Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses. Share the link of this article with your facebook friends

 

Israeli Apartheid Occupation Regime Documented by Amnesty International as Cruel and Criminal, Scores of Palestinians Abducted and Injured

February 6, 2022 

Editor's Note:

While brutal force has been used to create Zionist Israel and sustain it thus far, Zionist claims to Palestine are false. Actually, from the five thousand years of known written history, there has been a continuous Palestinian-Canaanite presence in the Holy Land. Despite the Zionist false claims, the ancient Israelites ruled part of the land for only 85 years (during the reign of David, Solomon, and Solomon's son).

 After that, the Egyptians conquered Palestine-Canaan in 925 BC, followed by Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, before the Arab Muslim rule, starting from 636 AD.

By the Time Jesus started his mission, the three population groups of Canaanites, Palestinians, and Israelites were melted together in religion and language. Most of them became Christians when Constantine converted in 313 AD. Then, most of them became Muslims in the 7th and 8th centuries AD.

So, Palestinian Muslims, Christians, and Jews are the ones who have the right to claim descent from ancient Israelites, Palestinians, and Canaanites, not Zionists from other continents.

The following news stories are just examples of the Israeli occupation government abuse, mistreatment, and violations of Palestinian human rights, on daily basis.

More detailed news stories can be found at the following sources:

http://english.wafa.ps/, https://english.palinfo.com/, https://imemc.org/, https://paltoday.ps/ar/

 

Israeli occupation soldiers fire gas bomb at Palestinians in Jenin, February 5, 2022	Evacuation of Muhammed Salhab, December 12, 2022

THE SALHAB FAMILY’S RESIDENTIAL COMPOUND IN KHIRBET QALQAS. PHOTO BY MUSA ABU HASHHSASH, 12 DEC 2021

 

Israeli occupation soldiers

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Israeli Occupation Soldiers Open Fire At Shepherds And Fishermen In Gaza

 IMEMC, FEB 6, 2022

Israeli occupation soldiers fired, on Sunday morning, several rounds of live ammunition at Palestinian shepherds and fishermen in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Media sources said the soldiers, stationed across the perimeter fence east of the al-Qarara town, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, fired many live rounds at Palestinian farmers.

They added that the farmers were working on their lands close to the fence when the soldiers fired the live rounds to force them away.

In addition, Israeli navy ships fired live rounds at Palestinian fishing boats in the Sudaniyya Sea area, northwest of Gaza.

The attacks are part of frequent Israeli violations against the Palestinians, especially the fishermen, farmers, shepherds, and workers in the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip, and resulted in dozens of casualties, including fatalities, in addition to severe property damage and the confiscation of many boats after abducting the fishermen.

In March of last year, 2021, the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza said Israeli mines were responsible for an explosion that led to the death of three fishermen.

Israeli Occupation Soldiers Abduct Two Palestinians In Hebron”

 IMEMC, FEB 6, 2022

Earlier Sunday, many Israeli occupation army jeeps invaded several Palestinian towns in the southern West Bank governorate of Hebron, searched homes, and abducted two Palestinians.

Media sources said the soldiers abducted Bara’ Erzeiqat after invading his home in Tafouh town, west of Hebron city, and violently searching it, causing damage.

They added that the soldiers abducted Abdullah Daoud al-Hroub, after invading and ransacking his home in Deir Samit town, west of Hebron.

The soldiers also invaded the towns of Taffouh, Ethna, and Deir Samit and searched one home, owned by Abed Omar Erzeiqat, in Tafouh town.

The soldiers later withdrew from the invaded communities and installed roadblocks on several surrounding roads.

On Sunday at dawn, the soldiers abducted six Palestinians, including two teenage boys and siblings, from Bethlehem and Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.

On Saturday evening, the soldiers invaded two Palestinian towns near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, installed roadblocks, and searched lands.

On Saturday at night, Israeli soldiers invaded the town of Sur Baher, southeast of the occupied Palestinian capital, Jerusalem, in the West Bank, the official Palestine TV has reported.

On Friday at night, Palestinian residents thwarted an attempt by an illegal Israeli colonizer to burn a Palestinian-owned vehicle in the threatened Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, witnesses reported. The Israeli police later arrested the assailant, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center In Silwan (Silwanic) has confirmed.

Also on Friday at night, illegal Israeli colonists uprooted 25 olive saplings owned by local Palestinian farmers in the village of Bruqin, west of Salfit in central occupied West Bank, local sources reported.

On Sunday at dawn, Israeli soldiers abducted six Palestinians, including two teenage boys, and siblings, from Bethlehem and Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.

On Saturday at night, Israeli soldiers invaded the town of Sur Baher, southeast of the occupied Palestinian capital, Jerusalem, in the West Bank, the official Palestine TV has reported.

On Saturday evening, Israeli soldiers invaded two Palestinian towns near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, installed roadblocks, and searched lands.

On Friday at night, Palestinian residents thwarted an attempt by an illegal Israeli colonizer to burn a Palestinian-owned vehicle in the threatened Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, witnesses reported. The Israeli police later arrested the assailant, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center In Silwan (Silwanic) has confirmed.

Also on Friday at night, illegal Israeli colonists uprooted 25 olive saplings owned by local Palestinian farmers in the village of Bruqin, west of Salfit in central occupied West Bank, local sources reported.

Israeli Occupation Soldiers Abduct Six Palestinians In Bethlehem And Jerusalem

 IMEMC, FEB 6, 2022

On Sunday at dawn, Israeli occupation soldiers abducted six Palestinians, including two teenage boys and siblings, from Bethlehem and Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank.

