Tag: Farmers

Wasteland in al Walajeh: Israeli military destruction of farmland

7 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Tuesday September  6th local Palestinians from the village of Al Walajeh gathered with international activists to protest the building of the illegal separation barrier as well as the destruction of ancient olive trees. The demonstrators succeeded in halting the razing of Palestinian land for approximately one hour before soldiers violently broke up the protest arresting one Palestinian and one Israeli activist.

On September 5th bulldozers protected by dozens of soldiers arrived at 4 AM and uprooted 50 olive trees that date back at least 100 years. The bulldozers also destroyed 18 almond trees, 27 pine trees, and 8 fruit trees. The destruction took place in an area of over 1 square mile and was declared a closed military zone, prohibiting media coverage of the devastating operation.

Mohammed Al-Atrash (Abu Wajih), the elderly farmer who owned the trees, will receive no compensation for his loss.

In the aftermath residents of Al Walajeh called for a presence of media and activists to highlight this illegal destruction carried out by the Israeli government. At approximately 10am on Tuesday several residents from the village, joined by ISM and other activists, walked down to the site of the olive grove, which is now a wasteland. Upon arriving they stood in front of the construction machines and forced them to halt their work.

Soldiers declared the area a closed military zone and disbanded the protest by force within an hour. Yousif Shakawi, a local resident in his 50’s was arrested along with one Israeli activist. The remaining protesters were held at distance so that the work could resume.

The trees were destroyed in preparation for the building of the illegal Israeli apartheid wall which is planned to run several hundred metres inside the 1967 green line, effectively seizing hundreds of dunnums of land from around Al Walajeh. If the Israeli government succeeds in completing the wall along the planned route the village will be surrounded on three sides with the army controlling entrance and exit to the village.

Sheerin Alaraj, who has lived in Al Walajeh all her life, explained to us that construction of the wall was continuing in spite of an on going appeal process in the Israeli high court with a ruling expected September 27th .  However Sheerin has little confidence in the process as she explained to us “the court is just an extension of the military arm of Israel.”

In 2004 the International Court of Justice declared that the apartheid wall is illegal and Israel should tear it down immediately and compensate the victims. In spite of this ruling Israel has continued construction of the wall which annexes 8.5% of the entire West Bank territory. Since 2000 Israel has destroyed approximately 330,000 olive trees in the West Bank and Gaza. There is currently a campaign to boycott Caterpillar Inc. for its role in supplying the Israeli government with equipment used to enforce the occupation.

As the time for harvesting olives nears and Israeli military and settlers continue to destroy the main agricultural pillar of Palestinian culture and livelihood, International Solidarity Movement will be actively working throughout the harvesting season to safeguard Palestinians and assist in harvesting despite this and other events that have threatened security and access to Palestinian farmland. For more information on ISMs Olive Harvest Campaign, visit our website.

 

Yitzhar settlers violently crash Burin wedding, military watches

6 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Settlers cause fires in Burin.

While villagers were celebrating a wedding in the small village of Burin, Israeli arsonists from the illegal settlement of Yitzhar seized the opportunity to set ablaze olive groves, destroying over 200 olive trees.

On September 5th at 5 AM, locals in the village of Burin and other surrounding areas awoke to the crashing sound of stones pelting their parked vehicles. The harassment continued, and at 3:15pm during a village party, settlers from the neighboring, illegal settlement of Yitzhar began to assault the village from the hilltops by rolling burning tires towards olive orchards.

Five tires were thrown at the groups of olive trees in a measured attempt to ensure maximum damage. When the Israeli army arrived the settlers began to stroll back towards the settlement, with soldiers closing off the road to prevent a fire truck from reaching the fire.

A number of villagers, who were at the wedding, left and started to make their way towards their olive groves, yet were stopped by Israeli military.

“The settlers were masked, and one settler had a video camera and was filming the event,” said Ghassan, a local of Burin.

As the illegal settlers stood to watch the trees burning, they were joined by a second group of settlers from a neighboring outposts. 5 families lost a total of over 200 trees due to this particular instance. Over 4000 olive trees have been uprooted or burnt by the illegal settlers from Yitzhar, which was erected in 1984.

