Tag: Tear-Gas Canister - Page 24 - International Solidarity Movement

Military repression following a settler attack in Qusra

7th January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Nablus District, Occupied Palestine

On the 7th of January in Qusra, two farmers working on their land were threatened by settlers carrying guns. Villagers helped them to chase the invaders away before being violently repressed by the army.

On Friday, at 10:30 a.m., two Palestinian farmers were working their land around the village of Qusra when they were ordered by two armed settlers to stop their work and leave the area. The two farmers refused to obey, and called members of the municipality. Soon, about 50 villagers reached the scene, immediately followed by seven Israeli military vehicles, most of them from the border police. They demanded all the Palestinians to leave the area within five minutes.

When the villagers refused to leave, the army began firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades. The attack lasted until 3:00 p.m. Seven Palestinians were injured; four of them were less than eighteen years old.

The two settlers responsible for the attack are from the illegal colonial outpost Raheir, totaling less than ten permanent residents.

Friday’s events mark the 65th recorded attack on the village of Qusra in the past two years. Since the beginning of January, 88 olive trees have been destroyed by the settlers and one young man suffered a severe head injury. In the year 2013, 870 olive trees were destroyed and 30 people were injured, five of them severely. 3,11 dunums of land were annexed and access to 500 more was declared forbidden for Palestinians for “security reasons .”

Photo by ISM — Israeli soldiers fire tear gas at the villagers of Qusra (Photo by Mohammed Abu Ridah)

UN presence at Kafr Qaddum demonstration leads to theatrics by Israeli forces

31st January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

In stark contrast to other Fridays, the weekly demonstration of Kafr Qaddum, in Qalqilya district, on 31^st January, 2014, was met with a cynical display of theatrics, in which Israeli forces attempted to portray themselves as peacemakers. The presence at the demonstration of a representative from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights led to unprecedented behavior by the soldiers.

For the first time since the demonstrations began in July 2011, an Israeli officer with a megaphone made several polite requests for demonstrators to return to their homes. A female officer was also brought forward and appeals were made to the protesters not to throw stones as there was a woman present. A smaller than usual amount of tear gas was used, although several protesters were hit by canisters aimed at body height.

The weekly demonstration held at Kufr Qaddum is notorious throughout the West Bank for the high level of violent repression employed by Israeli forces. In addition to violence during the demonstrations, Israeli forces carry out regular night raids and random arrests in the town.

Protesters demand access to the road connecting the town with Nablus, which has been closed since 2003. An Israeli court ruled in November 2010 that the road should be reopened, although the military continues to block it. The illegal settlement of Qedumin, whose construction involved the theft of 4000 dunums of land from the town of Kafr Qaddum, lies along this road.

Local residents and international human rights activists spoke with the UN representative, who informed them that UN OHCHR visits in the West Bank must always be coordinated through the Israeli military high command, thus explaining the unusual behaviour on the part of the soldiers.

Weekly protest at Kafr Qaddum met with exceptional violence

24th January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

On Friday 24^th January, 2014, the weekly demonstration in Kafr Qaddum, in the Qalqilya district, was repressed by excessive force, to a much greater extent than on most Fridays.

By 11:00 a.m., clashes had already broken out between local youths and Israeli soldiers and border police on the outskirts of the village. The demonstration was not due to begin until 12:00 p.m.

During the demonstration, Israeli forces fired high-velocity tear gas canisters at head height, as well as rubber-coated steel bullets. Five people were injured as a result.

A further seventeen people were treated for tear gas inhalation as canisters were fired both at protesters and into residents’ houses. Among those treated were an elderly woman and a two-month old baby.

In addition, Israeli border police detained one Palestinian for the duration of the demonstration. The man was in Kafr Qaddum on a social visit to his fiancée, and was captured in an ambush by Israeli forces. He was later released.

The people of Kafr Qaddum responded to the repression with stones.

Kafr Qaddum has held weekly demonstrations since July 2011 to protest against the closure of the road leading to Nablus, as well as the broader issue of the occupation itself. In recent months, the town has seen an escalation in the number of night raids and arrests of its inhabitants.

One Palestinian arrested during demonstration in Kafr Qaddum

03rd January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Today, at the weekly Kafr Qaddum demonstration, Israeli soldiers and border police violently suppressed the protest and arrested a Palestinian citizen.

Clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli soldiers erupted after the Friday prayer when the Israeli military began bulldozing pre-made stone barricades and military police jeeps drove into the village. Israeli soldiers fired many tear gas canisters at protesters and threw a large number of stun grenades.

During clashes on the north side of the hill, 24-years-old Aqel Shteiwi was arrested by Israeli forces. Several soldiers grabbed him and forced him into an Israeli border police jeep. He was taken to an unknown location. Several protesters also suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation and the demonstration lasted for over three hours.

The purpose of the weekly demonstration in Kafr Qaddum focuses on the closure of the main road that connects the village with Nablus. The road, which passes alongside the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Kedumim, was closed to Palestinian access. As a result, the journey to Nablus has increased from 15 minutes to 40 minutes. This has resulted in hardships because many residents travel daily to Nablus for work, studies, or health care.

Kafr Qaddum has also lost 4000 dunums of land to the five illegal Israeli settlements that surround the village. Farmers seeking to reach their lands face threats, attacks, and arrests. Some of the Palestinian-owned agricultural lands have been declared ‘closed military zones’ and illegal settlers regularly burn them. This demonstration follows two weeks in which several young men were arrested from Kafr Qaddum during night raids by Israeli forces. Just two days ago an 85-year-old villager died as a result of suffocation, after soldiers shot a tear gas canister into his home.

85-year-old Saeed Ali Gasser from Kafr Qaddum, killed by suffocation from tear gas

02nd January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday, Wednesday 1st January, Israeli forces raided the village of Kafr Qaddum during an anniversary march to commemorate the start of the Fatah movement, 49 years ago. Israeli soldiers and border police shot many tear gas canisters towards the villagers and into several houses.

One tear gas canister landed directly in the house of 85-year-old Saeed Ali Gasser. He was taken directly to the Nablus Speciality Hospital, where he suffocated as a result of gas inhalation. He died at 11 pm.

The funeral will be held this afternoon in the village of KAfr Qaddum.

In recent weeks there has been a steady escalation of night raids, increasingly violent repression of Friday demonstrations, flying checkpoints and seemingly arbitrary arrests. In the past month alone there have been more than twenty night raids on houses in the village.