7 May 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
When Ali Awad visited his orchard on Friday morning before the midday prayer he noticed nothing out of the usual. But eight hours later, when he returned to his land in order to gather grape leaves to sell in the local market, he was shocked to find that his trees had been poisoned. The grape leaves, which Ali depends on substantially for income, had died and shriveled up, making them impossible to sell. Twelve peach trees belonging to Ali’s neighbor were also destroyed.
Ali’s three dunums of farm land, where 28 grape trees have been growing for over 30 years, are directly adjacent to the barbed wire fence which separates the Palestinian village of Beit Ummar from the illegal Zionist settlement of Karmei Tsur.
Horrified and dismayed, Ali called his brother, Muhammad, to come and take pictures of the destruction. Before Muhammad could take any pictures, Israeli Occupation Forces and two older settlers arrived and began to hassle the two brothers, threatening to confiscate Muhammad’s camera. The settlers, one of whom is the mayor of Karmei Tsur, told Ali that his plants were accidentally sprayed with pesticides when Karmei Tsur farmers attempted to destroy the weeds on their land earlier in the day. Ali’s grape trees are located at least ten meters away from the settler’s field, opposite a fence and settlement road.
Ali, whose wheat crop was burned during the night by settlers last year just before harvest time, does not believe that the destruction of his trees was an accident.
“Its not unintentional, like they say, they mean to do this,” he said. “They want me to leave my land. My presence is an obstacle to the expansion of the settlement.”
But Ali, whose family has already lost several dunums of their ancestral land to the illegal settlement, steadfastly refuses to leave.
“I have deeds going back to Turkish times, why should I leave? The land is for me, for my family, not for the settlers.”
According to the Israeli organization Peace Now, Karmei Tsur is built on 27% privately owned Palestinian land. The Fourth Geneva Convention forbids the construction of settlements in occupied territory.
Joseph is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
7 May 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
A Palestinian woman was arrested by occupation police in Al Khalil (Hebron) yesterday after her home was attacked by settlers.
47 year old Jamila Hassan Abdul Fattah Al-Shalaldeh and her family live with two other familes in a home on Zionist controlled Shuhada Street .
Sunday night at 7 o clock, a group of settlers entered the family home with a large mirror, smashing the mirror on the staircase of the house before fleeing to the street. When occupation police and soldiers arrived (the home is across the street from an army post) the settlers accused al-Shalaldeh of attacking them, and the police took her into custody.
The morning of this attack, a nearby furniture shop owned by one of the other residents of the home was attacked by dozens of settlers. The group stole and destroyed furniture and attempted to knock down the walls of the shop.
The home under attack, like other Palestinian homes in the area, is the target of frequent, violent attacks from settlers and occupation soldiers. One month ago the Israeli army raided the home with an attack dog to force the residents to remove surveillance cameras on the exterior of the building, traumatizing the young children living in the house.
The events of yesterday serve as examples of the violence endemic to the lives of Palestinians living in Israeli-controlled zones of Hebron. The occupation forces protect the settlers as they attack Palestinian homes, property, and people of all ages. Palestinians who resist, even, passively, are punished by the police as the settlers remain free and untouched by the law.
Maria and Roda are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).
3 May 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On Wednesday 2nd May 2012, in the town of Al-Baqr, the Israeli occupation forces destroyed yet another water cistern.
The water cistern measuring 16 metres in width and length, and 8 metres in height was used to irrigate approximately 40 to 50 dunams of land. The land was used for the purpose of farming. The farms were mainly used for growing grapes, and various other vegetables.
The water cistern, owned by Yihya Jaber, was demolished approximately six and a half hours after the ordeal had begun at 7am in the morning. As ISM volunteers arrived at the scene, we could see the excavator being used to pick up the soil and filling in the demolished cistern. As we approached the scene, three Israeli soldiers told us not to go any closer.
Without giving us any clear instructions of where we were allowed to stand, we attempted to find an accurate view of this illegal demolition. With the permission of a local Palestinian family, we were able to see the carnage from their terrace. As we looked down, the cistern was almost nonexistent and the source of livelihood for many of the Palestinians in Al-Baqr was reduced to rubble and dirt.
The families looked on helplessly.
The soldiers had completely surrounded the scene preventing anybody from approaching the cistern while it was being destroyed. At approximately 1pm the the Israeli soldiers had finished what they came to do, they abandoned the scene taking away their digger and tipper.
Another water cistern demolished, another violation of Human Rights.
As the scene was abandoned the families come out, staring blankly in despair to what is left of a structure they so desperately relied on. It was one of a series of blows delivered to the Palestinians of Al-Baqr as the tally of water cisterns demolished by the Israeli occupation in Al-Baqr alone, rose to 8 just in the space of the last two years. The illegal destruction of this water cistern will affect the lives of 30 to 40 Palestinians.
The demolition in Al-Baqr was not the first time the Israeli occupation forces had destroyed this water cistern.
