Tag: Settler violence - Page 15 - International Solidarity Movement

Imprisoned lives: closed military zone in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron)

30th October 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

It’s like living in a prison. That’s how residents describe what Israeli forces are doing to their lives in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood and Shuhada Street in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). The area was first declared a ‘closed military zone’ on 30th October 2015 – solely and deliberately affecting the Palestinian residents. One year of collective punishment, open discrimination, racism, apartheid policies and rampant attempts at ethnic cleansing in this area, commonplace tactics of an illegal occupying force in an obvious attempt to rid the area of any Palestinian presence and instead, create a continous ‘sterile’ strip of illegal settlements.

The ‘closed military zone’ has several times been extended within this year of collective punishment of the Palestinian population, adding even more areas and ‘re-inforcing’ and creating more checkpoints, exclusively for the Palestinian civilian population. Only the Palestinian civilian residents, who must register to pass through a checkpoint to gain access to their family home, have been degraded to a mere number on a list by the Israeli forces. Only ‘registered’ residents are allowed to reach their homes. The lists of Palestinian residents have been changed repeatedly lately, arbitrarily dropping various names from the list. Apparently registering with the occupying force as a resident in one’s own home just once often isn’t sufficient. This dehumanization of the Palestinian civilians who at the checkpoint are reduced to a number, is a deliberate tactic to create a forcible environment directly furthering ethnic cleansing. For some time Palestinian residents were assigned numbers that were marked on their IDs, completely ridding these civilians of their human aspect, instead making them a mere number on a list. Now, with those numbers temporarily not in use, Palestinians are reffered to by their ID-number. The Palestinian civilian trying to live in their own home is just that for the Israeli forces, a number, void of any humanity.

During the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Israeli forces basically declared a curfew on the whole area, closing Shuhada checkpoint, denying Palestinians passage while allowing exclusive access tor settlers at the same time. The prison this area is becoming for the Palestinian civilian population is further exacerbated by the fact that, if there’s a large number of Israeli forces or settlers from the nearby illegal settlements on the street, leaving the house is not an option. One year of collective punishment – a sad anniversary that proves that the Israeli state does not need to fear an outcry by the international community when implementing their racist, apartheid measures, ethnically cleansing an entire neighborhood. During a year in which the residents have not been allowed to receive visitors like family or friends, workers of any sort have been denied entry and even medical personnel will be turned away at the checkpoint.

Settlers attack boy’s school, Israeli army traps students

26th October 2016 | ISM & IWPS | Urif, occupied Palestine

Last Tuesday both the IWPS team and ISM team were harvesting olives in separate areas when we received a phone call telling us that there had been trouble with settlers from the illegal settlement Yitzhar and Israeli occupation forces near the high school for boys in Urif, south of Nablus. Urif is located 2km away from Yitzhar, which is known for its especially violent settlers, and the school is situated at the highest point of the village, nearest to the illegal settlement. This is not the first time the school has experienced problems of this kind and we quickly left the fields to make our way to Urif.

By the time we arrived, the settlers and Israeli occupation forces had left and the children and teachers had managed to leave the school. We were able to speak with an eye witness, Mr A. Amer, who works in Urif’s municipality and who had been the first person to reach the boys’ school. He showed us the footage he had captured and informed us that around 12pm the infamous settler responsible for security in Yitzhar, known as Jacob, approached the school with two younger settlers by foot carrying an M16 along with another gun. Shortly after, around twelve Israeli occupation soldiers also arrived at the school, meaning that students and teachers were trapped inside. The eye witness told the settler to leave because he worked for Yitzhar security and not in Urif, and was far away from the illegal settlement. The reason given for the intrusion was a false accusation that some boys had set fire to land closer to Yitzhar. We were informed that anyone from the village approaching those lands, would face an immediate response from the army and not settler security. The army demanded to see his ID, which they retained for one hour for no apparent reason. The army also never gave any reason why they were there in the first place, but they did make their way into the village below the school under the pretext of preventing children throwing stones; this possibly as all soldiers have small cameras attached to their uniforms. At 2pm the settlers and army left the area, and the children and teachers were able to leave the school grounds.

