Tag: Nablus

Armed Settlers supported by Israeli army attack Palestinian village.

10 April 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

At 8.30am yesterday morning around fifty settlers, some masked and armed with guns, descended from Yitzhar settlement onto the Palestinian village of Assira Al Qibliya. International observers from the UK and Ireland witnessed the settlers threw rocks at homes and people on the outskirts of the village injuring one local, who is being treated in hospital.

Within thirty minutes an army jeep carrying Israeli soldiers arrived. They stood in front of the settlers on the hillside approximately one hundred metres from the Palestinian homes yet did nothing to prevent their attacks. The soldiers could be seen firing guns into the air and directly towards the Palestinians who had come out of their homes to witness and document this attack on their village.

During the attack four settlers broke away from the main group and made their way to a Palestinian quarry. Two armed with machine guns stood on a ledge while two descended onto the side of the road and set fire to a car used by the Palestinian workers.

The settlement of Yitzhar was originally established as a military outpost in 1983 but demilitarised and turned over to residential purposes a year later. Yitzhar is home to a Jewish orthodox community of over 100 who have in the past decade attacked the residents and properties of Assira Al Qibliya and neighbouring villages on numerous occasions using rocks, knives, guns and arson. These attacks often happen on Saturdays, the religious holiday of Shabbat.

Yitzhar is home to Rabbi Elitzur who published a book last November entitled “The Handbook for the Killing of Gentiles”, condoning the murder of non-Jewish babies, lest they grow to “be dangerous like their parents”. Rabbi Elitzur is vocal in his encouragement of “operations of reciprocal responsibility” such as the arson attack made on Yasuf mosque in December 2009

Despite West Banks settlements’ status as illegal under international law, Yitzhar was included in the Israeli governments’ 2009 “national priority map” as one of the settlements earmarked for financial support. Yitzhar also receives significant funding from American donations, tax-deductible under U.S. government tax breaks for ‘charitable’ institutions.

Four days of settler violence in Burin and the Nablus area

03 April 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Construction of Zeid Amran's house
On Friday afternoon at around 4.30 pm, three young men from the village of Burin, south of Nablus, were attacked by two settlers while picking “akoob” (a plant used in cooking) in the mountains. The men were around 200 meters away from the illegal settlement of Bracha when two settlers attacked them by throwing stones. Ten minutes later, 35 more masked settlers, two of them carrying M16 rifles, came down to attack the three men. When the villagers of Burin came to protect the men by throwing stones, settlers started firing live ammunition at them, forcing them to hide behind rocks.

One settler shouted at the villagers, in Arabic: “We should burn you, you are rubbish!”

At approximately 5.30 pm, one hour after the settlers had arrived, the Israeli army came and forced the villagers to leave their land, while the settlers were allowed to stay.

Again, yesterday at around 10.30 am, five villagers were attacked by settlers while they were constructing a house. 18 settlers, of whom two were carrying guns, attacked the workers by throwing stones at them and their tractors and prevented them from doing their work. The workers called the Red Cross and asked them to call the Israeli army to come and stop the settlers. Around 30 minutes later the army came, but the settlers had already left. When the villagers told the soldiers what have happened, the soldiers called them liars, telling them that the settlers would never attack on a Saturday since it is the holy day for Jewish people.
Then at around 4 pm, the settlers came back and attacked the workers again, throwing stones at them and their families. Again by the time the military had come, the settlers were already gone, and instead of helping the villagers, the soldiers prevented the workers from driving their tractors to get water and soil some 100 meters up the road, threatening to shoot them.

Today at 9.30 am around 30 settlers, of whom three were carrying guns, attacked the five workers once again with stones. 30 minutes later, the Israeli army arrived with four military jeeps, but as in the previous incidents, the settlers had left just before the army came. The two houses under construction belong to the two brothers Zeid and Ghassan Amran. Their family have been under constant attack since they started to build the first house last year. Ghassan Amran lives with his family in one of the houses, he is scared that something will happen to his children, three boys aged three, seven and eight years old.

