Qadoum
Before Friday prayers are over, the soldiers fired teargas volleys at the youngsters. Three were hit, one of them by a canister to his head.
About 200 villagers took part in the demonstration, as well as international activists and the Anarchists Against the Wall. The demo opened with the mention of the catastrophe unfolding in the Al Yarmouk refugee camp in Syria.
Untypically, no stones were hurled in the first part of the demonstration.
The demonstrators waited to see how the army would respond, and for about 15 minutes there was no shooting of any kind. The quiet was charged, clearly this pause would end with a violent reaction, which came soon enough in response to laying tires in front.
An automatic volley of teargas was fired from a jeep, showering us with a huge quantity of the stuff. Demonstrators choked, three others were wounded. Subsequently 22 bullets were fired and one of the demonstrators was wounded in his leg, treated, and returned to the demonstration. Things took their usual course, including the use of the “Skunk”, sniper fire into buildings, and more teargas.
We metthe older women who stay behind and worry about their sons’ wellbeing. They told us again about the ways in which the army harasses them, and the vital necessity of opening the road.
Not everyone can make the long, tedious way to Nablus, which involves steep expenses (gasoline, taxis) which they cannot afford, not to mention emergencies in which they are delayed because of the huge detour they must make.
But since when are Palestinian lives worth anything…?
Qaddum
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Qaddum
The village of Qaddum dates back approximately 4,000 years. Today’s villagers mostly work in agriculture and cultivae olive groves. The hilly landscape is covered with olive trees and are dotted with patches of green fields.
Qaddum was attached to the district of Nablus until 1994 at which time it joined the Qalqiliya district. The village is home to 4,000 inhabitants (2013), with 22,000 dunams (5,400 acres) of which 11,000 dunam (2700 acres) are in Area C*. Access to Area C requires coordination with the Israeli army, which means that access is almost non-existent.
The settlement of Kedumim was founded in 1975 on lands belonging to the ancient the village of Qaddum. Since then, Kedumim has expanded to include 5 settlements. The Kedumim settlements separate Qaddum village from its lands and from access to the main road. The road connecting Qaddum village to Route 55 was closed to its residents in 2003. The short ride (1.5 km or less than a mile) between Qaddum and a neighboring village - Jit, turned into a 12 km (7.5 miles) bumpy ride on an unpaved gravely road. Since 2004, residents of the village of Qaddum have been submitting requests to the authorities to reopen the old road leading to Route 55.
On July 2011, the villagers began holding weekly demonstrations in protest of the road closure and of the theft of their lands. They march to the edge of the village and there they stop. There is a regular routine to the demonstration which always follows with a confrontation with the army when it enters the village at the end of the blocked road. The army reacts to the demonstrations with sharp weapons, rubber bullets, tear gas and lately also live ammunition. Villagers are injured and hurt each week and often, dozens are arrested by the army. Young people and children are intimidated by the army when they photos are posted in the village streets.
On 12/7/19 a 10 year old boy was criticaaly wounded after he was shot in the head by live ammunition while standing at the entrance to his home in Qaddum during a demonstration.*Area C is an administrative division of the West Bank established by the Oslo II Accords in 1995. The Palestinian Authority is responsible for medical and education services and Israel is responsible for infrastructure and administration.
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