11th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement | Al Walaja, Occupied Palestine
By Team Khalil
Red Crescent medics treat people attacked with pepper spray
On Friday 10th May, Palestinians from the village of Al Walaja protested against a new road block, placed by the Israeli army in one of the two roads giving them access to Bethlehem. The iron barrier that was placed earlier this week, is part of a plan to annex land that belongs to Al Walaja and expand the illegal Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo.
After the Friday prayer at the mosque, Palestinians marched to the barrier with the intent to cross it and reach on foot their land that is now being cut off by the road. They were prevented by the Israeli army, who violently pushed protesters away. Soon after Palestinians had reached the barrier the Israeli army started throwing sound bombs and tear gas amid the crowd which included children.
Soldiers attempting to arrest young man trying to access his land
Israeli soldiers also used pepper spray on protesters, two of whom had to be removed by medics and transferred to the yard of a neighboring house to receive medical care. The Israeli army followed them to the entrance of the house and threw a sound bomb in their direction. The army also tried to arrest a minor who managed to get away by the intervention of many of the protesters who ran to his aid.
Al Walaja is located between the Green line and the Israeli annexation wall, which effectively surrounds its land. Palestinians of Al Walaja were already displaced during the Nakba in 1948 and the annexation of Jerusalem and many of them are still living in refugee camps in the Bethlehem region. Of those that returned to rebuilt Al Walaja where it stands today, many have faced house demolitions.
26th April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine
By Team Khalil
Danish activist injured by tear gas canister
On Friday 26th April, around sixty Palestinian and international activists were met with dozens of teargas rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets while protesting against a road closure in the Wad al-Huriyeh area of Hebron. The road is adjacent to the illegal Israeli settlement of Hagai.
Tear gas was fired immediately by Israeli forces as the demonstration started, with rounds fired directly at protesters. A Danish activist was hit in the stomach by a tear gas canister, and many other activists suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation. Israeli forces later fired on the non-violent demonstration from two separate locations at once, increasing the danger to protesters.
Following the end of the demonstration, the Israeli military invaded Wad al-Huriyeh and sprayed foul-smelling skunk water over Palestinian houses, in an act of collective punishment against the townspeople for organising the protest. The Fourth Geneva convention specifically prohibits such collective punishment and intimidation of civilian populations.
Demonstrations at Hagai roadblock have been taking place for over two months. The road has been blocked since 2008, adding 12km to the journey between Hebron city and Al Fawwar refugee camp and villages and towns in the South Hebron Hills.
22 January 2013 | Operation Dove, At Tuwani, Occupied Palestine
On 21st January the Israeli army demolished a building in the village of Ar Rifa’iyya and a water cistern in the village of Hawara. The army went on and damaged the only road that connects the village of At Tuwani and the nearby villages with the city of Yatta in South Hebron Hills. The three villages lie in Area C.
At around 8.30 am two bulldozers and three vehicles from the District Coordination Office (DCO) raided in the village of Ar Rifa’iyya, escorted by five Border Police vehicles. They demolished one house, belonging to Amed Mohammad Jaber Amor and his family consisting of 20 people. His brother Sabbri declared that the house was demolished twice previously because it is three meters outside the village master plan.At 9 am the Israeli forces moved to Hawara village, where they destroyed one water cistern belonging to Musa Abu Aram. The cistern was full of water. This is major damage as water supply in this area is particularly critical. The two villages are located along the road 317.
Afterwards the military convoy and bulldozers stopped at the entrance to At Tuwani village, where they damaged the road connecting the villages in Massafer Yatta area to the northern city of Yatta. At first they destroyed part of the little wall built alongside the road. Secondly they piled these ruins on the street, causing travel obstruction. The local council representative declared that they had never received a demolition order for that street. He added that the council appealed to the Israeli Civil Administration in order to receive a work permission for the street, but no answer was ever received.
“The aim of demolitions is to expel us from here and to take us to the other side of 317 road”, said Sabbri M. J. Amor from the village of Ar Rifa’iyya, “Nevertheless, we will rebuild this house again. Palestinian resistance is like the grass: it gets dry, but when it rains it grows back.”
