Tag: Bracha Settlement - Page 4 - International Solidarity Movement

24 year old man from Iraq Burin shot by teargas canister at close range

8 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Abdalah Aadus shot with tear gas canister

Yesterday afternoon, 24 year old Abdalah Aadus from the village of Iraq Burin was taken to hospital after being shot in the side by a teargas canister which was fired from close range. Abdalah had been participating in a demonstration against the theft of his village’s agricultural land by settlers.

At 15.00, approximately 40 villagers from Iraq Burin gathered and started walking from the village towards their land which is situated close to the illegal Bracha settlement. The demonstrators carried Palestinian flags which they planted on their agricultural land. After 30 minutes 20 Israeli soldiers and 1 security guard from the illegal settlement showed up and responded by shooting rubber-coated steel bullets, teargas canisters and sound bombs directly at the demonstrators from a close range. One of the soldiers also threatened the demonstrators by saying that the army would return to the village that night and arrest them all. During the demonstration Abdalah was shot in his side and taken to the hospital. Fortunately he was not severely injured and was able to leave the hospital later the same day.

Last year the villagers of Iraq Burin held weekly demonstrations against the theft of their land by the settlers. The Israeli military responded to the protests with great violence, firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets directly at the protesters. In March 2010 Mohammed Qadous 16, and Asaud Qadous, 19, were killed by Israeli forces during one of the non-violent demonstration. After the tragic incident the villagers decided to stop the demonstrations, as the price was just too high.

Iraq Burin is a village with 700 inhabitants located outside of Nablus, in the West Bank. The village is surrounded by the two illegal settlements of Bracha and Yizhar and their outposts. The settlers have so far stolen 4000 dunams of land from the village.

Settlers set two cars on fire in Burin

24 February 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Settlers came down from the illegal Israeli settlements of Bracha and Yitzar thuesday night and harassed families in the village of Burin.

Around 7 o’clock in the evening settlers attacked a family that live near the Yitzar settlement, throwing red paint on their house. At about the same time settlers entered the village throwing stones and harassing the villagers. The settlers then got escort back to their homes by the Israeli Army.

At midnight settlers came back, throwing molotov cocktails at two cars, setting them on fire. Both of the cars were parked on in front of the houses of their owners.

One of the cars belongs to Abdeel Aleem Shuhade. He purchased his car just two days earlier, because the previous car was also burned and destroyed by the settlers. In 2002 his brother was shot and killed by settlers in his home and his wife that was pregnant at the time was injured.

Waleed Najar, the owner of the second car, reported the incident to the Israeli police, who then accused him of setting his own car on fire.

Attacks like this are common in Burin, to date 13 cars have been burned by settlers.

Burin is a small farming community located 7km southwest of Nablus. Former incidents in the village include settlers destroying olive trees, stealing and shooting animals, setting crops and houses on fire, destroying homes, shooting at people with live ammunition and firing rockets at the village.

On 27th January, 20-year old Oday Maher Hamza Qadous was killed by settlers from the same settlement whilst farming between the villages of Burin and Iraq Burin.

Soldiers abandon Palestinian farmers in Kufr Qalil

24 October 2010 | International Solidarity Movement

Farmers in Kufr Qalil, near Nablus, were scheduled to receive army protection yesterday through the Israeli District Coordination Office (DCO), in order to harvest their olives on land near the illegal Bracha settlement. The family, accompanied by four international activists, went to the land and was initially pleased to find army jeeps nearby as planned. Later in the morning, two settlers came down from the nearby outpost, yelling at the Palestinians and internationals from across the settler-only road. As the nearby army vehicle came down, seemingly to intervene, the farmers were again relieved by the fact that the DCO was keeping their word. But the jeeps soon disappeared, while the settlers remained. Tension was high in the olive groves, and fear of what could happen prompted a phone call to Rabbis for Human Rights, who got in touch with the DCO, demanding that the “protection” return. The soldiers eventually came back, driving to the settlers and joining them across the road from the olive fields. They walked together, talking casually, but the army never approached the Palestinian farmers. After a short time, the owner of the farmland decided to give up and continue harvesting a safer plot of land, farther from the settlement, as he was feeling very nervous, and had three of his young grandchildren with him.

The Israeli DCO provides farmers with permits to access their own land with the protection of Israeli forces. Often these permits are only for a day or two (usually not long enough to complete a harvest), and the DCO decides which days the farmers can go. This means that they frequently have to choose between “army protection” and the best day for harvesting their livelihood, which often results in the army playing the opposite role, forcing farmers to leave their land. As can be seen from yesterday, even when Palestinians receive a permit and comply with the decisions of the DCO, they often don’t receive any sort of real protection, with the army leaving, or even protecting settlers when they harass the farmers.

Settlers attack Burin olive farmers

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.