Tag: Burqa

Six arrested in Burqa (Nablus) by the Israeli army with no reasons given

25th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team| Burqa, Occupied Palestine

On the night of the 23^rd to 24^th of April, approximately 24 Israeli military vehicles entered the town of Burqa and arrested six Palestinian youths. The Israeli army forced its way into five out of the six houses, using a device to break open the doors. The army did not seem to know the exact location of one of the young men, and so broke into his uncle’s house, then the Israeli soldiers questioned a close friend of a youth to learn his exact whereabouts.

The Israeli commander took this opportunity to threaten this Palestinian and told him to “watch out and don’t do anything wrong”.

According to local witnesses, the Israeli army was seen surrounding the town of Burqa at midnight. Then, at 01:00AM, the series of arrests began lasting until 02:00AM, with the army going to six different houses and arresting a Palestinian youth in each one. All of the arrests followed the same pattern.

The Israeli army broke the doors into the houses, except for one, and took a Palestinian in each home (ranging from 19 to 24 years old) spending just a few minutes in each of the houses. The arrested were handcuffed and blindfolded when taken outside of their homes or inside the military jeeps.

No reasons were given to their families for the arrest and no questions were asked.

Except for one of the families, they do not know where their sons have been taken; they are expecting a phone call from the Israeli army 48 hours after the arrest to know the whereabouts of their sons, brothers and nephews.

The names of the arrested in Burqa are: Abd al Hakeem (19 years old), Amran (20 years old), Izat (20 years old), Mageed (21 years old), Bara Gehad (21 years old) and Ameen Tyseer Salah (23 or 24 years old). For all of them, except for Ameen on whom nobody could comment on in detail, it is the first time these youths have been arrested and in some cases, it is even the first time that one of their sons is arrested. Amran and Mageed physically resisted their arrest but to no avail. Relatives and friends of Barad know that he has been taken to Huwwara since they already received a phone call from the Israeli army. The other families do not know the whereabouts of their sons and may have to wait until Friday 25^th to receive any information.

Moreover the families do not know what charges their sons are being accused of and do not recall any major incidents in the local area that may go towards explaining this series of arrests. According to a local contact, four of them are active in the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) and two of them are active within Fatah.

Burqa (Nablus) is a town located 18 kilometers northwest of Nablus, with a population of approximately 4,000 people. It overlooks Road 60, which is a road used by both Palestinians and settlers from nearby illegal settlements, vital to connect the northern area of the West Bank to major transport hubs like Nablus. This Israel army has previously harassed this town, the nearest illegal settlement is located five kilometers away (Shave Shomron).

According to a local villager, 48 people from Burqa have been arrested this year; 38 of them belong to PFLP and the remaining 10 belong to Fatah.

Burqa festival marks reclaiming of Mas’oudia land

6th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Burqa, Occupied Palestine

Today, the 5th of April, the village of Burqa, south of Nablus, held a march and festival to reclaim parts of their land in Mas’oudia, trying to alter it from area C to area B. The village of Burqa had sent an application to the High Court of Israel for the return of the land, and has yet to receive a response.

Approximately 1000 people participated today, mainly from the villages surrounding Nablus, international activists, and members of the press. Buses with students from Al Najah National University, Birzet University, Al Quads Open University, and some members of the Ministry of Tourism.

The day started on the hill overlooking the village of Burqa, which the illegal settlement of Homesh previously occupied.

The village of Burqa has received a decision from the High Court of Israel that the land of previously occupied Homesh belongs to them. However the settlers return every week to Homesh to pray, which prevents the legal landowners from using their land.

After the speeches the march went from Homesh along the road, through the olive groves and the fields until it reached Mas’oudia. In Mas’oudia the evening continued with Dabke (a Palestinian traditional dance), music, and speeches about the history and ongoing struggle to reclaim the land.

In Mas’oudia the villagers of Burqa are building a community park. The Israeli army destroyed the toilet facilities two months ago, however the facilities were rebuilt. The future of the park in Mas’oudia is still uncertain and under constant threat of destruction by the Israeli military.

Palestinians celebrate the reclaiming of their land

4th October 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Burqa, Occupied Palestine

An olive tree being planted on the newly reclaimed land

On Thursday the 3rd of October, a large group numbering around a 100 people, consisting mainly of Palestinians from the village of Burqa and the surrounding areas, as well as a smaller contingent of international activists and the press, celebrated the Palestinians’ reclamation of their land by planting olive trees on the ground of the former illegal settlement Homesh, situated on a hilltop next to the village.

Upon arriving at the site, there was an initial briefing encompassing both a short history of the area, statements made by the locals concerning their grievances over the many types of harassment that had originated from the settlement over the years, as well as their hopes for the future usage of the land. This was then followed by the planting of around 40 olive trees in the area, an act which everyone present was invited to share and assist with.

The illegal settlement of Homesh was ordered to be evacuated by the Israeli state in 2005. Despite the evacuation of the illegal settlement, the land itself was not returned to its rightful owners. As part of the Disengagement Plan, it was declared a closed military zone. This ruling was heavily enforced for Palestinians, meaning that they could not enter the hilltop, but periodically it has been blatantly overlooked with regards to Israeli settlers celebrating holy days and other events on this Palestinian land. Furthermore, in addition to reports of continued Palestinian harassment by illegal settlers, petitions had been made by Israelis to re-build the settlement since its evacuation.

In spite of the settlement being established contrary to international law, the practical return of the land was still dependent upon a formal petition to the Israeli judicial system. The legal proceedings were thus initiated in 2010 and reached the Supreme Court by the end of the year, finally terminating in the annulment of the military zone by 2013. In 2008, pre-empting the petition and final verdict, Palestinians along with Internationals tried to reach the hilltop to plant olive trees on the land, but were violently stopped by the Israeli army, who fired stun grenades and tear gas canisters in its attempts to end the demonstration.