This follows suit with the “price tag campaign” Yitzhar has famously coined, attacking Palestinians violently to wage a toll on their existence, while Israelis and Palestinians call on the Israeli military to stop condoning such attacks as the time for harvesting olives nears. International Solidarity Movement will be actively working during this time to safeguard Palestinians and assist in harvesting despite violent threats made by settlers throughout the West Bank.

For more information on ISMs Olive Harvest Campaign, visit our website.

 

Palestinians farming creatively to overcome the ‘buffer zone’

21 August 2011 | Islam Online, Hama Waqum

On Nakba Day in May, thousands of Palestinians edged towards Israel’s borders with Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Gaza, demanding their Right of Return, and an end to the Israeli occupation. Many of these protestors would return to demonstrate on the Naksa Day in June.

A major demand put forth by the Gazan demonstrators was the elimination of the ‘buffer zone’, which forbids Palestinians from stepping within three hundred meters of the cement wall that separates Gaza from the outside world.

Farming beyond the Buffer Zone

Gaza’s farmers face dangers in tending to their land, even if it lies beyond the ‘buffer zone’. For this reason, Palestinians and internationals arrange and attend mass farming events where they harvest and plant en masse.

In June, around 200 Palestinian men and women gathered in a small farm outside of Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza. Scrambling through a wheat field to a freshly-ploughed meadow, volunteers from all backgrounds assembled to help the owner of the farm to sow tomato and aubergine plants in the fields closest to the ‘buffer zone’. The three hundred meters of farmland adjacent to the wall is left unfarmed year-round. Those taking a break from crouching in the soil would stand up only to see an Israeli observation balloon, suspended above the horizon beyond the Israeli barrier.

Wisam, a student from Gaza City volunteered, along with several grandfathers, niqabi mothers and international activists. “We came here because we must stand in solidarity with the farmers who are trying to work their land” she explained.

With many hands at work, the land is freshly graced with green saplings in less than two hours and planting time is reduced, which lowers the risks posed to farmers who would otherwise spend days in front of the military outposts planting the saplings.

Farming at gun point

Father-of-six, Jabr Abu Jala lives in the ‘high-risk’ or ‘danger’ zone, meters away from the border in Faraheen, near Khan Younis in southern Gaza. It is farms such as Abu Jala’s that request assistance, so that planting and harvesting can be carried out as quickly as possible, with no intimidation from the nearby military outposts. “We face attacks and shooting almost daily.” Abu Jala explained, “Some days it’s calm, some days it’s not, but, regardless, we are forbidden from tending to a large section of our farmland- and this is a direct result of the occupation.

“They say that the buffer zone is 300 meters, so why do people end up getting shot at when they are 800 meters away from the barrier?”

Nathan Stuckey is an American activist, who had been helping to harvest Abu Jala’s wheat yield and occasionally staying with the family on their farm.

“Last night I was lying in bed, (it was) at about 5:00am and we started hearing a lot of shooting from the north and east sides of Faraheen. It was coming from the towers or Jeeps close to the farmland, right on the border” he said explaining a frequent occurrence.  In the village Khozaa, it’s too dangerous for men to come to the field; the Israelis are less likely to shoot women, so that’s why the women do the farm work” he added.

Women till the soil

Despite the conservative nature of Gazan society—which is particularly apparent in smaller farming villages—it is equally acceptable for men and women to tend to land.

Halima is a Gazan mother who tends to a farm at Faraheen, “Many women farm here, we love to work. I’m the only woman here today, because I come to watch over my sons who are harvesting. I worry about their safety. If internationals weren’t here to harvest with us, we’d have to stop at 8 or 9am. If we farm in the evening, we die!” she said, laughing.

Sarah is a student of biology at Al Aqsa University who joined the 200 Palestinians in the planting of saplings in northern Gaza.

“I came here to help the farmers sow their seeds,” she explained, “It is important for women to help in this aspect. As women, we don’t face any trouble coming here to work alongside the men, you can see for yourself that it’s normal; nobody minds.”

