21th February 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
On February 20, Israel forces threw at least thirty stun grenades and ten tear gas grenades at a peaceful Palestinian protest.
Residents of occupied Hebron (Al-Khalil) were demonstrating against the closure of Shuhada Street, a former economic centre in Al-Khalil. The street, running through the middle of a once-thriving neighbourhood near Al-Khalil’s Old City, was once an important market. The shops on the street were first closed in 1994, following the Ibrahimi mosque massacre, when an Israeli settler killed 29 Palestinians at prayer. The street was fully closed to all Palestinian pedestrian and vehicular access in 2000. The protest held was organized as a preview of the annual “Open Shuhada Street” event, postponed to the 27th because of the weather conditions.
The protest began in Bab Al-Zawiye at 11.30 am, in a city covered by a thick layer of snow. Around one hundred and fifty Palestinians took the street through the old city’s souq (market) towards the Ibrahimi Mosque. Arriving in front of the Israeli military base in the illegal Beit Romano settlement, protesters sang and waved flags even as Israeli forces assaulted them with stun grenades.
Israeli forces advanced outside the base and threw several rounds of stun grenades and tear gas grenades. The protesters did not abandon the street, and faced the army with a determination still unwavering even after two individuals suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation.
After singing an arabic version of “Bella Ciao,” demonstrators returned to Bab Al-Zawiye, outside of Shuhada checkpoint. As tensions rose some youth threw stones towards the checkpoint, and Israeli forces again shot tear gas grenades at the protest.
Later, Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian youth in Tel Rumeida, on the suspicion of participating in the protest. He was released a short time later.
17 February 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Bil’in, Occupied Palestine
On Friday 13th February, Israeli forces assaulted the demonstration in Bil’in with hundreds of tear gas rounds, dozens of stun grenades and pepper spray, injuring eleven Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators. Member of the Bil’in popular committee Mohammed Khatib and a UK citizen and solidarity volunteer Michael “Mick” Bowman were both violently arrested. At the demonstration, Palestinian activists carried posters honoring Kayla Mueller and condemning the murders of the three students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Demonstrators holding posters, cameras and Palestinian flags flee tear gas (photo by ISM)
“As people were protesting a soldier suddenly came running, wielding pepper spray, spraying it at journalists and activists indiscriminately,” reported Karam Saleem, a Palestinian activist present documenting the demonstration. Those who had been pepper sprayed, including Mohammed Khatib, were taken down to an ambulance to treat their burns. Saleem continued, “Mohammed was about twenty meters away from the main part of the protest, still suffering from pepper spray, when suddenly a soldier ran after him and grabbed him. Another five soldiers quickly surrounded him and shoved him violently to the ground.”
Mohammed Khatib being arrested (he is holding a poster of Kayla Mueller)
He was handcuffed and blindfolded before being loaded into a military jeep.
Mohammed Khatib was first pepper sprayed, then violently arrested, handcuffed and blindfolded
Israeli forces targeted journalists and those attempting to document the protest; many were shoved and threatened while attempting to photograph or film. Those present reported that the Israeli military also fired tear gas directly at people holding cameras.
Journalist being assaulted by Israeli forces – only one of many that Friday in Bil’in (photo by ISM)
Israeli forces pepper sprayed demonstrators who were doing nothing more that trying to photograph the army’s brutality, and also pepper sprayed those holding posters of Kayla Mueller and the three US students from Chapel Hill. Jameel Al-Barghouthi, head of the Palestinian Authority Committee Against the Apartheid Wall and Settlements, Munthir Amira, head of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC), Mohammed Khatib, a member of Bil’in’s Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, Issam Rimawi, a Palestinian photojournalist, two Palestinian activists Abdallah Elian and Kafah Mansour, British citizen and activist Mick Bowman, two female Israeli activists, and one Danish and one Dutch female international volunteer were all injured.
“The army was extremely brutal yesterday in their use of tear gas, beatings, and pepper spray,” recalled Tali Shapiro, an Israeli activist who was severely pepper sprayed in Friday’s demonstration, suffering from first degree burns on her hands, ears, and most of her throat and neck. “We saw they were beating and arresting someone (Mohammed Khatib), so I ran towards them. By the time I got up the hill Mohammed had been taken away and another man [Mick] was on the ground with many soldiers on top of him, twisting his limbs and head. I immediately took out my phone to take pictures. The soldiers started pushing away journalists. They formed a line in front of several of us, and before I could assess the situation another soldier sprayed my face with pepper spray.”
