Tag: Settlers - Page 27 - International Solidarity Movement

Release of a cold-blooded killer illustrates the racism of Israeli society

23rd April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Yesterday, Elor Azraya, a soldier in the Israeli army, infamous for the extrajudicial execution of Abed al-Fattah al-Sharif in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), has been released to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Pessach with his family.

21-year old Abed al-Fattah al-Sharif was lying on the ground incapacitated after what Israeli forces claim was a knife-attack by him and Ramzi al-Qasrawi against Israeli soldiers stationed at Gilbert checkpoint in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood of occupied al-Khalil. In a video that was captured by human rights defender Emad Abu Shamsiyyah, who has since been receiving death threats from settlers, Elor Azraya can be seen cocking his gun and executing the unconscious Abed al-Fattah with a shot in the head. With blood and brain matter starting to seep from the wound in his head, it is obvious that Abed al-Fattah was still alive when executed in cold-blood by Elor Azraya.

*** WARNING*** the following video contains extremely graphic material. A soldier is seen executing one of the Palestinian men at 1:52. Video-credit: Emad Abu Shamsiya

The neighbourhood of Tel Rumeida and the tiny strip of Shuhada Street where Palestinians are still ‘allowed’ to walk after the 1994 Ibrahimi mosque massacre, have been declared a ‘closed military zone’ since 1^st November 2015 in an act of collective punishment against the whole Palestinian population. The increase of humiliating and racist ‘security-controls’ towards only the Palestinian residents by Israeli forces, goes hand in hand with the dehumanization of these residents with the introduction of a number system, where every Palestinian resident was assigned a number that he or she is being referred to. When passing and being checked at one of the countless checkpoints whether a Palestinian resident is allowed to enter, soldiers check whether they are registered and numbered residents. At the same time, Israeli settlers from the illegal settlements are allowed to freely and without hassle, roam the streets, regardless of whether they actually are residents in this area.

The approval and support Elor Azraya has been receiving both from his comrades (that can be seen in the video with them not even flinching when he executes Abed al-Fattah) and settlers, mirrors the great support he enjoys from the majority of the Israeli population. Upon arriving home, Elor Azraya was received as a hero with a big celebration. The Israeli army clearly foster a culture where extrajudicial executions and an excessive use of force against Palestinians is considered ‘commendable’, ‘normal’ and even ‘heroism’; which is approved of not only by Israeli politics, but also society, and is thus becoming an integral part of Israeli society.

In various demonstrations in favour of this cold-blooded execution, Israeli demonstrators have been seen with placards asking to ‘kill them all’ – applauding not only the heinous execution of Abed al-Fattah, but calling on everyone to kill all the Palestinians – a clear call for the ethnic cleansing, and genocide, of Palestinians. These demonstrations have attracted hundreds of Israelis, and have not received any condemnation by the Israeli public or government.

Banner calling for the erasure of the Palestinian people Photo credit: AFP — Banner calling for the erasure of the Palestinian people
Photo credit: AFP

Whereas Elor Azraya has been released until Sunday, the body of Abed al-Fattah is still being held by the Israeli government in a practice where the Israeli government holds hostage the bodies of Palestinians they accuse of attempting to harm Israeli forces or settlers. Like Abed al-Fattah al-Sharif, many more Palestinian familes are thus denied the right to bury their loved ones and mourn their loss. Families of these Palestinians and their supporters have been protesting this inhumane tactic, demanding the release of the bodies.

In an environment that supports and commands the extrajudicial killing of a (Palestinian) human being lying incapacitated on the ground – clearly posing no threat to anyone – it does not come as a big surprise that Elor Azraya has been released ‘to celebrate Pessach with his family’. The charges for the heinous murder of Abed al-Fattah had already been reduced to ‘manslaughter’, despite the telling and obvious video footage. His release without any consequence for the execution of a Palestinian so clearly caught on camera is not just another sign of how cold-blooded, racist and inhumane the apartheid Israeli occupation of Palestine is; but also of how the ‘only democracy in the Middle East’ visibly has no regard or rather a total disregard for human rights, the rule of law or even of human life – as long as it is Palestinian life.

Palestinian youth intentionally run over in Hebron

22^st April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On the afternoon of 21^st April 2016, an Israeli settler ran down a Palestinian youth with his car, causing critical injuries, near the Ibrahimi mosque in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron).

