capture the violence and oppression that the Israeli state tries so hard to hide.
Palestinians marching towards a gate that closes off Shuhada Street, Feb 22, 2019
Finally, there is beauty in the bravery, rage and defiance of the Palestinian youth who turn up to defend their communities from the regular Israeli army invasions of Al-Khalil. Say what you want about tactics of resistance, definitions of non-violence, pacifism. Seeing boys no older than 15 face down an attack from one of the most advanced armies in the world, armed with nothing but stones, their experiences and courage is a beautiful sight. It’s a sign of the future and reminder to the oppressor that resistance is woven into the fabric of life here in Al-Khalil.
I don’t want to romanticise the oppression of the occupation, or try to paint a picture of it through rose-tinted glasses. However, places like Al-Khalil usually only grab international attention when an injustice or an atrocity occurs. Yes, they occur regularly, but there is so much more to this place than violence and oppression.
Come to Al-Khalil and look for the beauty. Before long you will begin to see it everywhere. Come to Al-Khalil to work with all its wonderful residents to build a world in which they can direct their creative energy at something better than an occupying force.
29th March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
On Sunday, the new team of Youth Against Apartheid was honored to meet with each other for the first time. The wonderful youth of al-Khalil city (Hebron) who have dedicated their time during the past few years doing voluntary work and activities to help their community, mainly in Tel Rumeida neighbourhood and Shuhada Street of al-Khalil City (Hebron).
Youth against apartheid
The members have never before been part of any group, but have happily volunteered with all groups and entities that have asked for their activism. Just a few days ago they decided to form and establish an organized group (popular committee) and officially named themselves, Hebron Youth against Apartheid.
Youth against apartheid
The group is filled with a mixture of very intelligent, energetic and enthusiastic youth while all of them are strongly attached to their people and land, all of who are hopeful for a better tomorrow. The group wishes show to the world what daily life is like under the zionist regimes occupation, the daily attacks and violations of human rights towards the Palestinian people, along with organising voluntary activities in their areas, nonviolent protests against zionist occupation, working for justice and human rights for their people at all levels and providing legal aid to the community. They are based in the old town of al-Khalil city (Hebron), mainly Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street areas.
This new team would appreciate your support and solidarity at all levels. Please share the word of the great work these young youth are doing and let the world know who they are.
We have received the wonderful news that Mahmoud Nasser has been released from Ofer, the Israeli military occupation prison near Ramallah, yesterday night!
Together with his family they celebrated his release on bail and we are all very grateful to all supporters and donators for their contribute!!
Carry on the struggle for the liberation of palestinian political prisoners!
\\\\
Dear friends,
Due to technical problems the special Facebook event for the campaign in support of Mahmoud Nasser and all Palestinian political prisoners has been deleted.
We will continue to communicate updates on Mahmoud’s situation using the relevant hashtags.
So far we seem to have raised enough money and hope that Mahmoud Nasser will be released from prison soon!
Free all political prisoners and end the military occupation of Palestine! Mahmoud Nasser, a 24-year-old Palestinian from the village of Beitunia, was arrested after 150 soldiers raided his house in the night of 16 July 2015. He was charged with ‘posing a security threat to Israel.’ However, during the appeal hearing, the military judge ruled that there is not enough evidence that supports Mahmoud’s continuing detention or conviction.
Outrageously so, innocence does not equal immediate release under Israeli military law. Instead, an exorbitant bail of 15.000 New Israeli Shekels is impositioned (around €3430 / $3830). An amount that the family of Mahmoud is unable to pay.
Palestinians from the occupied territories are prosecuted under military law. This practice leads to grave violations of basic human rights inside prisons and allows Israel to control the daily life and movement of Palestinians en masse. Military law permits the imposition of exorbitant bails even when it has been ruled that there is not enough evidence to support the detainment or conviction.
Mahmoud Nasser is a clear victim of this illegal and unjust system.
Take action! Take a stand against the occupation, the illegal application of military law in Palestine and in support of all Palestinian political prisoners.
Donate now to help pay the bail and free Mahmoud Nasser. Any amount will help and is greatly appreciated by his family!
How to donate The easiest way to donate is via PayPal.
Please visit https://palsolidarity.org/donate/ and tick the box ‘Free Mahmoud Nasser’.
Should you not be able to use PayPal, it is possible to directly transfer your donation to the bank account of ISM. You will need the following details:
Account holder: ISMSVERIGE
Account number: 9746647313
IBAN: SE65 8000 0842 0297 4664 7313
BIC: SWEDSESS
Name of the bank: Swedbank
Please note that it is important to reference ‘Free Mahmoud Nasser’ with your transfer.
