Israeli forces shoot, injure Palestinians in weekly protests
[with photos] BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) 28 Aug -- Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian and dozens of others were wounded as weekly protests were dispersed across the occupied West Bank Friday afternoon, locals said. The demonstrations marked ongoing efforts by Palestinian residents to protest the effects of the Israeli occupation, including land disputes, the separation wall, freedom of movement, and water claims. In Kafr Qaddum, 36-year-old Deyaa Shtewei was shot in the foot with a live bullet and taken to Rafidia hospital for treatment, while dozens were hit with rubber-coated steel bullets and treated on the scene, said Murad Shtewei, the village's popular resistance coordinator. Tear gas and skunk water -- a foul-smelling liquid that leaves individuals and homes smelling like feces and garbage for weeks -- was also used by Israeli forces against demonstrators, Shtewei added. In the village of Bil‘in, Israeli forces shot journalist Mohammad Basman Yasin with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the leg, and dozens suffered from tear gas inhalation, locals said. Israeli forces detained activist Iyad Burnat, the head of the villages' popular resistance committee, as well as a photographer, Hamza Yasin. The two were taken to an unknown destination. In Nabi Saleh, a Palestinian child, Salam Basim, was injured with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the foot and suffered a broken toe, while several others were injured by rubber-coated steel bullets but were treated on the scene. Israeli forces raided the southern area of the village where they clashed with activists and detained Mahmoud al-Tamimi and an unidentified Italian activist. The forces also assaulted a child, Mohammad Basim -- who suffered a broken arm during an Israeli raid in the village two days ago -- in addition to beating his mother Nariman, and Nawal al-Tamimi . . . Over 100 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces during demonstrations and clashes in the first three weeks of this month, according to documentation by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
http://www.maannews.com/
Israeli forces injure 5 in northern West Bank clashes
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 29 Aug – Israeli forces shot four young Palestinian men with rubber-coated steel bullets and an elderly man suffered from tear gas inhalation during clashes early Saturday morning in the northern West Bank village of Tell, south of Nablus, Palestinian security sources told Ma‘an. Palestinian security sources said that several Israeli military vehicles stormed the village of Tell at 1 a.m. on Saturday morning before local youths responded to their presence and clashes broke out. The security sources, as well as locals, said young Palestinian men threw stones and empty bottles at the the intruding soldiers, who then fired stun grenades, tear-gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets at the young men. The sources said Israeli forces hit 19-year-old Amir Basil al-Hindi with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the head, Yahya Abdul-Karim, 21, in the hand, Anas Yousif Hamdi, 21, in the foot and Ahmad Abdul-Fattah Asidi, 21, in the thigh. The source highlighted that several people suffered from tear-gas inhalation, including Adnan Khalid Ramadan, 65, who needed medical treatment because of the gas.
http://www.maannews.com/
Videos: Brave Tamimi women of Nabi Saleh take down Israeli soldier assaulting injured child
Mondoweiss 28 Aug by Annie Robbins -- . . . As a masked and armed Israeli soldier chases down a hillside you can hear voices yelling, then the unmistakable sound of a screaming child. The boy appears in view as he turns to face the soldier. Screaming, the boy pivots then rushes past the soldier and up the hill through a mass of boulders as the soldier finally catches up with the boy and captures him. Placing the boy in a chokehold the soldier forces the struggling child over a bolder as cameras close in on the scene and record what’s happening. What follows, captured on video and camera, is a sight to behold. The boy has a cast on his left broken arm. Every move the soldier makes, briefly loosening his chokehold before tightening his grip again, I wince at the thought of the boy’s arm and throat. The soldier looks exhausted and somewhat bewildered as the camera pans in on his face (1:13). As the camera pans out you can see the child struggling as the soldier tightens his grip on the child’s neck. One wonders, what threat does this child pose for the soldier. His bravery perhaps, did he throw a stone with his un-cast arm at Goliath?
