Tag: Tel Rumeida - Page 3 - International Solidarity Movement

Human rights activists evicted from Tel Rumeida apartment again

12th November 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Yesterday, international activists regained access to their Tel Rumeida apartment after being denied entry for a week. This morning at 8.45am another activist tried to enter the apartment but was prevented by soldiers, even after showing them the rental contract granting her the right to reside in Tel Rumeida. Soldiers then came up the stairs to the front door and threatened the three activists with arrest if they failed to leave the apartment within five minutes.

After a short delay, the police arrived and demanded the activists open the door and leave the building. When the activists questioned this, the Israeli forces replied that they were in a closed military zone and were not allowed to be there. This was despite the activists having demonstrated the right to reside in the property on the previous day.

The Israeli forces began to batter down the front door with a crowbar. When they were unable to get in after 10 minutes, other soldiers climbed onto the roof and smashed their way in through the roof access door within a few minutes. The commander and two soldiers entered the room where the activists were sitting without showing any resistance.

They demanded the activists leave, stating they had no right to be in the area and they were acting illegally. They then claimed that they had checked with their lawyers and the contract ‘is illegal…because it’s a closed military zone’. The commander said the activists are not residents, just ‘guests’ and that they didn’t understand the contract because it was written in Arabic.

Then several more soldiers entered, together with 2 police officers. They took the activists’ passports and told them to leave aggressively. They also showed them the closed military zone document. When the activists questioned the army’s right to break in to the apartment, the police officer told them to take the case to court.

The commander then twisted the arm of one activist, forcing him to the floor, although none of the activists offered any physical resistance. The activists were then escorted out of the apartment, down the street to checkpoint 56 and out of Tel Rumeida.

Journal: When walking becomes a crime

13th July 2015 | Peter Cunliffe | Al Khalil, Occupied Palestine

Last night at around 11:30 PM, we received a call from one of our Palestinian neighbors about an incident that was unfolding outside our window.

A group of five Israeli soldiers were guarding two Palestinian youth, who did not look to be older than fifteen. The kids were sitting on concrete steps, and the soldiers had them surrounded, so they could not get away. The boys were detained around 11:15, according to our neighbor.

As is our policy, we observed for a few minutes, and then tried to talk to the kids. One of the first things we do when Palestinians are being detained by soldiers is ask them (the Palestinians) if they are OK with us taking photos and video. The answer is almost always yes, but we always ask first.

Taking photos and videos has two purposes. The first is to document what is happening. The second is to let the soldiers know they are being observed. This sometimes leads to people being released more quickly, and the soldiers being less rough than would be the case if no one was filming.

The boys gave consent for us to take photos, and we started to ask them for their names, when the soldiers angrily told us to go away and physically forced us to move back. We kept asking them why the boys were being detained. What had they done?

One of the soldiers, who seemed to be the commander, and who we have had run-ins with before, told us he does not have justify to us what he and his men are doing. Another soldier, however, who seemed to be younger and less experienced, told us the truth… the boys did not have their ID with them. The reason they were stopped and made to sit down and surrounded by heavily armed troops was that they did not have in their possession the papers that every Palestinian needs to have on them, if he or she hopes to not be harassed by the army. I asked the soldier if this was the only reason, he said there was another one, but refused to say what it was.

We kept trying to talk to the boys, and the soldiers kept pushing us away. Eventually their father came, and after some discussions with them, he showed them the boys’ papers. It was only after this that they let them go, one by one. The incident took more than one hour.

Imagine living in a place where armed men can stop you and hold you- and if they feel necessary, confine you in a jail- simply because you don’t have a document on you that can tell them at a glance your first and last name, where you live, where you are from, and what religion you follow.

Palestinians are obliged to carry such ID on them at all times. Any Israeli soldier or police officer can randomly stop them, and demand to see it. If they don’t have it, things can turn ugly.

The boys who were detained were not threatening anyone. They were not carrying out a suicide bombing. They aren’t terrorists. They were not even throwing rocks, which the military often uses as an excuse to do detain, arrest, beat, or even kill Palestinians.

They were simply going for a walk, and some guys in uniforms thought they looked suspicious. A piece or two of forgotten ID led to an hour of stress and intimidation, and could have ended with arrests and possibly worse behind the closed doors of a police station or military base. The only crime these teens were guilty of was being Palestinian, and going for a walk.

Fortunately, their ordeal ended in a lot better way than experiences of others, who face similar situations on a regular basis in this city, and all parts of the West Bank which are under Israeli military rule.

Another violent attack on Palestinian family

23rd May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al Khalil Team | Al Khalil, Occupied Palestine

On the 23rd May, settlers in Al Khalil (Hebron) blocked the entrance to Hashem Younes Azzeh’s house and attacked his family. Large rocks were thrown at them and his daughter was hit in the hand.

Hashem lives with his wife and four children in Tel Rumeida, part of the H2 area of Al Khalil. H2 is under Israeli military control and many settlers have constructed illegal homes within this part of the city. For the Palestinians, it has become an extremely tense place to live due to daily harassment from the settlers and the Israeli army alike.

Early in the morning, the settlers had parked their car right in front of the entrance to Hashem’s house, making it a tight squeeze for anyone to get by. Later on, as Hashem was walking an international group of Quakers back to the checkpoint, six settler boys, aged between 10 and 12, started throwing large amounts of stones at them. The internationals quickly escaped and when Hashem got home, he found five Israeli soldiers there. They were checking the IDs of his daughter, Raghad, and his wife, Nisreen. Raghad attempted to show the soldiers a video of the attack, but because she had filmed while trying to avoid big stones thrown at her, the footage was blurry. The soldiers called her a liar and were about to arrest her, blaming her for the stone throwing.

