International Women's Peace Service: Nonviolence In Action

Human Rights Report 175

Summary: Arrest of two people in Kufr Ein and Qarawat Bani Zeid

Date of incident: across new year 2004-5

Place: Kufr ‘Ein and Qarawat Bani Zeid

Witness/es:

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident:

From Kufr ‘Ein: on 28 December, MD, a 22 year old student of Bir Zeit University was taken. His legal representation is from the lawyers who represent Bir Zeit University members. He is being held in Masqubigha – an interrogation centre in Jerusalem. No information is released on people at such centres. The lawyer is only allowed to visit at a later stage (maybe after a month). A visit can be attempted.

From Qarawat Bani Zeid: MA, a man of about 55 who works in Salfit as a director in the governorate has been picked up and held at Awfar prison near Ramalla because he does not have Israeli ID papers. He came in with the PA in 1994, and his family is here. A prisoner’s representation organisation has been notified about him, but there is not much that can be done when deportation is threatened. His family is anxious, he could be deported within the next three days. Although plenty of people in Palestine don’t have the Israeli identity papers they are not all deported. He can be visited.

Report written by: May

Date report written on: the 10th January 2005

Human Rights Report 176

Summary: Army invasion in Qarawat Beni Zeid, two killed and a house demolished.

Date of incident: Wednesday 12th January 2005

Time: from 4am.

Place: Qarawat Beni Zeid.

Witness/es: neighbors and some villagers.

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident:

At 5 am on the 12th Jan. IWPS was called by one of our contacts in the village of Qarawat Beni Zeid.

IWPS was informed that the army had arrived in the village by foot at around 4am and was currently occupying a house and that there had been a death so far and possibly some injuries.

Two women left Hares at 7 am and traveled to Farkha and from there walked to the entrance of QBZ. There were four jeeps parked at the entrance to the village and soldiers occupying a house there. The IWPS women were ordered back to Salfit. They moved back to the top of the hill where they contacted Israeli contact persons of Human Rights groups. Two ambulances from Salfit arrived at 8am and were also refused entrance to the village. The IWPS women entered the village via the olive groves and went to the house that was next to the house of M., in which they were told the shooting had occurred. This house was surrounded by soldiers who were guarding all the doors and windows. At 9.30 am members of the press arrived and were allowed into the village. At 10 am the ambulance was allowed into the village and were able to enter this house of M., watched by the villagers, IWPS and the Press. Shortly afterwards the ambulance men reappeared carrying two covered bodies on stretchers.

The people of the village then converged on the occupied house at the entrance to the village and found it to be heavily guarded and the occupants of the house to be locked inside. There were children looking out through the window and calling to the people outside. One woman from the village said to an IWPS member that the children had not eaten all morning.

The border police arrived and sound bombs and smoke bombs were used to disperse the crowd that had gathered around the occupied house.

At around 11 am the bulldozer began the process of demolishing the house in which the two men had been shot.

For the following four hours the villagers watched the demolition of the house. There were numerous encounters with the soldiers and the crowd and a lot of sound bombs and smoke bombs were used when the crowd pushed too close to the bulldozer and wanted to confront the army.

The house was completely demolished by 3 pm and the army prepared to depart.

As the jeeps and border police were leaving there was a barrage of stone throwing from all the rooftops and the army responded with fire over the houses. It was what ammunition they used.

By 4 pm the army had left and all the village and the IWPS women (the Press had left before the bulldozer had completed the task) converged on the site of the house.

It was here that IWPS managed to get some more information from a neighbor of the demolished house who had been locked inside his own place all day. He said that the army had entered the house of M. at about 3.30am and that he himself had been woken up by the sound of screaming coming from M’s. home. The soldiers had pushed the women and children out of the house and had arrested the two brothers M. and S. who were by now in the prison Ofer, so they were told. The two men who had been shot in the house and killed were apparently wanted by the Israeli authorities. Both were from neighboring villages.

Some hours were spent by the villagers at the demolished house, and sorting through the rubble for anything salvageable was taken on by everyone.

IWPS remained in the village overnight and all was quiet.

Report written by: Renee
Date report written on: 13th Jan. 2005.

Human Rights Report 177

Summary: Army Invasion in Qarawat Bani Zeid

Date of incident: 25th January 2005

Time: 1 pm finished at 4pm.

Place: Middle of the village (Qarawat Bani Zeid)

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident:

We were called to QBZ at 1:30 pm on the 25th of January. We were told that the army had entered the village half an hour before and that there were between twenty and thirty jeeps in the village.

When we arrived at the entrance to the village we found that it was closed off by the army, and there was an ambulance waiting to enter. We skirted the main road and entered the village through the olive groves. The army was occupying one house in the centre of the village and from the balcony of it were shooting rubber bullets toward the rooftops of the surrounding houses. There were many sound bombs heard and some of the rooftops were smoking from the smoke bombs thrown into them. The family members of the occupied house had been ordered out of their home and were now sheltering in a nearby house.

At 3:15 pm we watched as thirteen soldiers prepared to invade a second home next door to the occupied house.

They shot through the windows and broke into the front entrance. We found out later that the occupants of the house had already been ordered outside and that the 24 year old son had been arrested and taken away.

After 45 minutes the soldiers left the house and by 4pm they had driven away from the village.

We went straight into the invaded house and found that the inside of it had been completely ransacked, the furniture had been broken and all the windows shot through.

Every wall and ceiling had bullet holes scarring them and all the families’ possessions lay strewn and broken on the floor.

Outside the violated home the village gathered and it was here that we were given more details of the invasion.

At around 1pm two car loads of soldiers had arrived in the village driving green-plated Palestinian cars. They had driven straight to the house of Halil Hamdan H. and surrounding it they then ordered the family out onto the street. They arrested the son of Halil, 24 yr old Bilaal, who had arrived from Ramallah half an hour earlier, and then proceeded to use this house as their base. 23 to 24 jeeps followed the first invading force that had arrived driving Palestinian cars and remained in the village for the following three hours.

The villagers were utterly horrified at the violence of the invasion and were understandably afraid of the severity and frequency of these IOF attacks and invasions that have been occurring frequently. Many of the villagers spoke to us afterwards about their fear and confusion. We heard many villagers speak of how the past month has been increasingly terrible for them with random searches and army presence in the village on an almost daily basis.

IWPS has been frequently called to QBZ during this month and are now working with Operation Dove to try and establish a more permanent International presence in the village.

Report written by: Renee
Date report written on: 26th January.

Human Rights Report 178

Summary: Arrest of two people in Qarawat Bani Zeit and Jilijilya

Date of incident: 10th February 2005

Place: Qarawat Bani Zeit, Jilijilya.

Time: 4-6am

Witness/es: Abu H, Um M.

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

On Thursday, February 10th, the army arrived at 4am at M’s house in Jilijilya, a village H considered safe, where he had been working as a Palestinian policeman three years ago. The soldiers threw a sound bomb at the front of the house to wake up the family and ordered everyone out of the house. M’s mother came out of the house with her 2 daughters, the older one holding her 3-month old baby, and the other 12-years old and mentally-handicapped. It was very cold. The soldiers asked M’s mother where H was. She said he wasn’t there. They insisted that they knew he was there, staying in a room upstairs. They fired a shot towards where they believed he was hiding. H came down and said his name was M. The soldiers insisted they knew it was him. They handcuffed H and then beat him. They then went upstairs and ransacked the rooms where H and M had been sleeping, damaging some of the furniture. They found H’s service revolver. They then threatened to destroy M’s mother’s house.

On the same at 5am in Qarawat Bani Zied, the army came to get the father of H, in order to identify his son. He did not want to go with them. They threatened to use force if he did not come with them. As the jeeps drove him, was afraid he would have to identify his son’s corpse.

When they arrived at Jilijilya, three young men were standing near a jeep, outside the house of M’s mother and the baby still standing out in the cold. One of the men had his hands manacled behind his back and fastened to the jeep.

The officer Rasmi asked H’s father to answer if the first, then the second, then the third man was his son. He answered ‘no’ three times. The officer called him a liar.

The third was his son H. H smiled at this father and said ‘He is my father and I am proud of him.’ They were allowed to shake hands.

Then H’s father was ordered to squat. After a while he stood up, not being able to squat any longer as his leg was hurt from a previous injury. He was ordered to squat again and after a while told to go home. He refused, saying that he would stay with the women who were without a man. He returned home later in the morning.

Report written by: Dorothee, Fatima, Anna P.

Date report written on: 14 February 2005

Human Rights Report No. 179

Summary: A village strangled by settlements, settlers and the natural deterioration of a makeshift road.

Date of incident: After the heavy rainfall of beginning of February 2005
Place: Kufr Qaddom
Witness/es: The village Council of Kufr Qaddom
Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

This Human Rights report does not unfold a unique incident. It deals with an ongoing story of the suffering of a whole village strangled because of the lack of access to roads. It spreads over the four years since the beginning of the second Intifada with an abrupt worsening in the summer of 2002.

“The teacher has to come to school by tractor”, Abu Arab told us, showing the tractor standing at the entrance of the secondary boys’ school at Kufr Qaddom, a village West of Nablus and East of Qalqilya. Both towns are very near geographically but almost out of reach for most people, most of the year. The most recent worsening goes back to the heavy rainfall at the beginning of February 2005 when the only makeshift road out of the village was made unpassable, because the overflowing wadi, that drains water from the nearby mountains and areas, transformed the valley beneath Kufr Qaddom into a huge lake. This only way out of the village, an agricultural road that people are forced to use wherever they want to go, because of harassment by settler security guards on the other road, is a very bad dirt road, too narrow to be used by lorries in the village and too wallowing to be used for any kind of urgent ride.

The other road, in fact the main road to the village, which is situated a stonethrow away from the highway between Qalqilya and Nablus dates from Turkish times and links Kufr Qaddom to the neighbouring village of Jiit, 2 kilometers to the East. Two villages within a distance of two kilometers can be out of reach from one another if they happen to be separated by two settlements. Qdumim, was established by the Israeli army on a former Jordanian military camp in 1978, and after further confiscation of 5,000 (five thousand)dunums of Kufr Qaddom land, was expanded to become a settlement, an illegal step according to international law. The second settlement, Qdumim Ilit, on a hilltop as the name suggests, was built in 1982 after confiscation of another 3,000 (three thousand) dunums of Kufr Qaddom land. All of which was agricultural land, a member of the village council comments. The two settlements are cutting the village from their Eastern lands and, even more unbearable for everyday life, cutting the one road to the main highway.

The security guards of the settlements, of which ‘Dany’ is an specially brutal example, behaves rudely with both women and men, the former being particularly unacceptable for people of the Islamic faith. Like all settlers he is armed, but he has the privilege of opening and closing a gate that is supposed to guarantee the security of the inhabitants of the settlements. Armed civilians who make law and who enforce it with a weapon in their hands are a danger in any society. Here it is normal that an armed man decides who comes through and who does not. With his weapon and the incredible patience and fear of the Palestinians he is ‘respected’.

On Sunday, February 13th, two women from IWPS, Gabriele and Dorothee, waited with a member of the municipal council of Kufr Qaddom at the gate, between 9 and 10 am. We were told that the gate opens for five minutes every hour. At about 300 meters from the gate we had got out of the car that had brought us here from Funduq, a little village a few kilometers away. We walked towards the gate and were shown by a stout man gesturing with his weapon that we could not pass. We got into a car of the Red Crescent which was waiting at the gate, in order to get shelter. They had been waiting for half an hour, the doctor told us, and were to wait the other half hour in order to pass through during the five minutes the gate opened every hour. While we were waiting a few cars with yellow plates – settler cars – passed by. The barrier was opened then closed again. We continued to wait.

After another half hour the barrier opened, the security guard let the cars coming from the village go through. We, coming from the highway, were to pass after them. A security guard in a car with turning flashlights approached, pulled his car straight up in front of us, walked towards us and, as he had apparently been informed that two foreigners were waiting in the ambulance, asked for our identity papers. He wanted to know what the purpose of our coming was. We said we wanted to inquire about the health situation of the village. He accepted this reason when he heard that one of us was a doctor, which he explicitly asked.

Waiting for the gate to open once every hour for five minutes, between 6 am and 6 pm is new. It was the result of numerous phone calls and claims by the municipal council at the office of the Palestinian DCO (District Coordination Officer) at Qalqilya, the capital of the district. The Israeli DCO then ordered an Israeli army jeep to check whether the rains had really made the agricultural makeshift road unpassable. When the report by the army confirmed that, indeed, even a jeep could not pass, the new arrangement was made so that the villagers of Kufr Qaddom, teachers, students, employees of the Palestinian Authorities, traders, would be allowed through the old road five minutes every hour from morning to evening.

Since 1992 the old road was unofficially declared a settler road. The STOP sign on the sideroads to the settlement, West and East of the old road, was shifted to the old road so as to signal that “We, the settlers, are now here on our land, and we have the right of way”, the doctor in the ambulance explained. A symbolic shift.

And since the summer of 2002 the security guards of the settlements had been checking the identity cards of people passing on the old road in cars. Only the inhabitants of the village were let through. With this harassment, the villagers started to use the incredibly difficult agricultural road to the village in the South, Hajja.

Kufr Qaddom is a village of 4,200 inhabitants, owning 20,000 (twenty thousand) dunums of land according to the 1997 statistics by the Palestinian Authority. It has two schools primary and secondary for girls, and primary and secondary for boys. In the boys school there is no scientific path so that 6 student finish their highschool in Hajja. The girls‘ school have the scientific path. Right now 40 people work in Israel and 250 are employed outside the village, as well as 180 students in university (Nablus and Jerusalem, all needing to travel every day.

The headmaster of the boys’ school showed us his new school and said that he serves 425 boys. We were invited to look into the library and the chemistry, physics and biology classroom. ‘Some materials we need for teaching science are not available because Israeli security reasons do not allow them to be brought into the village’, the teacher told us.

Dorothee and Gabriele could take pictures of the land around Kufr Qaddom, the settlements, the new outpost above Kufr Qaddom made of a few containers or trailers, so often seen in the West Bank, and the villages of Kur, Beit Lid, Baqat, Hajja and Jiit, that are accessible either by dirt road or at certain times a day at the settlers’ whim.

