11th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
This morning, for four hours from 9am to 1pm, a group of Israeli Settlers were training on the rooftop of the illegal settlement building, Yona Menachem Rennert Beit Midrash, on Shuhada street. An instructor taught them how to hold a gun properly and how to adopt the best body position for shooting correctly. The young settlers were all carrying guns and shouted continuously during the exercises, disrupting the children and the teachers of Qurtuba school during their lessons, and also the neighborhood life, like for the Palestinian farmers who were picking olives on their land, near the school.
This kind of settler training, which takes place several times a week in the illegal settlements of Al-Khalil, are part of the Israeli settlement strategy. This is one example of how they are indoctrinating their youth, teaching them to hate Palestinians, and encouraging attacks against them.
Israeli law allows any Israeli who has a firearms license to carry a gun in the street. While the Palestinians have to endure the daily humiliation of being searched at each checkpoint as well as total military control of their daily life in case they might be carrying a knife,
the Israeli government has declared that the restrictions around obtaining firearms licenses will be reduced for the Israeli security forces and Settlers alike. Last Thursday it was the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat who called on all Israelis with firearms licenses to keep their weapons permanently with them, to protect themselves from attacks by Palestinians.
9th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
On November 7th 2015, the Abu Rajab family in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) received a military order by the Israeli forces declaring most of their house of being under military control for an indefinite time. The house is right on the corner of the Queitun checkpoint and has previously been targeted by Israeli forces.
Abu Rajab house
Since 2000, the Israeli military has occupied the roof of the building of the Abu Rajab family. On Thursday evening, the 5th of November 2015, the Israeli forces broke into the house and raided the family’s home, barricaded the front door, broke the windows and doors and left the family living next door startled without any further information. The home was empty the night the Israeli army broke in as the resident was visiting a relative. The following night, Friday the 6th of November 2015, around 12 am, around 70 soldiers and 21 military jeeps gathered around the house of Abu Rajab family. Shortly after that the Israeli forces arrived at the house questioning the family about their whereabouts. Around 6.30am, the residents of the Abu Rajab family were forcefully woken up by the Israeli army who presented them with a military order that declared part of their house a ‘closed military zone’ for an unspecified time. They were told that they would receive a new order soon, leaving them completely in the dark about what would happen to their house in the future and unable to enter their own home until the military order will be revoked.
Barricaded entrance to the house
In 2011, the Israeli forces took over the second and third floor of Abu Rajab’s house in addition to the roof. Although the family has tried to take the case to court, they have been unsuccessful so far in regaining the parts of their home that have been taken by Israeli forces. According to international humanitarian law, it is illegal to take over private residential areas for military purposes. Nevertheless, Israeli forces have been continuously raiding homes and restricting Palestinian access to several parts of al-Khalil (Hebron) with complete austerity.
Abu Rajab house after being ransacked by Israeli forces
One of the members of the family has reported that many houses in the Abu Al-Rish neighbourhood have been raided during the past week and military presence has been increasing rapidly in the area. Just last week, one of the family members was beaten up by Israeli settlers who entered their house through the garden from a house next to the Abu Rajab compound, which is under control of the Israeli army. Until now, the family, like many others, are left completely in the dark about whether they will be able to take back what is rightfully theirs and live in constant fear of escalating violence and illegal confiscation of their lands.
8th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) urges the international community to take immediate and urgent action against the Israeli occupation forces’ recent declaration of the Tel Rumeida neighborhood and Shuhada street in downtown Hebron as a closed ‘Closed Military Zone.’
On November 1st, the occupation forces instructed all Palestinian residents to ‘register’. Since November 3rd, all non residents, including human rights workers, doctors, teachers, plumbers, and others are barred from entry.
This declaration comes amidst a month long escalation claiming the lives of over 70 Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza – one third of them in Hebron. Many of the extrajudicial killings in Hebron are occurring in the areas now evacuated of all internationals who had been monitoring and reporting what they witness.
