International Solidarity Movement

Press Release: Israeli army kills American International Solidarity Movement volunteer during demonstration in Beita, Nablus

Media enquiries: ismtraining [at] riseup.net

During the weekly demonstration in Beita, Palestine, on the morning of September 6th, 2024, the Israeli army intentionally shot and killed an International Solidarity Movement (ISM) human rights activist named Ayşenur Eygi.

The demonstration, which primarily involved men and children praying, was met with force from the Israeli army stationed on a hill. Initially, the army fired a large amount of tear gas and then began using live ammunition. Ayşenur, who we consider a martyr in the struggle, was the 18th demonstrator to be killed in Beita since 2020. She was an American citizen of Turkish descent.

The Israeli forces fired two rounds. One hit a Palestinian man in the leg, injuring him. The other round was fired at international human rights activists who were observing the demonstration, striking a human rights activist in the head. Eygi died shortly after being transported to a local hospital in Nablus.

Fellow ISM volunteer Mariam Dag (a pseudonymn) was on the scene, and witnessed the fatal injury of her comrade. She said:

“We were peacefully demonstrating alongside Palestinians against the colonisation of their land, and the illegal settlement of Evyatar. The situation escalated when the Israeli army began to fire tear gas and live ammunition, forcing us to retreat. We were standing on the road, about 200 meters from the soldiers, with a sniper clearly visible on the roof. Our fellow volunteer was standing a bit further back, near an olive tree with some other activists. Despite this, the army intentionally shot her in the head.

This is just another example of the decades of impunity granted to the Israeli government and army, bolstered by the support of the US and European governments, who are complicit in enabling genocide in Gaza. Palestinians have suffered far too long under the weight of colonization. We will continue to stand in solidarity and honor the martyrs until Palestine is free.”

A friend of the slain human rights activist and fellow volunteer with the ISM who does not wish their name released said:

“I don’t know how to say this. There’s no easy way. I wish I could [say] something eloquent, but I can’t through my sobbing tears…. my friend, comrade and travel partner to Palestine, was just shot in the head and murdered by the Israeli Occupation Forces. May she rest in power. She is now one of many martyrs in this struggle.”

Beita is a village in the West Bank where just weeks ago Amado Sison, another American volunteer, was struck by live ammunition in the back of the leg. Beita has a long history of resistance against Israeli occupation and has been a focal point of violence directed towards Palestinian residents by Israeli forces. Located near several illegal Israeli settlements, the village holds regular demonstrations. Due to escalating aggression by the Israeli forces, residents are currently refraining from marching or chanting, instead gathering together on the land and praying.

In recent years, Beita has seen ongoing demonstrations, particularly against the construction of new illegal Israeli outposts on the lands of the village. For example Evyatar outpost, on Sabih Mountain, has been established on Palestinian land. In June, the Israeli security cabinet approved the ‘legalization’ of Evyatar, causing the people of Beita to strengthen their popular resistance.

Residents of Beita recently restarted weekly Friday demonstrations to resist the further theft of their land. While protests had nearly ceased since October 7th 2023, due to escalating violence from Israeli occupation forces, there was a renewed push on July 5th 2024, when dozens of Palestinians, accompanied by international and Israeli activists, marched from the adjacent mountain, through the valley, and towards the outpost.

In recent months, international activists have experienced a sharp increase in violence from Israeli forces and the occupation must be held accountable for this. The woman martyred today was an activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a Palestinian-led organization that provides protective presence and solidarity in the West Bank. The ISM was founded in 2002, and has maintained a steady presence in Palestine ever since, supporting the Palestinian popular struggle against the occupation.

