31 July 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Three days before the start of Ramadan, the small mountainside town of Iraq Burin was attacked by Israeli settlers from the illegal colony of Bracha. The attackers descended from the settlement at 12:30 a.m. and were soon followed by the Israeli military, shooting tear-gas and sound grenades.
“Since Ramadan started, things have been relatively calm here,” says Yousef, a resident of Iraq Burin, “earlier we used to have trouble all the time.”
Ironically, the settler attacks are most common on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, which traditionally is revered as a day of rest.
“But there have also been plenty of attacks on Wednesdays and Thursdays,” says Yousef.
The settlers target farmers closest to the settlement, making it impossible for them to work their land due to risk of being attacked or shot. The farmers’ lack of activity is then used against them as settlers claim the land to be abandoned and subsequently annex it. By these means, the illegal settlements across the West Bank continue to steal the lands of neighboring Palestinian villages.
Bracha is one of over 250 Israeli settlements and outposts erected in the Palestinian West Bank and violating Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. “Seizure of land for settlement building and future expansion has resulted in the shrinking of space available for Palestinians to sustain their livelihoods and develop adequate housing, basic infrastructure and services,” wrote the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
From Yousef’s rooftop one can see clearly where the irrigated fields of Bracha have stretched down into the valley since its construction in the early 1980’s.
Of the 2000 dunums that originally was Iraq Burin, 300 have been annexed by the settlement of Bracha and many hundreds have become inaccessible to Palestinians due to the risk of violent attacks. To protest this, the village has been holding demonstrations every Saturday for the past year. Similar to numerous protests across the West Bank, Iraq Burin’s regular demonstrations are met with brute force by the Israeli army.
“The failure to respect international law, along with the lack of adequate law enforcement vis-àvis settler violence and takeover of land has led to a state of impunity, which encourages further violence and undermines the physical security and livelihoods of Palestinians. Those protesting settlement expansion or access restrictions imposed for the benefit of settlements (including the Barrier) are regularly exposed to injury and arrest by Israeli forces,” noted OCHA.
For a short while, the demonstrations ceased after 2 young men, Muhammad and Usaid Qadus, were shot dead at close range by an Israeli soldier.
“But our peaceful struggle will continue among both the young and the old,” promises Yousef.
Jonas Webber is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
27 July 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On the afternoon of July 27, brothers Ibrahim Abeidu, 17, and Mohammad Abeidu, 19, were carrying water for their neighbor in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hebron. There is a current drought and water is often shared between households. Walking on the hills above the Muslim cemetery, 20 Israeli settlers from a nearby illegal colony appeared on the same path. As the brothers passed by, one settler suddenly turned to them and sprayed a form of nauseating gas in the faces of the two teenagers carrying water. The brothers became dazed, and fell to ground.
The 20 settlers proceeded to throw stones at the Abeidu brothers as they lay on the ground. This attracted a Palestinian crowd who came to intervene, as well as local activists from the organization Youth Against Settlements (YAS) who arrived to document the attack. Ibrahim Abeidu is himself a distinguished volunteer at YAS, who, among other things, works on self-strengthening activities, documentation, and youth education.
Some 60 Israeli soldiers arrived on scene, only to show aggression against the Palestinians rather than the gas-spraying illegal settlers.
Unusually, a Palestinian ambulance was able to get permission from Israeli forces to enter Shuhada Street and help the two brothers who remained in weak condition on the ground. The apartheid-stricken Shuhada Street in the center of Hebron has been closed to Palestinian access for over a decade while Israelis and internationals can walk freely.
Israeli soldiers prevented the two victims from entering the ambulance on the basis that they were not carrying their ID cards on them. Only after being questioned, in a condition when needing medical attention, was Mohammad allowed to enter the ambulance and be rushed hospital. The younger Ibrahim, however, was still forbidden from entering the ambulance. Having been carried downhill to Shuhada Street, he remained on the ground and was refused medical aid. Instead, soldiers arrested him on accusations of throwing stones and attacking the same 20 Israeli settlers that had gassed him.
Having received treatment in hospital, Mohammad is now back at his home. Not having received any known medical aid, his brother Ibrahim remains arrested at the police station in Qiryat Arba.
This latest event is yet another episode in a recent escalation of harassment against Palestinians in Hebron, from the inhabitants of the illegal Israeli settlements, and their friends in the Israeli Occupation Forces.
