April 19, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine
Soldiers shoot live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades at protesters in the weekly Friday demonstration in Kafr Quaddum. Several Palestinians, a minor and an international were shot by rubber-coated steel bullets and a French international was beaten and arrested by Israeli soldiers.
Around 150 protesters gathered in protest today in Kafr Quaddum to honor the 31st anniversary of the martyr Khalel Alwazer (Abu Jehad), a member of the central committee of the Fateh movement. They marched through the village towards the illegal settlement and in a demand to reopen the main road in and out of the village.* Protesters were joined by leaders from the PLO, Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, and Popular Resistance Committees in the West Bank. Even though it was the Christian holy day of good Friday, Father Abdalla Yolyo, who is an Orthodox Christian Leader, also joined the protest and showed his support to the villagers.
Almost immediately after the start of the protest the soldiers opened fire on the demonstration with of rubber-coated steel bullets. Soldiers were hiding on the roofs of Palestinians houses and on the hill. Many protestors were hit with rubber-coated steel bullets including several Palestinians, two international activists and a child who had to receive medical assistance.
At the same time several protesters were climbing the hill where the soldiers were firing from. The protestor managed to push the soldiers back and reached the top of the hill.
protesters climbing hill, soldiers in the background
As the soldiers left, the protester lit tire-fires, and the wind direction sent the smoke into the illegal settlement. Almost 10 minutes later the soldiers returned, charging into the demonstration and opened fire with live ammunition and eventually arrested a French international human rights defender.
*The main road into the village has been closed since 2003 by the illegal settlement. In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled the road block illegal, however the Israeli authorities refused to reopen the road. In February this year, Israeli authorities promised to reopen the road if the villagers protested peacefully for one month which the villagers complied with. However after a month of peaceful demonstration the road was not re-opened. As a response to the broken promise, the habitants of Kafr Quaddum and several internationals have been protesting ever Friday until the road is re-opened.
6th November 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Yesterday in al Khalil (Hebron) the Palestinian group Youth Against Settlements held an event to mark the 100th years anniversary of The Balfour Declaration. The Balfour Declaration is viewed as a foundational document of the Israeli states ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Despite promises to the Palestinian population the British government, in an act of betrayal, made a declaration that was viewed by the zionist as a promise of Palestine becoming a homeland for the Jewish people.
“The event was colourful and different,“ an ISM’er says.
A large group of Palestinians and internationals gathered at the “Beeping Gate” which is one of the closuers in al Khalil (Hebron). The “Beeping Gate” is at the bottom of “apartheid road” where a fence divides a Palestinian pathway from the road Israelis walk on. An extension to the apartheid fence finishes at a new gate which fences in part of the Salaymeh neighbourhood. The gate is locked at night forcing Palestinians to walk a longer route on foot to their houses. When the people of the neighbourhood use the gate it sets off an ear-piercing beep adding a tormenting repetitive noise to the harsh realities of discrimination and occupation the neighbourhood suffers.
“The event was colourful and different,“ an ISM’er that attended the event says. “Kids and clowns gathered to mark the Palestinian rejection of the colonial Balfour Declaration which supports the Zionist project.“
Border Police from the Israeli military push Internationals away while a settler from a nearby settlement films.
Even tough the event was light-hearted a group of Boarder Police Officers, Civil Police and Soldiers from the Israeli army showed up and watched the Palestinians and internationals. The children chanted, speeches were made and clowns interacted with the children with balloons, dances and face painting.
A settler from a nearby illegal settlement films the Palestinians at their event through the gate.
An aggressive Zionist settler from a nearby settlement, who had previously intimidated ISM activists during the day showed up at the event. His attempted intimidation failed to disrupt the colourful and joyful celebration of the Palestinian resistance of the occupation. After a while he was led away from the celebration by Israeli Border police. He continued to film from outside attempting to provoke the Palestinians behind the fence.
“I think the colourful event expressed the Palestinian’s Sumud (Arabic for stedfastness) against the occupation and discrimination they face on a daily basis,“ another ISM’er said.
4th April 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Shuhada checkpoint gate. To the left, the closed-off room through which one must deal with Israeli forces behind a bullet-proof screen before being allowed – or denied – passage.
Earlier this month, an international woman was ordered to ‘take off her clothes’ after setting off the alarm whilst passing the metal detector at Shuhada checkpoint, occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). This is a personal journal of the events.
Humiliation, harassment, intimidation – a daily occurance for anyone required by the Israeli occupying forces to pass through Shuhada checkpoint to reach their home. This is how the Israeli occupation makes it’s presence felt and enforces its inhumanity, and it rarely comes as a surprise anymore. Still, when the metal detector alarm sounds and the soldier nonchalantly tells a woman to ‘take off her clothes’, she’s is taken aback: Who gave them the right to even ask something like that? Do they not have the tiniest bit of decency? Do they think that their automatic weapons – ready to shoot at any time – give them the right to make such a request?
Inside the checkpoint – in a room closed to outside observation – heavily armed, stern-faced young soldiers ask a woman to undress. It is painfully apparent that this is not simply a bad joke. The small room begins to feel as though it’s getting smaller and smaller as more soldiers begin to enter from outside and gather behind the bullet-proof glass. With all their buddies present for this show of power and superiority, one of them claims that it’s just for “security” – to ask a person to remove their clothing in plain view of heavily-armed soldiers. It’s “just about security” when they tell you that, if you’re not willing to take off your clothes, you’re hiding a gun – all the while firmly gripping theirs.