Our comrade is added to the 17 Palestinian protesters already slain in Beita:

**Palestinian demonstrators martyred in Beita**
– Mohammed Hamayyel, 15 (March 11, 2020)
– Islam Dwikat, 22 (April 9, 2020)
– Karam Amin Dwikat, 17 (October 15, 2023)
– Issa Sliman Barham, 40 (May 14, 2021)
– Tareq Ommar Snobar, 27 (May 16, 2021)
– Zakaria Maher Hamayyel, 25 (May 28, 2021)
– Mohammed Said Hamayyel, 15 (June 11, 2021)
– Ahmad Zahi Bani Shamsa, 15 (June 16, 2021)
– Shadi Ommar Sharafa, 41 (July 27, 2021)
– Imad Ali Dwikat, 38 (August 6, 2021)
– Mohammed Ali Khbeissa, 27 (September 24, 2021)
– Jamil Jamal Abu Ayyash, 32 (December 1, 2021)
– Fawaz Ahmad Hamayyel, 47 (April 13, 2022)
– Immad Jareh Bani Shamsa, 16 (October 9, 2023)
– Mohammed Ibrahim Adili, 13 (November 23, 2023)
– Maath Ashraf Bani Shamsa, 17 (February 9, 2024)
– Ameed Ghaleb Said al-Jaroub, 34 (March 22, 2024, died of a bullet wound injury to the head sustained on August 21, 2023)

At this time, the family will not be granting any interviews. Please contact ISM for media requests at ismtraining [at] riseup.net

Notes for journalists:

Some media reports have repeated false claims that ISM activists threw rocks during the peaceful demonstration in Beita. All eye witness accounts refute this claim. Aysenur was more than 200 meters away from where the Israeli soldiers were, and there were no confrontations there at all in the minutes before she was shot. Regardless, from such distance, neither she, nor anyone else could have possibly been perceived as posing any threat. She was killed in cold blood.
Statement issued by Beita municipality regarding the martyrdom of the foreign solidarity activist on Mount Sabih
Statement from Aysenur’s family

Vigil for Prisoners in Ramallah

by Birdie

________________________________________________________________

Today I went to a protest.

This isn’t something I had necessarily expected to do on the West Bank. We’re told that the risk level at demonstrations is high; Ayşenur was murdered at one. And I had made a solemn promise to my very anxious friends and family back home that I would calculate these important amorphous abstractions for my actions in the field: the riskiness of my action balanced against its effectiveness. I’m still not sure how the calculation resolves for big demonstrations.

This was different: more of a vigil, and in Ramallah, which is part of Area A where Israeli soldiers, indeed any Israelis, are not allowed in (but nonetheless raid whenever they please). This vigil was one of many all across Palestine to support Gaza and prisoners.

I’ve grappled with this juxtaposition before. It seems to me that once you mention Gaza, all other issues must give way before it. It does and should command all the attention. But how can Palestinians come together and not mention Gaza!

It was a beautiful, unseasonably warm December noon at Manarah Square, where a couple of hundred people – a mixed group of men and women – were gathered, flags flying around them, facing a banner declaring a “Global Day of Support for Gaza” and “Prisoners Rejecting Genocide and Execution of Prisoners” and pictures of young men ranged in front of it – victims of the evils being protested against.

*Photo: a sign reading “Global Day of Support for Gaza & Prisoners” followed by “Rejecting Genocide & Execution of Prisoners”*

After a few speeches, a truck carrying the loudspeaker set off and we all trooped behind it on a short walk round the block. At this point the crowd found its voice. One boy mounted on the shoulders of another led the crowd around him in slogan shouting, while a group of girls, all of an age and swathed in identical keffiyehs hollered their chants behind them.

I was suddenly joined by Malach, my comrade in my first two weeks here, and now as two internationals together, I suddenly felt I belonged. We strolled while I endeavoured to interview people in English, which all yielded a single sentiment: we’re here to show our support.

Returning to the square, the girls finally noticed me and, practising their English on me, explained this was a school outing. They’d written the slogans out before they came. I just needed to ask them to read them into my phone.

These are the slogans that I’m told they were shouting, and I discover that to translate them is far from easy, partly because the language is freighted with connotations and associations, and partly because they were commonly taken from anthems – songs heavy with symbolism:

“Cross your sword with my sword” (metaphor for fighting jointly).

“A welcome salute from Ramallah to our beloved and unvanquishable Gaza”.

