Tag: Rubber-coated steel bullets - Page 7 - International Solidarity Movement

Kafr Qaddoum: Israeli forces shoot Palestinian journalist

3th of March, 2017 | Popular Resistance Committee of Kafr Qaddum | Occupied Palestine

Today, at the weekly Friday protest in Kafr Qaddoum, a large number of Israeli Forces raided the village and fired large amounts of live ammunition, rubber coated steel bullets, stun grenades and teargas at Palestinian protesters. One journalist, from Palestine TV, was shot in the head with a rubber coated steel bullet. A group of masked Israeli soldiers also took his telephone, and deleted all of his pictures and videos from the demonstration. The journalist is alive, but will be hospitalized over the night. Later a large number of masked Israeli Forces raided the village, trying to arrest Palestinians, and entering the house of a Palestinian family, scaring the crying children.

Palestinian protesters marching in Kafr Qaddoum, against the illegal closure of their road to Nablus

The protest started with a march at 12.30, after the Friday noon prayer in the local mosque of Kafr Qaddoum. A large group of Palestinians, journalists, and a few Israeli and international activists marched from the mosque towards the closed road that used to connect Kafr Qaddoum with the large city of Nablus.

After marching for around 30 meters, three Israeli Military jeeps and large numbers of Israeli forces arrived. They opened fire on the Palestinian protesters, who retreated back further into the village. Between 1 PM and 3 PM, Israeli forces continuously fired live ammunition, rubber coated steel bullets, stun grenades and teargas at the Palestinian protesters.

At several points, masked Israeli soldiers stormed the village, in an attempt to arrest the protesters. At one point, a large group of masked Israeli soldiers, entered the house of a Palestinian family, who were not participating in the demonstration. From outside the house, Palestinian children were heard screaming and crying, and Israeli soldiers were yelling intensely at the people inside the house.

Large number of Israeli Forces invading the Palestinian village Kfar Qaddoum — Israeli Forces invading the Palestinian village Kfar Qaddoum

Ahmad, a journalist from Palestine TV, was shot in the head by Israeli forces with a rubber coated steel bullet, and was bleeding heavily from his forehead. Israeli soldiers also took his private telephone, and deleted all of the pictures and videos he had made of Israeli soldiers firing live ammunition at Palestinian protesters. The journalist is now hospitalized, where he will stay under supervision over the night.

Palestinian journalist shot in the face by Israeli Forces with rubber coated steel bullets.

A local organizer of the protest described the situation as the feeling of “… a real war, with constant bullets being fired from 1 PM to 3 PM. Children crying and screaming. The situation was so terrifying.”

Israeli Forces fired large amount of live ammunition and rubber coated steel bullets at civilian palestinian protesters — Israeli Forces fired a large amount of live ammunition and rubber coated steel bullets at civilian palestinian protesters

Prior to the protest, Israeli Forces had also set up a roadblock at the entrance to the village, pulling cars over and checking people’s IDs, as an act of collective punishment.

For five years the people of Kafr Qaddum have been holding weekly demonstrations, protesting the closure of their main road to Nablus and the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlement of Kedumim, which surrounds the village. In 2003, the road was sealed permanently by an Israeli roadblock, extending the fifteen minute commute to Nablus to about forty minutes. The roadblock has had severe economic consequences for the people of Kafr Qaddum, as many who once worked in nearby Nablus have had to seek alternatives. The United Nations estimates that movement restrictions imposed by the Israeli Occupation, such as the situation in Kafr Qaddum, cost Palestine about 185 million USD each year.

After more than five years of weekly demonstrations, Kafr Qaddum continues to resist.