The village of Burin is surrounded by the illegal Israeli settlements of Bracha in the north, and Yitzar in the south. The settlers make regular visits to the village and in previous incidents have destroyed olive trees, stolen and shot animals, set crops and houses and cars on fire, destroyed homes, shot at people with live ammunition and fired rockets at the village.

In other similar incidents in the Nablus area, according to Ma’an News Agency, Imad Husni Salahat, 47, was severely beaten by settlers in Kawkab Salah near the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Efrayim yesterday. The same day, settlers from the illegal settlement of Yitzar destroyed water pipes south of the village of Madama.

Also, on the night between Wednesday and Thursday, in the village of Aqraba, south east of Nablus, 400 olive trees that had been planted three months earlier, were uprooted and stolen by settlers from the illegal settlement of Itamar. The week before 300 olive trees were uprooted and three wells were destroyed in a settler attack on the village land.

Illegal settlement of Bracha

Awarta faces second wave of curfew and military harassment

According to Awarta residents, the Israeli army entered the village again at 3 am on Thuesday 22nd of March laying down a curfew for the second time this month. The previous week Awarta, south of Nablus, had been put under curfew for five days by the Israeli military.

Once again houses were searched, leaving a trail of homes suffering from property damage and reactivating traumas from the previous military attacks on 12-16th of March. ISM activists present in Awarta on Monday during the curfew reported that computers and mobile phones had been confiscated and money stolen by Israeli soldiers. The activists witnessed how soliders entered families’ homes, arrested young men and left the homes completely wrecked from the inside.
At least nine men were arrested yesterday, one of them a 22 year old man who was removed from his family’s home, handcuffed, blindfolded and taken away to an unknown location in front of watching activists.

A youth center lost their computer access when soldiers stole the hard drives of seven computers. A computer shop was also completely wrecked when soldiers broke the door taking several hard drives and breaking laptops.

Familes were also left without enough drinking water when it ws tipped out by soldiers, and they were not allowed to leave their homes to fetch water from neighbours. When ISM activists demanded a reply from soldiers at Odala checkpoint they were told to encourage the familys to contact soldiers in the village although the curfew was still in effect. According to the same soldiers in charge of Odala checkpoint the curfew would be over at 6 pm the same day, 5 hours after the need for drinkingwater was critical.

At around 8 pm the soldiers left the village and the curfew was lifted, although the villagers are concerned that they will come back again.

Proof that any Awarta resident is involved in the murder of the Fogel family in the nearby illegal settlement of Itamar on 11th March has yet to be made public. ISM activists present in Awarta during the first five days of curfew claim that the last weeks military operations are a clear case of collective punishment on Palestinian civil society and are not connected to investigating the Fogel murders.

Director of programming at The Voice of Palestine Radio was arrested by Israeli military together with his sons aged 17 and 16. The arrest has been condemed by the Palestinian journalist syndicate according to Ma´an news agency.

According to the village council, eleven of the men that were arrested last week have been released, while nine were arrested yesterday. About 40 men from Awarta are in Israeli custody at the moment, some of them at the military base in Huwara, while some have been taken to an interegation prison in Israel. Their families have not been told where their fathers, sons or brothers have been taken, about their condition or when, or if they will be released.

On the 15th of march, during the five day curfew of Awarta, settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Itamar started building a new outpost on private land own by the villagers of Awarta. At the scene, on a hill in the valley between Itamar and Awarta, one can see settlers operating bulldozers under the protection of the Israeli military.

