Tag: Settler harassment

Four Palestinians arrested during Land Day action in al-Khalil

31st March 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

A Palestinian demonstrator is arrested dragged down the hill by an Israeli soldier.

On Thursday the 30th March, four prominent Palestinian activists were violently arrested by Israeli forces following an olive tree planting action marking the 41st Land Day demonstrations in al-Khalil.

ISM activists joined demonstrators who had gathered near the Palestinian house now occupied by the army in the Jabari area of al-Khalil. The demonstrators were already surrounded by dozens of Israeli soldiers, border police, and civilian Israeli police. Over fifty Palestinian demonstrators then made their way down the steep hill into the olive groves where, accompanied by international activists, as well as the international press, they planted a number of olive trees in defiance of the continuing dispossession and destruction of their olive groves by Israeli settlers.

A young boy plants an olive tree as part of the Land Day action.

Once the trees were planted, demonstrators made their way back up to the road where they were met by an increased number of Israeli forces claiming that the area had been declared a closed military zone. The demonstration continued on an embankment beside the road. However, it wasn’t long before Israeli forces began pursuing and violently arresting Palestinian demonstrators, whilst colonial settlers – including the notorious Ofer Yohana (עופר אוחנה) – harrassed and filmed them.

Israeli forces push demonstrators to the ground before arresting them

A Palestinian man is pulled away by border police, who are believed to have broken one of his hands.

As the demonstrators made their way up the hill they continued to be harassed by Ofer Yohana and other colonial settlers and Israeli forces, who took photos and videos of them using their mobile phones. One Israeli settler attempted to block ISM activists from filming by holding up an Israeli flag, and telling the activists to ‘Go [back] to Europe!’. Despite one Palestinian man telling Israeli forces that one of his cuffed hands had been broken in the arrest, the detainees were pushed into military vehicles and taken away.

The Israeli colonial settler who demanded international activists ‘Go to Europe!’

The four Palestinian activists are currently still detained, and will be charged on Sunday at the military court in Ofer. They are charged with participating in an illegal demonstration and being present in a closed military zone.

All four Palestinians who were arrested had long commitmented to non-violent public protest in their home city of Khalil. Shortly before being arrested one of them had heard soldiers tell him that it was ‘his turn’ soon. These arrests are part of ongoing Israeli efforts to close down all public protest in the city. Despite the many injustices faced by non-violent activists across Palestine, the resistance continues.

Demonstrators gather along the roadside, chanting and waving banners.

Settlers under the protection of Israeli forces prevent Palestinian shops from opening

24th June 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al Khalil Team | Al Khalil, Occupied Palestine

Around 8:30 this morning on Shuhada street in Hebron, Israeli settlers, soldiers, and border police arrived and put up a breakfast tent right outside of two shops owned by a Palestinian man. The settlers remained in front of his shops for around three and a half hours under Israeli police and army protection.

The owner of the shops, which will be used to grind wheat into flour, is Ghassan Azzedine Abu Hadid. HRC has been working with him to facilitate the restoration of his two shops. Because of the presence of the settlers, he has been prevented from working on his shops in order to make them ready for opening.

International Solidarity Movement activists were present and asked Ghassan for a statement on what was happening to which he replied “I cannot say anything, I just want to open my shops and continue my work.”

ISM’ers approached the Israeli border police whilst the settlers were still present outside Ghassan’s shops and asked if any of them spoke English, to which they replied no and proceeded to call some Israeli soldiers over. An ISM activist asked the soldier “Just wanted to know, why you are allowing this tent to be here in front of this Palestinian man’s shop? Why are the settlers here and why are they being protected by the army and police?” The Israeli soldier replied “This is your opinion. We are just here to protect the settlers.” ISM activist then states “You know that the New York Times is planning on publishing an article that 70 Palestinian shops on Shuhada street are ‘supposed to be opened’, but the reality is this *activist points to the settler tent preventing Palestinian shop from opening* you know that this *points again at the tent* is going to go world-wide, right?” Israeli soldier replied “OK…let me tell you what the Arabs do to us.” ISM activists at this point then noted that the Israeli soldiers across the street were yelling at the soldiers speaking to the activists. ISM activists can only assume that they told the other soldiers not to speak to us, as the conversation then came to an end.

Israeli forces guarding the settler tent.

At around 12:00 PM, most of the settlers walked back to the illegal settlement of Beit Hadassah. Only one settler remained behind as the Israeli army helped him to pack the tent and chairs away.

Another Palestinian shop owner, who would like to remain anonymous, told ISM activists: “This is not the first time that Israeli settlers and soldiers have done this, they targeted these two shops specifically because they are getting ready to be opened. The settlers caught wind that this Palestinian man was planning on opening and now they are here with the tent.” He then stated about the recent news of 70 Palestinian shops opening on Shuhada street as “an Israeli publicity stunt.”