This is the second time in the last two months that the settler security has come close to the village. In August he harassed local olive farmers and demanded they leave their fields. Villages in the area often have problems from Yitzhar settlers during the olive harvest, with trees burned or uprooted and villagers attacked, and this was clearly an attempt to terrorise the local community. IWPS and ISM continue to support farmers and villages during this time, and hope to seek further support from the international community to highlight the ongoing plight.

Kafr Qaddum: Peaceful people under violent occupation

25th October 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Last Friday I attended a demonstration in the small town of Kafr Qaddum, situated in the Northern region of the West Bank, just west of the city of Nablus. In 1974 Israel began to illegally erect settlements in the nearby Keddumin area. In 2003 Israeli forces set up roadblocks, denying the Palestinian residents of Kafr Qaddum access to much of their land and to the main route leading to Nablus. This road closure increased travelling time to Nablus, and the hospitals and other amenities located there, by more than 30 minutes for the Palestinian residents of Kafr Qaddum.

Understandably aggrieved by this act of forcible encroachment, Palestinian residents entered into negotiations with their now Israeli neighbours to seek to have the route reopened. However, despite the roadblock being declared illegal in 2010, and after years of unfulfilled guarantees on the part of the Israeli occupiers that the road would reopen, the Palestinian residents began to demonstrate in opposition of the closure in 2011. The Israelis’ overhanded retaliation to these demonstrations involves the use of skunk water, tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, dogs and even live ammunition. Homes have also been destroyed with the use of skunk water, which leaves a stench so potent that houses are rendered uninhabitable.

Spent casings of stun grenades and tear gas fired at protesters during previous demonstrations at Kafr Qaddum.

Partially ruptured rubber-coated steel bullet found in the dirt at Kafr Qaddum, — Partially ruptured rubber-coated steel bullet found in the dirt at Kafr Qaddum.

New to me was the knowledge that Palestinian farmers have to apply for permits to access large portions of their own land, which is now under Israeli control, in order to harvest their olives. This year however, as collective punishment for the weekly demonstrations, the Israeli authorities reduced the permit from 45 days to 7 days, time enough to harvest only a fraction of their land.

Present at the demonstration that day were Palestinian residents of all ages, journalists, and international and Israeli activists. After the noon prayer people began to gather and march down the road through which Palestinian movement is now prohibited. The mood was tense as only days beforehand settlers set alight a number of the olive trees belonging to Palestinian farmers, adding insult to injury as the list of injustices against these people grows even longer.

Demonstrators march in protest of road block which has been closed to Palestinians since 2003.

The scorched remains of olive trees burned by settlers that week.

However, despite feeling intense anger at these recurring acts of settler aggression, the protesters remained reserved in their action and did not retaliate in kind. Tyres were set on fire, the primary purpose of which is to create a smoke screen in order to protect protesters from sniper fire. Large plumes of smoke rose from the flames and travelled in a windward direction over the settlement to make known to its residents their discontent. But at no point was the settlement approached or was a single act of aggression enacted by any of the protesters present. Indeed, I am told this is common of all the demonstrations carried out at Kafr Qaddum. Violence only erupts when the army comes out to face the protesters in large numbers, answering stones with rubber-coated steel bullets or worse. Only two weeks previous a journalist was struck in the head with a high-velocity tear gas canister shot from a distance of 400 meters, shattering the helmet that undoubtedly saved his life. Thankfully, on this occasion, the army did not leave their base and the demonstration passed without incident. Afterwards I walked down to see the large patch of land and olive trees scorched by the settlers that week. I was struck by an overwhelming sense of injustice that such despicable acts of hatred could go unanswered. I wondered if I would be capable of the level of reserve shown by the Palestinians residents of Kafr Qaddum if I had suffered as these people have over so many years.

Clouds of smoke below into the sky as a mark of indignation to settler — Clouds of smoke bellow into the sky as a mark of indignation to the occupation under which the Palestinian residents of Kafr Qaddum suffer.

These are a non-violent people, who have had a history of violence put upon them by Israeli settlers and the army that supports them. And yet this is not the story told by the media at large, presenting them to the world as warmongering terrorists. I have seen first hand that the only terrorists in this situation are those wielding armoured cars and riffles, not those whose only defence of their homes and livelihoods are the rocks they find at their feet.