And finally, “With our souls and our blood, we sacrifice our utmost for Palestine”.

The voice of family members of detainees in Israeli jails

On Monday 25 November, about eighty women, mothers, sisters and wives, gathered in Nablus, in the West Bank, to demonstrate in solidarity with the nearly 100 women detained in Israeli jails, along with around 12,000 men, to demand their release and an end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Their family members have been in Israeli jails for months or years, yet nothing has been heard from them since 7 October last year.

Women gather in Nablus in support of prisoners and against the genocide in Gaza.

“We want to live in a free country! Out with the occupation forces! They burn Gaza with phosphorus bombs, and tomorrow it’s our turn,” they chanted in one of the city’s main squares while clutching pictures of their loved ones imprisoned.

And again: “We will not tire; they are the occupiers and the criminals. They kill the children of Palestine, men and women rise up against this.”

“My son has been in prison for two and a half years,” says Hanan, holding a photo of a smiling young man in his 30s. She has not heard from him for more than a year. “The situation in prison is very bad now,” she says. “We don’t know anything anymore because we have no chance to communicate with them in any way. No institution, red cross or human rights association, no lawyer can reach them to tell us how they are. We are very worried about our sons.” She adds: “I hope my voice will reach the whole world, and that someone will help us.”

There are a many, too many stories. Their families brave the risks of arrest and detention to take to the streets, sometimes weekly, to demand the release of their loved ones and demand news.

“My son Samir has been in prison for eight months in administrative detention,” says another woman, a photo of the young man in her arms. “Every time his detention period ends, they renew it for him. The Israeli administration refuses permission to the lawyer and anyone else to visit him. We only hear from him when someone is released from of the same prison.

“My son is sick, and he has no treatment. They don’t give him medicine. They don’t send people for treatment.”

Also in Tulkarem, where every Tuesday dozens of people gather outside the headquarters of the International Red Cross in the hope that their voices will be heard outside the country. A band of young boys with drums and musical instruments set the rhythm for the chants, while family members and representatives of local human rights associations pass the microphone around. “With soul and blood, we will defend our prisoners! Raise your voice for those who have sacrificed their freedom,” they shout together.

“Conditions in prisons since October 7 are completely different. The number of prisoners has more than doubled,” says Ibrahim Nemer, one of the representatives of the Palestinian Prisoners Club of Tulkarem. “There are more than 12,00 political prisoners in jails now.”

People gathering in Tulkarem in support of prisoners held in Israeli jails.

According to Addameer, leading Palestinian human rights organisation on prisoners rights, before Oct. 7 there were 5,000 political prisoners. The number of administrative detentions has also increased tremendously. There are almost 3,400 people in administrative detention, whereas before it was 1,200.

Administrative detention means that a suspect is arrested and held in jail potentially indefinitely, without being told the reasons for the arrest and without the Israeli authorities being required to present evidence against him. Thus, with no possibility of defence.

“There are no longer humane living conditions in the prisons. Everything that the prisoners’ movement had conquered has been taken away,” Ibrahim continues. “TV, books, and there are no more visits for relatives. They don’t give enough food or water … Most of the prisoners have lost dozens of pounds.”

Prisoners are forced to keep the same clothes for weeks, and despite the cold they are not given the necessary blankets. Even shampoo and soap are not provided.

“It’s torture. There is no other way to describe it.”

Ibrahim describes horrific conditions in Israeli jails over the last year. “Most of the prisoners have scabies. They used to go outside two hours a day, now no outside hours are allowed in most prisons. Obviously, this is contrary to human rights.”

A further problem is their legal status. The West Bank has been occupied by the Israeli army since 1967. This would make its detainees prisoners of war, or political prisoners. “Instead, Israel does not recognize this status, but considers them common prisoners, delinquents. If it considered them political prisoners, or prisoners of war, it would have to treat them differently in accordance with international law,” explains Ibrahim.

