22nd October 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Huwwara, Occupied Palestine
This morning at approximately 09:30, settlers from the illegal settlement of Yizhar set fire to a Palestinian olive field above Huwwara village, just outside of Nablus.
The settlers set the land on fire from the top of the hill. People from the village started fighting the fire, but suddenly the wind turned and the flames started moving towards the illegal settlement on the top of the hill. At this point the settlers started fighting their own fire, to prevent damage to their illegal buildings.
The owner of the land, Nasser Jihad Mufdi Houwwari, spoke to ISM about his previous experiences with settlers, in 2002 settlers from Yizhar shot Nasser in the shoulder with two bullets. Nasser continued to state that they [the settlers] threaten him and damage his properties every year, however this is the first time they burnt such a large area of his land.
23rd September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Awarta, Occupied Palestine
Photo by Maan News Agency
On the 28th of August, around 7:00 a.m., Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Itamar cut down and burnt more than 30 olive trees belonging to Awarta village before the harvest.
For the farmers living southeast of Nablus City, the olive trees are a basic, continual part of life.
The large, illegal settlement of Itamar is built on the lands of Awarta, Yanoon, and Aqraba villages. The settlers there have a company of shepherds. They have stolen the northeast lands from Awarta, so now people cannot work in that area without permission, and then only for a few days during the harvest.
Every year before harvest, settlers burn and cut the trees until the farmers cannot collect their fruit. In this way, they want to make people give in and forget their land. And they do not stop there. During the harvest, they attack the farmers, and release pigs onto Palestinian land to destroy it. Then settlers attack in groups, throwing stones and burning the grass, and most of them pick out the remaining fruit before the DCO gives permission.
These are the policies Israel uses against the land and the farmers.
10th September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Burin, Occupied Palestine
The prominent activist from the West Bank village of Burin, and member of Solidarity Movement for Free Palestine, Ghassan Najjar, was taken by the Israeli army from his home in the early hours of the morning on the 27th August. He was transferred to the notorious interrogation facility, Petah Tikva.
The before he was arrested, Ghassan, alongside a group of a villagers from Burin, tried to prevent Israeli soldiers from entering the girls’ classroom of the local school.
Staff from the Israeli Human Rights organisation BT’selem, who was filming the attempted school incursion, was also detained, but released shortly after.
Ghassan was arrested for allegedly throwing stones and hitting a soldier.
On 31th August he appeared briefly before a secret court and a Military Judge agreed to his detention for a further seven days. The second court hearing, which took place on 7th September, was also brief because the soldier witness did not turn up and Ghassan’s detention was extended for eight more days.
Ghassan’s friends and family showed ISM, during a recent visit to Burin, a video of the army attack on the school and saw no evidence that Ghassan did anything other than peacefully protest with the others against the school raid.
When asked if the video would be useful for Ghassan’s defense, a friend of Ghassan said, “It would be in a democratic country, but all the Israelis care about is their security.”
Another of Ghassan’s friends told ISM he had received many threats at different checkpoints, preceding his recent arrest. “Once a soldier told Ghassan that they did not want to arrest him directly at the checkpoint, because they wanted to come to his house, destroy everything and make his mother suffer.”
Photo by a member of the Najjar family
When the occupying army came to arrest Ghassan, the unit captain instructed the soldiers to “destroy everything,” a soldier turned to Ghassan’s mother and stated, “we will wreck your house.”
Photo by a member of the Najjar family
They did as promised. Everything that could be broken was broken and slashed. They even broke pots with houseplants, and cut bottoms from the armchairs. The vandalism lasted from 2am to 4.30am.
Photo by a member of the Najjar family
Ghassan was taken away, handcuffed and blindfolded. Only after the soldiers left, did his mother allow herself to cry.
“Our resistance is peaceful. Ghassan never did anything violent, but we worry because we know Israeli military justice. To give you an example, to this day both Ghassan’s lawyer and the International Committee of Red Cross have been denied access to him,” A friend of the family stated.
