[News] Palestine - Facts on Al-Aqsa Uprising: Arrest, Collective Punishment and Extrajudicial Killing

[Anti-Imperialist News]

http://www.addameer.org/publications/facts-al-aqsa-uprising-arrest-collective-punishment-and-extrajudicial-killing 



  Facts on Al-Aqsa Uprising: Arrest, Collective Punishment and
  Extrajudicial Killing

July 26, 2017
------------------------------------------------------------------------

On 14/7/2017, three Palestinians, Muhammad Jabarin (30 years old), Ahmad 
Jabarin (20 years) and Muhammad Jabarin (19 years), from the village of 
Umm al-Fahm in the occupied territories, carried out an attack that 
resulted in the death of two Israeli policemen at the entrances to 
Al-Aqsa Mosque. As a result, Israeli occupation forces imposed 
collective punitive measures on all Palestinians by prohibiting them 
from attending prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, unless they pass through the 
electronic gates set up before the mosque which is an unacceptable 
practice for all Palestinians. To protest such escalatory measures, 
Palestinians have been praying outside Al Aqsa mosque, near the electric 
gates. Furthermore, the IOF continued to impose closures on the Old City 
of Jerusalem and around Al-Aqsa Mosque by installing barriers at their 
entrances, and prevented citizens from entering the Old City. The policy 
of collective punishment practiced by the Israeli occupation is a 
violation of most basic and internationally recognized rights, including 
the right to freedom of religion, the right to freedom of movement, the 
right to privacy and self-determination.

*_Facts and Figures / Jerusalem:_*

160 Palestinian were arrested in Jerusalem since 14/7/2017 until 
25/7/2017. this number includes about 30 children under the age of 18. 
Most of the arrests were from the Old City, Lion’s Gate, Al-Tur and 
Al-Issawiya areas. Since the outbreak of the clashes on 14 July 2017, 
the Red Crescent has recorded about 400 cases of suffocation and 
injuries by live ammunition or rubber-coated bullet.

*_The arrest of political leaders in Jerusalem:_*

On 20/7, Israeli occupation forces arrested 15 political and field 
leaders in Jerusalem, including Hatem Abdel Qader, Adnan Ghaith, Nasser 
Hadmi, Nasser Ajaj, Muhammad Abu Al-Hawa and others. They were later 
released under the following conditions: To refrain from entering 
Al-Aqsa mosque,  not to engage speeches and demonstrations, not to 
conduct media interviews, in addition to preventing them from 
communicating with citizens who were arrested during clashes. 
Additionally, the Jerusalemite activist and chairman of the committee of 
prisoners’ families in Jerusalem, Amjad Abu Assab, was arrested and 
subjected to four-hour interrogation at Moskobyeh interrogation center. 
He was later released on similar terms. The occupation forces also 
arrested the father of martyr Mohammed Abu Ghannam, from his house in 
al-Tur neighborhood in Jerusalem on 24/7/2017and he was released on 25 
July 2017. The IOF also arrested Ismaeel Abu Ghannam, the cousin of the 
martyr, whose detention was extended until the 26 July 21017.

*_Arrests of children:_*

30 children were arrested in Jerusalem since July 14, 2017. On Sunday, 
23/7/2017, occupation forces arrested two minors: Tamara Abu Laban (16 
years old) from al-Tur village, Alaa Al-Ruwaydi, 16, from Silwan in 
Jerusalem, whose detention have been extended and they have not yet been 
released. The occupation claims that the arrest was made based on their 
Facebook posts. A number of children were beaten and assaulted during 
their arrests. By this, the occupation violates the second principle of 
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 37 (b), which 
stipulates that the best interests of the child shall be taken into 
consideration, that he shall not be deprived of his liberty unlawfully 
and arbitrarily and that detention shall be the last resort and for the 
shortest possible period of time.

*_Assaults on journalists while performing their duties:_*

Israeli occupation forces assaulted journalists during their work. They 
were beaten, prevented from carrying out their duties, they also had 
their equipment confiscated. Among them are photographer Sinan Abu 
Mezer, Reuters photographer, and Journalist Afif Amira, a photographer 
for the Palestinian news agency Wafa, and the crew of Sky News. They 
are: Shireen Younis, photographer Mohammed Abu Hadwan, and technical 
Muammar Yassin. In addition to journalist Rami Khatib of the Palestine 
TV crew.

*_The brutal attacks during the arrest and extrajudicial executions:_*

It was noticed that during the current escalations,  Israeli occupation 
forces deliberately used excessive force arbitrarily and randomly. 
During an arrest campaign at Wad Al Jouz neighborhood, a group of 
special unit forces and undercover soldiers attacked a number of young 
men and arrested them after severely beating them. They were: Moataz 
Sa'ida, Louay Jaber, Amir Ghaith, Ibrahim Abu Arafa, Suhaib Abu Sneineh 
and Sa'ad Kayana. The IOF  focused the beatings on the head area using 
pistols, resulting in severe injuries to the young men.

