Tag: stun grenade

Settler holidays violently disrupting Palestinian every day life

10th November 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday in the Palestinian city Al-Khalil(Hebron) there was a large military presence in the area due to the coming Jewish holiday, The feast of Sarah. Solders from the Israeli military detained Palestinians, prevented children from getting to their schools, and shot rounds of tear gas and sound bombs at school children.

Two teachers are turned back from the checkpoint at Ziad Jaber School. They were prevented from accessing the school for a good 15 minutes.

Israeli Military forces prevent teachers from getting to work

At around 9 am this morning, a group of 100 soldiers and 9 military vehicles moved from the area of the Ibrahimi Mosque, gathering at the checkpoint by the Ziad Jaber Elementary school. There, Israeli soldiers blocked two Palestinian teachers from moving through the checkpoint to get to work for 10-15 minutes. Students were slowly allowed to find their way through the large group of soldiers to the school. A group of soldiers then attempted to intimidate ISM activists monitoring the situation.

Large groups of soldiers were observed searching streets around the school and looking over the school walls with their weapons. One of the soldiers justified the excessive military presence with the claim that a child had thrown some stones. During the blockade and search of the area local people were prevented from passing for over half an hour.

A pregnant Palestinian woman maintains her dignity with occupations soldiers who have invaded the H1 Palestinian area of the Salaymeh neighbourhood. Her request to pass was finally granted after a 10 minute delay.

Though the school has suffered many difficulties for years as a result of the occupation a teacher commented, “We have never had anything like this before.” When the situation had dissipated, the ISM activists followed a large group of soldiers down prayer road through the Salayme checkpoint to the Tareq Bin Ziad shopping centre. Soldiers randomly stopped Palestinians who were with younger children sometimes holding their passport at least for 15 minutes and restricted movement of cars and pedestrians through the area. Soldiers entered at least four buildings around the intersection and were seen on roofs and in upstairs windows with their weapons as others patrolled side streets sometimes letting off sound bombs for no observable reason. After approximately half an hour the soldiers began to retreat into the H2 Israeli controlled area. As they retreated Palestinians emerged from their houses and young people began to protest the invasion of their neighbourhood and the suppression of their commemoration of Yasser Arafat’s death. The retreating soldiers responded with sound bombs and tear gas.

A Palestinian school declared a closed Military zone

During this time, another ISM team were at the other end of the neighbourhood down the street from the Qeitun checkpoint. Students from the Tareq Bin Ziad School had been prevented by the Israeli army from doing the annual parade by their scout group to commemorate Yasser Arafat’s death. Many soldiers blocked the area around the school and declared it a military zone. A teacher told the activists that the army tried to enter Hajirriya School, where students had found refuge to, arrest some of them. Luckily, teachers managed to stop the soldiers who still blocked off the street forbidding anybody to pass. Some soldiers took up positions on a neighbour’s roof here too.

Soldiers positioned on a roofs in Salaymeh.

From the outset, the soldiers made it clear that the parade was out of question. After the initial attempt to enter the school, they kept blocking the entrance as many more soldiers showed up. After more than half an hour of negotiation between the soldiers and the school Principle, other teachers and some observers from the organization TIPH, the commander authorised the passage of Tareq Bin Ziad Secondary School teachers and their respective pupils. They eventually reached the Tareq Bin Ziad school under the strict surveillance of soldiers to start their school day.

Meanwhile, back in the Hajirriya School, the daily activities started as normally as possible. “We’re used to that” said a teacher in the Headmaster’s office, while he poured the coffee for one of the ISMers who was there.

Soldiers and armoured Vehiciles at the Jaber Junction checkpoint.

Soldiers throw sound bombs into groups of children

At roughly 12:00 PM, following the clashes in the Salaymeh neighbourhood the younger half of the students were leaving the Zaid Jaber School for the day. Another ISM activist witnessed the detention of the headmaster of the school, Muhanned Azam. The soldiers at the checkpoint near the school kept him in the sun for over half an hour without any reason or charges against him. As the older half of the students were leaving, many gathered around him in support, sitting with peace signs raised and singing Palestinian songs. As they sang more soldiers arrived to suppress their nonviolent protest.

The Headmaster of Ziad Jaber School is detained by Israeli occupation forces.

At roughly 12:35, two teachers who were leaving for the day, Ibrahim Zahida and Rashad Irziqat were pulled aside, arbitrarily detained, and ultimately arrested on the pretence that they were interfering with the soldiers’ operations. They were taken to the Jabara Police Station in H2 for questioning. The soldiers also threw a sound bomb into a crowd of children, teachers, and journalists who had gathered to observe and document the scene.

