Tag: Settlers - Page 44 - International Solidarity Movement

Settlers set Palestinian home on fire

31st May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al Khalil Team | Al Khalil, Occupied Palestine

Around 12 PM Saturday night the 30th/31st of May, Imad Abu Shamsiyeh woke up to the sound of stones being thrown at his home, in Tel Rumeida, Al Khalil (Hebron). This is not at all out of the ordinary for the Abu Shamsiyeh family – they are often harassed, sometimes daily, and attacked by Israeli settlers.

As he went out of his house to see what was going on, Imad discovered that part of his house had been set on fire by Settlers. He saw the six young Israeli settlers escaping from his roof, as he went back into his house to get his wife and kids out of the burning building. The settlers – all appearing to be in their early twenties – accessed the roof of Imad’s house and poured gasoline down one side. They then proceeded to set the whole area ablaze including a sofa situated in the terrace.

Accompanied by neighbors Imad put out the fire. Afterwards, he approached Israeli soldiers who had been positioned nearby his house when the incident occurred and asked what they had witnessed. The soldiers answered by accusing him of starting the fire.

Burnt out scraps of Shamsiye's sofa — Burnt out scraps of Shamsiye’s sofa

The day after, (31st May), Imad went to the police station to report what had happened. Despite the fact that this was far from the first time the family had been violently attacked by Israeli settlers, the police discarded the report as a minor issue, and did not follow up on the case.

As mentioned previously, the Abu Shamsiyeh family have been victims of multiple incidents of settler violence. Only two months ago settlers poisoned the water tank on top of the house. This water tank is the source of all of the family’s water supply. As a result of frequent settler violence, including stone throwing, the family has put a fence up over the top of their terrace to protect themselves.

The fence over the Abu Shamsiye family's terrace — The fence over the Abu Shamsiye family’s terrace

Imad Abu Shamsiyeh is the deputy coordinator of Human Rights Defenders, a Hebron based group for documenting the violation and harassment carried out by soldiers and settlers in the West Bank. Several hours before the house burning, he reported a knife attack by settlers against Palestinians youths in Tel Rumeida.

Another violent attack on Palestinian family

23rd May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al Khalil Team | Al Khalil, Occupied Palestine

On the 23rd May, settlers in Al Khalil (Hebron) blocked the entrance to Hashem Younes Azzeh’s house and attacked his family. Large rocks were thrown at them and his daughter was hit in the hand.

Hashem lives with his wife and four children in Tel Rumeida, part of the H2 area of Al Khalil. H2 is under Israeli military control and many settlers have constructed illegal homes within this part of the city. For the Palestinians, it has become an extremely tense place to live due to daily harassment from the settlers and the Israeli army alike.

Early in the morning, the settlers had parked their car right in front of the entrance to Hashem’s house, making it a tight squeeze for anyone to get by. Later on, as Hashem was walking an international group of Quakers back to the checkpoint, six settler boys, aged between 10 and 12, started throwing large amounts of stones at them. The internationals quickly escaped and when Hashem got home, he found five Israeli soldiers there. They were checking the IDs of his daughter, Raghad, and his wife, Nisreen. Raghad attempted to show the soldiers a video of the attack, but because she had filmed while trying to avoid big stones thrown at her, the footage was blurry. The soldiers called her a liar and were about to arrest her, blaming her for the stone throwing.

Hashem squeezes by the car blocking his entrance.

All of a sudden, under the eyes of the soldiers, the settlers started throwing stones at them again and injured Raghad’s hand. Unable to support their lie anymore, the soldiers said that they would go and check on the settlers and come back – hours later, they still have not returned.

The Azzeh family has been subjected to regular attacks since 1984, when the settlers arrived in Al Khalil. Their neighbor is the leader of the Jewish National Front, Baruch Marzel. This man has a sticker on his wall that says “God gave us the right to kill Arabs and we love it”.