Background
The policies enforced by the Israeli authorities in Area C restrict the possibility to access to basic needs for the residents and prevent development of Palestinian communities. An OCHA Occupied Palestinian Territories research demonstrates that “in some communities, families are being forced to move as a result of Israeli policies applied in Area C. Ten out of 13 communities recently visited by OCHA reported that families are leaving because policies and practices implemented there make it difficult for residents to meet basic needs or maintain their presence on the land.”
Most of Area C has been designated as military zones and for expansion of Israeli settlements, severely constraining the living space and development opportunities of Palestinian communities. While it is virtually impossible for a Palestinian to obtain a permit for construction, Israeli settlements receive preferential treatment in terms of allocation of water and land, approval of development plans, and law enforcement.
According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.
Operation Dove has maintained international presence in At Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.
Demolished house in Ar Rifa’iyya villageDemolished house in Ar Rifa’iyya villageDemolished cistern in Huwara villageVolvo bulldozer demolishing cistern in Huwara villageHidromek bulldozer demolishing cistern in Huwara villageVolvo bulldozer blocking the entrance to At Tuwani villageEarth obstruction at the entrance to At Tuwani village
16 October 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
About thirty citizens from Jama’in, accompanied by around 15 international solidarity activists commenced the first stage in the removal of a roadblock on an agricultural road near to the village, just south of Nablus. The earth mound was built on the road by the Israeli occupation forces in May of this year. It restricts the freedom of movement of Palestinian farmers to access their lands to olive groves owned by farmers in the village. As the olive harvest season is starting, access to the fields for farmers’ vehicles has become ever more essential.
After about an hour of removing the earth mound and flattening the road with hoes and buckets, the activists managed to level the road, only leaving behind two large rocks that are to be removed with heavy equipment in the coming days. The event was organized by the municipality and international activists were invited to attend.
According to local sources the earth mound has been removed a number of times by Jama’in citizens over the past few years.
Jama’in is a village south of Nablus in the West Bank, which lies directly in between the illegal settlements of Ari’el and Kfar Tappuah, and has suffered with restrictions imposed on them by the Israeli army with access to their lands, roadblocks and road closures over the last few years, in order to expand settlements and build Israeli-only roads.
Viktor Ibrahim, Meri Verdaguer and Vicky Blackwell are volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).
16TH OCTOBER 2012 – JAMA’IN VILLAGE – MORNING DEMONSTRATION
CONTACT 054 881 0651
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) calls on pro-Palestinian and peace activists from across the Occupied Territories to join Palestinians on 16th October to protest the roadblock preventing access to Jama’in Village. On this day, residents of Jama’in will remove an earthen mound that blocks access to their agricultural lands.
Jama’in is close to the illegal Tappuah settlement in the West Bank. There, settlers armed with automatic rifles, large dogs and blunt instruments regularly attack Palestinian agricultural workers and landowners. January saw over 100 olive trees chopped down and burnt by settlers, and at least two cars belonging to Palestinians were destroyed on the highway close to the Huwwara military checkpoint.
Access to agricultural land and particularly olive trees is essential for Palestinian villagers. Approximately eighty percent of cultivated land in Palestine is planted with olive trees, and the harvest provides between twenty and fifty percent of a farming family’s annual income. Holding a deep significance in Palestinian culture and the economy of the region, the olive harvest has become a matter of survival for rural Palestinians. It is because of this that the Israeli government and armed residents of its illegal colonies in the West Bank are attempting to disrupt access to agricultural lands.
Extremist settlers have launched a campaign of ‘price-tag’ attacks against Palestinians and their property as collective punishment for perceived anti-settlement legislation and activity by the Israeli government. The United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that violent attacks by settlers against Palestinians increased by more than fifty percent in 2011.
With a year-old roadblock preventing residents’ access to their fields, the people of Jama’in village request international activists join them in protesting the real-life consequences of Israeli occupation.
