1 mar 2016
At least nine Palestinian youths were kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) overnight Monday and early Tuesday after the latter rolled into al-Khalil province and wreaked havoc on civilian homes.
Local sources told a PIC journalist that the IOF kidnapped the ex-prisoner Mutaaz al-Ju’ba from the city. Ex-prisoner Kassem Abu Hussein was also kidnapped in the campaign, just three days after he was released from the Palestinian Authority (PA) lock-ups, where he had been subjected to harsh torture.
The IOF rummaged into Palestinian homes in al-Khalil’s northern town of Surif and kidnapped three more Palestinians. The occupation troops also kidnapped the brother of the hunger-striking detainee Mahmoud al-Fasfous after they ravaged his family home in Dura town.
Head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society in al-Khalil, Amjad al-Najjar, said the break-in and the abduction of al-Fasfous’s brother, Kayed, makes part of an Israeli attempt to dampen the hunger-striker’s spirits and foil his hunger-strike.
Earlier, on Monday evening, the PA Preventive Forces arrested the university student Ibrahim Salhab from al-Khalil university campus. The PA preventive forces in Dura also summoned the university student Muhammad Issa Abu Arkoub, enrolled at al-Khalil University, for interrogation on Wednesday.
The IOF further arrested the coordinator for the anti-settlement youth coalition, Issa Amr, from the group’s headquarters in Tel Rumeida neighborhood, in al-Khalil.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Ofer military court, in western Ramallah, extended the detention of head of the independent committee of human rights in the southern West Bank, Farid al-Atrash, to next Thursday. Farid was arrested on Friday in a rally to commemorate the Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre.
Local sources told a PIC journalist that the IOF kidnapped the ex-prisoner Mutaaz al-Ju’ba from the city. Ex-prisoner Kassem Abu Hussein was also kidnapped in the campaign, just three days after he was released from the Palestinian Authority (PA) lock-ups, where he had been subjected to harsh torture.
The IOF rummaged into Palestinian homes in al-Khalil’s northern town of Surif and kidnapped three more Palestinians. The occupation troops also kidnapped the brother of the hunger-striking detainee Mahmoud al-Fasfous after they ravaged his family home in Dura town.
Head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society in al-Khalil, Amjad al-Najjar, said the break-in and the abduction of al-Fasfous’s brother, Kayed, makes part of an Israeli attempt to dampen the hunger-striker’s spirits and foil his hunger-strike.
Earlier, on Monday evening, the PA Preventive Forces arrested the university student Ibrahim Salhab from al-Khalil university campus. The PA preventive forces in Dura also summoned the university student Muhammad Issa Abu Arkoub, enrolled at al-Khalil University, for interrogation on Wednesday.
The IOF further arrested the coordinator for the anti-settlement youth coalition, Issa Amr, from the group’s headquarters in Tel Rumeida neighborhood, in al-Khalil.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Ofer military court, in western Ramallah, extended the detention of head of the independent committee of human rights in the southern West Bank, Farid al-Atrash, to next Thursday. Farid was arrested on Friday in a rally to commemorate the Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre.
29 feb 2016
The Ibrahimi Mosque, the second most prominent Islamic site in Palestine, is located in Al-Khalil (Hebron), south of the West Bank, and is facing unjust Israeli measures.
Since 1967, the Mosque, also known as Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi, has been encountering fierce Israeli attempts to distort and steal its cultural background.
This include the Israeli massacre in 1994 that targeted the Palestinian worshipers in the Mosque, killing 40 of them and injuring tens others. However, regardless of the religious, historical, and political importance of the Ibrahimi Mosque, the Israeli Judaization attempts are met with an Arab and Islamic silence.
Historical background
The Ibrahimi Mosque has such a long history according to different encyclopedias and historians. Adnan Abu Tabbana, professor of Islamic history, said that the story behind the Mosque started as Ibrahim (Abraham) –peace be upon him– arrived in Palestine as an asylum.
The Canaanites were the residents of Palestine back then and he stayed in their lands for years.
Sanctuary of Abraham
Around 3800 years ago, Ibrahim took a cave under the Mosque to bury his wife, Sarah, and he was later buried there along with Isaac, his wife, Jacob and his wife.
Abu Tabbana pointed out that this cave became vulnerable to collapse over time. Therefore, during prophet Suleiman’s era, a wall was built around the cave, with large stones, up to 10 meters in height and two meters in width. Some of these stones can still be seen in the wall surrounding the cave today.
Abu Tabbana added, “When Muslims conquered Palestine, they raised the wall and made the place a mosque.