Three Scandinavian ISM activists trapped by curfew in Awarta village following settlers’ murder

15 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

UPDATE:

At 5:30 pm last night a large mob of settlers came down the hill and attacked villagers with stones, breaking one 15-year-old boy’s arm. At 5pm the soldiers had announced that their curfew was finished, but it became clear today that the curfew is still in effect as soldiers shout at people to go back inside if they step outside their homes. Though ISM activists could have left last night, they stayed in the village anticipating disturbances from settlers, and are now trapped again by the continuing curfew. Villagers have told the activists that their presence is influencing the behavior of the settlers: the soldiers are less abusive when internationals are present. Regarding the investigation into the murder of the settler family, evidence has yet to be presented incriminating a Palestinian. Most Palestinians, such as Hani Awad from Awarta, strongly doubt that a Palestinian would have committed the crime and think it would have been impossible for anyone to break into the settlement.

14 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

UPDATE:

As of 12:30pm the ISM activists are locked in a room with the children of the family that they’ve been staying with while soldiers search the house. It’s difficult for the ISMers to confirm information they receive as they’re not allowed to leave the house, but they’ve heard that 100 village men were taken into detention at the school for interrogation a few hours ago.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today the village of Awarta, near Nablus, is facing the second day of a severe curfew imposed by the Israeli military, following Friday morning’s murder of a settler family in the settlement Itamar . Three ISM activists–Cinda, 23, Chad, 25, from Sweden, and Cissy, 53, from Norway–are currently trapped in the village. Anyone caught stepping outside of their house is arrested. Soldiers have said that they’ll maintain the curfew until they’ve apprehended the settler family’s murderer. The army hasn’t presented any evidence that the murderer was from Awarta, and villagers have said to the ISM that they strongly doubt the murderer was even Palestinian as the settlement is so heavily guarded it would be impossible to break in. Soldiers are beating people and continuing their house raids: destroying houses from the inside, cutting off electricity, and polluting the drinking water by throwing mud in the water-tanks. 30 homes were occupied by soldiers last night. Computers and phones have been destroyed and money and property were stolen by the soldiers. In the last two days soldiers have been throwing sound grenades inside and outside the houses, and shooting in the air. The ISM activists may be arrested soon, but they intend to stay as long as possible because they feel their presence improves the behavior of the soldiers, and villagers have asked them to stay.

For more information:
Cinda, ISM activist inside the village: +972 59 741 4023
ISM Media Office, Ramallah: +972 59 760 6276

The village of Awarta face repression from soldiers after attack on settlers

12 March 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

Today the village of Awarta, the Palestinian village located closest to the illegal settlement Itamar which witnessed the murder of an entire settler family this morning, was put under severe military restrictions. According to the village council, 19 people are still in custody after the Israeli military raided the village early this morning. Around 8 am the Israeli military cut off the roads to the village, preventing anyone from entering or leaving. Around 25 people were arrested in total, among them a 14-year-old boy.

When the soldiers entered the houses to arrest people they flipped over furniture, smashed windows, threw sound grenades and shot bullets in the air.

Around 3 pm the soldiers returned a second time to search houses of the families who’s sons had been arrested. They forced the families to stay outside under armed guards for an hour while about 20 soldiers with dogs entered their houses. As they had done in the morning, the soldiers turned the houses completely upside-down, destroying the electricity by cutting the cables to the fuse box, and polluting the drinking water by throwing mud in the water-tanks. Computers and phones were destroyed and money and property were stolen by the soldiers. Once again the soldiers threw sound grenades inside and outside the houses.

While the soldiers were searching the houses, the families, including women and small children, were forbidden to drink or eat.

It has been reported that an 80-year-old woman who suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure was beaten by the soldiers. She was taken to the Rafidia hospital in Nablus.

Around 6 pm the soldiers left the village, but residents of Awarta are scared that settlers will attack again during the night. No one knows if or when the army or the settlers will return to the village.

The families of the men and boys that were arrested do not know where their sons, fathers, and brothers are or when they will come home.

Even though this kind of systematic collective punishment is illegal according to International law, is it frequently used by the Israeli military all over the West Bank and in Gaza.