On Sunday 14 September settlers from the Itamar settlement near the Palestinian village of Awarta, Nablus, burned and destroyed 70 dunums of land (between 6-10% of their harvest) with approximately 400 olive tree’s, vital to the livelihood of the village.
In the morning settlers set fire to tree’s belonging to Awarta village destroying trees. They then came back in the evening and repeated the attack. At 23:30 on Sunday evening Assad Abdul Kareem spotted 4 settlers from the Itamar settlement descending the hill towards the village and set further fires on the land. This was also spotted by 2 local Nablusi from Balata camp in the area collecting steel. They reported the attack to the army.
Mandour Dawish and Hanni Darawshi from Awarta village took photos of the settlers and the fires. While doing this the army arrived and detained the 2 men for 2 hours and wiped the photos from one camera. They were unaware that the men had two cameras. The army did nothing to prevent the fire despite witness’s statements and photographs of the settler attack.
Awarta village is at the base one of the many expanding and aggressive settlement, illegal under international law. The olive tree’s are vital to the villages’ economy and 10,000 dunums fall near the settlement where it is forbidden for Palestinian farmers to get to their land to harvest or tend to the tree’s. Just 2 months ago settlers attacked a farmer and stole his donkey while he was attending his trees in the area.
To view original article, published by Haaretz on the 14th September, click here
Dozens of youths from the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar on Sunday established an outpost near a Palestinian village that settlers had rampaged in the previous day.
The settlers were responding Saturday to the stabbing of a 10-year-old Israeli boy by a Palestinian at the illegal outpost of Shalhevet Yam near Yitzhar.
Earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared that Israel’s government will not allow settlers to carry out “pogroms against non-Jews.”
Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting one day after the rampage in the village of Assira al-Kabaliya, Olmert said “there will not be pogroms against non-Jews in the state of Israel.”
The violence in Assira al-Kabaliya left at least eight Palestinians hurt. The boy, stabbed in the back and the hand, sustained minor wounds.
“The phenomenon of [settlers] taking the law into their own hands and lashing out with violence and brutality is unforgivable, and will be dealt with by the law enforcement authorities,” Olmert said.
The prime minister went on to describe the previous day’s events, saying “in northern Samaria there was a terror attack, and a young boy was hurt. This is serious and momentous and the defense forces will find the culprit and do what needs to be done, as they do every day. However, Yitzhar settlers went on a retaliatory rampage against Palestinian residents, using live fire.”
Olmert went on to say that there was no reason to believe that the Palestinians targeted by the settlers had any connection to the stabbing attack earlier in the day.
“There are law enforcement authorities in the state of Israel,” Olmert told the cabinet, “we have a military and security services and we won’t allow this kind of violence or brutal attacks on civilians. Moreover, the violence is not used against those suspected of terrorism, it is used against Israel Defense Forces officers and soldiers. I urge the authorities to take measures to end this grave phenomenon.”
In a meeting of Labor Party ministers earlier Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak sais that “the defense establishment will act with decisiveness to enforce law and order in the West Bank, but we need the cooperation of the police and the legal system.”
Soldiers operating in village of Asira al-Kabaliya, which was attacked by settlers Saturday, find group of left-wing activists in one of houses. ‘It was our duty to arrive and express our solidarity with the residents,’ explains activist Yonatan Polak
By Ali Waked
To view original article, published by Ynet on the 14th September, click here
An IDF force which raided the West Bank village of Asira al-Kabaliya near the settlement of Yitzhar on Saturday night, apparently as part of an operation for the arrest of wanted Palestinians, was surprised to discover a group of left-wing activists in one of the houses.
The activists arrived in the area following the riots which broke out in the village Saturday after a Palestinian stabbed a nine-year-old Jewish child and settlers flocked to the village and caused heavy damage.
The IDF force is believed to have operated in the village in the night in a bid to locate the Palestinian who stabbed the child. The troops were surprised to find a group of Israeli left-wing activists inside one of the houses they searched.
The force informed the group that the village was under curfew and inquired about the reasons for their arrival.
One of the Israeli activists, Yonatan Polak, told Ynet that he and his friends had arrived in the village in order to express their solidarity with the residents and attempt to reduce the level of violence.
“I saw with my own eyes settlers throwing stones on Palestinians, with soldiers standing by and doing nothing. Six people were injured here yesterday from live ammunition, and it was our duty to come here and express our solidarity,” he said.