Activist Tali Shapiro after being severely pepper sprayed (photo by ISM)
Fifty-six-year-old Mick Bowman, a social worker and resident of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, recalled that in the time before his arrest, “the Israeli forces behaved with particular aggression towards protesters who were carrying the posters of Kayla and of the students from Chapel Hill North Carolina.” Border police threw stun grenades directly towards demonstrators, scattering those holding posters near the front of the protest.
“Next thing I knew,” Mick recalled, “three or four soldiers jumped on me from behind and forced me to the ground. I was lying face downwards, with a couple of them kneeling on my back.
Mick Bowman, knelt on, assaulted and pepper sprayed by Israeli border police arresting him (photo by ISM)
As they were handcuffing me, one of them stood on my hand, rubbing his boot back and forth and crushing my thumb. One of them grabbed my nostrils, and another was pressing down on my face, causing abrasions and bruising around my right eye. After they had handcuffed me, a border policeman also pepper sprayed the left side of my face from the distance of a few inches.”
Mick Bowman being dragged to the military jeep, just after being pepper sprayed
After their arrest, Mohammed and Mick were transported to the Binyamin settlement police station. Mohammed Khatib was taken to Ofer military prison and Michael Bowman was taken to Muskubiya (the Russian Compound) prison in Jerusalem. Both were charged with ‘assaulting a soldier.’
“When police officers use violence they always claim that violence was used against them. It’s standard procedure” explained Mohammed Khatib. Mick was released on the evening of February 14th, and Mohammed was eventually released on the evening of February 15th, on a bail of 4,000 shekels (1,030 USD).
Abdullah Abu Rahma, head of the Bil’in popular committee, described the purpose of demonstration in Bil’in: “On Friday we protested against the theft of our land by Israel’s illegal wall and settlements and to express our resistance to terrorism everywhere. We carried the images of Kayla Mueller who was killed while being held captive by Da’esh and who had marched with us in Bil’in. We also carried the images of Deah Barakat, Yusor Mohammad, and Razan Abu-Salha, who were murdered in their home in North Carolina. We made it clear that we will oppose terrorism and the killing of innocent people whether it is committed by organizations like Da’esh, by states like Israel or by individuals like the murderer from Chapel Hill.” This Friday will mark the tenth anniversary of Bil’in’s popular resistance demonstrations – against the Apartheid Wall, against the Israeli occupation, and against oppression and violence everywhere.
Palestinian demonstrators holding posters of Kayla and of the three murdered in North Carolina. The one of the Chapel Hill students reads “to resist terrorism everywhere”
5th February 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
On Monday, February 2nd, Palestinian demonstrators faced military violence at the hands of Israeli forces in occupied Al-Khalil (Hebron). Protesters gathered in Bab Al-Zawiye, on the H1 (Palestinian administered) side of Shuhada checkpoint, to denounce Israeli president Reuven Rivlin’s visit to the illegal Israeli settlement of Beit Hadassah. Israeli sodliers and border police fired rounds of tear gas and numerous stun grenades, injuring at least two protesters.
The demonstration was organised by local Palestinian organisation Youth Against Settlements against the visit of the Israeli president to the settlement, which is illegal under international law and serves as a frequent source of oppression and violence against local Palestinians. Palestinians claimed their own rights, trampled by the military occupation, in the face of the visit’s attempt to legitimate the settler colonisation. Some signs called for opening the once vibrant and now closed Shuhada street, some for an end to the illegal settlements, some for President Rivlin to be brought before the International Criminal Court.
Around fifty Palestinians began the demonstration outside of Shuhada Checkpoint, holding signs and banners and hanging Palestinian flags on the fence. Israeli forces stopped them from passing through the checkpoint, preventing them from protesting on Shuhada street, near where the president was due to speak. As protesters continued to demonstrate, holding signs, waving flags and chanting for an end to occupation, a group of Israeli soldiers and border police exited the checkpoint and pushed protesters further back. Soldiers also occupied the roofs overlooking Bab Al-Zawiye “I just heard a soldier on a roof say ‘okay, enough’ and five minutes later they started throwing stun grenades and tear gas,” stated an ISM activist. “It was extremely sudden, and very scary.”
Israeli forces targetted Palestinian activists and organizers, hitting many in the legs with stun grenades and tear gas grenades. One man was hit directly with a stun grenade, which detonated right by his leg. “He screamed and fell down, rolling on the ground” one ISM activist recalled. Another man was also hit in the head with a stun grenade after the Israeli forces continued to use potentially lethal force against unarmed Palestinian protesters.
