Thousands of liters of raw sewage from the illegal Gush Etzion settlement flooded over 50 dunams of Palestinian farmland in the village of Beit Ommar last night. The sewage was pumped from a storage unit inside the settlement onto the land of the Sabarna family, flooding trees and submerging a bulldozer.
As of 1 PM the water is still flooding.
Today marks the fourth time this year that the settlement has dumped waste water onto the Sabarnas’ land. The settlement emptied sewage onto their land in March, April and June, destroying the crops and costing the farmers thousands of shekels in lost income.
The flooding poses a major health hazard to the village residents. Members of the Awwad family, whose bulldozer was submerged, waded knee deep in the sewage to pull out the bulldozer, and ground soil contamination creates major health risks for local residents.
16 October 2010 | International Solidarity Movement
Today farmers in Burin, a village located south of Nablus, were forced to abandon their olive harvesting when about one hundred settlers came down to their fields. The settlers came from the illegal settlement of Bracha, Yitzhar and from the outpost located on another hilltop. Villagers reported that the settlers threw rocks and shot slingshots, aiming to hit the farming families and children. One farmer was hit by a rock that caused a bleeding injury. The settlers also verbally harassed the Palestinians, shouting statements such as “This is not your land, go to Jordan” or insults to the Prophet Mohammed.
The families left their farmland, and other villagers returned to the hill of Burin where the attack took place. There was little they could do to help, other than bring the bags of olives to safety. 20 minutes later the Israeli army arrived with 8 jeeps, after being contacted by the Palestinian District Coordination Office (DCO), and the settlers retreated towards Bracha and the outpost. Apparently, the soldiers detained one of the most violent settlers.
The villagers of Burin have been suffering from settler attacks for many years. Settlers have come down several times in the last few months, setting fire to hundreds of olive trees to ruin an essential part of the farmers’ income. Farmers have had their olives stolen after spending hours picking and preparing them in sacks. Several people have been injured by rocks thrown by settlers; in September a man had to be taken to the hospital after being hit by a rock. The olive harvest is a dangerous and critical time for many farmers in the area as settlers known for their ideological extremism use violence to keep the Palestinian farmers away from their own land.
Yesterday the village of An Nabi Saleh was transformed into a war zone, with Palestinian villagers and about fifteen International Peace activists trapped within the village behind a checkpoint for five-and-a-half hours. Soldiers shot at these non-violent activists with live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas cannons, and sound bombs. One Palestinian man was shot twice in the leg, and several children needed medical treatment from exposure to teargas inside their homes.
Noon yesterday 15 internationals and 40 villagers marched through the town toward the village spring which borders land confiscated by Israeli Settlers. Soldiers were waiting at the bottom of the hill and immediately shot teargas and sound bombs at the unarmed protesters. Demonstrators dispersed to recover from large amounts of teargas.
Soldiers moved up the side of the village, and responded to stone-throwing with more teargas. Villagers fought to keep the soldiers out of the village, but were forced to retreat to the far-end of the village. At 1:30 pm teargas was shot directly into a house with residents still inside. The Palestinian Medical Relief Society rushed into the house and carried out children who were then treated by paramedics.
For a short time the battle was quiet as soldiers retreated and set up a checkpoint at the village entrance. Demonstrators sat on the hillside and watched the soldiers peacefully.
At 3:30pm, in response to symbolic stone throwing, soldiers shot at villagers and demonstrators with live ammunition and tear gas. A scuffle between Palestinians emerged in response to frustration over road blocks, and soldiers disguised as civilians emerged. Villagers surrounded them and the civilian cops shot live ammunition from inside the crowd. People quickly dispersed and internationals rushed to the scene to see if anyone was injured. They where forced to retreat when soldiers shot rubber covered steel bullets at them. Three Palestinians and one Israeli activist where arrested by civilian cops. According to one report, the soldiers used tazers to subdue the Palestinians while arresting them.
Soldiers chased people far back up in the village and shot teargas cannons and sound bombs. At 5:00 soldiers shot more live ammunition and then left the area. A Palestinian man was hit twice in the leg. When paramedics reached him, he had no feeling in his hands. One report stated that two children were also hit.
At 5:30 the international peace activists were able to leave the village again. Several of the them suffered minor injuries.
Report on Al Ma’asara
by London
Friday at noon ten Palestinian villagers from the town of Al Ma’asara and twenty internationals recognized the first day of the olive harvest by marching through the village
to protest the annexation of 860 acres from their land by the Apartheid Wall in 2006. Within minutes of reaching the soldiers, these unarmed demonstrators were shot with tear gas and sound bombs. Demonstrators remained in the area chanting and giving speeches for 45 minutes. One international was hit with a teargas canister which exploded on him, but he was not seriously injured.
JENIN (Ma’an) — Israel began large-scale digging works on Saturday in preparation for the expansion of an illegal settlement in the northern West Bank district of Jenin.
Residents of the Ya’bad village, on which the Shaqed settlement is built, said bulldozers entered on Saturday and began razing village land to make way for several new housing units.
The expansion follows the expiration of a partial settlement moratorium in the West Bank last month, which the US and EU urged Israel to prolong in a bid to save flailing peace talks from collapse over settlement activity.
The Ya’bad village is surrounded by several Israeli settlements including Shaqed, Rehan, Hinnanit, Mevo Dotan and Hermesh.
On Friday, the US said it was disappointed by Israel’s announcement that several new homes in two illegal East Jerusalem settlements had been approved, describing the move as “contrary” to efforts to resume direct negotiations.
LONDON – October 15 – A ship loaded with vehicles and aid for Gaza is due to leave Syria for Egypt this Sunday, carrying members of Palestine Solidarity CampaignUK.
The ship will pass the exact place in international waters where Israel boarded the Mavi Marmara in May and killed nine Turkish humanitarians on board as they attempted to sail to Gaza to deliver aid.
Those on board the ship, including 40 survivors of the Mavi Marmara attack, will throw a wreath into the sea to commemorate those killed by Israeli troops.
They have come from more than 30 countries, in the first international aid convoy to attempt to reach Gaza since the attack on the Mavi Marmara nearly five months ago.
Amena Saleem, of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK (PSC), who will be sailing on the ship, said: ‘We will be sailing, completely unarmed, to Egypt from where we will drive 20 miles to Gaza to break the illegal siege imposed by Israel four years ago. We are all aware of the lethal force Israel used on the Mavi Marmara against international civilians on an aid mission, but we will not be deterred. We will never turn our backs on Gaza, despite all of Israel’s efforts to force us to do so.’
She added: ‘It is now time for the depth of our commitment to Palestine to be reflected by our governments – ordinary people are demanding an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, and an end to the siege of Gaza. Governments, by applying international pressure, can make this happen and we call on them to listen to their people and do so immediately.’
Today marks the fourth time this year that the settlement has dumped waste water onto the Sabarnas’ land. The settlement emptied sewage onto their land in March, April and June, destroying the crops and costing the farmers thousands of shekels in lost income.