20-year old Anwar took part in the Beit Hanoun demonstrations on the ‘Naksa’—or setback—day, near the Erez crossing. “We are here to protest against the occupation in the West Bank and Gaza and in memory of our heritage. We have come here with saaj (traditional bread), Palestinian coffee and dress, and dabka dancers to protest. This is a cultural demonstration.”

Palestinians in Gaza have become creative in their defiance of the ‘buffer zone’, from holding cultural parties to commemorate the Naksa, to flying kites over the forbidden land with messages to Israeli citizens. But, what is most pressing is their desire to be able to farm on their own land without being harassed by Israeli outposts. When large groups are able to mobilize and harvest a field in a couple of hours, this becomes much easier. Sadly, not all farms have access to a network of support and volunteers such as this.

Songs tear down fences in Izbat Tabib

13 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On July 13th villagers in the small town of Izbat Tabib wanted to protest against the illegal Israeli construction of barbed wire fences outside the village, preventing farmers from tending their lands and olive trees.

In the beginning of the afternoon, villagers and international activists gathered at the mayor’s house before the demonstration. Afterwards, the demonstration started and participants headed towards the barbed wire fences, not far from the village entrance. Here the villagers and activists from ISM helped each other tear down the fences, this continued for around half an hour, until the arrival of Israely military jeeps with about 20 soldiers. The cutting of the fences halted, and together the villagers and activists,  prevented the entry of the soldiers into the village by  means of peaceful singing and demands for Palestinian rights to their rightful
land.

Attempts to tend to farmland result in arrests

13 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On the 12th of July 2011, 4 ISM members with a group of international activists, including Israeli, French, Belgian, Portuguese and a 5 Palestinians attempted to enter the illegally, occupied farmland of a Palestinian landowner in Beit Ommar. The initial plan was to try to farm and clean the land of litter near the military placed fence, which separates the remaining Palestinian land because of an illegal settlement. We attempted to enter the area through the road path leading to the farmland but we were blocked by 20 military men from the Israeli army. The following actions involved heavy discussions between an Israeli activist and what seemed to be the official of the military Israeli unit. We tried to attempt another route but we were blocked again by the same military Israeli unit. The group was then shown a document in Hebrew from the commander of the unit that this was a closed military zone and that we had 10 minutes to leave the area before they arrested any of us. The collective decision was then to back-off and set up a plan to start cleaning the nearest farmland.

The ISM team decided to accompany the civil disobedience action remaining between other activists. When the 10 minutes were over, the Israeli army pushed us backwards physically, and as we moved backwards, I saw one Belgian activist getting grabbed from the back and getting arrested. There were other activists who were arrested at this time but which I couldn’t see since the Israeli army began to throw sound bombs at us. After the first wave of arrests, the Israeli army began throwing more sound bombs at the activists that still remained on the farmland. At this time I managed to observe one Israeli activist getting arrested in the front area. We moved backwards slowly while a number of soldiers commanded us to leave the area. I didn’t witness any further arrests.

Later at a debriefing at the Palestine Solidarity Project center/ Friends for Freedom and Justice Center we were told that 2 international activists and an Israeli activist had been arrested.

Background information:

In 2006 two fences were built in Beit Ommar confiscating Palestinian land. The Palestinian landowners had to either pass through entrances controlled by the Israeli army or were either prevented at all from entering their farmland. Demonstrations started in 2006 against the fence. Farmers succeeded to work on the land legally but were not allowed to enter or farm by the illegally occupied military zone. 2006-2008 2 Palestinian farmers made it through and in 2008 heavy military occupation began around the zone. A curfew was imposed, mass arrests and hence demonstrations began again. ThevillageofBeit Ommaris surrounded by three settlements, one of them being Karmei Tsur. The way settlements expand is done through the creation of buffer military zones, stating that the Israeli government has the right to “protect” the illegal settlements around the area. With the expansion of areas around settlements many Palestinian farmers and residents have been shot and arrested.