Student from the school gather in solidarity with the detained headmaster.

Later that afternoon groups of settlers from nearby illegal settlements were seen peeing on the streets and filming Palestinian children aggressively. Two settlers were spotted in a window yelling at young Palestinian children “Porn, Pornography” and other sexual references. When confronted about it by Palestinians, the settlers just laughed. “We were just sitting there drinking coffee when they came out of the windows yelling dirty words at the kids. They have no respect,” an nearby ISMer said. A few minutes after that incident a 30-year-old Palestinian man was arrested by the Ibrahimi mosque after being detained for over three hours.

Soldiers from the Israeli military pose in front of a Palestinian house in H2.

The situation in Hebron is tense at the moment due to the Jewish holiday, The Feast of Sarah. The Israeli Military has, from this afternoon, prevented Palestinians from entering the Ibrahimi mosque. The large military presence and the restrictions of Palestinian daily life are expected to continue over the weekend.

Teachers negotiating with soldiers to reach the school with their students.

Kafr Qaddoum: Israeli forces shoot Palestinian journalist

3th of March, 2017 | Popular Resistance Committee of Kafr Qaddum | Occupied Palestine

Today, at the weekly Friday protest in Kafr Qaddoum, a large number of Israeli Forces raided the village and fired large amounts of live ammunition, rubber coated steel bullets, stun grenades and teargas at Palestinian protesters. One journalist, from Palestine TV, was shot in the head with a rubber coated steel bullet. A group of masked Israeli soldiers also took his telephone, and deleted all of his pictures and videos from the demonstration. The journalist is alive, but will be hospitalized over the night. Later a large number of masked Israeli Forces raided the village, trying to arrest Palestinians, and entering the house of a Palestinian family, scaring the crying children.

Palestinian protesters marching in Kafr Qaddoum, against the illegal closure of their road to Nablus

The protest started with a march at 12.30, after the Friday noon prayer in the local mosque of Kafr Qaddoum. A large group of Palestinians, journalists, and a few Israeli and international activists marched from the mosque towards the closed road that used to connect Kafr Qaddoum with the large city of Nablus.

After marching for around 30 meters, three Israeli Military jeeps and large numbers of Israeli forces arrived. They opened fire on the Palestinian protesters, who retreated back further into the village. Between 1 PM and 3 PM, Israeli forces continuously fired live ammunition, rubber coated steel bullets, stun grenades and teargas at the Palestinian protesters.

At several points, masked Israeli soldiers stormed the village, in an attempt to arrest the protesters. At one point, a large group of masked Israeli soldiers, entered the house of a Palestinian family, who were not participating in the demonstration. From outside the house, Palestinian children were heard screaming and crying, and Israeli soldiers were yelling intensely at the people inside the house.

Large number of Israeli Forces invading the Palestinian village Kfar Qaddoum — Israeli Forces invading the Palestinian village Kfar Qaddoum

Ahmad, a journalist from Palestine TV, was shot in the head by Israeli forces with a rubber coated steel bullet, and was bleeding heavily from his forehead. Israeli soldiers also took his private telephone, and deleted all of the pictures and videos he had made of Israeli soldiers firing live ammunition at Palestinian protesters. The journalist is now hospitalized, where he will stay under supervision over the night.

Palestinian journalist shot in the face by Israeli Forces with rubber coated steel bullets.

A local organizer of the protest described the situation as the feeling of “… a real war, with constant bullets being fired from 1 PM to 3 PM. Children crying and screaming. The situation was so terrifying.”

Israeli Forces fired large amount of live ammunition and rubber coated steel bullets at civilian palestinian protesters — Israeli Forces fired a large amount of live ammunition and rubber coated steel bullets at civilian palestinian protesters

Prior to the protest, Israeli Forces had also set up a roadblock at the entrance to the village, pulling cars over and checking people’s IDs, as an act of collective punishment.

For five years the people of Kafr Qaddum have been holding weekly demonstrations, protesting the closure of their main road to Nablus and the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlement of Kedumim, which surrounds the village. In 2003, the road was sealed permanently by an Israeli roadblock, extending the fifteen minute commute to Nablus to about forty minutes. The roadblock has had severe economic consequences for the people of Kafr Qaddum, as many who once worked in nearby Nablus have had to seek alternatives. The United Nations estimates that movement restrictions imposed by the Israeli Occupation, such as the situation in Kafr Qaddum, cost Palestine about 185 million USD each year.