Media sources in Bethlehem said several army jeeps invaded Beit Fajjar town, south of the city before the soldiers stormed and violently a few homes.

They added that the soldiers abducted Fadel Faisal Thawabta, 20, Mos’ab Samir Taqatqa, 16, and Shaher Osama Taqatqa, 17, from their homes in the town.

In addition, the soldiers and police officers invaded the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in the occupied capital, Jerusalem, searched homes, abducted two siblings, identified as Ramadan and Mohammad Haj Mahmoud, in addition to Yazan Husseini.

During the invasion, the officers tried to remove a Palestinian who was documenting the unfolding incident live on social media, but he insisted on continuing filing and asked them not to hurt him in addition to telling them that he was not doing anything illegal.

On Saturday evening, the soldiers invaded two Palestinian towns near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, installed roadblocks, and searched lands.

On Saturday at night, Israeli soldiers invaded the town of Sur Baher, southeast of the occupied Palestinian capital, Jerusalem, in the West Bank, the official Palestine TV has reported.

On Friday at night, Palestinian residents thwarted an attempt by an illegal Israeli colonizer to burn a Palestinian-owned vehicle in the threatened Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, witnesses reported. The Israeli police later arrested the assailant, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center In Silwan (Silwanic) has confirmed.

Also on Friday at night, illegal Israeli colonists uprooted 25 olive saplings owned by local Palestinian farmers in the village of Bruqin, west of Salfit in central occupied West Bank, local sources reported.

Illegal Israeli Settlers Cut Down Olive and Grape Trees Near Salfit

 IMEMC, FEB 5, 2022

Illegal Israeli settlers uprooted, on Friday at night, 25 olive saplings owned by local Palestinian farmers in the village of Bruqin, west of Salfit in central occupied West Bank, local sources reported.

The landowner, identified as Husam Samara, told the Palestinian News & Information Agency (WAFA) that when he reached his agricultural land, he was stunned to see that at least 25 of his five-year-old olive saplings had been uprooted, presumably by Israeli settlers.

In related news, settlers chopped, on Thursday at night, at least 90 trees belonging to Palestinian farmers in the villages of Yasuf northeast of Salfit and Kafr al-Dik to the west, local sources reported.

The son of the landowner Ali Yasin, told WAFA that 40 olive saplings were cut down on the outskirts of Yasuf village.

Najeh Harb, a local Palestinian from Kaf al-Dik village said that 50 of his grape trees were uprooted by illegal settlers.

Israeli Occupation Soldiers Injure Many Palestinians, South of Jenin

 IMEMC, FEB 5, 2022

Israeli occupation soldiers injured, on Friday evening, many Palestinians during protests that took place when the army invaded Ya’bad town, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, in addition to causing damage to two cars.

Media sources in Jenin said the soldiers invaded the Schools’ neighborhood in Ya’bad, leading to protests before the soldiers fired a barrage of gas bombs and concussion grenades.

They added that many Palestinians suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation, and several others sustained cuts and bruises.

Furthermore, the speeding Israeli military jeeps rammed into two Palestinian cars, including one owned by a man from the Kafrit nearby village, causing damage.

Earlier Saturday and Friday evening, the soldiers abducted three Palestinians from the Jenin governorate.

The Jenin office of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported that the soldiers abducted two young men during the invasions of homes, identified as Ezzeddin Ziad Sadaqa and Qussai Ma’moun al-‘Amour.

Montaser Sammour, the head of the Jenin office of the PPS, stated that the soldiers abducted another young man, identified as Yousef Faisal Bazour, from Burqin town west of Jenin, while crossing the al-Hamra military roadblock near Tubas, in northeastern West Bank.

Israeli Occupation Soldiers Injure Dozens of Palestinians at the Weekly March in Kufur Qaddoum

IMEMC, FEB 4, 2022

The Israeli occupation army soldiers opened fire, on Friday, at Palestinian civilians who gathered for the weekly non-violent procession in the village of Kufur Qaddoum, east of Qalqilia in the northern West Bank, injuring dozens, according to a local official.

Morad Eshteiwi, the media spokesman for the popular resistance in Qalqilia, told the Palestinian News & Information Agency (WAFA) that the army opened fire with tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel rounds toward the non-violent demonstrators, and injured dozens.

Eshteiwi added that 3 young men were shot with rubber-coated steel rounds, while dozens more suffered the toxic effects of tear gas inhalation.

Soldiers stormed the town during the weekly procession in which local villagers gathered to express their rejection of Israel’s continued settlement expansion, and to demand that occupation authorities re-open the main road to the village.

The unarmed Palestinian protestors burned tires and threw rocks in confrontations with the heavily armed occupation soldiers who positioned themselves on rooftops.

The villagers in Kufur Qaddoum have been steadfast in their rejection of the illegal settlement activity in the area, and the closure of the main road, located at the entrance of the town.

Every week for many years, local civilians gather after Friday Prayers at the local mosque, and march to the main entrance of the town, where the main road was closed off to Palestinians in 2003, while the colonial settlers have exclusive access.

Israeli Occupation Forces Attack Palestinian Protestors Near Nablus, Injure Dozens

 IMEMC, FEB 4, 2022

Israeli occupation forces attacked, on Friday, non-violent demonstrators in the northern West Bank village of Beita, southeast of Nablus, causing several injuries, according to medical sources.

