22nd September 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine
During today’s march in Kafr Qaddum, three protesters were injured by rubber coated steel bullets fired by the Israeli armed forces. When it looked as if the soldiers had retreated, they surprised the demonstrators by re-entering the village and fired several rounds of live ammunition.
Shortly after the march had started, the Israeli military entered the village and fired sound bombs, rubber coated steal bullets and tear gas at protesters. A 22-year old got shot by a rubber coated steel bullet in his shoulder and a 20-year old and a 46-year old man got shot in their hands. All could be treated at the scene.
It was some time ago that the military used live ammunition in Kafr Qaddum. One of the demonstrators told ISM that it reminded him of the dramatic incidents between 2014 and 2016 where many people were shot with live ammunition. Six of these people were children under the age of 11 and six people got shot in the upper parts of their body. Some of them are still suffering from their injuries. Four people got killed. During this period there were also 170 protesters arrested and kept in military detention from 3 months to 24 months.
Since 2011, the villagers of Kafr Qaddum have had weekly marches towards their main road which have been closed since 2003. The road is closed off due to the location of the illegal settlement of Kadumim, and have severe effects on the daily commutes for the villagers of Kafr Qaddum.
23th December 2016 | Popular Resistance Committee of Kafr Qaddum | occupied Palestine
Today, Friday December 23rd, 2016, the village started its march as usual toward the blocked road. Suddenly 12 soldiers from a special unit of the Israeli occupation force surprised them in an ambush, and attacked and arrested a 7 year old Palestinian child. Twelve heavily armed soldier’s surrounded the boy, attacking him. One of them forcefully grabbed the boy from his neck, questioning him about his father. Three Palestinians were also injured with rubber bullets.
Masked members of the Israeli security forces briefly detain a Palestinian boy during clashes following a demonstration against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in the village of Kfar Qaddum, near Nablus, in the occupied West Bank on December 23, 2016. / AFP / JAAFAR ASHTIYEH
Kafr Qaddum’s weekly protests have been occurring since July 2011 to take back the road that connects their village to the city of Nablus, elongating Palestinians commute by 14 kilometers. These demonstrations are always met by the Israeli occupation forces and/or border police, who throw sound grenades, tear gas, rubber coated steel bullets, and at times live ammunition to prevent the nonviolent protesters from executing their democratic rights.
The young boy was released after one hour, and he told his father, “I was very afraid. I didn’t know what to do. I just began shouting between 12 huge soldiers, and one of them hanged me from my neck and asked me about my father”. The boy continues to experience post traumatic stress, shaking continuously, and sharing more and more of the experience to his family.
25th March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Ni’lin, occupied West Bank
On Friday 25th March, Palestinians, Israeli activists and foreign activists alike took part in the weekly demonstration to oppose the apartheid wall that surrounds the town of Ni’lin and has taken much of the villages land. The demonstration which started peacefully was cut short by large amounts of tear gas being fired upon the demonstrators, along with sponge bullets and rubber coated metal bullets; the standard excessive force that is always used by the Israeli army.
Peaceful demonstrators marching forward
The demonstration began after noon prayer, with the crowd walking along the local roads, chanting songs of defiance. Within minutes the first rounds of tear gas were fired by the Israeli army who had made their way deep into the Palestinian territory. The first shots were fired high into the sky, landing in front and around the demonstrators, this caused slight pandemonium and the demonstrators were forced to fall back. As the protestors were running, seeking clear air to breath amidst the heavy plumes of tear gas, the army began firing their frequently used and at times deadly high velocity tear gas canisters. These canisters were not fired in the arching fashion in which they should be, instead being fired directly at disbursing activists from all sides. The canister being used are the same type as the ones responsible for the serious wounding of fellow ISM activist Tristan Anderson in Ni’lin who suffered cognitive disfunction and physical injuries after he was shot by the Israeli forces from close range.
The Israeli forces and peaceful protestersAn activist and a medic amidst heavy clouds of tear gas
As demonstrators continued to pull back the Israeli forces continued to fire directly at the crowds rather than upwards, choosing to ignore the correct protocol for use of this deadly weapon. From this point on, some of the local Palestinian youths began to throw stones which prompted Israeli army to begin using sponge and rubber coated steel bullets.
A red crescent medic shows the lethal tear gas canisters that are being used
As the activists were driven back, the only remaining resistance was the stone throwing children. While soldiers on the front line fired upon them a different section of the army began systematically firing high velocity tear gas canisters into the surrounding homes of the area.
Two ISM activists at the demonstration were driven into one of the nearby homes amidst the aggression and counted seven tear gas canisters land inside the families property. The Red Crescent ambulance service was also required to evacuate and treat another two Palestinian families due to heavy tear gas inhalation inside their families residencies.
The move by the Israeli army to fire on the houses of the local towns people is a strategy to create decent amidst activists and the locals, hoping that they will end the demonstrations via a certain style of collective punishment.
One Palestinian was treated for injuries sustained from being shot with a rubber coated steel bullet while seven people, including women and children were treated for severe tear gas inhalation whilst inside their family homes.
18th September 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine
Today in Kafr Qaddum, a village close to Nablus, Israeli forces injured almost 100 people.
Israeli forces attacked the village at around 11 am and invaded a family home. Upon breaking into the house Israeli forces attacked the whole family with pepper-spray. The 2 year old Bisan, 6 year old Moemen, 8 year old Nour and a 55-year old woman were all pepper-sprayed. The Israeli Forces then prevented any medical aid from assisting the family after this aggression.
Three people were injured with live ammunition by Israeli forces, a 13-year old boy and a 46-year old man in the leg and another man was ambushed and shot with live ammunition by Israeli forces while he was in his brothers house. They are being treated in a hospital in Nablus. 75 people had to be treated for exhessive tear gas inhalation.
Israeli bulldozer at the demonstration
Tear gas covering the village
An 8-year old girl was shot in the head with a sponge bullet by Israeli forces, and a 55-year old man with a sponge bullet in the arm.
The Israeli army also sprayed family homes with foul-smelling skunk water, inflicting collective punishment on the whole village. Weekly Friday demonstrations in Kafr Qaddum protest against the closure of the main road leading to the city of Nablus because of the illegal settlement of Qedumim. This weeks demonstration was also in protest of Israeli aggressions against and inside al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