It is important to note that without the presence of the Israeli soldiers and border police, the settlers would not have been able to set this tent up in front of Ghassan’s shops. This event was clearly planned by settlers in conjunction with the Israeli forces.

shuhadatent2 — Settlers blocking Ghassan’s shops.

shuhadatent — Palestinian women walking past the heavily guarded area around the tent.

Peaceful tree planting attacked by settlers and soldiers, two hospitalised and one arrested

1st April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

On March 31st around 40 Palestinian children and adults gathered in Hebron near Qurtuba school, a Palestinian school in the H2 neighbourhood of Tel Rumeida, to plant trees in commemoration of Palestine’s Land Day. Israeli extremist settlers from the illegal settlements in Al-Khalil (Hebron) attacked them as Israeli forces stood by, threatening to arrest the Palestinians and international volunteers while doing nothing to stop the settlers’ violence. Settlers pushed a 13-year-old girl down the stairs leading up to the school, and soldiers injured a 48-year-old man with a back condition; both were hospitalised. Israeli soldiers also arrested Jenny, a 24-year-old German solidarity activist, while she was filming the action.

hebron land day 1 — Palestinians gathered to plant trees in Tel Rumeida in an event marking Land Day

Military harassment began even before activists had reached the planting site. Jenny, the German activist later arrested at the demonstration, recalled the difficulty of getting the trees to the site: “Half of the trees had already gone through the checkpoint when Israeli soldiers decided that, as one officer put it, ‘trees are sensitive items’ and that the children carrying them would not be allowed through.”

“It was a very peaceful action,” she recalled. “Small children were planting trees near the school in Tel Rumeida. Everything was calm until Anat Cohen (a notoriously violent extremist settler) turned up; she began taking down the Palestinian flags demonstrators had put up on the fence beside the tree planting site, then randomly attacking Palestinians and international volunteers.”

kids planting trees khalil land day wm — Young children planting trees beside Qurtuba primary school

Extremist settlers pushed a 13-year-old Palestinian girl down the stairs close to the tree planting site. She was taken to the hospital half an hour later. Israeli soldiers harassed her friends and told them they were not allowed to sit beside her. A 48-year-old Palestinian man who had just undergone surgery on his spine was pushed violently by Israeli forces, despite the fact that soldiers were told several times that the he suffered from severe damage to his back. When they continued to shove him against a wall, he collapsed and lost consciousness for several minutes, and was taken to a hospital via ambulance.

khalil land day on the ground — Soldiers and onlookers gathered around Palestinian man after he fell unconscious after being shoved by soldiers

khalil land day ambulance — Injured Palestinian being taken via stretcher to the ambulance, as a settler in the foreground watches the scene

Settlers and soldiers continued harassing people; settlers accused many of being nazis, swearing at and insulting the demonstrators. Palestinians looking out from their houses were told to step away from their front door. When internationals tried to document the situation, they were met with yelling and pushing from Israeli soldiers as well as settlers.

henry — Israeli soldiers at the tree planting demonstration in Hebron

Amanda, an ISM volunteer present at the scene, recalled what she experienced at the hands of settlers and soldiers. “I was being attacked from all sides. A soldier shouted at me, brandishing handcuffs at me and threatening to arrest me even as a settler woman physically assaulted me. She stepped on my feet, kicked at my legs and punched me in the stomach, calling me a nazi and a[n extremely vulgar word for prostitute].”

Jenny spoke of her arrest, based on spurious testimony by the settler woman. “At the police station I was accused of attacking Anat Cohen. While I was filming her and the soldiers earlier as soldiers forced back the Palestinian group, she grabbed my hand and attempted to take my camera. I told soldiers at the time that she attacked me, but they paid no attention. They grabbed me and violently pulled me away from where I was documenting the tree planting.” Israeli soldiers took her to the military base on Shuhada street before transferring her to the Israeli police, who interrogated her and held her at the police station before releasing her early that same evening, after about five hours in custody. She has been temporarily barred from the city of Hebron.

“As people were leaving I saw soldiers trampling all over the area,” an ISM volunteer recalled. “I doubt that the trees survived.” Tuesday’s action was the third time in the last few months that Palestinians gathered near the school to plant trees on their land in Tel Rumeida. Three weeks ago olive trees were planted in the same area, but zionist settlers uprooted and stole them.

Later in the afternoon a Palestinian funeral, in the nearby Muslim cemetery, was disrupted by settler children who taunted the mourners.

Extremist settlers hurls abuse at injured ISM activist

A child trying to escape tear gas fired by the Israeli military close to several schools on October 13th in the Salaymeh neighbourhood of Hebron.

