50 STORIES OF PALESTINIAN LIFE UNDER OCCUPATION

[SLY]

SILWAN | EAST JERUSALEM
Photos of Silwan below by JC-Tordai, 2009, 2010

In December 2010, we met A. S., then a 13-year-old boy, and heard from him about his arrest and mistreatment by the Israeli Police.

❝At 4 am, we heard a loud knock at the door. We didn’t think they were coming to arrest anyone, we thought they were coming to demolish our house, as we have a pending demolition order.

❝My father called out, asking who it was. The soldiers identified themselves and said they were coming to arrest ‘Hamada’.

❝Without opening the door, my father replied, that they had the wrong house; there was no Hamada here.

❝They told him to open the door, and also told him [to] name his sons... and if he didn’t do it, they would throw tear gas into the house.

❝My father began naming us one by one, and when he came to my name, the soldiers told him to stop. They said that I had been throwing stones, and they wanted to take me away.

❝I don’t know exactly how many... but there must have been at least six jeeps, maybe eight… and it seemed like there were hundreds of them: police, undercover police and special forces.

❝They came in and I was pulled from my bed, they didn’t even let me put my clothes or shoes on… they cuffed my hands, and took me away barefoot, wearing only pajamas.

❝Altogether, we were six kids arrested that morning. They did not let my parents ride with me; by father followed after us...

"When we got to the police station, they took me to Room number 4, and someone questioned me… he wanted me to
admit that I had thrown stones that day.


❝At first, I wouldn’t admit to anything. Whenever I looked away, he slapped me. He kept asking me, and I kept denying.

❝He kept blowing cigarette smoke into my eyes. He grabbed my shoulder and squeezed hard, then threw me hard against a wall; my nose began to bleed.

❝I asked for tissue paper to wipe my nose, but he didn’t give me any. Afterwards, someone else did.

❝Then he told me to kneel down; I replied that I only kneel to The Creator. He kicked my right inner thigh.

❝As I sat there, they toasted bread and cheese. They asked if I was hungry, and threw some of the hot cheese on my arm. All along they told me that I had only to admit that I had thrown stones, and they would let me go.

❝In the end, I just wanted to go home, so I admitted to throwing only one stone.


❝“One stone, or more?” they asked, I replied, “no, only one stone.” They asked again, “not even a second stone?” I insisted that it was only one stone.


❝They wanted to know if others had thrown stones with me; I told them I was alone. Finally they took my fingerprints and had me sign some papers — I don’t know what was written there as they were in Hebrew. Afterwards, they let my father take me home.❞

This testimony was included in OCHA's Humanitarian Montior report | November 2010.


https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-monitor-november-2010

 

[SLY]

. RIFQA AL KURD​

• 
  
• SHEIKH JARRAH | EAST JERUSALEM
• Home Sheikh Jarrah
  Photos by JC Tordai, 2009

On 1 December 2009, a group of Israeli settlers, accompanied by armed guards, entered and took control of a part of the home of the Rifka Al Kurd family in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.


The group proceeded to empty the home of its contents, throwing furniture and personal belongings of the family out on the street.

❝The settlers are not living in my house permanently. They come in groups, dance, pray and swear against us. Then they leave again, and others come after a while.

❝I can’t see what is going on inside the house because they covered all the windows with cardboard and Plexiglas. I can’t go close to the house because there are cameras all around and the police would come if I tried to.

❝We often are physically attacked: they sent my daughter, who is aged 50, to the hospital four times.

❝They know she has heart problems and they always hit her close to her heart.

❝Once, if it had not been for a neighbouring doctor who rushed and helped her, she would have died.❞


The testimony was collected on May 2010 and published in OCHA's report on East Jerusalem | 2011

 

[-=virus=-]

Ah, a patharbaaz.

Good job, IDF.

 

[SLY]

• ZEINAB​

• 
  
• TEL ADASSA | JERUSALEM
• Zeinab is seen in this picture standing next to her little sister
  (photo by JC Tordai, 2010)

When the Barrier was constructed around East Jerusalem, it left the Bedouin community of Tel al 'Adassa physically separated from the rest of the West Bank. However, residents there hold West Bank ID cards and are not allowed to stay in East Jerusalem.

Zeinab was twelve years old when this picture was taken, in 2010, and her sister Zeina was nine.

