Tag: Operation Dove - Page 3 - International Solidarity Movement

20 olive trees destroyed in the South Hebron Hills area of At Tuwani

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.

Settlers attacked member of the South Hebron Hills popular committee

30th December 2013 | Operation Dove | At Tuwani, Occupied Palestine

On December 28, a group of settlers attacked Palestinians who were plowing a field in the South Hebron Hills village of At Tuwani. Hafez Huraini, a member of the South Hebron Hills Popular Committee (SHHPC), was injured in the attack.

According to Huraini, at about 2.45 p.m. five settlers, of whom four were children and one an adult, came out from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on (Hill 833) and attacked four Palestinians who were working their field, which borders the illegal outpost. The adult settler approached Huraini and hit his head with a stone.

Numerous At Tuwani residents subsequently gathered in the field, thus scaring the settlers’ away. However, the settlers continued to throw stones from the Havat Ma’on woods for an additional fifteen minutes, after which they left.

Huraini immediately called the Israeli police to register a complaint about the attack, but the police did not arrive immediately. The injured thus went to the hospital in the nearby town of Yatta to be treated. The Israeli police arrived only at 4.15 p.m., while Huraini was still in the hospital. The police stayed close to the outpost without speaking to the Palestinians. District Coordination Office (DCO) officers also arrived on the scene and spoke with the police, before leaving at around 4.30 p.m. After an additional ten minutes the police also left without waiting for Huraini. Later that night Huraini went to the Kiryat Arba police station to file a complaint against the attacker.

The village of At-Tuwani is situated in the South Hebron Hills, defined as area C. According to the Oslo accords, area C is part of West Bank under full Israeli civil and security control. As like many of the Palestinian villages located in area C, At Tuwani suffers from settler and military intimidation and violence. As a result, At Tuwani residents encounter great difficulties in accessing their own lands for their everyday farming activities.

But, as Huraini said: “This is resistance: to go daily to your land. We are protesting every day, every night.”

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]

South Hebron Hills’ outpost of Havat Ma’on continues to expand. Despite documentation, Israeli officials deny knowledge of expansion

11th November 2013 | Operation Dove | At Tuwani, Occupied Palestine

The Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on (Hill 833) in the West Bank’s South Hebron Hills is growing at a phenomenal rate since the beginning of October. On Saturday November 9, the activist group of Ta’ayush (an Arab and Jewish grassroots nonviolent movement) and international peace activists entered the outpost in order to document the illegal works taking place and to ask the Israeli authorities to stop the expansion.

The activist group videotaped a large construction site, but settlers and the Israeli police and army prevented them from fully documenting the expansion of Havat Ma’on. Furthermore two masked settlers attacked the activists, throwing stones at them. In spite of the presence of the Israeli police, there were no consequences for the attackers.

Later, two settlers from Havat Ma’on came toward the nearby Palestinian village of At Tuwani. One settler approacheda Palestinian home and provoked the residents. A group of Palestinians from the village gathered near the house and the settler was distanced by the police.

The inhabitants of the nearby Palestinian village of At Tuwani and international observers have documented the expansion of Havat Ma’on since October 6, when they photographed a scraper while it was entering the outpost; they also later heard noises from the construction works. Several days later, internationals documented an excavator digging the land. Documentation of the entire construction process was not possible, however, because of the presence of woods that obstruct the view.

Despite receiving several notices of this expansion, when an Israeli activist informed the Israeli official responsible for the infrastructure of Hebron and the South Hebron area from the District Coordination Office (DCO), the official declared that DCO officers inspected the area and did not see any construction work.

From Havat Ma’on outpost come a lot of violence and threats against the local Palestinian communities. Just in the lands surrounding the outpost, Operation Dove volunteers have recorded a total of 43 incidents since the beginning of the 2013 in which local settlers are involved: 13 cases of Palestinian property damages (primarily olive trees); 13 violent attacks and 17 harassments and threats against Palestinians, Israelis and internationals.