Two settlers were driving down the road connecting Shuhada Street and Kiryat Arba in occupied al-Khalil around 2 pm, and, seeing a group of Palestinian children playing on a parking lot bordering the street, turned around and deliberately hit Ala’a al-Rajabi with their car. The children that have been playing with Ala’a before the incident said that they were attacked by these two settlers several times before, and the last time were pepper-sprayed by the settlers that threatened them. According to eye-witnesses, the soldiers at a nearby checkpoint were merely watching and even allowed the two young settlers to attempt to drive off, before a group of Palestinians went up to the checkpoint to ‘inform’ the soldiers of what happened. The injured 17-year old boy, having been hit whilst on his bicycle, was lying on the ground bleeding from his legs and head for about 15 minutes, before any medical help was given to him.

The settler that was in the car when Ala'a was hit — The settler that was in the car when Ala’a was run down

A Palestinian ambulance was allowed to evacuate the youth, now in a critical condition, to a hospital. Big groups of settlers gathered, while more and more soldiers as well as civil police arrived. According to several eye-witnesses, a settler youth wearing an orange T-Shirt was driving the car, whilst another settler youth wearing a blue T-Shirt was in the passenger seat. After the police arrived and a discussion with the two settlers was had, however, it was claimed that it had been the settler with the blue T-shirt that was driving the car. Observers believe the reason for this to be that the settler driving the car did not in fact have a driving licence, whereas the passenger did. Regardless, the settler said by the police to have been driving, was seen walking free from the police station at Ibrahimi mosque, only an hour after the initial incident.

Police man next to the bicycle Ala'a was hit on — Police man next to the bicycle Ala’a was hit on

The street where the settlers ran down Ala’a connects the illegal downtown settlements on Shuhada Street and in Tel Rumeida directly with the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba on the outskirts of al-Khalil. Palestinians are prohibited from driving anywhere on this road, an apartheid rule that covers all traffic, including ambulances. Ala’a therefore was lucky that the Israeli forces did coordinate to allow a Palestinian ambulance to drive in to the area as quickly as they did.

The stretch of street where Palestinian traffic is completely barred includes Shuhada Street – the major part of which is entirely off limits for Palestinians. A small part of Shuhada Street is still accessible for Palestinians on foot, but has been under a ‘closed military zone’ order since 1^st November 2015. Only Palestinian residents registered as a number are allowed to pass and international visitors are completely barred. Settlers, however, can freely roam the streets. This a part of the Israeli forces’ policy of slowly but steadily driving Palestinians out of these areas, with a view to connecting all the illegal settlements as well as disappearing the last remaining Palestinians from these areas.

Excessive use of force and collective punishment at demonstrations in remembrance of Palestinian political prisoners

17th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Kafr Qaddum, Nabi Saleh & Ofer, occupied Palestine

On 15^th April, weekly demonstrations against the Israeli occupation were held throughout the occupied West Bank commemorating ‘Prisoner’s Day’.

Kafr Qaddum village has been separated from their main access road to the Palestinian city of Nablus for 13 years. They hold weekly demonstrations against the closure of this road, which was initially closed in order to allow free movement for settlers from the nearby illegal Qedumim settlement. This Friday Israeli forces inundated the demonstrators and part of the village with tear gas, resulting in dozens of people receiving emergency medical treatment for excessive tear gas inhalation. In an all too common act of collective punishment, Israeli forces did not only target the demonstrators with tear gas and rubber coated metal bullets, but also sprayed civilian homes in the village with foul smelling ‘skunk water’. Early in the morning, before the start of the demonstration, Israeli forces closed the village entrance, arbitrarily (and illegally) declaring it a ‘closed military zone’ in order to prevent international and Israeli activists from participating in the demonstration.

Israeli forces ready to shoot at demonstration in Kafr Qaddum

In the village of Nabi Saleh, villagers, international solidarity activists and journalists demonstrating the Israeli occupation and theft of land, were attacked not only by the Israeli forces, but additionally by settlers from the illegal settlement of Halamish. Israeli forces inundated the protest with tear gas, causing several cases of excessive tear gas inhalation.

Israeli forces equipped with tear gas grenades and foam bullets in Nabi Saleh

Israeli forces at the Ofer military prison complex fired stun grenades, tear gas, rubber coated metal bullets as well as live fire at unarmed protestors. They arrested four protestors and, in an act of collective punishment, entered the village of Beitunia arbitrarily shooting tear gas into the streets causing civilians to suffer from excessive tear gas inhalation.