“The military is always invading the cells where they are detained with dogs, beating them. Many prisoners have been killed in prison, the number has increased a lot since October 7, many have died because of torture and the absence of medical care. The conditions are not conducive to life … so that prisoners are just thinking about how to survive …”

According to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, at least forty prisoners have died in Israeli custody since Oct. 7. But it could be many more. At least 25 bodies have not yet been returned to their families.

“We are back to the prison-system of hundreds of years ago. We know that many people internationally are with us, but that is not enough. Because all governments are supporting Israel with weapons, money, and even soldiers. We need to put more pressure on governments to stop aid and support for Israel and free all political prisoners who are being held,” continues Ibrahim.

He has two sons in prison, and a brother. One son with a one-year sentence; one with a three-year sentence. And the brother with a 21-year prison sentence.

“We are like everyone, yani, like all Palestinian families … but the difficult conditions the prisoners are suffering make families worry about the very lives of their loved ones in prison. The problem is not only that they are detained and the time they have to wait for them to be released, but today every day we fear for their lives.”

Bodies of the martyrs who died while in Israeli jail still held by the occupation.

Settler Harassment During “Shabbat Chayei Sarah” in Al-Khalil

November 21/ 22 – Al-Khalil

Music, songs, dancing, prayers and alcohol. This could chracterize a common religious festival anywhere – were it not being used as an excuse for Israeli settlers to attack and raid the Palestinian community, which is already living under segregation since 1997, in the city known as al-Khalil for the Palestinians and Hebron for the Israeli.

As it happens every year, tens of thousands of settlers and Zionists from abroad gathered in the city on Friday, Nov. 22, and Saturday, Nov. 23, to celebrate “Shabbat Chayei Sarah”, coinciding with the Torah reading of the story of Sarah (one of the wives of Abraham). Sarah is believed to be buried in what Israelis call the Cave of the Patriarchs. Commonly known as “Sarah Day”, this event has for years turned into a kind of pogrom against Palestinians living in Al-Khalil.

In previous years, settlers have attacked Palestinian homes, cars and stores, attempted to start fires, and done massive marches which start from the Shuhada Street (almost completely closed to Palestinians), cross check-points and spill into the Palestinian part of the city. The Sarah’s Sabbath is one of those days that worsen the already oppressive living conditions for Palestinians living in al-Khalil, conditions which have become almost impossible since October 7. The entire area was blocked off to Palestinians for the weekend – the check-points were completely closed, preventing passage from one side of the city to the other.

Settlers began arriving the day before (Nov. 21); buses from settlements throughout the West Bank and ’48 (Israel proper) brought thousands of young people, families, and military personnel to camp in tents around the Ibrahimi Mosque and Al-Shuhada Street. The celebration began here, around what’s considered a sacred historical monument built over the cavern containing the tombs of Abraham, his wife Sarah, and sons Isaac and Jacob. Al-Shuhada Street has been almost inaccessible to Palestinians for 27 years now; it was closed by the military after the so-called Hebron Protocol in 1997 and the beginning of the geographic apartheid of al-Khalil.

Settlers marching through Palestinian neighborhoods

On Friday evening, groups of settlers carried out night marches in the Jaber neighborhood and Palestinian-inhabited areas near the Kiryat Arba settlement, chanting slogans and insults against Arabs and Palestinians. Also present was Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, who was celebrating Sarah’s Sabbath surrounded by worshippers in the afternoon and leading a group of settlers in chanting anti-Arab slogans in the evening. Ben Gvir is one of about eight thousand inhabitants of the huge illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba, known for its extremist and violent views. That settlement was also the hometown of Baruch Kopel Goldstein, the Israeli-American terrorist who in 1994 opened fire on hundreds of Muslims praying in the Ibrahimi Mosque, killing 29 people and wounding 125. Ben Gvir is known to keep an image of the terrorist in his living room.

On Saturday, a number of youth groups gathered in one of the main outposts inside the city, the Beit Romano settlement. After gathering beyond the gate that closes al-Shuhada, they began throwing stones and shouting insults and slogans against Arabs. In years prior, the military allowed and facilitated a march that invaded the old city, forcing Palestinian merchants to close their stalls and barricade themselves in their homes for fear of settler violence.