As of November 3rd, all international human rights monitors in Tel Rumeida have been evicted from the area under threat of arrest and subsequent deportation. Although the order is being issued for one day, and renewed daily, the occupation forces have told residents and evicted human rights workers that it will be in force for the long term.
Israeli forces are targeting not only international human rights observers, but also Palestinian activists. On Saturday, November 7th, Israeli forces commandeered the local activist group Youth Against Settlements’ center and turned it into a military base for 24 hours. They completely destroyed the media center, stole several dozen electronic devices, and took Palestinian activists as hostages. A YAS spokesperson has been illegally held in prison for over a week already. Israeli forces also raided other Palestinian homes, trapping families inside, while settlers freely roamed the streets and chanted “Death to the Arabs!”
“Soldiers and settlers are making life for the Palestinians intolerable to force them to leave their houses voluntarily. This is a crime under international law. They are targeting activists to silence the truth and stop the truth from reaching the whole world”, explains Tel Rumeida resident Abed Salaymeh. Other international human rights observers have been directly targeted by Israeli forces through arrests, evictions and settler violence. Such conditions facilitate further extrajudicial killings in this neighborhood, as well as further takeovers of Palestinian homes by Israeli settlers.
The ISM calls for:
– An immediate end to the ‘Closed Military Zone’ order on Tel Rumeida and Shuhada Street
– Cessation of threats and harassment of residents and foreign human rights activists
– Removal of restrictions on movement throughout downtown Hebron
– Removal of all illegal Israeli settlers from Hebron
We call on civil society worldwide to support the above demands and do all they can to pressure the Israeli government to cease its severe human rights abuses against the Palestinian people, including joining the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
For more information, please see:
B’Tselem Press Release, Nov. 6, 2015: “New restrictions on movement in Hebron and area disrupt lives and constitute prohibited collective punishment”
B’Tselem, Oct. 20: “Footage from Hebron: Israeli military enables 5-day settler attack”
7th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
On November 7th 2015, Israeli forces violently took over several homes of Palestinian families in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), trapping the families inside their own homes. Large parts of the city have been declared a ‘closed military zone’, preventing Palestinians from moving, while settlers are freely roaming the streets.
Early in the morning, Israeli soldiers stormed various houses in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood, each time locking up the residents in one room of their home. The local activist group Youth Against Settlements’ centre was taken by the Israeli army. Tom, a German volunteer states: “the soldiers searched everything and left a chaos on the lower floor; we could hear children’s voices from inside the house, so it must have been settlers inside the house”.
Watch a video of Israeli forces attacking journalists arriving to the center to cover the takeover by the Israeli forces.
Whereas Tom’s release from the closed military zone was secured through the intervention of his embassy, Italian journalist Francesca Borri and Palestinian activists are still held hostage by the Israeli forces. Israeli settlers from the illegal settlements in Hebron have been seen dancing, chanting ‘death to Arabs’ and celebrating outside another Palestinian family houses misappropriated for military use by the Israeli forces.
Illegal Israeli settlers celebrating the takeover of Palestinian homes by Israeli forces Photo credit: Youth Against Settlement
Israeli forces have also declared the neighbourhood around the Ibrahimi mosque a ‘closed military zone’, following almost a week of forced closure for Palestinian shops in the area. The Palestinian market has also been closed by the Israeli forces, denying Palestinians passage. “Soldiers and settlers are making life for the Palestinians intolerable to force them to leave their houses voluntarily. This is a crime under international law. They are targeting activists to silence the truth and stop the truth from reaching the whole world”, explains Tel Rumeida resident Abed Salaymeh. Other international human rights observers have been directly targeted by Israeli forces through arrests, evictions and settler violence.