http://mondoweiss.net/2015/08/
Two people violently arrested at peaceful demonstration in Nabi Saleh
[with photos] HEBRON, Occupied Palestine 28 Aug by ISM, al-Khalil Team -- On Friday the 28th of August 2015, two peaceful demonstrators were violently arrested and a child viciously attacked by Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh in occupied Palestine. Today at around 3 pm one Palestinian male, Mahmoud Tamimi, and one international activist was arrested in the Palestinian village Nabi Saleh close to Ramallah. They were arrested during a Friday demonstration against the illegal settlements on the land belonging to the people of Nabi Saleh. Only a few minutes after the protesters peacefully started their march towards the gate, which is regularly blocked by the military preventing any movement in- or outside of the village, the Israeli army began attacking the non-violent protesters with dozens of rounds of tear gas. The soldiers then ambushed the demonstrators escaping the clouds of tear gas by surrounding them. They attacked and then arrested Mahmoud Tamimi, shoving him down the hill towards the illegal settlement, where he was forced to lie on the ground. Around the same time, a Palestinian boy was violently attacked by a soldier throwing him to the ground, choking and almost suffocating him in the process. “While the boy was screaming in pain his family came to rescue him from the soldiers’ vicious assault,” Josephine, a Danish activist, explains. A group of peaceful international demonstrators trying to document the attack on the boy was ambushed by another group of soldiers, who violently pushed a 31-year old Italian man to the ground and proceeded to arrested him. Both the Palestinian and the international were being held captive in a military jeep by the Israeli army for almost nine hours, before being brought to a police station.
http://palsolidarity.org/2015/
VIDEO: Hundreds protest against Israeli separation wall in Beit Jala
ISM 25 Aug -- Sunday morning around 300 Palestinians and Internationals demonstrated side by side to block the uprooting of olive yards related to the construction of the apartheid-wall. The protesters where all non-violent and all stood up for the Palestinians rights and for a free Palestine. Protesters successfully removed the illegal metal fence, which was put up by the Israeli occupation forces to prevent local Palestinians from reaching their land and harvesting their olives. The fence was carried away by internationals and Palestinians. This was a huge success for the the local Palestinians, who have had their land taken away. After the fence was taken down, Israeli forces brutally attacked the non-violent protesters, shooting rubber-coated steel bullets, sound-grenades and dozens of teargas canisters. Three persons had to go to the hospital for suffering of excessive tear gas inhalation.
http://palsolidarity.org/2015/
Demonstrators march against Israeli takeover of Umm al-Hiran
IMEMC/Agencies 27 Aug -- Dozens of Palestinians protested on Thursday, in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran near the town of Hura, in the Negev, as Israel's construction of a Jewish town on the village's land continues, local sources said. The Umm al-Hiran community -- around 700 strong -- is unrecognized by the Israeli government and residents' lands were claimed by the state in 2013 in order to make way for the expansion of the Beersheba metropolitan area. As a march set off from the village and moved towards the site of construction, protesters said they were able to force Israeli police to remove the bulldozers from the area. Leaders and members of national and Islamic parties, Palestinian members of the Knesset, members of committees for Palestinians in the Negev, and Jewish-Israelis took part in the march. Sources told Ma‘an News Agency that the contractor responsible for razing the village is a Palestinian citizen of Israel from the Negev, and locals have condemned the use of Palestinian contractors against their people by the Israeli authorities. Participants of Thursday's demonstration called for launching an international media campaign in support of Umm al-Hiran and other villages threatened with land confiscation in order to pressure Israeli authorities to stop longstanding policies to displace Palestinian Bedouins.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Allan's brother arrested outside hospital room, clashes reported