Hakim Maghribi is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
Just below the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba, situated on the the eastern outskirts of Al Khalil (Hebron) is the Palestinian area of ar-Ras.
A quick online search of the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba provides general knowledge on the founding history and how it has been subject to Palestinian resistance since 1981 but fails to inform the reader of the consequences for the indigenous Palestinians living nearby the relatively large (ca. 7000 inhabitants) settlement. Nor will one find written that such colonies are considered illegal by international law as confirmed by the International Court of Justice. Nor of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in 1994 which was committed against Palestinians by an Israeli settler from the same area.
Hebron residents regularly speak with the International Solidarity Movement about constant violent attacks by the settlers, land expropriation by Israeli policies, lack of freedom of movement and the requirement of special permits for car use, lack of running water, and demolitions.
Demolitions
In 2006, Palestinian landlord Fayiz Arajar began the construction of a large building intended to house a dozen shops and several families. The building is formidably situated, overlooking the olive grove of the ar-Ras area and the distant white houses of Al Khalil, flickering in the heat.
In 2007, as the project was nearly completed, Israeli settlers occupied the building. Subsequent to a high court decision to evict them, settlers from across the West Bank gathered in the house ready to defend their illegal takeover of the building. The eviction deadline was set to December 4, 2007 by the high court.
The week leading to the deadline was tense. Israeli settlers vandalized the Palestinian cemetery, burned Palestinian cars, and attacked Palestinian houses. The escalation in such attacks came due to the arrival of thousands of illegal settlers in support of the squatters. They succeeded in fighting the eviction force. Israeli authorities simply refrained from further attempts to remove them and, as seen before, allowed the story to twist from that of property theft to a question of security (of the settlers). In recent years, Israel has even decided to erect a military checkpoint for Palestinian pedestrians in the interest of ‘protecting’ the settlers.
Muhammed Al-Jabari ‘Abu Naim’ and his family live in a house about 100 metres from the occupied building. On May 28 of this year, they began to build an extra floor ontop of their house. The family of 15 members needed more space.
Settlers from a nearby recently occupied house repeatedly attacked the building project underway by Abu Naim. Subsequently, Abu Naim was banned by Israeli authorities from continuing construction.
With reference to the Oslo accords (Annex 1, article XII) Palestinians are not allowed to build within 50 metres of security roads. In Abu Naim’s case, a security road was announced with the construction of a new military checkpoint in the area. The legal value of Abu Naim’s construction permit was overruled although his house is far from the 50 meter no-construction zone. The land on which the house was built 14 years ago has belonged to the Al-Jabari family since before the Israeli occupation in 1967.
For now, the mid-construction upper floor is left as an empty shell without windows or doors. Israeli bulldozers are on stand by to demolish the entire house should Abu Naim continue construction.
Prevention and annexation of resources
The Dana family is forced to pull up 100+ liters of water per day from this well as a result of Israeli policies preventing them from filling their water tanks – click to see more photos
Across the olive grove and by Kiryat Arba’s barbed wire fence lives Kayid Dana and his brothers. Another stunning view embraces you from just outside their house, disrupted only by a looming Israeli watchtower. Most of the occupied West Bank is spotted with these grey towers. Watching from their windows, the ever present occupation, reminding Palestinians that privacy is a luxury that few, if any, enjoy.
The Dana family has been living on the same land for the past 50 years. In 1958, the Israeli authorities repetitively offered them money to leave the house and make room for the growing illegal settlement. The family refused and nonetheless Israeli forces bulldozed half of their garden.
As of June 24, the Dana family has been without water. Israeli authorities prevented water trucks from entering the area to refill their water tanks. As a result, Kavid and his family are relegated to pump water from an unsanitary well outside their home. This is where they encounter the next problem: water is only available for a couple of hours each day. This is not enough to supply their 4 camels (100 liters/day) and the most basic household needs.
North of the Dana family home, through the olive groves, lives the Abdul Hay family (Abu Hossni). Their windows are fenced to prevent Israeli settlers from shattering the glass with the stones they throw. On December 4, the family was subject to a vicious attack that left 3 with dumdum (expanding bullet) wounds. Dumdum bullets are a type of live ammunition that enter the body, expand, and cause permanent injuries or death. Although dumdum bullets have been known to be used by Israeli settlers, they are illegal according to international law.