Ahmed Jibril, director of ambulance and emergency at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Nablus, told the Palestinian News & Information Agency (WAFA) that the soldiers shot 2 young men with live rounds, one in the foot, the other in the knee. They were transferred to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus for medical treatment.

Jibril added that the army shot 7 protestors with rubber-coated steel rounds, including a journalist who was hit in the face, and a seventy-year-old man who was struck in the chest, in addition to 25 cases of tear gas inhalation injuries.

Quds News Network reported that Friday morning, Israeli bulldozers razed roads leading to Mount Sbeih, the site of the peaceful protests in Beita with the aim of obstructing protestors and ambulance crews from reaching the site.

Israeli Occupation Army Opens Fire At Palestinian Farmers In Khan Younis

 IMEMC, FEB 4, 2022

On Friday morning, Israeli occupation soldiers fired many live rounds at Palestinian farmers on their lands in the southern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Media sources said the soldiers stationed across the fence east of Khan Younis fired sporadic rounds of live ammunition at the farmers east of Abasan al-Jadeeda town, east of Khan Yonis.

They added that the attack did not lead to casualties but forced the farmers to leave in fear of additional Israeli violations.

The attacks are part of frequent Israeli violations against the Palestinians, especially the fishermen, farmers, shepherds, and workers in the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip, and resulted in dozens of casualties, including fatalities, in addition to severe property damage and the confiscation of many boats after abducting the fishermen.

In March of last year, 2021, the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza said Israeli mines were responsible for an explosion that led to the death of three fishermen.

Illegal Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinians Near Hebron

 IMEMC, FEB 3, 2022

A group of fanatic illegal Israeli settlers attacked, on Wednesday evening, several Palestinians on their lands in the Jabal Jales area, east of Hebron city, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.

Resident Rashed az-Zaro stated that the colonizers came from the illegal Havat Gal outpost, installed on stolen Palestinian lands.

He added that the colonizers attacked him and his family while plowing their lands and feeding their livestock.

Rashed said the assailants first maced him with pepper spray before assaulting him and several family members, causing various wounds before Palestinian medics were called to the scene and provided them with the needed treatment.

Israeli Occupation Forces Continue to Attack Palestinian Farmers and Fishermen in Gaza

 IMEMC, FEB 2, 2022

Israeli occupation forces attacked, on Wednesday, Palestinian fishermen and farmers in the besieged Gaza Strip, causing damage to a fishing boat, and inhalation injuries to farmers, according to the Palestinian News & Information Agency (WAFA).

Correspondent for WAFA stated that Israeli Navy ships opened fire with artillery shells and live fire at Palestinian fishermen who were fishing off the Sudaniyya shore, northwest of Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, damaging one fishing boat. No injuries were reported.

In the central part of the tiny coastal enclave, the occupation army fired live rounds and tear gas canisters at Palestinian farmers east of the Al-Maghazi and Al-Bureij refugee camps, forcing the farmers to leave their lands, and causing several to suffer the toxic effects of tear gas inhalation.

On Tuesday, a number of military bulldozers infiltrated the Gaza Strip, established sand hills and leveled lands while firing live rounds and smoke bombs.

Meanwhile, Israeli Navy ships attacked, on Tuesday, Palestinian fishermen while they were sailing in the Sudaniyya sea area, northwest of Gaza City in the northern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.

On Monday, Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinian farmers and fishermen, causing panic and forcing them to leave their work, which is their only means of providing for their families.

Israeli Occupation Army Demolishes Two Flats, Industrial Structure, In Jerusalem

 IMEMC, FEB 2, 2022

Israeli occupation soldiers demolished, on Wednesday morning, two Palestinian flats and a commercial structure in the at-Tour and Anata towns, in the occupied Palestinian capital, Jerusalem, in the West Bank.

Media sources said the soldiers invaded the at-Tour town, east of Jerusalem, and demolished two flats owned by two siblings from the local Karami family.

Furthermore, the soldiers invaded Anata town northeast of Jerusalem and demolished an industrial structure owned by Palestinians from the local Haddad family.

The army claims the demolished buildings did not receive permits from the City Council in the occupied city.

While Israel continues to build and expand its illegal colonies, Palestinian communities and towns in occupied Jerusalem and various areas in the occupied West Bank continue to be denied the right to build or expand homes and property.

All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.

Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory.”

On Wednesday at dawn, the soldiers abducted twelve Palestinians in several parts of the occupied West Bank, including seven from Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied territory.

Israeli Occupation Army Abducts Twelve Palestinians In West Bank

 IMEMC, FEB 2, 2022

On Wednesday at dawn, Israeli occupation soldiers abducted twelve Palestinians in several parts of the occupied West Bank, including seven from the southern West Bank governorate in Hebron.

In Hebron city, the soldiers invaded and searched many homes before abducting Hassan Walid Abu Hussein, 34, from Khallet ad-Dar area, Mokafeh Zoheir Abu Daoud, 25, from Khirbat Qalqas, in addition to Samir Arafat Abu Hussein, 34, and his brother Samer, 30, from Manooh mountain area.

The soldiers also abducted a young man, identified as Dia’ Samara, from his home in the ath-Thaheriya town, south of Hebron, in addition to Tha’er Jamil Midya and Ibrahim Khalil Aqel, from Halhoul town, north of Hebron, after stopping them at the Container military roadblock, southeast of occupied Jerusalem.