Demonstrators then attempted to continue the protest into the souq (Al-Khalil’s Old City market), but Israeli forces threatened them with stun grenades and prevented them from advancing. The protesters decided to go back after the army launched one stun grenade directly into the group of demonstrators. The protest eventually dispersed in Bab Al-Zawiye, after being targetted by a few more rounds of tear gas grenades.
25th January 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | As Sawiya, Occupied Palestine
On January 24th, 2015, ISM activists visited As Sawiya, a Palestinian village located near Salfit. The village is home to around 3,500 people. Seven mountains surround the village; much of the land is occupied by three illegal Israeli settlements – Eli, Rechelim, and Ma´ale Levona. As Sawiya suffers many injustices under Israeli occupation, including military and settler violence against the village’s residents, lands, homes, and schools.
Construction of the illegal settlement of Eli began in 1982. Since settlement construction began, the village of As Sawiya has been subject to constant settler violence and expansion. During the olive harvest of 2005, Israeli settlers attacked farmers, leaving three Palestinians injured. Israeli settlers also stole a resident´s horse. As a result of this constant settler violence, Palestinians have been unable to consistently plant or harvest their fields. The Israeli military has used this disuse to justify declaring many of the fields ¨unoccupied,¨ using this twisted logic to rationalise their confiscation for further settlement expansion. Approximately 1,500 dunams of land has been confiscated from the village for nearby settlements. In addition to intimidation and confiscation, village residents are robbed of their village spring, trees, and other agricultural resources by settlers.
Nearby settlement as seen from the Palestinian village of As Sawiya – photo by ISM
The children of As Sawiya have experienced extreme violence at the hands of the occupation forces and Israeli settlers. Villagers described how the children are facing increased military presence and settler violence at As Sawiya’s local school. Israeli settlers have instigated many violent incidents. Accusing children of throwing stones at them, Israeli settlers attacked children and called in the Israeli army, who then threw stun grenades directly into groups of children around the school. There have been recent incidents in which over 60 Israeli soldiers surrounded the school.
The villagers of As Sawiya have attempted to provide protection for their young by constructing a high wall around the school. This has had the unfortunate side effect of isolating the students from the view outside their windows and inhibiting what was once easy street access to the building. This restricted access also makes students outside more vulnerable to attacks, as it limits their entry points into the building. In 2010, Israeli settlers set fire to the secondary girls’ school in the village, causing severe damage to both the building and local Palestinian girls’ education.
The gate of the village school – photo by ISM
The village of As Sawiya has sought to build a bus station in recent years, but have faced many difficulties. Located in Area C of the West Bank and therefore under Israeli civilian and military control, all construction requires Israeli approval, which is nearly impossible to obtain. Numerous requests by the village have been rejected, declared “illegal¨ because of ¨security reasons,¨ according to Israeli military authorities.
31st December | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
At approximately 14:30 yesterday afternoon, ISM activists approaching Checkpoint 56 from both directions found that it was closed and Palestinians were stuck on either side. Israeli soldiers gave conflicting excuses for closing the checkpoint, none of which were supported by any apparent evidence.
On the H2 (Israeli controlled) side of the checkpoint, ISM members were told that a youth had thrown a Molotov cocktail from the H1 (Palestinian Authority controlled) side. On the H1 side, a soldier shouted down to an activist: “Hey! You speak English? Tell the people we cannot open the checkpoint because the people on the other side are throwing stones!”
However, there were no stones on either side, nor were there broken glass or large patches of liquid on the ground as would be seen from a Molotov cocktail. A survey of the area showed nothing at all out of the ordinary.
This did not stop the soldiers from behaving in a crude manner, as shown in the video below. Palestinian human rights activist Issa Amro asked the soldiers why the people below, who were causing no problems, couldn’t pass. The soldier in the observation box shouted, “I hate you! F*** you! I’m gonna eat you!” The soldiers also launched a sound grenade, also without any apparent reason. When asked by an ISM activist why they would not open the checkpoint, the soldier simply referred to his commander.
Checkpoint 56 not only separates H1 and H2, but separates many Palestinians from their homes and workplaces. Hundreds of people, including children, pass through the checkpoint every week and are subject to random searches and detentions, which disrupt their day-to-day activities. Checkpoint closures like this are one more form of harassment people have become accustomed to because they can happen at any time.
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