Jamal Abu Saifan, who lives in the area, captured the incident on his camera and explains how a lightly injured Israeli settler was choppered away 15 minutes after his injury, whereas the 3 Palestinians wounded by gunfire, one critically, waited 3 hours for an ambulance.
The ambulance attempting to reach them was stopped and denied entry to the area by Israeli forces.
An ultimate goal: ethnic cleansing
Unfortunately, settler attacks are far from rare and have been occurring since Kiryat Arba was established in 1968. The purpose of these violent attacks, and the army violence and policies that accompany them, are not only to injure people and destroy their lands. That is only a strategic measure to reach an ultimate goal: the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
The next step by Kiryat Arba is the construction of a new road which will divide the vital Palestinian olive groves down the middle. The road will be inaccessible to Palestinians, not only preventing Palestinians from tending to their trees on the other side, but annexing further land, expropriating an economic necessity, and making life more difficult for the indigenous Palestinians.
Despite the collection of circumstances to make life difficult, all the families in the area have made the choice to remain on their land despite the uncertainty and pressures of their everyday life under Israeli occupation.
Markus Fitzgerald is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
27 July 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On the evening of July 18, over 30 Palestinians were detained in Tel Rumeida of Hebron after being accused of attacking an Israeli settler from the illegal settlement in the city. The attack allegedly took place after the settler went to swim in Abraham’s spring, which is on Palestinian land, but has a history of being used by settlers from the local colony.
A number of houses nearby to the spring were raided, along with the headquarters of Youth Against Settlements (YAS).
One of the Palestinians detained lives with his family in a house overlooking the spring. Their house was raided by soldiers and a young man was taken.
About 70 Israeli soldiers and 35 settlers gathered at the spring. The settlers insisted that the soldiers arrest the Palestinians, and internationals were barred from approaching the site by soldiers and border police.
Several Palestinians were detained near the spring, while three others were detained separately near the YAS headquarters. They were not accused of the attack, but nevertheless had their ID’s confiscated. The reason behind their detention is still unknown.
After several hours of being detained near the spring, a few Palestinians were released and others were taken to the police station for questioning. The remaining were released shortly after midnight, none of them being charged with the attack.
Earlier that day, Israeli settlers tried for the third time to build a wall of rocks around the spring which lies on Palestinian-owned land. Around 10 Israeli settlers were building, while 15 soldiers guarded them.
According to soldiers, the settlers had a permit but it was not possible to see it. The Palestinian owners of the land thus had no choice but to watch as settlers continued building, and teenagers from the illegal settlements swam in the water.
This incident is symptomatic of the settler mentality as they steadily try to build into Palestinian-owned land and increase the size of their colonies in the West Bank.
Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida say that the settlers are hoping to encroach upon the spring and the surrounding land, and thus connect two settlements located in the area.
Aziza Frost is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
21 July 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Saturday evening, around 6pm, a group of illegal Israeli settlers move through the Old City of Palestinian Al Khalil (Hebron). They are both surrounded and fortified by Israeli soldiers. On paper, this tour through is a supposed “ultimate family experience in Israel“. In reality however, families should be steering clear. This tour is living proof that apartheid is not something of the past.
The settler tour through the Old City of Hebron – click to see more photos
HEBRON
‘Settler tours’ are guided tours throughout the Old City of Hebron, where settlers can take a walk – enforced by soldiers and police armed to the teeth. At given places, the guide tells stories about historical circumstances in and around Hebron, more or less based on biased historical views.
In 1994, the Palestinian city of Hebron was divided into 2 zones. H1 area is under Palestinian Authority control, while H2 area harbours illegal Israeli settlers within central Hebron. During the second intifada that began in 2000, more than 337 days of curfew for the Palestinians were proclaimed in H2. Today, any Palestinian entering the zone must go through check-points.
The ancient Old City centre contains, like in many other Arabic states, tightly packed and roofed alleys with small shops on either side. Hebron is different. During the morning prayers in 1994, an Israeli settler massacred almost 30 Palestinians as they prayed in the sacred Ibrahimi Mosque. As a result, Israeli forces punished the Palestinian population by closing a great deal of Palestinian shops and homes and seriously strangling a vital and once-lively Palestinian trade.