Furthermore, the soldiers invaded Za’tara town, east of Bethlehem city, and abducted Mohammad Daoud Thweib, 36, from his home.

Another Palestinian, a former political prisoner, identified as Jamal Akram Ajaj, was abducted from his home in Saida town, north of Tulkarem, in the northern part of the West Bank.

In addition, several Israeli army vehicles invaded the town of Silwad, northeast of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, searched homes, and before abducting Yassin Sobhi Hamed, along with his sons, Emad, 22, and Ahmad, 18. The soldiers also invaded several communities in the Ramallah governorate.

On Tuesday night, the soldiers abducted a former political prisoner, identified as Laith Basem Kasabra, 30, from Deir Ghassana town, northwest of occupied Jerusalem, while crossing the Za’tara military roadblock, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

On Tuesday evening, Israeli soldiers assaulted and abducted two young Palestinian men, identified as Firas Reshiq and Mohye Reshiq, from the Sa’adiyya neighborhood in Jerusalem’s Old City, after stopping and attacking them in Bab al-Amoud.

Israeli Occupation Soldiers Abduct 32 Palestinians In West Bank

 IMEMC, FEB 1, 2022

On Tuesday at dawn, Israeli occupation soldiers abducted thirty-two Palestinians from their homes in several parts of the occupied West Bank, mostly from the al-Am’ari refugee camp, in Ramallah.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) said many armored Israeli military vehicles invaded the al-Am’ari refugee camp before the soldiers stormed and ransacked dozens of homes, causing excessive damage.

The PPS added that the soldiers abducted Kifah Tamliyya, Mojahed Jadelhaq, Hamza Hammad, Hamza Aqel, Fathi Silmi, Omar Abu Atiya, Ahmad Barash, Mohannad Samara, Mahmoud as-Sakhwy, Mohammad al-At’out, Hamada Abu Nabil, Hamada Hammad, Mahmoud Rita, Mohammed Sharri, Awad Nibali, Abed Sakhwy, Hussein Abu Radwan, Mohammad Salama, Mohammad al-Lolo and Zeid Abu Kweik.

The soldiers used K9 units that terrified the families during the invasion and mauled a young man.

The soldiers also invaded the al-Jinan neighborhood and Sateh Marhaba in the al-Biereh city, near Ramallah.

In Bethlehem, south of occupied Jerusalem, several army jeeps invaded Teqoua’ town, east of the city, before the soldiers stormed homes and abducted eight Palestinians.

The PPS identified the Palestinians as Sami Ali Sabah, 28, Mahmoud Kamel Sabah, 26, Mohammad Ali Sabah, 25, Amjad Nayef Sabah, 25, Ahmad Khaled Sabah, 27, Ma’moun Salim Sabah, 28, Mohammad Khalaf Sabah, 32, and Yassin Yousef Sabah, 25.

The soldiers also invaded Qalqilia city in northern West Bank and abducted Khaled Mahdi Abu Samra, 23, from his home.

In occupied Jerusalem, the soldiers invaded Qotna town, north of the city, searched homes, and abducted Nimir Abu Riyad.

In Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, the soldiers abducted Ahmad Issa Shalalda, from his home in Sa’ir town, north of the city.

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Amnesty: Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity”

 IMEMC, FEB 1, 2022

Report By Amnesty International: 

The Israeli apartheid occupation regime must be held accountable for committing the crime of apartheid against Palestinians, Amnesty International said today in a damning new report. The investigation details how Israel enforces a system of oppression and domination against the Palestinian people wherever it has control over their rights. This includes Palestinians living in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), as well as displaced refugees in other countries.

The comprehensive report, Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity, sets out how massive seizures of Palestinian land and property, unlawful killings, forcible transfer, drastic movement restrictions, and the denial of nationality and citizenship to Palestinians are all components of a system which amounts to apartheid under international law. This system is maintained by violations which Amnesty International found to constitute apartheid as a crime against humanity, as defined in the Rome Statute and Apartheid Convention.Amnesty International is calling on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to consider the crime of apartheid in its current investigation in the OPT and calls on all states to exercise universal jurisdiction to bring perpetrators of apartheid crimes to justice.

Our report reveals the true extent of Israel’s apartheid regime. Whether they live in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, or Israel itself, Palestinians are treated as an inferior racial group and systematically deprived of their rights. We found that Israel’s cruel policies of segregation, dispossession and exclusion across all territories under its control clearly amount to apartheid. The international community has an obligation to act

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

“There is no possible justification for a system built around the institutionalized and prolonged racist oppression of millions of people. Apartheid has no place in our world, and states which choose to make allowances for Israel will find themselves on the wrong side of history. Governments who continue to supply Israel with arms and shield it from accountability at the UN are supporting a system of apartheid, undermining the international legal order, and exacerbating the suffering of the Palestinian people. The international community must face up to the reality of Israel’s apartheid, and pursue the many avenues to justice which remain shamefully unexplored.”

Amnesty International’s findings build on a growing body of work by Palestinian, Israeli, and international NGOs, who have increasingly applied the apartheid framework to the situation in Israel and/or the OPT.

Identifying apartheid

A system of apartheid is an institutionalized regime of oppression and domination by one racial group over another. It is a serious human rights violation which is prohibited in public international law. Amnesty International’s extensive research and legal analysis, carried out in consultation with external experts, demonstrates that Israel enforces such a system against Palestinians through laws, policies and practices which ensure their prolonged and cruel discriminatory treatment.

