Tag: September UN Bid

Haiya of Qalandia Refugee Camp

24 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Haiya and her family are originally from a village called Ber Maael know called Mudaeen near what is now Tel Aviv.

Haiya’s brother was a close friend of Ali Khaleefa, one of the young men who was killed when the Israeli army raided the Qalandia Refugee camp on the second of August. He told us he was with Ali just hours before the soldiers raided the camp and killed him.

Haiya speaks.

We were at the funeral and people were so shocked and angry, the army came in the middle of the night right at the start of Ramadan to arrest two boys about 13 years old. And they killed 2 people even though no one there had any weapons apart from the soldiers. The Palestinians from Qalandia cannot forget something like this.

The Israelis are afraid of the Palestinian people, they are afraid because they know that this land does not belong to them, and they are afraid they will lose it. So they shoot at us to make us scared, but it doesn’t work.

Palestine doesn’t have anyone to fight for her, just the people who live in Palestine. We believe that we need a country, but before, the people here did not have any hopes for a state. Every time we are promised our own country, nothing happens. So now the people are trying to do something for themselves.

Obama said in his speech we wants safety for the Israelis first, second, third and last. He says this as though Israel is the victim! But it is Israel who is slowly killing all our people and taking our land.

I think many of the people of Israel want peace, but the leaders certainly do not.

If the UN does not give us a state then, we must fight with the protests and the stones. I think what is happening now could lead to a third Intifada and Israel thinks this too and they are very scared.

I think the settlers are the worst people in the world, they burn our mosques and they burn our olive trees. You know the soldiers they have orders to shoot bullets and drop bombs. But the mustawtaneen [settlers] do what they do because they hate us. Just today in Hebron they killed a child with a car.

The army will never stop the settlers, they say ‘go home’ but it does nothing because they know that the army will not hurt them.

Of course we would love to go back to our land; we hope to go back. Our grandfather is 83 years old, whenever we pass near the place our home used to be, he cries.

In Pictures: The day of the UN bid

24 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

September 23 was a historical day for Palestinians worldwide and within the territories, as the Palestinian Authority submitted a bid to the UN to be recognized as the 194th nation of the world. While diplomats and political discussions ensued, a typical dialogue between Palestinians continued in the face of constant illegal Israeli oppression.

Qalandia:

The demonstration started just after the noon prayer. By 5 there were approximately 200 Palestinians. Most of the soldiers were special forces, dressed in black uniforms. The “Scream” a loud siren used  to deter demonstrators with its screeching noise, made its second appearance at Qalandia this week. A jeep mounted tear gas launcher was used to fire at least ten tear gas canisters at once. Due to the enclosed environment near the Qalandia checkpoint and refugee camp, escaping the clouds of gas was difficult for demonstrators. After launching teargas rounds, special forces charged up the street firing rubber coated steel bullets into the backs of protesters running from the gas. Red Crescent workers estimated at least 30 people were injured, with one person suffering a gunshot wound to the head after being hit with a rubber coated steel bullet. As late as 8:30 PM, the Israeli army was still firing occasional volleys of teargas from the Qalandia watchtower and on the ground until demonstrators finally dispersed.

Nabi Saleh:

Following noon prayers, peaceful demonstrators found themselves being attacked by Israeli military volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets almost immediately upon their presence. With a skunk water truck present, the “Scream” siren sounded to deter the presence of locals, as the Israeli military shot low to the ground and at close range, about 16-20 meters from peaceful demonstrators. 4 were injured by rubber coated steel bullets while a French photographer sustained a wound to his leg from a tear gas canister.

Qusra:

After finishing their Friday prayers, Qusra residents found that illegal settlers from a neighboring  illegal settlement were destroying olive trees just before the national olive harvest season. As locals approached their land to salvage what they could, the Israeli military intervened to defend these illegal settlers, killing Essam Aoudhi and wounding others.

Hebron:

Following an emergency call, international volunteers immediately went to the home of the Sultan family, where the previous settler attacks were documented at Tar Abusie School children.  When they arrived on the closed off road for Palestinians, they encountered a collection of vehicles filled with settlers from a nearby large, illegal Israeli settlement off the road. At the entrance of the compound, a soldier awaited them and opened gate. At the end of the group, a soldier enclosed jeep followed behind.

