Issa Amro, Coordinator of Youth Against Settlements, was stopped last night by Israeli authorities at the Allenby Bridge. He was arrested and taken to Hebron police station, where he was interrogated for hours on suspicion of involvement in organizing the women’s action that took place in Hebron last Wednesday, at the segregated Shuhada Street.
Amro, was traveling to Italy for a speaking tour organized by the Italian Peace Association to meet Members of the Italian Parliament and Senate, and municipality representatives from different Italian cities.
Issa Amro, a prominent popular resistance activist in Hebron, was arrested several times in the past by the Israeli army for participating in activities to protest the occupation practices in Hebron. Throughout the past few years, Youth Against Settlements has been leading the global campaign to re-open Shuhada street, Hebron’s main commerce center that was closed to Palestinian movement in 1994.
Last Wednesday, approximately 15 Israeli and International women dressed in Palestinian traditional clothing walked through Shuhada Street in silence protesting the policy of preventing Palestinian women from accessing the street. The women were shortly stopped by Israeli soldiers and attacked by both soldiers and settlers. Five activists and one journalist were arrested during the action. Later that day, a Palestinian man was also arrested on suspicion of “conspiracy” related to the same action. All seven were released throughout the next 24 hours, three on condition of a 90 day restraining order from area A and the Hebron area.
5 May 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
A group of approximately 10 to 15 soldiers displayed their ineptitude in dealing with a group of rowdy settler children, roughly between the ages of 8 to 14, who were attemptng to enter Tel Rumeida.
It was an embarrassing episode for the Israeli occupation soldiers who paid more attention to ISM volunteers who were simply filming the situation. When a settler later confronted me, violently grabbing for my camera, the soldier’s attempts to restrain him were meek and pathetic. It was an emabrassing situation which showed signs of settlers being allowed to behave as they wish with impunity, behaviour which would not be tolerated if it came from the Palestinian side.
As I walked down Tel Rumeida with another ISM volunteer, we were approached by a Palestinian child who claimed to have been confronted by a group of settler children. As we walked to find out what was going on, we found a group of 20 settler children between the ages of 8 to 14, the majority being boys, acting in a rowdy fashion near the junction where H2 meets H1. Surrounding them were roughly a group of 10 to 12 Israeli soldiers.
As we approached the scene, I witnessed several of the children who could not have been more than 10 years old walking in the direction of the barrier separating H1 from H2. If the soldiers were attempting to stop these children, then their efforts were meek, as the children merely brushed aside the soldiers.
As we questioned the soldiers regarding the situation, they shunned us away by replying, “You dont need to know, go away.” As we continued to question them they continued to ignore us.
As the problem continued, the children became more boisterous, challenging the soldiers’ authority when ordered not to walk in the direction of the barrier. As the soldiers formed a line blocking their path, the children easily walked through the gaps.
As the soldiers were ineffective in blocking them off they reformed the line right in front of the barrier. Their tactics proved to be worthless as some of the children were seen getting really close to the yellow gate. The occupation forces had absolutely no control of a situation created by a group of misguided children.
While this was going on, Palestinians who were looking on from outside their homes, stared in disbelief as the soldiers showed no signs of being in control of the situation.
As we filmed the behaviour, the children came in our direction attempting to snatch our cameras and our keffiyahs, or traditional Palestinian scarves. As we looked to the soldiers expecting them to intervene, they turned a blind eye and instead they demanded that we switch off our cameras. When asked why they are incapable of dispersing the children, as usual they hesitated and chose the “I dont have to answer any question” stance.
Seconds later an elderly female settler arrived at the scene and marched towards the soldiers. As she approached them she began speaking to them in an extremely aggressive tone even at times pointing her finger in their faces. She directed her verbal onslaught at the soldiers for a full five minutes after she herself was prevented from entering H1. She continued her verbal barrage without being reprimanded for her behaviour.
As my colleague and I were filming the scenes, we were continuously told to switch off our cameras and move away. As we asked them why they were so keen to remove us and not the settlers, the soldiers began filming us and one soldier had pushed away my colleague.