After more than five years of weekly demonstrations, Kafr Qaddum continues to resist.

Achieving education under occupation

31st August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

The 28th of August 2016, a new school year in occupied Palestine has started after a 3-month summer holiday. In the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron), Palestinian children living in the H2-area, under full Israeli military control, are posed with a maze of checkpoints they have to navigate through back and forth from school.

In the area near the Ibrahimi mosque, a cluster of schools is located past the newly-‘renovated’ Salaymeh and Queitun checkpoints. In the Tel Rumeida neighborhood, that was formerly a closed military zone for several months, in addition to the checkpoints there’s a staircase closed by the Israeli forces and the ever-present threat of attacks, carried out by settlers from the nearby illegal settlements. These three checkpoints share the new layout of highly militarized and fenced off checkpoints. Usually only one person at a time is allowed to access the ‘box’ where ID-checks, bag-searches, questioning and humiliation takes place. Any other person trying to pass the checkpoint in the meantime is forced to wait behind a locked turnstile, that Israeli forces arbitrarily decide to keep locked to make people wait for an unknown amount of time.

Children forced to persuade soldiers to open the checkpoint-gate at Shuhada checkpoint

Around the Salaymeh and Queitun checkpoints, students, teachers and residents of the area additionally face tear gas that Israeli forces shoot from their comfort-zones at the checkpoints, often straight towards the schools. This form of collective punishment affects not only all the schools, but the whole neighborhood, when tear gas clouds linger in the streets. On Monday afternoon, when kids made their way home from school through Salaymeh checkpoint, Israeli forces shot a total of 10 tear gas canisters towards a group of boys throwing pebbles at the highly militarized and barricaded checkpoint, leaving many students choking from the supposedly ‘less-lethal’ gas. Wednesday morning, at Queitun checkpoint, 4 tear gas canisters were fired by the Israeli forces, at least one of which was directed horizontally at the children – in direct contradiction to instructions to shoot the ‘less-lethal’ gas in an arch over the head of persons in order to avoid serious injury and death of persons. Shooting in a straight line at the children, Israeli forces deliberately risk to hit a child with these extremely fast and thus dangerous canisters, that already have caused serious injuries and death of Palestinians in occupied Palestine.

Children running away from tear gas shot by Israeli Forces at Salaymeh checkpoint

On Thursday, Israeli forces locked the Ibrahimi Mosque checkpoint, entirely denying students and teachers passing in any direction access to their schools, without prior notice.

This is only the first week of school for children in Palestine, but Israeli forces are already using their routine harassment, intimidation and possibly deadly violence against children resisting this illegal and vicious occupation by the simple fact that despite the increasing efforts of the Israeli forces to make them disappear, they strive to achieve a good education.

School-children tear-gassed on 2nd day of school

29th August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

On 29th August 2016 Israeli forces at Salaymeh checkpoint in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), fired rounds of tear gas as school-children attempted to make their way home through the highly militarised checkpoint.

The Salaymeh checkpoint, for many school-children, is one of the unavoidable checkpoints on the daily way to school and back home. At the highly militarised structures, the children attending schools and kindergartens in the area, are subject to bag-searches, harassment, questioning and detention by the Israeli forces.

On Monday, the second day of school after the 3-month summer holidays, as children were starting to pour out of the schools around noon, Israeli forces threw a stun grenade towards a group of children. Instead, it landed right in front of a girl quietly making her way towards the checkpoint on her way home. Scared by the stun grenade flying towards her and the lound boom of the explosion she ran away in the opposite direction in tears. In the meantime, at the checkpoint, children were repeatedly yelled at ‘to wait’ as Israeli forces refused to open the gate for them to go through the checkpoint in order to reach the other side. Israeli forces were heard yelling at children several times, and ordered a few boys to show them their hands in order to ‘prove’ stone-throwing if they are having dirty hands.

Children running away from the tear gas shot by Israeli Forces

Just a little later, Israeli forces fired rounds of tear gas in the direction of the schools, thus collectivly punishing not only all the school-children, but the whole neighborhood. As the tear gas canisters spread their supposedly ‘less-lethal’ gas and covered the area with the poisonous gas, some children escaped the clouds crying with their eyes red from the gas and coughing when choking on the gas.

This kind of excessive force and collective punishment by the Israeli forces, is just one aspect of the Israeli military occupation these school-children are forced to endure on a daily basis.

