Tag: ‘Price tag’ campaign - Page 7 - International Solidarity Movement

Settlers’ ‘Price Tag’ campaign hits Sheikh Jarrah

26 December 2009

Slogan saying 'Price Tag' spray-painted on a car belonging to Palestinian family by settlers

”The settlers yelled: Come out, this is our house”
Nadine Sabbagh 15-years-old, attacked in her home by settlers.

Just before midnight, on Christmas Day, 25 December 2009, the Sabbagh family was attacked by around 30 settlers. The settlers knocked at their door and told the family that they should come out of the house because it belongs to the settlers. They then broke in and injured 7 family members. Two were cut with a knife, two had their arm stretched and a pregnant woman was kicked in her stomach. She was taken to hospital where she remained at the time of writing this report. Another family member was hit in the face and had a gun pointed at her. She was threatened with being killed by the attackers.

The settlers continued their campaign of violence and intimidation on 26 December, when they attacked Palestinians from the neighbourhood with stones. Three children and one adult Palestinian were injured as result, and a French man who took pictures of the episode was attacked by a settler.

Palestinian resident of Sheikh Jarrah who was injured during a settler attack

Both attacks happened only days after settlers sprayed a car belonging to a Palestinian family from the neighbourhood with a slogan associated with the ‘Price Tag’ campaign.

Nadine Sabbagh told us the day after her and her family’s home got attacked by settlers that the attack started at around midnight and continued for around three hours. After the settlers broke into her house they kicked her pregnant aunt in her stomach and cut her brother in the neck with a knife. The attack continued as the settlers cut Nadine’s cousin in his arm with a knife while they were violently pushing her mother and another aunt. Her aunt told us that she stretched her shoulder in the attack and it will take at least two weeks for it to fully recover.

One settler brought a gun and used it to threaten Nadine: “He told me; if you will not stop talking I will kill you.” At that point Nadine attempted to push the gun out of the settlers hand, but he avoided her and hit her in the face.

This is the first time the Sabbagh family home has been directly attacked by settlers.

The wave of settler violence continued throughout the day, when a group of 20 young settlers attacked a group of Palestinians in front of the occupied Gawi family home with stones. At first, the Palestinians managed to push the attackers out of the neighbourhood, only for them to return shortly after, in even bigger numbers, attacking again, this time more intensively. Four Palestinians, three of them children, were hit by stones thrown by settlers and a French man was attacked by a settler beating him in the head. When an Israeli ambulance arrived to the neighbourhood, the medics refused to treat the injured children and transport them to the hospital. An ambulance from the Red Crescent had to be called in order for the injured to receive necessary treatment.

Israeli and Red Crescent ambulances that arrived at Sheikh Jarrah after Palestinians were injured during a settler attack

Four settlers were taken by the police for questioning in connection with the two attacks.

According to the UN, settlers use the ‘Price Tag’ campaign to exercise systematic violence against Palestinian civilians where there have been attempts to evacuate settlement outposts. However, it seems that recently it is also being used as intimidation strategy in response to the Israeli government’s announcement of a partial freeze of settlement construction.

The strategy emerged due to the decreasing support of unauthorized outposts and is launched by radical settler groups in order for the Palestinians all over the Occupied Territories to pay the price in form of attacks every time the settlers feel they are being mistreated by the Israeli authorities. The strategic attacks have contributed to the displacement of entire Palestinian neighbourhoods, both temporary and permanent.

Settlers set fire to Yasuf mosque, burning over 80 Qur’an and other holy texts

11 December 2009

Qur'an and other holy texts destroyed by fire set to Yasuf mosque by settlers — Qur\’an and other holy texts destroyed by fire set to Yasuf mosque by settlers

Settlers set fire to the mosque of Yasuf village in the Nablus region of the West Bank on Friday, 11 December. The vicious attack was carried out in the early hours of the morning, after which the village was invaded by Israeli Occupation Forces, firing tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at distraught Palestinians, protesting the desecration of the holy site. Settler violence has seen a sharp increase this month with the Israeli government’s announcement to “freeze” settlement construction in the West Bank for 10 months.

The attack came directly after the dawn call to prayer at approximately 4:30am, when 4 residents of the notorious Tappuah settlement entered the mosque. Litres of gasoline were dumped across prayer carpets and copies of the Qur’an and dozens of other holy Islamic texts were pulled from shelves lining the wall. These too were covered in gas and set alight, smoke filling the mosque and blackening its walls. The settlers spraypainted messages of hate across the building’s entrance in Hebrew – “Price tag – greetings from Effi” and “We will burn all of you.”

As news of the attack broke in Yasuf, hundreds of angry and bewildered villagers gathered to march on the settlement. Their approach was cut short as they were intercepted by Israeli Occupation Forces, firing tear gas, sound bombs and rubber-coated steel bullets on the Palestinians, who were driven back to the village. The military followed them, 10 jeeps carrying 50 soldiers entering Yasuf, continuing to fire within the village. 8 residents were removed from the scene by Red Crescent ambulances, 1 shot in the leg by a tear-gas cannister, and 7 others – including the mayor of Yasuf – suffering severe respiratory problems from gas inhalation.

The army finally retreated from the village at 11am, but established a flying checkpoint at its entrance, banning entry to all but residents and local reporters. No international media or activists were permitted access until the following day. Friday, the traditional Muslim day of rest, saw residents of Yasuf conducting mass prayers in the streets as the mosque’s insides, charred, blackened, and reeking of tar, made it impossible to use.