We refused to move from our position.
As the female settler retreated she walked past me referring to me as “garbage” and telling me “to go back to your own country and help your own people.”
As the settlers dispersed from the location they headed towards Gilbert Checkpoint, we followed them to ensure no further troubles took place. As we caught up with them many of the kids were seen confronting a lone Palestinian woman. There were approximately 5 to six soldiers at the scene who chose to ignore the problem.
As the settlers made there way back into the illegal settlements, we stayed at the location. Three minutes later more settlers were seen walking down Tel Rumeida from a distance heading towards us. One of the settler men, as they came near, was seen confronting a Palestinian man. He had to be discouraged by an Israeli soldier. As I began filming, the settler ran towards me at full speed, violently shoving the camera out of the way. He then confronted me in order to intimidate me. As I began filming again, he continued to grab for my camera, becoming more and more aggressive at the same time. A soldier at this point had attempted to intervene, but he used less than minimal force in attempting to restrain the man as he continued to threaten me, and reach for my camera.
The soldier finally managed to convince the settler to calm down and walk away, while I, doing nothing wrong, was told to shut off my camera. As he walked away towards the illegal Zionist settlements, so did the others. The soldiers remained to ensure there was no further breach of peace.
Although it was all over. The occupation forces may have believed that they had successfully managed to control the problem. However this was not the case. Imagine the scenario if a group of Palestinian children had attempted to walk into the illegal settlement?
Despite the aggression of the settlers, what appears to be more worrying in this case is the younger settlers: the children. One of the local Palestinian families who have had their rooftop occupied by the Israeli occupation forces have been the victims of a number of attacks coming from young settler girls between the ages of 10 to 12. The children are taught from a very young age to be hateful towards the Palestinians. The hard right, fundamentalist, and Zionist principles passed on from generations clearly shine through these children when considering the events on Tel Rumeida.
Sunny is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
7 May 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
A Palestinian woman was arrested by occupation police in Al Khalil (Hebron) yesterday after her home was attacked by settlers.
47 year old Jamila Hassan Abdul Fattah Al-Shalaldeh and her family live with two other familes in a home on Zionist controlled Shuhada Street .
Sunday night at 7 o clock, a group of settlers entered the family home with a large mirror, smashing the mirror on the staircase of the house before fleeing to the street. When occupation police and soldiers arrived (the home is across the street from an army post) the settlers accused al-Shalaldeh of attacking them, and the police took her into custody.
The morning of this attack, a nearby furniture shop owned by one of the other residents of the home was attacked by dozens of settlers. The group stole and destroyed furniture and attempted to knock down the walls of the shop.
The home under attack, like other Palestinian homes in the area, is the target of frequent, violent attacks from settlers and occupation soldiers. One month ago the Israeli army raided the home with an attack dog to force the residents to remove surveillance cameras on the exterior of the building, traumatizing the young children living in the house.
The events of yesterday serve as examples of the violence endemic to the lives of Palestinians living in Israeli-controlled zones of Hebron. The occupation forces protect the settlers as they attack Palestinian homes, property, and people of all ages. Palestinians who resist, even, passively, are punished by the police as the settlers remain free and untouched by the law.
Maria and Roda are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).
1 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
House sit in – Click here for more photos
A Dutch woman and several Palestinians were violently arrested today during an attempt to reclaim a Palestinian house at the entrance of the old city in occupied Al Khalil (Hebron).
About 30 Palestinians and international ISM activists from Canada, Finland, United States and the Netherlands entered a Palestinian house that was taken over by Israeli army around eight years ago. The re-occupation of the house was an attempt to return the house its rightful owner and was a response to the takeover of a Palestinian house on Shuhada street by settlers under the protection of the Israeli army and border police.
The windows of the house had been broken and the house was filled with trashed furniture, reminders of the families who had lived there. Stars of David and other graffiti covered the walls, and the floor was littered with the casings of rubber coated steel bullets and a tear gas canister. From the front window the watchtower of the settlement Beit Romano is visible.