It was first demolished in 2010. Just like the demolition of 2010, Jaber had recieved only two to three weeks notice about it from the Israelis. Jaber and the local Palestinians whose livelihood depends upon these water cisterns, were informed that the reason for why the demolitions were taking place was due to the fact that neither of the families had a permit for the water cistern. According to Dr Shahaad Attili, the minister of Palestinian Water Authority, water cisterns do not require a permit from the Israeli Civil Administration, thereby rendering the pursuit of a permit as another useless exercise.
Despite it being unnecessary to be in possession of a permit, it is common knowledge that it is near impossible for Palestinians to obtain permits for land illegally occupied by the Israeli Government. On both occasions that Jaber had applied for permission, they were turned away on the grounds that “It is Israeli Land” or “It’s too close to the security road,” or “It’s an agricultural area,” and finally “It’s too close to the settlements.”
The cost for applying for a permit is approximately a thousand shekels, and now the cost of complaining about the demolition is normally between a total of 15000 NIS. Even if he does manage to afford this fee, which is highly unlikely, it will most likely be a futile battle against the discriminatory and apartheid policies of Israel.
In the past two years according to Daikonia, over 44 water cisterns hve been destroyed in land falling under Area C, affecting the lives of over 13,500 people and displacing 127. In the past month alone, a total of 7 water cisterns have been destroyed in West Bank with yet more structures under threat.
This is a clear violation of the Israeli-Palestinian joint agreement from 2001, the “Joint Declaration for Keeping the Water Infrastructure out of the Cycle of Violence.”
It is also important to note that Israel has denied the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention by occupying Palestinian land but have accepted the applicability of the Hague Regulations. Under Article 43 of The Hague Convention Israel, as an occupying power over both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, has the ultimate responsibility to ensure that public order and safety are upheld in the territory it occupies, including securing the welfare of the population. Its impossible to see how Israel is securing the welfare of the Palestinian population when they are illegally destroying water cisterns that will cause them severe hardship.
For more photos click here
The village of Al-Baqr remains under constant threat of demolition. Not only the remaining water cisterns, but the houses face the same consequences as they are considered “illegal.” This adds more burden to the strains of Al-Baqr.Even for electricity, all families are required to purchase cards which offer a limit of kilowatts lasting only two to three days. The closest hospital is also 25 kilometers away, shorter routes to the hospital have been made inaccessible for Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces. It is also very difficult for children to get to schools everyday as they have to travel long distances.
As demolitions continue in Al-Baqr the illegal Zionist settlements populated by migrants to stolen land continue to expand, the two nearest settlements being Harsin and Kariat Arba. Two years ago the main road leading into the town was opened up so the settlers can come and gawk at the plight of Palestinians. However the Israeli Government refers to these outings as “tours.”
Joseph is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
29 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Last Thursday 18 year old shepherd Yasir Sulaiman Sal man Najadah was shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers taking part in military training exercises near the Tyraseer training zone.
If one walks towards the Bedouin community of Wadi al-Maleh in the Jordan Valley, they will see one of the 67 blocks of concrete placed by Israeli military in the area, the words “Danger – Firing Zone – Entrance Forbidden” audaciously inscribed.
The village is only a few hundred meters away from an Israeli military base, and the villagers of Wadi al-Maleh are frequently endangered as Israeli soldiers carry out military training. In the past year, the village has lost two young men, both killed whilst shepherding as they inadvertently triggered unexploded ordnance.
“I was standing in the field with 19 camels,” said Yasir. According to Yasir, army jeeps typically comb the area to alert herders before shooting exercises begin however on April 19th, no warnings were issued before the firing of live ammunition began. Yasir was shot at a distance of approximately 1 to 1.5 kilometers, and he believes that the soldiers saw him before shooting.
He did not see the soldiers and only became aware of their presence after the shooting began; he believes they were behind a nearby hill. After the bullet entered his chest, Yasir walked to his home where he was then driven to the training base by his father for medical attention.
Israeli soldiers refused to treat him and denied fault in the shooting. It was nearly two hours before Yasir received medical treatment in Rafadia Hospital in Nablus. Yasir spent 1 day in Rafadia Hospital and was then transferred to a hospital in Ramallah.
According to his doctor, Yasir is in stable condition but remains in the Palestinian Authority hospital ICU after the shooting.
Yasir is the eldest of eight children and left school after the 10th grade to tend to the family’s heard of camels and sheep which is the main source of income for his family. He says his father is too old to take care of the animals and is concerned that no one is tending to them while he is in the hospital. Despite being shot, Yasir says he must return to the area surrounding the Tyraseer training zone for grazing because it is the only spring-time grazing near his village.
Aref Dyragma chief of council in Wadi al-Maleh, was one of the first persons to be informed about the attack. As Dyragma shows us around al-Maleh, he described how the Bedouins are exposed to systematic violence.
“Life is like hell here”, he said. “We have no running water, no electricity and we are prohibited from building anything. Israel has taken control of all the natural water resources, which forces us to walk 15 kilometers to the city of Tamoun, where we can buy expensive water.”
The violence used against Palestinians in the JordanValleyis part of process of ethnic cleansing. 130 families from the area have received demolition and evacuation orders – but Dyragma ensures that they will stay.