In international criminal law, specific unlawful acts which are committed within a system of oppression and domination, with the intention of maintaining it, constitute the crime against humanity of apartheid. These acts are set out in the Apartheid Convention and the Rome Statute and include unlawful killing, torture, forcible transfer, and the denial of basic rights and freedoms.

Amnesty International documented acts proscribed in the Apartheid Convention and Rome Statute in all the areas Israel controls, although they occur more frequently and violently in the OPT than in Israel. Israeli authorities enact multiple measures to deliberately deny Palestinians their basic rights and freedoms, including draconian movement restrictions in the OPT, chronic discriminatory underinvestment in Palestinian communities in Israel, and the denial of refugees’ right to return. The report also documents forcible transfer, administrative detention, torture, and unlawful killings, in both Israel and the OPT.

Amnesty International found that these acts form part of a systematic and widespread attack directed against the Palestinian population, and are committed with the intent to maintain the system of oppression and domination. They therefore constitute the crime against humanity of apartheid.

The unlawful killing of Palestinian protesters is perhaps the clearest illustration of how Israeli authorities use proscribed acts to maintain the status quo. In 2018, Palestinians in Gaza began to hold weekly protests along the border with Israel, calling for the right of return for refugees and an end to the blockade. Before protests even began, senior Israeli officials warned that Palestinians approaching the wall would be shot. By the end of 2019, Israeli forces had killed 214 civilians, including 46 children.

In light of the systematic unlawful killings of Palestinians documented in its report, Amnesty International is also calling for the UN Security Council to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel. This should cover all weapons and munitions as well as law enforcement equipment, given the thousands of Palestinian civilians who have been unlawfully killed by Israeli forces. The Security Council should also impose targeted sanctions, such as asset freezes, against Israeli officials most implicated in the crime of apartheid.

Palestinians treated as a demographic threat

Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has pursued a policy of establishing and then maintaining a Jewish demographic majority, and maximizing control over land and resources to benefit Jewish Israelis. In 1967, Israel extended this policy to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Today, all territories controlled by Israel continue to be administered with the purpose of benefiting Jewish Israelis to the detriment of Palestinians, while Palestinian refugees continue to be excluded.

Amnesty International recognizes that Jews, like Palestinians, claim a right to self-determination, and does not challenge Israel’s desire to be a home for Jews. Similarly, it does not consider that Israel labelling itself a “Jewish state” in itself indicates an intention to oppress and dominate.

However, Amnesty International’s report shows that successive Israeli governments have considered Palestinians a demographic threat, and imposed measures to control and decrease their presence and access to land in Israel and the OPT. These demographic aims are well illustrated by official plans to “Judaize” areas of Israel and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which continue to put thousands of Palestinians at risk of forcible transfer.

Oppression without borders

The 1947-49 and 1967 wars, Israel’s ongoing military rule of the OPT, and the creation of separate legal and administrative regimes within the territory, have separated Palestinian communities and segregated them from Jewish Israelis. Palestinians have been fragmented geographically and politically, and experience different levels of discrimination depending on their status and where they live.

Palestinian citizens in Israel currently enjoy greater rights and freedoms than their counterparts in the OPT, while the experience of Palestinians in Gaza is very different to that of those living in the West Bank. Nonetheless, Amnesty International’s research shows that all Palestinians are subject to the same overarching system. Israel’s treatment of Palestinians across all areas is pursuant to the same objective: to privilege Jewish Israelis in distribution of land and resources, and to minimize the Palestinian presence and access to land.

Amnesty International demonstrates that Israeli authorities treat Palestinians as an inferior racial group who are defined by their non-Jewish, Arab status. This racial discrimination is cemented in laws which affect Palestinians across Israel and the OPT.

For example, Palestinian citizens of Israel are denied a nationality, establishing a legal differentiation from Jewish Israelis. In the West Bank and Gaza, where Israel has controlled the population registry since 1967, Palestinians have no citizenship and most are considered stateless, requiring ID cards from the Israeli military to live and work in the territories.

Palestinian refugees and their descendants, who were displaced in the 1947-49 and 1967 conflicts, continue to be denied the right to return to their former places of residence. Israel’s exclusion of refugees is a flagrant violation of international law which has left millions in a perpetual limbo of forced displacement.

Palestinians in annexed East Jerusalem are granted permanent residence instead of citizenship – though this status is permanent in name only. Since 1967, more than 14,000 Palestinians have had their residency revoked at the discretion of the Ministry of the Interior, resulting in their forcible transfer outside the city.

Lesser citizens

Palestinian citizens of Israel, who comprise about 19% of the population, face many forms of institutionalized discrimination. In 2018, discrimination against Palestinians was crystallized in a constitutional law which, for the first time, enshrined Israel exclusively as the “nation state of the Jewish people”. The law also promotes the building of Jewish settlements and downgrades Arabic’s status as an official language.

The report documents how Palestinians are effectively blocked from leasing on 80% of Israel’s state land, as a result of racist land seizures and a web of discriminatory laws on land allocation, planning and zoning.

The situation in the Negev/Naqab region of southern Israel is a prime example of how Israel’s planning and building policies intentionally exclude Palestinians.  Since 1948 Israeli authorities have adopted various policies to “Judaize” the Negev/Naqab, including designating large areas as nature reserves or military firing zones, and setting targets for increasing the Jewish population. This has had devastating consequences for the tens of thousands of Palestinian Bedouins who live in the region.

