Tag: Settler violence - Page 18 - International Solidarity Movement

Hebron under selective and racist siege

2nd July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

The southern West Bank city of occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) has been put under siege by Israeli forces – exclusively for Palestinians.

Israeli forces declared a complete closure of the city as a ‘security measure’, closing all entries and exits into the city itself and the surrounding villages belonging to the Hebron governorate indefinitely. An exception to the rule is military and humanitarian cases.

Closures enforced on Palestinian villages by Israeli forces Photo credit: PNN English — Closures enforced on Palestinian villages by Israeli forces
Photo credit: PNN English

The official Israeli statement, though, does feature already, that this siege is only implemented on the Palestinian residents – deliberately excluding any settler living in one of the illegal Israeli settlements from these draconian measures. Punishing the entire Palestinian population with a siege like this, additionally, is a form of collective punishment prohibited by Art. 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states that a person can not be “[…] punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited”.

Enforcing a siege on the entire Palestinian population in this area, furthermore illustrates the racism and apartheid-measures of the Israeli government, openly admitting to impose a siege specifically and exclusively on a certain group, the Palestinians, while deliberately excluding the illegal settler population from the same measure.

Closure on exit of Hebron used by Palestinians Photo credit: PNN English — Closure on exit of Hebron used by Palestinians
Photo credit: PNN English

Whereas measures like these are not new, they definitely illustrate how bluntly the Israeli authorities publicly state their racism, breaches of international law and human rights, and how they don’t even fear illustrating their apartheid-measures. The question that remains is, is the international community going to take notice – and especially action?

Worshippers for Ramadan prayer harassed by settlers and soldiers

1 July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On 1st July 2016, Israeli forces severly restricted access to Ibrahimi mosque in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) for noon-prayer, while settlers were demonstrating at a checkpoint nearby the mosque.

After pregnant 27-year old Sarah Tarayra was gunned down by Israeli forces at Ibrahimi mosque checkpoint in the morning, the mosque checkpoint stayed closed for more than two hours, while Palestinians intending to attend the noon-prayer of the last Friday of Ramadan, were queuing up at the checkpoint, but denied access. Upon inquiry, Israeli forces gave the information that they would open the checkpoint eventually, but refused giving a time. With all checkpoints leading to the mosque from other directions open for passage, it is unclear why the Ibrahimi mosque checkpoint was closed down for such a long time. At some point, about 150 Palestinians were gathered at the locked gates, on their way to noon-prayer.

Palestinians stuck at Ibrahimi mosque checkpoint, as Israeli forces deny to open the checkpoint — Palestinians stuck at Ibrahimi mosque checkpoint, as Israeli forces refuse to open the checkpoint

On all the other checkpoints, restrictions and checks were increased, with Palestinians only allowed to pass one-by-one, an increase in bag-searches of women and body-searches of male adults and youths. Once Ibrahimi mosque checkpoint was finally opened, all women and girls were stopped for bag-searches, considerably slowing down the process.

Israeli settlers set up a protest at a checkpoint on the other side of Ibrahimi mosque, waving huge Israeli flags. Several of them attacked Palestinians and had to be stopped by Israeli forces. The settlers were chanting and yelling, and Israeli forces moved back Palestinians ready for prayer in order to create a greater distance. Israeli forces, additionally, missappropriated a Palestinian family home to use it’s roof as a look-out over the events.

Israeli settlers with flags attacking two female Palestinians on their way to prayer

Once the prayer was finished, Israeli forces arbitrarily at some point stopped anyone on their way home, quickly leading to large groups of Palestinians gathering as they were forced to wait while settlers passed on the street.

Israeli forces stopping any Palestinian in order to allow free movement of settlers

These kind of infringements and restrictions on the basic human right of freedom of religion and to practice one’s religion in occupied al-Khalil, is rather the norm than the exception for Palestinians.

Peaceful planting activity stopped by Israeli forces in Hebron

11th June 2016 | Youth Against Apartheid | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On 9th April, Hebron Youth against Apartheid organized a planting activity in cooperation with the Colonization and Apartheid Wall Resistance Commission in the heart of Shuhada Street and Tel Rumeida neighborhood of al-Khalil (Hebron). Dozens of heavily-armed Israeli occupation forces stopped the group while marching towards the land, and prevented them from carrying out the planting. Despite this, the group refused to leave the area and instead protested in front of the armed soldiers, raising Palestinian flags, calling for human rights, justice, freedom, peace, nonviolence, freedom for prisoners and an end to the colonization of the old twon of Hebron city.

Actvists stopped by Israeli Forces Photo credit: Youth Against Apartheid — Actvists stopped by Israeli Forces
Photo credit: Youth Against Apartheid

Afterwards, the activists visited families in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood, by sneaking into the area that then was still a closed military zone, meaning families are prohibited from receiving visitors. The group managed to visit the activist Imad Abu Shamsiyah who documented the execution of the injured Palestinian teen Abdul Fattah Al-Sharif and for this received threats from Israeli colonists threatening to burn him and his family; as well as the family of human rights defender Hashem Azzah, who was killed by Israeli forces’ tear gas.