According to Polak, the troops did not cause damage in the house where he was discovered with his friends, but claimed that the entire content of a neighboring house raided was thrown onto the street and that the soldiers caused damaged to property.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Office has yet to respond to the claims.
Stabbing attack followed by revenge campaign
The violent clashes in the area Saturday began in a stabbing attack which left a nine-year-old child from Yitzhar lightly injured, after a Palestinian infiltrated the settlement and set fire to an empty building.
The Palestinian then entered another house, stabbed the child five times and threw him off a 2-meter (6.5-feet) high balcony.
Following the incident, dozens of settlers raided the village of Asira al-Kabaliya, fired in the air, shattered windows, caused damage to property and injured several Palestinians.
IDF soldiers confiscated the weapons of two settlers, but did not arrest them.
According to the Palestinians, six people were wounded by live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets. Although the cartridges were found in the area, the settlers denied firing in the village.
The settlers claimed that the chain of events was the result of an IDF failure, as one of the soldiers had spotted the Palestinian arriving at the settlement but failed to do anything about it.
On the 13th September settlers rioted in the village of Assira al Qabliya while Israeli forces invaded the village and imposed curfew. Eight people were injured during the riot, two from live ammunition.
According to media sources a young settler child was attacked from an intruder into the Yitzhar settlement. Soon after settlers gathered on the hill and rioted through Assira al Qabliya, shooting live ammunition and causing widespread damage. Two people were hit by live ammunition, while 4 were reportedly hit by rubber-coated steel bullets from the Israeli army.
International activists managed to access the village to show solidarity with the besieged villagers as the army invaded and imposed curfew. One of the families had managed to film settlers and soldiers coming into the village, with the soldiers refraining from preventing the settlers enter. This video was shot on a camera supplied by B’Tselem as part of their ‘Shooting Back’ campaign, through which cameras have been handed out to Palestinians particularly at risk from settlers and the army.
The internationals were joined by Israeli activists that afternoon. As the army invaded again in the early hours of the 14th September, they were surprised to find Israelis within the family home they had come to search.
At approximately 18:00 on Wednesday 10 September Israeli special forces entered the Mount Gezzim area of Nablus to arrest a Palestinian they accused of owning a weapon. Following the arrest and detention of two Palestinians, Israeli soldiers then shot multiple times and killed an unarmed man nearby.
The Israeli army had been in neighbouring homes the previous night watching the area and on the evening of the 18 August, approximately 100 soldiers and several jeeps surrounded the area shooting live ammunition and using sound bombs and tear gas in the neighbourhood. They entered the home of Jaffar Hamede Tiser Gera (22 years old) shooting open the door where his mother, father, himself and his friend Abu Jaba (22 years old) were sat ready to eat Ifta. The soldiers demanded to know where ‘Jaffar’ was and he immediately made himself known and raised his hands in the air. The soldiers then restrained and beat both Jaffar and Abu Jaba. The army then proceeded to search and ransack the home for 1 hour and no weapon was ever found.
Following their restraint and the shooting in the area, 20 year old Waled Fareed Fretekh, walked out of the steps of his home to investigate the noise. Eye witnesses then stated that without warning the soldiers shot Waled in the legs several times and when he had fallen to the ground. A friend and neighbour in a nearby house then proceeded to try to get to Waled to give him assistance but was detained by the army who threatened to shot him and beat him. Waled’s mother phoned for an ambulance and pleaded with the soldiers repeatedly to help him. This was ignored and witnesses state a soldier told her “I want your son to die here”. The friend and neighbour then managed to get to Waled a second time after the soldiers moved back around the corner. They carried him through their home and up the steps towards the pavement and awaiting ambulances. Before reaching the pavement the soldiers grabbed him and pulled him away from Waled. Waled was then left bleeding profusely from the legs on the steps.
Red Crescent ambulance volunteers were prevented from reaching Waled as the Israeli army opened fire on them with live ammunition and tear gas. Waled who lay on the steps for 90 minutes and during this time witnesses say soldiers attempted to remove the bullets from Waled’s legs with knives and witnesses state Waled was conscious and screaming from the pain. The soldiers then checked his pulse over time and after 90 minutes the army retreated with Jaffar and Abu Jaba in custody leaving Waled on the steps. The ambulance crew were then able to reach Waled who had already died due to acute loss of blood and he was taken to Rifidiya hospital in West Nablus.