IMEMC/Agencies 27 Aug -- Israeli forces, Wednesday evening, took into custody three youngsters during clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli settlers outside the Barzilai Hospital, in Ashkelon, where Mohammad Allan lies in ICU, after ending his recent hunger strike. Activist Marwan Abu Freeh said that the clashes broke out in front of Allan’s room in Barzilai, after verbal clashes between the hospital security and Palestinians wanting to visit Allan, including relatives. After the denial of the visit, clashes broke out between Palestinian youths and Israeli settlers. Activists also reported that soldiers also took Allan’s brother and two other Palestinians to Ashkelon police station.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Israeli border guard stabbed in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 26 Aug -- A Palestinian man stabbed an Israeli border policeman on Wednesday evening near the Damascus Gate in occupied East Jerusalem, witnesses said. The man reportedly attempted to attack a group of Israeli border police officers before stabbing one. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Israeli forces severely beat the Palestinian man causing him injuries before detaining him. Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said that the Israeli border policeman, in his twenties, was stabbed in the leg around 7:00 p.m. by a Palestinian male. The policeman received light injuries and was taken to a hospital in Jerusalem. Rosenfeld told Ma‘an that a knife had been found with the alleged attacker who is currently being held for questioning, and that the attack is under investigation . . . Wednesday's attack comes at the end of a tense day in the area around the Damascus gate, where earlier in the day several Palestinians were detained and two journalists were assaulted at the nearby Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
http://www.maannews.com/
In Pictures: Arrests and clashes in the village of al-Tur after burning a police vehicle
SILWAN, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 28 Aug -- The occupation forces arrested three Jerusalemites from the village of Al-Tur after violent clashes broke out in the village. Wadi Hilweh Information Center was informed that the forces arrested 15-year old Khader Wael Abu Ghannam, 22-year old Ahmad Mohammad Abulhawa and the young man Mohammad Abu Ghannam. The center was informed that a police vehicle caught on fire after it was targeted by a molotov cocktail in the main street of Al-Tur. Witnesses explained that the forces raided the village and randomly fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and sound grenades and infantry units raided the main street and some of the village’s roads looking for the young men. The forces also raided the coffee shop of Abu Ghannam in Al-Tur and arrested the child Khader Abu Ghannam after assaulting and severely beating him. The sound grenades led to the burning of the courtyard of Abu Laban’s home. Wadi Hilweh Information Center was also informed that the forces arrested the two young men Abulhawa and Abu Ghannam while they were putting up a tent in Al-Khalleh Street in preparation for a young man’s wedding. Several young men threw Molotov Cocktails towards the settlers’ vehicle in Ein Al-Lozeh Street and a large Israeli force was deployed in the area afterwards.
http://silwanic.net/?p=61529
Israeli forces close major road in occupied East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 27 Aug -- Israeli forces on Thursday closed off a main street in the al-Tur neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem a day after an Israeli police vehicle was torched in the same area, residents said. The Sulaiman al-Farsi street was closed with cement blocks, blocking access to the Sulaiman al-Farsi mosque, the Mount Olive sports club, and three schools where around 2,000 students study, residents told Ma‘an. It’s also the main entrance of the al-Khalla area, where 3,000-4,000 people live . . . Palestinians youths in the al-Tur neighborhood threw a Molotov cocktail at a police jeep on the street overnight Wednesday setting it on fire, locals told Ma‘an at the time. Israeli police and special forces raided the neighborhood following the incident and opened fire with live rounds and stun grenades, detaining three residents, locals added. Israeli news site Ynet reported that one of the police officers was lightly injured by smoke inhalation.
http://www.maannews.com/
Palestinian youth set settler car ablaze in occupied East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 29 Aug – Palestinian youth on Friday torched a private car belonging to Israeli settlers in the al-Tur neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, witnesses told Ma‘an. Witnesses said Palestinian youths hurled firebombs at a car belonging to Israeli settlers from an illegal outpost near al-Khalwa street in the al-Tur neighborhood, setting the car ablaze. No injuries were reported in the firebombing incident. Israeli forces responded to the incident, storming the al-Tur neighborhood and firing stun grenades “haphazardly” at Palestinian youth, before the forces broke into a Palestinian house looking for suspects, witnesses said.
