25 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On Thursday August 23, Mumen Mahmoud Raja, 18, was arrested at his home by Israeli occupation forces at 2:30 a.m.
Around 2 a.m., some 60 Israeli forces invaded the Palestinian village of Burin, located south-west of Nablus. They arrived in 6 military jeeps, a truck, and 16 individuals by foot from the illegal colony of Givat Arosha, located atop a hill near the village, Mumen’s father estimates. 20 soldiers entered Mumen’s house, waking his family, including his 8 year old brother.
“We thought they wanted to arrest our other son, Montser, 19, who was arrested three months ago for 10 days. But then the soldiers began to demand Mumen, and took him away,” Mumens father recounts.
Mumen Mahmoud Raja
This family, like most families in Burin, endures the arrests of their children without being given a reason for their detention. At 3 a.m., the soldiers left the house after checking the identity of the remaining family members.
“It is the first arrest now that Ramadan is over, and we believe there will be more in the coming weeks,” says Ghassan Najjar, resident of Burin.
Since January 2012, Israeli forces have arrested 35 young men in Burin in night raids. Currently 16 of them are still imprisoned, aged between 15 and 32 years. Three of the current prisoners are minors; Walid Eid, 16, Eid Maomen, 16, and Qais Omran, 17.
Burin has been subject to many arrests on a daily basis for the past several years. The village is surrounded from all directions by three illegal Israeli settlements: Yitzhar, Bracha, and Givat Arosha. The Israeli military often patrols through the village at night raiding homes, and arresting members of Palestinian families without indicating a reason. The harassment and arrest of Burin’s youth, particularly those with a connection to the youth community centre in the village, is common.
Alma Reventos is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
31 July 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
Three days before the start of Ramadan, the small mountainside town of Iraq Burin was attacked by Israeli settlers from the illegal colony of Bracha. The attackers descended from the settlement at 12:30 a.m. and were soon followed by the Israeli military, shooting tear-gas and sound grenades.
“Since Ramadan started, things have been relatively calm here,” says Yousef, a resident of Iraq Burin, “earlier we used to have trouble all the time.”
Ironically, the settler attacks are most common on Saturdays, the Jewish Sabbath, which traditionally is revered as a day of rest.
“But there have also been plenty of attacks on Wednesdays and Thursdays,” says Yousef.
The settlers target farmers closest to the settlement, making it impossible for them to work their land due to risk of being attacked or shot. The farmers’ lack of activity is then used against them as settlers claim the land to be abandoned and subsequently annex it. By these means, the illegal settlements across the West Bank continue to steal the lands of neighboring Palestinian villages.
Bracha is one of over 250 Israeli settlements and outposts erected in the Palestinian West Bank and violating Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. “Seizure of land for settlement building and future expansion has resulted in the shrinking of space available for Palestinians to sustain their livelihoods and develop adequate housing, basic infrastructure and services,” wrote the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
From Yousef’s rooftop one can see clearly where the irrigated fields of Bracha have stretched down into the valley since its construction in the early 1980’s.
Of the 2000 dunums that originally was Iraq Burin, 300 have been annexed by the settlement of Bracha and many hundreds have become inaccessible to Palestinians due to the risk of violent attacks. To protest this, the village has been holding demonstrations every Saturday for the past year. Similar to numerous protests across the West Bank, Iraq Burin’s regular demonstrations are met with brute force by the Israeli army.
“The failure to respect international law, along with the lack of adequate law enforcement vis-àvis settler violence and takeover of land has led to a state of impunity, which encourages further violence and undermines the physical security and livelihoods of Palestinians. Those protesting settlement expansion or access restrictions imposed for the benefit of settlements (including the Barrier) are regularly exposed to injury and arrest by Israeli forces,” noted OCHA.
For a short while, the demonstrations ceased after 2 young men, Muhammad and Usaid Qadus, were shot dead at close range by an Israeli soldier.
“But our peaceful struggle will continue among both the young and the old,” promises Yousef.
Jonas Webber is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
13 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
The pattern of settler and military invasion of Burin, a village near Nablus, is what locals and internationals are mapping to brace themselves for more property damage, violence, and threats by nearby illegal settlements and hardcore adherents to the volatile “Price Tag Campaign.”
If the pattern continues, the next attack will be settlers, according to local ISM coordinator, Lydia. “Within a few days after that, Burin should be due a visit from the soldiers.”
Burin Violence Pattern
According to notes and statistics prepared by Lydia, a British volunteer stationed in Burin, it is predicted that soldiers will enter the village with approximately 8 to 12 jeeps, which has been the range of jeeps the military bring to raid the village in a three week span. This comes following today’s settler attack and military incursion into the village, which resulted in the confirmed arrest of two 16-year-old boys. Lydia has been barred from entering the village at times when ISM has been notified of these attacks through the use of a makeshift checkpoint, and she notes that the same did happen today at the entrance of Burin. Typically military remains present for around 4 hours, which has been a consistent amount of time stayed during each of these invasions.
The time of an Israeli attack cannot be predicted since they have been so random, adding to the psychological games that the Israeli military enjoys playing to keep the villagers vulnerable. The residents of Burin know it is always coming, but when is the mystery.
Ghassan Najjar, Director of the Bilal Najjar Youth Center, named after the martyr, stated that despite the patterns, “We know in the village that from 9 PM until the early morning that the village is no longer ours, it is the military playground.”