The village council asked Dorothee and Gabriele to support them by informing the world and especially Human Rights organizations about their suffering in order to end this inhuman imprisonment in their own little village, by finding an Israeli or international lawyer that would defend their case, and also by asking a person or two to stay in the village to see and monitor the daily plight of the villagers, of which the aggressive treatment by settlers and the impossibility to use the road freely are the worst aspects. An Israeli or international presence at the gate would be a particular relief. The newspaper Al Hayat has published an article about the village in the edition of, February, 13th, 2005.

Report written by: Dorothee
Date report written on: February 13th, 2005

Update:

16.02.2005
The army leveled the agricultural road between Kufr Qaddom and Hajja that was so much deteriorated by the rainfalls. The main road that passes between settlements is blocked for Palestinians altogether again.
17.02.2005
From 6:30 am cars are waiting and the army preventing the people to go to work, to study, etc. At 8 am there are about 130 people in 30 cars.
19.02.2005
Demonstration “Free our only road!” starting from the center of the village at 9 am.

Human Rights Report No. 180

Summary: Palestinian police station raided by Israeli army looking for weapons in the middle of the night.
Date of incident: February 23, 2005

Time: 3 – 4:30 am

Place: Kufr Ein police station

Witness/es: Palestinian police

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

At 3am, 12 army jeeps arrived in the village of Kufr Ein. Six jeeps circled the village while six others pulled into the police station. They called on loudspeakers for everyone to exit the station with their hands over their heads. Once outside, the soldiers took everyone’s identification and brought five policemen back into the station. Inside, they handcuffed the men one by one, demanded to know where they had weapons, and punched several in the face. The army said that they had taken an aeriel photo from above the night before, showing there were illegal weapons in the station. The soldiers said that while they let Palestinian police wear uniforms, they are not to carry weapons. (Palestinians are forbidden to have weapons in their possession, even police).

The policemen denied the existence of any weapons. The army then searched the two sleeping rooms, turning them upside-down. They found no weapons but they promised to return and find them another time. One soldier volunteered that he had already killed two villagers in Qarawat Bani Zeid, a nearby village, and that he wasn’t afraid to do it again. He added that he also demolished a house and would do similarly to the station if he found any weapons there. Then the army left.

The policemen said they were very shocked because of the recent summit between Sharon and Abbas, and the supposed cease-fire. They reported the incident to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, who then reported to the DCO. They received no reaction or answer from the Israeli army.

One man suffered aches from being beaten and had to see a doctor. One man reported that 1,000 shekels had been stolen when soldiers searched his belongings in the sleeping room. A light fixture and two doors (one to a nearby well and one to a 78-year-old’s home next door) were broken during the raid. A neighbor’s house was also occupied during the incident. No damages reported.

Report written by: Anna P.

Date report written on: March 1, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 181

Summary: Farmer beaten by Settlers at Kufr Thulth, March 01, 2005

Date of incident: Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Time: 10.30 am.
Place: Farmland of Kufr Tulth
Witness/es: Farmer and his wife.

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident:

Two women from IWPS met with a farmer, Hameed Theeb Udi in the Mayor’s office in Kufr Tulth. He had just had an aggressive encounter with settlers on his land. He and his wife had gone to plough their fields. As they were working they were approached by an aggressive settler couple who shouted at them to get off the land. Hameed Theeb Udi is around 60 years old, and his wife is a little younger. He is an old man, of slight build. The settlers then attacked and beat him. When he took off his scarf we witnessed a bloody wound on his head from this attack. Hameed was being taken to the Qedumim settlement to report the attack to the Israeli DCO.

Two days before the settlers had brought in a bulldozer to the settlement and had proceeded to use the bulldozer to uproot more olive trees and raze the farmlands of the village of Kufr Tulth. The mayor contacted the DCO, Elad, and their lawyer, who put pressure on the Israeli Civil Administration to do something. The Israeli DCO agreed that the use of the bulldozer was illegal and on Sunday 28th Feb the bulldozer was removed from the land.

In 2000 the land of Hameed Theeb Udi was first invaded by three settler caravans. The settlers justify this land invasion by saying that the land belongs to the state of Israel. These first few caravans remained empty but were provided with army protection (a check tower). Then the settlers started staying there on Friday and Saturday nights. The Mayor, Hussain Al Saify, said that on these nights the settlers would often hold loud and obtrusive parties. The land of Hameed was then further violated by an illegal road built through it to link the illegal outpost to the nearby settlements of Ma’le Shomron, Ginot Shomron, Karnei Shomron. After this they built a water line. One of the settler’s then built wooden huts on the land of Hameed away from the caravans, to keep ducks, geese and dogs in. Since then Hameed has not been able to access that part of his land.

The outpost has now grown to eight caravans. The settlers are provided with round the clock army presence and further army ‘accompaniment’ when they travel anywhere to and from this illegal outpost. They constantly harass the farmer’s as they tend to their land. When farmers try to complain about these attacks and harassment, they are turned away by the authorities and their charges are not attended to or taken down. The trees of farmers have been uprooted. We witnessed a whole line of olive trees that had been cut down to nothing with an electric saw. All this uprooting and felling has been reported to the DCO.
If it was not for the presence of a whole lot of farmers who had confronted this illegal felling there would have been many more trees cut down to nothing.

On the 5th January the village was told that the Civil Administration must implement the following orders: The illegal road must be closed, the asphalt must be dug up and the wooden chicken and geese pens must be taken off Hameed’s land. The army and the Israeli Civil Administration were given until the 6th of March to follow this court order. Today the 1st of March there is no evidence that this will be done.

Report written by: Fatima G.
Date report written on: Wednesday 2nd march

Human Rights Report No. 182

Summary: Farmer Ma’arouf beaten by Settlers at Yasouf

Date of incident: March 05, 2005
Time: around 2 pm.
Place: Farmland of Yasouf, north east of the village
Witness/es: Shepherd WH

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident:

On Saturday, March 5th, 2005, farmer Ma’arouf was ploughing his land north-east of the village of Yasouf, about 800 meters away from the nearest road (this road leads up from Zatara / Tsomet Tapuah to the roadblock, the main entrance of Yasouf, and Tapuah settlement). He was alone on his land.

At around 2 pm 7 young men suddenly approached without a word. Three grabbed him from behind and held his hands and arms behind his back, while the older one, about 22 years old, picked up a stone and beat him on the head with it. When the blood started pouring down his face they pushed him over a one meter high wall (the terraced fields are separated by stone walls to hold the earth) then ran away.

Ma’arouf got up and shouted for help to a shepherd, W, whom he knew was in the area with his goats. The shepherd arrived and helped him reach the closest person, the guard of the settlement Kfar Tapuah.

The guard called the army. A jeep brought Ma’arouf to the checkpoint at Zatara, where Ma’arouf got into an army ambulance which took him to the checkpoint at Huwara. At Zatara the police made an appointment for him to file a complaint on March 9th.

At Huwara checkpoint Ma’arouf waited for one hour and a half for the Red Crescent ambulance from Nablus to take him to Rafidiah Hospital, where he arrived around 4.30 pm.

After having his wounds attended to, he returned home. He has two wounds: one above the temple with 3 sutures, the other on top of his head with 5 sutures. There is swelling around his left eye and a large bruise on his left arm.

The seven young men were between 17 and 22 years according to Ma’arouf. The oldest had a beard. They all wore plain clothes. Ma’arouf did not hear any names, as none of them spoke. He would recognize them if he saw them.

Report written by:  Dorothee

Date report written on: Tuesday, 8th March 2005

Human Rights Report No. 183

Summary: Israeli army uproots 17 Palestinian olive trees at night

Date of incident: Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Time: around 9 pm – 10:45 pm

Place: Road 505 near the center entrance to Marda village

Witness/es: Palestinian villager, Anna and Hannah from IWPS

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

At 9:45 on Tuesday, March 22, IWPS received a call from a friend in Marda, informing us that the army was uprooting trees outside of the village.  He also informed us that this evening the army had opened the western entrance of the village that used to have a roadblock, and closed the eastern entrance that was previously open.

Anna and Hannah went to Marda and were dropped off between two jeeps, very close to the bulldozer.  The soldiers tried to force the Palestinian driver to take us back where we had come from, but we told him to leave and he did.  The soldiers were not happy that we were there and told us it was no place for “two girls” to be in the middle of the night.  They told us they were trying to protect us, and wanted to take us in their jeep to the settlement of Ariel, which we refused.

Most of the soldiers would not speak with us, but one told us his version of what had happened: Boys from Marda placed stones across the road, which caused an accident between an Israeli car and a Palestinian car.  At least one woman was injured.  [We spoke with an Ariel police official who knows nothing of an accident, and the traffic department has not answered the phone, so we cannot confirm or deny this.]  According to the soldier, this was why they were uprooting trees.  They would not tell us how many trees they were uprooting or whether they had been given specific orders to that effect.

After about a half hour, the soldiers informed us that they were leaving and asked whether we wanted to come with them or not.  We told them we would stay and watch them leave, and then call a friend to pick us up.  When the army left, we attempted to count the uprooted olive trees.  A jeep returned and warned that it was dangerous for us to leave the road and walk in the olive groves, and that they had informed their “forces” that we were staying, but that not everyone would know who we were, and if we got shot, they would not be responsible.  They closed the door and sped away, and we decided to go home and come back in the morning to count the trees.

Our friend from Marda told us that the soldiers had also been inside the village and had thrown at least two sound bombs before leaving.  We saw a total of at least 2 jeeps (one with number 610103), a hummer, a van, and a bulldozer.  At least 10 soldiers were patrolling the road.

Shelley (from Israel) called the army’s humanitarian hotline, and a woman told her at first that the office already knew of this uprooting and that they were trying to stop it because it was unauthorized.  When she called again they told her that boys had thrown stones and Molotov cocktails, and that the response was to “clear the area.”  They did not use the word “unauthorized” again but said that the plan to clear the area was not executed the way it was supposed to be.  Shelley was told that the army will make an inquiry into the situation.

The bulldozer uprooted and cut a total of 17 trees belonging to two farmers.

New information as of April 22, 2005:

There has still been no indication that there was an accident the night of the uprooting.

Shelly has received an answer from the army admitting somehow that the tree-uprooting and cutting was not properly authorized. Anna visited the owners who said that the army came not once but three times, cutting down a total of at least 34 trees, 30 belonging to one man (Talad Rifat Ali Hamdan Khoofash), 4 to another from the same family (Ibrahim Madhat Mahmoud Khoofash), and more to another family that is out of the area. Both owners present said that they were never contacted by the army or otherwise previously notified before the incident. They said they found out only in the morning. When asked about possible monetary compensation, both insisted that trees cannot be replaced with money. Talad’s daughter said it wouldn’t hurt to try to get compensation, while Ibrahim’s wife and daughter said they would not accept any money.

The families bear no relation to the boys whose stone throwing the uprooting was allegedly intended to punish.

Report written by:  Hannah and Anna

Dates report written on: Wednesday, 23 March 2005 and April 22, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 184

Summary: Israeli army enters homes in Marda, holds man for 3 hours

Date of incidents: Wednesday, March 23 and Thursday, March 24, 2005
Time: Wed. 4-10pm, Thurs. 8-11pm
Place: Marda village
Witness/es: Palestinian villagers

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

According to Abu H, six jeeps entered the village of Marda at approximately 4 pm on Wednesday. Soldiers reportedly set up 3 checkpoints along the small roads within the village, asking villagers for identification. Many people were held on the streets, and one man was taken for about 1 hour, and then returned. Soldiers entered at least 3 homes, asked families for identification, and inquired about young men, but did not state a reason. They also threw sound bombs sporadically until 10 pm. The army apparently stayed the whole night in the village, but did not bother anyone after 10 pm.

At approximately 8 pm on Thursday night, soldiers reportedly stopped one villager, about 33 years old, who was on his way home, away from the center of Marda. The soldiers tied his hands together and held him for 3 hours. They said they knew he did not throw stones at the soldiers but demanded he tell them the names of the people who did. They told him they wanted to kill 2 people who threw stones. After they left the home at about 11 pm, the soldiers again remained in the olive fields throughout the night.

Abu H requested that 2 IWPS volunteers stay overnight in the village during this time on Thursday. However, they were not alerted to the incident until the next day, since the victim did not want anyone to approach the house as he was frightened the soldiers would react with violence.

Report written by: Amy and Hannah
Date report written on: Saturday, 26 March 2005

Human Rights Report No. 185

Summary: Four villagers shot by Wall security guards in Deir Ballut

Date of incident: April 6, 2005
Time: 8am
Place: Deir Ballut, on land near Wall construction
Witness/es: Marwan, and others working on the land at the time of the shooting.
Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

Four men from the Abdillah family in Deir Ballut were shot on their land today, where they had come to work early in the morning with several other villagers. They had been working their land as the bulldozers across the valley leveled it in preparation for the approaching Separation Wall. Armed guards from a private security company guarding the wall were scattered around the mountain where the villagers were.

After a short time, a group of five villagers reportedly walked towards the bulldozers in the distance and yelled to the security guards to leave, that this was the village’s land. Witnesses say the group threw no stones, and that the families had been friendly with the guards in the past. From at least 300 meters away, the guards fired live ammunition towards the small group, hitting all but one of them.

Hamada, a 24-year-old, was hit in the chest. Majid, 30, was hit in the shoulder by a bullet, which exited from his back. Khalil, 58, was hit in his rear and Samir, 25, was shot in his leg. Majid and Khalil were taken to hospitals in Israel for treatment, via the road that will soon hold the Wall. Samir made it back to Deir Ballut with help, and is currently being treated in Ramallah. Hamada is also being treated in Ramallah, and has undergone at least one operation.

Report written by: Anna and Hannah
Date report written on: April 6, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 186

Summary: Soldiers confiscated the solar gas tank.