To reach the Salaymeh checkpoint, the neighborhood that International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activists monitor each school day morning and afternoon, my ISM colleague and I walked down Shuhada Street. Shuhada Street has been completely closed to Palestinians since the year 2000. It used to be the heart of Hebron, with bustling shops and lively homes, now it is often christened, ‘Apartheid Road,’ or ‘Ghost Town.’

I did not see the broken bit of road that I tripped on, so as I fell my first cry was mostly shock. The pain swiftly kicked in, I felt my ankle twist, and I knew I was in trouble. My friend tried to steady me and help me sit down. However we were standing just outside the illegal Beit Hadessah settlement, and I really wanted to move.

Three settlers were standing close by, they started to call to me, “sit down, sit down!”

I tried to reply, “No, I’m, I’m okay, I don’t want to. I’m fine.”

By this point, tears were running down my face and I suppose it was clear that I was not fine. They yelled at me again.

“Sit down, sit down!” And then one of the men added, “sit down, you sharmuta!” Sharmuta is the Arabic word for whore.

Eventually the pain, and my inability to walk, overcame my desire to leave the area. I staggered to the pavement and sat, still crying, trying to work out how I was going to move.

Just as I thought the situation could not get any worse- I was in pain, in tears, outside a settlement, and late for checkpoint watch- a car pulled up next to me.

Anat Cohen stepped out.

Anat is a settler living in Beit Hadessah. She is known to be extremely violent and volatile. I have had several problems with her in the past, where she has kicked, pushed and spat violent words at me. Whenever I see her I think about my Jewish grandparents, who like so many Zionists defend the settlers and their colonial thievery. I wonder what they would say if they knew that a settler woman verbally abused their youngest Jewish granddaughter?

I wish I could remember exactly what Anat said to me, and I wish even more I had been able to record her words; instead I can only offer the ‘highlights’ of our exchange.

“Leave here! Go! Go to Mohammed!”

“I can’t, I’ve hurt my foot, I can’t move.”

“Leave, Nazi! Go to Auschwitz, go to Gaza, go to Syria!”

This continued for some time, her face filled with hate as she leered over me while I clutched my ankle.

Eventually, Anat called the Israeli police. They arrived and walked towards us. I tried to stop crying, and fleetingly wondered if I could be arrested for spraining my ankle. After listening to Anat rage at them in Hebrew they stared down at me and told me I had to move.

It was roughly ten meters from where I was sat, to the part of Shuhada Street where Palestinians are ‘allowed’ to walk.

It looked like a mile.

I bargained with them, in hindsight perhaps I could have asked why I was not allowed to sit on the pavement nursing my foot? At the time I was too bewildered, and in too much pain, to think clearly. I asked for five minutes to gather myself before I tried to move. They agreed, and while I strategically planned how to stand, Anat continued to yell in Hebrew and throw insults towards me.

With the help of my friend, I managed to stand and hobble away. Anat left, clearly satisfied with her achievement. The only other noteworthy moment of the experience was the Israeli police officer that quietly apologized to me after Anat was out of earshot.

“I’m sorry, they’re crazy [the settlers] there’s nothing we can do, and she’s the craziest.”

I didn’t reply.

I’ve tried to think about what would happen to a Palestinian in this situation, but of course that’s pointless as Palestinians are banned from Shuhada Street.

I suppose what has struck me the most about this incident, is that a crazed, racist, extremist settler, can order the Israeli police to do her bidding.

And they will.

In Hebron, I am exceptionally privileged; I have white skin and a European passport. I’m also Jewish, but due to a previous experience where border police officers banned me from entering the Palestinian market due to my religion, I try to keep that quiet. All that privilege and I am still not allowed to sit down and quietly cry about a sprained ankle, if a settler woman says no.

Armed settler invades schoolyard in Hebron

20th November 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday, at approximately 11:00 in al-Khalil (Hebron) a settler from a nearby illegal settlement approached the Qurtuba school in H2 with a gun [H2 is the area of Hebron under Israeli military civil and security control]. The settler entered the school grounds, terrifying the children with his loaded gun. After some time the settler left but the children were forced to evacuate a building and move to another area of the school. The teachers asked for international presence until school was finished that day.

The children were rushed out of school early and internationals and Palestinians stood at a prominent place to ensure the children were safe. Not long after this, a settler attacked a Palestinian and threatened another. The settler threatened to stab a 16-year-old boy and another local Palestinian who tried to film the incident. 40-year-old Jawad Abu Aisha stated, “The settler told Awne (the 16-year-old) that he would bring a knife to stab him. Awne told me and I tried to tell the soldier so he would do something but he did not do anything. When I tried to film the settler he attacked me and tried to break my mobile but did not manage to do so.”

Photo by Christian Peacemakers Teams – Palestine

Eventually, and after much prompting by the Palestinians, the soldier stepped in and pulled the settler away. Both Palestinians were left badly shaken by the attack.