At 12pm on Friday 5th December, approximately 100 residents of Nablus came out to protest against the settler rampage that saw Palestinians attacked in their cars and homes throughout the West Bank, following the eviction of one settler-occupied house in Hebron.
Organised by the Nablus municipality, a coalition of political parties and a variety of Nablus-based associations, the demonstration took over the city centre, calling for Palestinians to take a stand against the onslaught of settler attacks. Speakers from various parties called for unity amongst Palestinians, from the West Bank to Gaza; from the camps to the villages, in the face of the inaction of the Israeli authorities to quell the rampage. As one speaker from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said “Now settlers and soldiers declare their true face about their feelings for Palestinian people”.
Speakers called for Palestinian leadership to cease all negotiations with Israel, and for all Palestinian political parties to stand together in this, ending the divisions in Palestinian politics. A number of speakers also spoke about the possibility of third Intifada against settlers, and against the Israeli occupation. This echoes statements made earlier by the mayor of Nablus, who stated for news agencies that “If the Israeli military do not succeed to stop the settlers’ violence, then we will call on the Palestinian residents to go out on the streets and fight back”.
The demonstration was a defiant refusal to be intimidated by this recent spate of attacks, no matter how brutal. As Dr. Najat Abu Baker, a Palestinian MP, stated “This is our land. We will stay and the settlers will be the ones to leave”.
A group of 50 Palestinians from the village of Burqa in the North of Nablus, joined by solidarity activists and members of the press, held their weekly demonstration demanding the return of Palestinian land from the evacuated illegal Homesh settlement on Friday.
The demonstrators marched to farmland surrounding the settlement at 11:00 am Friday morning to replant olive trees on their forcibly neglected land. Over 5000 dunams of land in and surrounding the settlement are inaccessible to the Palestinian populations of the surrounding villages and the demonstrators on Friday were both physically and symbolically reclaiming this important and fertile farmland.
The Homesh settlement was abandoned in 2005 following the terms of the “disengagement” plan, though settlers have attempted to repopulate the land multiple times since and none of the land has been returned to its rightful Palestinian owners. Israeli authorities claim that the area, after the evacuation, is to be considered Area C according to the Oslo agreements, though the logic behind such a claim is clearly lacking. The goal of today’s demonstration was not to reach the settlement itself, though villagers reported having seen Israeli settlers on the abandoned land from the location of the manifestation, confirming worries that settlers were once again attempting to repopulate the land.
Today’s demonstration was instead focusing on the extreme loss of land around the settlement, dunams where Palestinians used to grow olives, apples, apricots and walnuts. After the evacuation many of the Burqa, Sebastiya, Beit Imreen, Talluza, Deir Sharaf and Silat adh Dhahr residents returned to their long neglected lands to replant, though much of their work has already been reversed when settlers have come to uproot and burn the newly planted trees. In addition many of the farmers’ storage areas and wells have been sabotaged or damaged by settlers. In April of this year settlers poured toxic chemicals into the water of the wells.
When assessing the barren farmland one Burqa resident, Abu Sami, lamented; “these settlers have completely changed our landscape”. The settler attacks have also targeted many of the Palestinian shepherds that have attempted to graze their sheep on the land surrounding Homesh, many have reported incidents when they were attacked by settlers and had their sheep shot.
In the years since the evacuation the residents of Burqa and other surrounding villages have received thousands of dollars from organizations like Oxfam Quebec to use, along with their own funds, to build up the land once again, though their attempts have been made futile with persistent abuse and incursion from illegal settlers. Many residents were already forced to leave the area when their livelihood was taken away with the destruction of their farmland and many more will probably be forced to follow if these settler reigns of terror continue. Along with settler violence the residents of Burqa suffer constant Israeli army evictions, invasions and harassment. For all of these reasons the Palestinians of the community have vowed to hold weekly demonstrations to prevent the nightmare of Homesh from plaguing their lives once again, proudly carrying signs proclaiming; “We will fight until we get our rights”.
UPDATE: Settlers are attacking Palestinian residents and property around the West Bank in a coordinated outbreak of aggression following the eviction of settlers from the occupied Rajabi house in Hebron. Attacks against Palestinians have been reported from Turmas’ayya, Burin, Huwarra, Beit Iba, Azzoun, al-Funduq, Assira-al-Qabliya and Susiya, as well as the mass settler riots in Hebron.
10:30pm 4th December: Settlers have thrown molotov cocktails at a house in Assira-al-Qabliya, Nablus region, setting the house alight. Widespread damage has been reported by Palestinian firefighters who have now put out the blaze.
In Susiya, the tent of Hajet Sarra Nausaja has been burnt down by settlers who have stormed through the area.
One Palestinian man has been taken to hospital in Qalqilya after his car was attacked by settlers close to al-Funduq. His condition is as yet unknown. Residents of al-Funduq also reported that Israeli soldiers ordered all shops to close and people to remain inside their homes in case the settlers arrived.
6:30pm 4th December – These coordinated attacks appear to be the manifestation of settler warnings of a ‘price-tag’ campaign that were reported in September of this year.
Just outside the village of Turmas’ayya, Israeli soldiers stopped a bus and at least 40 other Palestinian cars from traveling down Road 60 that links Nablus and Ramallah. As the cars were being stopped settlers attacked the cars, throwing rocks and other projectiles. Large-scale damage was reported from the scene.
Those trapped inside the cars report that Israeli soldiers are refusing to intervene and prevent the settler attacks or to allow the Palestinian traffic to pass so as to escape from the settler attacks. Witnesses to this have said that they are very scared and that there has been considerable damage caused towards the bus and cars.