Date of incident: Monday April 10, 2005
Time: 11am
Place: Haris
Witness/es: Palestinian shop-owner, other villagers
Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action

Description of Incident

According to Ayman, the owner/operator of a small solar (diesel) gas station outside of Haris, four army jeeps and two other military vehicles pulled up to his shop at approximately 11 am on Monday morning, April 4th. Soldiers confiscated the solar gas tank Ayman had been using, and told him that if he did not remove the rest of his equipment from the spot, the soldiers would come back to do so. Ayman’s tank was presumably taken to Qedumim settlement.

The previous week, Ayman had received notice from the army that his shop was illegal and that if he wanted to continue selling gas, he would have to go to Beit El settlement near Ramallah and obtain permission by April 7th. According to Ayman, permission is difficult if not impossible to obtain in “Area C,” the areas of the West Bank with the highest concentration of Jewish Israeli settlers and that are therefore under complete Israeli security and civil control.

The soldiers came three days early, and although Ayman explained that he had every intention of going to Beit El before the specified date, the soldiers did not listen. They quickly removed his operating solar tank and left. Ayman says that there is a Jewish man near Tapuach settlement and a Palestinian man not far from Hares who both have solar fuel shops, probably without permission, but they have not had trouble. He is currently working with a lawyer to try to obtain permission to continue operating in his location.

Report written by: Hannah and Anna
Date report written on: Sunday, April 10, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 187

Summary: 17 year old boy injured by explosive.

Date of incident: April 2, 2005
Place: Haris
Witness/es: Manadel, the victim

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

Manadel, a 17-year-old boy from Haris, was laying a flower on the spot where his older brother Mohammed had been shot and killed by Israeli soldiers 5 years before when he saw a curious piece of metal on the ground. As he picked it up and started to play with it, it exploded in his hands, sending three pieces of shrapnel into his right hand, one into his left, and three more into his right leg. He was hospitalized for three days, leaving his family with a bill of over $900, a sum they cannot afford to pay. The explosive presumably came from one of the Israeli army’s frequent raids in the village, but the military has yet to offer any financial help or compensation.

Report written by: Anna and Hannah
Date report written on: Sunday, April 10, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 188

Summary: Shepherd finds poison in Yasouf

Date of incident: April 12, 2005
Time: Morning
Place: Yasouf
Witness/es: Wasfi Hasan Ayub
Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

Wasfi, a shepherd from Yasouf village in Salfit, was grazing his sheep the morning of April 12, 2005 when he noticed small barley-shaped pink pellets on the ground and in a box on the land near the Yasouf roadblock and across from Tapuach settlement. Wasfi was suspicious because of recurring problems the village faces with the settlers from Tapuach and its new outposts. He reported the incident to the police, who took his testimony and the box of pellets.

For about a month, settlers from Havat Ma’on outpost have been repeatedly poisoning the land of Tawani village in the Hebron region with identical pellets of barley boiled in rat poison, which has already killed and injured sheep and other wildlife there. This recent incident seems to be a similar effort to poison Yasouf’s land and to kill its sheep.

Wasfi saw the pellets and prevented his sheep from eating them. However, if Tapuach follows Havat Ma’on’s lead, more poisonings can be expected. The village shepherds are already prevented from using the majority of their land due to growing settlements and outposts, and the threat of poison means they can no longer be sure they are safe anywhere. An Amnesty International worker took a sample of the pellets in for professional analysis.

Report written by: Anna and Hannah
Date report written on: April 12, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 189

Summary: Villagers in Yanoun punched and walked on by settlers from Itamar outpost.

Date of incident: March 20, 2005
Place: Yanoun (Upper and Lower)
Witness/es: Victims Amar and Khader

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

On March 20, 2005, two Palestinians farming at opposite sides of Yanoun village were attacked by settlers from the Itamar outposts that surround and repeatedly threaten the tiny village. On the day of the incident, several Israelis from Rabbis for Human Rights were on their way to accompany the farmers, but arrived just too late.

Amar, a farmer from Aqraba, was reportedly plowing his land in upper Yanoun with several villagers when four settlers drove up in a car, got out, and attacked him. He was hit in the head with the butt of one settler’s gun. The four attackers then proceeded to lay Amar down and walk up and down his body before leaving.

Shortly after, Khader, a villager plowing his land in lower Yanoun, was approached by the same group of settlers, one of whom punched him in the nose.

Both victims were taken to a hospital in Ariel by the local DCO after soldiers arrived and called the police. Amar has since recovered from his injuries, but Khader is still in serious need of treatment.

Report written by: Anna and Hannah
Date report written on: April 12, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 190

Summary: Settlers from Eli attack farmers from AsSawiya

Date of incident: April 17, 2005

Place: AsSawiya

Witness/es: Palestinian farmers, Israelis from Rabbis for Human Rights, international from IWPS, Israeli soldiers

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

On Sunday morning, April 17, 2005, four Israelis from Rabbis for Human Rights and Hannah from IWPS went to AsSawiya to accompany the farmers to their land. More than 30 villagers had come to plow for the first time in 4 years. The Israeli army had designated Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday as days that the villagers would receive army protection while working on their land near an outpost of Eli settlement.

The army was not there when we arrived on the land and walked up the hill. We reached the land, and the farmers began plowing. They worked for no more than a half hour before two armed settlers (apparently a settlement security force) arrived on the land and started yelling at the farmers to go down. The farmers began to pack their things and get their donkeys ready, and two more settlers arrived, followed later by others. These settlers were carrying only binoculars but were more violent and impatient than the first two, and they began to push people. One of them kicked a donkey, and another reportedly hit a man on the shoulder, ripping his shirt.

As the farmers were moving down, followed by the settlers, an army jeep arrived. The armed settlers began speaking with the soldiers, as did the other Israelis, and after a few minutes the soldiers informed the Palestinians that they must go down the hill and wait for the army to arrive. “Aren’t you the army?” asked someone. “We must wait for other people,” they responded.

Settlers continued to yell and chase people, and soldiers responded by telling Palestinians to leave their land. Everyone gathered in one spot as more jeeps and police arrived. After much negotiation, the army decided to let Palestinians plow in a different area (not where they had been earlier) after checking their IDs. A soldier began checking IDs of all the young men, but a settler quickly took over the job, writing down everyone’s ID number on a small notepad. Settlers also photographed the Palestinian farmers and those with them.

At least one jeep went to the top of the hill near the houses of the settlement outpost, apparently to patrol the area and prevent further attacks. No more settlers were seen during the few hours the farmers were able to plow.

Report written by: Hannah and Anna
Date report written on: Sunday, April 17, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 191

Summary: Sick Palestinian detained for 9.5 hours and then arrested.

Date of incident: 21 April, 2005

Time: 12:30 – 10pm

Place: Huwara Checkpoint, Nablus

Witness/es: Detainee’s brother, wife, 2 friends, and Anna (IWPS)

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

A resident of Qira was reportedly stopped at Huwara checkpoint leaving Nablus, where he had spent 7 days in a hospital due to a serious stomach infection. He was on his way home with his wife. The detainee was held from 12:30-10pm while the army checked his ID. His wife stayed with him, and his brother and a friend also came to wait with them. The detainee appeared to be in a lot of pain, clutching his stomach and coughing a lot. At 10pm the soldiers announced they were taking him away, but would not give any information as to why, where, or for how long he was being taken. He was driven away in a jeep.

The DCO’s Humanitarian Office reports that the sick man is being held at Salem for being “a security threat.” He was reportedly seen by a doctor and is suffering from a stomach ulcer, for which he has received medication. The DCL informed IWPS that the man would most likely be interrogated and then released, but would not say for sure. His family is not allowed to contact him, and they have not been given any information about his condition, nor reason for his detention.

Report written by: Anna and Hannah
Date report written on: 22 April, 2005

Follow-up to Human Rights Report #191

Summary: Palestinian Detainee Denied the Right to Healthcare and Fair Trial
On Saturday, April 23rd, early evening, Jaber Ahmad Dalany was transferred from the Salem detention camp to Ha’emek hospital in Afula.

On Sunday he was given a spinal tap and other tests to determine his illness. Consistent with earlier reports from the hospital in Nablus where he had been hospitalized for 5 days just prior to his detention, it was determined that he suffered from viral meningitis. Around noon, Hannah from IWPS and Susy M. arrived at Jaber’s ward and found a closed door guarded by two soldiers. We were not permitted to enter but spoke to the doctor, who had just received a fax from the Nablus hospital. This was the doctor’s first official information about Jaber’s prior condition.

After several hours we were given permission to enter Jaber’s room and speak with him, with a soldier always present. He was in shackles under his blanket, had a fever, and appeared to be in a lot of pain. He reported that he was afraid he would not survive another trip to Salem. He told us he lay on the floor at Salem with no food or water for two days, and that prisoners were not permitted to go to the bathroom from 9pm to 8:30am. At the hospital he had been given water through an IV. He further said he had not slept while in Salem because of his sickness and lost consciousness 4 times. He was sleeping when we entered his hospital room and appeared tired while we spoke.

On Monday night, Jaber is still in the hospital, although the doctor may release him Tuesday if his fever has subsided. In this case, he will almost certainly be returned to Salem for interrogation or imprisonment.

Jaber, who works at the Finance Ministry in Ramallah, has three young children and his wife is pregnant with their fourth. He has asked us to contact his employer and his family, and also to notify the media and the world community about his situation. Jaber’s younger sister Samiya writes, “No one can describe this case… I ask all the humanitarian activists and all of the peace activists and Red Cross and the International Red Cross and human rights organizations to intervene to release this person.”

Update to Human Rights Report 191

Summary: Update on Jaber Dalany – Charges Presented
Date: May 23, 2005

Jaber Dalany’s family sends thanks to everyone who has made calls on his behalf. Here is the update on his situation:

On Tuesday, May 17, Jaber’s arrest was once again extended, and he was moved from Salem detention camp to Megiddo prison. On May 18, Jaber appeared in court and was presented with three charges, to be argued at a trial on June 27:

1) Membership in an illegal organization

2) Providing food, sleeping arrangements, and cell phones to “wanted” men (namely his brother Jiad who is currently imprisoned in Dimona prison).

3) Planning to take a bomb into Ariel settlement. According to the charges, two years ago Jaber and two others had “planned to introduce an explosive vehicle into the settlement of Ariel, near its movie theater. The plan, however, was not carried out when the defendant and his comrades discovered that Ariel had no movie theater.”

Jaber still complains of a headache and fatigue, as he has not been able to fully recover from his meningitis. His medicine ran out last week and he has not been given any new medicine. The food and water in the prison are of poor quality, and doctors are not always available.

If you are able to continue making phone calls, please do. The phone number of the prison is (972) 4-903-8700. Other phone numbers and further background information follow.

Israeli Minister of Defense:
Shaul Mofaz
Phone: (972) 3-697-5436
Fax: (972) 3-697-6218
E-mail: sar@mod.gov.il

Israeli Minister of Justice:
Tzipi Livni
Phone: (972) 2-646-6666
Fax: (972) 2-646-6357
E-mail: sar@justice.gov.il

Israeli army head prosecutor:
Fax: (972) 3-569-4370
Public Appeals office of Israeli army:
Phone: (972) 3-608-0219

Background/timeline on Jaber Dalany’s case:

April 21 – Jaber is on his way home from 5 days in a hospital in Nablus, where he was diagnosed with viral meningitis. He is held at Huwara checkpoint in the sun with no food or water for 10 hours, then arrested and taken to Salem detention camp.

April 23 – After two days in Salem detention camp with no food or water, Jaber is transferred to HaEmek Hospital in Afula.

April 27 – In the absence of Jaber and his lawyer, a military court extends Jaber’s detention for 15 days.

April 29 – Jaber is released from the hospital and taken back to Salem.

May 2 – The lawyer’s appeal to cancel the 15 days of extension is accepted. Jaber’s court date, scheduled for this day in Ofer, is moved back to Salem and postponed.

May 3 – A military court in Salem extends Jaber’s detention for another 6 days.

May 9 – A military court in Salem extends Jaber’s detention again. The judge orders that Jaber see a doctor immediately.

May 17 – A military court in Salem extends Jaber’s detention again, and he is transferred to Megiddo prison.

May 18 – Jaber is presented with charges, and given a next court date (trial) for June 27.

IWPS  Human Rights Quarterly Report Jan-Mar 2005

Summary: This is the seventh IWPS quarterly summary of violations in the Salfit area, in which IWPS operates. This report covers the time period from 1 January to 31 March 2005. During this period the IWPS compiled 7 reports on human rights violations in 7 villages in the Salfit region. IWPS does not attempt comprehensive documentation, and these are likely to be only a tiny proportion of the violations taking place in the area during that period. In addition to the incidents summarised below, the apartheid wall involves violations of all forms of human rights.

Summaries of human rights violation documented are given below under the following categories: Killings by IDF, Settler Violence, House Demolition, Property Damage and Incursions by IDF, Arrest/Detention, and Restrictions on Movement. (Numbers refer to the relevant IWPS Human Rights Report).

Killings:

12 January Two men shot dead by army, Qarawat Bani Zeid (176)

Settler violence:

1 March, Kufr Thulth: farmer beaten by settlers; destruction of trees and crops (181)

House demolition:

12 January Qarawat Bani Zaid: house demolished following killings (176)

IDF incursions:

Qarawat Bani Zeid 12 January: night raid, killings, arrests and use of ammunition to disperse crowds

Jiljilya 10 February: night raid, three arrested, children detained outside (178)

Kafr Ein 23 February: police station raided, officers detained and beaten, property damage (180)

Marda 23-24 March: detentions and harassment (184)

Detention:

10 January, Salfit: 55 year old man working here since 1994 imprisoned and threatened with deportation for having incorrect papers (175)

12 January Two men arrested, Qarawat Bani Zeid (176)

Freedom of Movement:

February, Kufr Qudoum: detailed report on settlements blocking road access to village (179)

Human Rights Report No. 192

Summary: Six jeeps enter Hares, close village for 1 hour.

Date of incident: June 1, 2005
Place: Hares
Witness/es: Many villagers, Rebecca and Hannah from IWPS

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

On Wednesday, June 1, at 6:00 pm, 3 jeeps entered Hares village, and several soldiers also walked inside the village on foot. Two villagers reported that they heard sound bombs. Soldiers “closed” the village, reportedly telling people they encountered to stop what they were doing. Shortly later, 3 more jeeps arrived, and several more patrolled the roads near Hares.