In the Umayyad era, Muslims built a ceiling for the place and started performing the Friday prayers there.”
Under the Crusade
Abu Tabbana stated that al-Khalil was occupied in 492 AH during the Crusade invasion and the Ibrahimi Mosque fell in the crusaders’ hands, turning it into a patriarchate, and calling it Saint Abraham and it carried that name for 90 years until Salah Eddin al-Ayyoubi conquered Palestine and demolished the castle they built inside the Mosque.
Religious significance
The Ibrahimi Mosque is particularly important for Muslims as a burial for a number of prophets. Sheikh Mohammed, Mufi of al-Khalil, said, “The Mosque enjoys a religious importance among Muslims as the place of the first Muslim, prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him.”
Israeli violations
Numerous Israeli transgressions and attacks have been inflicted on the Ibrahimi Mosque.
The director of the Palestinian-controlled part of the Ibrahimi Mosque, Munthir Abu al-Feilat, said, “Palestinians controlled the Ibrahimi Mosque since 1967 until the 1970s, as Moshe Dayan entered the Mosque to the Ibrahimi cave.
The entrance of the cave was then closed and the Israeli violations increased. In 1976, Israeli settlers burnt a copy of the Quran in the Mosque, triggering protests and clashes between Israeli settlers and Muslim worshipers. In 1987, the Israeli government installed electronic devices and metal-detectors on the main three entrances to the Mosque.
Abu al-Feilat added, “1994 was a tragedy in the history of the Ibrahimi Mosque as the extremist Israeli settler, Baruch Goldstein, committed a massacre that killed 29 Palestinian worshipers in the Mosque.”
Shamgar Commission
Following the massacre, the Israeli government formed an inquiry commission, which divided the Mosque into two parts: 56% for Jews, and 44% for Muslims.
Since the division, Muslims have control over their part from 3 am to 9 pm, except for the ten days of Jewish holidays and festivals, as the Jews take the control over the whole Mosque.
Since 1967, the Mosque, also known as Al-Haram Al-Ibrahimi, has been encountering fierce Israeli attempts to distort and steal its cultural background.
This include the Israeli massacre in 1994 that targeted the Palestinian worshipers in the Mosque, killing 40 of them and injuring tens others. However, regardless of the religious, historical, and political importance of the Ibrahimi Mosque, the Israeli Judaization attempts are met with an Arab and Islamic silence.
Historical background
The Ibrahimi Mosque has such a long history according to different encyclopedias and historians. Adnan Abu Tabbana, professor of Islamic history, said that the story behind the Mosque started as Ibrahim (Abraham) –peace be upon him– arrived in Palestine as an asylum.
The Canaanites were the residents of Palestine back then and he stayed in their lands for years.
Sanctuary of Abraham
Around 3800 years ago, Ibrahim took a cave under the Mosque to bury his wife, Sarah, and he was later buried there along with Isaac, his wife, Jacob and his wife.
Abu Tabbana pointed out that this cave became vulnerable to collapse over time. Therefore, during prophet Suleiman’s era, a wall was built around the cave, with large stones, up to 10 meters in height and two meters in width. Some of these stones can still be seen in the wall surrounding the cave today.
Abu Tabbana added, “When Muslims conquered Palestine, they raised the wall and made the place a mosque.
In the Umayyad era, Muslims built a ceiling for the place and started performing the Friday prayers there.”
Under the Crusade
Abu Tabbana stated that al-Khalil was occupied in 492 AH during the Crusade invasion and the Ibrahimi Mosque fell in the crusaders’ hands, turning it into a patriarchate, and calling it Saint Abraham and it carried that name for 90 years until Salah Eddin al-Ayyoubi conquered Palestine and demolished the castle they built inside the Mosque.
Religious significance
The Ibrahimi Mosque is particularly important for Muslims as a burial for a number of prophets. Sheikh Mohammed, Mufi of al-Khalil, said, “The Mosque enjoys a religious importance among Muslims as the place of the first Muslim, prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him.”
Israeli violations
Numerous Israeli transgressions and attacks have been inflicted on the Ibrahimi Mosque.
The director of the Palestinian-controlled part of the Ibrahimi Mosque, Munthir Abu al-Feilat, said, “Palestinians controlled the Ibrahimi Mosque since 1967 until the 1970s, as Moshe Dayan entered the Mosque to the Ibrahimi cave.
