Violence / Incursions / Attacks / Suppression of protests / Arrests
Israeli troops 'violently' attack Palestinian teen at border crossing
<http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=759660>
JENIN (Ma‘an) 28 Feb – A teenage Palestinian boy from the northern West
Bank says he was violently assaulted by Israeli soldiers at *al-Jalama
crossing* north of Jenin while he was trying to cross into Israel. *Muhammad
Asri Fayyad*, 17, told Ma‘an Saturday that on Thursday morning he arrived
at the crossing along with a busload of young men and teenagers who had
organized a trip to Israel and obtained the needed permits from Israeli
authorities. He says he entered the crossing and complied with the
instructions Israeli officers were giving through loudspeakers. The
instructions included "that we shove our mobile phones in one place and we
cross from a different place which we did." "Everybody received back their
mobile phones except me. The soldiers asked me to pass through a path under
a bridge on top of which stood a number of soldiers pointing their guns at
me. "They then asked me to enter a room which has several doors and I
obeyed the orders. All the doors were immediately locked before the
officers started to shout through loudspeakers demanding that I take off my
clothes and my shoes." He added that he took off his shoes first but the
soldiers continued to shout "violently" repeating that he must take off all
his clothes. "When I took off my clothes, they turned on a huge ceiling fan
which caused frigid coldness. I told them to turn off the fan because I was
freezing, but they didn't, and so I knocked on the fan in an attempt to
cause it to stop. At that point the soldiers broke into the room and
started to beat me with rifle butts until I fell to the ground. "They then
tied my hand to a steel bar behind my back and tied my foot to another bar.
I remained in that position from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. After that a number of
soldiers arrived and a female soldier untied me after she took a silver
necklace I was wearing. She ordered me to put on my clothes, then she
handcuffed and blindfolded my eyes and escorted me outside the crossing and
told me that I was denied entry to Israel. She gave me a small sack in
which I found the remnants of my mobile phone which had been smashed."
Muhammad says he has been suffering severe shoulder and foot pain ever
since.
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=759660
Soldiers use excessive force against nonviolent protest in Hebron
<http://www.imemc.org/article/70741>
IMEMC 27 Feb by Saed Bannoura -- Israeli soldiers attacked, on Friday, a
nonviolent protest organized by hundreds of students to demand that the
army reopen Shuhada Street in Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied
West Bank. At least 15 Palestinians were injured, with two reported
kidnappings. The soldiers fired rounds of live ammunition, gas bombs and
rubber-coated metal bullets, wounding three with live fire and twelve with
rubber-coated metal bullets; many others suffered the effects of tear gas
inhalation. The three Palestinians injured by live fire have been
identified as *Abdul-Majid ‘Amro*, *Issa Mahmoud ‘Amro*, and *Anas ‘Amro*.
One of the kidnapped Palestinians is Hijazi ‘Obeido, age 22, a law student
and activist with the Youth Against Settlements Coalition that organized
the protest, along with various national and Islamic factions, in addition
to a number of Popular Committees from different parts of the occupied West
Bank. Shuhada Street, and all of its shops and stores, have been shut down
by the Israeli military for 21 years now, after Israeli-American Baruch
Goldstein stormed the Ibrahimi Mosque and opened automatic fire on
worshipers, on February 25, 1994, killing 29 and wounding more than 200,
before some managed to subdue and kill him.
http://www.imemc.org/article/70741
Palestinians mark the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in Hebron
<http://www.imemc.org/article/70719>
IMEMC/Agencies 26 Feb -- Hundreds of Palestinians marked, Wednesday, the
21st anniversary of the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre that led to the death of
29 Palestinians, and the injury of around 200. Among the victims were many
children and elderly; some of the wounded suffered permanent disabilities.
The Palestinians in the city started the ceremony with prayers in the
mosque, and demanded protection to them, homes and property, and their holy
sites. They said Israeli fanatics, illegally living in the city, are
ongoing with their violations and assaults, while enjoying protection from
the army. The massacres was carried out by American-born Baruch Goldstein,
who was also a physician; Israel claimed he was “mentally unstable”. ‘Adel
Edris, one of the survivors of the attack, told the Wattan News Agency
that, as the Muslim worshipers were kneeling, they heard dozens of rounds
of live ammunition fired towards them from a gunman who was standing all
the way behind them. “The physician, who was also an army officer, entered
through the ‘Ishaqiyya Gate’ of the Ibrahim Mosque, and started shooting,”
Edris said, “My brother, Salim, was killed, my other brother and many
relatives were injured.” The Khatib of the al-Ibrahimi Mosque Hatem
al-Bakri said that, after the massacre, Israel used the situation to divide
the mosque, and emptied all nearby Palestinian homes after forcing the
families out, so that it can bring more Israeli colonizers to replace the
Palestinians. “Israel also deliberately shut down around 3000 stores after
the massacre,” he added, “It divided the mosque, has been trying to keep us
out, and still intends to fully control it.”