Volunteers continued toward the Sultan family area to see if more settlers had stayed behind. They had left, but the family expressed that the settlers held a demonstration regularly, every Friday about 12 noon to1 p.m. Internationals will be monitoring this area of Hebron regularly this Friday.

Around 5 p.m ISM received another call that the settlers had returned to harrass the farmers in the Sultan family area.

Later that night in the main center of Hebron, a gigantic screen was placed in the street for the town to hear the speeches of all the PA politicos. The town came out for the occasion.  A large barbed wire had been placed into the opening of the old city past Checkpoint 56. At least 100 PA police, as well as Israeli soldiers were out guarding.  At one point about 300 young men gathered in a street to get into the Old City and possibly the checkpoints, but the PA police held them back.  The IDF was ready for them near the checkpoint with about 40 soldiers.

However, the boys dispersed slowly.

 

Essam Aoudhi: Martyred in defense of Qusra

23 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Today Essam Kamal Abed Aoudhi, a 35 year old father of 8 children from the village of Qusra, was murdered by the Israeli army as they fired live ammunition indiscriminately into a crowd of villagers gathered in their village.

From the nearby outpost of Esh Kodesh (“Holy Head”) built entirely on stolen Qusra land, a large group of settlers left the settlement and entered the village just after 1pm and began attacking villagers and burning olive groves. As the villagers gathered to protect themselves and their land, the soldiers arrived and stood between the settlers and villagers, protecting the settlers who retreated.

Soldiers instantly began to fire tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and live ammunition directly at villagers, making no attempt to disperse but intending solely to injure.

Mohammad Abdul Odeh, age 16, was shot in the stomach with a high velocity tear gas canister as he stood on his land.

Remi Hassan was shot with 4 rubber bullets and one dum dum from 2 meters away by the Israeli military.

Remi Yusef Faiz Hassan, age 35, was shot with 4 rubber bullets and one dum dum from 2 meters as he peacefully walked to soldiers to ask why they allow the settlers to enter his village and burn his trees.

Sameeh Hassan, age 24, was shot in the groin with rubber bullets as he attempted to reach his olive trees and extinguish the fire destroying them.

Essam Aoudhi was shot with live ammunition as he joined his fellow villagers protesting the army’s incursion into his village. According to Dr. Sameh Abu Zaroh, a doctor at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, the wound on Essam’s body shows that the bullet was shot from just a few meters away and from below in such a way to insure maximum injury. The bullet entered the right side of Essam’s chest and exited through the top of his back, fracturing his vertebrae in multiple places.

After Essam was carried to an ambulance, the soldiers left immediately, clearly understanding what had just happened. The people of Qusra returned to the centre of the village where children had gathered, shouting slogans expressing their anger over Essam’s martyrdom.

As the sun set in Qusra, the punishment continued, as two teenagers stumbled into the village before collapsing to the ground in pain. Both Amar Masameer, age 19, and Fathi Hassan, age 16, were arrested earlier in the day as they made their way towards Qusra’s burning olive trees.

They did not resist arrest yet returned to the village dripping with blood and faces so swollen they were barely recognisable. Once arrested, Fathi Hassan explained, settlers from the outpost had asked the soldiers detaining them for permission to beat the two boys. The soldiers did not interfere and so the settlers began stoning the boys whilst their hands where cuffed behind their backs. Amar Masameer was hit directly in the eye with a stone thrown from just a few meters and is now in Rafidia hospital awaiting treatment.

Israel’s “Scream” fails to silence Palestinian resistance

22 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Wednesday, demonstrators at the Qalandia checkpoint were met with a new weapon referred to as the “Scream,” an obnoxious siren that sounded once demonstrators had organized near the checkpoint in spirit of a future Palestinian state.

The new sound weapon was used for the first time. It emits a painfully loud high pitched noise which forces those within a range of 100 metres to cover their ears to protect them from the deafening sound. The device was mounted on the back of a jeep and could target the noise in a specific direction so as not to affect the soldiers standing behind it. The device was used at least 15 times throughout the demonstration, usually for intervals lasting about 2 minutes.

