Tag: Settlers - Page 29 - International Solidarity Movement

Continuous struggle for justice in occupied Hebron

15^th March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On 9^th March 2016, Israeli forces yet again demolished the illegally erected synagogue-tent on private Palestinian land close to the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron).

The synagogue-tent was build up by settlers some years ago opposite the main entrance to the biggest settlement on the outskirts of the city, Kiryat Arba. Even though it is privately owned Palestinian land, Israeli forces have never even attempted to stop the settlers from going onto the land and illegally erecting the so called synagogue – first as a tent, later on as a more permanent structure.

Settlers gathering on the Jabari family land with police protection

The land is located in between the entrance to Kiryat Arba and a second illegal settlement of Givat Ha’vot – and strategically connects the two with a set of stairs which already cuts right through the land. The Jabari family who legally owns the land has been fighting this in Israeli court for years. Even though the court ruled that they are the legal owners, the family are banned by the Israeli forces from using the stairs and even ordered to leave and threatened with arrest by Israeli soldiers when they try to go onto their land. Settlers, on the other hand, freely trespass on the land protected by both the Israeli army and the civil police.

After the synagogue-tent was last demolished in April 2015 in accordance with the Israeli court’s decision, settlers returned only a day later to start rebuilding. The structure was demolished yet again on 9^th March this year.

For years the families living in the direct vicinity have faced settler harassment and attacks on an almost daily basis. At the end of last year, Israeli forces put an additional tent, a military checkpoint, on the land. Palestinians walking down the main road next to the land are stopped, checked, interrogated and searched by the Israeli forces. This is a road which only settlers and Israeli forces are allowed to drive on. Palestinians must walk.

This clearly illustrates the way that Palestinians not only in al-Khalil, but all over the Israeli occupied West Bank, have barely any chance of successfully addressing illegal land-theft or any other violations of their basic human rights. Humiliation, violence, attacks and crimes against Palestinians are going unpunished as settlers enjoy complete impunity and injustice prevails.

Ethnic cleansing of Shuhada Street in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron)

6^th March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Since the 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre, the majority of Shuhada Street – once the thriving Palestinian market and main thoroughfare connecting north and south al-Khalil (Hebron) – has been closed to Palestinians. They are completely barred from accessing it, except for a small stretch in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood.

Shuhada st split — Photos of the same portion of Shuhada street – a thriving market before 1994, now an empty street where no Palestinians are allowed to enter (published by B’Tselem)

This tiny strip that is legally still accessible for Palestinians is restricted by the recently ‘renovated’ Shuhada checkpoint at the beginning of the street and ends where the street begins to border the illegal settlement of Beit Hadassah, beyond which Israeli forces assure that no Palestinians exist. Further down Shuhada street, clearly marked with yet another military post barring anyone who might attempt to enter the street, are even more Israeli settlements – all illegal under international law – located directly in the city center of al-Khalil.

The settlements on Shuhada Street are connected via a settler-only road to the much larger settlement of Kiryat Arba on the outskirts of al-Khalil; settlers can also reach the illegal Tel Rumeida settlement easily by traversing the tiny stretch of Shuhada Street still open to some Palestinians and the road leading up into Tel Rumeida from Shuhada checkpoint, now encompassed within the closed military zone. While Palestinians are allowed to walk on this part of Shuhada Street, Palestinian vehicles, including ambulances, are forbidden from driving there. Since Israeli authorities declared the area part of a closed military zone on 1^st November 2015, the already barely existent access has been further restricted – Isreali forces only allow entry to Palestinians registered with them residents, while any Israeli settler, regardless of whether they are residents or not, can pass freely and without ever being harassed, stopped, detained, arrested, or threatened by the ever-present military forces.

Map of the city center of al-Khalil with Shuhada Street Credit: B'Tselem — Map of the city center of al-Khalil including Shuhada Street (the longest street marked in red) by B’Tselem

At the line demarcated by Daboya checkpoint (Checkpoint 55), where the illegal settlements on the street begin and Palestinians are no longer allowed, a steep flight of stairs leads up to Qurtuba school and into the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood. These stairs, the only way for Palestinians to continue traveling in the same direction above the street as they are not allowed to continue down Shuhada Street itself, have been closed by the Israeli forces with a metal gate since November 2015.

