Category: Nablus

Settler violence rages in Nablus area

by Jonas Weber

29 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Yesterday, violence erupted close to Joseph’s Tomb when settlers gathered near the site. Youths from Balata refuge camp came out to chase the settlers off but where kept at a distance by the soldiers that accompanied the illegal settlers as usual. This is the second time this month that violence occurred due to settlers visiting Joseph’s Tomb.

In the nearby village of Burin, dozens of settlers from the illegal settlement Yitzhar attacked the house of Umm Ayman Sufan by throwing rocks and bottles. The olive trees surrounding Sufan’s home on the southern edge of the village were also cut down.

Meanwhile, another attack on Burin from the illegal settlement of Bracha was reported by the Palestinian Authorities.

“Recently we have noticed that young settlers are hanging out with soldiers at the checkpoints, and we know that they receive training in handling fire arms from the age of 15 under the cloak of self defense,” says Ghassan Daghlas. “Why do they need to learn about fire arms for self defense when they have an entire occupational army protecting them?”

Yitzhar is considered to be home to some of the most militant Zionist settlers of the West Bank, and Palestinians from nearby villages claim that settlers from Yitzhar coordinate attacks against Palestinian villagers with other settlements. The illegal settlement Yeshiva has been suspected by the Israeli intelligence service Shin Bet to be teaching racist and violent ideologies to their students.

The Yeshiva leaders Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg and Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira have many times been at the center of controversies surrounding their statements about non Jewish people. Shapiras organization Od Yosef Hai, which includes various grades of educational institutions and publishing, up until recently received extensive funding from the Israeli Education Ministry. In November 2011 both Ginzburg’s and Shapira’s institutions were closed down by the Education Ministry due to information about the participation of students and teachers in attacks on Palestinians and Israeli military forces.

Since these institutions were closed the settler violence from Yitzhar has increased according to Ghassan Daghlas. After all, Yitzhar was the settlement to first take the so called “price tag” tactic into practice. The price tag tactic means to target Palestinian civilians or property in order to get revenge for actions from the Israeli military or government to curb settlement activity, perceived as unjust by the illegal settlers.

Generally the settler attacks increase during the summer when the weather is warmer according to Ghassan Douglas. They also change character with the weather

“In the summer everything is dry and they tend to burn crops and trees, when it’s colder and damper they move on to burn mosques and cars,” he says.

Jonas Weber is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Jordan Valley: Demolitions and arrests of two Palestinians

by Satu and John

15 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On February 14, 2012, in the small village of Twael of the Aqraba district, southeast of Nablus in the Jordan Valley, the home of the Bunni Jaber family was destroyed by an Israeli backhoe protected by 20 soldiers in four military vehicles. Two men from the family were arrested – Ayman Bunni Jaber, aged 36, and Rafie Bunni Jaber, aged 30. The family’s tractor was also confiscated by the Israeli authorities.

The Bunni Jaber house was located along the green, rocky hills that dominate the landscape here, built from cloth, plastic sheeting, wire mesh, stones, and dirt. There are four children in the Bunni Jaber family, ranging from toddlers to adolescents. The family are herders, with flocks of sheep and goat, and the arbitrary confiscation of their tractor presents a serious challenge for the family’s livelihood.

Click here for more photos - Photos courtesy of Rana Hamadan, 2012

The reason given for the demolition was the house’s construction without a permit in Area C, the part of the West Bank under full Israeli civil and military control. The land belongs to the municipality of Aqraba, and is used for agriculture and herding. Obtaining a construction permit in Area C is a near impossibility for Palestinians. According to the UN agency OCHA, 96 percent of request for building permits in the Jordan Valley between 2000 and 2006 were denied. Nineteen of the 22 houses in the area have received demolition orders, as has the local mosque. Many of these have been demolished, some multiple times after reconstruction by their owners.

By longstanding local custom and law, houses without concrete or foundations like that of the Bunni Jaber family, do not require a building permit. Eighty percent of the land in Aqraba has been confiscated by the Israeli Army under the auspices of its use as “training grounds,” even though land seized is in fact stolen by illegal Israeli settlements. The villagers have resisted through various means, including a one-day hunger strike.

Satu and John are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).

61 year old released from hospital after Yitzhar settler attack

by Fransisco Reeves

15 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

A broken windshield of the family vehicle reveals the impact and size of thrown projectiles - Image via Alternative Information Center

Following her horrific ordeal of having her family’s vehicle attacked by Zionist settlers in early February,  Maysar Abd Al Majeed Ghanem is finally healthy enough to return to home.

 The attack resulted in Ghanem spending 36 hours in the Intensive Care Unit and a subsequent 11 days in the hospital. No effort has been made to investigate this attack by Israelis or illegal settlers from Yitzhar settlment, where the attackers are based.

Ghanem and her family will be left recovering from the physical and emotional trauma suffered, whilst remaining aware that at any moment, they or someone they know could be the victim of a similar attack, with potentially the consequences being even more severe.

Although clearly still weak, Mrs. Ghanem was far from beaten, and although there remain significant health issues as a consequence of her attack, when asked how she felt as she lay on her hospital bed flanked by loved ones, Mrs. Ghanem responded, “Better, thank God.”

According Ghanem’s son, Fares it is his brother-in-law and driver of the car, who is finding it most difficult to recover, emotionally that is. Fares Muhammed Ibrahim explained that his brother-in-law feels “guilty” and “responsible” for this incident and has not “shaved” since the attack. Clearly the affects of attacks such as these extend far beyond the physical injuries sustained and can take much longer to recover.

It is without question that Ghanem, her family, and Palestinians in general will continue to resist, whether it be through hunger strikes, weekly protests, refusing to relinquish their rights to live and work on their land, or in this case simply driving along the road to visit your daughter.

Fransisco Reeves is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).