1/ On Friday, IDF forces arrived at a Palestinian village in the South Hebron Hills and confiscated a generator. Harun Abu Aram was shot in the neck by the soldiers—not for attacking or threatening them; he was simply trying to prevent them from taking it.
2/ Abu Aram probably understood the consequences of intervening. He knew the soldiers wouldn't just let him take the generator back. But they depended on the generator; getting by without it would be hard at the best of times, let alone at the height of winter.
3/ In November soldiers demolished Abu Aram's house. He lives in 'Firing Zone 918', an area that has been designated for IDF training—meaning Palestinian residents, many of whom have lived there since before Israel even existed, are on the verge of eviction. A house in the South Hebron Hills demolished on the orders o
4/ This is no coincidence. Documents exposed by @Akevot show that since the 80s, Israel has been making a concerted effort to establish its presence in strategic areas of the oPt through a variety of methods - including the creation of IDF training zones.
5/ This isn't just about a fight over a generator; it's about policy and facts on the ground.
Pro-occupationists would probably say that Abu Aram and his family had it coming to them—they shouldn't be living there without building permits. But who decides who gets the permits?
6/ All of this takes place on the backdrop of two weeks of violent riots by settlers attacking Palestinians and Israeli police in response to the death of a settler teen killed while fleeing from the police after allegedly throwing stones at Palestinians.
7/ When it comes to settlers, not only are they not condemned for their violence; if anything, PM Netanyahu and Internal Security Minister Amir Ohana went out of their way to embrace the family of the settler, to make it clear that they're sympathetic to the settlers' concerns.
8/ But when it comes to Palestinians, trying to stop soldiers taking a generator can get you paralyzed.

That's just another part of life under occupation.

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More from @BtSIsrael

8 Dec 20
Infrastructure policy sounds like the most boring topic to read about. But it's not. It's simply the pro-occupation Israeli right's new way of making the occupation palatable. Read this AP article about a vital new report, 'Highway to Annexation' by @YehudaShaul & Maya Rosen:
There's a connection between road building & annexation, and it's more important than people think. Roads are a fundamental part of the govt-backed settlement enterprise's attempt to create facts on the ground & fortify Israel's control of the oPt, at the Palestinians' expense.
“Israel is continuing at full speed ahead down the road to annexation of the West Bank by developing infrastructure that will help double the number of settlers, and in doing so, to entrench our control over the Palestinian people for eternity,” says BtS co-founder Yehuda Shaul.
Read 7 tweets
2 Dec 20
Almost every IDF combat soldier who serves in the oPt knows what the inside of a Palestinian home looks like. Because they invade them all too frequently. But for everyone else, the subject remains a mystery. So let's set the record straight on IDF invasions of Palestinian homes:
Myth: Invasions are 'surgical operations' to take terrorists out of the picture.
Fact: According to UN figures, in 2017/18 they took place on average 267 times a month. Almost nine times every night. That's not 'surgical'. That's what's called 'routine'.
Myth: You need a court order/warrant to invade a home.
Fact: No court order or warrant necessary. In fact, even a 20-year-old squad commander can decide to invade a home for a whole host of reasons, and doesn't need the approval of a more senior commander to do so.
Read 9 tweets
19 Oct 20
Senior diplomats from several countries are joining us and @btselem today in the South Hebron Hills, where the State of Israel is currently attempting to expel the residents of several Palestinian villages to make way for a large training area for the IDF—'Firing Zone 918'.
Here are the facts:
1) In the 80s the IDF designated a 30K dunam area in Masafer Yatta, to be 'Firing Zone 918'. At the time, 100s of Palestinian families in 12 villages had lived there for years. In fact, they've lived there since before the State of Israel was even established.
2) After the first round of expulsions in 1999, Israel's High Court gave a temporary injunction to stop the State from expelling anyone else—but the residents were also not allowed to expand or develop their villages. Since then they've been temporary residents on their own land.
Read 21 tweets
14 Oct 20
For years, the pro-occupation org Ad Kan has done everything in its power to silence us and all those who have made it their mission to tell the public about what the occupation looks like. Unfortunately, they have friends in high places who have for years amplified their lies.
Their attempts to smear us have been echoed at the highest political echelons. Their false claims were reiterated and given new life by the likes of PM Netanyahu, then-ministers Shaked & Yaalon, and even so-called 'centrists' like current opposition leader Lapid.
Once the Atty Gen - having consulted with the IDF, Shin Bet & the State Atty- concluded there were no grounds to investigate us as they'd demanded, Ad Kan didn't stop: they challenged the decision in the High Court of Justice. On Monday, the HCJ firmly rejected their case.
Read 4 tweets
17 Feb 20
On Saturday, nine-year-old Malek Issa from Isawiya in East Jerusalem was shot in the face with a sponge-tipped bullet by Israeli Border Police forces. He is now in hospital and may lose an eye.

Four short comments on the incident: (thread)
a)This horrific incident won’t surprise those who follow news from E.Jerusalem. Issa isn't the 1st child to be hospitalized by Israeli forces.Mohamed Shtiwi,14,was shot by a rubber bullet in the head.Abd alRahman Shtiwi, 10, is in a vegetative state after being shot by live fire.
b) If you weren’t aware of that, it’s worth taking a moment to think about why this kind of thing doesn’t make it into the mainstream media (Israel or abroad). It’s a story about a 9-y-o who may lose his eye, which raises serious questions about police behavior and tactics...
Read 7 tweets
21 Nov 19
1/Jacob, grew up in Ohio, served in the Paratroopers: Growing up in American Jewish life, my pride in Israel was impenetrable. I encountered endless stories from camp and youth movement friends, many of whom enlisted in the IDF. For me, joining the IDF was the obvious choice.
2/ First time I was in the west bank I didn’t meet any Palestinians because I was securing a road that was permitted to use only for Israelis. So even though it was in the middle of a Palestinian city, Hebron, I don't remember seeing any Palestinians until the next mission>>
3/Where I also began to understand the meaning of being a soldier in the Occupied territories. It was during the summer of 2014 and we we’re part of a big operation that was launched after the kidnap and murder of 3 Israeli teenagers. We we're sent to search. Anything. Everywhere
Read 8 tweets

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