13th January 2013 | Operation Dove | At Tuwani, Occupied Palestine
This morning Palestinians discovered 20 olive trees destroyed alongside bypass road 317 in the South Hebron Hills area of At Tuwani.
The olive tree groves belongs to the Al Amor family from At Tuwani and had been planted 34 years ago. At 9.35 am the owners, Operation Dove volunteers and B’tselem staff members gathered near the destroyed trees, waiting for the police. After one hour the Israeli police and army arrived to the area and spent four hours documenting the incident.
Members of the Al Amor family testified that another 10 olive trees were damaged in the same orchard only two months ago. This field is located alongside bypass road 317 on the way from Ma’on settlement to Avigayil outpost and is not visible from At Tuwani, thus rendering it easier for vandals to damage trees over the past few years in this area.
The number of Palestinian-owned trees uprooted and damaged in the South Hebron Hills area in the last five months stand at 195. Olive trees are an essential resource for the Palestinian community, and their damage causes serious economic loss.
Nevertheless the Palestinian communities of the South Hebron Hills area are still strongly involved using the nonviolence as a way to resist to the Israeli occupation.
Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.
08th January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Occupied Palestine
Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian youth erupted yesterday after settlers attacked villagers from Qusra on their fields. Palestinians captured a group of settlers on their way to Qaryut after they had destroyed a number of olive trees.
In the morning of the 7th January 2014, several farmers from Qusra, a village south of Nablus, entered their fields close to the illegal outpost of Ashe Kodesh. At approximately 10am two illegal settlers, accompanied by three Israeli soldiers, entered the fields in order to destroy the olive trees. Palestinians witnessed one settler carrying a metal stick which he then used to beat a farmer, while the soldiers watched on refusing to intervene. The farmer received injures to his head and to his knee.
Villagers from Qusra heard of the attack and went to the fields to assist the farmers. While the farmers brought the injured man to the ambulance, clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian youth. Many Israeli soldiers and border police shot tear gas canisters at the protesters and moved to protect the illegal settlers. More settlers arrived at the fields in order to watch the clashes, while Israeli forces were extremely violently and shot tear gas canisters directly at Palestinian youth and journalists.
After approximately one hour the settlers ran towards the village of Qaryut, destroying more olive trees on the way, closely followed by Palestinian and international activists. The villagers of Jalud heard about the settler attack and witnessed them running in the fields. The villagers decided to surround the settlers and hold them accountable for the attack. The Palestinians beat the settlers and brought one by one to a shelter between Jalud and Qaryut, where they controlled their movement and stopped them from running away. After they succeeded catching several settlers, the others hid behind trees and stones close by. Four Israeli soldiers arrived at the shelter and were overwhelmed with the situation.
After approximately 30 minutes many journalists and members of the press arrived to document the incident. The injured settlers refused help from the Palestinian Red Crescent. After a short period of time, the Palestinian DCO arrived and handed over 17 settlers to the Israeli army, which by then had increased to around 40 soldiers. Further information about the settlers is unknown.
Qusra is a Palestinian village in Nablus, of approximately 4,500 people, that is hundreds if not thousands of years old. The village is no stranger to settler violence and harassment. The most infamous incidents of settler violence in Qusra occurred in September 2011, when a mosque in Qusra was vandalized and targeted for arson by extremist Israeli settlers, gaining international attention. Later the same month, a group of settlers invaded the village and when they met resistance, Israeli soldiers intervened, shooting and killing Essam Badran, a 35-year-old Palestinian man.
28th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Deir Istiya, Occupied Palestine
The village of Deir Istiya has encountered severe disruption to its agriculture and water supply since 1990 from the Israeli authorities and nearby illegal settlements. This has culminated in the Israeli army’s planned action to uproot nearly 2500 olive trees in the very near future.
The army’s mandate to perform this action stems from a court ruling given in May 2013 that gave permission for them to cut down all olives trees in the Wadi Kana (a valley making up a large part of the village’s farmland) that are under two years old. However trees that were planted over five years ago have been included in the marking action over the last five months, a marking action typically precludes the actual uprooting process.