The site of Tappuah, originally an Israeli military base, was established as a settlement in 1984. Home to only 100 settlers, its borders have expanded to swallow 1200 dunums of what was formerly Yasuf’s land. A road planned for construction between Tappuah and Ariel, to Yasuf’s west, will effectively separate the village from many more hundreds of dunums, easing the settlements’ systematic annexation and isolation of Palestinian land. What remains of Yasuf’s land today is regularly grazed by farmers from Tappuah, at times even uprooting or cutting olive trees, rendering their crops useless. Incidents of harassment and outright violence have escalated in recent years, seeing 7 incidents of car arson in the last month alone.

The desecration of the mosque is a serious development in what settlers have dubbed the ‘price-tag’ campaign – a co-ordinated backlash against Israeli government attempts to curb expansion of settlements – inflicted not on Israeli targets, but Palestinian. Settler violence has surged with the government’s latest alleged 10-month “freeze” on construction in West Bank settlements, seeing acts of vandalism and destruction on agricultural and private property in Palestinian villages. But the campaign takes on a new dimension with the targeting of a religious site, sending a powerful message – anything is fair game. But as Omar, a young resident of Yasuf says, “this is a place of prayer, not fighting.”

The destruction of religious items is illegal under Israeli law. Numerous national governments – including America, Israel and the Palestinian Authority – have condemned the attack, calling for the perpetrators to be caught and dealt a swift justice. Although the Israeli police and military have both stated they are investigating the incident, history has shown such incidents are rarely – if ever – treated with the same
priority as crimes against Israelis, and the perpetrators seldom identified, let alone held accountable.

Settlers attack Asira al Qibliya

9 September 2009

Israeli forces arrive in Asira al Qibliya after a settler attack on the Palestinian village

On Wednesday 9 September 2009 the villages of Urif and Asira al Qibliya south of Nablus, came under attack from settlers from the nearby illegal Yitzhar settlement. At approximately 2pm, 10 settler youth, half of them masked and armed with machete knives, stones and slingshots attempted to attack the village of Urif and Asira al Qibliya.

The settlers attempted to first attack the village of Urif, however the Israeli army did arrive and prevented the armed youth proceeding any further. Following this the settler youth then proceeded to the village of Asira al Qibliya.

The youth destroyed a hillside tent put up by the army two months ago on the outskirts of Asira between the illegal settlement and the Palestinian village. The Israeli army then arrived with 3 jeeps, carrying 9 soldiers. The soldiers began to shout at Palestinians to return to their homes and made no attempt to push the settlers back who continued to roam a few metres from Palestinian homes. As Palestinian youth gathered at the edges of the village to defend against any attacks by the soldiers or settlers the army fired four bursts of live ammunition and tear gas on the unarmed crowd. A ricocheting bullet hit one Palestinian boy, 8 year old Machlouf Abrahim, in the arm. A number of people were also effected by two rounds of tear gas that had were fired at their homes.

After approximately one hour the army regrouped and , joined by one settlement security jeep drove through the village, firing tear gas on dozens of young boys, some of whom were throwing stones. They established a checkpoint on the main entry road and remained on the outskirts of Asira until nightfall.

Asira al Qibliya and the surrounding villages have suffered repeated attacks from the illegal settlements Yitzhar and Bracha that surround the Palestinian villages. One year ago settlers from the illegal settlement of Yitzhar rampaged through Asira al Qibliya shooting a number of residents and causing damage to property. The incident was described by the then Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak as a ‘pogram’ and condemned at the time but despite footage of the incident the Israeli Government has not brought forward charges against any settlers. In a later incident the settlers shot dead a 14 year old boy from the village.

Settlers have also been responsible for the continual burning of land of the local Palestinian villages with 1000’s of dunams of land planted with olive trees, vital to the local economy, destroyed. Settlers have continued to engage in what they call a ‘price tag’ campaign whereby if an illegal outpost is taken down in one part of the West Bank settlers rampage, destroy and attack Palestinians and their property in retaliation. Settlements in the occupied territories and outpost are considered illegal under international law and despite their obligation to protect the local population as an occupying force the Israeli Government continues to condone and support the violent and illegal acts of settlers in the occupied territories.

Rights group warns of growing settler violence

Efrat Weiss | YNet News

10 June 2009

Palestinian farmers in the West Bank are paying the price for the government’s efforts to evacuate illegal outpost in the region, data published by human rights group Yesh Din on Wednesday revealed.

According to the organization, in recent weeks there has been an alarming rise in the number of attempts to uproot or damage trees in villages in the area, and the phenomenon is expected to expand if the security forces do not take action against the perpetrators.

In a letter sent to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Central Command Chief Gadi Shamni and Judea and Samaria District Police Commander Hagai Dotan, Yesh Din wrote that since the end of April and throughout the month of May, some 300 trees – mostly olive trees – have been uprooted or sawed in four West Bank villages. According to the group no one has been questioned in relation to the incidents.

“We ask that, in light of the increasing calls for violence and for collecting a ‘price tag’ from Palestinians following the evacuation of every outpost, you order the IDF and the police to boost their forces and work to prevent, handle and investigate offenses, and plans to commit offenses against civilians in the West Bank,” the group’s lawyer Michael Sfard wrote.

Sfard noted that in the last four years Yesh Din has repeatedly warned the law enforcement authorities in the West Bank of “systematic, organized and large-scale terrorist actions” taken by Jewish groups against Palestinian civilians in order to promote political objectives.