If you are based in Palestine or Israel, you may wish to transfer the donation directly to the account of the family to avoid losing money on transfer and conversion costs. Therefore it is possible to send your donation to Ahmad Nasser, the brother of Mahmoud. You will need the following details:
Account holder: Ahmad Sameer Ahmad Nasser Name of the bank: Bank Of Palestine Address: Rukab Street, Ramallah- Palestine Account number: 2228092
Please note that we strongly recommend those based outside Palestine/Israel to donate to ISM via Paypal or a direct bank transfer to ISM. This allows us to collect the total amount of donations and subsequently make one single transfer to the family’s bank account. This minimises the costs caused by international transfers and currency conversion rates.
Updates: 8 September: The International Solidarity Movement has generously donated 2000 New Israeli Shekel in support of Mahmoud Nasser. 10 September: The second part of the extremely strict bail conditions has been met: to find two Israeli civilians who can guarantee 15.000 New Israeli Shekel each and demonstrate a monthly income of 5000 Shekel. This is amazing news!
This means we have 13.000 Shekel more to go before we can pay the bail. Not a small amount, but together we can go a long way!
19 September: Next to the generous donations of all of you, friends of Ahmad and Mahmoud in Palestine and beyond, ISM Sweden has now also donated an amazing amount of 3000 Shekel.YES, we reached the 10.000 Shekel!
We are not there yet, another 5000 to go. This should be doable, right?! This amount equals to £830 / €1140 / $1290. We need 100 persons to donate £8,30/ €11,40 / $12,90.
Please continue to spread the campaign and to consider making a small or large contribution. Together we can make this happen – lets make sure to go achieve our goal of 15.000 Shekel – it is within reach!
Mahmoud Nasser, 24 years old
The illegal arrest and exorbitant bail of Mahmoud Nasser On Thursday, 16th of July 2015 at around 4:00 am Israeli Occupation Forces raided the house of Mahmoud Nasser and his family in Beitunia, occupied Palestine. More than 150 soldiers, border police and intelligence service officers surrounded the neighbourhood and stormed into the house while the family was fast asleep. Mahmoud Nasser was subsequently arrested without being shown an official arrest order.
After being taken to the military prison in Ofer, Mahmoud was ordered to appear in court and charges were levelled against him stating he poses a security threat to Israel. However, the evidence presented by the military prosecution does not at all support the charges. Consequently the judge ruled that there is not enough evidence to continue Mahmoud’s detention nor will it support a future conviction.
Outrageously so, under military law, innocence does not equal immediate release. On the contrary, the military judge ruled that a bail amount of 15.000 New Israeli Shekel (around €3430 / $3830) should be paid before Mahmoud Nasser is to be released. This is an exorbitant bail amount which puts the family under increased financial and psychological pressure. If the bail is not paid, Mahmoud will stay imprisoned for a maximum of eighteen months – a period that would continue to be subject of discussion as the military judge may extend this period even after a specific time limit is set in the case of conviction.
The illegality of military law in occupied Palestine Under international law it is illegal to acquire land by force, which is what happened during the 1948 and 1967 wars. These wars led to the creation of Israel and subsequently enabled it to annex more land. While the military occupation is internationally considered to be illegal, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are nevertheless prosecuted under Israeli military law.
Military prosecution occurs whenever a Palestinian is considered to pose a security threat to the Israeli state. However, what constitutes ‘a security threat’ is interpreted extremely broadly. A variety of actions is criminalized, including non-violent political and cultural expressions, such as putting up posters, writing political slogans, carrying a Palestinian flag or attending a demonstration. It then comes at no surprise that Amnesty International reported in 2002 that “in light of the large number of those arrested and detained for a short time with very little interrogation, and the consistent use of degrading treatment, Amnesty International is concerned that the aim of the large-scale arrests may have been to collectively punish and to degrade and humiliate Palestinians”.
The implementation of collective punishment through mass incarceration and detention continues until today. Addameer, the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, reports that as of July 2015 5700 Palestinians are inside Israeli prisons. This illustrates that the accusation of posing a security threat to Israel is applied to control everyday movement and enables mass detention of Palestinians.
To protest against this inhumane treatment and unjust and illegal system, Palestinian prisoners have taken the radical step to go on hunger strike. To resist the illegal military rule is a timely action as the Israeli Knesset passed a controversial bill to legalize force-feeding of Palestinian hunger strikers on 30 July 2015. Force-feeding is considered by international and medical organisations as a clear violation of prisoners’ human rights. Recently the cases of hunger strikers Khader Adnan and Mohammed Allan gained international attention. However, there are many more prisoners currently on hunger strike. They organise around concrete demands to improve the poor living standards inside the occupation prisons and are calling for an end to administrative detention. Take action! Donate now to free Mahmoud Nasser and support all political prisoners in their struggle for liberation!
