Ibrahim Ayid, of the village of Borin near Nablus, says he cannot complete construction on his home because it has been attacked three times during the past week by settlers.
The IDF stated that a number of incidents have occurred on the scene and that forces had to prevent physical violence from breaking out between Palestinians and settlers.
Ayid said that on Wednesday three settlers, one of them armed, had arrived at the construction site to threaten him.
“The settlers came down to the house, took apart the wood intended for construction, broke the water containers, and vandalized the property. They also threatened and chased away a tractor driver and electricians working there,” he recounted.
He said the previous incidents had occurred on Tuesday and Saturday of the past week. “They get backing from the settlement’s security guards. The goal of the army alerted to the scene is to peacefully chase away the settlers, by firing tear gas at us. This time the soldiers came as well, but they did nothing against the settlers in the village,” Ayid added.
He said he had filed a complaint with the Palestinian administration, which the soldiers regarded derogatorily. “They answered, ‘Come on, no administration’,” Ayid said. “The soldiers cursed and humiliated us, instead of bringing to justice those who in the course of a week vandalized and caused damage to my property three times.”
The IDF stated in response, “A group of Palestinians gathered in one place and a group of Israelis gathered in another place. When they approached one another an IDF force was there to prevent the sides from clashing. The sides left the area without further incident.”
Meanwhile, Palestinians are claiming that settlers from Gilad Farm set fire to a field in the village of Jat. They claim the settlers also cut down olive and fig trees and afterwards destroyed a field of tomatoes.
On Wednesday, June 17, 2009, the Israeli Army demolished seven houses of shepherds in the small village Qurusdyia in the Aqraba district, southeast of Nablus. About two months ago, the affected families had received eviction orders in Hebrew which they did not understand. Once the deadline had passed for the families to leave the area, the Army moved in with bulldozers and tore everything down. The families now live in tents in Aqraba and moved their livestock to fields nearby.
The demolished houses consisted of three family houses and four farm houses. They were simple structures such as large tents, and three separate kitchens built with sheets of corrugated iron. According to the Mayor of Aqraba, about two months ago, the three families that were all related (3 brothers) had received eviction orders in Hebrew. They did not understand the content of these documents and did not inform the Municipality. Once the deadline for evicting the area had passed, the lawyers could not do anything to help. Qurusdyia lies in area C as defined by the Oslo Accord requiring building permits for any house or tent. These families have been living here for generations. The concept or the process of building permits is foreign to them.
Everything but the well used as drinking water for the animals at this extremely remote site in the desert has been completely destroyed by the Israeli Army. Water canisters have been slashed, kitchens put out of function, and the water pipes severed. It appears that the families must have fled the scene in great haste since there were carpets left behind, children’s books half-way buried under rubble, a car toy, and a few shoes here and there plus many other small personal belongings.
The Mayor pointed out that it is not so much the issue of losing houses, but rather of losing their land. People should be able to remain on their land. He seeks financial compensation through international organizations for any house that is being destroyed.
Aqraba (aka Akraba) in which Qurusdyia is located, has a total of 144,000 dunums of land, 80% of which have been taken by the Israeli Army for ‘training purposes’, as they claim. In reality, their objective is to build new settlements on these lands. Since 1967, Aqraba district is declared a Area C, but for a long time the people were allowed to farm; they have been treated worse and worse each year since, until they have gotten to the situation they are now in. The people living here are now being treated worse than before.
In Twael which is another small village in the Aqraba district, several houses including a mosque and a school have also been given eviction orders.
Settlers rampage on Palestinian land in Faratta village
Early in the morning of the 1st of June, settlers started to burn farm land of the village of Burin. Continuing throughout the day, settlers also set fire to the crops and olive trees of Tell, Jit, Immatin, and Far’ata villages in the Nablus region of the West Bank. Six Palestinians were also attacked violently by settlers while they were on their way to work near the villages.
At 4 o’clock in the morning, the first group of settlers started to come towards a house on the outskirts of Burin. The family had to close all the shutters and doors to stop the settlers from entering the house.
One woman of the house said “We’re very afraid. This is not the first time the settlers have come. They harass us, cut the electricity wires to the house, and throw burning things on our roof.”
The settlers seemed to move away from the village, however, at 6 o’clock the first fires were seen by villagers of Burin only a short distance from the village. The fires burned throughout the day. The presence of settlers, soldiers, and road blocks prevented people and the fire brigade from extinguishing the fires.
Settlers set fire to Faratta land
Simultaneously, settlers made arson attacks on large areas of land belonging to the villages of Tell, Jit, Immatin, and Far’ata. Some of the settlers were masked and brandishing bats. The Israeli Army restrained the most aggressive settlers and forced the Palestinian farmers, who tried to access their land protesting against the destruction of their crops and olive trees, to leave. The Army threw a sound grenade to disperse the crowd forcing it back to the village.
In addition, six Palestinians were attacked by settlers on their way to work. According to Maan News, one of them, 44-year-old Ali As-Sadda from the village of Jit, was seriously injured and transferred to Al-Arabi Hospital in Nablus with a head injury.
