Israeli flags hanged in Yanoun are a reminder of Itamar settler violence

by Ramon Garcia

7 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

 The illegal settlement of Itamar, constructed illegally on the land of Aqraba,  Awarta,  and Beit Furik, has taken a provocative step of incitement in the village of Yanoun, from which Zionists have also stolen land. On 7 March 2o12 illegal  settlers entered the village of Yanoun and rose the flag of Israel over the home of village elder Abu Muhmad al Ajoori, who resides in the lower part of the village. Another flag was suspended over a water reservoir in the upper part of the village. The settlers were then seen by locals, wandering off into the hills.

Yousef Deria, a local activist against the wall and settlements, said locals contacted him following the incident, avoiding any conflict with the settlers who tend to have violent tendencies against Palestinians through their declared “Price Tag Campaign” which violently targets Palestinian villagers.

Deria was accompanied by peace activists and locals as they removed these flags.

Residents of Yanoun have suffered many years of terrifying violence at the hands of Itamar settlers – the murder of villagers, slaughter of their livestock, desecration of crops, property destruction and daily invasions and intimidation by armed settlers. The increasing brutality climaxed in 2002, as settlers rampaged the village, cutting down over 1000 olive trees, killing dozens of sheep, beating Palestinians in their homes with rifle butts, and gouging out one man’s eye.  Unable to stand the fear – and indeed reality – of terrorism any longer, the entire village evacuated at the time, mostly families fleeing to the nearby village of Aqraba.

An international and Israeli activist campaign was launched immediately to allow the residents of Yanoun to return to their lands. A permanent international presence was established in the village by EAPPI which has assisted in encouraging people of Yanoun to return home, and has remained instrumental in what little peace of mind the people of Yanoun have salvaged since they were uprooted from their land. One by one, they boldly returned.

Over the 2002-06 period the entirety of the village’s families eventually came back to their homes and attempted to start their life  in the shadow of Itamar’s ever-increasing outposts that dot the hills surrounding the village.  Approximately 100 people remain in the village – 40 in “lower Yanoun” in the valley, and 60 in “upper Yanoun”, whose houses ascend the hill to where just a few hundred meters away lie dozens of settlement houses and agricultural complexes.

Although the entire village is located in Area C – under full Israeli civilian and military control – and stands at risk of being slated for demolition, residents believe that the settlement’s – and Israeli government’s – strategy is what may already be underway – a gradual exodus of families and individuals as they are confined to an ever-shrinking amount of land, engulfed by the expanding settlement and its violent inhabitants.

There are some who remain though, who are determined to stay – many families steadfastly refusing to relinquish the connection to the land that is rightfully theirs. The very existence of Yanoun today bespeaks its fighting spirit, one that will hopefully continue despite the collective punishment waged on the village.

International Solidarity: Photos for the liberation of Shuhada Street

5 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement

On February 20th, International Solidarity Movement put out a call for the international community to express their solidarity with the people of Al Khalil (Hebron) and the cause to open Shuhada Street. Individuals from all over the world took part in this symbolic campaign, which came just as locals in Al Khalil launched a week of activities and rallies to invoke the resilience of Palestine and its resistance against apartheid in their communities. Marking the 18th anniversary of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, which claimed the lives of dozens of Palestinians at the hands of extremist Zionists and the Israeli Occupation Forces that protect them, Al Khalil is restless and still marching as Zionism looms in the heart of the city in illegal settlements that house malice and violence.

Photos in Solidarity – Click here for more images

As Palestinians and their supporters marched through Hebron on February 24th under the fire of tear gas and bullets shot by the cowardly Israeli Occupation Forces, which arrested protestors merely for their peaceful defiance of Israeli Occupation, the steadfastness of the people united and their message to Open Shuhada Street, was not only echoed in the ancient roads of Al Khalil, but throughout the world. Thank you for your show of support for the liberation of Shuhada Street. Together may we one day walk the roads of Al Khalil, without fear of harassment by Zionist settlers, without the profiling and discrimination by so called Israeli police, and without the shadow of Israel’s hateful weaponry, staining the old stones of Al Khalil’s soul.

In Solidarity,

International Solidarity Movement

In Photos: Clashes in Hebron’s Old city during a ‘Open Shudada Street’ rally

by Emilie Baujard

24 February 2012 | Demotix

Hundreds of Palestinian and international activists protest in Hebron calling for the city’s al-Shuhada Street to be opened up to Palestinian traffic. The Israeli Army dispersed the protestors with stun grenades and tear gas.  The Israeli Army entered the Old City to disperse the demonstration.
Open Shuhada Street – Click here for more photos
Palestinian youth activist and native of Al Bireh, Fadi Quran,was pepper sprayed in the face, assaulted, and arrested by Israeli forces while attending a protest calling for the reopening of a major thoroughfare for Palestinians in the city of Hebron.
The full video is available at http://on.fb.me/Ad6E4w and was filmed by Amer Abdeen.

Israeli police clash with Palestinians in al-Aqsa, kill one

24 February 2012 | Press TV

Clashes broke out after Israeli police fired tear gas and used stun grenades on hundreds of Palestinians who had gathered outside al-Aqsa Mosque following the Friday Prayers to protest against Israeli attacks on the holy site earlier this week. One man was killed amid protests in nearby Qalandia following the Zionist incursion into Al Aqsa.