The military uses tear gas and sound bombs frequently, using these during both attacks and when the military uses Burin as a venue for military training. Ghassan Najjar, awoken by these activities notes that soldiers have stated, “Don’t worry, we are only training, go back to sleep.” They are on roofs, shooting gas at no one, and throwing sound bombs near peoples houses and even raiding houses during these drills.
When the settlers and soldiers are together and enter Burin, the illegal settlers remain in the village fields and hills, never entering the heart of the village. Yet the Israeli military will advance to protect these settlers, with the weapons they train with and even live ammunition to disperse peaceful protesters.
The settlers have all come from the same direction, from the stolen land now referred to as a settlement named Bracha. They have come in numbers between 10 and 25 and they come armed, weapons ranging from handguns to M-16s.
These three attacks have been focused on the Sofan household. They are not new to the suffering, having had their house set on fire twice. The second arson attack resulted in the death of Atallah Sofan, husband of Hanan Sofan who currently lives in their home. Her husband died after he had a heart attack due to the sight of his home in flames. They have had their chickens, sheep, horse and donkey killed and their house stoned and paint bombed.
“Our house is the only thing stopping the settlers from taking this area,” said Sofan.
The nearby settlement of Yitzhar is home to some of the most violent Price Tag Campaign settlers
This is what happened on the latest occasions; bottles and stones were thrown at their home and their sheep were also under attack. As usual, the youth of Burin came down to protect their land by throwing stones. On March 9th this was soon met by Israeli soldiers who protected the settlers, contrary to what they claimed about wanting to provide security for the Palestinian residents. There were clashes between all three parties, which is typical for Burin, each time lasting between 30 to 90 minutes.
While patterns in the behavior of illegal and violent settlers are being mapped, and the relationship between the occupying forces and these rogue bands of settler gangs becomes clearer, the pattern itself does not change the inability of Palestinians to prepare for Israeli violence.
“Although patterns are made, the [Israelis] also can come whenever they like and do whatever they like,” said Lydia. “For me all I can do is document. Even if clearer patterns are made, what can the Palestinians do, leave their houses for those hours? If they do begin to leave, the soldiers win as people change the way they live to avoid the army.”
4 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On the 4th of February International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) attended the replanting of 50 olive trees on the hillsides above the village of Burin, outside of Nablus. The planting went without disturbances from the surrounding illegal settlements of Bracha and Yitzhar.
Replanting livelihood and resistance – Click here for more images
During 2011 around 3700 olive trees were destroyed in the hills around the village of Burin, most of them due to attacks from the illegal settlement Yitzhar. The 50 olive trees replanted today on the hill slopes facing the illegal settlement of Bracha will not bear fruit for many years but serve as a long term investment for the villagers of Burin. Small as it may be, this initiative marks the relentless struggle to go on with their lives despite of Israeli occupation.
Since the campaign began to raise money for trees, donations were sent nearly daily from Australia, Italy, France, the US, Canada, Sweden, and Finland for example. According to the Trees of Resistance campaign, they “have received support from past volunteers, hopeful future volunteers, refugees, tree lovers and just fantastical lovely generous people.”
The Bilal al Najjar youth center in Burin has also received considerable support and volunteered its members to partake in the tree planting.
After the planting volunteers were shown the ongoing construction of a new community center in the center of Burin. Some proud, young men showed volunteers the re-plastered insides of an old stone building about to be transformed by the efforts of the Bilal al Najjar center.
An international organizer of the All for Burin campaign stated that while “the center provides projects that need to be kept alive… it also gives the youth of Burin a sanctuary. A place that is theirs, where they can work, learn, plan communal activities and unite. These activities have an overwhelming importance within community. To bring children and adults together, to feel united and most of all to have and create new happy memories to be taken with everyone in the future.”
Support the further planting of trees destroyed by Zionists and help Burin’s youth center for continued peace and livelihood for Palestinian villagers that continue to face mounting threats by price tag campaign extremists and the Israeli military which defends them.
Jonas Weber is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
9 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
In the past three years Burin has faced increased settler violence. This small village of approximately 3,000 people deal with a constant threat of settler attacks or Israeli army harassment. Three settlements surround Burin: Yitzhar, Bracha, and Givt Arousa. The residents of these illegal settlements make it clear that they will do whatever it takes to force the Palestinians out of their homes. Their criminal acts range from burning olive trees, stoning farmers, and shooting live ammunition at Palestinians.
Burin surviving the olive harvest – Click here for more information
The Burin people have already lost over 2,000 olive trees since April by settler fires. In order to ensure that the trees are ruined the settlers alter their attack by the time of day to make their violent crimes less visible. The burning of trees is usually done during the day, while the cutting down of trees is usually done at night. During the warmer months, the settlers mostly burn down trees because they know the fire will spread quickly due to the heat. The people of Burin are always watching and waiting for the next inevitable hate crime to occur.
There has not been a single settler attack on Burin in over a month, which is really unusual. The last period without any attacks lasted for 60 days. This “peaceful” period was broken with a day full of settler violence. The people are anticipating the next attack. They do not know when, but that it will happen. In addition to waiting on the next attack, they are still waiting on the Israeli court ruling of whether a mosque in Burin should be demolished for disturbing the peace in the settlements during the call for prayer. The air in Burin is filled with anxiety for what is to come in the near future.
Burin today is still standing tall and strong despite the many obstacles that suffocate daily life in the village.
Amal is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name changed).
