Tag: Hebron

Palestinians threatened and abused by soldiers while waiting in their yard for Israeli Police to come and investigate damage caused by settler vandalism.

This is where the water pump used to be before Israeli settlers from the Tel Rumeida Settlement stole it.

by Jonas

Sunday, June 25th: Two Human Rights Workers (HRWs) received a phone call around 8:45pm, asking them to proceed to the Abu Haikal house because there were settlers from the Tel Rumeida Settlement causing problems on the family’s land. The HRWs went to the land directly, arriving 5 minutes or so after the phone call.

The HRWs were greeted by the family, who then led the HRWs to the backyard. The Abu Haikal family explained that the settlers had ascended the stairs from the Tel Rumeida settlement, which is located at the base of the Abu Haikal house. The settlers, at this point, had already left in the getaway car, which was waiting at the foot of the stairs. Two soldiers were present at the scene, also at the foot of the stairs.

The family explained to the HRWs what had happened. The settlers stole the water pump from the backyard. In doing so, they cut the electrical cord and the water pipe, both of which were connected to the pump. One of the HRWs called the police, who said they would be en route to the Abu Haikal house shortly, while the other HRW photographed the scene.

Settlers cut through the electrical wire that was hooked to the pump before stealing it and placing it into their getaway car.

While the family was relaying the information, including the make, model and license plate of the settler car (White Ford Van #39-538-51), the two Israeli soldiers came up the stairs onto the Abu Haikal property. They started screaming at the family, saying that they and the HRWs could not be there because they were posing a threat to the settlement. The HRWs assured the soldier that they were merely assessing the situation and would wait until the police arrived. The soldier again raised his voice, shouting for everyone to retreat back into the house. One HRW recorded the soldier’s words.

The soldier was screaming in Hebrew at one of the Abu Haikal family members. He was threatening to shoot the man if he did not retreat, later stating to a settler woman, “I hate Arabs!” This went on for a couple minutes. The police were called again and they assured the HRWs that they would be there shortly and to wait in the front of the house for the vehicle.

The HRWs and the family members went to the front of the house, where the police never came. Eventually, the police would arrive at the foot of the stairs in the backyard, where the soldiers and only one other Abu Haikal family member were waiting. He told the HRWs that the police came and the soldier that was present told the police that he didn’t see anything, i.e. the settlers or their getaway car. The police also found the White Ford Van and the driver who came to the scene at the request of the police. The settler denied any involvement and no water pump was found in the car. The police and the settler left before speaking with the HRWs who initially called them or any other family members involved.

TIPH (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) was called, who assured the HRWs and the Abu Haikal family that they would come tomorrow morning to record their story. The audio that was recorded of the soldier’s threats and the photographs of the scene’s stolen water pump and damaged pipes and wires were transferred to the Abu Haikal family’s computer and audio devices. They will use the evidence with their police report, to be filed at the Kiryat Arba police station at 9AM the following morning. The family said they would call the HRWs if any further problems arise.

by ISM Hebron

On Monday, June 19th 2006 at 7:00 pm, twenty Israeli settlers stoned a thirty year old Palestinian man named Talab Jabber. Jabber lives in the Old City near the Abraham mosque. He has five children, four daughters and one son.

Jabber was cleaning an old room and collecting some metal near the pool street behind al-Ibraheemiah School, when the settlers came to him from Abraham Avieeno Settlement and asked him to bay like his donkey. He responded to the settlers that he does not do this. Suddenly the settlers stoned him; they injured his face with rocks. The settlers also attacked Jaber’s donkey.

All of this happened in front of a checkpoint manned by Israeli soldiers who were less than twenty meters away from the attack area. The settlers escaped when they saw him bleeding. After that he went to the soldiers and asked them for help. Fortunately, they called the Army ambulance, which gave him first aid and then called the Palestinian ambulance which took him through the checkpoint to Hebron Hospital.

After he was at the hospital, Israeli police called him to go the police station to make a complaint against the settlers. In spite of the inconvenience for him, Jabber went. Jabber said that he had been attacked two times before but no one followed up on his complaints to the Israeli police. Also he said “the settlers do whatever they want; there are no rules to stop them from attacking and harassing the Palestinians.” He added that his wife and family members are living in a miserable situation because of the settlers and some soldiers. He said that he wants to live with justice and in peace, with freedom to go to his work, his home and the mosque. “We are not terrorists. We are victims of the Occupation; the settlers are the terrorists.”

by Musa Abu-Marya. Translated by Sunbula

al-Jab’a

June 13th: The problem – the settlers that are residing in Beit Ain located near the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, and between Beit Ummar and al-Jab’a are engaging in hostile actions in areas surrounding the two villages. Today, the settlers set fire to land in al-Jab’a as well as some of the olive groves and other farmlands. The farmers depend on their land, but some of them have been unable to reach their lands close to the settlement in the last 5-6 years, due to repeated assaults on the same person or on his land. It is evident that the policy being followed is one of forced evacuation and the planting of fear into the hearts of the farmers. The lands that were burned belong to the al-Tous and al-Mesha’ala families from al-Jab’a.

Beit Ummar

Jaber al-Sulaiby is the owner of the land that was attacked on June the19th 2006. On this day, a settler from Beit Ain came down to al-Suleiby’s land many times with a flock of goats that proceeded to eat the grapes, plums and other fruit trees. There were numerous complaints filed with the Gush Etzion police but without any result. The settlers and their goats were not stopped from attacking the land. There were also a number of peaches and cut trees that were found on the ground. Additionally, most of the unclean (sewage) water was found poured on to the land of the Suleiby family.

by Zadie

Musa Abu Marya, a peace activist from Beit Ummar, was again detained by the Israeli army on Sunday June 19. A group of five Palestinians and international peace activists were traveling along the settler road 137, which borders the Gush Etzion settlement bloc. At about 7 p.m. we were stopped by soldiers and told to leave, except for Musa who they said would be arrested.

The two internationals refused to leave and took pictures of the soldiers surrounding Musa, tying his hands behind his back, blindfolding him and putting him in the Jeep. The soldiers attempted to take away one international activist’s camera, wrestling with her until finally giving up. Inside the Jeep a soldier interrogated Musa, threatened to take him to prison, and beat him on the back of his head with his gun.

After an hour and a half, they let Musa go and forbade us from going to Jab’a, our destination.

This is the second time in two weeks Musa was detained and beaten by the military while walking with internationals in the area. There was no clear reason for his detention in either case and an order to stop people who were in the area was never provided. Both times Musa was stopped near settlements and questioned about what he was doing with internationals.

A lawyer from Machsom Watch commented on the detention, saying that the army was fully within their rights under the military law that rules Palestinians in the region to do everything they did, except beat him. “It is a police state,” she said.

B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, reports on the difference in civil right between Palestinians and settlers living in the same region, “Israeli civilians living in the Occupied Territories are not subject to military or local law, like the Palestinians, but are prosecuted according to the Israeli penal law. This situation is extremely grave: in a single occupied territory, Israel is operating a system of separation with discrimination by law.”

The presence of the settlers in the region threatens the rights of Palestinians. By law the Israeli army can stop Palestinians from nearing settlements, and detain and arrest them, even on their own land.