The entrance of the cave was then closed and the Israeli violations increased. In 1976, Israeli settlers burnt a copy of the Quran in the Mosque, triggering protests and clashes between Israeli settlers and Muslim worshipers. In 1987, the Israeli government installed electronic devices and metal-detectors on the main three entrances to the Mosque.
Abu al-Feilat added, “1994 was a tragedy in the history of the Ibrahimi Mosque as the extremist Israeli settler, Baruch Goldstein, committed a massacre that killed 29 Palestinian worshipers in the Mosque.”
Shamgar Commission
Following the massacre, the Israeli government formed an inquiry commission, which divided the Mosque into two parts: 56% for Jews, and 44% for Muslims.
Since the division, Muslims have control over their part from 3 am to 9 pm, except for the ten days of Jewish holidays and festivals, as the Jews take the control over the whole Mosque.
28 feb 2016
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On Wednesday evening, 24th February 2015, a commemoration for the victims of the 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), was interrupted by infamous settlers attacking the group of Palestinians and internationals peacefully remembering those killed and the implications of this massacre on basic Palestinians rights.
The residents of the Salaymeh neighbourhood which is located directly next to the Ibrahimi Mosque, have been gathering every day around a nightly bonfire for the last few months. Doing so as an act of defiance against settlers from the illegal settlements, foremost among them infamous settler Baruch Marzel, gathering at a settler-only bus-stop across the street. With their presence, the Palestinians are demonstrating that despite the |
lethal and non-lethal violence they have to face by settlers, they will not be intimidated by them.
On Wednesday evening, Palestinians and international supporters gathered in an event organised by Youth Against Settlements as part of their Open Shuhada Street campaign. With the importance of this gathering being to stress the vital yet peacefully displayed acts of resistance and defiance against the settlers and Israeli forces’ continuous acts of intimidation, harassment and violence. For the families, the event can and will never be linked to any organisation or party, but will always stay an act of popular resistance any person is invited and welcome to join, as it’s not a one-time event that gives them a feeling of security and solidarity, but the everyday gathering around this symbolic bonfire that is called the ‘tanakeh’ (Arabic word for the barrel the bonfire is lit in).
Candles were lit in commemoration of the victims of the 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, in which extremist settler Baruch Goldstein murdered 29 and injured more than 120 worshipers in the Ibrahimi Mosque in cold blood. In the aftermath of this heinous massacre, the Ibrahimi Mosque was divided and the main Palestinian market in Shuhada Street completely closed for Palestinians.
While a documentary about this massacre was screened, Israeli forces at the nearby checkpoint detained three Palestinian men and a girl that were on their way to join the event. Two heavily armed Israeli settlers stopped their car next to the Palestinians that had been detained for already more than half an hour for no reason, and getting out of the car threatened Palestinians. Even though they left, another settler, infamous violent Anat Cohen, arrived and slowly and deliberately drove her car into a big group of Palestinians gathered at the side of the road while insulting them through her open car window. The Israeli forces refused to intervene and let her drive off. She immediately made a u-turn and came back, got out of the car and started threatening, intimidating and attacking Palestinians and internationals, hitting them and trying to slap cameras out of their hands.
The whole time, the soldiers at the checkpoint were merely watching and refused to intervene and stop the violent assaults. Instead, as more soldiers arrived, they started violently pushing back the Palestinians.
At the end of an event supposed to peacefully commemorate the heinous massacre committed 22 years ago – two Palestinians had to be brought to hospital as a direct result of Israeli forces’ violent assault on a group of people that were being attacked by an infamously violent settler – apparently the only person the Israeli forces were willing to protect as she was allowed to leave without any consequences for the disruption of the peaceful event, the harassment or the violent assaults.
On Wednesday evening, Palestinians and international supporters gathered in an event organised by Youth Against Settlements as part of their Open Shuhada Street campaign. With the importance of this gathering being to stress the vital yet peacefully displayed acts of resistance and defiance against the settlers and Israeli forces’ continuous acts of intimidation, harassment and violence. For the families, the event can and will never be linked to any organisation or party, but will always stay an act of popular resistance any person is invited and welcome to join, as it’s not a one-time event that gives them a feeling of security and solidarity, but the everyday gathering around this symbolic bonfire that is called the ‘tanakeh’ (Arabic word for the barrel the bonfire is lit in).
Candles were lit in commemoration of the victims of the 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque massacre, in which extremist settler Baruch Goldstein murdered 29 and injured more than 120 worshipers in the Ibrahimi Mosque in cold blood. In the aftermath of this heinous massacre, the Ibrahimi Mosque was divided and the main Palestinian market in Shuhada Street completely closed for Palestinians.
