12 February 2011 | International Solidarity Movement
In the village of Jaloud, south of Nablus, around thirty villagers, two internationals, and six Israeli peace activists accompanied farmers to their land to help plant one hundred olive trees. Towards the end of the planting, a settler from the illegal settlement of Shilo came down in a pickup carrying an assault rifle. He contacted the army and, 15 minutes later, two jeeps came down, followed by another three. There were around 25 – 30 soldiers in total, armed with rifles with tear gas canisters, some swinging batons. Soldiers requested that the people move back to the road and agreed to let five people finish planting the trees. Had the Israeli activists and internationals not been there, the weapons may well have been used on the Palestinians.
Villagers try to plant trees near Jaloud
There are illegal settlement outposts all around the village. The farmers of Jaloud have had 16,000 dunams of land seized by settlers and are prevented from farming their land. The small village, which has 600 inhabitants, faces regular harassment from the settlers. There have been reports of settlers walking into the village shooting into the air to frighten the children, stealing animals, going into families’ houses and burning land.
It is expected that the settlers will destroy the trees that were planted.
10 February 2011 | International Solidarity Movement
The village of Khirbet Tana, near Beit Furik, Nablus region, once again faced Israeli bulldozers yesterday. Several structures, including homes and animal shelters were demolished when the army arrived with six jeeps and two bulldozers. No notice was given of the destruction.
The villagers have been through this many times, the last time only a month ago. They will not be deterred though, and each time they set about rebuilding; Fozan Mousa Esai, an old farmer, says that he will rebuild his shelter for around two hundred sheep once again. He will, however, have to
sell some of them to be able to do it.
Villager stands by the site of the demolition
Many of Khirbet Tana’s population, originally consisting of some 60 families, have fled to Beit Furik, on whose lands Khirbet Tana resides. Israeli efforts to ethnically cleanse the area of its Palestinian
population dates back to the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, the situation worsening considerably since the Oslo Accords zoning scheme of 1994 deemed the entire region Area C, under full Israeli control. The village was demolished for the first time in 2005, when Israeli bulldozers razed 14 homes, 18 animal sheds and 6 animal stores to the ground, leaving only the ancient mosque standing. Using bureaucracy as a weapon, Israeli authorities then banned residents from building permanent structures on the site of their former homes by refusing to issue the necessary permits. Ramshackle tents and prefabricated structures now dot the hillsides of Khirbet Tana, as residents are forced to adopt an almost Bedouin lifestyle, fearing instant demolition at the first attempt to lay concrete or stone.
Israeli bulldozers visited Khirbet Tana a second time in May 2008, once again leaving only rubble in their wake. An objection then filed by residents to the Israeli High Court of Justice resulted in the final, non-objectionable decision to demolish all structures in Khirbet Tana and evict its entire population from their lands. This was carried out on 10 January 2010, when all 25 structures remaining in the village were once again flattened by the bulldozers of the occupation forces, including the school. Neighbouring agricultural communities such as Twiyel, east of Aqraba village, have suffered similar attacks in recent months.
Khirbet Tana’s remaining population ekes out a precarious existence in the isolated hills between Beit Furik and the Jordan Valley. Like Fursa Hanina, those who stay are determined to hold rightful claim to their land in the face of Israel’s bureaucratic and military machine, and its efforts to ethnically cleanse Palestine’s rural population.
11 February 2011 | Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI)
Residents in the village of Khirbet Tana will sleep in caves tonight following the demolition of their homes on Wednesday. Israeli bulldozers destroyed six homes and several makeshift shelters for sheep, which villagers had erected after demolitions in January. The army has demolished multiple structures here on four occasions in recent years, including the village school.
Farmers in the community, on the edge of the Jordan Valley, said that when Israeli soldiers arrived at 9.30 in the morning, they did not give the farmers time to remove their sheep from makeshift tents they had used as animal shelters since the previous demolitions, in January. Observers from EAPPI witnessed dead lambs among the rubble.
“I wanted to take my sheep and lambs out. I wanted to take my things out of the tent but they would not let me,” Rafi Mahmoud Hanani told EAPPI. “I said please, I want to take my stuff, I have sheep. (But) they hit the sheep with the bulldozer.”
Residents of the village prepare to move into nearby caves, after their homes were demolished by the Israeli army. (Photo: EAPPI / P Hanseid)
Usra Ahmed Hanani told EAPPI: “We spend all our time with the sheep – how can we live without them? It is not possible.” (Photo: EAPPI / P Hanseid)
A resident of Khirbet Tana after the demolitions. (Photo: EAPPI / P Hanseid)
EFORE… Rafi Mahmoud Hanani’s makeshift sheep shelter, erected following demolitions in January (Photo: EAPPI / A Farr)
… AND AFTER. Rafi Mahmoud Hanani with the wreckage of his animal shelter. (Photo: EAPPI / P Hanseid)
The sheep shelter in ruins. (Photo: EAPPI / A Farr)
The army arrived with bulldozers at around 9.30 on Wednesday morning and razed 17 structures, many of which were provided to the community in the form of emergency assistance as a result of previous demolitions.