“We have no other choice – this our land and we cannot leave.”
Sally Rosarito is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
29 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Urif is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate of the northern occupied West Bank, located thirteen kilometres South of Nablus. The town has a population of just under 3000 inhabitants and is overlooked by the illegal Israeli colony of Yitzhar. Last week on Sunday, April 22, Urif’s boys school was attacked by mask-wearing settlers supported by four Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) soldiers who used tear-gas, sound bombs, and live ammunition against unarmed Palestinian children.
The training of armed, illegal settlers – Click here for more images (Photo courtesy of IMEMC)
The settlers were led by the head of security for the Yitzhar colony, a man suspected in the murder of a resident of Urif in 2004, a murder that nobody has yet been charged with. He continues to lead brutal assaults against the civilian population of six Palestinian towns in the lands surrounding Yitzhar: Burin, Huwara, Madma, Assria Al-Kalibya, Ein Nabous, and Urif.
The attack began when the Yitzhar head of security and a number of masked settlers approached the school from an overlooking hill. “The children were sitting their mock exams,” said Arif, a member of the local popular committee, “the settlers used foul language and began throwing stones at the windows of the school.”
The settlers were soon joined by four uniformed IOF soldiers who did nothing to stop the abuse and stones hurled towards the school.
“When the army came they were supposed to stop the settlers coming to the school, in fact the opposite happened, there was chaos,” said Arif. A number of Palestinian youth approached the armed Israeli settlers and soldiers on the hill, using stones to resist the attack. The IOF soldiers then threw tear gas canisters down towards them and the school. One canister landed on the roof where a member of the Israeli human rights group B’tselem, Adil Safadi, was filming the attack.
Following the attack teachers from the school collected sixty tear gas canisters, a number of sound grenades, and at least thirty rounds of live ammunition fired directly over their heads.
In the video of the incident wherein International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteers are shown, the screams of the children and the loud report of an assault rifle being fired in fully automatic mode can clearly be heard. At one point an IOF soldier took aim with his M16 directly at a Palestinian youth out of camera shot. The sustained assault lasted for around an hour before the settlers decided to leave with their IOF minders in tow.
Whilst some children hid in their classrooms during the attack under the watchful eye of their teachers, many rushed to their homes and were exposed to large amounts of tear-gas and required medical attention. The children of Urif’s boys school, aged between 13 and 18, have been subjected to this kind of brutality on a regular basis since the founding of the school which sits on the outskirts of the village and is thus vulnerable to these kind of attacks. Many of the older kids that attend the school were in the process of studying for their year final examinations which take place in early May.
“You can’t imagine the loss we have suffered as a result of this settlement,” says Arif, “we would like to live in peace and prosperity, but that is something we cannot gain. The settlers are very aggressive, there is no word in the dictionary to describe them.”
This is not the first time the settlers, supported by the military, have attacked the school. Roughly one year ago they attempted and failed to burn it down. ISM was shown pictures depicting the charred remains of one classroom that was severely damaged during the attack.
Incursions from Yitzhar into Urif and Surrounding Villages
Arif and members of Urif municipality informed ISM of the following.
The illegal colony of Yitzhar was founded in 1984. It was not until the beginning of 2000 that it began to aggressively expand into the surrounding Palestinian lands. Yitzhar illegally annexed vast swaths of land and barred access to the Palestinian farmers, shepherds, and villagers that have lived and worked the land for countless generations.
The village of Urif is a mere 1500 meters away from the Israeli colony, and since 2000, over 2200 dunams have been stolen by the nearby settlement. In addition, four thousand olive trees cultivated by the village have been uprooted or burnt by settlers in the past four years.
The villagers of Urif have no access to running water, instead they rely on a small number of ancient wells. Two years ago, members of the village were dismayed to find tear gas canisters had been dropped into one of the wells by unknown settlers, poisoning the water supply.
Any attempt to expand infrastructure in the village is also met with settler attacks. ISM volunteers were shown the remains of a house that had been under construction before it was attacked and completely dismantled.
“Late at night they launch attacks on the residents in this area,” said Arif, pointing to the rubble strewn skeleton of the destroyed house. A tractor and a number of cars belonging to residents of the village had also been destroyed in a series of recent arson attacks.
Settlers have shot through the windows of a number of the homes. Graffiti reading ‘revenge’ in Hebrew was scrawled across one residents house. The widespread attacks of agricultural land has lead to a vast “wasteland” between the outskirts of Urif and Yitzhar. Hundreds of goats, sheep, and a few horses have been stolen.
This is not to mention the violence towards the villagers themselves. Arif reports that hundreds of villagers have been injured since 2000, with as many as 40 serious injuries (many of which were gunshot wounds) and one murder.
The combined effects of this systematic assault on Urif residents’ way of life, economy, and civil society is akin to a form of ethnic cleansing. One of the most stark indicators of the impact of the measures taken against the village of Urif by Yitzhar settlement is that unemployment is as high as 40%. Many people simply cannot survive under these conditions and are thus forced to abandon the village of their birth, leaving behind their friends, family, and identity.
Chris Beckett is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