Israeli army attacks peaceful demonstration in Hebron and injures protesters : eye-witness accounts

24th February 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On 24th February several hundred people joined together for a demonstration in al-Khalil (Hebron) in occupied Palestine. Palestinians, Israelis and international activists protested together against the occupation of Shuhada Street and Tel Rumeida in the heart of the city, closed by the military after the massacre of 29 Palestinians in the al-Ibrahimi mosque in 1994. The protesters marched from the centre of the city to the military base at the entrance to the closed zone but were fired upon with tear gas and stun grenades within minutes of the start of their peaceful protest. The protesters were immediately forced to disperse with many suffering from tear gas inhalation. Some needed treatment on site and some were taken to hospital.

ISM activists attended in groups of two and three to support, document and protest. Here are some eyewitness accounts:

Group 1

“After midday prayers people started marching towards the old city, chanting slogans against the Israeli occupation and the settlers. After about ten minutes, the march was faced by a sizeable group of Israeli soldiers and border police. They marched towards the Israeli forces nonetheless, but were soon met with two stun grenades thrown towards protesters in the front line and teargas canisters shot throughout the street. I saw a teargas canister hit a north American army veteran below his left shoulder: it is entirely plausible that it was shot intentionally into the crowd. Shooting these canisters directly towards people is not only in direct contradiction of Israeli ‘rules of engagement’ but also potentially lethal.”

Group 2

“I was in front of the demo when the teargas canisters were fired directly into the first lines of protesters. Stun grenades exploded next to me and I couldn’t hear anything for the next minute. Everywhere on the street were clouds of teargas expanding and the demo turned into a big escape. I and many other protesters took refuge in the side streets, hiding from Israeli soldiers and tear gas.”

Group 3

“Our group started near the back. Tear gas started in great quantity within minutes and together with a large number of Palestinians and other internationals, we scrambled up a side set of stairs and spent the rest of the demonstration trapped there, tear gassed frequently and running in different directions to escape. There was no possibility of rejoining the march route. Red Crescent ambulances, with paramedics in gas masks, attended to the large number of people who were suffering from excessive gas inhalation and some were taken to hospital.”

Group 4

“Emotion, censored freedom, pain, oppression, … these are the words which describe the commemoration of the Ibrahimi mosque massacre, fifty years of occupation and the closure of Shuhada Street for over twenty years. After just ten minutes, the Israeli forces showed up in front of the crowd. They immediately stopped the demonstration, leaving no freedom to Palestinians and internationals to commemorate the Ibrahimi mosque’s victims. The atmosphere was tense as Israeli forces started to throw teargas into the crowd. Once again, Israel pretends to be a democracy but leaves no freedom to Palestinians to express themselves and to commemorate those they lost.”

12th anniversary of the popular resistance in Bil’in

18th of February, 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Bil’in, Occupied Palestine

The 17^th of February marked the 12^th anniversary of the popular resistance of the people of Bil’in against illegal Israeli settlements and the apartheid wall. Throughout these 12 years there have been protests every week by the people of the village, supported by both Israeli and international activists. These demonstrations have been met by serious repression by the Israeli military and police. To mark the 12^th anniversary a large demonstration was organized consisting of activists from across Palestine and across the world. This demonstration of around 400 people managed to march to the apartheid wall before eventually being suppressed by the Israeli forces.

The demonstration began as normal after noon prayers. Around 400 people marched towards the apartheid wall, chanting slogans and waving the Palestinian flag. On reaching the wall some activists managed to climb to the top, cutting away the wire at the top of the large concrete barrier. Tyres were also burnt at the bottom of the wall. A group of Palestinian activists, accompanied by international and Israeli activists, then marched to the large metal gate in the wall which is used by the Israeli forces to invade the village lands. This gate was forced open and people threw stones at the soldiers inside. Some soldiers took sniping positions from metal cages on top of the wall and fired tear gas at a group of demonstrators, also shooting at least one rubber coated metal bullet.

Shortly after this, as the demonstration was ending, the Israeli forces invaded the village lands both on foot and in two military vehicles. This group of soldiers harassed the youth as they were dispersing, with reports of one group of Palestinian children briefly detained and the released. Further on, towards the village, one Palestinian man suffered a possible fracture when he fell over after being chased by the soldiers.