One man was told to stop working in his field and stand still, and later told to go into his house and not come out. Rebecca from IWPS tried to speak with the soldiers, who would not let her approach the jeeps and pointed guns at her as they told her to go home.

For almost an hour, soldiers stopped any cars from coming in and out of the village, and for another 45 minutes they stayed and let some cars through slowly after checking people’s IDs and sometimes requiring all passengers to get out of the car.

One soldier claimed that someone from Hares had shot 4 shots towards the road, and that they were looking for the man, of whom they had a description. Another soldier mentioned stone throwing.

The soldiers left before 8:00 pm. No arrests or injuries were reported.

Report written by: Hannah and Rebecca
Date report written on: Thursday, June 2, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 193

Summary: 500 trees cut in Marda to prepare for Wall

Date of incident: June 1 and 2, 2005

Place: Marda

Witness/es: villagers, IWPS, Israeli activists

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

On Wednesday and Thursday, June 1 and 2, 2005, Israeli workers, protected by soldiers and Ariel settlement security, cut approximately 500 trees in the southeast of Marda village, 20 kilometers from the Green Line.  When approached by villagers, Israeli activists, and internationals around 3:30 pm on Thursday, the workers left.  Trees were found with red paint and ribbons, presumably marking the path of the Annexation Wall that Israel intends to build around Ariel, on the land of Marda, Kifl Hares, Hares, Iskaka, and Salfit.  When the Palestinian DCL called the Israeli army to ask about this, it was confirmed that this was the beginning of the first Wall work in Marda.

The trees that were cut belong to at least 6 different families, none of whom were notified in advance.  The trees are still alive – although this year’s crop is ruined – but villagers suspect that bulldozers will come soon to uproot them and begin to clear the path for the Wall.  Some of the trees are 150 meters from the current fence around Ariel, whereas others are up to 500 meters from Ariel.  Villagers estimate the number of trees between the Wall path and Ariel to be in the tens of thousands.

Report by: Hannah

Date report written on: Thursday, June 2, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 194

Summary: 18 year old boy taken from his home in Hares, reportedly beaten

Date of incident: June 17 2005
Place: Hares
Witness/es: villagers, IWPS

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

In the evening of Friday 17 June 2005, 2 jeeps entered the village of Hares and threw several sound bombs. Soldiers on foot blocked the entrances. An 18 year old boy was reportedly taken from his home and beaten before being driven away in a military vehicle. When IWPS members Suraiya and Joy repeatedly questioned the soldiers, they were eventually told that he would be returned shortly. The boy was brought back over an hour later, and 3 jeeps kept the entrance to the village blocked during that time. The boy’s family members told us that he was to write his final examination tomorrow. No reason for his detention was given, and his family members say he had been studying when soldiers banged on the door and took him away.

Report by: Suraiya
Date report written on: Friday, June 17, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 195

Summary: Israeli army enforced collective punishment, prevents villagers from entering or leaving.

Date of incident: July 1, 2005
Place: Hares
Witness/es: Villagers
Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

On the evening of Friday July 1, the Israeli army entered the village of Hares with two jeeps. The jeeps stationed themselves at the entrance to the village, and the soldiers proceeded to prevent any Palestinian resident, whether on foot or by car, from entering or exiting the village for approximately 1.5 hours. No explanation was given to the Palestinian residents for the cause of this collective punishment. The jeeps exited the village at approximately 8:30 p.m.

Report by: Nijmie
Date report written on: Tuesday July 5, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 196

Summary: Israeli army enters Hares village, harass youths playing at entrance.

Date of incident: July 2, 2005
Place: Hares
Witness/es: Villagers

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

On the afternoon of Saturday, July 2, approximately eight Palestinian children were playing at the entrance of Hares village. They ranged in ages from 1 year to 12 years old. An Israeli army jeep passed by and, according to villager accounts, stopped at the entrance to the village. Several soldiers approached the children and began to push and harass them. It is unclear to Palestinian residents why the soldiers decided to target these children. The Israeli soldiers left after 15 minutes.

Report by: Nijmie
Date report written on: Tuesday July 5, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 197

Summary: Israeli army detains and removes seven boys and young men from Marda village.

Date of incident: July 4, 2005
Place: Marda, Salfit district
Witness/es: Marda residents, IWPS

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

On the afternoon of Monday July 4, the Israeli army entered the village of Marda with approximately eight jeeps. They proceed to round up youths they accused of throwing rocks at soldiers who were guarding the building of work on the Wall. The Israeli army has been a continuous presence in the village of Marda since preparation for the fence around Ariel settlement, situated above the village of Marda, began in early June. Eight youths were gathered and detained at the Western entrance of the village for approximately one hour. One of the youths was injured, reported Palestinian residents, and another one is ill with kidney problems. IWPS members and Palestinian Red Crescent workers asked to know where the youths were being taken and also attempted to alert the soldiers to the chronic illness of one of the boys. We were given no assurance, however, that the boy’s medical needs would be attended to. The boys and young men are of the following ages:13, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, and one is of unknown age. The boys were first taken to Ariel police station and then to Qedumim, where they are as of this writing.

Report by: Nijmie
Date report written on: Tuesday July 5, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 198

Summary: Israeli army invades village using sound bombs and live ammunition, detains and removes four men from Hares village; uses 16 year old boy as human shield; beats 2 women, one who is 8 months pregnant

Date of incident: July 7, 2005

Place: Hares, Salfit district

Witness/es: Hares residents, IWPS

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

Approximately at 1:00 a.m. on Thursday July 7, an estimated 60 soldiers entered Hares by foot. At 3:00 am residents heard loud shouting, sound bombs and gunshots coming from several locations around the village. At least 13 jeeps and one large military vehicle were observed entering the village during the operation. Israeli soldiers entered at least 5 houses and detained four men from the village. During the operation, soldiers fired gunshots into three houses and shot inside one. Soldiers used 2 men as human shields, including one 16-year old boy. Soldiers also beat two women, including a woman who is 8 months pregnant. The incursion lasted approximately 5 and one half hours, from 1:00 a.m. to 6:30 a.m.

Arrest of Zahran Kamal (19 years old)

Accounts taken by IWPS from residents of the house:

The army came at 2:00 a.m. and threatened to destroy their house if they did not open the door. Soldiers fired sound bombs in the street and shot bullets at the house. The soldiers threw large rocks through the front window. At first the family assumed it was settlers. Then the army forced a neighbor at gunpoint to knock on their door. When they opened the door, the army forced everyone to sit outside. There were 12 people in the house, mostly women and small children. They took Zaharan Kamal from the house and tied his hands, blindfolded his eyes, and took him away. They proceeded to search the house with a dog, but they did not find anything. When the father asked why they were taking his son, the army said that it wanted to ask him questions and would release him in half an hour. The response given to the mother when she asked the same question was only a spat of swearing. The location of the son and the reason for his detention are not known at this time. IWPS members observed and photographed the bullet holes in the house and damage to property.

Arrest of Wa’il Mashour Sultan (26 yrs.) and Rifa’at Mashour Sultan

Accounts taken by IWPS from residents of the house:

Before the army came to the house, they went to the neighbor’s house.  The family heard shouting, shooting, and sound bombs from the neighbor’s house for about 1 and ½ hours.  Soldier’s forced their neighbor to come and knock on their door.  When they opened the door, there were approximately 15 soldiers.  The soldiers forced everyone in the house to sit outside in the street. They beat one of the brothers on his arm and threatened to shoot him if he did not tell them where his two brothers, Wa’il and Rifa’at, were.  Wa’il and Rifa’at were eventually found and detained.  They blindfolded them, tied their hands and legs together, and put them in the jeep.  The soldiers took the dogs to smell the detained brothers and then took the dogs to search inside the house.  One woman reported that the army took a gold ring and over $1,000 Jordanian dinars from her handbag.  One soldier threatened to beat the wife of one of the brothers when she tried to stop the soldiers from taking her husband.  No reason was given for the detention.  The location of the two brothers is not known at this time.

16-Year-Old Boy Used As Human Shield

Accounts taken by IWPS from residents of the house:

Family members were asleep when the army arrived at about 3:00 a.m. The soldiers hid behind the wall and threw large rocks at the door, shouting for them to open the door. The family thought that it was settlers, not the army. Two sisters were alone in the house with their 11 children. The army was shouting bad words and began shooting at the door and shooting sound bombs in the garden. When one of the women opened the door, the soldiers forced everyone to go outside, saying they would shoot everyone and destroy the house in one minute, if they did not get out. There were approximately 20 soldiers, some inside and some behind the house. Some had their faces painted black. The soldiers took her 16-year-old son and kicked him in the legs and put a gun to his shoulders and forced him to go to his neighbor’s house and knock on the door. The 16-year-old boy was released after about 2 hours.

Two Women Beaten During House Search

Statement by residents in the house:

Family members were all sleeping when the army came at 3:00 a.m., throwing sound bombs and shooting at the house. The army told the family on a loud speaker to come out of the house. They hit the father with their fists. Then they beat the brother, choking him and stomping him with their boots. His foot was injured and he had to seek medical attention. They fired bullets inside the kitchen and two bedrooms. They shot bullet holes in a framed verse from the Quran. The soldiers beat the wife with the gun and ordered her to take off her clothes, but she refused. They threatened to kill her if she did not disclose her husband’s location. They also took the brother’s wife who is 8 months pregnant and beat her in her stomach. Before the soldiers entered the house, they used 2 dogs that had camera devices attached to their heads, to search the house. They forced all the children and young people to sit outside and pointed their guns at the children, while others searched the house. There were approximately 30 soldiers. IWPS members observed and photographed bullet holes in the front of and throughout the house, as well as damage to property.

Arrest of Sabri Ahmed Abed Souf (19 years old)

As witnessed by IWPS members:

At approximately 3:00 a.m. the army surrounded the house and began shouting and shooting sound bombs. They forced all the people outside. They searched the home and detained the 19-year-old son of the household, Sabri Ahmed Abed Souf. His location and reason for detention is not known at this time. IWPS members photographed damaged property at the house.

Report by: Cathy and Shannon
Date report written on: Thursday, July 7, 2005

IWPS Human Rights Quarterly Report April to June 2005

Human Rights in Palestine

The basic and fundamental human rights of the Palestinian People have been both directly violated by the state of Israel and the basic protection promised to Palestinian civilians under the Geneva conventions have been denied. Israel, as the occupying power, has undertaken obligations to ensure the protection of the civilian peoples living under Israel’s occupation under the Geneva Conventions. The state of Israel has ignored these obligations, which they voluntarily accepted, and the continuing abuses constitute Grave Breeches under the Geneva Conventions.

Despite having signed and ratified a multitude of human rights treaties —including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR), International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) — the state of Israel has in reality not respected these treaties and has both committed grave human rights offences and has not fulfilled its obligation as an occupying power to protect the civilian population from abuses of human rights.

Furthermore, the construction of the Apartheid Wall has been condemned by the International Court of Justice which has judged that it is an illegal barrier and has said that reparations must be made to the Palestinian people who have suffered as a consequence of the Wall. Furthermore, the Wall is considered to be an illegal barrier by the United Nations General Assembly (GA Resolution A/ES-10/14).

Additionally, the deportation and harassment of Human Rights Workers and persecution of journalists has seriously inhibited the documentation and publication of human rights abuses. This persistent and grave disregard for human rights has led to international condemnation of Israel’s human rights record.

Eighth Quarterly Report

This is the eighth IWPS quarterly summary of violations in the Salfit area, in which IWPS operates. This report covers the time period from 1 April to 30 June 2005. During this period the IWPS compiled 8 reports on human rights violations in 5 villages in the Salfit region. IWPS does not attempt comprehensive documentation, and these are likely to be only a tiny proportion of the violations taking place in the area during that period. In addition to the incidents summarised below, the apartheid wall involves violations of all forms of human rights.

Summaries of human rights violation documented are given below under the following categories: Denial of Medical Treatment, Injuries, Settler Violence, Property Damage, Detention, and Restrictions on Movement. (Numbers refer to the relevant IWPS Human Rights Report).

Denial of medical treatment:

21 April onwards: man suffering from viral meningitis detained at Huwara checkpoint when returning from hospital, taken to detention camp and denied food, water or medical treatment. IWPS followed the case. Was still in detention in mid-May (191).

Injuries:

2 April Hares: 17-year old injured by ordnance found in the village ((187).

Settler violence:

20 March Yanoun: two farmers were separately attacked by settlers and suffered head injuries (189)

12 April Yasouf: a shepherd discovered pellets identical to those used by settlers in other parts of the West Bank to poison livestock (188)

17 April a-Sawiya: farmers threatened and harassed by settlers and forced by army to move on, while ploughing on day when they had been given ‘permission’ to do so by army (190).

Property damage:

1 April Hares: soldiers removed fuel tank from gas station and threatened its closure (186)

Detention:

17 June Hares: army raided village and detained 18-year old for c. 2 hours (194).

Freedom of Movement:

1 June Hares: soldiers closed off the village for 2 hours (192).

Human Rights Report No. 199

Summary: Israeli army demolishes portion of one family’s house, damages another family’s house and threatens to demolish the entirety of yet another family’s house in the village of As Sawiya.

Date of incident: July 5, 2005
Place: As Sawiya, Ramallah district
Witness/es: As Sawiya residents

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

At approximately 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 7, an estimated 20 army jeeps, 3 police jeeps, 1 large personnel carrier, 75 soldiers, and 2 bulldozers showed up at the home of 82 year old Ibrahim Ahmed Tabil in the village of As Sawiya, Salfit district of the West Bank. They started to demolish the room in which he was sleeping. When he awoke and started to argue with them, they pushed him and his bed out of the room, forced the family to stay in another part of the house and finished the demolition. They did not allow the family to recover any of the possessions in the room. The operation took approximately 10 minutes; the army was there for approximately one hour. The number of people living in the house is 9.

During the operation the army surrounded the neighboring house and forced the family outside. The neighboring house was also damaged by the demolition.