According to eyewitnesses, Israeli occupation forces deliberately used 
tear gas, sound bombs, rubber bullets, sprayed “skunk water,” and fired 
live ammunition which resulted in killing Mohammed Mahmoud Sharaf, 17, 
by an Israeli settler using his personal weapon.

12 martyrs were killed by the IOF since 14/7/2017, which indicates that 
the occupation forces continue to practice field executions and 
deliberately use lethal force against Palestinians violating 
international laws and conventions.

*_From the halls of the Magistrate's Court in Jerusalem / Addameer 
lawyer provided testimonies from detainees:_*

Addameer represented Ali Abu Saniyeh, a  19 years old from Silwan, who 
was arrested on Friday in Salah al-Din Street in Jerusalem while 
performing Friday prayers with thousands of other Palestinians, 
including the elderly and children. After the prayer, the Israeli 
occupation forces attacked the citizens. Ali ran to a building’s roof 
where the press and ambulances were located to protect himself from the 
tear gas and live bullets. Few minutes later, he started looking for his 
father and brother who were praying as well, but he was startled by 
three soldiers attacking him, he then tried to protect his head by 
bending down and covering his head with his hands. Then one of the 
soldiers stepped on his neck and face and continued to yell and insult 
him. The lawyer stated that the beating marks on Ali’s body are visible.

About 20 detainees were present at the Magistrate Court to attend court 
hearings, where most of the hearings resulted in detention extension 
order for further interrogation. Addameer lawyer reported that all of 
the detainees were subjected to beatings during detention. One of them 
had broken legs and another one was severely injured. The lawyers added 
that the detained were heavily bruised and the beating marks were 
visible on their faces and most of their body parts.

*_Hospital attacks:_*

Israeli occupation forces did not hesitate to cross all the red lines to 
arrest unarmed Palestinian civilians even in hospital rooms, or to 
abduct the bodies of extrajudicially killed Palestinians for the purpose 
of withholding them.

Addameer’s field researcher documented the details of Al-Maqassed 
Hospital raid, after the body of extra-judicially executed Mohammed 
Hassan Abu Ghannam, 20 years old, was taken to the  Hospital. Hundreds 
of IOF forces stormed the hospital and fired sound and gas bombs at 
civilians surrounding the hospital to disperse them and confiscate the 
body. Israeli special unit forces stormed the emergency department and 
assaulted the doctors. However, about 300 people prevented them from 
reaching the body of Abu Ghannam. During this attack, many citizens were 
injured in the vicinity of the hospital, in addition to the arrest of 
three young men.

The policy of withholding bodies by the occupation authorities is a 
collective punishment that target families of the martyrs and the 
Palestinian society as a whole. This practice is a violation of 
international humanitarian law as well as international human rights law 
including violations of the right to dignity, freedom of religion, and 
the right to practice culture. The withholding of the bodies also 
greatly adds to the grief, anxiety, and trauma of the families who are 
dealing with the loss of a loved one, and who are also being denied 
their cultural and religious rights to mourn and to bury them in 
accordance with their faith.

*_Facts and Figures in Numbers / West Bank:_*

111 cases of arrests from different areas in the West Bank were 
documented between 14/7/2017 and 25/7/2017, most of which occurred 
during pre-dawn raids. These arrests targeted different sectors of the 
Palestinian society, including children, women, students and senior 
citizens, as well as members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, 
such as the arrest PLC member Omar Abdel Razek. During these raids, 
Palestinians were subjected to physical violence, house searches, 
destruction of properties, and hospitals raids, such as the raid of 
Hebron Public Hospital.

*_The raid and siege of Kobar village west of Ramallah:_*

The residents of the village of Kobar have been living under siege and 
subjected to daily harassment, after Halamish operation that resulted in 
the killing of three Israeli settlers by Omar Al-Abed (20 years old), 
who is a resident of the village. Israeli occupation forces have been 
storming the village on a daily basis by dozens of vehicles, hundreds of 
soldiers, police dogs and bulldozers. IOF arrested the brother of 
Al-Abed and his mother, after raiding their home more than once. The 
daily harassments included, raiding dozens of houses and closing the 
main entrance to the village. Approximately 15 Palestinians were injured 
by rubber-coated bullets from Kobar and the surrounding villages. The 
siege imposed on the village of Kobar and these practices of collective 
punishment are a grave violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, mainly 
Articles 33 and 34.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20170726/250a38b4/attachment.htm>