Some reports, however, suggest that the attack came as Palestinians were praying. The clashes followed nearly a week of unrest at the holy site.

“We were praying when they started shooting tear gas towards us,” 58-year-old Umm Mohammad told AFP.

Four Palestinians were also arrested.

Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is one of the holiest sites in Islam, has been the scene of clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian worshipers since the occupation of Palestinian lands.

On Sunday, Israeli police attacked al-Aqsa Mosque and arrested at least 18 Palestinians after Jewish settlers clashed with Palestinian worshippers at the holy site.

Israeli troops also clashed with Palestinian worshipers in the area on Tuesday and Thursday.

When it is illegal to use your front door: Freedom of movement in Al Khalil

by Andreas

23 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Al-Khalil (Hebron) is a divided city. As a result of the Oslo agreements negotiated in the 1990s – the people of Al Khalil  became familiar with two new terms – H1 and H2. H1 refers to 80% of the city, which is officially under control of the Palestinian Authority, while H2 makes up the remaining 20% and falls under full Israeli military control.  In area H2 Palestinians are daily exposed to human rights violations to an extent that can hardly be overestated. Israel severely restricts Palestinian freedom of movement in H2 in the name of  “separation,” but in practice this is a policy of segregation.

Passing through Checkpoint 56, one of eleven permantly staffed checkpoints betweeen H1 and H2,  the consequences of this policy can be heard, seen, and smelled. Passing through the checkpoint, the scents, sounds and sights of the vibrant commercial city center give way to a deserted area where the only people to be seen are a few settlers strolling down emptied streets and Israeli soldiers posted on rooftoops and street corners.

 Punishing the victims

Abed, resident of Shuhada Street

According to the latest UN report on freedom of movement in the West Bank, there are 90 different closure obstacles in the H2-area, that all interfere with freedom of movement for the Palestinians living in or having errands in H2. Closure obstacles can be staffed checkpoints, roadblocks, electric fences with barbed wire, and more.  Along with these closures, Israel has imposed a ban on all Palestinian vehicular traffic on Shuhada street, which was once the vibrant main street – connecting the North with West of Al-Khalil.  In large sections of Shuhada Street, the Israeli army also enforces a ban on pedestrian traffic.

The Oslo Agreement gave Israel the chance to normalize and justify military emergency conditions and zones, already in place since 1994.  That year a known member of the settler community of Khalil, Baruch Goldstein, walked fully armed into the Ibrahami Mosque and killed 29 people – injuring a over 100. Israel’s response to this act reveals an important principle in Israels policy applied in the H2 area –  collective punishment of the victims. Israel’s immediate response to the massacre was a 14 days of round-the-clock curfew – followed by stern restrictions on freedom of movement – with the argument that these measures would prevent reprisal against settlers.

As human rights worker Hisham Shabarati from Al-Haq laconically notes “If an Israeli kills a Palestinian – we will be punished – if an Israeli kills an Israeli  – we will be punished.

Israel used a situation of emergency to deny Palestinians basic human rights. With the argument of protecting a community of about 650 settlers they imposed, according to Shabarati, disproportionately harsh policies that far exceed any needs for security. Denying inhibatants of Shuhada Street to use their front door, for instance, serves an agenda of making life impossible for Palestininans in H2.  As Shabarati stated  “Israel is looking for excuses rather than reasons for imposing the policy of segregation.

Childhood on Shuhada Street during the Intifada

Abed is a young man living on Shuhada Street, who at the moment studies English at Hebron University. Remembering his childhood during the Second Intifada,  week-long curfews and being denied entry/exit through his front door comes to his mind.   “Often times,” he said, “the school would be closed for ten days and then open for one day and so on – the curfew was announced from jeeps driving around the city. We didn’t know for how long the curfew will last.”

According to statistics from B’tselem, Israel imposed curfews on Palestinians for a total of 377 days during the first three years of the Intifada (over 1/3 of the time). The Israeli military used every excuse it could find or devise to tighten an iron fist around the Palestinian population . Although the Israeli military excused repression of civilians during the Second Intifada in the name of “military emergency” –  few restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement in H2 have been removed since then.  Given that the number of Israeli soldier and civilian casualties by Palestinians has been at a minimum since the end of the Intifada, these ’emergency measures’ cannot be justified.

Israei military checking IDs along Shuhada Street

There have been limited improvements. Some inhabitants of Shuhada Street have been allowed intermittent vehicular access to their houses, and in recent years Abed and his family have won the opportunity to receive guests in their house.  However these regained freedoms are not anywhere near to the normalcy Palestinian residents of H2 expect.  For Abed part of the struggle lies in not normalizing this situation of denied freedom within his own city.  “Just three days ago,” he said, “I was detained for three hours on my way to the University.  For me the situation feels somehow normal – but it is not!”

The 90 closure obstacles and thousands of soldiers stationed in Khalil are every day delaying and denying access to inhabitants of Khalil. Severe restrictions on freedom of movement, combined with direct military closure of over 500 shops, have successfully drained the H2 area of life and business. The Palestinans residents of Khalil have an obvious right to freedom of movement and to access Shuhada Street. Open Shuhada Street!

Andreas is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).