The family of Ibrahim Ahmed Tabil has been living in As Sawiya since the time of his great grandfather, approximately 100 years. His house was built on land owned by the family in 1963. The addition that was demolished was built in 1996. It was built without a permit because it was just a small addition that abutted to his neighbor’s house and was between the two houses. Approximately one month previous to the demolition, the army came to the home and looked around. They told the family that they were not planning to do any damage. They never gave the family any written documents or warning of the impending demolition.

Army Threatens to Destroy Home in As Sawiya

On Tuesday, July 7, the army informed the family of Adnad Ahmed Abu Kafina that his home will be demolished by the end of the month. There are 11 family members, including 8 children that will become homeless if this happens.

The family of Adnad Ahmed Abu Kafina has been living in Sawiya approximately 150 years. Their house was built in 1953 on land owned by the family. Two front rooms were added in 1996. The army is claiming that the whole house was built in 1996, and therefore is planning to demolish the entire house. The family was told to remove their possessions by the end of the month. They have hired a lawyer who has obtained a temporary injunction against the demolition until the matter can be heard by the Israeli Supreme Court. The lawyer is costing 15,000 NIS and the family is seeking to raise the funds.

IWPS members photographed damaged property at the house of Ibrahim Ahmed Tabil.

Report by: Wendy and Cathy
Date report written on: Thursday, July 7, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 200

Summary: Israeli army continues nighttime invasions of Hares, searching houses and threatening residents.

Dates of incidents: July 12, 2005
Place: Hares, Salfit district
Witness/es: Hares residents, IWPS

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incidents

At approximately 12:30 a.m. two army jeeps entered the village of Hares and three army jeeps stationed themselves at the western entrance into the village. At approximately 1:30 a.m. soldiers entered the home of Yasser. They were able to open the door without breaking it. They proceeded to the roof, looking briefly into the room where Yasser’s wife and four young children were cowering. After searching the roof, they came down and asked for her husband. She responded that he was not there. The soldiers proceeded towards the door, opened the refrigerator that was located near it, then searched the guest room, an area underneath the house and then finally left. They were there approximately 30 minutes.

At approximately 1:30 a.m. soldiers knocked on another house. They were let in. They started to proceed to the roof but were told by the husband to take another path because his wife and children were in that room. After searching the roof, they left. They were there approximately 15 minutes.

At approximately 1:45 a.m. soldiers rang the buzzer of the home of Abdul Rahim. They banged the door but the family did not answer. After about 15 minutes, the soldiers went around to the back of the house and knocked on the adjacent unit where Abdul Rahim’s brother lives with his family. The wife opened the door and the soldiers told her to tell the family of Abdul Rahim that if they did not answer the door the army would blow up the house. The soldiers came back around to the front and banged loudly on the door. Finally, it was opened and the soldiers proceeded inside. The family consists of twenty members including 9 children, 6 women and 5 men. Most of the family was cowering in one room while the husband and father asked the army why they were there. The two men received no answer. The soldiers cursed at the two men, told them to stay downstairs with the rest of the family and then proceeded to the roof of the house. They stayed there approximately 20 minutes and then left.

Report by: Wendy, Ingrid, and Laura.
Date report written on: Thursday, July 13, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 201

Summary: Hares man arrested while taking pregnant wife to the hospital

Date of incidents: July 10, 2005
Place: Hares, Salfit district
Witness/es: Hares residents

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

On Sunday, July 10, Mohamad Mahmoud Daoud, 28 years old, was stopped and detained on the road from Hares to Nablus, near the town of Jit. Mohammed and his wife, who is four months pregnant, were forced to wait in the noon sun for several hours. When Mohamad’s wife complained that she was sick and needed to go to the hospital, the soldiers cursed at her. Mohamad told the soldiers not to say bad words to his wife. The soldiers beat him and arrested him. He is currently being held in Qedumin. IWPS members interviewed family members and assisted the family to call Hamoked.

Report by: Cathy
Date report written on: July 12, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 202

Summary: Israeli army invades Deir Istia, occupying houses, locking families in small rooms, and threatening residents.

Dates of incidents: July 12, 2005
Place: Deir Istia, Salfit district
Witness/es: Deir Istia residents

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incidents

Home of Naim Deeb Thiat

On Friday, July 8, two soldiers entered the house at 4:45 a.m. They went up on the roof and checked the house, then left the house.

On Saturday, July 9, the army came to the house at 1:45 a.m. At first the family didn’t open the door. Approximately 15 – 20 soldiers entered the house. The searched each member of the family one by one, then brought them downstairs and locked the entire family of 8 people in a small room with the windows covered. The soldiers tried to make Naim call his neighbor on the phone, but he refused. The 6 children were not allowed to leave the room. Everything was silent. They heard the soldiers go upstairs, but didn’t know what they did. Around 9:30 a.m. the soldiers allowed the mother to make breakfast in the children with the soldiers guarding her in the kitchen. In the morning his father, mother, and brother came to the house and were detained also. The soldiers left at approximately 11:30 a.m. After the soldiers left, the family went upstairs. The soldiers had destroyed mattresses and broken the bed, broken a window and torn holes in the screen to point guns at a neighboring house. They broke the door off a wardrobe and damaged the chairs. They also stole a blanket. No reason was given why the army occupied the house and imprisoned the family.

Home of Saeed Hassan Qadir

On Sunday, July 3, at approximately 2:00 a.m. the soldiers entered the home of Saeed Hassan Qadir, using ladders to climb silently over the balcony wall, then breaking the lock of the door. Then entire family of 12 people was sleeping in one room, the mother and father, and 10 children ages 18 months to 14 years. They woke up to find the soldiers pointing their guns at the father and mother. The soldiers turned off the lights, using night vision sensors on their guns. The soldiers took the family out of the bedroom one by one, and forced them into a small room. The soldiers told the family that if they didn’t go in the room, they would destroy the house. They asked the father if his son had thrown stones at the soldiers. They closed the windows in the room and put blankets over it. The soldiers prevented family members from praying or eating. By 8:30 a.m. the small children were crying and hungry. The soldiers did not allow them to drink cold water. Soldiers stood watch with the door open if a family member needed to go to the bathroom. When the youngest child (18 months) touched a soldier’s gun, the soldier tried to hit the child. Another child had recently had surgery, and the soldiers did not allow the father to change the bandages. When some relatives came over to the house, the soldiers did not allow anyone to speak to them. The soldiers did not want anyone to know that they were inside the house. The soldiers had a camera and took pictures of the area. The soldiers said that their mission would last 10 days and that they would keep coming back until they killed 2 men in the village. The soldiers finally left at 4:00 in the afternoon. The soldiers stole 4 bottles (8 liters) of olive oil. The soldiers urinated in water bottles and left them in the house. After this incident, the mother suffered a miscarriage.

Home of Mohammad Khalil Hakim

On Monday, July 11 at 1:00 a.m. the army came and surrounded the house. They heard knocking on the doors. Approximately 20 soldiers entered the house. They wore camouflaged masks on their faces. They began asking questions about the sons in the family. They threatened to kill one of their sons and shoot him in the head. The soldiers took pictures of the sons. The soldiers also removed film from a camera belonging to the family and took the keys to the house. The soldiers also took the mobile phone numbers of the family. The soldiers broke the mirror, the phone, and glass in a china cabinet. Before leaving, the soldiers told the family, “Every night we will come here.”

Report by: Nijmie and Cathy
Date report written on: Tuesday, July 2005

Human Rights Report No. 203

Summary: Soldiers enter village, set off sound bombs near Mosque during prayers

Date of incidents: July 15, 2005
Place: Immatin, Qalqilya
Witness/es: Immatian residents, IWPS volunteers, ISM volunteers

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

On Friday, July 15, at approximately 9:00 a.m. in the morning, an estimated 5 jeeps with approximately 20 soldiers entered the village of Immatin. They immediately declared the village to be closed military zone. IWPS and ISM members witnessed a jeep chasing about a dozen young boys into the mosque at approximately 12:30 as residents were entering for prayers. Volunteers from both IWPS and ISM were told that if they stayed in the village to observe they would be arrested. At approximately 1:00 IWPS volunteers heard sound bombs and saw tear gas near the mosque. Later that day, IWPS volunteers found evidence of 2 sound bombs directly next to the mosque. Residents reported that around 1:00 pm soldiers tried to stop people from entering the mosque. IWPS found evidence of at least 2 more sound bombs elsewhere in the village. Residents reported that at approximately 1:00 pm a 25 year old man was kicked in his side and shouted at by soldiers. Residents from one house reported that 2 tear gas canisters were shot into their home. Three children, one pregnant woman and her husband were inside the house. Another resident reported that tear gas also entered his home. Residents reported one child in a wheel chair was unable to quickly move away from the gas. The soldiers left the village at 2:00 p.m. and the DCL said it was no longer a closed military zone. Soldiers were unable to give IWPS volunteers a reason for the military activity.

Report by: Shannon and Wendy
Date report written on: July 15, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 204

Summary: 16 year old boy killed in Salfit following assassination of two men by Apache helicopters; 9 people injured by gunshots, rubber bullets, and tear gas inhalation; Army raids hospital and fires tear gas at entrance; ambulances blocked and doctor beaten.

Date of incident: July 15, 2005
Place: Salfit, West Bank
Witness/es: Dr. Naim Sabna, director of Salfit Emergency Medical Hospital, Salfit residents, including 12-year-old boy who witnessed shooting of Moath

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of incident

At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Friday, July 15 two Apache helicopters fired rockets and opened fire on three men in an olive grove east of the town of Salfit. Two men, Samer Abdulhadi Dawhqa and Mohammad Ahmed Marri, were killed instantly. The third man, Mohammad Yusef A’yash, was gravely injured with multiple injuries to the chest and head. He was taken to the Emergency Medical Hospital in Salfit, where he was given emergency treatment and sent by ambulance to the hospital in Ramallah. On the way to the hospital Israeli soldiers stopped the ambulance. The soldiers took the keys to the ambulance and beat the doctor on his shoulder and foot with the butt of their gun. Mr. A’yash was taken away by an Israeli military ambulance. His location and condition are not known at the time of this writing.

At about 3 p. m. army jeeps entered the town shooting gas and declared a curfew. The people ran inside their houses and closed their shops, but there were some young men and boys on the main street who threw stones at the jeeps. The soldiers fired at them and they ran away, scattering in different directions.

Between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m., a soldier in a jeep shot at two boys who were in an alley near the main street, approximately 15 meters from the jeep. One boy escaped, but the bullet hit Mo’ath Jamal Sulieme, 16 years old, in the forehead above the left eye and exited from the back of his head. A small group of young boys (ages 12-14) saw the soldiers fire at Moath and ran over to help him. The soldiers fired rubber bullets at them so they ran away and called an ambulance.

The ambulance picked up Moath and took him to the Salfit Emergency Hospital, where he was given emergency treatment. Moath was sent by ambulance to the hospital in Nablus. On the way to the hospital the ambulance was detained by Israeli soldiers at the Zatara checkpoint until an Israeli military ambulance arrived. He was transferred to the Israeli military ambulance and taken to a hospital in Israel. At 10:30 p.m. the hospital informed the DCL that Moath had died.

At approximately 5 p.m. about 20 jeeps and more than 50 soldiers surrounded the hospital and demanded to enter the hospital. When the hospital director refused, the soldiers threw tear gas into the courtyard of the hospital, which filled the inside of it with gas. The army entered the hospital by force, searching all of the rooms, including the operating room and delivery room. Around 10:00 p.m. the army left the hospital and Salfit.

Injured Persons treated by the Salfit Emergency Hospital

Mohamad Al Masri (22): bullet injury, right shoulder
Anas Fatash 16: bullet injury, hand
Mahmoud Asad Yunis 16: rubber bullet injury, left thigh
Dia Madee 18: rubber bullet injury, right knee
Mahamad Shahir Darweesh: Bullet injury, right loin
Jalal Abdall 30: multiple traumas, right shoulder
Jalila Jammal 49: tear gas inhalation
Ahmed Darweesh 15: rubber bullet injury to the head
Said Shtaeh 30: anxiety attack
Ramee Mraita 18: rubber bullet, right elbow
Martha Jlal: anxiety attack

Report by: Cathy and Ingrid
Date report written on: July 17, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 205

Summary: Israeli army enters village of Hares and then handcuffs wrists and ankles, blindfolds eyes and detains twelve year old boy during a summer camp.

Date of incident: July 23, 2005

Place: Hares, Salfit District

Witness/es: teacher and students of summer camp (Hares)

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incidents

After finishing the summer camp for the day around 1pm teachers were leading students to the gate of the school when two jeeps of the Israeli army passed by. Facing the 6-8 Israeli soldiers the children started running away. The army grabbed the twelve year old Ahmad and blindfolded and handcuffed him. When Ahmad’s teacher tried to enquire about the army’s action he was refused any information and threatened with guns. Ahmad then was transported to Qedumim police station.  Ahmad was released about two hours later and brought back to Hares by his father.

Report by: Sarah and Miriam

Date report written on: Saturday, July 23 2005

Human Rights Report No. 206

Summary: Israeli army demolishes one house in Burkin; 14 other houses threatened with demolition in Burkin

Date of incident: July 26, 2005

Place: Burkin, Salfit District

Witness/es: Burkin residents

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

At approximately 8 am, 8 jeeps and 2 bulldozers entered the village of Bruqin, located south of the Barqan industrial settlement.  The soldiers forced all of the residents in nearby houses to stay inside their homes, while the two bulldozers completely demolished the home of S.H., which was a new house under construction. The action was completed by 11:00 a.m. and the bulldozers and army left the village.  According to village residents, the reason given for the demolition was that the house did not have a building permit, even though the land on which the home was built belongs to the village of Bruqin.

Approximately 15 houses in the area received warning letters about a year ago from the Israeli government that their homes will be demolished. 3 of those families received a second warning two months ago.  If the homes are demolished, 14 families – 70 to 100 people will lose their homes.

The latest UN OCHA map, shows the homes to be almost directly in the path of the Ariel loop of the ‘Apartheid Wall’ or ‘Separation Barrier’.

Report by:  Cathy and Carolyn

Date report written on: Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 207

Summary: Israeli army enters village of Marda, searches homes, seizes about 15 boys and arrests four.

