In Hebron, demonstrators demand reopening of Shuhada Street
During
a protest against the closure of the Shuhada Street, Palestinians march
under wire screens placed above the street to protect Palestinians from
stones and trash thrown by Israeli settlers occupying buildings above,
in the West Bank city of Hebron, February 22, 2013. (Photo by: Ryan
Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)
Hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators, including foreign and Israeli
activists, gathered in Hebron on Friday to mark the 19th anniversary
since the IDF imposed a closure on the city’s Shuhada Street. The
closure followed the Ibrahimi Mosque Massacre, perpetrated by Israeli
settler Baruch Goldstein, who went on a rampage inside the mosque and
killed 29 Palestinian worshipers.
The marchers first gathered at Bab Izzawiya near “Checkpoint 56,”
proceeding to Hebron’s old city. They first stopped at a steel and
concrete barrier blocking off Shuhada Street, which was scaled by
several youths who planted several Palestinian national and political
flags on top. The march was then blocked by the Israeli military, which
placed barbed wire barricades across the street and used sound bombs and
tear gas to disperse marchers. Demonstrators who later regrouped and
returned were met with the “skunk truck,” a water cannon loaded with a
foul-smelling liquid. The skunk water was also directed against members
of the media (including an Activestills photographer).
For much of the afternoon, Israeli forces traded tear gas and sound
bombs with stone-throwing Palestinian youth in running street clashes.
There was at least one report
of a Palestinian youth injured by live ammunition, and many others
treated for tear gas inhalation and other injuries, including one
Palestinian journalist.
Eventually, Palestinian Authority police were deployed as Israeli
forces withdrew in an apparently coordinated effort to draw the
demonstration to a close.
Demonstrators
climb on a fence, built by the Israeli army to close Shuhada Street to
Palestinians, in the West Bank city of Hebron February 22, 2013. (Photo
by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
A
demonstrator carries bolt cutters during a march against the continued
closure of Shuhada Street to Palestinians, in the West Bank city of
Hebron February 22, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
Demonstrators
bare their chests at an Israeli military barricade during a protest
against the continued closure of Shuhada street to Palestinians, in the
West Bank city of Hebron February 22, 2013. (Photo by: Oren
Ziv/Activestills.org)
An
Israeli soldier aims a tear gas launcher at demonstrators during a
protest against the closure of the Shuhada Street to Palestinians, in
the West Bank city of Hebron, February 22, 2013. (Photo by: Ryan Rodrick
Beiler/Activestills.org)
Demonstrators
flee tear gas launched by Israeli forces during a protest against the
closure of the street to Palestinians, in the West Bank city of Hebron,
February 22, 2013. (Photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)
Israeli
forces target members of the media with the “skunk truck”, a water
canon loaded with a foul-smelling liquid, during a protest against the
continuing closure of Shuhada Street to Palestinians in the West Bank
city of Hebron, February 22, 2013. (Photo by: Ryan Rodrick
Beiler/Activestills.org)
Demonstrators
clash with the Israeli army during a protest against the continued
closure of Shuhada street to Palestinians, in the West Bank city of
Hebron February 22, 2013. (Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)
An
Israeli soldier throws a sound bomb at fleeing demonstrators during a
protest against the closure of Shuhada Street to Palestinians, Hebron,
West Bank, , February 22, 2013. (Photo by: Ryan Rodrick
Beiler/Activestills.org)
Demonstrators
clash with the Israeli army during a protest against the continued
closure of Shuhada street to Palestinians, in the West Bank city of
Hebron February 22, 2013. (Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)
Demonstrators
clash with the Israeli army during a protest against the continued
closure of Shuhada street to Palestinians, in the West Bank city of
Hebron February 22, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
IDF soldier posts
images of blindfolded Palestinians on Facebook, from 'best time of my life'
Female soldier
smiles for camera in front of bound prisoners, before joking online with
friends; army calls photos 'ugly and callous'.
By Haaretz Service | Aug.16, 2010 | 4:46 PM
A former Israel
Defense Forces soldier has raised a storm on the internet after posting
photographs of herself posing next to blindfold Palestinian prisoners on
Facebook.
Photographs
uploaded by Eden Abergil from Ashdod
and labeled "IDF – the best time of my life" show her smiling next to
Palestinian prisoners with their hands bound and their eyes covered.
"That looks
really sexy for you," says a comment posted by one of Abergil's friends on
the social networking site, alongside a picture or the soldier smiling in front
of two blindfold men.
Abergil's repose,
posted below, reads: "I wonder if he is on Facebook too – I'll have to tag
him in the photo."
Because Abergil
was discharged a year ago, the army has no power to prevent her from
publicizing the photographs. (…)
DCI-Palestine has launched a
new report:
Bound,
Blindfolded and Convicted: Children held in military detention.
The report is the culmination of four year’s work by DCI, with the support of the European Union, focusing on verifying reports of ill-treatment and torture of children in the Israeli military detention system. The findings of the report are based on 311 sworn affidavits taken from children between January 2008 and January 2012. The report also includes:
The report is the culmination of four year’s work by DCI, with the support of the European Union, focusing on verifying reports of ill-treatment and torture of children in the Israeli military detention system. The findings of the report are based on 311 sworn affidavits taken from children between January 2008 and January 2012. The report also includes:
- An interview with a lawyer who represents children in the military courts;
- An interview with the director of the YMCA rehabilitation programme;
- An interview with an Israeli soldier, courtesy of Breaking the Silence;
- A Psychological opinion into the effects of military detention on children; and
- 25 case studies taken from child-detainees.
The report found that there is a
systematic pattern of ill-treatment, and in some cases torture, of children
held in the military detention system, with the majority of the abuse occurring
during the first 48 hours. The key findings of the report are presented in the
table below:
#
|
Common complaints and
areas of concern
|
Number of cases
|
Percentage of children
|
1
|
Hand
ties
|
296
|
95%
|
2
|
Blindfolds
|
281
|
90%
|
3
|
Physical violence
|
234
|
75%
|
4
|
Detention inside Israel
in violation of Article 76
|
196
|
63%
|
5
|
Arrested between
midnight and 5:00 am
|
188
|
60%
|
6
|
Confession during
interrogation
|
180
|
58%
|
7
|
Threats
|
178
|
57%
|
8
|
Verbal abuse and/or
humiliation
|
169
|
54%
|
9
|
Strip searched
|
102
|
33%
|
10
|
Transferred on floor of
vehicle
|
98
|
32%
|
11
|
Signed/shown documents written in Hebrew
|
91
|
29%
|
12
|
Solitary
confinement
|
38
|
12%
|
The testimonies reveal that most
children are arrested from villages located close to friction points, namely
settlements built in violation of international law, and roads used by the
Israeli army or settlers. The report includes 10 recommendations, which if
implemented, would reduce the level of ill-treatment, but no one should be
under any illusion that the treatment documented in the report can be
eliminated so long as the friction points remain and Palestinian children are
treated as second-class individuals.
