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Lessons of Hong Kong
When millions of people are in an open struggle for freedom, the world takes notice.
Now it is Hong Kong’s turn.
On 1 October, during one of Hong Kong’s massive demonstrations, a protester was hit in the chest by a live round of ammunition, and 4 October, another live round hit a demonstrator’s leg. The world’s press noted both of these developments. Fortunately, both victims lived. The story turned tragic on 8 November with the death of student Chow Tsz-Lok, who sustained fatal brain injuries in a fall near a police action. The Washington Post headline: “Student’s death plunges Hong Kong into night of grief and fury.” Since then, two more protesters have died from police violence.
It takes absolutely nothing away from the struggle of the Hong Kong protesters to wonder aloud why a much bloodier struggle for similar goals in Palestine fails to attract the same level of sympathetic attention. In 2018, Israeli forces killed 289 Palestinians, most of whom were unarmed and not participating in hostilities against Israeli forces. In the first nine months of 2019, 89 more Palestinians were killed. The glaring contrast with Hong Kong is this: The Israeli forces routinely violate the rules of discrimination and proportionality that their own regulations require. Too often they use live fire when their own lives are not in danger, and too often they fire indiscriminately. Continue reading.
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Hebron will remain an icon
“Al-Khalil will remain an icon of the resistance to occupation and settlements.”
These were the words on one of the placards carried by hundreds of demonstrators in al-Khalil (Hebron) on 26 November. Palestinians marched peacefully from the Russian Orthodox monastery, known locally as al-Maskobiyeh, through the heart of the city. Some of the demonstrators carried their message right up to the line of Israeli soldiers blocking the route through the Bab az-Zawiyeh intersection near the Old City.
The demonstrators in Hebron were among thousands throughout the West Bank who observed a “Day of Rage” in response to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who recently declared that U.S. policy no longer recognizes international law as applying to Israeli settlements.
Organizers of the demonstration had also planned to call for the release of terminally ill prisoner Sami Abu Diak, detained in an Israeli hospital, who had hoped to die surrounded by his family. The Israeli administration had refused this request. Sami died on the morning of 26 November as the Day of Rage began. Continue reading.
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November in Numbers:
Summary of Incidents
Home invasions by Israeli forces:
3 homes
Settler attacks: 7 incidents
Injuries: 2 children, 12 adults
Injuries include excessive teargas inhalation and assault by settlers using rocks and pepper spray.
Use of force: 10 incidents
Teargas canisters: 66 canisters
Stun grenades: 54 grenades
Rubber bullets: 2 incidents
Live ammunition: 1 incident
Restriction of movement:
ID checks: 46 children,
79 adults (1.2% were teachers)
Students stopped:
79 children
Students searched:
52 children
Body searches (from a distance):
2 adults
Body searches (physical, hands-on):
2 adults
Vehicle stops / searches: 1 vehicle
Checkpoint closures: 5 closure incidents, duration between 20 minutes and 4 hours
These are the incidents that CPT has documented in the month of November. There are more incidents of human rights violations that have taken place in al-Khalil (Hebron) that other community members and human rights organizations have witnessed. Read our January - June 2019 Incident Report here.
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WATCH: A team of local Palestinians, foreigners, and human rights observers gather for a workday at Hebron's oldest Turkish bath. The main entrance is from Shuhada Street, which was closed to Palestinians in stages following the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in 1994. Nobody has entered the bath since 2003. The owner of the Turkish bath hopes that this workday is a step toward restoring another piece of Hebron's history. (30 October)
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Beit Kahil - Part 1 Members of the Assafrah and Zhur families in Beit Kahil meet with human rights observers after Israeli forces raid their homes multiple times, arrest several family members, and order the demolition of their homes. The Palestinian families in the town of Beit Kahil have been facing collective punishment from Israeli forces since August. With the support of our partners, CPT has been accompanying these families and following their case from the beginning. Read more here. (18 August 2019)
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Beit Kahil - Part 2 Residents of Beit Kahil survey the destruction of their homes by Israeli forces the morning after the demolitions. The four Palestinian homes belonged to the Assafrah and Zhur families, five of whose family members have been charged in the death of an Israeli settler. Not one person has been convicted in this case, but 22 people lost their homes, many of them children. Israeli forces also deployed teargas, stun grenades, and rubber-coated bullets against local Palestinians resisting the operation. CPT was able to document the home demolitions as part of our ongoing accompaniment. Watch the video here. (28 November 2019)
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An estimated 35,000 Israeli settlers came to Hebron to observe the annual Sarah’s Day (Shabbat Chayei Sarah). According to tradition, the religious figure Sarah is buried in the Ibrahimi Mosque (Tomb of the Patriarchs) in the Old City of Hebron. Israeli settlers attacked the home of Palestinian human rights defender Emad Abu Shamsiyeh in Tel Rumeida by climbing on the roof, shouting insults, and throwing rocks. Emad’s 1.5 year-old nephew sustained a head injury from one of the rocks thrown by the settlers. Watch videos here and here. (23 November 2019) |
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Israeli forces stop Palestinian drivers for ID checks outside of al-Maskobiya (monastery at Abraham’s Oak of Mamre) in Hebron. Two buses of Israeli settlers, accompanied by additional Israeli soldiers, police, and border police, arrived and entered the monastery grounds. Demonstrations began as the Israeli settlers eventually left. Israeli forces responded with teargas, more vehicle stops, and by raiding a Palestinian home. (18 November 2019)
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