Settlers chanting slurs towards Palestinians

This year that particular march was not held, perhaps because of the current political situation. “Fortunately, there was little violence this year,” confirmed B., a member of a local human rights association. “But life in al-Khalil is becoming more and more difficult,” B. continued. “We live in apartheid, and since October 7 things have gotten even worse. They open and close the city as they want. After the beginning of the conflict, for ten consecutive days we were forced indoors with one hour a day when we could go out.”

Hebron is in fact a divided city, a Palestine in miniature: metal turnstiles, walls and at least 28 check-points separate the Israeli-controlled H2 zone from the Palestinian Authority-held H1. Some 33,000 Palestinians live in the Israeli state-controlled zone, which in addition to dividing families and communities, forces thousands of people to pass through lengthy security checks on a daily basis and endure mistreatment, abuse and arbitrary closures of entire neighborhoods. OCHA’s September 2023 survey found that there were a total of 80 blockades inside the city (including the 28 “constantly-staffed” checkpoints), but since October 7 they have reportedly increased to 113 in the Old City and 180 throughout Hebron.

Settlers in Shuhada St.

This is a true internal apartheid imposed upon Palestinians in the West Bank. Painting a picture of what apartheid is like in Hebron, B. narrated: “From my home in the Jaber neighborhood (H2 area), it would take me five minutes to walk to the mosque. Now I don’t go there anymore, I would have to go through eight checkpoints, between road closures and check-points. Their goal is to tire us out, to get us out of these neighborhoods.” He spoke of “voiceless displacement”, the silent removal of Palestinians because of the continued abuse, violence, and economic hardship Palestinians are forced to endure.

“Since 2000, since the beginning of the walls and check-points, more than 580 stores have
been closed due to military orders, and more than 1,800 stores have suffered huge economic repercussions or closed due to the limited mobility of people in the city,” B. added. In addition to the suffering associated with harassment and endless waiting at check-points, there are raids, arrests, and arbitrary detentions. “I too have been forced in prison, like almost everyone in Palestine… That’s the Zionist ideology’s way of doing things,” related B. “They do things gradually, they try to change the demographics of the neighborhoods. They make people leave quietly because they force them into a non-life. And then they take everything.”

There are about 700 settlers living in the Old City, protected by 2,300 soldiers. “For every settler there are three soldiers: that gives the idea of the situation,” said B., speaking of the completely militarized city. And now the settlers have donned a uniform and become military themselves, resulting in increased violence toward Palestinians. “Al-Khalil is the only city in the West Bank where settlements are also inside the city. And they are trying to enlarge the settlements all the time.”

Al-Khalil: a city, a small Palestine.

Empty Old City of Al-Khalil due to blocks and restrictions

Jenin: The most destroyed city

Jenin, West Bank | November 21, 2024 | By Diana Kwaelid

When will Israel stop destroying cities and camps in the northern West Bank?

The Jenin area has turned from an active city full of life and economy, into a destroyed zone where you can see wreckage in the town, and especially in the camp, which is most affected. The streets of the city and the camp became ruined, and Israel has destroyed them again every time an Israeli incursion into the city and the camp occurred.

Israel used punitive methods to break the popular incubator in Jenin and camp

On the night of last Tuesday, November 19, the Israeli occupation forces stormed the city of Jenin and stationed themselves in several main axes in the city, the Jenin camp, the eastern province (which was targeted first), and the village of Qabatiya. Later they were stationed in the town of Kafr Dan.

In Qabatiya, the Israeli occupation forces stormed the village and surrounded a house where Palestinian youths were being chased by Israel. Three Palestinian youths were assassinated and their bodies were detained.

Two Palestinians were also killed during the storming of the eastern neighborhood area in Jenin. The ambulance managed after a lengthy struggle to reach them and take them to the hospital, but they did not survive.

The Israeli occupation mechanisms carried out systematic destruction in several areas in the eastern neighborhood, the watermelon roundabout, and the camp. This camp had already been destroyed previously, especially in the area of Al-Wahdan and Al-Rukh inside the camp, one of the most heavily impacted areas and neighborhoods during the recent military surge.