Hashem’s house has been invaded and turned upside down by settlers and soldiers several times, with furniture and equipment smashed. He has been shot at inside his house, narrowly missing him and his family. Hashem has been threatened, intimidated and beaten up by settlers, of which the scars on his face bear witness. His wife has suffered two miscarriages due to being beaten by settlers. His children are also regularly attacked, beaten up and have stones thrown at them. The fruit trees in his garden have been poisoned, and he has been prevented from harvesting his olives due to settler attacks. The walls of his house are still graffitied with death threats such as “gas the Arabs”. They have also had to live without water for three years because the settlers had cut their water pipes. The soldiers even came once to arrest their five year old son accusing him of throwing stones. Hashem asked if they were sure about their accusations – “No, but the settlers told us so”.

Settler house overlooking, the Azzeh's family home. — Settler house overlooking, the Azzeh’s family home.

These are just examples from an endless series of attacks, where the Israeli army and the settlers [living in illegal settlements under international law], work hand in hand to continue this silent form of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. Hashem has tried to go to court many times to seek justice for his family, but he hasn’t even been able to come close to anything resembling this term.

A member of ISM (International Solidarity Movement) asked if Hashem was going to file a complaint for today’s attack. Hashem smiled and muttered, “What’s the point?”

Palestinian woman and her children attacked by settlers

9th May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al Khalil Team | Al Khalil, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday evening in Al Khalil (Hebron), a Palestinian woman and her two small children were attacked by settlers from the illegal settlement as they were on their way to the shops.

Marwat Abu Remele lives in Tel Rumeida, an area in Al Khalil under Israeli control. She was on her way to buy groceries, when about twenty settlers gathered around them and attacked her son. A Palestinian man, Mohammed Abu Hazerh, promptly ran to protect them from this harassment. Harassment of this kind is not unusual for the Palestinians living in this part of the city.

A settler woman managed to convince Israeli soldiers that the Palestinians were in the wrong, and Mohammed narrowly escaped arrest. When the soldiers agreed to release him, the Israeli woman became hysterical and with a crowd of children ran after him. While she was shouting and insulting everyone standing on the street, the settler children spat, harassed and kicked other Palestinians and internationals that had come to witness the scene.

The soldiers attempted to stop all filming of what was going on and were failing to prevent the settlers harassing and taunting local people. The Abu Shamsiyeh family, who live on the street where the attack took place, were unable to enter their home as settlers were blocking their entrance. One of the Palestinian women who was trying to film the scene was violently attacked by two settlers.

About an hour later, Marwat and her children came back from their errand down in the old city but were afraid of passing through the crowd of settlers who were blocking the road, preventing her going home. Finally, some soldiers and Palestinian neighbours escorted her back to the house while settlers hurled insults at her.

The video clearly shows how the settlers, who have taken over much of the neighbourhood from local Palestinians, are making it harder and harder for them to live in peace. Palestinian children are terrified and full of frustration and anger, as they cannot move freely outside their homes without the fear of being attacked or arrested. The Israeli forces remit is to protect the settlers and they are not interested in the welfare of the Palestinians.

Harvesting While Harassed- Jabari family face military and settlers to gather their crops

3rd May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

The Jabari family owns land sandwiched in between the illegal settlements of Kiryat Arba and Givat Ha’vot. In 2001, settlers illegally took over part of the land to erect a synagogue-tent on the Jaabari-family land. All settlements are illegal under international law, unlike most settlements however, this synagogue has also been deemed illegal under Israeli law. In February 2015 an Israeli court finally ordered the demolition of the tent-synagogue. Even though the demolition was carried out in April, the debris until now still remains on the land and settlers keep on partly rebuilding under the protection of the Israeli forces.

When settlers from the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba first constructed the tent-synagogue on the Jabari family land , they also erected a path connecting Kiryat Arba with the illegal settlement of Givat Hav’ot. It took the family until 2003 to get a demolition order issued by the Israeli Civil Administration. Nothing happened afterwards until the synagogue-tent was destroyed by heavy snow in 2013, only to be rebuild again by settlers.

