Tag: Hebron

IMEMC: Another settler attack in Susiya

by IMEMC and Agencies, Tuesday 19th September

Khalil Nawaja, in his 70s, was attacked with sticks and pipes Monday evening by a group of seven Israeli settlers with their faces covered. An Israeli soldier was escorting the settlers and did nothing to stop the attack, said local eyewitnesses. Villagers called the Israeli police, but could not get a response.

They then called Ezra Nawi of Ta’ayush (Israeli peace group), who was able to get through to the police on their behalf and ask for an investigation. According to a press release from the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) working in the area, the Israeli police only arrived on the scene two hours after the attack, despite the fact that the police station is only 300 meters away from where the attack took place.

The village of Susiya lies between the Israeli settlement of Susya (a Hebrew-ization of the Arabic village name, a common practice among Israeli settlements built atop Palestinian villages), an Israeli settlement outpost (on the site of an ancient synagogue) and an Israeli military base. The Palestinian village has some remaining fifty residents scattered over several hills living in tents, and have been attacked frequently by the Israeli settlers.

According to the Christian Peacemaker Team, the Israeli soldiers and police who eventually arrived to take testimony were angered by the fact that one of the Christian Peacemakers was videotaping, and tried to stop him. The soldiers and police also refused to open an Israeli-controlled gate to allow an ambulance through to the injured man.

When Nawaja was finally able to receive medical treatment, medics noted injuries all over his body – he had been hit on his leg, arm, hand, and upper body. The elderly farmer was taken by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society to Yatta hospital for examination and treatment.

More Land Confiscation in Bethlehem and Hebron districts

by Hugh

The ghettoization of the southern part of the West Bank has escalated recently with confiscation orders being issued for the Apartheid Wall, settler-only roads and the expansion of settlements. Last Friday an order for the confiscation of a further 100 dunums of agricultural land was issued in Al Khadr village southwest of Bethlehem for the continuation of the building of the Wall. At the weekly demonstration in Al Khadr last Friday hundreds of residents marched from the town square after prayers to the site of the Wall in protest.

In other areas in the south, confiscation orders were issued for the continuation of the Wall and the construction of a new settler-only road linking the Gush Etzion settlement block, the Karmel settlement south of Hebron and 1948 Palestine. Israel has been seeking international funding since 2004 for 52 settler-only roads totalling 500 kilometers.

Military orders confiscating 152 dunums of land were handed out in the towns of Um Salamuna, Beit Fajjar and Beit Ummar on 7th September to allow a 6.6km continuation of the wall around the Gush Etzion settlement block. A military terminal will be built in southwest Bethlehem at Um Salamuna.

In Um Salamuna the Wall will annex 200 dunums of land and uproot more than 800 olive trees 1500 grape vines and a large number of almond trees and other pine trees. Seven extended families from the town are entirely dependent on this land.

In Beit Fajar, the wall will isolate 1000 dunums, planted with grapes, olive trees and almonds. One resident said:

“This land will be annexed to Migdal Oz settlement and the owners are forbidden to access their land, and especially the soldiers and settlers have tried many times to buy the land, but the people refused to sell it, so they decided to take it using the wall.”

In Beit Ummar the footprint of the wall will destroy 715 dunums south of the town. Alterations to the route of the wall mean that it will now isolate 6000 dunums of farmland, rather than the original 5000. Again the land is richly planted with grape vines, olive trees and almonds. A further 750 dunums from is to be confiscated from the south of the town for the construction of the new settler-only road.

In the last two months occupation forces have begun uprooting land to the south of the town in order to expand Karme Zur settlement. The settlement is to be surrounded by an electrified fence annexing a further 450 dunums.

A few months ago villagers from Beit Ummar and international supporters successfully resisted the destruction of agricultural land for the expansion of Karme Zur by blocking bulldozers. Although a lawyer representing Beit Ummar and Halhul villages managed to get a temporary stop work order from an Israeli court the bulldozers continued to destroy land. :

https://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/07/02/bu-block-bulldozers/
https://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/07/04/1327/
https://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2006/07/05/1332/

Residents in Beit Ummar and surrounding villages vow to resist the annexation of more of their land in the coming months.

Bedouin Family Suffers From Israeli Settler Violence

by Douglas

16th September 2006: A Bedouin family near the village of Susia was visited today by a group of internationals and Palestinians working for the PSP (Palestine Solidarity Project) and ISM. An illegal Israeli settlement has been built to the south-east and the Palestinians’ land is being steadily encroached on. Abed Alrhmam Mousa has lost a huge amount of his grazing land already. In the last couple of days the settlers have erected tents only a kilometer from Abeds family.

They are continually harassed and attacked by the settlers, who come sometimes by night but often in the morning, attacking both the family in their shelter as well as targeting individuals grazing the sheep. At present they are being attacked at least twice a week. In April of this year Abed was attacked badly, resulting in him needing 25 stitches in his head. His brother came to help and was attacked with a knife. Abed has reports from the hospital and the police, who took details (having taken 3 hours to arrive) but have done little else.

Two months ago the settlers set fire to, and burnt down a tent and shelter. A family were inside at the time. In the same area, last year, the Palestinians planted 1000 olive trees. As soon as they left, the same day, the settlers tore them up.

The settlers continue to bring their sheep onto the Bedouin communities’ land and steal water from their wells.

When they come to attack, they always carry guns, often M16s, and sometimes smaller hand guns also. At times they have used Mace (chemical tear gas spray). These attacks have been reported many times. The Police say they will help but have done nothing. When internationals have called for help from the army, they have taken at least an hour to arrive (they are based 5-10 minutes away). In contrast, when the settlers have called for the army, they arrive promptly, always siding with and supporting the illegal settlers.

The families have asked for help in the form of a permanent presence of internationals to deter further settler attacks.

Last week an Oxfam water tanker supplying Palestinians in Susya was disabled by settlers who threw dozens of metal spikes on the road. This was just the latest attempt by settlers to force the Palestinians from their homes.

Farmer Picks Grapes While Harassed by Armed Israeli Colonist Militia

by the Palestine Solidarity Project

Abu Ayash and his family have owned and tended their land for around 100 years but are now facing increasing violence from the inhabitants of the nearby and ever expanding Israeli settlement Karme Zur. On Sunday, September 10, activists with the Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP) joined the farmer to defy the Israeli DCO (District Co-ordination Office – essential the Israeli army’s administrative wing in the West Bank), and make the harvest under the watchful eye of armed settler ‘security’ and Israeli army.

The family owns 3 dunums of land right next to Karme Zur, some of the grapevines reaching out onto the settler road separating the Palestinian land from the green lawns of the settlement. When the family tries to pick the grapes there, armed settlers harass and scare them away, threatening to shoot them if they return. The settlers demand that the family contact the DCO to gain permission to harvest, something that the family refuses to do since it is their land to visit as they please.

Since the family is largely unable to access this land, it is left unguarded for long periods of time. The settlers take advantage of this by picking the grapes for themselves or destroying the trees. In the past, they have used tractors to mow down trees, radically decreasing the harvest and the family’s income. For the past year and a half, the Abu Ayash family has been accompanied by international human rights workers when tending their land. This has substantially lessened the degree of harassment, even though settlers still try to interfere with their work, threatening family members and international activists alike.

On Sunday the 10th of September, volunteers from Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP) accompanied members of the Abu Ayash family to the 3 dunums bordering the settlement. Together, they picked about 1 ton, or 100 boxes, full of grapes which, in financial terms, means a significant income of 800-900 shekles for the family. Armed settler militia approached the harvesters with a jeering “Oh, there you are! We have been waiting for you!” and immediately took their positions along the road separating the land from the settler houses. Protesting whenever someone would climb onto the stone wall to reach for the bunches of grapes growing on the verge of the road, the settlers patrolled the area throughout the four hours the family were on the land. At one point, a military jeep pulled up and seemingly relieved the settler guards of their watch. As we were about to leave, a group of settler children approached to make fun of and spit at the activists.