Banner against Israeli occupation Photo credit: Youth Against Apartheid — Banner against Israeli occupation
Photo credit: Youth Against Apartheid

Hebron Human Rights Defender testifies in case of execution of Abdel Fattah al-Sharif

8th June 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On Wednesday, 8th June 2016, human rights defender Imad Abu Shamsiyah testified in Israeli court in the case of the extrajudicial execution of Abdel Fattah al-Sharif on 23th March 2016 in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron).

Abdel Fattah al-Sharif and Ramzi Aziz al-Qasrawi were both gunned down by Israeli forces at Gilbert checkpoint in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood of al-Khalil on 24th March 2016. Imad Abu Shamsiyah took footage of the army medic and soldier Elor Azraya executing al-Sharif with a shot in the head while he was lying motionless on the ground after already being shot at several times. The footage went viral and lead to Imad and his family receiving death-threats from settlers, that ‘promised’ they would find the same fate as the Dawabsheh family that was burned alive in their house in a settler-arson attack in the West Bank village of Duma. Israeli forces have failed to provide any kind of protection for the family, which has repeatedly been attacked. Instead, human rights organisations are providing protective presence.

Recent witness statements claim that not only al-Sharif, but also al-Qasrawi was executed in cold-blood with shots in the neck or head at close range when posing no threat and incapacitated. The fact that the Israeli forces surveillance footage of the event has still not been publicised, can only lead to the conclusion that these claims are most likely true and the refusal to publish the surveillance footage is an attempt at hiding the truth of the actual events.

Imad Abu Shamsiyah when entering the court-house

At the same time, large parts of Israeli society were protesting for the release of Elor Azraya, celebrating him as a hero that did not do anything wrong or even committ a crime. Instead, participants were seen with banners calling to ‘Kill them all’ – openly calling for the ethnic cleansing of all Palestinians. For the Jewish festivities of Pessach, he was then released home ‘to celebrate the holiday with his family’ and received in his hometown like a hero.

Today, large groups of settlers were protesting outside the court in Tel Aviv, according to Human Rights Defenders Group some of them from the illegall settlements in al-Khalil.

Demonstrators outside the court-house in Tel Aviv Photo credit: Human Rights Defender Group — Demonstrators outside the court-house in Tel Aviv
Photo credit: Human Rights Defender Group

In a society where the execution of a defenseless, injured and incapacitated person that without any possibility can pose a threat to anyone, is acceptable – as shown in the demonstrations in support for Elor Azraya, and the simple fact that he’s not even charged with murder but merely manslaughter – fails to create a public outcry, it remains to be seen, whether there will be any justice for this cold-blooded killing at all.

Apartheid policies in Hebron upheld

2nd June 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Despite the lifting of the closed military zone in Shuhada Street and Tel Rumeida, many restrictions for Palestinians still remain. This neighbourhood is in H2 under full Israeli control in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron).

The closed military zone was first declared on 1^st November, banning any Palestinian resident of the area that wasn’t registered as a number with the Israeli forces from reaching their homes. This included doctors, workers, human rights observers and medical personnel. The orders were not extended anymore on the 16^th of May, after more than six months of collective punishment.

As part of these closures, Israeli forces installed a metal gate on the stairs leading to Qurtuba school, preventing access for anyone except – at least most of the time – the schools’ students and teachers during school time. The stairs are located at Daboya checkpoint (checkpoint 55) that marks the invisible point on Shuhada Street where Palestinians are no longer allowed to continue on to go down the once thriving Palestinian market. With the closure of the Qurtuba stairs in both directions, the tiny strip of Shuhada Street still accessible to Palestinians effectively became a dead-end – with the rest of Shuhada Street forbidden for Palestinians and the stairs access blocked.

The families living above Shuhada Street, thus, have their main access to their homes blocked for more than seven months in an act of collective punishment – solely on the basis of them being Palestinians – while Israeli settlers from the illegal settlements and Israeli forces freely go up and down the street without any hassle. Whenever challenged for long enough that soldiers would actually call the Israeli civil police, they would suddenly come up with a ‘closed military zone’ order for the area that is valid for only 24 hours and lacks officiall stamps or signatures.

In the afternoon of Wednesday, 1^st of June, Israeli forces again started registering some Palestinian residents, according to their information for them to be allowed to use Qurtuba stairs. Instead of registering the families living up from the stairs though, they went inside the houses of several Palestinian families on Shuahda Street for taking their names and ID-numbers, that have already been registered for the closed military zone and have been assigned numbers. The families registered were arbitrarily picked, going to some houses, but not all, while Israeli forces refused to register the families depending on the stairs to access their homes.

This is just another example of the Israeli forces attempts at forcible displacement of the Palestinian families in this neighbourhood, in order to connect the illegal settlements in the heart of al-Khalil. The apartheid policies and continued denial of human rights and dehumanization of Palestinians is only a thinly-disguised attempt at ethnic cleansing of the area.