6 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
More than 300 Israeli soldiers raided the village Iraq Burin at approximately 10:30pm to 5am commencing on the 5th July. Soldiers accompanied by dogs forcefully entered all 150 houses within the village. The searches commenced with the families and children having to wait outside for further instructions. Two males (15 and 23) were arrested and multiple boys were taken to a local school to be questioned and photographed for future Israeli intelligence at demonstrations. During the raids the houses were turned upside down and many possessions and windows were broken. Several gates were kicked in. The memorial stone of a man killed by settlers within the village during the illegal occupation was deliberately rammed by an Israeli jeep and broken in to several pieces. Weapons were not only used to threaten Palestinians but also as hammers withing the properties.
The catalyst of this raid seems to be the demonstrations that are held locally every Saturday on occupied land. The Palestinians have been warned that future demonstrations will result in more raids in Iraq Burin. Palestinians and international activists will however continue to demonstrate. This will be increasingly dangerous for Palestinians in the village due to the information and pictures obtained during these raids.
Iraq Burin is a small village 8 km southwest of Nablus. The illegal settlement of Bracha is located approximately one mile southeast of the village, and is situated on around 100 dunams (25 acres) of village land, as well as more land from surrounding villages. In addition to the settlement itself, the land surrounding it is off-limits to the farmers who are prevented from accessing it due to its close proximity to the settlement, leaving them with less land to graze their sheep and harvest from.