How dare a woman have the audacity not to immediately follow an occupying soldiers’ orders? To even dare to call out their lack of decency? But occupation has never heard of human dignity. To the eyes of the occupation, having a number male soldiers and surveillance cameras watch at arms length whilst a female soldier commands a woman to get undressed in a checkpoint just another part of the routine treatment of the occupied population. Just another case of a heavily-armed Israeli soldier ordering someone to do as he wishes as a show of power: a power bestowed upon him by a machine-gun and the knowledge of the unfaltering support and impunity – both social and military – behind his actions.
When it is finally discovered to be the woman’s boots setting off the alarm (a daily and usually unproblematic occurance) and noone cares to check the boots nor the woman’s bag, it is clear that the objective here is not security but humiliation. But this is how the Israeli occupation operates: by inflicting the most humiliation possible on the occupied population to break its spirit. Humiliation, humiliation, humalition. Day in and day out.
6th of December 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Israeli forces take over streets of Wadi Al-Hurriya, stop and search cars (ISM archives)
Palestinians living in the Israeli militarily occupied West Bank face discrimination, racism and humiliation at the hands of Israeli forces on an everyday basis. Humiliation is entrenched in every aspect of daily life under the Israeli occupation. The message is clear: as a Palestinian you are always perceived as a threat, a possible terrorist or a menace – but never as a human being.
As a Palestinian citizen of the West Bank, freedom of movement is severely restricted and rather resembles trying to navigate a maze of road-blocks, permanent checkpoints and temporary ‘flying checkpoints’ that can suddenly pop up anywhere. All of these restrictions share one commonality: they are clearly intended to target only Palestinians – while Israeli settlers from the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank are using roads that might not even be allowed for Palestinians to drive on.
In occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), the Israeli bus collecting passengers from the illegal settlements is not allowed for Palestinians to ride on, and thus passes Bethlehem checkpoint on the way to Jerusalem without even stopping – all the passengers are Israeli settlers anyways. On the Palestinian bus going through the same checkpoint, everyone, with the exception of tourists and elderly, are forced to get off the bus and wait for their IDs to be checked outside in any weather, and often their bags inspected by heavily-armed soldiers.
Israeli soldiers and the flying checkpoint outside the village
Right during rush hour on Thursday afternoon, Israeli forces set up checkpoints at all the entrances of occupied al-Khalil, resulting in endless queues of cars, on their way to visit family over the weekend on Friday and Saturday. As two soldiers thoroughly checked every passenger’s ID and car going in both directions, the queues grew longer and even ambulances with emergencies were denied passage and held up for at least ten minutes while being checked – ten minutes that hopefully weren’t critical for the emergency the ambulance was attempting to quickly get to. As Israeli forces strategically blocked every possible way to leave or enter al-Khalil either by permanent road-blocks completely blocking any sort of traffic except pedestrians or temporary checkpoints; there was no possible alternative than to either turn around and stay inside the city or to endure at least two hours of waiting to eventually be allowed to pass this checkpoint.
Finally passing one checkpoint successfully, though, in militarily occupied Palestine basically doesn’t mean anything: just a few hundred meters down the street might be another checkpoint. Palestinians try to avoid Gush Etzion junction on the way to Bethlehem, as settlers often attack Palestinians cars there, and soldiers stop and search cars with Palestinian license plates only; they take a detour through Palestinian villages. But in order to make the near-lockdown of al-Khalil ‘perfect’, Israeli forces set up checkpoints at entrances and exits of Sa’ir village. Thus, after an hour-long wait to leave al-Khalil city itself, Palestinian cars were stuck in yet another checkpoint just a twenty minutes drive away.
Waiting in the dark for seemingly endless hours to move ahead just one or two more meters in the line as a car was allowed to pass – or turned around, giving up the hope of ever crossing that night at all; Israeli settler cars speed past on a nearby road without any hurdles or hassles, just ‘normaly’ driving down a road at night. When finally slowly approaching the make-shift checkpoint with traffic spikes on the street, cars have to switch off their lights, so people next in line will only hazily see what’s going on. Once it’s their turn, everyone inside the car has to get out and stand a few meters away from the soldiers, while they inspect the IDs and cars. Depending on the soldiers mood, some people, mainly young adult males, will have to lift up their shirts and trouser-legs; while others will have to answer questions about their destinations and the reason of travels, and even about their families and private life. The only thing that is for sure is that you can never tell what will happen. The power dynamics is clear, the heavily armed soldiers have the ‘authority’ to decide over everything, the Palestinian passengers will have to obey whatever is asked of them. That none of this has to do with ‘security’ but everything with control and humiliation is obvious. This is the face of just a tiny little aspect of the everyday humiliation defining this military occupation.
Humiliation doesn’t even stop with death – the Israeli forces are still withholding the bodies of Palestinians they claim attacked Israeli soldiers – refusing an appropriate funeral and mourning for their families, relatives and friends. Denying even a last peaceful rest and a person’s family to mourn the death of a loved one is the last possible way to humiliate. Not even in death, does the humiliation stop or are Palestinians treated like human beings.