Stairs with the closed gate leading down to Shuhada Street

Even though this gate is currently not locked, Israeli forces deny any Palestinian, except for the students and teachers of Qurtuba school during school-time, to use these stairs. As a result Palestinian residents of this neighbourhood, once they have passed Shuhada checkpoint – an ordeal that can take several hours – have been denied to reach their homes by walking down Shuhada Street and the stairs leading up to Qurtuba school, forcing them instead to take a much longer detour around. With yet another way denied for Palestinans, navigating the maze of Israeli military-enforced checkpoints, complete bans on travel, roads where Palestinians cannot drive, settler-only roads, closed military zones and new arbitrary closures has become even more arduous.

Israeli forces are thereby also clearly working to minimise the number of Palestinians who will actually use this last portion of Shuhada Street – now a complete dead-end – as they bar Palestinians not only from going farther down the closed street but also declare the stairs, formerly an alternate route, yet another closed zone. This illustrates the Israeli attempts to rid Shuhada Street entirely of Palestinians. Ethnic cleansing in al-Khalil, and all across Israeli-occupied Palestinian lands is not a sudden, headline-grabbing event; it progresses gradually as Palestinians are restricted in certain areas, barred from driving there, prohibited from even being there, forced out to facilitate the expansion of the illegal settlements. Ethnic cleansing happens slowly, by erecting new and ‘fortifying’ existing checkpoints, advancing one more closure at a time.

‘It is my job to scare Palestinian children’ – Israeli forces justify intimidation of kindergarten children

6th March 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Kindergarten-children in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) often face harassment and intimidation by Israeli forces on their way to kindergarten.

Listen to this audio recording of a discussion between an international volunteer and the soldiers about why the soldiers ‘have to’ scare the kindergarten-children and see it as ‘their job’.

Israeli forces justify the intimidation and harassment of the children, between the ages of 4 to 6 years, that are forced to walk up a broken path – as the paved road on the other side of the fence is only allowed for Israeli settlers from the illegal settlements in al-Khalil – and then past a checkpoint on their daily way to and from the kindergarten, saying that they ‘need to scare them’ because otherwise they would ‘grow up and stab a soldier’.

Listen to the full recording:

Israel’s silent war on the children of Palestine

29th February 2016| International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Fortunately much of the world is now fully aware of Israel’s apartheid wall and the zionist state’s grotesque, illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories that it represents. But few are aware of the endless number of other apartheid structures scattered throughout Palestine with the direct purpose of further demoralizing and dehumanizing its proud people. At just four and five years old some might wonder if the Sasrriya kindergarten kids in Al-Khalil (Hebron) are aware of the apartheid fence they encounter every morning walking to and from kindy. On Sunday february the 29^th, whilst under the protection of international volunteers, these Palestinian kindergarten kids set off from home for a short yet challenging journey to school.

Palestinian children still find happiness in an apartheid regime — Young minds of the innocent blissfully unaware of the zionist apartheid regime

The kindergarten sits atop a hill. At it’s base is an apartheid fence. This symbol of persecution and maltreatment splits the path below in two. On the left is a well paved and regularly maintained strip. On the right is an old, eroding stretch of rubble littered with waste. The fence and its paths are located in the H2 area of Hebron, home to both Palestinians and illegal Israeli settlers, yet only one is accessible for these young Palestinian kids. With the well preserved strip specifically constructed for exclusive use by zionist settlers and the Israeli forces based in the area to serve them, the young children are forced to trudge up and down the dangerous, uneven path to get to and from kindy. Slipping and sliding on the loose ground below, the internationals always do their best to guide the kids through the uneven rubbish filled terrain and safely to their destination.

International activists do their best to keep the children safe from Israeli soldier harassment

“Its a horrible thing to see. To be exposed to this callous process of oppression and degradation at such a young age… I really feel for the Palestinian kids.” Human rights defender in Hebron.

Palestinian kindergarteners are forced to use the dangerous route by Israeli forces

Parents will only allow their children to attend kindergarten under the guidance and protection of international activists. Each morning volunteers from all over the world pick up the excited children from their homes and make their way up the apartheid path hand in hand. With Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers regularly abusing and harassing the innocent young children, the presence of these international activists is essential to ensure the safety of the kids. But even with the efforts of these human rights defenders Israeli forces and zionist settlers still attempt to dehumanize the kids, often hurling rubbish at them, making animal noises, learning their names to confuse and scare them and even attempting to take their hand and lead them astray. The harassment is so great that even the kindergarten teachers fear for their safety when leaving for the day and seek out the protection of the volunteers through multiple checkpoints.