On the 26th of November, four men in civilian clothing marked 157 more trees across the village farmland. Before the army actually begins the action, under Israeli law, they have to inform lawyers representing the village of the date that this will commence. Although from past experience, villagers across the West Bank have not received such prior warning in similar cases. If the army succeeds with its plan, the destruction of more than 2,500 olive trees will decimate the village’s agriculture and economy, destroying the livelihoods of many of the 4000 inhabitants of Deir Istiya.
This is the latest in a long line of aggressive acts that the Israeli government, army, court and nearby illegal settlers have inflicted upon the people of this village. In 1990 nearby settlers deposited sewage from three separate illegal settlements into the 12 springs that provided water for the village. This water was crucial for the irrigation of the traditional crops of the village, lemon and orange trees. As water became scarce for the village, the farmers abandoned the orange and lemon crops, replacing them with olive trees due to the fact they require far less water. This is typical of the Israeli state to dramatically reduce the Palestinians methods for survival only to attempt to snatch away the small ray of hope that they have managed to build for themselves in the face of such adversarial conditions.
Moreover, on the 23th of November, illegal settlers from a nearby settlement trespassed on Palestinian land in order to steal 100 meters of fencing material. The purpose of this fence was to protect a number of olive trees from pigs that have infested the area since Israeli settlers began releasing them for the exact purpose of disrupting Palestinian olive farming.
25th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Bruqin, Occupied Palestine
Yesterday in the village of Bruqin, citizens found that approximately 10 olive trees had been severely damaged. The branches were cut with a saw and then pulled off by hand; this method can kill the tree if the damage is not immediately repaired.
The olive trees were 63-years-old and were planted in 1950. The trees’ owner relies solely on them for his livelihood. This is the first time since the occupation that he has been attacked. He has been frightened by the recent attack and fears for the future.
It is not known who damaged these trees, though villagers of Bruqin suspect that it was settlers from the illegal settlement of Bruchin. The villagers have had problems with Bruchin settlers in the past. Recently, a group of settlers fenced off a portion of Palestinian land, preventing the owner from accessing it. Settlers also built a settler-only road through a Palestinian olive grove.
The destroyed trees (photo by ISM).
The farmers have also had problems with the Ariel settlement. The factories in its industrial zone have built sewage pipes that lead directly to Palestinian land; this sewage pollutes the soil and harms the many olive trees planted there.
18th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Occupied Palestine
Early yesterday morning, a Palestinian family was attacked by approximately 20 settlers on their fields in Qusra village, southeast of Nablus. 30 olive trees were also destroyed. Following this incident, a clash broke out between Israeli forces and Palestinian youth in the village where a house was raided and Israeli soldiers fired many tear gas canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets and injured eight Palestinians.
At 10:00 yesterday morning a family from Qusra entered their olive grove. Shortly afterwards a group of approximately 20 settlers from the illegal settlement of Migdalim arrived and began to threaten the family, uprooting between 30-50 olive trees. This land stretches across 50 dunams and borders the Israeli controlled Area C portion of the West Bank, it is the fifth time this family’s land have been attacked by settlers. Half an hour passed before Israeli soldiers arrived and removed the settlers to limit the damage, however when an international activist arrived to document the incident, Israeli forces had already entered Qusra village.
A group of 50 young Palestinians threw stones to try and prevent an Israeli military vehicle from invading the village; however Israeli forces then began firing tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets. After one hour passed, five Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets and the Israeli soldiers were extremely aggressive in their attack. They then withdrew from the village only to enter from another part of Qusra, proceeding to raid a house in the centre of the village and from the roof of this house continuing to fire many rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters.
The invaded house belongs to the same Palestinian family who was attacked by settlers early in the day, whether this was a sign of warning to the family is unknown, however much tear gas entered the house during the raid and several family members suffered from tear gas inhalation. Two children, ages six and seven, were unconscious for several minutes and required medical treatment from the Red Crescent ambulant service that was present during the raid. Muhammad Nashad, the uncle of these two children, was beaten by the Israeli soldiers, who forced him to his knees and fired a stun grenade directly in front of him. 21-year-old Ali Farid, another family member, attempted to block the soldier’s entrance into the home when he was shot in the arm with a rubber-coated steel bullet.
Israeli forces eventually left the village, leaving behind damaged property and at least 8 injuries, including 18-year-old Hamada Rida who was shot in the chest with a rubber-coated steel bullet and was taken to hospital to receive medical treatment.