Thirty-five Bedouin villages, home to about 68,000 people, are currently “unrecognized” by Israel, which means they are cut off from the national electricity and water supply and targeted for repeated demolitions. As the villages have no official status, their residents also face restrictions on political participation and are excluded from the healthcare and education systems. These conditions have coerced many into leaving their homes and villages, in what amounts to forcible transfer.

Decades of deliberately unequal treatment of Palestinian citizens of Israel have left them consistently economically disadvantaged in comparison to Jewish Israelis. This is exacerbated by blatantly discriminatory allocation of state resources: a recent example is the government’s Covid-19 recovery package, of which just 1.7% was given to Palestinian local authorities.

Dispossession

The dispossession and displacement of Palestinians from their homes is a crucial pillar of Israel’s apartheid system. Since its establishment the Israeli state has enforced massive and cruel land seizures against Palestinians, and continues to implement myriad laws and policies to force Palestinians into small enclaves. Since 1948, Israel has demolished hundreds of thousands of Palestinian homes and other properties across all areas under its jurisdiction and effective control.

As in the Negev/Naqab, Palestinians in East Jerusalem and Area C of the OPT live under full Israeli control. The authorities deny building permits to Palestinians in these areas, forcing them to build illegal structures which are demolished again and again.

In the OPT, the continued expansion of illegal Israeli settlements exacerbates the situation. The construction of these settlements in the OPT has been a government policy since 1967. Settlements today cover 10% of the land in the West Bank, and some 38% of Palestinian land in East Jerusalem was expropriated between 1967 and 2017.

Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem are frequently targeted by settler organizations which, with the full backing of the Israeli government, work to displace Palestinian families and hand their homes to settlers. One such neighbourhood, Sheikh Jarrah, has been the site of frequent protests since May 2021 as families battle to keep their homes under the threat of a settler lawsuit.

Draconian movement restrictions

Since the mid-1990s Israeli authorities have imposed increasingly stringent movement restrictions on Palestinians in the OPT. A web of military checkpoints, roadblocks, fences and other structures controls the movement of Palestinians within the OPT, and restricts their travel into Israel or abroad.

A 700km fence, which Israel is still extending, has isolated Palestinian communities inside “military zones”, and they must obtain multiple special permits any time they enter or leave their homes. In Gaza, more than 2 million Palestinians live under an Israeli blockade which has created a humanitarian crisis. It is near-impossible for Gazans to travel abroad or into the rest of the OPT, and they are effectively segregated from the rest of the world.

For Palestinians, the difficulty of travelling within and in and out of the OPT is a constant reminder of their powerlessness. Their every move is subject to the Israeli military’s approval, and the simplest daily task means navigating a web of violent control

Agnès Callamard

“The permit system in the OPT is emblematic of Israel’s brazen discrimination against Palestinians. While Palestinians are locked in a blockade, stuck for hours at checkpoints, or waiting for yet another permit to come through, Israeli citizens and settlers can move around as they please.”

Amnesty International examined each of the security justifications which Israel cites as the basis for its treatment of Palestinians. The report shows that, while some of Israel’s policies may have been designed to fulfil legitimate security objectives, they have been implemented in a grossly disproportionate and discriminatory way which fails to comply with international law. Other policies have absolutely no reasonable basis in security, and are clearly shaped by the intent to oppress and dominate.

The way forward

Amnesty International provides numerous specific recommendations for how the Israeli authorities can dismantle the apartheid system and the discrimination, segregation and oppression which sustain it.

The organization is calling for an end to the brutal practice of home demolitions and forced evictions as a first step. Israel must grant equal rights to all Palestinians in Israel and the OPT, in line with principles of international human rights and humanitarian law. It must recognize the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to homes where they or their families once lived, and provide victims of human rights violations and crimes against humanity with full reparations.

The scale and seriousness of the violations documented in Amnesty International’s report call for a drastic change in the international community’s approach to the human rights crisis in Israel and the OPT.

All states may exercise universal jurisdiction over persons reasonably suspected of committing the crime of apartheid under international law, and states that are party to the Apartheid Convention have an obligation to do so.

The international response to apartheid must no longer be limited to bland condemnations and equivocating. Unless we tackle the root causes, Palestinians and Israelis will remain locked in the cycle of violence which has destroyed so many lives

Agnès Callamard

“Israel must dismantle the apartheid system and start treating Palestinians as human beings with equal rights and dignity. Until it does, peace and security will remain a distant prospect for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

Amnesty: Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity” – – IMEMC News 

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B’TSelem: “Soldiers hold 21 members of Palestinian family, 7 of them minors, in storeroom, and attack and beat some of them; six spend night in hospital, one remains in custody”

 IMEMC, FEB 4, 2022

B’Tselem Report:

On Sunday, 12 December 2021, at around 1:00 A.M., Israeli occupation soldiers knocked on the door of the apartment in which Mahmoud (57) and Nidaa (55) Salhab live with their four children in the neighborhood of Khirbet Qalqas in Hebron. When Mahmoud opened the door, about 20 soldiers came in and demanded to know the whereabouts of his son Anas (24), a student at Hebron University. They then locked Anas in his room on the ground floor of the building and led Mahmoud and three of his children to an adjacent storeroom.