Their aunt, Um Ibrahim, told us then that since 2006, the children’s access to school in Bir Nabala, on the other side of the Barrier, had changed from a ten minute walk into a one hour journey, or longer, depending on the waiting time at the checkpoint.

❝Because of the Wall and the lack
of permits,❞ she said, ❝my daughter Amna’ dropped out of school when she was fifteen and another two children quit school at the age of eleven and thirteen.❞


❝Girls are more likely to miss school and to drop out,❞ she explained, ❝because, unlike boys, they are less likely to climb the Wall.❞

Zeinab and Zeina used to attend school in Bir Nabala, but also dropped out.

Their father decided to enrol them, togeather with their younger brother, in a private school in Beit Hanina, Abu Ibrahim added.

❝This was to make sure they receive an appropriate education, although they’re not allowed to live in Jerusalem.


❝However, the costs are high. The enrolment fee is NIS1,000 [US$277] per child, in addition to another NIS1,000 for their uniforms and books.❞

The case was included in OCHA's report on
East Jerusalem | 2011

 

[SLY]

JAMILA ASH SHALADEH​

H2 | HEBRON CITY

Jamila’s home is sandwiched between two checkpoints, Bab Az Zawiya and “55”, in close vicinity to Israeli settlements.

Its once open-aired and naturally-lit patio is covered with a metal safety net ceiling, installed to protect the family from settlers throwing stones and rubbish at them.

The patio borders a kindergarten that is a site of regular settler harassment.

Before the kindergarten was opened, Jamila said settlers used to come and sit on the wall to harass her and her family, forcing them to extend the wall vertically to stop this activity.
Aged 55, she has been living in Ash Shuhada Street for thirty years and has been detained in Israeli jails 25 times for confronting settlers and soldiers.

She spoke of her experience of settler harassment and violence, and military closures.

❝I have not left the house for over a month now. I am a sick woman with asthma and can no longer take the humiliation of soldiers or checkpoints: the scanning, the searches and the delays. I’ve even stopped going to see the doctor. I’ve stopped taking medication and only use the inhaler which my son bought for me.
❝Since October 2015, none of my family members, who all live outside the old city, can visit me. During the Eid Muslim holiday, we made cookies and prepared ourselves, but no one was allowed in. I only get to see my neighbour and recently some internationals came to show their solidarity.

❝I often stay at home for days without seeing anyone but walls. I cannot even look upwards to see the sky without being reminded of settler harassment...

❝Life in Al Shuhada Street is a nightmare. There is no humanity. There is no accountability. We’re at the whim of the settlers and soldiers.❞

Jamila Ash Shaladeh with her numbered ID, without which she is not allowed to stay in her neighbourhood

This case was published as part of an article in OCHA's monthly Humanitarian Bulletin, March 2017 issue..

See full Article here

 

[SLY]

SALAH MAJJAD​

AN NABI ELIYAS | QALQILIYA

Salah is a 45-year-old farmer, father of six. Recently, he has been affected by the construction of a road that would bypass a section of the existing Road 55 running through An Nabi Elyas village.

Road 55 connects the cities of Nablus and Qaliqiliya, and also connects several settlements with Israel.

According to the Israeli authorities, the large volume of traffic on Road 55 generated a range of safety concerns.

An Israeli media report indicated that although the original plan for this road was approved over 20 years ago, the decision to implement it came in a 2015 agreement between the Israeli Prime Minister and an Israeli settler body (the Yesha Council).

❝The four and half dunums of land I own, where I stand now, has been confiscated for the construction of the bypass road,❞ Salah told us.

❝The plot of land was my sole source of income. It had about one hundred olive trees, a few almond and fig trees, and vines.

❝The type of olive trees I had was not large and this allowed us to make use of the land between the trees to grow other fodder crops for animals and chickens. We even grew lentils and chickpeas sometimes.

❝My wife and I used to go to the land and tend it almost every day. The money we made from our produce was just about enough for the whole year.❞

This case was part of an article published in OCHA's Humanitarian Bulletin | April 2017

https://www.ochaopt.org/content/monthly-humanitarian-bulletin-april-2017

 

[SLY]

FATMA SAUDI​

ASH SHUJA'IYEH, GAZA CITY

Restrictions on the import of goods, including basic construction materials, imposed by Israel as part of its blockade, have complicated, delayed and, in some cases prevented reconstruction and repair of destroyed or severely damaged homes.