Date of incident: August 2nd-3rd, 2005
Place: Marda, Salfit District
Witness/es: Parents and residents of Marda.

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incidents

At approximately 9 PM on August 2nd, about 6 Israeli army jeeps entered the village of Marda. Soldiers spread out on foot throughout the village and the surrounding olive groves. For about two hours, the soldiers entered and searched village houses. Residents reported that the soldiers were seizing any teenage boys they found in the homes. By 11:30, the soldiers had gathered approximately 15 boys and were keeping them blindfolded and handcuffed at the main entrance to the village, with four jeeps and about 20 soldiers on site. Some of the boys appeared to be as young as 13. The soldiers claimed that they were looking for boys who had thrown stones onto the road earlier that day, breaking a car window.

For several hours, the boys were kept sitting or standing, blindfolded and handcuffed. Soldiers took them one by one into a jeep for questioning; sounds of yelling could be heard coming from the jeep. The boys’ parents gathered near the entrance and tried to speak to the soldiers – one father explained that his son had been home all evening studying with a friend. The soldiers ordered the parents away from the site, and they moved further down the road. International observers were allowed to remain on site, but not to speak to the boys.

At 1:30 AM, about 12 boys were released. At 2 AM, soldiers told us that the remaining four boys had confessed to throwing stones. One of the boys was 15; two others appeared to be 13 or 14. The boys were loaded into a jeep and driven away. When we left the village at about 8 AM, the four boys had not been returned to the village, and two army jeeps were still patrolling the main road.

Report by: Sarah
Date report written on: August 3, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 208

Summary: Night incursions by Israeli army in Hares

Dates of incidents: July 28, 2005

Place: Hares, Salfit District

Witness/es: Hares residents and IWPS volunteers

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incidents

At approximately 7:30 PM on Thursday, July 28, 3 army jeeps entered the village of Hares and arrested one 15-year-old boy. Soon afterward, one of the jeeps broke down near the center of the village. Another jeep left the village around 8:30, and the third remained with the broken one.

Approximately 10 soldiers remained with the jeeps, and several of them began trying to fix the mechanical problem. Around 8:30, one of the soldiers confirmed that they had arrested the boy, and claimed that he had been throwing stones. The soldier also said that the police were handling the case and he did not know when the boy would be released.

Soon afterward, some stones were thrown at the jeeps from the roof of a nearby house. The soldiers spread out around the area. Several shots were fired in the direction of the stone throwers.

At approximately 9:45 seven jeeps, one personnel carrier, and an ambulance arrived at the front of the village. Palestinians were not allowed to enter the village. A villager reported that three Palestinians had been arrested, but the 15-year-old had been released. One man who was arrested had a broken leg and was taken away in the ambulance. IWPS women saw the other man blindfolded and put into the back of the army jeep. At approximately 11:30 the broken down jeep was pulled by another jeep out of the village, surrounded by soldiers. By approximately 11:40 all the jeeps and soldiers left the village.

Report by:  Sarah and Shannon

Date report written on: Saturday, July 30, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 209

Summary: Demonstration against the wall in Bil’in

Date of incident: August 5, 2005

Time: 1:00pm

Place: Bil’in

Witness/es:

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

On Friday, August 5^th,   about 200 Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals participated in a peaceful demonstration against the Annexation Wall in the village of Bil’in. The demonstration was one in a series of many demonstrations that have taken place in this village that will become imprisoned by the Wall.

Activists marched from the village center, continuing their creative approach to demonstrating by carrying a replica of a large snake labeled Israel,  swallowing a bird of peace in the colours of the Palestinian flag. About one kilometer away from where construction has commenced on the wall, the group was stopped by Israeli soldiers who had laid barbwire across the road and declared the area a “closed military zone”. Demonstrators stood in front of the blockade, singing songs and calling out chants of resistance. Less than an hour into the demonstration, soldiers began to push the crowd away from the barbwire barricade, and were met by resistance on the other side.

Tear gas and sound bombs were fired into the crowd, causing minor injuries to a number of demonstrators. After the gas subsided, the group of demonstrators had been split in two, with a line of soldiers guarding each one. As demonstrators began to push forward, in an attempt to combine the two groups, soldiers beat at them with their shields and detained seventeen Israelis and Internationals. While trying to de-arrest one international activist another international from India was kicked repeatedly by soldiers and sustained minor head injuries. It is possible that the activist was mistaken for a Palestinian as soldiers were heard calling out ‘Palestinian’ and pointing at him.

A second round of tear gas was fired into the crowd, after local children began throwing stones in the soldiers’ direction. At that point it was decided that Internationals should evacuate the area. Thirteen of the detained demonstrators were released, two Internationals were arrested and later released, and two Israelis were arrested on charges of assault and it is not clear whether they have as of yet been released.

Report written by:  Blythe and Carolyn

Date report written on: August 6, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 210

Summary: Israeli army injures five Palestinians at non-violent demonstration

Date of incident: August 1st, 2005
Place: Kufr Hares, Salfit District
Witness/es: Palestinian, Israeli, and international demonstrators

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action

Description of Incidents

At 10:00 AM on August 1st, approximately 70 demonstrators gathered in the center of the village of Kufr Hares for a non-violent protest against the Wall. At around 10:30 AM, the protestors – including Kufr Hares residents, Israelis, and internationals – began marching along the road leading out of the village. After about 500 meters, the protestors found a strip of white tape stretched across the road, separating them from approximately twelve Israeli soldiers on foot. The soldiers ordered the protestors to remain behind the line, but they ducked under the tape and attempted to continue marching.

After another five meters, the soldiers physically blocked the demonstrators’ path, detaining one of the international protestors and declaring the area a closed military zone. Several demonstrators tried to persuade the soldiers to let the march proceed. The soldiers responded by firing tear gas directly at the crowd – even though no stone-throwing or other violence had occurred. The protestors scattered, but soon regrouped and sat down in front of the soldiers.

An elderly woman told the soldiers to stop obstructing the road, saying she wanted to return to her home, which was located right behind the blockade. According to witnesses, the soldiers began insulting the woman. When her 27-year-old son Ahmad stepped in and told the soldiers not to offend his mother, the commander of the unit threatened to shoot him with rubber bullets, and instructed the other soldiers to target Ahmad.

After about ten minutes the soldiers began shooting tear gas, again without provocation. Ahmad was hit by a canister fired from a distance of less than five meters. Witnesses reported that the canister struck his chin, crushed his jaw bone and knocked out five teeth. Ahmad was immediately sent to the village clinic. Since the clinic was unable to help, he was transferred to Rafidiya Hospital in Nablus, where doctors operated on him. Ahmad was kept in the hospital for six days, and will need to return for further treatment.

After the demonstration, an international protestor asked the soldiers who had fired the canister at Ahmad’s face. The commander of the unit admitted to being responsible for the act, and added that he was proud of it.

Four other Palestinians were injured during the demonstration. A 32-year-old man was hit in the chest by a tear gas canister, a 22-year-old was grazed in the face by another canister, and two people – a 65-year-old man and an 8-year-old girl – were treated for gas inhalation. All four were treated at the village clinic.

Report by: Sarah and Miriam
Date report written on: August 9, 2005

Human Rights No. 211

Summary: Israeli army takes 3 young men from Deir Isstya

Date of incident: August 2nd, 2005
Place: Deir Isstya, Salfit District
Witness/es: Families of the boys

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incidents

During the first week of August, 3 boys – ages 13, 14 and 16 – were taken from their homes in Deir Isstya. As of August 10th, they remain in custody, two in Qedumim and one in an unknown location. Two of the boys were arrested on July 30th, but the third boy was not at home when the soldiers came that night. The soldiers came back on the 1st of August and arrested the third boy.

Two of the families said that approximately 50 soldiers surrounded their houses in the middle of the night and then banged on their doors. One of the boys was taken away in handcuffs. The soldiers told one family that their son was being arrested for throwing stones; the other families were not told why their children were being arrested. The families reported that the soldiers entered two of the houses. In one case, they damaged a picture frame and glass cabinet. In another, they tore up a picture of Abu Mazen.

Report by: Sarra and Carolyn
Date report written on: August 10th, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 212

Summary: Israeli army declares curfew in Hares

Date of incident: August 9th, 2005
Place: Hares, Salfit District
Witness/es: IWPS, Hares Village

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incidents

At 4:30 AM on the morning of the 9th of August, IWPS was awoken by a loud siren and shouting. An army jeep was patrolling through the village and waking up the residents before the morning call to prayer. The jeep came through the main street and then down the road directly outside the IWPS house. It then went back to the main road and seemed to be driving around the village for about 20 minutes. When IWPS went outside to see to try and find the jeep, the noise of the siren seemed to be coming from behind the village on the road either to Deir Isstya or Kufr Hares. Later residents of the village said that the soldiers had been declaring a curfew. A villager also reported that the jeeps were in the village again later that morning and people were not allowed to go out of the village until about 9am.

Report by: Carolyn
Date report written on: August 10th, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 213

Summary: Israeli army invades Marda using tear gas and sound bombs, detains and removes a 22-year-old man, closes entrances to the village, and invades in the middle of the night to arrest three teenagers.

Date of incident: August 9th – 10th, 2005
Place: Marda, Salfit district
Witness/es: IWPS volunteers

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

At approximately 7:30 PM on Tuesday, August 9th, the Israeli army invaded the village of Marda and began shooting tear gas and sound bombs. At approximately 7:52, the soldiers arrested a 22-year-old man, who they accused of throwing stones. At 7:55, they began shooting tear gas in the village again, with no visible provocation. At approximately 8:00, the army closed down the entrances and exits to the village. Women from IWPS arrived at about 8:30 and were not allowed to pass or given a reason for the closure. A soldier shouted and fired flares into the air. Vehicles were not allowed to leave the village until approximately 9:30.

At about 2:30 the following morning, the army re-entered the village with four jeeps. The jeeps drove around the village shining spotlights into residents’ homes. According to witnesses, the army entered several houses and arrested three teenage boys – two 16-year-olds and one 18-year-old. The arrestees’ current location is unknown.

Report by: Marie and Shannon
Date report written on: Wednesday August 10, 2005

Human Rights Report No.214

Summary: 14- and 15-year-old boys released from prison report physical and mental abuse by soldiers.

Date of incident: August 2nd-August 7th, 2005
Place: Marda, Salfit district; Ariel, Qedumim

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

As reported in IWPS Human Rights Report #209, approximately 15 teenage boys were detained in the village of Marda on the night of August 2nd, 2005. Four boys were transported to the Ariel police station; two were released several days later, and two were sentenced to 2 1/2 months in jail. This report is based on interviews with the two boys who were released.

Nabhan, age 14, was arrested on August 2nd and held until August 7th. He reports that he was abusively interrogated while detained. During the interrogation, he was hit on the legs, tied to a chair and slapped, threatened with indefinite imprisonment, and forced to listen to insults about his mother and sister. He was pressured to sign a document in Hebrew, which was not translated for him. While being transported, he was handcuffed and blindfolded for up to 8 hours at a time. On August 7th, he was released into the settlement of Qedumim, without accompaniment or access to transportation. Settlers harassed and threw stones at him, and he fled to a nearby Palestinian village. When his parents arrived, he could not be found, and no information was given about his whereabouts.

Amir, age 15, was also arrested on August 2nd. He was released on August 4th. Amir reports that soldiers interrogated him abusively – hitting him, kicking him with their boots, and insulting his mother. He was forced to sign a document in Hebrew which was never translated for him. He was released into the settlement of Qedumim with no access to transportation, and walked back to his village.

Report by: Sarah and Shannon
Date report written on: Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Human Report No. 215

Summary: Israeli army invades at 3:00 a.m., damages property and arrests teenager.

Date of incident: August 10th, 2005
Place: Deir Istiya, Salfit district
Witness/es: village residents

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action

Description of Incident

Residents of the village reported that at approximately 3:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 10th, the Israeli army entered the village of Deir Istiya. A house that was in the process of being built had a window broken and in Fatah headquarters chairs and tables were turned over. IWPS volunteers witnessed the damage. Soldiers stayed in the village until noon the following day.

According to witnesses, at approximately 10:00 a.m. the following morning, the soldiers arrested a 13-year-old boy on his way home from grocery shopping. He was blindfolded and his hands were bound. Following the incident the army called the house of the father to ask for the boy’s ID#. The army offered no explanation for the arrest.

Report by: Sarra
Date report written on: Thursday August 11, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 216

Summary: Eight injured at demonstration in Azzoun.

Date of incident: August 12^th, 2005

Place: Azzoun

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action

Description of Incident

At about 12 PM on August 12^th, about 150 Azzoun residents and 15 internationals marched from the municipality to the village olive groves, which are being cleared for the construction of the Wall. They found the groves heavily guarded by Israeli soldiers. While some of the villagers began to throw stones, others prayed, and a few burned their own olive trees to prevent the army from selling the wood.

The mayor of Azzoun spoke with the soldiers and asked them not to fire while the prayers were taking place. The soldiers initially agreed, but after about 15 minutes they began to fire tear gas and rubber bullets into the crowd. Numerous tear gas canisters reached the crowd, including villagers and internationals who were peacefully praying and observing from a distance. Seven villagers were wounded by rubber bullets, and a 14-year-old boy fainted from tear gas inhalation. A 16-year-old boy was hit in the head by a rubber bullet and lost consciousness; he was taken to a hospital in Nablus, where he remains in critical condition.

Report by: Sarah

Date report written on: Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 217

Summary: Israeli army invades village and arrests Palestinian policeman.

Date of incident: August 13, 2005
Place: Hares, Salfit district
Witness/es: IWPS volunteers

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action

Description of Incident

At approximately 4:00 AM on Saturday, August 13th, the Israeli army entered the village of Hares. Soldiers woke up one family and ordered them to leave their house. They were kept outside for several minutes. Eventually the soldiers allowed most of the family to return home, but arrested one member, a 28-year-old man employed as a Palestinian police officer.

The soldiers gave no reason for the arrest and refused to tell the family where they were taking the man. Later that day, the local DCO informed the family that the man was being held at Qedumim, but still provided no reason for the arrest. The family is particularly worried because the man has been arrested on two previous occasions.