http://www.maannews.com/
The occupation arrests two students from Al-Aqsa School and impedes the functioning of the educational process
SILWAN, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 26 Aug -- The occupation forces arrested two students from Al-Aqsa School for girls while they were near Al-Silsileh [Chain] Gate (one of Al-Aqsa Mosque’s gates) at times when the Israeli authorities imposed restrictions on the entrance of Muslims to Al-Aqsa Mosque. The director of Al-Aqsa Girls’ School, Ehad Sabri, explained that the Israeli forces arrested two 10th grade students (Isra’ Ghazzawi and Bara’a Ghazzawi) while they were near Al-Silsileh Gate after preventing them from entering Al-Aqsa and reaching their school. Sabri added that the occupation prevented three students from reaching their school (Isra’ Ghazzawi, Bara’a Ghazzawi and Kawthar Ghazzawi). After talking to the officer in charge, he explained that the girls create problems inside Al-Aqsa and asked to get their IDs before allowing them in. Sabri added that the students brought their birth certificates with them today in order to enter Al-Aqsa and reach their school but the police ripped them apart . . . The director added that the occupation deliberately obstructs the educational process since the beginning of the new school-year (three days ago) by preventing students and teachers from entering Al-Aqsa through [any other] Al-Aqsa Gates and forcing them to go through Al-Silsileh Gate where they get delayed and detained. Sabri also pointed out that Al-Aqsa Girls’ School has 120 students from 7th grade until 12th grade.
http://silwanic.net/?p=61426
Israeli police fines Palestinian cameramen filming tensions at Temple Mount
Haaretz 27 Aug by Nir Hasson -- With Jerusalem police restricting Muslim women’s access to the Temple Mount, the Jerusalem municipality has fined Palestinian news photographers documenting it for “placing a camera stand in a public passageway.” For three days police have been blocking Muslim women from entering the Temple Mount compound until 11 A.M. After that, they can enter on condition they leave their identity cards at the entrance. These new instructions were issued due to increasing incidents of harassment and violence by the Morbitat, the female guards are appointed to serve on the Mount by the hardline northern branch of the Islamic Movement. According to Jewish Temple Mount activists, the attacks peaked last week and included curses, pushing and other types of harassment. After the police issued its instruction to the Morbitat, the clashes on the Temple Mount decreased, although they increased in the alleys leading to the Mount and at police checkpoints. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Monday asked Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to declare both the Morbitat and the Morbiton, the men’s counterpart, illegal organizations . . . The Arab and international media have been covering the developments at the Temple Mount and on Wednesday morning there were a number of news crews stationed near the Chain Gate entrance. A policeman patrolling the area asked two cameramen, Ali Yassin from Palestinian TV and Mohammed Osho from Russia Today, to move to a different corner. They say they moved, but that the policeman nonetheless asked them for their ID cards. The two say they handed over their ID cards and got them back around 15 minutes later, along with fines for 475 shekels ($121) from the Jerusalem municipality – which must be paid in 15 days, rather than the normal 60 or 90 days. The written explanation for the fines was “Leaving/placing a camera stand in a public passageway.” Osho, however, was using neither a stand nor tripod; he was carrying his camera on his shoulder.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/
Israeli forces injure 54 Palestinian civilians during third week in August
IMEMC/Agencies 28 Aug -- At least 54 Palestinian civilians, including eight children, were injured during the third week of August 2015, in various clashes with Israeli forces across the West Bank, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In a press statement, OCHA, in the Protection of Civilians Weekly Report covering the period between august 18 and 24, said that Israeli forces arrested 98 Palestinians, including three from Gaza, according to WAFA. Regarding settlers’ attacks against Palestinians, OCHA said five Israeli settler attacks resulting in injury to Palestinians and damages to their property were recorded, including a stone-throwing attack against a 6-year-old child. On a different note, OCHA said that Israeli forces demolished 42 Palestinian-owned structures during the third week of August, all of which were located in area C, under full Israeli military control, citing the pretext of unpermitted construction. It said that the demolition of the 42 structures, which OCHA described as the highest number of demolitions conducted in one week since the past six months, left around 54 Palestinians displaced, including 33 children. It said that in 2015 alone, Israel has demolished a total of 417 structures in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, displacing at least 495, including 277 children . . . It said that since the ceasefire agreement, which was reached on August 29, 2014, under the Egyptian auspices, 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces’ fire, including one child, while over 170 others, including 24 children, were injured.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