http://www.imemc.org/article/70719
*Israeli forces suppress West Bank demos*
<http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=759650>
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 27 Feb -- Israeli forces on Friday fired live bullets and
tear gas canisters at Palestinians demonstrating against the Israeli
occupation in the West Bank. Local sources told Ma‘an that Israeli forces
suppressed a demonstration of Palestinians who were demanding Israeli
authorities reopen Shuhada street, once a major thoroughfare in *Hebron*'s
Old City ... Meanwhile, in *Kafr Qaddum* near Nablus, a photojournalist who
works for Reuters was hit by an Israeli tear gas grenade in the neck. Murad
Ishtewi, the coordinator of the popular resistance committees in Kafr
Qaddum, told Ma‘an Israeli soldiers opened fire and shot tear gas
canisters, injuring Reuters photojournalist *Abd al-Rahman al-Qussini.*
Dozens of Palestinians suffered from tear-gas inhalation and faintness and
were treated on the spot by the Palestinian Red Crescent, he said. The
marchers chanted slogans calling for the boycott of Israeli products. The
march was organized under the title: "Do not pay for the bullets that kill
you and the gas that suffocates you." It came amid a series of activities
organized by the Fatah movement calling for boycott. Protests are held
every Friday in Kafr Qaddum against Israel's closure of a main road linking
the village to its nearest city, Nablus.
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=759650
*Palestinians tear-gassed on 10th anniversary of barrier protests*
<http://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/palestinians-tear-gassed-10th-anniversary-barrier-protests>
Bil‘in, Palestinian Territories (AFP) 27 Feb -- Palestinian, Israeli and
foreign activists faced off against Israeli forces Friday in the occupied
West Bank village of *Bil‘in* where they marked 10 years of protests
against Israel's separation barrier. In what has become a weekly ritual,
the activists marched towards the barrier which cuts villagers off from
their fields. Palestinian youths with slingshots aimed stones at border
police posted along the wire-topped concrete wall and the police fired tear
gas to disperse them, AFP journalists at the scene said. At least one
demonstrator was arrested, another was seen being taken away by ambulance
after a blow to the head and several suffered tear gas inhalation. The
extent of their injuries was not known. Israel says the barrier is designed
to prevent militant attacks, but the Palestinians say it is an "apartheid
wall" that carves off key parts of their promised state. When the
709-kilometre (435-mile) barrier is complete, 85 percent of it will have
been built inside the West Bank.
http://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/palestinians-tear-gassed-10th-anniversary-barrier-protests
*Israeli forces destroy protest camp for 10th time*
<http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=759653>
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 27 Feb -- Israeli civil administration employees on
Friday demolished the "*Jerusalem Gate"* protest camp for the 10th time, a
spokesman told Ma‘an. Popular resistance committees spokesman Hani Halabiya
said Israeli forces raided the area, dismantled the camp, and seized
equipment. Halabiya said the camp was most recently rebuilt Thursday
evening, highlighting that activists continued their protest in the street
across from the camp after it was demolished. The camp was built in protest
against an Israeli plan to build Jewish-only settlements in the E1 corridor
east of Jerusalem on the way to Jericho where Palestinian Bedouins have
been living for decades.
In January 2013, Palestinian activists set-up over 25 tents and a medical
center in the E1 area east of Jerusalem to protest Israeli settlement plans
and protect Palestinian land from annexation. The protest village, called *Bab
al-Shams*, or 'Gate of the Sun', was later demolished by Israeli forces.
Over the following months, activists set up the *al-Karamah* (Dignity)
protest village in Beit Iksa, and the *Ahfad Younis* village in Eizariya.
http://www.maannews.com/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=759653
*Cops accused of abusing Bedouin family evade investigation*
<http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.644596>
Haaretz 28 Feb by Amira Hass -- *A Bedouin father and his two sons were
detained during a protest. Their complaint of assault and serious abuse was
dismissed without any attempt to locate the policemen involved -- ...**Taleb
Alturi* and his sons *Nidal* and *Rauf*, of the Bedouin town of* Rahat* in
the Negev, accused a group of some 20 policemen of attacking them after a
protest on September 30, 2013 against the so-called Prawer plan for the
relocation of tens of thousands of Negev Bedouin to government-recognized
local councils. The police, who they said were not recognizable due to
their helmets and face guards, reportedly shouted "Why did you throw stones
at us, you bastards?" According to the complaint, the police then hit the
three with batons and fists, kicked them, dragged them along the ground and
jumped on their bodies when they were lying manacled on the ground. One of
Alturi's sons complained that a stun grenade was thrown directly at him,
injuring his back, and the other said that a policeman had urinated on him.