The Israeli occupation soldiers surrounding the building led other family members who live in the compound to the storeroom, until they were holding 21 of them, including seven minors, in the room along with 10 soldiers guarding them. From the storeroom, the family could hear Anas shouting as the soldiers beat him in the adjacent room. When his brother Ibrahim (16) tried to protest what was happening, the soldiers attacked and beat him, too. In the ensuing argument, soldiers dragged Anas’ cousin, Osama Salhab (24), along the storeroom floor, causing his head to bang into an empty aquarium, which shattered and injured him. The soldiers called a military ambulance that took him to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

THE SALHAB FAMILY’S RESIDENTIAL COMPOUND IN KHIRBET QALQAS. PHOTO BY MUSA ABU HASHHSASH, 12 DEC. 2021

At around 2:30 A.M., the soldiers left, taking Anas with them, handcuffed and blindfolded. They drove him around for several hours until they arrived at the Etzion Detention Center at around 8:30 A.M. At the center, he was held inside a military jeep until noon. Throughout the entire time, Anas was not given food, water or access to a toilet.

He was then taken into a conversation with an ISA officer, who warned him not to participate in Hamas activities marking the movement’s anniversary. The talk lasted less than an hour, after which he was released and sent home with other students who had been called in for a similar warning.

After the soldiers left, five family members were taken to the ‘Alia Governmental Hospital in Hebron. Three of them were diagnosed with bruises, and two were in shock. At around 5:00 A.M., they were discharged. Osama Salhab was discharged the following day, and then arrested and charged with assaulting soldiers that night.

In the dead of night, dozens of soldiers entered a compound in Hebron that is home to about 30 people. They woke the occupants, held most of them in a storeroom, and attacked some of them.

The result: six members of the family were taken to hospital and two detained – one of them to date. This is incident is not exceptional; it is part of the intolerable routine that the Israeli apartheid regime imposes on Palestinians in the West Bank.

B’Tselem field researchers Manal al-Ja’bari and Musa Abu Hashhash collected the following testimonies from members of the Salhab family, who described their nightmarish experience:

In a testimony he gave on the day of the incident, one of the brothers living in the compound, Ahmad Salhab (52), a father of four, recounted:

AHMAD SALHAB, PHOTO BY MUSA ABU HASHHSASH, B’TSELEM

On 12 December 2021, at around 1:00 A.M., I was woken by noises and shouting coming from my brother Mahmoud’s house. I quickly went outside and my son Osama followed me. We found soldiers there and they led us to a storeroom on the ground floor of Mahmoud’s house. My brother Muhammad and his son Nur a-Din (23) were already there with more than 10 soldiers, including an officer. Some of the soldiers were attacking Muhammad’s son Ibrahim.

Meanwhile, the soldiers brought in my niece Mariam (20), who is Mahmoud’s daughter, and my nephew Salah a-Din (19), who is Muhammad’s son. They also brought in my son Amjad (27). We got into an argument with the soldiers, who pushed us and ordered us to sit still on the floor while they continued attacking Ibrahim. The argument turned into a scuffle and then some soldiers jumped my son Osama, punched him, beat him with their rifle butts and kicked him.

Muhammad and I tried to wrestle Osama from their hands. They pushed us. Some of them attacked Muhammad, and other soldiers continued beating Osama. They dragged him to the corner of the storeroom, where an aquarium crashed down on his head. I saw Osama lying on the floor, motionless. I saw he was severely injured and even thought he might be dead. The soldiers dragged him outside, and I followed them. Meanwhile, two Palestinian ambulances arrived, and the paramedics put Osama in one of them and gave him first aid. Before the ambulance left, the officer ordered them to transfer Osama to a military ambulance. I heard one of the soldiers say he was going to be taken to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. Osama’s head was bleeding and his face was covered in blood. After he was taken away, the soldiers led Anas to a jeep that was parked nearby and drove off with him.

My back and left arm were hurting from the soldiers’ beating, but I didn’t need treatment. My brother Muhammad, my nephew Ibrahim and my son Amjad were taken in the two ambulances to the ‘Alia Governmental Hospital in Hebron. A relative also drove my nieces Mariam and Asmaa (17), Muhammad’s daughters, to the hospital because they were in shock. Everyone got back from the hospital at around 6:00 A.M. Muhammad, Amjad and Ibrahim had bruises on various parts of their bodies.

In the morning, I went to the police station at Kiryat Arba after my relative, who visited Osama at Soroka Medical Center, said he had been transferred there. When I got there, an interrogator took a statement from me about what happened and only then let me see my son. Osama was sitting on a chair and couldn’t move. His head was bandaged and his face was wounded. The police officers told me they were transferring him to the detention center at Etzion.

In a testimony he gave on the day of the incident, Ibrahim Salhab (16), Mahmoud and Nidaa’s son and Anas’s brother, said:

IBRAHIM SALHAB IN THE HOSPITAL. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FAMILY

I was woken by loud banging on our door. I got up quickly and went towards the door. I saw my father open it. Several soldiers came in and asked my father about my older brother Anas. When they saw me, they led me to a storeroom on the ground floor of our house. A few minutes later, they brought my uncle Muhammad and his sons in, and later they also brought my uncle Ahmad and his sons in, as well as other members of the family.

The officer ordered me to sit on the floor. I didn’t do immediately as he said and asked the officer what I was supposed to sit on. Then he and about 10 other soldiers attacked me. They punched me, beat me with their rifle butts, kicked me and then knocked me down. I kept shouting and asking them to stop hitting me. I asked what I’d done to them.

They just told me to shut up and kept beating me. My uncle Muhmmad tried to free me from their hands, and they pushed him and made him sit on the floor. After they stopped beating my uncle and me, the officer and the soldiers moved on to my cousin Osama and attacked him. They knocked him down and dragged him to a corner of the storeroom, and then an aquarium that was standing on a small table fell on him. Osama started bleeding. His head and face were covered in blood and he stopped moving.

