Israeli Forces Escalate Restrictions And Violence Against Palestinians
Screen Shot 2015-10-03 at 9.58.00 AM
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the 28th - 30th September 2015 is the Jewish
holiday of Sukkot. In the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron),
while Israeli settlers from the many illegal settlements within al-Khalil
celebrate their holiday, Israeli forces have escalated restrictions and
violence against the Palestinian residents, further infringing on their most
basic rights.
In preparation for the celebrations of Sukkot, already heavily restricted
Palestinian freedom of movement has been almost entirely grinded to a halt
by Israeli forces. Especially in the area around the Ibrahimi mosque,
food-stalls and entertainment has sprung up for settlers not only from
al-Khalil but also visiting from other West Bank illegal settlements. In
order to completely barr Palestinians from this main venue of celebration
for the settlers and Israeli forces, the mosque checkpoint leading to this
area from the Palestinian market has been closed down for two days.
Shopkeepers were handed notices by the Israeli army forcing them to again
close their shops for the Jewish holiday, imposing more days of forced
closures and lost income.
Palestinian schoolchildren forced to squeeze past armored Israeli jeep on
their way to school
Palestinian schoolchildren forced to squeeze past armored Israeli jeep on
their way to school
Families that for generations have lived in this neighbourhood directly next
to the Ibrahimi mosque are also barred access. Even if not physically
prevented from leaving their houses by closed checkpoints or soldiers
randomly denying them entry into the area, large crowds of settlers and
soldiers right outside their doorsteps pose an immediate threat for leaving
the house. With settlers, at times 'wearing' machine guns or hand-guns just
like an accessoire, known for their attacks on Palestinians, that seem to
escalate especially during the Jewish holidays, Palestinian families are
locked up in their houses as if under house arrest, caged inside their homes
while right outside their doorsteps settlers and soldiers merrily celebrate
their holiday together without even having to think about the local families
hoping for the holiday to pass as uneventful as possible.
But in most of the cases, that was not the case, with huge groups of
settlers flooding into al-Khalil, Israeli forces did everything possible to
facilitate their movement. New checkpoints and road-blocks popped up
randomly, leaving Palestinians with their cars parked on the wrong side of
them without any possibility to access their cars, soldiers took over
several Palestinian houses, using their roofs or even the whole house as a
military base to 'keep an eye' on Palestinians' every movement in the maze
of obstacles, dead-ends and military checkpoints - almost impossible to
navigate in every-day life in a militarily occupied city - further
exacerbated by this holiday.
Israeli forces further restricting Palestinian freedom of movement with
additional roadblocks
Israeli forces further restricting Palestinian freedom of movement with
additional roadblocks
Even in the H1-area of al-Khalil, that is supposedly under full Palestinian
control, Israeli forces evicted Palestinian civilians going about their
everyday lives attacking them with stun-grenades and rubber coated steel
bullets, to facilitate access exclusively for Israeli settlers. Sudden
attacks like these didn't allow even for a few minutes for shopkeepers and
vendors to protect their produce from violent assaults by Israeli forces or
for families and mothers to hurriedly whisk their small children to safety
out of the range of indiscriminate fire. In the area around Bab al-Zawwiyya
and Shuhada checkpoint, where Palestinian student Hadeel al-Hashlamoun was
ruthlessly gunned down and killed by Israeli soldiers just last week,
endless rounds of stun-grenades and rubber coated steel bullets fired at
protectors have echoed throughout the days. Israeli forces' fire has also
been directly targeting Palestinian families, with tear gas and stun
grenades continuously exploding on the roofs of their homes, leaving them
scared and hurriedly closing windows to minimise tear gas slowly seeping
into their homes.
Israeli soldier shooting rubber-coated steel bullet from a Palesitnian house
Israeli soldier shooting rubber-coated steel bullet from a Palestinian house
In this escalation of violence, harassment, attacks and restrictions, it
doesn't matter if you're a small child, a grown up adult or an old person.
The stepped up 'security' is only imposing further hassles and obstacles on
Palestinians' already severely restricted everyday life. Israeli settlers on
the other hand, under the watch of the Israeli forces are free to attack
Palestinian families and shops or keep them locked up in their home by
blocking their front door. And age doesn't matter in these cases either,
while some of the settlers use their children to block international
observers' cameras, other parents encourage them to join the attacks and
insults on Palestinian families. Soldiers idly standing by watching these
incidents happen, just a few minutes afterwards, receive pizza delivered by
the same settlers or giving them a hug on their way home after their shift
is finished.
For Palestinians, every day life is children coming home from school crying,
coughing and choking from tear gas shot at them by Israeli forces at one of
the many checkpoints they have to cross, passing heavily armed military.
Every day life is mothers and fathers anxiously waiting for the return of
their children from school if they're late, hoping and praying they were not
randomly snatched by Israeli forces and arrested for 'dirty hands' that
would indicate they were throwing stones - just because children would never
play and get dirty hands. Every day life is families having to endure
Israeli settlers attacking a son, brother or father with Israeli forces
standing by not intervening and later on arresting the person attacked.
Every day life is a struggle against the illegal Israeli military occupation
of every aspect of Palestinian life, a daily struggle against the denial of
most basic human rights.
When celebrating a holiday makes this struggle through every day life even
more miserable and seemingly impossible, where is humanity?
