2:48pm: Three settler boys around age 13 began behaving physically threatening towards a Palestinian girl of the same age as she was trying to enter her home on Shuhada Street, just across from Beit Hadassah. Human rights workers (HRWs) on Shuhada Street moved to accompany her to her house and the settler boys started throwing rocks at them. The soldier on duty had his back turned and ignored the situation even though HRWs asked him to intervene. Only after an Israeli HRW spoke to him in Hebrew, did he begin to pay attention to the situation. The soldier said the HRWs were provoking the settler kids by standing there. Another HRW called the police who came promptly and remained in front of Beit Hadassah for approximately half an hour.
3.30pm: Two HRWs were at the crossroads looking towards the Tel Rumeida settlement. Three settler boys, aged about ten, were throwing rocks towards a Palestinian house nearby. The HRWs called to the soldiers at the crossroad to come. One of the soldiers yelled at the boys until they stopped.
4.15pm: The same boys came out of the settlement with other girls and boys. They moved down the road towards the crossroad. Three boys went into the entryway of the Palestinian house and threw rocks at the front door. Others threw rocks down the road towards the soldiers who were responding to the HRW’s call. Both soldiers sent the settler children back to the settlement.
5.00pm: Abu Samir, Samir, Rafa and Mohammad Abu Aeshah were returning to their house opposite the Tel Rumeida settlement. Two settler boys came out and threw rocks at them. Video of this is available. An Israeli army officer has told a HRW that the soldiers are positioned to help in case of a settler attack against this family. This does not appear to be the case. No soldiers came. It is less than a week since the Abu Aeshah family were attacked in this way. The officer’s assurance does not seem to be worth much.
September 29, 2006: Today, in the village of Al-Jab’a, Palestinian villagers, supported by Israeli and international activists successfully removed a large section of an illegal roadblock that had been installed by the Israeli army. The Palestinians were able to achieve their objective: creating a passage wide enough to allow for a service taxi (a mini-bus sized shared taxi: they at as the mainstay of public transport in the West Bank). While work was still going on, Israeli army arrived and assaulted Palestinian, international and Israeli activists.
A group of Palestinians, along with their Israeli and international supporters joined together at the junction between the villages of Al-Jab’a and Surif to remove the earth mound roadblock that prevents cars from passing between the villages – nearly 100 people altogether. The roadblock prevents school children in Al-Jab’a from reaching Surif. It also prevents farmers in Surif and Al’Jab’a from reaching their land via tractor, while similarly preventing the transport of crops from the fields to the market. The roadblock effectively closes the road in two directions, and service taxis are prevented from waiting to pick up travellers. Fed up of these restrictions aimed against the Palestinians, for the second time in eight days, the people assembled to dismantle the obstruction. On September 21, the villagers carried out a similar action and began the work to remove the roadblock.
The gap created in the roadblock by the villagers and their supporters
The demonstrators marched from the village of Al-Jab’a, following Friday prayers, and assembled at the blockade. The Palestinians carried signs reading “I Dream of Freedom for My Children,” “Settlers Create Apartheid” and “You Steal Freedom,” while others carried Palestinian flags. When the demonstrators reached the roadblock, they began removing it with shovels, hoes, picks and their hands. Rocks were passed hand to hand, the rubble that formed the base of the mound was moved by shovel, and others began to dig underneath the two ton concrete block that was to be moved. After the stones and dirt had been partially removed, and the base of the block exposed, ropes and straps were attached to the block, and a large lever was angled underneath to help lift. Using the strength of over thirty people, the block was moved inch by inch. Some demonstrators pushed the block from behind, and others pulled on the ropes. In minutes, the demonstrators were able to roll the block five times, clearing a path for cars, trucks, pedestrians and donkeys. With the block removed, and the rubble cleared, the hole created was nearly 9 feet (3 meters) wide.
By the time the block was moved and the road opened, large contingents of Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) soldiers had assembled. Three military jeeps, one Hummer and one police jeep had been dispatched, as well as more than twenty soldiers and police. They ordered the people to leave, claiming that the entire area was a “closed military zone.” Soon after, the IOF soldiers and police attacked the demonstrators. First the IOF attempted to seize the shovels and picks, but the demonstrators were able to prevent these tools from being taken by passing them from person to person. After this, the IOF soldiers attempted to arrest a Palestinian man. During this attempted arrest, the demonstrators were able to peacefully block the soldiers, and prevent the man from being seized. After two unsuccessful attempts to arrest demonstrators and steal tools, the IOF soldiers attempted to arrest two Israeli solidarity activists. Once again, the demonstrators were able to successfully prevent the arrest of the activist by blocking the IOF soldiers with their bodies.