Streets filled with tear gas in the village of Beitunia

Palestinians and supporters world-wide commemorate Prisoner Day on 17th April each year, in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. There are at least 7000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, 750 of whom are held under ‘administrative detention’ without charge or trial. This includes 1400 minors under the age of 18 since October 2015. Under Israeli military law – which is effect throughout the West Bank – Palestinian children as young as 12 years old can be arrested by Israeli forces. In many of these cases the children are denied access to family, lawyers and their most basic human rights. They are often interrogated, intimidated and physically and psychologically threatened without a family member or lawyer present. As a result these children can be forced to sign confessions in Hebrew, a language they do not understand.

Most Palestinian prisoners are transferred to prisons within the Israeli territories. This act is illegal under international law that prohibits the transfer of prisoners from the occupied Palestinian territories into an area where they can only receive family visits after applying and receiving permission from the Israeli government. This is a permission, of course, that is very rarely granted.

House demolitions in Um Al-Khair leaving children homeless

7th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Wednesday the 6th of April 2016 at 6 o’clock in the morning, Israeli forces demolished 6 homes in the village of Um Al Khair in the south Hebron Hills in the southern part of the occupied West Bank in Palestine. 36 people are now with out shelter. Most of these are children, who are now homeless.

Children standing on the land of their now demolished homes, Um Al-Khair

During the demolition of the 6 houses, the Israeli forces beat up an elderly man from the neighbourhood, who is the grandfather to some of the children, who was protecting the houses and trying to stop the demolition. The demolition order was made, to make an expansion of the near by settlement possible and to confiscate the land belonging to the Palestinian families.

This is not an unknown concept in the South Hebron Hills, which is an area that is very vulnerable and under constant threat of demolitions, because of the amounts of settlements and the lack of building permissions, that are not given. The two Hebron Hills villages of Tuwani and Susiya in particular are being targeted a lot, not just with demolition orders and subsequent demolitions, but also by settlers, who attack them often and by very violent means. The Palestinian children going to school in Tuwani who live out side of the village, need to have a military escort on the way to and from school, to avoid settler attacks while going through a piece of land that has been illegally stolen from the villagers, by the settlers.

Children being escorted to school by soldiers to avoid settler attacks

Just within the last few weeks, both Tuwani and Susiya have experienced demolitions and since the start of this year, more than 700 Palestinians have been left homeless and without shelter due to Israeli Forces demolishing Palestinian houses in the occupied West Bank. In just over 3 months this is the same number for the whole of 2015.

Settlers expropriate Palestinian garden as police stand by

4th April 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Tel Rumeida, al Khalil, occupied Palestine

On Saturday 3^rd of April 2016 settlers entered land belonging to Muhammad Abu Haikal in the Tel Rumeida area of Hebron on the occupied West Bank in Palestine. The settler children built a tent and then brought other settlers who prayed and ate there. It took more than four hours from when the police arrived until the settlers actually left, still claiming that it was their land and running around so that the police would not be able to evict them.

The first young settler kids arrived at the land at around 9 o’clock in the morning and started building a tent out of wood and sheets that they had found and playing on the land. They were actually playing in Muhammad Abu Haikal’s garden, but the end of the garden has been declared a closed military area by the Israeli Occupation Forces, who have made a military outpost in the garden and cut off the end of it of with barbed wire. The settler children entered the garden using the staircase that has been built for the soldiers to reach the outpost: they stamped down the barbed wire and covered it with a piece of wood to prevent themselves from getting injured.

Settlers and their children trespassing illegally on Palestinian land.

Later on, while the family was trying to pick almonds from trees in the part of the garden that is not a closed military Area, the settler children returned with a number of adult settlers and more children. Muhammed Abu Haikal and the internationals present asked the settlers to leave the land, but they refused. He then contacted the police.

After the police arrived, the settlers once again claimed to be the owners of the land, with the right to remain there. The Palestinian family was asked to step back and had to stop harvesting their garden. Not until after the settlers had prayed on the land multiple times, brought food and played ball there, did the police finally try to get them to leave. The police asked all Palestinians and internationals to leave as well, as they said, “it is impossible to make Israelis leave, if there are Palestinians on the land”. It then took the police over two hours to evict the settlers. They then removed the materials that the children had left on the part of the land that is not a closed military area, but refused to pull down the tent, because, they said, it was not allowed on Shabbat.

Finally the soldiers closed off the closed military area with more barbed wire and allowed the family back into their garden. If Palestinians had been trespassing on settlers land, which is illegally occupied, they would probably have been arrested immediately, but when it is the other way around, which it usually is, the police do not use any kind of force.