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Israeli Forces Escalate Restrictions And Violence Against Palestinians
Screen Shot 2015-10-03 at 9.58.00 AM
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the 28th - 30th September 2015 is the Jewish
holiday of Sukkot. In the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron),
while Israeli settlers from the many illegal settlements within al-Khalil
celebrate their holiday, Israeli forces have escalated restrictions and
violence against the Palestinian residents, further infringing on their most
basic rights.
In preparation for the celebrations of Sukkot, already heavily restricted
Palestinian freedom of movement has been almost entirely grinded to a halt
by Israeli forces. Especially in the area around the Ibrahimi mosque,
food-stalls and entertainment has sprung up for settlers not only from
al-Khalil but also visiting from other West Bank illegal settlements. In
order to completely barr Palestinians from this main venue of celebration
for the settlers and Israeli forces, the mosque checkpoint leading to this
area from the Palestinian market has been closed down for two days.
Shopkeepers were handed notices by the Israeli army forcing them to again
close their shops for the Jewish holiday, imposing more days of forced
closures and lost income.
Palestinian schoolchildren forced to squeeze past armored Israeli jeep on
their way to school
Palestinian schoolchildren forced to squeeze past armored Israeli jeep on
their way to school
Families that for generations have lived in this neighbourhood directly next
to the Ibrahimi mosque are also barred access. Even if not physically
prevented from leaving their houses by closed checkpoints or soldiers
randomly denying them entry into the area, large crowds of settlers and
soldiers right outside their doorsteps pose an immediate threat for leaving
the house. With settlers, at times 'wearing' machine guns or hand-guns just
like an accessoire, known for their attacks on Palestinians, that seem to
escalate especially during the Jewish holidays, Palestinian families are
locked up in their houses as if under house arrest, caged inside their homes
while right outside their doorsteps settlers and soldiers merrily celebrate
their holiday together without even having to think about the local families
hoping for the holiday to pass as uneventful as possible.
But in most of the cases, that was not the case, with huge groups of
settlers flooding into al-Khalil, Israeli forces did everything possible to
facilitate their movement. New checkpoints and road-blocks popped up
randomly, leaving Palestinians with their cars parked on the wrong side of
them without any possibility to access their cars, soldiers took over
several Palestinian houses, using their roofs or even the whole house as a
military base to 'keep an eye' on Palestinians' every movement in the maze
of obstacles, dead-ends and military checkpoints - almost impossible to
navigate in every-day life in a militarily occupied city - further
exacerbated by this holiday.
Israeli forces further restricting Palestinian freedom of movement with
additional roadblocks
Israeli forces further restricting Palestinian freedom of movement with
additional roadblocks
Even in the H1-area of al-Khalil, that is supposedly under full Palestinian
control, Israeli forces evicted Palestinian civilians going about their
everyday lives attacking them with stun-grenades and rubber coated steel
bullets, to facilitate access exclusively for Israeli settlers. Sudden
attacks like these didn't allow even for a few minutes for shopkeepers and
vendors to protect their produce from violent assaults by Israeli forces or
for families and mothers to hurriedly whisk their small children to safety
out of the range of indiscriminate fire. In the area around Bab al-Zawwiyya
and Shuhada checkpoint, where Palestinian student Hadeel al-Hashlamoun was
ruthlessly gunned down and killed by Israeli soldiers just last week,
endless rounds of stun-grenades and rubber coated steel bullets fired at
protectors have echoed throughout the days. Israeli forces' fire has also
been directly targeting Palestinian families, with tear gas and stun
grenades continuously exploding on the roofs of their homes, leaving them
scared and hurriedly closing windows to minimise tear gas slowly seeping
into their homes.
Israeli soldier shooting rubber-coated steel bullet from a Palesitnian house
Israeli soldier shooting rubber-coated steel bullet from a Palestinian house
In this escalation of violence, harassment, attacks and restrictions, it
doesn't matter if you're a small child, a grown up adult or an old person.
The stepped up 'security' is only imposing further hassles and obstacles on
Palestinians' already severely restricted everyday life. Israeli settlers on
the other hand, under the watch of the Israeli forces are free to attack
Palestinian families and shops or keep them locked up in their home by
blocking their front door. And age doesn't matter in these cases either,
while some of the settlers use their children to block international
observers' cameras, other parents encourage them to join the attacks and
insults on Palestinian families. Soldiers idly standing by watching these
incidents happen, just a few minutes afterwards, receive pizza delivered by
the same settlers or giving them a hug on their way home after their shift
is finished.
For Palestinians, every day life is children coming home from school crying,
coughing and choking from tear gas shot at them by Israeli forces at one of
the many checkpoints they have to cross, passing heavily armed military.
Every day life is mothers and fathers anxiously waiting for the return of
their children from school if they're late, hoping and praying they were not
randomly snatched by Israeli forces and arrested for 'dirty hands' that
would indicate they were throwing stones - just because children would never
play and get dirty hands. Every day life is families having to endure
Israeli settlers attacking a son, brother or father with Israeli forces
standing by not intervening and later on arresting the person attacked.
Every day life is a struggle against the illegal Israeli military occupation
of every aspect of Palestinian life, a daily struggle against the denial of
most basic human rights.
When celebrating a holiday makes this struggle through every day life even
more miserable and seemingly impossible, where is humanity?
Israeli Forces Escalate Restrictions And Violence Against Palestinians |
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