Tag: Tear Gas - Page 14 - International Solidarity Movement

VIDEO: Israeli forces fire tear gas and stun grenades at children in Hebron

21st May 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

This morning in al-Khalil (Hebron), several children threw stones towards Checkpoint 29 on their way to school. At approximately 07:40, 13 Israeli soldiers and border police officers entered through the checkpoint and fired four tear gas grenades and four stun grenades at the children.

The incident began at 7:45 and lasted for approximately 30 minutes, which prevented the children from entering their schools, delaying the start of their end of year exams.

The Israeli military regularly intimidates and use weapons against school children in al-Khalil. On the 15th of May the Israeli military threw one stun grenade towards the schoolchildren, after one Israeli soldier drew the star of David on a car and wrote: I want peace.

School children also face detentions and arrests, with some as young as six-years-old.

When the exams finished today, and teachers and school children were on their way home the harassment began again. The Israeli military detained seven teachers for 20 minutes. One of the teachers spoke to an ISMer present: “We are used to this kind of violence and disturbance, the harassment is continuous and often twice a day”.

Photo story: Palestinians protest the deaths of two martyrs

17th May 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Ofer, Occupied Palestine

On the 16th May, Palestinians protest on the road to Ofer prison, following the murder of two Palestinian youths on the same road on the previous day during the Nakba Day protest. The youths, 22-year-old Muhammad Audah Abu al-Thahir and 17-year-old Nadim Siyam Nuwarah, were both shot with live ammunition.

The Israeli army launch another round of tear gas. Several protesters were carried from the scene by medical staff with breathing problems due to the amount of tear gas used.

Some protesters came prepared with gas masks.

A protester is treated for tear gas inhalation.

Another protester is treated for tear gas inhalation.

The tear gas canisters are hot. When they land on something flammable it will ignite. Here, the fire brigade try to extinguish a fire that had taken hold in a grassy field next to the protesters.

To protect themselves from being shot, the protesters use a metal skip. Israeli soldiers and border police were using live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets throughout the protest.

As the Israeli army use more tear gas canisters, another protester is carried away for treatment.

Protesters retreat following yet another round of tear gas.

A photojournalist makes his way back through the tear gas.

Protesters take cover as the Israeli army fires more rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition.

A protester fixes flags to a scaffold. The black flag represents the Palestinian refugees’ right to return following their expulsion in the Nakba of 1948.

Israeli soldiers take position on a nearby hill. The soldier in the middle is lining up to shoot rubber-coated steel bullets at the protesters.

A protester is shot in the leg with a rubber-coated steel bullet. Wounds from these bullets, if taken to the head or from shorter range to other parts of the body can be fatal.

Another protester is taken away for treatment after being shot in the foot with a rubber-coated steel bullet.

In all, four protesters were shot yesterday with rubber-coated steel bullets, one protester was hit with a tear gas canister in the face, another protester was shot in the face at close range with a foam-tipped projectile and one 16-year-old boy was shot in the leg with live ammunition.

Nakba Day demonstration in Al Walaja: “Al Walaja is one of the symbols of the past and present displacement”

16th May 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Al Walaja, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday 15^th May, villages from Al Walaja marched for their right of return, on a day marking the 66^th anniversary of the Nakba (catastrophe in Arabic). The demonstration was met with violent repression from Israeli forces with many tear gas canisters fired at the protesters.

In 1948, 70% of the population of Al Walaja was displaced and forced away from their land, as a result of the ethnic cleansing carried out by Israeli forces. After the six day war in 1967, half of the remaining land was occupied by the illegal settlements of Har Gilo and Gilo, leaving the village with only 15% of its original land.

66 years since the Nakba and the land in Al Walaja is in the so called “seam zone”. The seam zone is a term used to describe the land between the Green Line and the Apartheid wall. The seam zone is a closed area for Palestinians and is regulated by a permit system. Palestinians who live, work, and visit the area are forced to apply for a permit to enter the zone, controlled by Israeli authorities. The permit system in the seam zone consists of 12 different types of permits which, need to be renewed frequently and can easily be denied by the Israeli authorities. The apartheid wall (declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004) is also planned to surround the entire village, which will leave the residents with one entry and exit point.

For the Nakba day this year, over 64 associations called for a demonstration in Al Walaja, calling for the right of the Palestinians to reclaim and return to their own land.

“Al Walaja is one of the symbols of the past and present displacement,” said one of the speakers at the demonstration.

Many protesters arrived from different areas in the West Bank, including children the nearby Aida refugee camp

The demonstrators gathered in a large tent at the end of the village, speeches were made, and then the head of the demonstration went downhill to where a metal fence separated an area of the village from the main road.

When the people attempted to pass over this “border”, approximately 20 Israeli Border police officers arrived and tried to stop this action, proceeding to throw stun grenades and fire tear gas canisters at the protesters. Palestinian youths then began to throw stones as several military jeeps arrived, along with approximately 100 Israeli soldiers and border police officers

The Israeli forces climbed up the hill, firing tear gas inside the tent, which was mainly filled with children and elderly men and women. The military forced the occupants out and proceeded to destroy the tent.