Palestinian school children tear gassed by shameful Israeli forces

26th February 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Salaymeh checkpoint in occupied Al-Khalil (Hebron) is notorious for Israeli forces using live ammunition, tear gas and stun grenades to willfully wound, frighten, intimidate and demoralize Palestinan school children on a daily basis. In one of the most grotesque examples of this inhumane Zionist occupation, this checkpoint see’s scared Palestinian kids, many aged five years old and younger, cross through under the protection of their parents and international activists. Their presence is essential to desperately attempt to ensure the sacred lives of these innocent children are kept safe from aggressive Israeli forces. All those involved are regularly exposed to brutal acts of violence with Israeli soldiers almost never being held accountable. On Thursday the 25^th of February, just 11 days after Yasmin al-Zarour was gunned down at the soon to be upgraded checkpoint, for Israeli ‘security purposes’, Palestinian children and woman were attacked by multiple units of the occupying forces as they attempted to get to where all children should have a right to peacefully enter, school.

Palestinian children submissively pass through the Salaymeh checkpoint under the protection of their mothers, fathers, older siblings or international activists. Collectively, these groups of individuals are there to ensure the safety of the children and to limit the dehumazing behaviour of the Israeli soldiers towards the young kids. After being herded through like sheep, a group of young kids decide to return from their school and express their objection towards this brutal occupancy. Much to the anger of the rest of the Palestinian community, the kids throw stones at the soldiers then quickly retreat to their school. This small act of defiance is met with an extreme show of power and violence from the Israeli military. A stun grenade is immediately hurled down the school street by a soldier, scaring off confused and unaware children. At this point, the Israeli forces rush to prepare their full combat gear, putting on their armoured helmets and collecting tear gas grenades and cannisters, all in an effort to pursue the already retreating school children.

Israeli soldiers rush to their full combat gear in preparation for invading the school zone

As if the Israeli forces dominance over the stone throwing children is not already apparent by the extreme imbalance of force shown, fully armoured Israeli soldiers rush beyond the checkpoint into the busy school street. Waving guns in an attempt to scare any innocent bystanders in the process, the soldiers make their way to the Palestinian school. Carefully positioning themselves for the optimal angle, the Israeli commander of the unit teaches a fumbling soldier how to load his assualt rifle with tear gas, then proceeds to fire it towards woman and children. Tear gas soon fills the street and leaves many school children and their protective families struggling to see and breath.

Israeli commander instructs his soldier on how to fire a tear gas grenade at fleeing Palestinian children

Local Palestinian woman and children were the target of Israeli forces tear gas

“This is our third day in a row at this checkpoint and each day its gotten progressively worse. First with stun grenades, then tear gas and assault rifles with the safety pins removed. The soldiers are out of control. It’s beyond shocking. Back home we wouldn’t even have a reference point for this craziness. It’s impossible to contemplate until you actually come here and witness occupation. No one in there would ever imagine that this happens to children in this day and age.” ISM activist on the scene.

Israeli forces continue to encroach into a school zone after already tear gassing the retreating children

A second unit of Israeli forces then enters from the adjacent street, pushing deeper into the school zone as the other unit pulls back. With their safety pins removed and their assault rifles darting from one innocent child to another, soldiers assert their dominance over the unarmed Palestinian people and even begin threatening local drivers in their cars at gun point.

“At one point I thought the Palestinian driver was going to be killed for sure. The soldier was yelling at him in Hebrew whilst walking with the car back in reverse before the poor driver just eventually sped off for his life. An innocent driver… Madness.” Human rights defender.

Israeli soldier threatens to open fire on innocent Palestinian driver whilst soldiers continue to target the school children

“The children? Haha… I am a man… I am THE man.” An Israeli soldier’s response to an activist when questioned about his moral decision to throw a stun grenade at young Palestinian children.

The attrocities experienced by these young Palestinian children are not isolated. They are occurring every day. And they are occurring to Palestinian kids all over the occupied territories. Even with the presence of internationals to bring an element of desperately needed accountability to this horrific occupation, Israeli forces still show no mercy towards the Palestinian people. But with sorrow comes opportunity. An opportunity for the world to come together and bring about positive change. Regarding an issue that is unanimously regarded as sacred, the safety and wellbeing of children is something that no legitimate governing state would ever compromise. With the fragile lives of these children in the balance, it is up to the rest of the world to join together in unity and demand an end to this barbaric treatment and Israel’s apartheid regime.