Report by: Shannon and Sarah
Date report written on: Sunday August 14, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 218

Summary: Israeli army invades Marda and detains three boys.

Date of incident: August 19th, 2005

Place: Marda, Salfit district

Witness/es: Marda residents

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action

Description of Incident

At approximately 6:00 AM on August 19th, the Israeli army entered the village of Marda and blocked off both village entrances with piles of dirt and stones. Residents, including some who needed to transport perishable produce, were not permitted to enter or leave the village by car for the rest of the day.

At about 6:00 PM, the army removed one of the roadblocks, and three jeeps and approximately 20 foot soldiers entered the village. They detained three boys, ages 9, 14, and 18. The 18-year-old said that he was thrown in the dirt and hit in the face. Witnesses reported that the 9-year-old was also beaten. The soldiers accused the boys of throwing stones and threatened to punish the whole village if the boys did not give information. After about three hours, the boys were released. However, the soldiers kept the 18-year-old’s identification documents, and told him they would return to the village later to give it back. As of this writing, the documents have not been returned.

Soldiers have conducted frequent night invasions of Marda for several months, often setting off flares and tear gas, and have arrested groups of young boys on at least three previous occasions.

Report by: Sarah

Date report written on: Sunday, August 21, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 219

Summary: Israeli army invades Marda and closes all entrances to the village

Date of incident: August 21st, 2005
Place: Marda, Salfit district
Witness/es: IWPS volunteers

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action

Description of Incident

At approximately 6:30 p.m. on Sunday August 21st two jeeps entered the village of Marda. While one jeep was reportedly driven directly into the village, the other one installed a checkpoint at the only open entrance to the village and prevented civilians from leaving or entering Marda. When being asked the reason for doing this, the soldiers replied that young boys from the village were being suspected of having thrown stones at an Israeli vehicle earlier that evening. A second shift of soldiers added that someone had also thrown a Molotov Cocktail.

At approximately 7:25 p.m. the jeep that was driving around inside the village left Marda. Another jeep maintained its presence at the entrance and would not let any vehicles in or out of the village. One of the people waiting to get out of Marda was from a village near Qalqilya. At about 7.30 p.m the soldiers let the women and children walk into the village on foot but the men were left waiting to enter with their cars. At 7:45 p.m a new group of soldiers came to take over and started to selectively let vehicles enter and exit the village.

The IWPS witnesses remained at the site until approximately 8:45 p.m. observing one more change of soldiers. Each shift of soldiers behaved differently towards the villagers, although traffic continued to be allowed in and out. One group of soldiers made people get out of the cars, including a woman and a disabled child of about 10 who was unable to stand. The other group was simply checking ID’s. IWPS left when the man from Qalqilya was allowed out and when it was clear that traffic was being allowed in and out.

Report by: Miriam and Carolyn
Date report written on: Monday August 22nd, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 220

Summary: Israeli army invades Marda and threatens and harasses residents

Date of incident: August 30^th, 2005

Place: Marda, Salfit district

Witness/es: Marda residents and IWPS volunteers

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action

Description of Incident

At approximately 9:15 p.m. on Sunday, August 28^th, three jeeps entered the village of Marda. After driving around inside the village, one jeep returned to the entrance and stayed there, while the other two stopped in front of one house on the main road.

The soldiers surrounded the house, entered it forcefully, and ordered the male members of the family to come outside and to stay in the backyard of the house. When the soldiers started to interrogate them about who had thrown stones at Israeli vehicles earlier that evening, the mother of the family rushed out to protect them from false accusations. When Azzad, her 18-year-old son, tried to defend her, he was first hit by a soldier’s gun and then handcuffed and blindfolded and taken into one of the jeeps.

Azzad’s mother told the soldiers that if they wanted to arrest Azzad, they would have to take the whole family with them. The soldiers responded by taking the IDs of all 19 members of the family. They then released Azzad and handed back all the IDs except for his, which they took with them as they left the village. About 15 minutes later, at around 10:30, the jeeps returned to Marda and handed back Azzad’s ID.

According to one of the family members, the house had been targeted by the IDF for a week prior to this incident. At approximately 2:00 a.m. on August 18^th, Azzad was arrested and was first taken to Ariel police station, then to Qedumim police station. He was finally transferred to Salem prison, where he spent six days. Azzad’s mother reported that her son was heavily beaten in the stomach while under arrest, and needed – but did not receive – immediate medical treatment.

Report by: Marie and Miriam

Date report written on: Tuesday, August 30^th, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 221

Summary: Unidentified men arrest Hares resident in Barqan. Army and Police later return to Hares and search his home.

Date of incident: September 5th, 2005
Place: Barqan and Hares, Salfit district
Witness/es: Barqan employees, Hares residents and IWPS volunteers

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action

Description of Incident

At approximately 10:00 p.m. on Monday September 5th a group of men in plain clothes stopped workers from entering a factory in Barqan and asked for everyone’s ID. They then took a 20 year old Hares resident away.

Later that night, at about 12:30 a.m. two jeeps of the Israeli army and one police car as well as a large truck entered the village of Hares, stopped in front of the same resident’s family home, and entered the compound. According to the family members, the soldiers and policemen searched the man’s home, as well as the home of his grandmother. They forcefully pulled out the contents of drawers, wardrobes etc., but did not take anything with them. At approximately 1:00 am, the soldiers exited the home and left the village.

The whereabouts of the Hares resident still remain unknown. According to the man’s mother, her son suffers from a heart disease and has been prescribed medicine that should be taken daily.

Report by: Miriam and Jill
Date report written on: Tuesday September 6th, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 222

Summary: A 17 year old boy and A 21 year old man get arrested by soldiers in Marda.

Date of incident: 15.09.2005

Time: Around 5 p.m.

Place: Marda, Salfit District

Witness/es: Family members of the arrested

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

At approximately 5 p.m. on Thursday 15^th of September 2005 two army jeeps entered the villages of Marda and arrested a 17 year old boy and a 21 year old man, who are neighbors, from the street in front of their homes. Both were taken to an unknown location. During the arrest the soldiers claimed the youngsters were involved in stone throwing. However the witnessing villagers testify that their had been no confrontation going on at the time of the arrest and everything had been calm before. They also say that the 17 year old had just come back minutes earlier from visiting his grandfather in the hospital, where he had spent the previous night.

After being informed about the incident by residents of Marda, IWPS notified the Israeli human rights organization Hamoked, who agreed to follow up on the arrest.

At the time of writing the whereabouts of the two arrestees remain unknown.

Report written by:  Clara and Marie Jo

Date report written on: 15^th September2005

Human Rights Report No. 223

Summary: Student arrested at Za’tara Checkpoint.

Date of incident: September 20th, 2005

Time: 10:30 a.m.
Place: Za’tara Checkpoint
Witness/es:

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action

Description of Incident

On September 20th, 2005 at around 10:30 a.m., a 19 year old student of Al Najah University in Nablus from Hares was detained at Za’tara Checkpoint on his way to the university, together with another young man. While the latter was released after 3 hours, the student was arrested.

The next day, the army gave his ID-card to a Palestinian man at Huwara checkpoint and asked him to give it back to the student’s family.

Through the Prisoners’Club and Hamoked, the location of the Student has been identified as Qedumim Settlement.

The family says the student did not take part in any political activities and used to go through the checkpoints in Za’tara and Huwara daily without any problem.

Report written by: Marie Jo
Date report written on: 23 September 2005

Human Rights Report No. 224

Summary: Army invades Qarawat Bani Zeid and arrests eight residents.

Date of incident: 23.9.2005

Time: Around 3:00 a.m.

Place: Qarawat Bani Zeid

Witness/es: Family members

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

At around 3:00 a.m during the night of the September 23^rd, 2005, about 100 Israeli entered the village of Qarawat Bani Zeid in the north of Ramallah district by foot and were followed by approximately 25 jeeps. Soldiers, accompanied by officers of the Shabak (Israeli Intelligence), forced their entry into seven houses and arrested eight male residents, aged 18-60 years old, all belonging to the same extended family. Some of the arrested were reportedly beaten during the process.

One couple was surprised in an intimate situation. The soldiers only allowed the woman to cover herself with a blanket and the man to put on his pajamas before he was dragged out. The woman had to be treated in hospital for shock.

The family members of two other young men who were arrested during that night had to call an ambulance for the elderly father who had a heart condition as well as for two female relatives who where overcome by anxiety.

Background Information

Five of the arrested men are employed in a factory in an Israeli industrial zone in the Khan al-Ahmar area close to Maale Adumim Settlement.

On Thursday September 22^nd, 2005 another 23 year old resident of Qarawat Bani Zeid, employed in another factory belonging to the same Israeli owner, had already been arrested. The workers coming from Qarawat Bani Zeid and other remote places usually stay over night in the factory and go back to their villages only during the weekend.

However, the workers arrested in Qarawat Bani Zeid returned to their homes early on Thursday September 22^nd, 2005. According to their families, relatives of the factory owner had come to the factory on Thursday morning to question the workers on the whereabouts of the owner, who seemed to have disappeared. They then asked the workers to stay in the factory to await the arrival of the police. The workers claimed that the owner had left the factory the day before at about 3:00 p.m. as usual, and that they did not know what had happened to him afterwards. As they had nothing to do without the instructions of their boss and out of fear from the police, the workers left the factory and returned home to the village.

Apart from the six workers the Israeli army also arrested a brother of two of the workers. He reports that he was taken to Ofra Military Camp with four of the others who had been arrested that night, but was released at 10:00 p.m. the same evening without having been questioned. The army refused to tell him where his brothers were taken.

The army is reportedly still searching for a seventh worker. Since he was not present, when the army searched his house, they arrested one of his brothers and his 60 year old father instead. While the father was released later on, the family reports that the brother remains under arrest to pressure the worker to turn himself in.

The relatives of the arrested have heard that, in addition to the men from Qarawat Bani Zeid, numerous other Palestinian workers of the two factories owned by the disappeared Israeli were also arrested either from their work place or their homes in other villages.

At the time of writing the whereabouts of the remaining seven arrested men remain unknown.

Report written by:  Clara

Date report written on: 25.09.2005

Human Rights Report No. 225

Summary: Settlers destroy motor for agricultural water pump

Date of incident: 24.09.2005
Time: unknown
Place: Wadi Qana
Witness/es: Farmers and owners of the Motor

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident

During the night from Friday September 23rd to Saturday 24th 2005 a generator which is used to pump water for irrigating farm land in Wadi Qana has been destroyed.

On Friday evening a number of settlers from Yakir and Karnei Shomron reportedly threatened a farmer from Deir Istiya who was working his land in Wadi Qana and told him to leave. Concerned about his physical well being, the farmer left the area. The settlers remained at the site.

On the morning of September 24th 2005 the farmers discovered the destroyed motor. The farmers hold the settlers responsible for this act of demolition and assured the IWPS volunteers that they would be able to identify them, as they had a quarrel with them only a week before the incident.

The Israeli police was called and came to take photos and to register the complaint of the farmers.

Background information:
Wadi Qana is surrounded by five Israeli Settlements: Imanu’el, Yakir, Nofim, Ma’ale Shomron, Ginot Shomron and Karnei Shomron, some of which pump their unfiltered sewage into Wadi Qana. In addition the farmers of Wadi Qana have suffered from numerous attacks on agricultural equipment, trees and crops.

The incident described in this report is the third case of a generator being destroyed this year. Water pipes have reportedly been cut already six times.

The resulting loss of crops and the costs for repairing or substituting pipes and generators threaten to render agriculture in Wadi Qana unprofitable and might force farmers to give up farming in the area.

Report written by: Clara
Date report written on: 25.09.2005

Human Rights Report No. 226

Summary: 14 year old boy tortured in prison

Date of incident: between August 10th and September 11th, 2005

Place: Kdumim, Salem, Ofra, and Talmon prison
Witness/es: 14 year old victim

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Background Information

This Human Rights Report constitutes the follow up of Human Rights Report No. 215 from August 11th, 2005. In this report the arrest of a 14 year old boy from the village of Deir Istiya had been described. The Israeli army gave no reasons for the arrest of the boy, nor did they inform his family about where he was being taken.

Description of Incident

The 14 year old victim recounts that he had been arrested by the Israeli army on August 11th, 2005. He was being handcuffed and blindfolded and was first taken to Kdumim army base and was then transferred to Salem.

For four days the boy was being interrogated by the soldiers who kept him blindfolded throughout the whole time. The boy further states that during the whole process of interrogation he was hardly ever allowed to sleep and that he was not given any food for two days. He also recounts that soldiers tried to pressure him to take a photo of him while holding a gun. He refused. Demanding his “cooperation”, they wanted him to give names of other young boys from Deir Istiya supposedly involved in acts of stone throwing etc.. Throughout the whole interrogation process the 14 year old was heavily beaten by the soldiers.

After ten days the boy was heard in court. Since he was not allowed to contact his family his parents were not able to attend the hearing. He was charged with a month of arrest and a fine of NIS 500 for having thrown stones and Molotov cocktails. Israeli soldiers constituted the only eyewitnesses for the boy’s supposed deeds.

After the hearing he was eventually taken to Ofra and then to Talmon prison. The boy stated that during the remaining time he was still often pressured to give names of other boys and was further badly treated and beaten by the guards.

After approximately twenty days of arrest the boy had been able to contact his parents through a mobile phone that had been given to him by another prisoner. His parents were still not able to obtain permission from the Israeli authorities to visit their son.

The 14 year old was released on September 11th, 2005 and brought to At Tayba Checkpoint where his father picked him up.

The boy still suffers from pain in his right ankle, which was badly kicked at by the soldiers during interrogation. Medical personnel from Salfit Hospital where the ankle was being x-rayed stated that the bone was partially fractured.

Report written by: Miriam
Date report written on: 28.09.2005

Human Rights Report No. 227

Summary: Army invades Haris, pressures eight and ten year old under interrogation, attempts to arrest resident.

Date of incident: 02.10.2005
Time: Between 4:45 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.
Place: Village of Haris, district of Salfit
Witness/es: Haris residents, IWPS volunteers, Yesh Din volunteers.