While the Palestinian and Bedouin villages of Area C, including the South Hebron Hills, suffer from Israel’s ongoing policy of demolitions and threats, the nearby outposts and settlements continue to expand.

“Most of Area C has been allocated for the benefit of Israeli settlements, which receive preferential treatment at the expense of Palestinian communities, including with regard to access to land and resources, planning, construction, development of infrastructure, and law enforcement” declared the United Nations OCHA oPt (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in occupied Palestinian territories) in the report regarding the Area C, issued on January 2013.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

48 young olive trees destroyed in South Hebron Hills

4th October 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Operation Dove | Qawawis, Occupied Palestine

The destroyed olive trees (Photo by Operation Dove).

Yesterday morning, 3rd October, Palestinians discovered 48 olive trees destroyed alongside bypass road 317 near the South Hebron Hills area village of Qawawis.

The olive tree grove belongs to Ali Shetat from Qawawis and had been planted six years ago. At 10 am yesterday morning the owners, several internationals and B’tselem staff members gathered near the destroyed trees, waiting for the police. After 20 minutes the Israeli police and army arrived on the scene and documented the incident.

On May 10, 62 olive trees were cut during the night in a field next to bypass road 317, near the village of At Tuwani. On a small wall near the olive grove the slogan “price tag for those who steal” was found. The “price tag policy” (Hebrew: מדיניות תג מחיר) is, according to B’tselem, the name given to “acts of random violence aimed at the Palestinian population and Israeli security forces” by radical Israeli settlers.

The number of Palestinian-owned trees uprooted and damaged in the South Hebron Hills area from the beginning of 2013 now stands at 139. This is a substantial increase over 2012, when 101 olive trees were damaged.

Just in the last two months and right before the olive harvest season, 22 olive trees were destroyed in this area.

Olive trees are an essential resource for the Palestinian community in the South Hebron Hills area, and their damage causes serious economic loss.

Expansion of Karmel settlement prevents inhabitants of Umm Al Kheer from accessing their land

9th June 2013 | Operation Dove | Umm Al Kheer, South Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine

On Saturday June 8 an old Palestinian man from the village of Umm Al Kheer, Suleiman Aid Yameen Hadleen, was detained for more than three hours by the Israeli army while affirming his right to access his own land. In the last two days the soldiers denied the Palestinians from Umm Al Kheer the access to their own land until Sunday morning, without any official order.

Israeli forces chasing away Palestinian shepherds from the hilltop (Photo by Operation Dove)

The above-cited land is on a hill that belongs to Hadleen family. On the top of it the settlers of Karmel Israeli settlement in 2011 planted some olive trees and about two weeks ago built a small tent. Two days ago the settlers started to dig holes on the ground with the intention of planting more olive trees in a row that would go along the top of the hill, preventing Palestinians to enter the land behind it. That hill is crossed everyday by Palestinian shepherds, since it is the only way that takes to the valleys grazed by their sheep.

On Saturday June 8, three Palestinian shepherds with their flocks, together with other Palestinians, Israeli activists and international volunteers were chased away from the top of the hill by the Israeli army. Suleiman remained on the place in order to affirm the right to access his privately-owned land until he was brought into one of the army jeeps present on the place. According to his statement, he was blindfolded, beaten and driven around in different army jeeps. The soldiers also prevented him from praying. He was detained for more than three hours and left with no explanation in the Palestinian village of Ar Rakeez.

Umm Al Kheer is a Bedouin village in Area C (under Israeli civil and military administration) built in 1948. It is located nearby the Israeli settlement of Karmel built up in the beginning of the ’80s and still expanding. The village experiences periodic harassment from Israeli settlers and army.

Operation Dove maintains a constant presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Palestinian shepherd arguing with Israeli border police officers just before he was detained (Photo by Operation Dove)

Israeli border police officers carrying away Suleiman Aid (Photo by Operation Dove)