The demolished Synagogue-Tent on the Jabari land

Finally, on the 18th February 2015 an Israeli court issued a demolition order for the structure and the synagogue-tent was demolished early in the morning on 14th April 2014. Even though the tent was demolished, the Israeli military did not clean up the rubble, that until now is still on the family land. Since the demolition settlers have been partly rebuilding the synagogue-tent with the materials still on the land. “Price Tag” violence from the settlers, both adults and children, has rapidly increased since the demolition, with Palestinians walking past on the main road attacked by settlers, and the Jabari family has been attacked verbally and physically, with stones thrown by settlers. Israeli police and soldiers present at the sight- they watch but do not stop the settlers.

Watch this video taken by the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) on settler children attacking Palestinians and human rights observers.

The Jaabari family asked for support with harvesting their fodder crops. As all of their land is either bordering the demolished synagogue-tent or the illegal settlement of Givat Ha’vot, Youth against Settlements (YAS) arranged to help with the harvest on 1st May 2015. Together with YAS, volunteers from a range of human rights organisations, both local and international, joined the family to harvest the area directly next to the demolished synagogue tent, the area most threatened by settlers. Israeli occupation forces are prohibiting the Jabaris and all volunteers from using any kind of harvesting tools under threat of arrest. Shortly after harvesting began, settlers, police and the army arrived. At first they only watched the harvest, but after two hours the Israeli forces declared the field a closed military zone and everyone was ordered to leave.

On Saturday, another small field at the top of the Jabari’s land, close to the police station and the illegal settlement of Givat Ha’vot was harvested without interruption by settlers or Israeli forces. The majority of the Jabari family’s crops still remain to be brought in.

South Hebron Hills – farming under occupation

27th April 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Team Al Khalil | South Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine

Located in the tip of the West Bank, the South Hebron Hills are dotted with farming and shepherd communities.
We are currently in the wheat harvest season and the children are spending their last few weeks at school before the holiday break.
But just like everywhere else in Palestine, the population is threatened by the Israeli occupation and the illegal settlements that overlook, menace and harm their daily lives.
“Existence is resistance”

At-Tuwani - village in the South Hebron Hills where Operation Dove is located, helping provide an international presence in the area. — At-Tuwani – village in the South Hebron Hills where an Italian organisation, Operation Dove, is located, helping provide international presence in the area.

School children amusing themselves before taking the dangerous walk home.

Israeli jeep accompanies the children on their walk to and from school. The path is squashed between a settlement and an outpost, which make the children at risk of settler attacks.

Palestinians harvesting their land. They are at constant risk of being attacked by the illegal settler outpost overlooking them.

Donkeys are a common way of getting around in the area.

Nestled in the hills, lies the community of Tuba. — Nestled in the hills, about a 40 minute walk from At-Tuwani, lies the community of Tuba.

Like many other communities in the South Hebron Hills, people live inside caves.

Inside one of the caves. Mattresses get spread around the floor in the evening to chat, share meals, watch tv and lay their heads.

TV inside the cave. Electricity is powered by their wind turbine.

The second to youngest of Tuba, posing in front of the pile of mattresses.

Communal breakfast for the sheep of Tuba.

The family’s breakfast - composed mainly of products that came from within a radius of 50 metres from their home. Bread from their wheat, eggs from their chickens, cheese and butter from their goats. — The family’s breakfast – composed mainly of products that came from within a radius of 50 metres from their home. Bread from their wheat, eggs from their chickens, cheese and butter from their goats.

Hiding away from the view of settlers and soldiers, men and women harvest their land.

Bundles of wheat collected during the harvest season.

Donkeys are used to carry up the harvested crops. — Donkeys are used to carry the harvested crops.

Siggy and Frida.