The occupation killed an additional five Palestinians during its 24-hour military operation the following day. As the Israeli military operation wore on from Wednesday evening into Thursday, the Israeli occupying forces stormed the village of Kafr Dan. An Israeli warplane targeted a car carrying Palestinians and surrounded a house, bringing the number of martyrs of the city of Jenin to eight martyrs within 48 hours.

A state of sadness prevailed in the entire city of Jenin for the loss of these eight Palestinians, and due to the continuous systematic destruction of the city and the camp.

Dozens of Palestinians have lost their livelihood due to the destruction of the infrastructure and the systematic occupation of shops and the destruction of houses during the ongoing destruction operation – during the previous incursions especially the latest one.

The Palestinians are aware of what Israel is planning to do with the policy of systematic destruction of the camps, especially the Jenin camp – the destruction and burning of the refugee issue – as a key constant in the Palestinian cause.

The occupation machinery present in Jenin

Palestinians said: “We will not leave the camp no matter what happens; we will stay here.”

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the death toll of the number of martyrs in the West Bank since October 7 has risen to 793, and in the city of Jenin alone there are a total of 215 martyrs.

A Child Witnessed His Father’s Murder

West Bank—Tulkarm By Diana Khwaelid

When will Israel stop spilling Palestinian blood in the West Bank?

On November 13, Wednesday evening, an Israeli special force called Al-Yamam, accompanied by Israeli occupation soldiers, assassinated and killed two Palestinian youths during the siege of a house in the Ezbet Jarad area of Tulkarm.

The martyrs Mammon an Thaer as seen in local news report

At about 6:15 pm this same Wednesday, an Israeli Special Force, accompanied by Israeli occupation soldiers, with more than twenty Israeli military vehicles and a bulldozer, stormed the Ezbet Jarad area in Tulkarm with intense air overflights.

According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces surrounded a house in Ezbet Jarad and demanded those inside surrender. Palestinian medical sources reported that “a Palestinian was injured by Israeli bullets in the shoulder, while the two-year-old child of the martyr Thaer was injured by shrapnel in the head. The child is in good condition, and they were immediately transported to Thabit Thabit Hospital in the city via ambulances.”

Thaer Amara, who spent nearly 17 years in Israeli prisons, was a husband and father of two. Arriving at the wrong time, he was surprised by the presence of Israeli forces. The 38-year-old was shot and killed, and his two-year-old son Baraa was injured by shrapnel in the head.

The mother of the martyr Thaer, Khitam Amara (Um Rashad), 64, said her son had been a rebel since he was 17 during the Second Intifada. Known as a political activist, he opposed the occupation, and Israeli forces had previously attempted to kill him. She added that her son had recently been threatened by an Israeli officer and had only been free from Israeli prisons for three years.

She described her son as kind and generous, deeply loving his family, including his children Baraa and his youngest daughter Rahiq, one and a half years old. She added that the Israeli forces shot him in the head, making him a martyr.

Another young man, Mamon Shrem, emerged from the besieged house and was immediately killed. Mamon, unaware of the Israeli forces’ presence, went out when he heard shooting and was shot, joining his friend Thaer in martyrdom.

Mamon Shrem, 37, who had also spent years in Israeli prisons, had been free for only seven months before being killed. His mother said her son had been chased by Israeli forces and was living in his house, meters away from his family’s home in Ezbet Jarad, where he was shot in the head. She added that they found remnants of his brain on the ground, which the family buried.

In the funeral home of the martyr Mammon

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the number of Palestinian martyrs in the West Bank since October 7 has reached 783, including 167 children. In Tulkarm alone, 180 people have been killed so far.

“The occupation not only killed the two young men but also kept their bodies even after their deaths, putting them in black plastic bags,” eyewitnesses reported.

What does it mean that the Israeli occupation kills two young men and detains their bodies, preventing the families from taking a last look and giving them a proper burial?

Who will hold Israel accountable for its bloody crimes against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza?