Tag: Hebron

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

by the Tel Rumeida Project and ISM Hebron

At approximately 2pm on September 9th, 2006, six young settler men, between the ages of 16 and 19, moved down Shuhada Street, in Tel Rumeida, from the neighborhood checkpoint towards Beit Hadassah settlement. An elderly Palestinian woman was sweeping her stoop slightly more than halfway down the same street. Two Human Rights Workers (HRWs) saw that the young men were being particularly loud and obstreperous. Fearing for the woman’s safety, one HRW crossed to the woman, pointed out the settlers, and tried to suggest that she go inside her house. The woman either didn’t understand, or chose to continue cleaning, and the first HRW moved to the opposite side of the street, in order to avoid drawing the settlers’ attention to the woman. The second HRW remained several meters further down the street, her video camera still in its bag, and prepared to document any aggression by the settlers.

Moments later, the settlers drew within roughly ten meters of the elderly woman’s stoop, and veered towards her, shouting at her in Hebrew. The woman started slowly to withdraw, clearly not comfortable with the behavior of the settlers. The first HRW moved quickly back across the street, and placed himself between the settlers and the woman, hoping to give her time to get inside and lock the door. The settlers started yelling at the HRW to get out of the way, which he refused to do. All six settlers then attacked the HRW, kicking, punching, and shoving him against the wall of the house.

At this point, the second HRW, about eight meters away, took out a video camera in order to record the attack. The settlers quickly peeled away from the first HRW and rushed the second, shouting at her, trying to grab the camera, pushing her, and eventually tearing the video camera out of her grip. They then hurled the camera to the ground, and proceeded to kick it along the street down towards Beit Hadassah settlement. The HRWs followed them, shouting at them to stop it, to give back the camera. The settlers, however, kept kicking the camera all the way past the Israeli army checkpoint and into the first section of the settlement, where one of them picked it up and ran into a settler building, while the others continued down Shuhada Street, further into the settlement.

This entire sequence of events took place within 25 meters of the manned Isreali army post mentioned above. The soldier at the post took no action at any time, despite the HRWs’ calls for help, and the passage of the camera-kicking settlers less than two meters in front of his post. When the first HRW asked the soldier why he did nothing to help, the soldier replied that he couldn’t do anything. This was patently absurd, given that the soldier was armed with an M-16, while the attacking settlers were unarmed, and clearly in their late teens, rather than small children who may be immune from military detention. The first HRW then demanded the soldier call the police, which he appeared to do.

After describing the attack to a series of soldiers, including a 1st lieutenant with some command authority, the HRWs repeated the procedure with a number of police officers. The first policeman with whom they spoke attempted to blame the HRWs use of a camera on the “peaceful holy day” of Shabbat. Eventually, the police took the HRWs to view two suspects who they had detained. Neither HRW could be absolutely certain that the detainees were among those who attacked them, so the suspects were released, and the HRWs were taken to the Kiryat Arba police headquarters to file complaints for the assault and for the robbery of the camera.

Some time after the HRWs’ return from Kiryat Arba, the second HRW was informed by the second lieutenant mentioned above that the soldiers at the IDF post had identified two of the attackers, who were then arrested by the police. This has not yet been confirmed, but, if true, long-term HRWs in Tel Rumeida believe it is the first arrest of settlers in connection with an attack on either Palestinians or HRWs in the past six months.

by Tel Rumeida Project and ISM Hebron

September 9th, 2006

Around 2pm today, while sitting on the top of the hill in Tel Rumeida, Hebron, soldiers ordered Palestinian children and Human Rights Workers (HRWs) to stop playing football in the street. The HRW asked the soldier what the problem was, and he replied, “You’re bothering me. Stop playing football here.” The HRW asked the soldier if it was illegal to play football in the street, and the soldier said, “No, it’s not illegal, but you’re bothering me. Stop playing football here. Thank you.” The Palestinian children and HRWs continued to play football for about two more minutes, then sat back down. Approximately ten minutes later, HRWs noticed two Israeli settler children looking over the fence and into the yard of a Palestinian home. Israeli settlers have been tearing down and breaking grape vines from this house over the past week, as well as stealing the grapes. One HRW walked towards the direction of the children, and they left. The HRW then stepped inside the Palestinian shoe shop nearby to say hello and see how things were going.

At this point, six settler boys around the age of 16 came down the hill. The international stood in the doorway, continuing her conversation. One settler boy, who approached this HRW the day before and called her a ‘bitch’ in Hebrew, aggressively approached the door of the shop and tried to enter. The HRW blocked his way with her body and told him, “You are not welcome in this shop. This is a private business.” The settler began yelling at the HRW in Hebrew. The HRW continued to block the door. The remaining settler boys surrounded the other HRW and began yelling at him in Hebrew. They then started to lightly whip the HRW with their tzitzit (the tassles that religious Jews wear). Two soldiers posted nearby approached and told the HRW to leave and quit making problems. The settler boys then proceeded to stand in a circle in the middle of the road and jump up and down, holding hands, singing a song in Hebrew very loudly. The soldier who had told the Palestinians and HRWs not to play football then told the HRWs that it would be better if we weren’t sitting outside causing problems and bothering the settlers on Shabbat. The soldier asked us what we were doing there and asked why we couldn’t go somewhere else. The HRWs ended the conversation at this point.

Approximately ten minutes later, eight soldiers came running down the hill. The last soldier in the contingent stopped at the gate of a house and kicked a small child who appeared to be about eight years old. The HRWs yelled at the soldier, but he ignored the HRWs and continued down the hill. He was wearing a red kippa and holding his helmet in his hand. One HRW approached a commander and told him about the soldier. She was able to point out the soldier; the commander called the soldier over to him. As the commander walked back past the HRWs, he told them, “You should file a report. What he did was bad.”

HRWs then received a phone call from HRWs on Shuhada Street saying they had just been attacked by the settlers. These were the same settlers in the incident on the top of the hill. A separate report will follow with the details of this incident.

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At approximately 3:30pm, three HRWs were sitting on Shuhada Street. Settler children were milling about the soldier’s post next to Beit Hadassa Settlement. The HRWs noticed three settler boys walking down Shuhada Street towards the settlement, seemingly prepared for violence. As the boys walked past the HRWs, they focused their attention on the two women in the group. The settler boys spit on the HRWs and cursed them in Hebrew. The HRWs then stood up and told the settler boys to leave. One boy had a short stick twice as thick as a broom handle. He threatened one HRW with the stick, but did not hit her. The HRWs yelled at the settler boys to leave and called for the soldier. The soldier eventually came out of his post and smiled gently at the boys. They eventually left, but not without threatening one HRW with the stick again and throwing a few rocks.

About ten minutes later, a Palestinian woman coming from the Qurtuba girls school stairs said that settler boys had thrown rocks at her. One HRW went towards the stairs and saw about 15 kids about the age of 8-10 sitting on the path to the school, destroying it. The HRW asked the soldier to help stop the kids, but he said that it wasn’t his job; he then went back into his post. The Palestinian woman who had come from the path ten minutes before came back; HRWs immediately offered to accompany her back on the path. She was extremely relieved that we said we would go with her. HRWs walked her past the settlers without incident and then went back to Shuhada Street. This went on with three more Palestinians, all without major incident. HRWs had called the police in the meantime to report the damage to the path. The police came and began yelling at the children. HRWs continued to accompany Palestinians on the path. Each time, the settler kids were more aggressive towards the Palestinians and HRWs, spitting on them and blocking their path. The last time HRWs walked a Palestinian on the path, settler girls about the age of 12 forcefully blocked the path and stopped the HRWs from passing. HRWs non-violently pushed their way through the group of settler kids. Anat Cohen, a settler woman well-known for being aggressive towards Palestinians and HRWs, blocked the second HRW. Anat Cohen said over and over again, “Go to Aushwitz! Go to Aushwitz you Nazi!” The HRW did not reply.

Fifteen minutes later, the border police and regular police approached the HRWs sitting on Shuhada Street. They filmed one female HRW, then surrounded her and demanded that she hand over her passport. The HRW had been travelling earlier in the day and had left her passport in the house. The police officer ordered another HRW to get the passport from the house. The police arrested the first HRW in the meantime. The HRW was held at Kiryat Arba Police Station for four hours then released without charges.