The Nakba Committee of Nablus organized a commemoration ceremony in Balata village. About 500 people from the area gathered to attend the event where various speeches were given by community officials such as the Mayor of Nablus and others.
Some 500 Palestinians with flags and banners gathered in Balata village at the outskirts of Nablus to observe the 61st memorial day of the Nakba, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians where expelled from their homeland and became refugees.
The mayor of Nablus, Dr. Jamal Mhezen, held a speech about the Nakba and the political situation today. He pointed out that the Palestinian government did everything Israel was asking for, and rhetorically he asked, ”What did Israel do for the Palestinians?” He talked about the rights of return, and emphasized that Palestinians want peace, but that there are more than one ways to achieve it. He encouraged everyone to continue their struggle for peace in memory of the martyrs.
During the speech of the mayor, a fight broke out between two men. The Palestinian police force attempted to disperse the crowd. Several shocked protesters ran away or became panicked. The situation calmed down shortly thereafter and the ceremony was resumed.
On grounds leased from Balata village for 99 years, the UNWRA established Balata Refugee Camp in 1950 following the establishment of the State of Israel and the ensuing war with the Arab countries. According to Mahmoud Subuh, International Relation at the Yafa Cultural Center, some 800,000 Palestinians had become refugees by 1949. Balata Camp is the largest populated refugee camp in the West Bank. Yet it has the smallest surface area of a mere one square kilometer. It was established for 5,000-6,000 refugees, but today, 25,000 live there. Initially, tents were built as a temporary solution to ease the refugee problem until the conflict would be solved, and the UN Resolution 194 “The Rights of Return” implemented. However, the law of return remained in existance only on paper and was never implemented.
The tents of the first 5,000 refugees remained for about 10 years, however. Then, people were allowed to replace them with small houses, 3x3x2 meters, but only with the permission of the UN. Subsequently, residents were allowed to add more stories as the families grew. There are families of up to 80 people living in a single house. Everyone used communal bathrooms initially, but now they have bathrooms separated by gender.
Since 1970, refugees from Balata Camp were allowed to go into Israel to seek employment, which improved the economic situation somewhat. Yet, the cramped living condition in the Camp is extremely hard to deal with. People are fighting with each over minor things out of frustration. Kids are tough, and are seen as the “Mafia” by the village kids who are going to the same school. They do not have a bright future so the objective of the Yafa Cultural Center is to offer art classes, music, filmmaking and other activities to the youth and women.
Balata Camp is very active politically. During the second intifada, 230 refugees of Balata Camp were killed, and 480 are still in prison today. The root of the economic problems is due to the fact that the refugees at Balata Camp came there with nothing. Most of them came from the Yaffa area. Most people are workers. Before the 2nd intifada, about 60% of the Balata refugees worked in Israel. Now, there is a mere 3% due to restrictive laws for Palestinian workers in Israel, harassment at checkpoints, and the Occupation in general.
Children are suffering extremely under this oppression and economic hardship, not getting healthy nutrition and poor education. About 60% of the kids at Balata Camp are anemic. Some 6,000 kids go to three schools, which means that classes have up to 55 students. Psychological problems are very frequent, i.e. children are wetting their beds, are aggressive, etc. What makes the situation worse, is that recently, the UN cut back on services so that the schools have the worst teachers because they are not paid well and are offered only temporary contracts. In terms of health, there is severe shortage of medicine at local hospitals
According to Mahmoud Subuh, the exodus of Balata refugees such as moving to the village, buying their home and build their existence outside the Camp is not the solution. It would take away their status of refugees and with it, they would lose their rights of return. They would become citizens without a state.
Thousands of Palestinians on Thursday marked the 61st anniversary of the Naqba, the “catastrophe” that sparked an exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees after Israel was created in 1948.
Holding Palestinian flags and photos of Arab villages razed by Israeli forces six decades ago, demonstrators marched in the centre of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
“The right of return is sacred”, “No peace without the right of return”, read the banners held by the marchers.
The ceremonies took place a day early because the May 15 anniversary of the Naqba falls this year on a Friday, a day off in the mostly Muslim Palestinian territories.
The demonstration was headed by political figures and religious leaders and began at the tomb of legendary Palestinian chief Yasser Arafat at the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, today run by his successor, president Mahmud Abbas.
In the northern West Bank town of Nablus, about 2,000 people participated in a march, holding Palestinian flags tied with black ribbons as a sign of mourning.
In Aqabet Jaber refugee camp, in the oasis town of Jericho, participants unveiled a statue featuring a six-metre (20-foot) metallic key, symbolising the refugees’ attachment to the houses from which they fled or were forced out in 1948.
Around 700,000 people were exiled in this way in 1948, with the United Nations estimating that today they and their decendants number 4.6 million.
The Israeli army said in a statement that it was sealing off the occupied West Bank from midnight on Thursday until Saturday evening for the Naqba.