As activists started cleaning the house and preparing to spend the night there, the Israeli army prepared to invade the house with sound bombs, skunk water and soldiers in full riot gear. Over 50 soldiers and 5 border police blocked the road and cleared the surrounding area before entering the house that was being reoccupied, claiming that the house was now Jewish property.
The soldiers then entered the house and began to forcefully remove the non-violent protesters by punching, hitting with batons, kicking, pulling people from their hair and grabbing them from their throat before pulling them out of the house.
“I was dragged out down a flight of stairs by my ankle by a soldier” said an ISM activist from Canada. “The soldier had his boot on my face,” said an ISMer from Finland.
One Palestinian was beaten until he became unconscious. He was taken to hospital with an ambulance with another injured person. When internationals and Palestinians attempted to help the unconscious man, the Israeli army threw sound bombs by his head and then dragged him away by his feet.
The Israeli army threw sound bombs and sprayed skunk water at the crowd that had gathered to support the Palestinians and internationals.
The Dutch activist and Youth Against Settlements leader Issa Amro are still being held by police. The whereabouts of the Dutch activist are unknown currently, and an emergency hotline for the Dutch Embassy only suggested that an email be sent to detail the event.
The embassy employee commented that, “We can see to it that she is fed, bathed, and if she needs medicine.” When asked if he can attempt to locate her, he mumbled a comment about her attending a demonstration, and stated “Israel is a friend of the Netherlands, and we respect the law of the land.” He then suggested to call the Dutch Consulate during its working hours and to send information about the woman to its email address.
ISM is working vigorously to determine the whereabouts of its volunteer, yet is fearful that while the Israelis deny that she is held in one of their imprisonment facilities despite dozens seeing her physically taken away by Israelis, that they may be attempting to deport her without fair trial or an accusation as they did with a British volunteer in July 2011.
Update: Dutch activist was release from Israeli detention on Monday April 2nd. She was held for 24 hours in Israeli jail and released without trial. The Palestinian’s arrested in the action were released from Ofer Military Prison on Wednesday April 4th with 1,000NIS bail and will return for trial in October.
Satu and Paige are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
28 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Today at around 1 PM extremist settler Anat Cohen attacked a Canadian woman accompanying school children, and a few minutes later sent two teenage settlers to throw rocks at the Canadian woman and a Finnish man. The attack occurred at the bottom of the stairs connecting the Qordaba Girls School with the section of Shuhada street where Palestinians are allowed to walk.
Cohen passed the internationals in her car and stopped to talk to soldiers at the nearby checkpoint. She then reversed her car, parked next to the internationals and proceeded to shove, kick and scream at the Canadian women while soldiers looked on. Eventually a soldier came to force the internationals up the stairs, but did nothing to stop Cohen from harassing them.
In a transcript of the video provided by Uri Horesh, an ISM activist asks the soldier why he refuses to act despite Cohen’s intrusion and attack on the activist. As the soldier mumbles a response as to whether soldiers take orders from Cohen, Cohen declares vigorously, “I live here! Don’t say I should be taken away! I live here!!”
A few minutes later two settler children who Cohen had just spoken with ran up a parallel staircase and threw rocks at the internationals from less than a foot away, hitting the Finnish man in the ear. Two soldiers watched the second attack, then turned in the opposite direction and refused to intervene. Cohen then called the police, who demanded the passports of all the internationals present, who detained them for several minutes, and then told them they were not allowed to stand at the bottom or top of the stairs. When asked why the police were doing nothing about the attacks, a soldier responded that Anat Cohen is “well known to the police” and there was “nothing to be done.”
The staircase that connects Palestinian schools and houses with Shuhada street has been a site of frequent settler attacks, particularly on girls from the nearby Qordaba school who have been stoned by settlers many times on the stairs and the area leading to it.
Internationals have been accompanying children in this area to try and prevent attacks by settlers and harassment from soldiers.
Paige is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