In the debate concerning the Israeli occupation of Palestine, there is always a lot of talk about the security fears of colonist settlers and Israelis in general. It was, therefore, interesting to see how a young unarmed colonist mother with an infant strapped to her chest and a toddler hanging onto her left hand, calmly walked by the land where we were picking grapes, even stopping to get a closer look at us. This was before the armed settler militia had even arrived. Having seen this, and countless other examples of feigned security concerns, it is difficult to take seriously the proclaimed fear of attack from Palestinians – continuously used to justify the most barbarous policies and a continuation of the occupation.

Seventy dunums of farm land have already been completely confiscated by Karmi Zur colony, and the papers proving ownership have proven worthless in contesting the theft. In addition to the 70 dunums now within the settlement, the family owns an additional 5 dunums of land wedged in between the two settlements of Gush Etzion and Efrat. There are two ways of getting to this land – one a 10 minute drive on a settler-only road, and one a 60 minute journey by dirt-track over the hills. If Israeli police stop Palestinians traveling on the settler-only road they are charged a fine of 1,000 NIS. Both the fine and the time it takes to get to the land on the dirt-track are prohibitive factors that mean that the family is unable to tend their land as needed.

This year’s grape-harvest is now over. In a couple of months, the family will need to cut the vines and plow the earth. In the face of settler violence and military complicity, they will have to continue coordinating their plans with PSP in order to work on their own land. This is PSP’s second direct action in 10 days. PSP is a non-violent Palestinian-led movement based in Beit Ommar welcoming international participation and support. While the website is under construction, PSP can be reached at palestine_project@yahoo.com

You and Whose Army?

by Sholmo Bloom. Journal entry providing further insight to a previously published report on the same incident.

It’s Shabbat, the Jewish holy day, also the day when the settlers cause the most trouble in Tel Rumeida.

I was sitting on Shuhada street with two human rights workers when a Palestinian woman came walked by and told us there were settlers throwing rocks up on the path leading to the girls school. Many Palestinians use this path to go to and from their homes. We went over to check it out and, sure enough, there were about 15 kids tearing up the cement from the path, probably to use as projectiles.

We called the police and and T.I.P.H (Temporary International Presence in Hebron). The Police and TIPH arrived but the settlers remained on the path. At this point there were approximately 25, an intimidating number even with police present. So we began escorting Palestinians up and down the path until they were safely past the settlers.

After a few rounds of doing this, the settlers began to physically block our way as we tried to walk down the path. There were about 15 of them doing this and when we approached, they did not move out of the way. The police did not tell them to move, so I walked straight into the center of them and kept walking despite them calling us Nazis, grabbing, kicking, clawing and trying to prevent me, my friends and the Palestinians we were escorting to get through.

The police of course, just sat there and did nothing.

This charade continued for a few rounds, we’d bring a Palestinian with us, push through the crowd, return back, and take the next person through.

Then a police officer stopped me and asked me if I had assaulted a settler girl. I said no of course not and he informed me that a girl had accused me of scratching and pushing her.

At this point I was taken to the police station on suspicion of assault.

No, I couldn’t quite believe it either, but after being in Hebron for so long, it doesn’t really surprise me.

Upon examining some of my documents, the cops discovered I am Jewish. He told me I should not tell any of the settlers I am Jewish because they will see me as a traitor. I asked him if he saw me as a traitor. He smiled condescendingly at me and said “well, we all make mistakes in our lives.”

I was detained and questioned at the police station for about 4 hours, then released.

I asked the police why didn’t they arrest the settlers who kicked, pushed and blocked our path. They said “We would need an army to arrest them.”

They have an army, don’t they? They call it the Israeli “Defence” Force.