The settler tour passes through both the closed (for Palestinians) and still open part of the city centre. It is in the latter part that problems often arise, when settlers attack Palestinians and their property with impunity under protection of the Israeli military soldiers.
SETTLERS
The ‘security’ seems flawless. The young Israeli soldiers slowly move through the tight allies while securing (pointing their guns at) the small shops, side alleys, and small box windows. They step into this everyday market as though it is a minefield. Always surrounded by army, the settlers and tourists listen to the guide who gesticulates and energetically runs around and explains the city’s history from a Zionist perspective. Around the city, Israel has hung specific Hebrew signs, again reinforcing the biased view of the city’s rich religious history.
The first Israeli settlement in Hebron was established in a hotel in 1968, one year after Israel had occupied the West Bank in the Six-Day War. An Israeli family simply proclaimed that they did not intend to leave the hotel room that they had rented. Ever.
A short time after, they were visited by distinguished members of the Israeli Knesset. The army supplied them with weaponry and training.
Later the hotel building was cleared of the settlers, but the problem had just begun. In 1971, the first families moved in to the settlement Qiryat Arba, not far from Hebron. In 1984, the Israeli Knesset approved the establishment of settlements in the heart of Hebron, in which up to that point had only been occupied by people from Qiryat Arba.
A soldier stands guard to prevent Palestinians from using their road as Israeli settlers take a tour – click to see more photos
FEAR
With a mixture of touristic astonishment and glaring confrontational faces, the group of neatly dressed settlers are now standing in the middle of the relatively empty street. 30 minutes earlier the area was full of life and noises. Everyone with knowledge of an Arabic souq, or market, knows what that means. It can seem hypnotic, fantastic, and stressful. But as the tour makes its way through, the atmosphere turns surreal and strangely silent. Now only the growling guttural ‘R’s and instructive arrogant voice of the guide bounces between the old stone walls.
The second-class status of the Palestinians is painfully clear in situations like this. They are not allowed to walk by on their own roads and must patiently wait until the propaganda-machine has finished it’s work. A young boy joins the waiting group of Palestinians and looks up questioningly. He retires to the curb. His sudden change of plans has come about knowing the risks if he were to pass on to the road.
Harassing the shop-owners and bystanders is a common occurrence with settler-tours. Muhammad, who is often inviting internationals for a chat and tea in his little sand glass shop, explains how settlers passing by smashed his inventory on previous occasions. Protected by the Israeli army, the settlers, who face impunity under Israeli law, seem to see no other objection to such actions. The certainty of fatal consequences or unnecessary attention from the occupation forces restrains victims from seeking justice.
Fortunately the settlers do not smash anything this time and keep relatively calm. Soldiers on the other hand seem extremely nervous, which contributes to the tense atmosphere. This new battalion has only just arrived to the city as a part of their 3 months duty. Many have hardly celebrated their 20th birthday. It is possibly their first time outside the military base. Eyes glance shiftily from their commanding officer to surroundings and back again. The sweat drips from the chin, runs down the gun, past the handle and the moist index finger, resting disturbingly close to the trigger.
The guide continues undeterred, while the whole situation seems to open doors and bring memories from a world that no one thought world reappear. None mentioned – None forgotten.
THE END
The guided group moves at an agitating snail-speed through the narrow streets. The language is mainly Hebrew but sometimes a muffled American voice reveals tourists or visiting Jews, strolling along, possibly feeling inspired to settle down and test their luck in this religious center.
Israel encourages Jews in the ‘diaspora’ to move here. Rising housing expenses and lack of space in Israel makes the illegal settlements throughout the West Bank an obvious and welcoming choice for newcomers. The Israeli state provides financial support as well as guaranteed housing. As a result more than 50% of the occupied West Bank is now annexed and designed for Israelis and Israelis to come, in direct contradiction with international law.
Back in the Old City, the tour is coming to an end. The group is channelled through a military roadblock and a massive iron gate closes behind them. They are now in the H2-area. Palestinians living there are subject to thorough searches before they are allowed in their own neighbourhood. Everyday life is imbued with security and control.
A few soldiers stay outside the gates. In a little while they are ordered back in to the ‘secure area’ and life will continue in the old city of Hebron, only interrupted by regular patrols. In a weeks time however, apartheid-tourists will once again come back to remind us that 1948 was indeed a catastrophic year.
