Tag: Rubber-coated steel bullets - Page 15 - International Solidarity Movement

Hundreds of unarmed demonstrators confront live fire at Kafr Qaddum on Nakba Day

15th May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwarra Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Today (15th of May), during the Nakba day demonstration in Kafr Qaddum, four young men were shot with live ammunition in their legs. One of the men got a serious bone fracture. Apart from the live ammunition being shot from all directions, Israeli forces fired several rounds of rubber coated steel bullets, tear gas and stun grenades. Throughout the protest, the Israeli military forces used a skunk truck to force the demonstrators back from reaching the closed road; closed since 2002 due to the building of the settlement Kedumim. ISMers in the demonstration saw houses and gardens being sprayed, and a boy as young as four crying, covered in the noxious chemical skunk ‘water’.

Israeli forces trip young boy over with skunk 'water" - photo by Ahmed Nazzal — Israeli forces knock down four year old with skunk ‘water” – *photo by Ahmed Nazzal*

Before the prayer had started, which end usually marks the beginning of the demonstration, soldiers attacked the gathered crowd with the chemical-laced water from the skunk truck. About 200 protesters marched up towards the closed road and were chanting words of freedom. 67 years later, the Nakba is still going on. They were soon met with rubber coated steel bullets and more skunk water.

Demonstrators assemble at Kfar Qaddum on Nakba Day

The Israeli military fired tear gas and several protesters suffered from its inhalation and its blinding effect. The military then fired sound bombs and also started firing live .22 calibre ammunition. Anas, 25 years old, was hit with one of these live bullets in his leg, fracturing it. Within a few minutes, Odaye, 21 years old, had both legs pierced from the side with one of them too – the bullet first went through one leg and then into the other. Joseph, 23 years old, was hit by two bullets in the leg. He was brought in to the hospital with a regular car as both of the ambulances had already left with casualties. Bilal, 22 years old, was also hit by a .22 bullet in his leg. He was also ferried to hospital in a private car. When the soldiers retreated, the youth continued the protest with burning tires – the smoke from the demo drifted up towards the illegal settlement of Kedumim.

Protestor shot in his leg with live ammunition

The villagers of Kafr Qaddum demonstrate weekly against the closure of the road between their village and Nablus, since 2002. The Palestinians are not allowed to travel the most direct route to Nablus, 13 km away, due to the positioning of nearby illegal Israeli settlement Kedumim. The commute to Nablus from Kafr Qaddum has now doubled.

Wounded protester rushed to hospital from Kfar Qaddum

Today’s demonstration at Kafr Qaddum was just one of many large scale demonstrations held in commemoration of Nakba Day. The Nakba is the Palestinian name for the ethnic cleansing of the vast majority of Palestinian Arabs from Historic Palestine in 1948. The systematic massacres and expulsion of some 700,000 Palestinians and the destruction of 500 villages by Zionist paramilitary groups paved the way for the creation of Israel as an ethnically and ideologically ‘Jewish State’.

Mirrors used as a distraction to Israeli's violent forces - photo by ‎المسيرة__كفرقدوم‎ — Mirrors used as a distraction to Israeli’s violent forces – photo by
‎المسيرة__كفرقدوم‎

The ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians by Israeli zionists did not stop in 1948. Both within the recognised boundaries of the Israeli state and within the illegally Occupied Palestinian Territories, Palestinians are struggling daily against expulsion and land theft. In Kafr Qaddum, as in the rest of Palestine, Israel’s attempts at ethnic cleansing are being resisted.

Tear gas and fire threaten Ni’lin demo

04th May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Ni’lin, Occupied Palestine

During the weekly Friday demonstration on 1^st May, 2015 in the occupied West Bank village of Ni’lin, Israeli occupation forces fired more than two hundred tear gas canisters and several rubber-coated steel bullets. Tear-gas caused a fire in the fields that was put out by the protestors.

After the noon-prayer in the fields of the village, the demonstration set off towards the apartheid wall separating the village from part of its land. Soon after the start of the demonstration, Israeli occupation forces stopped the march by shooting several volleys of tear gas grenades. Even as the march stopped, Israeli forces kept shooting hundreds of tear gas canisters in rapid succession at the protestors.

Tear gas fired at the demonstration by the Israeli forces

When tear gas caused a fire in the wheat fields, demonstrators immediately rushed to put it out. Their attempts to save as much of the harvest as possible were impeded by the incessant firing of tear gas canisters. Israeli forces fired large quantities of tear gas directly at people in the fields.

Fire in the wheat fields caused by tear gas

Unlike last weeks protest, when Israeli snipers injured three youths in the leg with live ammunition, no-one was shot at this week’s protest. Demonstrators suffered from excessive tear-gas inhalation and being hit by tear-gas canisters.

UN affects Kafr Qaddum’s demonstration

1st May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Today’s demonstration in Kafr Qaddum was met with live ammunition, rubber coated steal bullets, teargas and stun grenades. There was a large presence of Palestinian and international protestors. The Israeli forces shot two young men in the leg. UN observers were present.

Before prayer ended, usually marking the start of the demonstration, Israeli forces fired lived ammunition from .22 riffles at the people who had started to gather in Kafr Qaddum.