The planting of the olive trees was more than a symbolic act, commemorating and celebrating their final victory over the illegal settlement. The growing of the trees also marks the return to using the land for Palestinian agricultural activity.

500 Israeli soldiers ransack homes in Burqa

06 December 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Burqa, Occupied Palestine

Around 500 Israeli soldiers invaded the village of Burqa, north-west of Nablus, in the middle of the night, ransacking homes and causing damages amounting to thousands of euros.

Soldiers arrived in over 30 military jeeps at around 1:00 am and broke into 36 houses where whole families were asleep. People in Burqa recounted their horror at finding armed soldiers with dogs surrounding their beds, and at being forced to leave their homes and stand in the rain as the Israeli military carried out its operation. One old woman who complained that the conditions were detrimental to her weak state of health was simply told to ‘shut up’ by the soldiers. Another man described how he had to wait for hours in the rain with his one-year old daughter dressed only in her pyjamas.

When the families were allowed back into their homes they found everything turned upside down. Furniture, electronic appliances, water pipes, tiles and windows had been spitefully broken. As villagers took us from home to home we witnessed the same scene of disaster repeating itself in each place. Clothes and mattresses were all over the place, drawers were broken, fridges and washing machines had been slammed on the floor. A newly married couple showed us their brand-new furniture that had been smashed when the soldiers threw the wardrobe onto the bed. In another house buckets of paint had been tipped over, spilling all over the floor and a man took us to his animal shelter where one of his lambs had been killed by the Israeli soldiers. Most families were not given reasons why this raid was taking place, while one man whose house was ransacked was told by the soldiers they were searching for weapons. However, in his opinion this was simply revenge by the Israeli state following the UN vote which granted Palestine an observer status within the general assembly.

The villagers said that the soldiers came from the nearby Israeli settlement, Homesh and returned there after the operation ended at around 7:00am. The illegal Homesh settlement was said to have been dismantled by the Israeli authorities. Nonetheless, it is presently inhabited by around 20 settlers living in caravans. The land surrounding the settlement is off-limits to the villagers of Burqa, including farmers who have land there. Furthermore, a few days before, settlers had come into the village and started shooting in the air. This is the latest in a series of attacks meant to scare the people of Burqa.

Wave of arrests continue in Burqa village

7 January 2010

The Israeli army has abducted another young man from the northern West Bank village of Burqa. Muhammad Samir, 21 years old, was stopped outside the village by soldiers as he returned from his workplace in Tulkarem and arrested. Arrests and military invasions have surged this past month in Burqa, with Samir becoming the 22nd person taken since the beginning of December.

Samir was returning from his work at the Tulkarem offices of the Palestinian Authority at 10am yesterday morning when he was stopped at a flying checkpoint between Burqa and the neighbouring village of Bisaia. Upon checking his ID he was immediately place under arrest by soldiers. He was released from prison just two years ago, serving a two-year sentence from the age of 17.

The wave of arrests, primarily carried out in night raids on the village, have robbed Burqa of 22 young men in the past month alone. The village’s 4,000 residents sleep uneasily now, unknowing of who may be taken the next time the military comes. It is the standard story in hundreds of cases of its kind: young men, generally aged 16 or 17 and in their last year of school, arrested and charged with throwing stones at military jeeps when they enter the village.

International solidarity activists have initiated a nightly vigil in Burqa, joining local residents in keeping watch until the early hours of the morning in the hopes of documenting and de-escalating the violence of the night raids. During the invasions soldiers enter either by jeep or on foot, surrounding the homes of wanted people and preventing residents from leaving their home. Residents report extreme violence at the hands of the soldiers during invasions, with shots fired as the family is usually forced in to the bathroom for several hours and their home torn apart by soldiers, searching for weapons or other incriminating possessions.

Burqa has long been a target for Israeli Occupation Forces and its residents are no strangers to the senseless violence meted out by soldiers. The village itself became a training ground for Israeli soldiers preparing for battle in the 2006 war with Hezbollah, the village’s topography resembling that of southern Lebanon. Residents recall almost nightly invasions during the period, with soldiers storming the homes of families who were forced out in to the street, handcuffed and ID’d, only to be informed that they were participating in an Israeli military training exercise.

Atop the mountain overlooking Burqa sits Homesh, an Israeli settlement built on the village’s lands and evacuated by the military in 2005 as part of Ariel Sharon’s disengagement from 4 West Bank settlements and the 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza. Not that Burqa’s farmers have been permitted to recommence work on their lands – the area was declared a military zone following the settlement’s original evacuation, and so it has remained.

Nor has the evacuation of settlers from Homesh been maintained in the years following the disengagement. A campaign of reclamation, spearheaded by the extremist “Homesh First” organisation, has been growing ever since and has ensured a significant settler presence still active in the area. Despite the military’s repeated attempts to disperse the settlers, nothing has successfully prevented the Homesh First supporters from attempting to repopulate the area, particularly during Jewish religious holidays when settlers converge in their thousands on the site. Thus Burqa farmers’ goal of land reclamation is not just borne of the legitimate desire for vital lands to be returned to their legal owners, but also out of a real fear of resettlement of the site by ideological Israeli settlers.

Farmers of Burqa continue live under constant threat of violence at the hands of the settlers, vengeful in their attempts to lay claim to the stolen land. Over 5000 fertile dunums remain inaccessible to the Palestinian population. For the last two years the village has co-ordinated an annual trip to the contested area, re-planting and cultivating 95 dunums of land. Settlers have descended each time on the area soon after to destroy the farmers’ work, uprooting trees and destroying new wells built for irrigation. 25 dunums of the original 95 remain.