The UN bid for statehood by the Palestinian Authority has been a rallying point for Palestinians throughout the West Bank, in particular Ramallah where Yasser Arafat Square was packed with those standing in solidarity, leading to a demonstration at the Qalandia checkpoint near Ramallah that lasted from approximately 11 AM to 7PM.

The Israeli military sounded an alarm referred to as the “Scream” to disturb the demonstrators, yet they refused to disperse. Thus the Israeli military began to administer what demonstrators referred to as potent tear gas, with a  Red Crescent medic stating that at least 20 were treated for tear gas inhalation by medics at the site.

As the siren continued to sound and tear gas continued to rain on the more than 200 demonstrators from the Qalandia refugee camp and surrounding areas, the Israeli military was joined by the Shabat to disperse the protesters.  At least 2 Palestinian men were arrested when a 4×4 military jeep was seen taking them away.

The Israeli military began to act violently to the protest with the exclusive use of gunfire after a certain point, with at least 100 rounds fired at Palestinians and international observers. One medic was shot in the leg while a 15 year old boy was reportedly shot in the eye. At least 5 Palestinians were treated for gunshot wounds.

Wednesday’s demonstration comes in light of the UN bid for nationhood this Friday, when it is expected that another demonstration will occur in support of Palestinian statehood.

 

Israel mulls arming ‘trained’ settlers

30 August 2011 | Al Jazeera 

Army plans to provide tear gas and stun grenades in West Bank to repel any Palestinian protests next month, report says.

The Israeli army is planning to provide tear gas and stun grenades to settlers in the occupied West Bank who have been trained to repel any violent protests when the Palestinians seek statehood at the United Nations next month, an Israeli newspaper says.

According to Haaretz, the Israeli army has also conducted a strategy to determine a “red line” for each settlement in the West Bank, which will determine when soldiers will be ordered to shoot at the feet of Palestinians if they cross the line.

Asked to confirm the report, the military issued a written statement on Tuesday, saying it was in the process of training settlement response teams “to deal with any possible scenario”.

The statement said the military recently “completed training the majority of the first response teams” and the exercises were ongoing.

The Palestinian Authority plans to seek the UN’s endorsement of statehood when the General Assembly reconvenes next month, a bid seen likely to upgrade the Palestinians’ diplomatic status.

Israel rejects the move as sidestepping peace talks that have been frozen for a year in a dispute over settlement building.

Israeli officials have voiced fears the statehood bid could inspire Palestinian activists to hold demonstrations to coincide with the vote.

‘Worst case scenario’

Chaim Levinson, the Haaretz reporter who broke the story, told Al Jazeera: “Part of preparation is to train the settlers so that they will be prepared for the worst scenario that hundreds, maybe thousands of Palestinians will come from Palestinian cities to protest towards settlements.

“The Israeli Defence Forces [IDF] will train them, arm them with tear gas and stun grenades,” added Levinson.

The army is ensuring that any demonstrations will be controlled and will rely on the assistance of security officers from the settlements to assist them where necessary.

The army is creating two virtual lines for each of the settlements that are near a Palestinian village. The first line, if crossed by Palestinian demonstrators, will be met with tear gas and other means for dispersing crowds.

The second line is a “red line,” and if this one is crossed, the soldiers will be allowed to open fire at the legs of the demonstrators…”

‘Defensive purpose’

However, Jewish settler officials denied the Haaretz report about the plan to arm settlers, saying any use of firearms would be very limited and for defensive purposes only.

“Certainly during a period of tension, with intelligence reports of possible threats, of course, readiness crews are being trained,” said Danny Dayan, chairman of the settlers’ YESHA Council.

Dayan saw these preparations as “nothing extraordinary”, noting how most settlers involved have already done compulsory duty in the Israeli military which drafts most Israeli men at the age of 18.

Armed settlers “operate under orders to avoid killing civilians [and] in the event of a break-in at a settlement, the response would be purely defensive, nothing offensive,” he added.

Palestinians and human rights groups say settlers have used weapons to attack Palestinians in the past and that Israel has been lax in investigating such incidents.