At some point, the father lost consciousness. According to their
testimonies, the police also made such comments as "let's give each of them
a bullet in the head," "you stinking Arab bastard" and "watch your bum
because they'll soon be fucking you in prison." The assault took place in
an unlit area, in which the assailants could not be recognized. Later, when
they were taken to police vehicles in a lit area, one of the policemen
warned his comrades that "it's not dark; everything is being filmed and
documented." The three were imprisoned for just over a day, but later
released without any charges being laid against them. Two judges ruled that
there was no evidentiary basis on which to hold them, with one noting that
the father had been severely beaten. The complainants maintained that
during the full year that their complaint was under investigation, the
investigators only questioned the two policemen in whose custody the three
had been left following the beatings. The file was then closed due to
"absence of guilt," on the basis of the testimony of the two policemen
questioned. However, even those two testified that the three Bedouin had
been arrested by members of paramilitary police units.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.644596
*Soldiers invade town near Salfit* <http://www.imemc.org/article/70736>
IMEMC/Agencies 27 Feb -- Several Israeli military vehicles invaded, on
Friday at dawn, *Kifl Hares* town, east of the central West Bank city of
Salfit, to accompany Israelis touring archaeological sites [reputed tombs
of Joshua, Caleb & Nun] in the town. Eyewitnesses said approximately 30
military vehicles invaded the town after surrounding it, forced shut local
shops, and prevented the Palestinians from entering various areas. They
added that, after the army surrounded and invaded the town, dozens of
Israeli buses drove through, heading towards the archaeological sites,
while denying freedom of movement to the locals. Many Israeli buses parked
in the center of the town, as many colonialist settlers wanted to walk from
there to the historic sites, and the rest of the buses drove straight to
the sites. Dozens of Israeli extremists started chanting anti-Arab and
anti-Palestinian slogans, while marching through the town during the early
dawn hours.
On Thursday evening, several Palestinians suffered the effects of tear gas
inhalation, including a few who fainted, after the soldiers fired dozens of
gas bombs, and rubber-coated metal bullets targeting Palestinian protesters
near the Rachel Tomb area, at the northern entrance of *Bethlehem*. Media
sources said local youths hurled stones, Molotov cocktails and empty
bottles at the soldiers, stationed in a military tower behind the
Annexation Wall, on the northern entrance of the city.
http://www.imemc.org/article/70736
*Religious buildings attacked by suspected Jewish extremists*
<http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/religious-buildings-attacked-by-suspected-jewish-extremists>
JABA‘A, West Bank (The National) 26 Feb by Ben Lynfield -- Palestinians
were quick to paint over burn marks inside Al Hoda mosque in the West Bank
village of Jaba‘a but fear persisted as another apparently religion-based
attack shook Jerusalem. Suspected Jewish extremists set fire to the mosque
under the cover of darkness on Wednesday in an assault that Palestinians
and Israeli human rights groups say is far from an isolated incident.
Furthering concerns over an increase in religious tensions, assailants --
also suspected Jewish extremists -- on Thursday set fire to a Greek
Orthodox seminary. The attackers left graffiti reading “Redemption of
Zion”, similar to that scrawled over Al Hoda mosque ... Attacks by Israelis
against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are “routine,’’ according to
Noa Cohen of Israeli human rights group Yesh Din. These include violence
against persons, harm to property, arson, theft, and the destruction of
trees, many of which provide Palestinians’ with their livelihoods, she
said. Yesh Din has documented eight cases in which mosques were set on fire
in the West Bank since 2006. No one has been arrested in any of the cases.
Mr Cohen charged that there is “negligence” and “failure” by the Israeli
police when it comes to investigating crimes against Palestinians ...
Between 2005 and 2014, Yesh Din monitored 1,045 files opened by Israeli
police following Palestinian complaints. Only 7.4 per cent of these
complaints led to indictments of Israeli civilians suspected of attacking
Palestinians and their property, according to the group ... In Jaba‘a,
there was defiance alongside the fear of more attacks. In white letters,
fresh graffiti written on one of the mosque’s walls read: “Whatever you
burn, we stay in this land and in our mosque we pray.”
http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/religious-buildings-attacked-by-suspected-jewish-extremists
Greek Orthodox Church decries attacks by Jewish settlers
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/17216-greek-orthodox-church-decries-attacks-by-jewish-settlers>
Middle East Monitor 26 Feb -- The Patriarch of the Holy City of
Jerusalem and all Palestine, Theophilos III, denounced on Thursday what he
called "repeated" attacks on Christian and Muslim places of worship in the
Palestinian territories by extremist Jewish settlers. "The targeting of
churches and mosques is caused by pervasive racism and hatred," he said in
a statement. Earlier Thursday, Jewish Settlers set fire to part of a
religious school affiliated with Jerusalem's Greek Orthodox Church, Which
they sprayed with anti-Christian graffiti. On Wednesday, settlers torched
and sprayed graffiti on a West Bank mosque.
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/17191-jewish-settlers-torch-mosque-in-west-bank>.
Theophilos III said Christians represented an "integral part" of the Holy
Land, its history and its future, going on to assert that the Greek
Orthodox Church was one of the world's most important churches. "Criminals
will not intimidate this church or its flock," he declared. He called on
government agencies to address repeated settler attacks on places of
worship. Earlier Thursday, The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called on both
the Vatican and the international community to protect Islamic and
Christian places of worship from what it described as "Jewish extremism."
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/17216-greek-orthodox-church-decries-attacks-by-jewish-settlers