*A reporter holds a sign against Israeli forces targeting of the press*

Bil’in is a village in Palestine that has been very active in the popular resistance against the illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel. The village has been greatly affected by settlements and building of the apartheid wall. Despite facing serious repression over the last 12 years the people of Bil’in still actively resist, holding demonstrations every week.

Photographs courtesy of Charlie Donnelly – do not reprint without permission

Justice for Nadeem? Attorney General rumored to drop manslaughter charges against soldier who killed Nadeem Nuwara

17th January 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Ramallah, Occupied Palestine

Palestinian teen, Nadeem Nuwara, was fatally shot in the chest by Israeli forces on Nakba Day, 2014. 17-year-old Nadeem allegedly threw a stone at soldier, Ben Dery, who proceeded to fire live ammunition in return. Israeli Forces killed both Nuwara and another teenager, Mohammed Salameh, during the Nakba Day demonstration near Ramallah.

The tragedy of Nuwara’s death still weighs heavily on his family, friends, and community. In an interview with Roya TV, Nuwara’s mother tells a reporter: “I wish [the soldier] gave him sometime to go back to his mother so I could at least get enough of him before he took him from me.” But, to the soldier, Nadeem was not a son or a brother. He was not a friend. He was not a talented basketball player or mischievous teenager with hopes and dreams. To the soldier, Nadeem was a faceless threat. He was fit to be cast aside, destroyed, murdered. The soldier did not conceive of the fact that Nadeem was human—exercising his right to protest the injustices that the occupation has imposed on the Palestinian community.

According to reports, the Israeli forces were not supposed to use live ammunition during this Nakba Day demonstration. They were given red-marked magazines with rubber-coated steal bullets and blanks. Allegedly, Dery replaced the contents of the marked magazine in an M-16 with live ammunition in order to hide the fact that he was disobeying orders. Now, over 2 and a half years later, the Attorney General is rumored to be dropping the manslaughter charges against Dery. He is being offered a plea bargain in which he will admit to negligence—claiming that the live ammunition was accidentally in his weapon. The plea bargain is to be presented at court on January 19. Nadeem’s father, Sayim Nuwara, told Ma’an News that he wrote a letter to the Attorney General expressing the family’s sadness and frustration with the plea bargain. There will be a demonstration during the hearing to pressure the court to reject any plea bargain.

Unfortunately, this case is not unique. When Palestinians are killed, the cases are often dragged out so that the families will grow tired and drop the case. The supposed immunity of Israeli soldiers is all too common here. But, the issue here is so much bigger than a corrupt justice system. Israeli soldiers have been trained to dehumanize Palestinians. The prevailing attitude of the Israeli forces is one of hatred, fear and impunity. Until Israelis and Palestinians can recognize the humanity in each other, the violence will continue. The injustices become normalized. Everyone lives in fear and frustration.

“It is true that death has become a norm and a ritual in our life which is crowded with sorrows, disappointments, and losses” (@JusticeforNadeem)

Demonstrators demand return of martyrs bodies in Bethlehem

15th January 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Bethlehem, occupied Palestine

The Prisoners Club held a demonstration and march to the illegal apartheid wall on Sunday afternoon to demand the return of the bodies of martyrs held unjustly by the colonial occupying Zionist State of Israel.

The Zionist Israeli forces often take the bodies of murdered Palestinian martyrs and hold them, usually for long periods of time, threatening to bury them in unmarked graves in the cemetery of numbers if Palestinian resistance continues. The families want the bodies of their loved ones returned for funeral and burial.

The demonstration and march was attended by well over 150 Palestinian men, women and children along with several internationals.

After the march to the illegal colonial apartheid wall, as the group was leaving, the Israeli occupation forces opened the gate in the wall with several military vehicles and began to fire tear gas, sound grenades and rubber coated steel bullets into and at the crowd. A handful of people were minimally affected by teargas with no medical treatment needed and no other injuries reported. The clash lasted about one and half hours.