Everyone in the storeroom started shouting, and a scuffle broke out between my uncles and the soldiers. The soldiers dragged Osama out, and my uncle Ahmad went out after them. All the other soldiers followed him outside. Ahmad came back and told us they’d taken Osama to Soroka Medical Center in an Israeli ambulance. I was exhausted and my whole body was hurting from the beating. I saw my uncle Muhammad sitting on the floor. He couldn’t get up. Then I found out the soldiers had arrested my brother Anas.

Two Palestinian ambulances took me, my cousin Amjad and my uncle Muhammad to the ‘Alia Governmental Hospital in Hebron. In the ER I also met my two cousins, Mariam and Asmaa, who were in shock. I was examined and x-rayed, and they found bruises all over my body. I went home and straight to bed.

My brother Osama was treated at Soroka Medical Center and then transferred to the Kiryat Arba police station. From there he was transferred to the detention center at Etzion. I don’t know where my brother Anas was taken.

In a testimony she gave on 27 December 2021, Nisrin Salhab (12), Muhammad and Intisar’s daughter, recalled:

NISRIN SALHAB. PHOTO BY MANAL AL-JA’BARI, B’TSELEM, 27 DEC. 2021

That night, I was watching a Turkish show on TV. My mother and my sister Asmaa were asleep. Suddenly, I saw flashlights shining through our windows. I went over to a window and saw a lot of soldiers around the house. I quickly woke my mother and Asmaa.

My mother came out of the room and was surprised to find five soldiers holding my brothers Nur a-Din (23) and Salah a-Din (19). The soldiers led us to my uncle Mahmoud’s storeroom. Some of my uncles and their children were there. Everyone was sitting on the floor, and the soldiers were pointing their weapons at them. They ordered us to sit on the floor, too, and we all sat down. I sat next to my cousin Mariam, who was crying.

I saw the soldiers drag my cousin Anas to another room. I heard his voice and the voices of the soldiers, and it sounded like they were beating him. I was terrified because the soldiers were being barbaric. My cousin Ibrahim got into an argument with the soldiers and they immediately started beating him.

A commotion broke out and I saw my cousin Osama yelling at the soldiers in Hebrew. I didn’t understand what he was saying. One of the soldiers banged his head into Osama’s forehead and then they got into a fight. At least 10 soldiers stepped in and attacked Osama. They beat him with their rifle butts and dragged him along the floor. His head hit an old aquarium, and it crashed down onto him. Osama’s head and face were covered in blood.

I was screaming and crying, and shaking with fear. My father and uncles tried to defend Osama, and then the soldiers attacked them and beat them, too. Mariam, Asmaa and I screamed and cried. The soldiers took us and the rest of the women and children out of the storeroom and led us to my uncle Muhammad’s house on the second floor. We could hear the shouting from there and realized the soldiers were still beating my father and my uncles.

Five soldiers guarded the doorway to the apartment and wouldn’t let us leave. Asmaa was crying so hard, she could barely breathe. Mariam also kept crying, and I was crying and trembling with fear. We stayed like that until the soldiers left. From the balcony, we watched them lead Anas away in handcuffs and take Osama away in an Israeli ambulance.

After the soldiers left, we went down to the storeroom and saw my father lying on the floor, shouting in pain. There was blood on the floor and on the wall. Asmaa and I sat down on the floor next to my father and cried.

Two Palestinian ambulances arrived and the crew took my father and my cousins, Ibrahim and Amjad, to hospital. A relative also drove Asmaa and Mariam there in his car. Asmaa was having trouble breathing, and Mariam was screaming and couldn’t stop crying.

EVACUATION OF MUHAMMAD SALHAB. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FAMILY

In a testimony he gave on 20 January 2022, Anas Salhab (24), Muhammad and Nidaa’s son, related: 

The soldiers put me in the room next to the storeroom and kept demanding I give them my phone. I told them I didn’t have one. They pushed me and hit me with their hands and rifle butts. I heard my family shouting in the storeroom, but I didn’t know what was going on there.

After about an hour, they led me to a jeep outside. On the way, I saw my cousin Osama lying in the yard in front of the house and heard my uncles shouting that he needed medical treatment. I saw ambulances parked on the street.

The soldiers put me in the jeep and blindfolded me. The jeep drove to the settlement of Beit Hagai. On the way, I asked for a painkiller for my headache but they didn’t give me anything, not even food or drink. Then the jeep drove somewhere else, returned to Beit Hagai and finally drove to Etzion.

We got there around 8:30 or 9:00 A.M. They left me in the jeep until midday without any water or food, and I couldn’t go the bathroom. Then I was interrogated by the regional ISA coordinator, Taysir. He didn’t accuse me of anything but only warned me that I shouldn’t take part in Hamas activities.

I told him the soldiers had invaded our home and attacked my family and me. He said it was a troop of inexperienced soldiers who don’t know how to behave with people. I was released less than an hour later. I waited outside Etzion until they let other students I’d seen inside go, and we traveled to Hebron together. There, each of us went home.

I had bruises on my shoulder and back and I was in pain for several days.

B’TSelem: “Soldiers hold 21 members of Palestinian family, 7 of them minors, in storeroom, and attack and beat some of them; six spend night in hospital, one remains in custody” – – IMEMC News

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