“The kids are so innocent, they are born innocent… They aren’t born full of hate or division, no child is. But occupation deliberately attempts to poison them with it in the hope of one day labelling them the cause of this disaster.” ISM volunteer.

International volunteers ensuring the kindergarten kids get home safe

“It sums up Zionist Israel perfectly. Gutless and heartless in their ethnic cleansing of Palestine. They can’t even give kindergarten kids a break… They just want to make life so unbearable for these poor people, from every possible angle, so they quit and leave.” International activist on the scene.

Apartheid can be defined as any system or practice that separates people according to colour, ethnicity, etc. The structures built throughout the Palestinian territories are representative of this process of separation and the collective punishment imposed by the zionist State of Israel. Not only are the Palestinians encaged by an immoral apartheid wall built on illegal boundaries, but the young kids of the nation are being exposed to similar structures of division on a daily basis, teaching them a self image of contempt, isolation and inferiority.

The journey to kindergarten crosses an apartheid fence, razor wire and abusive Israeli soldiers

Teachers and kindergarten children are forced to deal with these structures daily, with no end in sight. As the confidence and dignity of the precious Palestinian children is slowly stripped away, those responsible are never held accountable. Much like the excessive force used at many checkpoints, where tear gas and stun grenades are often used on young kids, this psychological abuse is sadly a crucial component of zionist occupation that the rest of the world has long accepted. It is now up to the rest of the world to feel Palestine’s pain and show much needed love and support for it’s wrongly condemned people.

Palestinian kindergarteners full of love

Israeli forces continue policy of arbitrary and violent arrests in Hebron’s Old City

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

On 25^th February 2016, Israeli forces violently arrested two Palestinian men in the souq, the Palestinian market, in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). Both of them were arbitrarily arrested and finally allowed to leave only after residents intervened.

Palestinian arrested by Israeli forces with arm twisted behind his back

Israeli forces entered a Palestinian house in the souq that is undergoing renovations already in the morning – as settlers from the nearby illegal settlements had repeatedly complained about the ongoing renovation work at the Palestinian house to the army. Following the orders of the settlers, the Israeli army entered the Palestinian market and the Palestinian family home in order to stop the renovations. Similarly, in the afternoon, Israeli forces climbed the staircase to the roof where they stayed for about an hour. International observers that arrived in the house were prevented by the Israeli forces from accessing the roof as soldiers pointed their guns at them to force them to stay at the bottom of the staircase.

When the soldiers finally left the family roof, it became clear that they had arrested two Palestinian men. They clearly dragged one of them, Yusef, down the staircase with his arm painfully twisted behind his back, even though he at no point resisted or fought back. Israeli forces also violently pushed him into a door. A second man, an engineer with the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee that is overseeing the renovations in the house, was forced to come with the soldiers. They briskly walked both of the men to the back entrance of the illegal settlements, where they were held in front of the door that directly leads into the settlement by the group of seven soldiers. The whole time, Yusef had his arm twisted behind his back by a soldier, that would not let go of him. When international observers asked the engineer for his name, in order to be able to inform his family about the arrest, soldiers forcefully instructed him not to talk to them.

Israeli forces dragging Yusef down the stairs

Palestinian families living close to the entrance to the illegal settlement came out of their houses, trying to find out why the two men were arrested. Soldiers refused to give any information though, and only when two residents that were able to speak Hebrew talked to the soldiers, did they say what the problem was. According to the soldiers, Yusef was arrested as his ID was ‘old’, meaning it was worn out. As residents took out their own ID-cards and compared them with Yusef’s to show to soldiers that this does not mean that it is a mere photocopy of an ID-card, but how the green West Bank Palestinian ID-card actually looks like, they eventually let him go. The other man was also eventually allowed to leave.

Israeli forces photographing Palestinian ID with their private phones

The soldiers disappeared back through the door into the illegall settlement located in the historic city center of al-Khalil. The power the settlers living there wield over the soldiers is clearly illustrated by simple complaints by them resulting in soldiers stopping renovations in a Palestinian house that had previously been approved by the Israeli government, and the entirely arbitrary arrest of the two Palestinian men.