Israeli soldiers in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood of occupied Hebron Photo credit: Youth Against Settlement
In the last few weeks, Israeli forces have continuously cracked down on Palestinians’ right to freedom of movement by declaring the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood a ‘closed military zone’ and forcing all Palestinian residents to register with the Israeli army to be allowed access. Palestinians are subjected to regular body-checks at gunpoint or denied access to their homes while Israeli settlers, often armed with machine guns, are freely walking the streets. As one Palestinian resident of Tel Rumeida related, “Everyone is too scared to leave their house now.”
4th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Two international human rights defenders were arrested in Hebron (al-Khalil) yesterday morning, November 3rd, while six others were ordered to leave an apartment in the H2 neighbourhood of Tel Rumeida by threat of arrest.
The German and American nationals were arrested at 7.50am while monitoring checkpoint 56 at the entrance of Shuhada Street, after being seemingly arbitrarily denied access to checkpoint 55 further down the street. They were arrested while peacefully observing the checkpoint on allegations of ‘disturbing soldiers’ and being in a closed military zone after a soldier at the checkpoint made a complaint to officers in a passing police vehicle.
The internationals were denied their legal right to communicate with their embassies, and were only given water to drink at the police station after repeated requests. ‘We were scared about what was going to happen, but we were still so much better off than the Palestinian we heard being beaten by Israeli forces in the police station’ one of the women announced. They were released at 4.30pm, on agreeing to sign conditions barring them from Hebron for one week. Immediately before being released from the police station, the investigating officer actually admitted that there was ‘no evidence’ against them, but they were still being punished for the soldiers allegations.
Several hours later, other members of the team were prevented from passing through Checkpoint 56 which divides Tel Rumeida from the H1 area of Hebron, which is under full Palestinian authority. As of Saturday, 31st of October, when Tel Rumeida was declared a ‘closed military zone’ for 24 hours, both internationals’ and Palestinian movement through the area has been severely restricted. Residents were ordered to register their ID’s or risk being prevented from passing the checkpoints which intersect the entire district.
While official documentation of the zoning of Tel Rumeida has been conspicuously inconsistent recently, the activists were shocked this afternoon when their passports were confiscated and they were confronted with an order to leave the closed military zone which encapsulates their apartment. Israeli forces demanded that they immediately sign an absent legal contract declaring their residency in the area, or they would be forcibly removed and deported.
Checkpoint 55 is frequented by students from several school groups, who pass it on route to and from schools which abut the Tel Rumeida illegal settlement. It was blocked for passage last Sunday in what soldiers described as “new measures against terrorism.” For years now international agencies have been monitoring the impact of the occupation on the schoolchildren of Hebron however this work has been severely restricted in recent weeks, amid mounting tensions in the district.
A volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, a school teacher from Australia known as Phoebe, stated: “Will they never be satisfied? In the past month, Israeli forces have blatantly disregarded international law. They have performed extrajudicial executions of Palestinians in front of eyewitnesses with complete impunity.” She added: “We have been physically attacked on a daily basis by settlers in front of soldiers and police and then been ordered to leave, by threat of arrest for provoking them by our presence. We have been intimidated, harassed, abused, detained, and now this: arrest for our monitoring of human rights abuses on children and eviction for our presence in a fraught neighbourhood. Our presence is lawful and we believe more essential than ever.”
However, the internationals have stated their greatest concerns remain for the Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida and the disturbing intensification of both settler violence and the physical manifestations of the occupation, including an expansion of infrastructure used to limit movement on the streets. Echoing concerns by local Palestinian residents, a Dutch volunteer stated that such measures have created an alarming sense that, “Hebron is being ghettoized.” He added, “if the international community does not react to this now then the illegal settlement will surely take over all of Tel Rumeida…This is what we are most afraid of.”
The internationals, from Holland, Italy, Britain, Germany, Unites States, Poland, France and Australia have vowed to return to their work of protective presence, monitoring and journalism in the district and consider this to be an appalling reflection on Israel’s supposedly democratic ideals.
internationals being forced to leave their apartment
Closed military order presented to the internationals when told to leave apartmentmap of closed military zoning presented to internationals