Hashem squeezes by the car blocking his entrance.

All of a sudden, under the eyes of the soldiers, the settlers started throwing stones at them again and injured Raghad’s hand. Unable to support their lie anymore, the soldiers said that they would go and check on the settlers and come back – hours later, they still have not returned.

The Azzeh family has been subjected to regular attacks since 1984, when the settlers arrived in Al Khalil. Their neighbor is the leader of the Jewish National Front, Baruch Marzel. This man has a sticker on his wall that says “God gave us the right to kill Arabs and we love it”.

Hashem’s house has been invaded and turned upside down by settlers and soldiers several times, with furniture and equipment smashed. He has been shot at inside his house, narrowly missing him and his family. Hashem has been threatened, intimidated and beaten up by settlers, of which the scars on his face bear witness. His wife has suffered two miscarriages due to being beaten by settlers. His children are also regularly attacked, beaten up and have stones thrown at them. The fruit trees in his garden have been poisoned, and he has been prevented from harvesting his olives due to settler attacks. The walls of his house are still graffitied with death threats such as “gas the Arabs”. They have also had to live without water for three years because the settlers had cut their water pipes. The soldiers even came once to arrest their five year old son accusing him of throwing stones. Hashem asked if they were sure about their accusations – “No, but the settlers told us so”.

Settler house overlooking, the Azzeh's family home. — Settler house overlooking, the Azzeh’s family home.

These are just examples from an endless series of attacks, where the Israeli army and the settlers [living in illegal settlements under international law], work hand in hand to continue this silent form of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. Hashem has tried to go to court many times to seek justice for his family, but he hasn’t even been able to come close to anything resembling this term.

A member of ISM (International Solidarity Movement) asked if Hashem was going to file a complaint for today’s attack. Hashem smiled and muttered, “What’s the point?”

Palestinian woman and her children attacked by settlers

9th May 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al Khalil Team | Al Khalil, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday evening in Al Khalil (Hebron), a Palestinian woman and her two small children were attacked by settlers from the illegal settlement as they were on their way to the shops.

Marwat Abu Remele lives in Tel Rumeida, an area in Al Khalil under Israeli control. She was on her way to buy groceries, when about twenty settlers gathered around them and attacked her son. A Palestinian man, Mohammed Abu Hazerh, promptly ran to protect them from this harassment. Harassment of this kind is not unusual for the Palestinians living in this part of the city.

A settler woman managed to convince Israeli soldiers that the Palestinians were in the wrong, and Mohammed narrowly escaped arrest. When the soldiers agreed to release him, the Israeli woman became hysterical and with a crowd of children ran after him. While she was shouting and insulting everyone standing on the street, the settler children spat, harassed and kicked other Palestinians and internationals that had come to witness the scene.

The soldiers attempted to stop all filming of what was going on and were failing to prevent the settlers harassing and taunting local people. The Abu Shamsiyeh family, who live on the street where the attack took place, were unable to enter their home as settlers were blocking their entrance. One of the Palestinian women who was trying to film the scene was violently attacked by two settlers.

About an hour later, Marwat and her children came back from their errand down in the old city but were afraid of passing through the crowd of settlers who were blocking the road, preventing her going home. Finally, some soldiers and Palestinian neighbours escorted her back to the house while settlers hurled insults at her.

The video clearly shows how the settlers, who have taken over much of the neighbourhood from local Palestinians, are making it harder and harder for them to live in peace. Palestinian children are terrified and full of frustration and anger, as they cannot move freely outside their homes without the fear of being attacked or arrested. The Israeli forces remit is to protect the settlers and they are not interested in the welfare of the Palestinians.

Israeli forces raid yet another family’s home in Tel Rumeida

11th March 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday on the 10th of March around 1 AM in occupied Al-Khalil (Hebron), Israeli occupation forces raided the home of human rights activist Imad Abu Shamsiya and his family. The soldiers turned the house upside-down; the family watched as soldiers broke one of their cameras and stole the SD card and a hard drive. Imad Abu Shamsiya is a well known member of the Human Rights Defenders and his family has been frequently targeted by the Israeli army and settlers.

abu shamsiya — The Abu Shamsiyeh family home – Photo by Human Rights Defenders

At least 25 soldiers came to the house. 10 of them went inside and woke up the 7 family members, including children and teenagers between the ages of 11 and 17. The soldiers told the family to gather all in one room, taking photos of everyone and documenting their IDs. After breaking a cupboard, searching through the computer and ransacking the house, they left after approximately 2 hours.

All family members have been attacked by settlers and either detained or arrested during the last 5 months. Yesterday, the day before the raid one of Imad’s sons, Awne, age 15, was detained for 3 hours because he refused to give up the name of one of his friends who the soldiers where looking for.

The raid on the Abu Shamsiya family is only one of the most recent in a series of home invasions Israeli forces have been conducting in Al-Khalil. The following night at 1:00 AM, soldiers raided the Abu Sneneh family’s home in Qeitun neighborhood. Around forty soldiers broke into the house in the night, forcing open every door and ransacking all the rooms, destroying some of the family’s belongings and remaining inside for three hours.