Protective Presence at Burin olive harvest

24th October 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus-team | Burin, occupied Palestine

Today, international activists joined members of the Najjar family from the village of Burin to harvest their olives and provide a protective presence should settler colonists or Israeli forces attempt to attack and disrupt the harvesting. Thankfully, there were no violent incidents todayand the international activists enjoyed a beautiful day harvesting olives with the wonderful and hospitable Najjar family.

The Najjar family’s land is adjacent to the illegal Israeli settlement Yitzar. This year, the family was issued a permit to access their land for only three days to harvest their olives. The permits required by Israel for Palestinian farmers to access their own land are also typically restricted to limited times each day. According to the family, three days is not nearly enough time to harvest their whole crop. As a result, international activists have been harvesting olives together with the farmers without permits which brings the risk of retaliation by both settler colonists and Israeli forces. It has been reported that settler colonists often harvest Palestinian’s olives for themselves without any repercussion. The Najjar family reported that this year they counted four of their trees stripped of their olives before they had the opportunity to access their land themselves.

All of these restrictions together with the settler colonist violence serve to further the theft of Palestinian land. Often, farmers are only given permission to access their land during harvest time and not throughout the year so as to maintain their corps and ensure a good harvest. One member of the family told us, “last year my father came to clear the land, but they kicked him out.”

olive-2 — The city of Burin, with the illegal Israeli settlement of Bracha that lies atop the hill to the upper right.

The village of Burin is trapped between Yitzar and Bracha illegal settlements and has endured settler colonist violence and the destruction of their olive trees for years. As is the case for villages across the occupied West Bank, the farmers in Burin depend economically on the olive harvest to provide annual income for their families. “Its so important because there is no work. All the people wait for the olive harvest to come because the only work available is to sell olive oil. They live for justice and oil.”

Settler attacks school-children and orders soldier to assist her

24th October 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On Monday morning, infamous Israeli settler Anat Cohen attacked a group of school-children harvesting olives near their school in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). She then ordered the soldier to not only evict the students and teachers from the area, but assist in her attack.

A group of scout students was helping Palestinian families, picking olives for them next to the Qurtuba school on Shuhada Street. Immediately after the group started picking the olives, a soldier from the nearby Daboya checkpoint came to order them not to pass the fence when harvesting, but allowing them to harvest the olives, as long as they don’t cross the fence.

Only a short time after, he came back, this time with infamous settler Anat Cohen. Anat Cohen has at many times attacked the school-students, teachers and families in this area, always with complete impunity. She makes no difference between elderly, children, men or women, and deliberately attacks Palestinians for the sole fact of them being Palestinians, and also internationals supporting them. She is well-known for those vicious attacks and insults, many of which were caught on camera. Despite this video-evidence, she is always showered with the unwavering protection and support from the Israeli soldiers and civil police, and thus enjoys complete impunity for her crimes.

As the soldier came back together with Anat Cohen, he suddenly ordered the students and teachers to stop harvesting immediately – orders that obviously came straight from Anat Cohen, who was standing right behind him. This is just another example of soldiers acting directly on the orders of the settlers from the illegal settlements, without any interest at all for the law or human rights. Even when Anat pushed a teacher, the soldier refused to intervene or arrest her, and instead threatened to arrest the teacher. The teachers tried to reason with the soldier, telling him that he allowed them to harvest before, and now clearly takes his orders from Anat, and assured him that they would leave if he has an official order stating that the harvest in this area is not allowed. As a reply, the soldier that communicated just fine in English before, suddenly stated that he does not speak any English. The soldier proceeded to grab, push and pull students himself, all the while Anat was cursing and harassing the group. He then pulled a student, that was held up to reach the olives by the director of Qurtuba school, almost causing him to fall down from great height.

This is just another in a string of attacks of Anat, for which she never has to feel any consequences. This impunity provided for by the Israeli army and civil police only emboldens her in her vicious attacks. The collaboration between the Israeli forces and settlers, together against the Palestinian civilian population of the area is obviously geared towards the ehtnic cleansing of this area, in order to instead create a ‘sterile’ continous illegal settlement.

https://youtu.be/M9XIN4Nrtoo