The IDF presents: Looting West Bank homes under the guise of a search
+972blog 27 Aug by Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz -- In the West Bank, IDF soldiers have in numerous instances burst into a Palestinian house, wreaked havoc, and disappeared with the money and the gold -- The place: the West Bank village of Kalil. The time: 1:30 a.m., the beginning of June 2015. Athmad Aziz Shakhada Mansour, a social activist and a member of the village council, wakes up from a noise she has become accustomed to: violent knocking on the front door of the house. She instructs her husband to secure the money and gold the family holds for the wedding of their son M., who is supposed to marry in two days’ time. The noises continue. Mansour goes to open the door. A large group of hooded soldiers burst into the house. Somehow, the strange custom of IDF soldiers to hide their faces, as if they were not in charge of law enforcement but rather breaking it -- as if they were thieves in the night -- has become a fixture over the past few years, while the public remains silent. The soldiers, as usual, gather the residents of the house into one room and forbid them from leaving. When they enter the bedroom, they find Mansour’s husband trying to pack up the money and gold. The husband tells them loudly that he wants to protect the gold. Some of the soldiers answer in fluent Arabic, Mansour later remembers, that soldiers are not thieves. The soldiers conduct a search of the house. They are probably looking for arms . . . Finally, the soldiers give up and leave, taking the son, S., with them, but releasing the father. They didn’t find any weapons. A week later S. is released without charge. Once the family leaves the room where they were held, they find the usual trail of destruction -- a hallmark of a visit by the IDF. The chicken feed spilled on the floor, all of the dishware thrown from the cupboards, and the contents of the drawers thrown on the ground. Among the missing objects is 30,000 NIS ($7,950) in cash, as well as 22 gold coins, purchased for M.’s wedding . . . Looting is a war crime. Although Israeli military law does not call it that by name, it nevertheless carries a punishment of 10 years in prison. This isn’t the first case of looting on part of the IDF that we know of.
http://972mag.com/the-idf-
Denying political persecution, PA continues large-scale arrests of Hamas members
Haaretz 28 Aug by Amira Hass -- At least 25 Palestinians identified with Hamas were arrested last week by security forces of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. This brings the total number of Hamas members or supporters held in Palestinian jails to 70. Seven were arrested late Tuesday night and five over the following two days. The arrests were made in Hebron, Nablus, Bir Zeit and Jenin. In one incident on Thursday, at the Ein Beit Alma refugee camp in Nablus, one person was wounded after being shot by Palestinian security forces. The troops burst into the home of the Zamel family and confiscated 10,000 shekels ($2,800) which was to go to an NGO, according to the mother of the family. One of her daughters was detained for several hours. As they were leaving, children in the camp threw stones and the policemen opened fire, injuring a cousin of the family (not a Hamas supporter). Nineteen of those arrested in recent days are students at An-Najah University, who were participating in a ceremony organized by the Islamic Bloc at the university in honor of new students and the opening of the new school year. Hamas and the Al-Damir Association for Human Rights and the protection of prisoners protest that these are political arrests and persecution. Al-Damir regards these detentions as illegal interference of Palestinian security agencies in academic life and a violation of students’ right to study. The Palestinian authority rejects claims that these are political detentions, saying that they are based on suspicions of possession of illegal weapons or of funds intended for illegal purposes.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/
Israeli forces detain 10 Palestinians overnight
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 27 Aug -- Israeli forces detained at least ten Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem overnight, Palestinian and Israeli sources told Ma‘an. An Israeli army spokesperson said three Palestinians were detained from Beit Ummar, three from Jenin, two near Ramallah and two from the al-Eizariya town east of Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.com/
Six more Palestinians kidnapped in Hebron, eleven since dawn
IMEMC/Agencies 27 Aug -- Israeli soldiers kidnapped, Thursday, six more Palestinians in the ath-Thaheriyya town, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and took them to a number of detention and interrogation facilities. Media sources in Hebron said dozens of soldiers invaded the town before breaking into, and violently searching, several homes, and kidnapped six Palestinians. The kidnapped have been identified as Amjad Majed al-Hawarin, 30, Hasan Misbah Wreidat, 31, ‘Ala Mohammad Najjar, 33, his brother Raed, 25, Rafe’ Majed Wreidat, 32, and Ismael Hamad Najjar, 27 years of age. Earlier on Thursday, soldiers kidnapped five Palestinians in Hebron city and several nearby communities after violently searching their homes.
