Saturday, March 26, 2016

ISRAEL USES TERROR TO GAIN CONTROL OF KEY POINTS OF CITY OF HEBRON
Both the city of Hebron and the district of Hebron have been one of the centres of violence in the current ongoing uprising, with a combined total of 57 Palestinians killed by Israel's occupation forces and illegal Israeli settlers since October 1st.
Many of hese killings have happened in the third of the city of Hebron under Israeli occupation forces control - the H2 area in west and southwest of Hebron, and especially in the Old City.
Each killing has been excused either with "tried to stab" claim or more rarely, ”tried to grab a gun”. In few incidents there has been some actual evidence of an attempted action against the occupation. In most cases there is eye-witnesses reports and other evidence to show that the "stabbing claim" by the Israeli occupation is doubtful or outright has no basis.
At least in one case there is eye-witness report of Israeli occupation members loudly speaking to each other and selecting one person - Islam Ibeidu(23) - to be killed, based solely on his looks: "He looks nice, shoot him."
Claim was made of Ibeidu 'trying to stab', but he had just passed through a search on occupied checkpoint and was holding his empty hands up according to eye-witness. Said al-Atrash(20) was shot on checkpoint and a knife was put in his hand as he lay an hour on the ground waiting for medical care that was denied.
In yet another case an Israeli occupation soldier was recorded putting a knife beside the body of Fadil Qawasmi(18), killed by an illegal Israeli settler in the Shuhada Street. Witnesses also saw a knife being placed near body of Homam Sa'id(23) – to mention just a few lethal incidents.
Now on last Thursday we witnessed the murder of a wounded, unarmed and defenseless Abdul-Fattah Sharif(21) in Tel Rumeida, shot in head by an Israeli occupation forces medic while he lay on the ground, able just to move his head.
It has not been made clear in media that the killings in the city of Hebron are concentrated in few hot-spots over which the illegal Israeli settlers with the help of Israel's occupation forces are trying to claim full, permanent control excluding Palestinians altogether:
The area around Ibrahimi mosque, site of 1994 massacre by the American-Israeli Baruch Goldstein in which 29 Palestinians were killed, the former commercial Shuhada Street which was closed from Palestinians by Israeli occupation in the aftermath of the massacre, the neighbourhood of Tel Rumeida near Shuhada Street and the areas immediate to the illegal Israeli colonies in Hebron. These are mainly in the Old City.
In East Jerusalem the al-Aqsa mosque compound helds great symbolic power and the contest over it is a contest for the whole occupied East Jerusalem. The fate of the Ibrahimi mosque - called the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Judaism - is seen as a goal for al-Aqsa by illegal Israeli settlers and Israeli politicians: It was divided between Palestinian Muslims and illegal Israeli settlers in the aftermath of the massacre by Israeli occupation and is now often completely closed to Palestinians.
Meanwhile in Hebron the illegal Israeli settlers and Israel's occupation soldiers are trying to take over more houses from Palestinians in these key locations that were described, as happened in January, and to drive Palestinians away from them altogether. In this they use terror through deliberate murder.
We must dare to draw this conclusion, backed by evidence from six months of violence in occupied Hebron, and connect it to the preceding decades of Israeli policies there. Israel is trying to use killings to make these important areas of Hebron as "no go zones" in the minds of Palestinians, areas where death could happen at any moment in hands of soldiers or illegal settlers, and where you would be slowly left to bleed to death as masses of illegal Israeli settlers gather around to gawk at your final moments.
Israel is trying to make Palestinians too afraid to live in or visit these areas. Closure of Tel Rumeida and new ID system are examples of a bloodless version of this effort to force Palestinians out, making life too difficult to bear.
These oppressive efforts too can turn deadly - activist Hashem al-Azzeh(54) was forced to walk half a kilometer to get into an ambulance after tear gas inhalation and died of heart attack as a result. Previously Israeli occupation soldiers had told him that if he wants to get rid of illegal settlers' attacks against his home, he "should leave the city".
We are speaking of state terrorism acting together with the state supported terrorism of the illegal settlers. We are speaking of targeted killings, not against any particular person because of what that person has done or is claimed to have done, but because what that person represents: Palestinian presence in the areas of Hebron Israel wants to take over and annex. We are speaking of ethnic cleansing.
In these circumstances, to walk these streets as a Palestinian becomes itself both as an act of resistance and an act of courage, as every Palestinian is a target for the occupation, to be shot and a knife to be thrown on the ground beside them to 'justify' another killing. This is murderous state terrorism that selects its victims arbitrarily, but which has a very definite goal: Ethnic cleansing.
SOURCES:
100 days of collective punishment for Hebron residents
http://palsolidarity.org/…/100-days-of-collective-punishme…/

Closed military zone in Shuhada Street and Tel Rumeida extended yet another month
http://palsolidarity.org/…/closed-military-zone-in-shuhada…/


Israeli forces accused of killing unarmed Palestinian in Hebron
http://www.middleeasteye.net/…/palestinian-unarmed-man-shot…


Palestinian activist beloved by journalists dies after tear gas inhalation
http://www.middleeasteye.net/…/hashem-al-azzeh-death-draft-…

Palestinians in own city of Hebron live in Fear of Israel Squatters, Soldiers
http://www.juancole.com/…/palestinians-squatters-soldiers.h…

Three Palestinians Killed By Israeli Army Fire In Hebron
http://www.imemc.org/article/73608

Why did Amnesty say one thing in English and another in Hebrew?
https://electronicintifada.net/…/why-did-amnesty-say-one-th…

Why Does Hebron Stand out in This Intifada?
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/why-does-hebron-stand-ou…/

Video: Did Israeli soldier plant knife on teen killed by settler?
https://electronicintifada.net/…/video-did-israeli-soldier-…

VIDEO: Israeli soldier executes wounded Palestinian after shooting and killing another Palestinian
http://www.imemc.org/article/75354

Video: Life inside Hebron’s closed military zone
http://mondoweiss.net/…/video-life-inside-hebrons-closed-m…/



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