Fortunately there were no serious injuries, two journalists and two Palestinian youths were shot with tear gas canisters and received treatment from Red Crescent medics in from Al Walaja, and many demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation.

Video: Protest on World Press Freedom Day: “They don’t consider Palestinian journalists to be journalists.”

3rd May 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team| Occupied Palestine

Yesterday, Saturday 3^rd of May was the United Nations World Press Freedom Day. Yesterday, journalists celebrated, remembered, and protested, on a date commemorated worldwide since 1992.

In Palestine, the 3^rd of May calls for a protest by members of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), and yesterday this was at the Beit El military checkpoint.

We witnessed approximately 70 journalists gather in the city of Ramallah, driving towards the Bet El checkpoint, before leaving their cars and attempting to walk through the military gate.

The journalists carried nothing but signs and cameras, chanting for freedom from the Israeli occupation. It was a completely non-violent demonstration.

On arrival to the checkpoint, Israeli Border Police first closed the gate, and then called many more soldiers to the area, who proceeded to watch and film the demonstrators with their private smart phones.

The journalists then tried to open the gate, which is when Israeli Border Police started to throw stun grenades at the demonstrators. More than eight stun grenades were thrown, seemingly directly at the legs of the protesters. One stun grenade hit my ISM colleague in the foot, she was lucky to be wearing thick running shoes and jeans, so did not receive an injury.

The level of aggression was surprising to me, I commented upon this to a demonstrator, a Palestine journalist, causing him to turn to me and smile.

“Maybe they don’t know we’re journalists.”

“Sorry?” I asked.

“If they did, they wouldn’t throw them [the stun grenades] at us.”

He laughed, and walked back toward the gate.

Several times during the protest, the journalists tried to open the gate, each time it was swiftly closed by Israeli forces. After approximately 40 minutes, it seemed the demonstration was ending, and a large group of the journalists began to walk away from the gate.

It was at this point that the Israeli forces present began to throw more stun grenades, roughly six, and one tear gas grenade. Ironically this caused the demonstration to last longer, as after this attack the journalists decided to continue the protest for a further 30 minutes.

After the demonstration ended, in which there were fortunately no injuries or arrests, we had the opportunity to speak to Omar Nazzal, a board member on the steering committee of the PJS.

Omar has been active in journalism for 30 years, and a member of the PJS for the last 18. The PJS was created in Jerusalem in 1978; it was originally named the ‘Arab Journalists League’ as they were not allowed to use ‘Palestinian’ in the title. This changed in 1994, after the Oslo Accords the organization could be renamed.

The PJS has approximately 1300 members, 800 in the West Bank and 500 in the Gaza Strip. It is a member of the Arab Journalists Union and of the International Federation of Journalists.

An issue that is impacting the journalism profession in Palestine, as it does with many workers worldwide, is the impact of globalization. As multinational companies buy out smaller media outlets, individual journalists are loosing their jobs. Or, forcing journalists to move towards shorter-term contracts, loosing their rights, leading to lower wages and little or no insurance.

Omar explained that there are many problems of being a journalist in Palestine, and one huge issue is their treatment by the Israeli authorities.

“They don’t consider Palestinian journalists to be journalists.”

Horrifying statistics echo this statement.

Since the year 2000, approximately 300 journalists have been imprisoned, over 500 have been injured, and 21 Palestinian journalists have been killed by the Israeli military.

Omar continued: “Sometimes they beat journalists, arrest them, shoot them, they’re forbidden to move freely.”

Currently there are nine Palestinian journalists in Israeli military prisons.

Muhammed Muna, one of the imprisoned nine, is a West Bank correspondent of the UK-based Quds Press International News Agency. He was arrested in August 2013. He was sentenced to six months in administrative detention, which essentially means that the Israeli government can hold a person indefinitely without charge. Muhammed’s detention was renewed for a further six months earlier this year, with no release date in sight.

Israeli forces shoot tear gas into houses in Awarta village

20th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team| Awarta, Occupied Palestine

One child of Awarta after suffering from tear gas inhalation (photo by ISM)

On the 20th of April, five Israeli jeeps entered the village of Awarta. The Israeli forces broke into four houses and shot several tear gas and stun grenades inside the houses, leaving several families with no other alternative than to sleep elsewhere until the tear gas clouds dispersed, which could take weeks.

The Israeli soldiers beat several people and broke furniture during this event. A 26-year-old Palestinian was violently arrested and detained for two hours with no reason given.

Two days later, Israeli soldiers once again entered houses in Awarta and shot several tear gas grenades inside. 20 Palestinians, including children, were taken to the hospital due to large amounts of tear gas inhalation

Palestinians from Awarta state that vandalism of their property and violence from the Israeli soldiers is not uncommon, but this exact approach from the soldiers seems somewhat planned. “They just come and shoot, and then they leave” said a Palestinian after having his house filled with tear gas, used stun grenades covering the floor.