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident:

At approximately 4:45 p.m. three jeeps of the Israeli army entered the village of Haris. According to witnesses from the village, soldiers had detained an eight year old and a ten year old boy. They reportedly had dragged them into a jeep, had driven them away and then had pressured them to tell them the names of other youths from the village, who were involved in acts of stone throwing. According to the information given by Haris residents one of the boys after being beaten by the soldiers gave the name of an 18 year old youth from the village.

The army subsequently entered and searched the house of the young man, who was not at home at that moment. Soldiers told the family, that they only wanted to talk to him, but when he came to present himself, they immediately made attempts to arrest him. Family members and other villagers as well as volunteers of IWPS and Yesh Din, who arrived at the scene after being informed by residents, tried to prevent the arrest and argued with the soldiers. During the argument one elderly villager suffered from an epileptic seizure but recovered soon at the scene.

Eventually the army left without arresting the young man and after having released the two boys.

Some residents reported that they had overheard two soldiers speaking to each other about the possibility to come back to arrest the youth, when there was less public attention. No further attempt to arrest him has been made by the time of writing this report.

Report written by:  Marie Jo

Date report written on: 06/10/05

Human Rights Report No. 228

Summary: Army invades Haris to arrest wanted man; Families being hold out side for several hours; relatives and neighbor used as human shields; use of live ammunition and destruction of property

Date of incident: 12.10.2005
Time: 2.30 a.m. – 8.30 a.m.
Place: Haris, Salfit District
Witness/es: Village residents and family members

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident:

At about 2.30 a.m. on the 12th of October 2005, a large number of Israeli soldiers entered the village of Haris on foot and surrounded the quarter close to the village’s water tower. About 15 army and border police jeeps and two army lorries arrived shortly afterwards, later a bulldozer was brought to the entrance of the village. The sound of a drone (pilot less surveillance plane) was heard over Haris until the early morning. Curfew was declared around 4 a.m. over the whole village and enforced till the army left at around 8.30 a.m.. IWPS volunteers, who were called to the scene by residents at about 3.00 a.m. to monitor, were prevented from approaching the surrounded area and were forced to leave under the threat of arrest at about 5.30.

According to residents of the area the army was looking for a 27 year old wanted man and surrounded the house of his uncle as well as the neighboring houses. Sound bombs were thrown and live ammunition was shot at the houses, before the army demanded via loudspeakers, that the residents should open all doors in the houses and come out to the street. Eight families with about a hundred members, including several babies and a large number of children, were forced to stay in the street for more then five hours. Each family was kept outside their own house, while the arrest operation was going on and live ammunition was used around them. The family of the wanted man reports that they were forced to undress in the street and that men, women and children were kicked and hit with rifle butts by the soldiers and that sound bombs were thrown at them while being forced to sit on the street. They further state, that officers interrogated them one by one, including boys as young as four and five years old, about the whereabouts of the wanted man and threatened to explode the house if they do not convince their relative to give himself up within ten minutes. The father, who has a weak heart, a brother and a neighbor of the wanted man were reportedly used as human shields during the arrest operation.

The army entered four neighboring houses to put sniper units on the roof, causing light property damage. The house were the wanted man was hiding was searched for several hours, causing extensive property damage. Two gates and a stack of new windows were damages, when a jeep drove into them and a water pipe broke, when the house was spayed with bullets from the out side. Inside the house several rooms and an agricultural storage room were played havoc with. When the soldiers could not find the wanted man they started firing live ammunition inside the house, shooting into and destroying a washing machine, two fridges, a gas heater, a computer and a bag with school books, as well as a bed and cupboard with clothes.

According to the family the wanted man, who was hiding behind the cupboard, turned himself in fearing for his life, as the bullets hit close to him. He was later seen by a resident living close to the entrance of the village being handcuffed and blind folded and thrown on the floor of the back of a jeep. As of the time of writing this report the whereabouts of the arrested man remain unknown.

Photos of the damage caused are available at the IWPS office.

Report written by: Clara
Date report written on: 12.10.2005

Human Rights Report No. 229

Summary: Army invades Marda, harasses residents, detains and abuses two young boys; Civil Administration and Israeli DCO give misleading information

Date of incident: 28.10.2005
Time: 12:30 p.m. – 2:00 a.m.
Place: Marda, Salfit District
Witness/es: Marda residents, family members of detainees, and 14 year old detainee

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident:

On Friday October 28th, at around 12:30 p.m. three Israeli army vehicles entered the village of Marda and drove straight to the mosque where the Friday prayer was about to end. Claiming that they had just seen a young boy throwing stones at the nearby road, they randomly picked a 14 year old from a group that had reportedly left the mosque that very moment and attempted to detain him. When the surrounding crowd came to help the young boy and tried to prevent his arrest, clashes between the army and the residents broke out. During this time, a 17 year old Marda resident was detained.

The army told the father of the 14 year old that they only wanted to interrogate his son in a calmer place outside of the village and would release him afterwards. They then proposed the father to accompany them to the village’s entrance. Soldiers then proceeded to handcuff the son and to take the father’s ID. Both father and son were then put into a jeep and were driven to the entrance of the village.

Eyewitnesses report that the army used tear gas, rubber bullets, and sound grenades to disperse the crowd when the jeep left.

When the 14 year old and his father reached the entrance of the village they were forced out of the jeep and guarded by a few soldiers with guns. The father also reports that his son was beaten by the soldiers in his presence, and that the soldier in command refused to respond to him. They then watched how two additional jeeps, one of them carrying the 17 year old detainee, arrived from inside Marda and stopped nearby.

The father then witnessed both boys being blindfolded and put back into one of the jeeps. The soldiers subsequently threw the father’s ID out of the jeep and drove away with the two young detainees. The other two jeeps remained at the site and then left after another five to ten minutes.

At approximately 4:30 p.m. three army jeeps came back to the village and patrolled the roads for about 40 minutes, while an additional 16 soldiers on foot walked around in the olive groves. One resident reported that he and another man were prevented at gunpoint from returning to their homes in order to break the Ramadan fasting.

At around 7:30 p.m. an Israeli Human Rights activist called the Civil Administration of the Israeli army and received information that the 14 year old had been released. No information was given about where the boy had been brought to. About three hours later the boy had not returned home.

From that time onwards the same Israeli activist made and received several phone calls to and from the Israeli DCO and the Civil Administration. During every call the information concerning both the time and the place of the release of the two boys was different.

The 14 year old reported that both him, and the 17 year old had first been brought to Ariel police station where they were separated and interrogated for about one hour. They were then transported to Kdumim army base where they were again separated. He further states that he was repeatedly interrogated in the following hours and that he was urged to admit to have thrown stones and to give information about his family members and other residents of Marda. He reports that he was beaten several times while denying the accusations and refusing to give the wanted information. He was later informed by the older detainee, that he had been subjected to even more severe abuses.

The 14 year old further reports that when he and the 17 year old were finally brought back to the village at around 1:45 a.m. they were still handcuffed and blindfolded. Not knowing where they had actually been brought to, they were told by the soldiers that they were located in an isolated area with no witnesses. Soldiers pressed guns against the heads of both boys and announced that they would be executed now.

The blindfold of the 14 year old was eventually removed and the soldiers left the two boys at the entrance of Marda. Both boys finally reached their homes at approximately 2:00 a.m. on the morning of Saturday October 29.

Report written by: Miriam and Clara
Date report written on: 30.10.2005

Human Rights Report No. 230

Summary: Israeli army invades Deir Istiya, arrests 16 year old, and enters a family home

Date of incident: November 8th, 2005
Place: Deir Istiya, Salfit District
Witness/es: Uncle of arrestee and other Deir Istiya residents

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incidents

On November 8th, 2005 at approximately 6:30 p.m. four jeeps of the Israeli army entered the village of Deir Istiya. According to eyewitnesses the jeeps stopped in front of a local shop and three to four soldiers approached a 16 year old in order to arrest him. Deir Istiya residents who were present at the scene report that the boy was badly beaten by the soldiers who claimed to have seen him throwing stones. When he was already lying on the floor three to four soldiers reportedly continued to kick the boy and hit him with rifle butts for several minutes. He was then handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to a jeep.

Under the pretext of finding more young men suspected of having thrown stones the Israeli army then drove to two other homes and forcefully entered one of them. Since in both cases the suspected residents were not present at the time the jeeps left again, yet threatened to return.

When the uncle of the 16 year old arrestee approached the soldiers in front of one of the homes in order to talk to them he was threatened by a soldier pointing his gun at him and telling him to leave.

According to the information given to IWPS by Hamoked, the boy was brought to Kdumim detention center.

Report by: Miriam and Clara
Date report written on: November 13th, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 231

Summary: Israeli army enters Deir Istiya and detains 14 year old.

Date of incident: November 12th, 2005
Place: Deir Istiya, Salfit District
Witness/es: Deir Istiya residents and IWPS volunteers

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incidents

On November 13th, 2005 at approximately 7:00 p.m. two jeeps of the Israeli army entered the village of Deir Istiya. According to eyewitnesses they stopped in front of a local pharmacy and proceeded to detain a 14 year old they suspected of having thrown stones. They put him into a Jeep and brought him to an unknown location outside of the village.

After around one hour the father of the boy was contacted by the commander in charge and told to come to the entrance of the village to pick up his son in return for a payment of NIS 500.
When the IWPS volunteers approached the scene the commander told the boy’s father that he would not insist on the payment. One soldier then proceeded to release the boy from the blindfold and the handcuffs.

Report by: Clara and Miriam
Date report written on: November 13th, 2005

Human Rights Report No. 232

Summary: Army detains and heavily beats student at Huwara Checkpoint; prevents an ambulance to access Deir Istya

Date of incident: 19.11.2005
Time: 10.00a.m.
Place: Huwwara Checkpoint, Deir Istiya
Witnesses: Family members and Deir Istiya residents

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident:

At around 10.00 a.m. on the 19th of November 2005 a student from Deir Istiya was detained at the Huwwara Checkpoint on his way to An-Najah University in Nablus. According to students from the same village, he was blindfolded and handcuffed and brought to a separate place for detained persons on the checkpoint.

After his release the student reported to his family that he was later placed in military jeep. While lying in the jeep, soldiers kept
physically abusing him for several hours. As far as the student could tell, he was kicked, beaten with fists, and hit with sticks and rifle butts all over his body. At around 15.30 p.m. the student was told to come to Qedumim on 30.11.2005 and got released close to Beita village, where he was found and brought home by local residents.

After he arrived home, the student’s family decided to call an ambulance to transport him to a hospital. They report that the ambulance was not able to enter Deir Istiya, as the entrance to the village from the main road had been recently blocked by the army with an earth mound, and the ambulance was turned away at a flying checkpoint at the entrance of the neighboring village Haris, the only remaining way for cars to Deir Istiya. The family had to bring the injured student in a private car to a place on the Palestinian road between Haris and Kifl Haris, which is close to Highway No. 5 connecting Ariel Settlement with Tel Aviv. They then had to carry him in the dark to the ambulance waiting on the highway.

The student was admitted to Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Ramallah, where he was checked for internal injuries and kept for observation over night. He was released from hospital the next day.

Report written by: Clara and Marisol

Date report written on: 21.11.2005

Human Rights Report No. 233

Summary: The Israeli Army arrests 5 young men from Qarawat Bani Zeid, invades the village and forces families out of their houses at night

Date of incident: 15. and 19.11.2005
Place: Atara Checkpoint and Qarawat Bani Zeid, Ramallah District
Witness/es: Family members and village residents

Contact details: IWPS withholds this information as a courtesy to those involved – we will do our best to furnish you with all the relevant information you might need to begin action.

Description of Incident:

On the 15.11.2005 around 15:00 p.m. six male students from Qarawat Bani Zeid and Farkha were detained at the Atara Checkpoint on their way home from university. Reportedly all the students were handcuffed and blindfolded and taken to Ofra, where they were held for the next hours without being provided with anything to eat or drink. Five of them where released at 0:30 a.m. the same night, after three of them were interrogated, while the two others were not questioned. The sixth student, who is 19 years old, is still under arrest at the time of writing.

In a different incident, on the 19.11.2005, the army invaded the village of Qarawat Bani Zeid from 1.30 till 7.30 a.m. and arrested four more young men, between 17 and 22 years old. The two cases are believed to be connected as all of the arrested belong to the same extended family as the student arrested at Atara Checkpoint.

Villagers reported that about 100 soldiers on foot entered Qarawat Bani Zeid around 1:30 a.m. and surrounded seven houses. Once they had taken their positions, they were reinforced by at least 25 jeeps. At around 2:30 a.m. the army started to throw sound bombs and stones at the houses and to call out on the families to come out of their homes.

One family described that they were ordered to open all the doors and cupboards in the house and then to come out one by one, while the soldiers pointed their guns with laser lights at them. All the men and the male children above the age of 12 had to step in front one after the other and lift their shirts and drop their trousers. They were then allowed to redress, then, apart from the father of the family, they were handcuffed and blindfolded and separated from each other. The commanding officer asked if the family had more sons and if they had any weapons in the house and threatened to bring a bulldozer and demolish the house if they found any weapons. At around 5:00 a.m. the 18 year old son of the family was put into a jeep and taken away. He was not allowed to change from his sleeping clothes or to take any extra clothes, apart from shoes which the soldiers promised he would be able to put on later. The other ten members of the family were forced to stay outside the house until 5:45 a.m. The pleas of the parents to allow the younger children, 2, 3, and 9 years old, to go inside or stay with the neighbours, or to allow the mother to bring warmer clothes or blankets and food for them were denied. The army left at 5:45 without having searched the house.

According to the family the procedure was similar in the homes of their relatives. One house, where the youth the army was looking for was not present, was entered and searched with dogs. The youth, who had been at a friend’s house, turned him self in after being called by his parents.

Two other young men, aged 18 and 25 years old, were detained until about 7:00 a.m. and then released. The army stated that the two young men were arrested by mistake. No reasons were given for the arrest of the other five.

Report written by: Clara and Marisol
Date report written on: 22.11.2005