The military observes as settlers harass and beat Palestinians at their home on Shuhada Street.
The other day I posted about Amal Hamamdeh, a young Palestinian girl
held in jail and up before an Israeli military tribunal on the charge of getting
water on a soldier. See the following.
MILITARY TRIAL OF 17-YEAR OLD AMAL HAMAMDEH FROM MUFAKARAH.
As ridiculous (but tragic) as that was, the Israeli army has outdone
itself yet again. Now, it seems, passing gas is considered a criminal offense
by some of the stalwart bullies of the Israeli military. Please read on and
consider the ramifications considering it is now acknowledged that our North
American police are being trained by the Israelis at the behest and sponsorship
of the ADL, a pugnacious agency as petty as can possibly be imagined.
However, I digress. Attacks on internationals are nothing compared to what Palestinians face
on a daily basis. IMS views the recent
attack and the failures of soldiers and police to intervene as a further
escalation and approval of settler violence, intended to worsen already
unbearable circumstances for Palestinians living under occupation.
By
Jack English
January 20, 2012
The ongoing repression of
international activists took a turn for the ridiculous on Thursday night in Al
Khalil, also known as Hebron. At approximately 7:30pm on January 19th, an
activist approached a military checkpoint en route to his apartment, where two
soldiers on duty, recognizing him as an activist and international observer in
Al Khalil, demanded to search his person and bag. Upon finding two bags of bulk
tea, which they insisted were drugs, and a fork-knife-spoon camping utensil,
they called the police to make an arrest.
However, upon arrival at
the scene, the officers confirmed the legality of possessing both tea and
eating utensils. Yet upon further discussion with the soldiers, the activist
was informed that he would still be detained and brought to the police station
in the neighboring illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba for interrogations under
the charge that the activist had “insulted a public servant.”
The specific alleged act
was explained as, incredibly, “farting on a soldier.”
En route to the police
station the accusing soldier sang songs demonstrating his excitement and belief
that the international would be deported for this alleged flatulent offense. Of
course, following a long wait and brief interrogation, the ludicrous charges
were thrown out, and the activist was released.
While he was leaving, the
soldier left him with the parting warning and threat “I will remember your
face. I will be your worst nightmare”.
While the comic absurdity
of this event calls into serious question the maturity of many of the heavily
armed members of the Israeli occupation soldiers, and the professional
integrity of the Israeli police officers who attempted to proceed with these
charges, it is significantly less funny when viewed in the context of the
occupation, and specifically the situation in Al Khalil, where 600 illegal
settlers have taken over the city center, protected by 2,000 Israeli
occupational soldiers, enforcing the ban of Palestinians from certain streets
and the closure of 1,800 Palestinian shops in and around Shuhada Street.
Shuhada street, once a thriving Palestinian business community. Now settler youths meander freely banging on doors of Palestinian family homes, because they can ~ One of their more harmless endeavours.
This comes with the
frequently raid of Palestinian homes, and subjection of Palestinians to
humiliating searches, harassment, and detention while passing through the
numerous military checkpoints in the city center. Meanwhile, illegal settlers
are protected when they violently attack the remaining Palestinian residents of
the area and attack their property, such as the burning of a Palestinian
family’s car in the neighborhood of Tel Rumeideh last Saturday, while soldiers looked on.
Even the mere presence of
the various international groups that serve to observe and document these
abuses in Al Khalil is viewed with unveiled disgust by both settlers and the
military. The settlers frequently respond to this presence by verbally, sexually, and physically attacking
internationals while on-looking soldiers characteristically turn a blind eye.
The soldiers do their
part with unwarranted, long, and frequent detentions of the internationals,
recent attempted raids on both the apartments of the International Solidarity
Movement and the Christian Peacemakers Team, and when possible, as is clearly
illustrated by this most recent incident, arrests under even the most absurd
pretenses.
It is important to note
that while internationals at least have the “benefit” of being subject to
Israeli civilian law enforcement and its civil constraints, Palestinians can be
arrested by the soldiers themselves, face significantly longer detentions, are
tried in Israeli Military Court, and finally, often face obscenely long prison
sentences.
This is why it is so
important to maintain an international presence here, and illustrates why this
mere presence is viewed as such a threat. The work of both internationals and
Palestinians of exposing the realities of this occupation to the international
community is essential in fighting Zionism’s systematic erasure of Palestinian
history, culture, and theft of their right to land and freedom.
Jack English is a
volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
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