While a documentary about this massacre was screened, Israeli forces at the nearby checkpoint detained three Palestinian men and a girl that were on their way to join the event. Two heavily armed Israeli settlers stopped their car next to the Palestinians that had been detained for already more than half an hour for no reason, and getting out of the car threatened Palestinians. Even though they left, another settler, infamous violent Anat Cohen, arrived and slowly and deliberately drove her car into a big group of Palestinians gathered at the side of the road while insulting them through her open car window. The Israeli forces refused to intervene and let her drive off. She immediately made a u-turn and came back, got out of the car and started threatening, intimidating and attacking Palestinians and internationals, hitting them and trying to slap cameras out of their hands.
The whole time, the soldiers at the checkpoint were merely watching and refused to intervene and stop the violent assaults. Instead, as more soldiers arrived, they started violently pushing back the Palestinians.
At the end of an event supposed to peacefully commemorate the heinous massacre committed 22 years ago – two Palestinians had to be brought to hospital as a direct result of Israeli forces’ violent assault on a group of people that were being attacked by an infamously violent settler – apparently the only person the Israeli forces were willing to protect as she was allowed to leave without any consequences for the disruption of the peaceful event, the harassment or the violent assaults.
Palestinian lawyer and leading activist, Farid Al-Atrash, who was taken into custody by Israeli forces on Friday, February 26, during a nonviolent demonstration in Hebron, will be sent to an Israeli court on Monday, February 29, for a hearing session.
Farid was violently beaten and taken to the Jaabara police station in Kiryat Arba’ settlement, for participating in a demonstration that was a part of the 7th International Campaign calling for the reopening of Shuhada Street, the evacuation of Israeli settlers and military occupation, and allowing Palestinian free access, once again.
According to lawyer Gabi Laski’s office, Israeli police said that they are not willing to release him, adding that he might be transferred to military prosecution.
The office added, according to the PNN, that occupation authorities are intending to charge Farid with malicious charges which include hitting one of the Israeli soldiers and participating in an “illegal protest.”
Al-Atrash is a Human Rights Defender and Chairman of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Bethlehem.
Israeli law allows police to detain activists up to 96 hours, and so Farid’s hearing was supposed to take place on Tuesday, March 1. However, the commission demanded an urgent hearing that will take place one day earlier, on Monday.
Farid’s colleague, Lawyer Alaa Ghanayem, said that the commission has been following the case since the moment Farid was detained, saying that it is yet another violation against human rights defenders who should be protected by the 1998 conventions, especially in that they follow the nonviolent protest approach.
Ghanayem valued the attempts of his fellow lawyers, the Palestinian Prisoner Affairs committee, the United Nations High Commissioner’s office and the Red Cross, for their concerns regarding Al-Atrash’s case.
Farid is part of Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC), which presents community-based resistance rooted in a belief in the power of nonviolent struggle, taking various forms, such as strikes, protests, and legal campaigns, as well as supporting the call to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. The Coordination Committee facilitates communication between various villages involved in struggles against the Wall, ethnic cleansing, settler expansion, and various aspects of Israeli Occupation.
On Friday, PSCC condemned the attack and arrest of Al-Atrash, and demanded immediate action to be taken to release him from prison.
PSCC stated that it was concerned about the detention, which solely relates to his legitimate and peaceful human rights activities in the occupied Palestinian Territories. Furthermore, PSCC expressed concerns at the continuous jailing, harassment and prosecution of human right defenders and activists.
Farid was violently beaten and taken to the Jaabara police station in Kiryat Arba’ settlement, for participating in a demonstration that was a part of the 7th International Campaign calling for the reopening of Shuhada Street, the evacuation of Israeli settlers and military occupation, and allowing Palestinian free access, once again.
According to lawyer Gabi Laski’s office, Israeli police said that they are not willing to release him, adding that he might be transferred to military prosecution.
The office added, according to the PNN, that occupation authorities are intending to charge Farid with malicious charges which include hitting one of the Israeli soldiers and participating in an “illegal protest.”
Al-Atrash is a Human Rights Defender and Chairman of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Bethlehem.
Israeli law allows police to detain activists up to 96 hours, and so Farid’s hearing was supposed to take place on Tuesday, March 1. However, the commission demanded an urgent hearing that will take place one day earlier, on Monday.
Farid’s colleague, Lawyer Alaa Ghanayem, said that the commission has been following the case since the moment Farid was detained, saying that it is yet another violation against human rights defenders who should be protected by the 1998 conventions, especially in that they follow the nonviolent protest approach.