Following the four unsuccessful attempts to seize demonstrators and equipment, the soldiers entered the clearing leading to Surif and chased an Israeli activist who was returning the tools to their owners. The IOF soldiers assaulted the activist, and quickly international activists with the Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP) intervened. During this encounter, the IOF soldiers repeatedly assaulted international and Israeli activists by choking them, punching them, striking them with the shovels and knocking them onto the ground. While the four soldiers attacked the demonstrators, one shouted in English, “I am going to beat her…I am crazy.” During this attack, four activists were injured. While seemingly departing, one soldier, in his rage destroyed a protest sign held by a Palestinian child.
Having successfully opened the roadblock, and remaining in possession of their tools, the Palestinians, Israelis and internationals decided to return to the village. Though they were totally non-violent throughout the demonstration, and were peacefully dispersing, IOF soldiers attempted to follow the Palestinians into the village, presumably to make arrests. In order to prevent this, international and Israeli activists sat down in front of the Hummer that was leading the caravan of soldiers into the village. This tactic prevented the IOF from entering the village, and the Palestinians returned home.
Less than one hour following the demonstration, an military bulldozer, made by US company Caterpillar was dispatched to rebuild the roadblock. This reaction by Occupation forces was expected. The demonstrators knew that their action would not open the road permanently – it was an act of resistance against the Occupation’s policy of closure and restriction of movement. While the roadblock was open for only one hour, during that time, the demonstrators witnessed several families, individuals and farmers riding donkeys, pass through the opened roadblock.
27th September 2006: At 1:30pm today a stoning took place on Shuhada Street near Beit Hadassah settlement, which is the street where most of the attacks against Palestinians in the street occur. Eight Israeli settler children, aged about ten years old, threw rocks at the Palestinians and at windows of a home, which were already barred due to previous attacks. The settler children also threw rocks at internationals filming the situation. The attack ended within a few minutes because the two Israeli soldiers stationed at Beit Hadassah settlement forced the children back. It usually isn’t the case that they intervene against colonist settler violence like they did in this instance.
This situation isn’t unusual. It happens several times a week and often while Palestinian children are on their way to and from school. At the moment teachers are on strike because they haven’t been paid for over six month. Despite the large amount of leisure time they have because of this, few Palestinian children can be seen on the streets. They are afraid to go out because of the never-ending attacks from Israeli settlers.
At the same time that the attack against the children on Shuhada street was happening, the home of Zuhair Al-Bayed was attacked by three Israeli settlers, aged around seventeen. They came from the olive groves near Shuhada Street, throwing rocks from above the house. The settlers destroyed one of the solar cell panels the family kept on the roof to heat water. Fortunately no one in the family was hit by the rocks. The home of Zuhair Al-Bayed has been attacked five times, but they are reluctant to call the Israeli police or military: “We don’t want to call them because it takes a very long time before they come. If they do come, they don’t help us or they cause more problems to us than if we wouldn’t call them at all”, said the son in the family.
At 4:00pm about four settler boys, aged 8-10, stoned the Al-Azzeh and Sharabati homes from their Tel Rumeida settlement caravans. Settler adults could be seen in the area throughout the time the children were stoning.
At 4:10pm, an international noticed a group of settler women and children from Tel Rumeida walk up to the Abu Haikel house, located on a hill near the olive groves above the Tel Rumeida settlement. The women were filmed hoeing on the Abu Haikel land within about 30 feet of the home. Later, the group of settler women and children walked back down to the settlement carrying about four rakes and hoes.
Internationals visiting the home of the Al-Azzeh family learned that the family has continued to be without water for 20 days. Women and teenaged males from Tel Rumeida settlement were seen by the family cutting their water pipes, which run directly below the settlement. The Al-Azzeh family and the Sharabati family are without water and have been forced to get water from their neighbors. The family is not able to mop their floors or do anything that requires a lot of water; instead, they are only able to drink and wash with it.
They have repaired the pipes numerous times, but the Tel Rumeida settlers simply cut them again.
At approximately 2pm on September 24th, human rights workers (HRWs) in Tel Rumeida discovered that there were six Israeli soldiers occupying an uninhabited floor of a Palestinian family’s home.
When asked by HRWs what they were doing there, the soldiers replied they were “observing”. However, most of their time was spent giving monologues to the camera in Hebrew, lounging around on the floor of the apartment, dancing, and singing loudly and making a nuisance of themselves for the unhappy families living below.
After about an hour of antics and showing off for the camera, the soldiers left.
Searching for weapons?
The family told HRWs that the soldiers come frequently to use the roof and the top floor of the house as an observation post and have shot at nearby houses from the roof in the past.
Defending the state of Israel?
HRWs noticed members of TIPH* outside the house as they left, following the soldiers.
* Temporary International Presence in Hebron, the non-UN civilian observation organisation brought to Hebron after the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in 1994. For more information see their website: http://www.tiph.org
September 23, 2006: As we walk away down the craggy biblical landscape, she turns around to wag her finger at him and say “Remember? It is no defence to say you were only following orders”. The soldier looks perplexed and puts his hands out, letting his gun hang down from its strap. He looks like he’s struggling to find an appropriate reply – the insult of her words, echoing the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem, hitting him hard.