For a number of years, the Palestinian West Bank village of Burin, located seven kilometers south of Nablus, has been under constant attack by both the Israeli occupying army, and the zionist settlers from some of the most extreme illegal settlement colonies, such as Yitzhar and Bracha, covering the hilltops around it.
A villager told ISM that the army invades the village almost nightly. Soldiers enter houses and the whole families with children and older people are forced to stay outside in the middle of the night, for long periods of time.
Frequently the army erects checkpoints at the entrance and in the center of the village, near to the boys’ school and the Mosque.
“Things are going to get even worse,” Another villager stated, “The olive harvest is around the corner and that is when settler attacks intensify. Olive harvest used to be a festival, a time of joy, and now it is a nightmare.”
Since the start of the Israeli occupation in 1967, much of Burin’s land and water has been taken away and handed over to the Zionist settlers or to the occupying Israeli army, for military bases.
“About 25 to 30 dunums (one dunum is 1000m2 ) of land belong to our village and we have free access only to seven dunums and even that is limited to some parts of the year,” said a local man.
Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organization, reports that in 2013, Burin lost more olive trees due to settler vandalism than any other West Bank village. In the first months of the last year alone, 7714 Palestinian owned trees were damaged.
16th August 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied Palestine
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is placing a call out for volunteers to join us in the West Bank now, and for the olive harvest beginning in October.
We need solidarity activists to support the Palestinian popular struggle by joining protests and demonstrations, to document and report on the crimes committed by both the Israeli military and the colonial settlers living on Palestinian land throughout the West Bank, and to stand alongside Palestinian communities as they face occupation and apartheid.
Photo by ISM
ISM is also sending an urgent call for volunteers to join the 2014 olive harvest campaign, beginning in October.
ISM volunteers join Palestinian farming communities each year to harvest olives in areas where Palestinians face settler and military violence while working their land. Palestinian communities state that the presence of international volunteers reduces the risk of extreme violence from Israeli settlers and the Israeli army. Your presence can make a big difference.
The olive tree is a Palestinian national symbol, and the Israeli military systematically prevents agricultural fruition in order to make life for Palestinians more difficult. The Israeli occupation provides a platform for Palestinian rights to be violated in an array of ways; the attack on agriculture is at the forefront.
Already documented this year, and to list a few cases; the trees have suffered settler sewage runoff, sabotaging fires, and being cut down. Olive trees comprise of an essential 14% of the Palestinian agricultural economy.
We support Palestinians’ assertion of their right to earn their livelihoods and be present on their lands. International solidarity activists engage in non-violent intervention and documentation and practical support, which enables many families to pick their olives.
The campaign will begin in October and will last around 6-8 weeks. We ask that volunteers start arriving at the end of September, so that we will be prepared when the harvest begins. Usually we require a two week commitment from volunteers, however during the olive harvest a one week commitment is sufficient. All volunteers must attend a two-day training before they join ISM, trainings run on Wednesdays and Thursdays as long as the trainers are available. Please see the join ISM page or contact palreports@gmail.com for further information.
7th June 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
At approximately 1:00 pm on June 4th, a burning olive tree was located in the vicinity of Tel Rumeida, al-Khalil (Hebron). The Palestinian firefighters extinguished the fire with no assistance from the occupying Israeli military.
As an occupying state, Israel is legally responsible for providing adequate services and aid for those living in the occupied territories, however this responsibility is often neglected.
The burnt tree is one of many in the area to be considered part of the “Roman Trees”, said to be thousands of years old.
Near where the fire started, a plastic fuel canister with the word “diesel” written in Hebrew was found.
Photo by ISM
When the Palestinian farmer who owns the land contacted the Israeli police, they claimed that video footage did not show a vandal starting the fire. When the farmer asked if the Israeli police would consider opening an investigation, he was simply told no.
This is only the latest in an ongoing plot to destroy olive trees and crops in Tel Rumeida in order to construct a military road through the area.