Ghanayem valued the attempts of his fellow lawyers, the Palestinian Prisoner Affairs committee, the United Nations High Commissioner’s office and the Red Cross, for their concerns regarding Al-Atrash’s case.
Farid is part of Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC), which presents community-based resistance rooted in a belief in the power of nonviolent struggle, taking various forms, such as strikes, protests, and legal campaigns, as well as supporting the call to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions. The Coordination Committee facilitates communication between various villages involved in struggles against the Wall, ethnic cleansing, settler expansion, and various aspects of Israeli Occupation.
On Friday, PSCC condemned the attack and arrest of Al-Atrash, and demanded immediate action to be taken to release him from prison.
PSCC stated that it was concerned about the detention, which solely relates to his legitimate and peaceful human rights activities in the occupied Palestinian Territories. Furthermore, PSCC expressed concerns at the continuous jailing, harassment and prosecution of human right defenders and activists.
27 feb 2016
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Friday evening kidnapped prisoner rights activist Farid al-Atrash in al-Khalil city.
Atrash is a resident of Bethlehem city and works for the Independent Commission for Human Rights.
He was detained at the entrance to al-Shuhadaa street, where clashes were taking place between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian and foreign activists.
The events started when soldiers violently attacked a peaceful march organized by Youth against Settlement and some Islamic and national factions to protest the closure of al-Shuhadaa street and to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of al-Ibrahimi Mosque massacre.
Atrash is a resident of Bethlehem city and works for the Independent Commission for Human Rights.
He was detained at the entrance to al-Shuhadaa street, where clashes were taking place between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian and foreign activists.
The events started when soldiers violently attacked a peaceful march organized by Youth against Settlement and some Islamic and national factions to protest the closure of al-Shuhadaa street and to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of al-Ibrahimi Mosque massacre.
26 feb 2016
Israeli soldiers attacked, Friday, dozens of Palestinians, accompanied by Israeli and international peace activists, holding a nonviolent protest, demanding Israel to reopen the Shuhada Street, in Hebron’s Old city. The attack caused several injuries.
The Hebron Defense Committee said the protesters carried Palestinian flags, and posters in Arabic, English and Hebrew, demanding the removal of Israeli colonizers from the heart of Hebron city, and to lift the siege on Shuhada Street.
They started their procession from Nimra area, heading towards the entrance of the Old City of Hebron, demanding Israel to lift its closure of the Shuhada Street, to allow the Palestinians to reopen their stores, and be able to move freely without the choking Israeli restrictions, and siege.
Issa Amro, the coordinator of the Youth Coalition against Settlements, said the soldiers fired several gas bombs and concussion grenades, causing many protesters, and journalists, to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.
It is worth mentioning that Israel closed the Shuhada Street in 1994 after Israeli terrorist Baruch Goldstein stormed the Ibrahimi mosque and opened fire on the worshipers, using his Israeli-issued automatic rifle, before the worshipers managed to kill him.
By the end of the year 2000, Israel prohibited the Palestinians from even walking in the Shuhada Street, and only allowed the nearly 600 settlers, who illegally reside there, to use the street.
Israel also closed more than 500 Palestinian stores in the heart of Hebron city, and installed at least 100 roadblocks, and iron gates, in the Old city, while the settlers have unrestricted freedom of movement.
The Hebron Defense Committee said the protesters carried Palestinian flags, and posters in Arabic, English and Hebrew, demanding the removal of Israeli colonizers from the heart of Hebron city, and to lift the siege on Shuhada Street.
They started their procession from Nimra area, heading towards the entrance of the Old City of Hebron, demanding Israel to lift its closure of the Shuhada Street, to allow the Palestinians to reopen their stores, and be able to move freely without the choking Israeli restrictions, and siege.
Issa Amro, the coordinator of the Youth Coalition against Settlements, said the soldiers fired several gas bombs and concussion grenades, causing many protesters, and journalists, to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.
It is worth mentioning that Israel closed the Shuhada Street in 1994 after Israeli terrorist Baruch Goldstein stormed the Ibrahimi mosque and opened fire on the worshipers, using his Israeli-issued automatic rifle, before the worshipers managed to kill him.
By the end of the year 2000, Israel prohibited the Palestinians from even walking in the Shuhada Street, and only allowed the nearly 600 settlers, who illegally reside there, to use the street.
Israel also closed more than 500 Palestinian stores in the heart of Hebron city, and installed at least 100 roadblocks, and iron gates, in the Old city, while the settlers have unrestricted freedom of movement.