http://www.imemc.org/article/
PCHR Report on Israeli human rights violations in the oPt (20-26 Aug)
PCHR-Gaza 28 Aug -- . . . Incursions During the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted at least 64 military incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 5 in East Jerusalem. During these incursions, Israeli forces arrested at least 64 Palestinians, including 19 children. Nineteen of these civilians, including 14 children and the woman, were arrested in East Jerusalem. During this week, PCHR fieldworkers documented that Israeli forces used tools equipped with silencers when opening the outside doors of many houses as their residents were surprised with the Israeli soldiers' presence in their houses and bedrooms. They also documented the theft of money and jewelry belonging to women from those raided houses. In the Gaza Strip, on 20 and 25 August 2015, Israeli forces conducted 2 limited incursions in the northern Gaza Strip, during which they leveled lands and withdrew later . . . Full Report
http://www.imemc.org/article/
Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Settlements
WATCH: Settlers take over property for new settlement in Silwan
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now on Thursday labeled the settler takeover of a building in East Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood as a "dangerous expansion" designed to change the status quo in Jerusalem. The Silwan-based Wadi Hilweh Information Center said in a statement that more than 60 settlers stormed Batn al-Hawa in the center of Silwan at 2:30 a.m. and took over a building belonging to Jamal Sarhan. Peace Now said that over the past year settlers have doubled their presence in the Batan al-Hawa area of Silwan, with the most recent overnight takeover expanding the settlement from 10 to 35 Jewish families. The Sarhan house contains 12 housing units and has five floors, with one Palestinian family remaining in their property as their lease is not up for another month. On Thursday, settlers escorted by police attempted to intimidate the last remaining family to leave. The Sarhan house is located nearby to the Abu Nab house and other homes under threat of eviction based on claims of Jewish ownership before 1948, when the State of Israel was established. "The settlers' entry must be understood as a strategic takeover; this is yet another step in a larger attempt to alter the character of the neighborhood and change the status quo in Jerusalem," PeaceNow said. "Last night's entry is not merely a private act as it was aided by law enforcing authorities. The government has decided in the past not to allow the settlement inside Palestinian neighborhoods and it can do so again." Today, around 500 settlers live in Silwan among a population of 45,000, one of mainly enclaves in the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods surrounding the Old City, such as Ras al-Amud, al-Tur, Abu Dis, and Sheikh Jarrah. Jerusalem's municipality and the government allocate private security guards paid for by public taxes and send security forces to assist in the takeover of property and subsequent residence.
http://www.maannews.com/
15% of West Bank settlers are American, study reveals
I24NEWS 28 Aug -- New research suggests that 15 percent of the settler population in the West Bank are American Jewish immigrants. According to research by Dr Sara Yael Hirschhorn of Oxford University, there are currently 60,000 American Jews living in the settlements. “This provides hard evidence that this constituency is strikingly over-represented, both within the settler population itself and within the total population of Jewish American immigrants in Israel,” Haaretz reported that Hirschhorn said at the Limmud conference in Jerusalem. It was not fully clarified if this was only American-born Jews, or also included those who had citizenship by descent. Hirschhorn said that this contradicts the presumption within Israeli society that American immigrants have failed at home and have moved to Israel as an attempt to re-start their lives. However it appears that in fact many of them have come to the country due to political beliefs which lie
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