In the village of Burin, Nablus region, over 100 settlers have attacked the village, throwing stones at Palestinian houses and damaging property. Settlers have also set fire to Palestinian agricultural land in Burin. Groups of settlers have been throwing rocks at houses with Israeli soldiers seemingly unwilling to prevent them. In one house residents are trapped inside while settlers have repeatedly thrown rocks against their property. International Human Rights Workers in the village have reported that Israeli soldiers in the vilage have been using tear-gas and sound grenades against Palestinians not in their homes, but are refraining from using such force against settlers attacking the village.
Rather than confront the violent settlers, Israeli soldiers have preferred to use force on Palestinian residents in the regions. A resident of Burin was violently detained by Israeli soldiers after settlers had attacked his car and broken his windshield. A similar incident was reported to the International Women’s Peace Service as one resident, while driving home, was confronted by Israeli soldiers who refused to intervene as settlers attacked his car.
International Human Rights Workers have also reported that both Beit Iba and Huwarra checkpoints have been blocked by settlers and that rocks are being thrown at Palestinians attempting to pass through the Israeli checkpoints.
In response to these settler attacks, rather than confront the settlers, have blocked Palestinian traffic from running on Road 60 that links Nablus and Ramallah, the road between Kufr Laqif and Jinsafut and the road between Jit and al-Funduq. With the religious of Eid approaching, it appears that Israeli forces are seeking to prevent Palestinians traveling instead of acting to prevent the settler attacks.
On 2nd December, more than 200 Palestinian, international and Israeli activists marched to the Palestinian lands on which Israeli settlers are preparing to dump solid waste.
Organised jointly by the Palestinian Ministry for Environment; the Nablus coalition of political parties; Nablus governorate together with the villages of Deir Sharaf and Qusin, the demonstration called for an end to plans of Israeli settlers from nearby Qedumim settlement to construct a waste dump on Palestinian land.
Children carried placards stating “We Want Freedom and a Pure Environment” – outlining the two main political objections to the nascent waste dump. The first is the refusal to tolerate the attempted land-grab by the settlement, with the municipalities from Qusin and Deir Sharaf affirming that the land in question has not been sold to Qedumim council – a claim currently being made by the council.
The second objection is to the existence of a waste dump on the site, which lies just 100 metres above the Deir Sharaf aquifer – the source of 40 percent of Nablus’ drinking water. Whilst the settler groups in question claim the dump will be for “sanitary landfill”, which will not pollute the water below, the same claim was made in 2005 when Qedumim council first dumped waste on the site, but the reality was that a whole range of waste, from paper to foodstuffs to tyres, was dumped there. “The type of rock here is very porous”, said Amjad Ibrahim of the Palestinian Ministry of Environment. “The water will leech through very quickly”.
20 dounums of the land have been prepared by work crews employed by the settlement, but the grand scheme is to eventually take 400 dounums (100 acres) for the landfill site, with waste to be dumped there for 20 years. No waste has been dumped on the site since April 2005, when in just two days of dumping, mountains of waste were created. “Can you imagine what it will be like after 20 years?”, asks Mr Ibrahim.
Whilst the dumping of waste on the site in 2005 was stopped very quickly as a result of media and political pressure, residents are worried that this time won’t be so easy. Whilst under international law, it is illegal for an occupying power to dump its waste in occupied lands, (much as it is illegal to settle population in occupied lands), settler groups have negotiated around this obstacle by claiming the site is also for Palestinian waste – a claim that all Palestinian authorities refute. It is through this fabrication, however, that the settlers have supposedly been granted a license to dump waste at the site – a license that, along with land ownership papers, they have failed to produce. Nonetheless, concern over the possibility that Israeli authorities have granted settlers license to dump waste in Deir Sharaf has led to the issue being included in the articles of concern for the Palestinian peace-talks negotiations team.
Villagers, moreover, have vowed to continue to take action against the waste dump – refusing to allow their land to be stolen and their water supplies polluted.
On the evening of December 1st and the morning of December 2nd, hundreds of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian homes and cars, burnt Palestinian property, desecrated mosques, intimidated Palestinian residents while insulting Islam.
At approximately, 8pm, over 100 settlers attacked the town of Burin, shooting and throwing rocks at Palestinian houses. One house, the home of Khalib Kasam, next to Road 60, was surrounded by settlers who attacked the house, damaging solar panels, while Israeli soldiers stood by on the street, failing to intervene.
Israeli soldiers instead, attacked Palestinian residents who gathered behind the besieged house, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the unarmed villagers. The soldiers momentarily detained one settler, before releasing him.
Shortly after, settlers amassed in front of Huwarra checkpoint, blocking the main passageway to and from Nablus. Later that night, the villages of Yatma, Sinjil, Turmosayya, Assawiyah, and Qabalan were attacked. Settlers slashed the tires of more than 15 Palestinian cars, broke windows on a Palestinian owned tractor, and spray painted a star of David on at least one car.
In Turmosayya, Assawiyah, and Sinjil, settlers vandalized mosques, painting more stars of David and writing “Muhammad is a pig” and “death to the arabs”. In Qabalan, 100 bundles of hay were burnt by settlers. According to one villager, this was one family’s food for their sheep for the whole year, “they just killed a whole family”.
It is believed that the rioting in the northern west bank was done in response to rumours that the Israeli military might evict settlers from a stolen building in the West Bank city of Hebron, ironically called the “peace house”. The settlers have been ordered to evacuate the house by the Israeli Supreme Court.
It seems that these latest incidents are a pre-emptive show of force by the “price tag” campaign, in which settler extremists have stated that they intend to respond to any Israeli governmental actions taken to curb settler theft and violence, by attacking Israeli forces and Palestinians.