In other cases, where goods are available, families lack the financial resources to purchase them due to the poor economic situation in Gaza caused largely by the years-long blockade.

Fatma Saudi, 58, a widow and mother of eight, is from one of the worst affected areas in the 2014 hostilities. Her home was severely damaged and the family was displaced for more than six months.

After the ceasefire, she stayed with her three unmarried sons in two pre-fabricated housing units. Living conditions were crowded and extremely cold, so they spend most of their time outside..

One of Fatma’s sons, Nour Din, now 15 years old, has Downs’ Syndrome and attends a special school.

When we met them in 2015, he was still searching through the rubble every day for his laptop, which he lost when their home was hit.

Fatma was afraid that Nour would be exposed to explosive remnants of war as the area was still full of rubble from the hostilities.

During the winter storm in January 2015, it was unbearable to stay in the pre-fabricated housing unit.

Fatma suffered from severe back pains and was badly in need of an operation. She and her children relocated temporarily to her mother’s house.

❝We really need materials to cover the outside area between the two rooms of the caravan, to keep the children safe and offer a little privacy. The situation here is very, very difficult,❞ she said.

❝They told us to evacuate the home as it is uninhabitable and potentially dangerous, but we have nowhere else to go and no money to rent so what can we do?❞ said her brother Abdallah, who was still living in the damaged home.

Fatma points to the skeleton of a building 50 metres away: ❝That was our home,❞ she says quietly.

This case was included in an article featured in OCHA's monthly Humanitarian Bulletin, February 2015 issue

https://www.ochaopt.org/content/gaz...ing-idps-continues-undermine-response-efforts

 

[SLY]

AMAL​

HALAWEH | MASAFER YATTA | HEBRON

In December 2016, the Israeli authorities seized a donated caravan, serving as a primary health centre, in the Al Mirkez community in the Masafer Yatta (Hebron), on the grounds of lack of a building permit.

The designation of this area as a firing zone for Israeli military training makes it very difficult for the residents of the 12 herding communities (1,300 people) located within it to access basic services, including healthcare.

When OCHA visited the al Mirkez community on 11 January 2017, the day the medical team provides its weekly visit, the room serving as a substitute clinic was packed with about 15 women and children seeking treatment.
Two women who were waiting in the room with four children, including a 7-month-old baby, were from the neighbouring community of Halaweh.

The women and their children, accompanied by their father-in-law, had had to walk for more than one hour to reach the clinic.

Amal, a mother of two, was diagnosed two years ago with systemic lupus erythematosus, a chronic auto-immune disease with symptoms that include swelling and damage to the joints, blood, kidneys, heart and lungs.



❝The journey was tiring for me and the children. We had to stop and rest on the way. Getting here is not easy for us,❞ said Amal.

❝I wish we could have access to healthcare more than once a week and have it available also in Halaweh.❞

❝On rainy days the road takes more than two hours; sometimes we simply don’t come,❞ said Jameel, Amal’s father-in-law.

❝We don’t have a car and the clinic is far away. Amal has multiple illnesses: kidney problems and low platelet count, and needs her medication regularly.❞

Amal and her sister-in-law and their children receiving treatment at al Mirkez mobile clinic. Photo by OCHA

Amal's full story was included in an article on demolition and displacement in the West Bank, featured in OCHA's monthly Humanitarian Bulletin, January 2017 issue.


https://www.ochaopt.org/content/record-number-demolitions-and-displacements-west-bank-during-2016

 

[Foinikas]

Weren't you banned?

!שלום

Baruch haba!

 

[SLY]

Weren't you banned?

!שלום

Baruch haba!

Yes I did get banned for a week

 

[Foinikas]

Yes I did get banned for a week

And why are you back again?

 

[SLY]

And why are you back again?

To hammer your Jew a ss because you are still on here

 

[Foinikas]

To hammer your Jew a ss because you are still on here

Oh you think I'm Jewish?

 

[SLY]

Oh you think I'm Jewish?

Why are you trolling on this thread making off topic posts

 

[Foinikas]

Why are you trolling on this thread making off topic posts

Because you are a troll yourself. You come here to nag about Jews and Morocco. And you insult the mods,the admins and the forum in general. You keep talking and talking about Palestine as if you're some kind of Amir al Mumineen. How about you talk about Kashmir instead? Yala,khalas!