As the march started advancing up through the village, a group of Italian women joined in and were chanting songs of liberation with the crowd. Coordinated with the locals, they went to the front of the march with their fingers in the air, symbolically signing peace. Together, they stopped only metres away from the border police and military asking for the opening of the road and the freedom of the Palestinians.

Italian group of women and Kufr Qaddum protesters asking for the opening of the road — Italian group of women and Kafr Qaddum protesters asking for the opening of the road

The Israeli forces responded with stun grenades and teargas, forcing the crowd to retreat further into the village. The army went on by shooting two young men with live ammunition. The first bullet entered and exited Eanad’s leg, aged 20, while the second one stayed put inside Issam’s leg, age 22. They were both rushed to Rafidia hospital in Nablus.

Issam rushed to the hospital after being shot in the leg

An ISMer on the spot describes, “While Issam was being rushed to a car, teargas was fired over them. Ceasefire during injuries doesn’t seem to be a concern for the Israeli forces. ”

Recently, demonstrators and ISMers have witnessed an escalation of violence in Kafr Qaddum. The amount of live ammunitions shot by the Israeli forces has heavily been on the rise. Today, however, protestors were mostly met with stun grenades and rubber coated steal bullet. Local activist, Murad Shtaiwi, explained, “the UN’s rare presence today meant that the Israeli soldiers were acting quite politely”. When members of the United Nations arrive at demonstrations, they inform the Israelis in advance of their coming. This inevitably leads to a calmer day, relatively speaking.

Two UN members observing the demonstration from a roof.

After the military retreated, a pile of tires was burnt, sending black smoke into the direction of Kedumin, a neighbouring settlement built in 1975. Due to this settlement, the road leading to Nablus has been closed off to the Palestinians since 2003. This has largely increased traveling time and costs for the locals.

The fire's smoke heading towards the illegal settlement — The fire’s smoke heading towards the illegal settlement

One person shot at protest against Israel’s cancer-causing chemical plants in Tulkarem

29th April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara Team | Tulkarem, Occupied Palestine

Around fifty Palestinians and international activists gathered today in Tulkarem, east of Nablus, to protest the presence of 11 Israeli chemical plants located in the city. The protest took place outside the Gishuri chemical plant on what is locally referred to as the “death road” due to the health problems caused by the Israeli plants.

The protesters were carrying signs demanding a clean environment and an end to the Israeli occupation, while Israeli soldiers deployed to guard the plant quickly responded with stun grenades and tear gas.

On one occasion Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters aimed directly at peaceful demonstrators and the press. As the protest continued, a 22-year old Palestinian man was shot by a rubber-coated steel bullet, hitting him in the abdomen. He was later taken to the local hospital and appeared to have suffered superficial damages only, although he was in great pain. The protest quickly subsided after this event.

Israels corporate occupation of Tulkarem

The protest against Israel’s chemical plants have been continuous since Gushiri Industries, a manufacturer of pesticides and fertilizers, first arrived in Tulkarem in the mid-1980s. The plant used to be located in the Israeli city of Netanya, only 12 kilometers away. However, a 1982 Israeli court order said the company was violating pollution regulations, making the company relocate to the West Bank’s Area C, which is under full Israeli control. The court order came after a complaint filed by Israeli citizens.

Since the arrival of Gushiri Industries, ten other chemical plants have located nearby, the last one in 2007. The location of these plants have caused many local farmers to lose most of their land and contributed to unemployment and poverty in the area. Hence, many local Palestinians have been forced to work at these chemical plants, as the Israeli corporations are taking advantage of the low labor costs and the non-applicability of Israeli labor laws in Area C.

Chronic diseases and land pollution

The most serious consequence of the presence of these chemical plants is the health effect on Palestinians. The air in Tulkarem has been found to contain alarmingly high rates of monoxide and toxic substances in studies by both the University of Birzeit and the Palestinian Ministry of Health. In an interview with the Middle East Monitor last year, Dr. Abed Darak of the Tulkarem Ministry of Health said the city has the highest cancer and leukemia rate in the West Bank, claiming that 20 per cent of all cases stems from the area – despite being home to only five per cent of the total West Bank population. A 2012 report from the Palestinian Ministry of Health found that 77 per cent of the cases of cancer in the city were directly linked to chemical substances from the factories.

A representative from the Palestine Technical University (PTU), which neighbors the Gushiri chemical plant to the south and the Apartheid Wall to the west, said today that the smell is “unbearable” after 3 pm, which explains why most residents of Tulkarem always keep their windows shut. Residents living near the factories have also developed health issues including asthma, reduced lung capacity, skin ailments and eye infections. This is especially true for elementary students.

Additionally, it has been estimated that approximately 300 dunams, i.e. 300,000 square meters, of agricultural land is contaminated by emissions from the factories.

A child’s cry: Stop poisoning Palestine’s schools

The global civic organization Avaaz is currently running a campaign named “A child’s cry: Stop poisioning Palestine’s schools” to help stopping the chemical plants in Tulkarem. By signing a petition on their website, you can help putting pressure on the EU, their biggest market, to apply their strict(er) environmental regulations and impose an import ban on these factories.