Over 50 people lost their homes and personal belongings.
“The deliberate demolitions of Palestinian homes and other structures need for their survival must be brought to an end,” said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in a statement. Khirbet Tana is in Area C, the 60 percent or so of the West Bank the Oslo Accords placed under full Israeli control. The Israeli authorities enforce strict policies against unauthorized Palestinian construction in the area, but almost never give permits for Palestinians to build there “legally”.
This is the fourth major demolition suffered by the community in the span of a few years. Last year, the community suffered extensive demolitions in January and again in December. On both occasions, a number of homes, animal shelters and the village school were destroyed.
EAPPI observers who also visited the village back in December said Rafi Mahmoud Hanani was distraught.
“After the December demolition he showed us what had happened: his stone house was totally destroyed and his belongings buried under the rubble. Despite all this, he laughed with us and told us about his life in the Jordanian army. This time he was broken. Nothing was left of any of his home or sheep shelters that had been supplied by the Red Cross. He was alone and devastated. His concern was for his three sheep and their new lambs, and his sick wife in Beit Furik.”
“I am 66 years old and I was born up there where you see the olive trees,” said Usra Ahmed Hanani, pointing to the nearby hillside. “(My husband) is nearly 80 years old and he was born here. We spend all our time with the sheep – how can we live without them? It is not possible.”
07 February 2011 | International Women’s Peace Service
On Friday, 5 February, approximately 20 international and Israeli activists joined the residents of the village of An Nabi Saleh in the Ramallah district for the village’s regular non-violent demonstration against land confiscation and Israel’s occupation policies. The village had been placed under curfew since 7am, with all roads blocked by the Israeli military.
Prior to the start of the midday demonstration, the Israeli military invaded the village and attempted to prevent Israeli solidarity activists from being present in the village, forcing them to leave. Israeli and international activists, including three International Women’s Peace Service (IWPS) volunteers, however, we able to enter the village via the village fields joining internationals activists from the International Solidarity Movement already in the village.
Within minutes of the non-violent demonstration commencing, the Israeli military open fired on the demonstration with tear gas. The Israeli military invasion of the village lasted for approximately 6 hours, with Israeli soldiers firing tear gas and rubber bullets at unarmed demonstrators, chasing demonstrators into and through the village fields.
Two international activists were detained and assaulted by the Israeli military at approximately 2pm, including a volunteer from the IWPS. The volunteer reported that she was pushed violently to the muddy ground by a soldier, who then shouted at her. A male international with her was also assaulted and hand cuffed. Both international activists were detained for more than three hours in the permanent military tower located at the entrance of the village. They were released after three hours with no charges.
In recent weeks, the Israeli military has stepped up its harassment of the village, conducting regular night raids and arresting village leaders and other village residents, including children. Currently a 14-year-old minor, who was arrested on January 23rd, is still in prison, no charges having been brought. Lawyers for the minor have reported that the child has been beaten. Another two children, including the 11-year-old brother of the 14-year-old were also kidnapped by the Israeli military and beaten. Village leaders have also been kidnapped by the military, held for several hours and beaten without any charges laid against them.
8 February 2011 | Operation Dove & Christian Peacemaker Team
On the afternoon of 7 February 2011, three Israeli settlers from Havat Ma’on outpost chased a group of 12 Palestinian schoolchildren who were walking home from school. The Israeli military had failed to arrive to escort the schoolchildren, forcing the children to take a longer path without the army’s escort.
Shortly after the schoolchildren and Christian Peacemaker Teams(CPT) volunteers set out on the path towards Tuba and Maghayir al-Abeed villages, Israeli settlers, two of whom were masked, emerged from the grouping of trees which encompasses Havat Ma’on and began moving towards the children. Upon seeing the settlers, the children turned and sprinted to distance themselves from the settlers. Several children began crying and screaming in fear as they ran away from the settlers, one young girl began shaking uncontrollably as soon as she stopped running from the settlers.
The Israeli Border Police, who were located on an adjacent hill for the duration of the incident, arrived at the scene after the Palestinian children had safely distanced themselves from the settlers. The Border Police stopped and spoke with the settlers, two of whom remained masked during the entire conversation with the authorities.
The Border Police then approached the edge of At-Tuwani village where the children, CPT volunteers, and Palestinian adults had gathered. Border Police officers spoke with a CPT volunteer and an At-Tuwani resident, seeking to understand what had happened. After hearing their accounts but refusing to hear the role the settlers had played, the officers suggested that the Palestinian children, internationals, and At-Tuwani villagers were the ones causing problems, rather than the settlers.
Before the children had set out on the longer path without the military escort, CPT volunteers had called the Israeli military four times inquiring as to the whereabouts of the escort. During CPT’s final call to the military – more than 30 minutes after their initial call – the military dispatch office said that they hadn’t yet called the soldiers, who were to provide the escort, because they were too busy and had more important duties to perform.
Operation Dove and Christian Peacemaker Teams have maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.
Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.