The soldier, an Officer, is guarding a military outpost adjacent to the colonial settlement named Susiya. The woman, a representative of Ta’ayush, an Israeli anti-occupation group, is visiting the Palestinian villagers in the area with activists from the Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP). On Monday, soldiers from this outpost accompanied seven young armed settlers to the home of an elderly couple where they watched as the settlers pushed, taunted and beat the old man and woman with sticks.
This happened four days ago but the officer on guard says that it is impossible. “It could not have happened. If I find out about any of my soldiers doing a thing like that, I will beat his ass. I will break his bones.” Nevertheless, Haj Khalil’s legs are now sore and swollen from the beating, one of the bones in his calf fractured. His wife buries her head in her hands as he talks, punctuating his sentences with nods and sighs of despair.
“It is very important for us to have internationals here. They must be here always. Otherwise they will come again,” says Haj Khalil. Ta’ayush, PSP and Christian Peacemaker Teams in Hebron are planning to co-operate on creating a permanent international presence in the area. The villagers, dotted about on the arid slopes of the Susiya valley, only a few solar cell panels and home-made TV antennas interrupting the landscape of traditionally Bedouin homesteads made up of tents, goat pens and snarling watchdogs, which all regularly fall victim to settler aggression and military complicity.
Furthermore, the villagers have been unable to tend to or even visit their olive groves for several years. The trees surround an Israeli military base, one grove right next to a field used by the soldiers for shooting practice. Among the trees lie discarded result charts, shot-through pieces of paper evidence of how soldiers learn to “zero in” on their targets. The military want the entire area from the Susiya settlement to the large town of Yatta to be evacuated of the whole Palestinian civilian population, to make it what Israel calls a “free fire zone.” This process has been frozen due to the resolute non-violent resistance of the Palestinians living in the area, but is legally difficult to challenge since Israeli courts generally do not meddle with what they regard as being ‘professional assessments’ by military experts on issues of security.
The colonists in Susiya, who arrived in the mid-80s around the same time that many Palestinian families were forced to move from their cave homes nearby to make way for Israeli archaeological excavations, did not approach the villagers today. They stood by the soldiers, their white clothing contrasting with the drab military uniforms and red earth. Their little girls wore long skirts and colourful ribbons in their hair, playing with a pet dog as they skipped back to the settlement. Haj Khalil, leaning on his walking-stick, shook his head in silence.
The Palestinian villagers of Susiya all have their own stories to tell about the fathers and brothers of these little settler girls. Most of them have bruises or scars to support their accounts of hooded men setting their tents on fire in the middle of the night, cracking their skulls open with the butts of their rifles or slashing their arms with a knife. All of them have learned that the official Israeli military policy stating that soldiers should protect both Palestinians and Israeli settlers is a sham – that while the Israeli military may sit and bond over a glass of wine with the settlers, they come to Susiya only to watch the oppression unfurl.
Devoid of protection from both the legal and military institutions of Israeli society, the Bedouin people of Susiya are left to fend for themselves, and therefore call on the support of Palestinian, international and Israeli solidarity initiatives. The villagers remain determined to continue living as they have always done, and each new breath, each stone overturned, each drop of goat’s milk bears witness to the steadfastness of their resistance.
Meanwhile, pursuing a policy of discrimination against Bedouin in the Negev, an Israeli court has rejected a request for unrecognised Bedouin villages to be connected to clean water sources. This is clearly part of Israeli state policy to ethnically transfer the Bedouin population from their land in both the South Hebron hills and 1948 land.
——-
Court rejects Bedouin villages’ request for clean water connection
Haifa district court last week rejected a petition to connect the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev to clean water sources, citing the larger underlying issue of village regularization.
In its session as a water court, the court ruled that the water commissioner has no authority over considerations pertaining to town regularization in Israel, and therefore rejected to appeal by the Adalah Legal Center on behalf of over 100 Negev families.
The Adalah Center plans on appealing the decision with the Supreme Court. They said there is no connection between realizing the basic right all state residents to clean water and the legal standing of the Negev towns.
In the appeal filed by the organization against the water commissioner, it claimed that the right for a guarantee of minimal sustenance conditions is anchored in Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty, as well as in international law.
Even so, Judge Ron Shapira stated in his decision that behind the appeal lies a larger issue of the regularization of “Bedouin settlements,” and added that a public interest exists “not to encourage additional illegal settlement.”
The court ruled that it does not ignore the problem of discrimination against the Bedouin residents, but that in the court’s opinion, the problem of unrecognized villages cannot be resolved in this manner.
The Adalah Center said the ruling meant that the court decided the right to water is not absolute and can therefore be limited.
“The court’s decision in effect makes the water commissioner a tool in the hands of the government, which works to expel Arab-Bedouin citizens, residents of unrecognized villages in the Negev, through the non-provision of basic services, such as the right to clean drinking water,” the center said.
The appeal against the commissioner’s decision was submitted in April 2005, and the ruling on the matter was delivered to the Adalah Center offices last Thursday.
