Tag: Qusra - Page 2 - International Solidarity Movement

Morning settler attack triggers clash with serious injuries in Qusra

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.

Israeli army take two men and hand them to settlers of Esh Kodesh

7th September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Occupied Palestine

Last 29th of August, Israeli soldiers detained two municipal workers from Qusra as they were taking the village’s trash to the local dump. The two men were later attacked by Israeli settlers. Residents of Qusra fear that greater collusion between the army and the settlers will only lead to more attacks.

One of the workers shows his bruises after a settler attack (Photo by ISM)

Early Thursday morning, two army jeeps carrying four soldiers detained the men as they transported trash to the local dump. Rather than transporting the men to the military base at Huwwarra checkpoint, the soldiers deposited the men and their tractor on the lands close to the illegal Israeli settlement, Esh Kodesh. At approximately 9:30, the municipal workers were attacked by six settlers, who beat them with stones and also caused major damage to the municipality’s tractor. Following the attack, both men were taken by ambulance to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus, where doctors ordered two to three days bed rest.

After the residents of Qusra were taken to the hospital, the settlers of Esh Kodesh stole the tractor and took it to Shvut Rachel, another nearby settlement. When members of the municipality appealed to the Israeli DCO (District Coordination Office) to locate the stolen tractor, Israeli officials stated that if they found it, they would confiscate the tractor for two months and require the village to pay 10,000 NIS for its return.

Though the village has used the same area for garbage collection for nearly 30 years, in the last three years, the Israeli army has attempted to prohibit dumping in the area. The village has no other areas in which to deposit trash, as all of the surrounding lands are considered area C and also prohibited for use. Employees of the municipality reported that this is the third time that the village’s tractor has been confiscated. The previous times, the municipality was forced to pay a 10,000 NIS fine for its return. Following the most recent incident, the mayor refused to pay the fine due to the violence inflicted upon the two men and his view that the attack was coordinated between the Israeli army and the illegal settlers.

The tractor was damaged by the settlers (Photo by ISM)

Eventually, the tractor was returned to the village, though there was extensive damage that will require more than 2,000 NIS for repairs. In addition to structural damage, the license plate was stolen off the tractor, which will take months to replace due to bureaucratic requirements; moreover, employees of the municipality noted the dangers of a Palestinian plate being in the hands of the settlers, as they can use the green, Palestinian plate to gain access to the surrounding Palestinian villages without garnering suspicion. The municipality reported the theft to both the PA and Israeli police in hopes of preventing future attacks.

Qusra village is located in the northern West Bank, approximately 28 kilometers southeast of Nablus. The villages’ 6,000 residents face constant, weekly attacks from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Esh Kodesh. Settlers frequently damage and uproot olive trees, burn village land, and attack residents. In 2011, settlers defaced the local mosque and attempted to set it on fire.

Qusra demolition orders: “If they destroy this house, where will we go?”

7th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Occupied Palestine

On Wednesday July 3rd the Israeli army entered the village of Qusra, south east of Nablus, issuing eleven demolition orders on houses and buildings. At 9am two army jeeps arrived at the home of Seqer Musbah and presented him with demolition orders for the house he had built for his brother and family five years ago. When he tried to speak with the army commander he was told, “Don’t talk to me, talk to the court.”

Home of newly married couple Yusef and Sundis Rizek, now under demolition order (Photo by ISM)

All the houses and buildings were built at least five years prior, some as long as ten years ago and are spread across different parts of the 5000 population village. The village is classed as Area B and thus under Palestinian civil control. The orders though state that the houses are in Area C and therefore under full Israeli civil and security control despite a number of owners getting permission from the Palestinian Authority (PA) to build there, on the understanding their properties were in Area B.

A 2012 report from the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, Demolishing Homes, Demolishing Peace states, “Israeli officials explain this type of demolition by stating that Palestinians are violating the zoning and planning laws and that the demolitions are merely law enforcement.” In fact, home demolition is used as a tactic by the Israeli authorities control the expansion of Palestinian villages, with the wider aim of ethnic cleansing of the West Bank.

Musbah’s family have lived on the land in question since 1965 and in 1995 had demolition orders on a neighbouring house also belonging to the family. The family took the case to court and ended up paying 10,000 shekels to the Israeli government to stop the demolition orders. When looking for the paperwork from 1995 in a briefcase full of documents, Musbah referred to it as the “bag of troubles”.

Yusef and Sundis Rizek, a newly married husband and wife also have demolition orders on the house they share with Yusef’s sister, her husband and four children. The family have lived in the house for ten years and had planned to build further on the land to house more family members. They had permission from the PA to build the house and stated in disbelief, “Why did they not come to talk to us when we started to build the house? Why now? Where will we go if the house is destroyed? We spent all our money on the house and land. We have no other place and no more money. If they destroy this house, where will we go?”.

PA planning permission for Qusra home now under demolition order (Photo by ISM)

A month prior, in June, twenty agricultural buildings in Qusra donated by a foreign European government also had demolition orders issued against them. The village not only faces constant harassment from the Israeli government but also from settlers and the Israeli army who protect them. Settlers from the nearby illegal outpost of Esh Kadesh regularly attack the village injuring locals, damaging land and property.

One local stated, “The Israeli army, government and Shin Bet. All of them work together. Now all the time they attack. Why now? We are strong. They see this, so they want to.” The villagers have collectively hired a lawyer in Jerusalem to work on the case in court, though none will be able to attend the proceedings there as permission is routinely denied to the majority of Palestinians to travel to the city. Even though Musbah’s family have documents proving their house was built in Area B, he has chosen not to play solo with this potential advantage but to fight collectively because, as he said : “We are one people, and this land is the collective property of the Palestinian people, we will speak with one tongue.”

The latest episode of endless settler violence in Qusra

15th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Occupied Palestine

The night of Saturday, 15 June, Israeli settlers continued a tradition of violence and harassment against the Palestinian village of Qusra.

Late at night, settlers from Esh Kodesh, the nearby settlement, trespassed upon Palestinian private property, damaged five olive trees, destroyed part of a building and took two support poles from it. Several olive trees had trunks completely severed and some had branches cut off. Twenty such buildings, which serve agricultural purposes, were donated by a foreign European government to Qusra in May 2013. Because the houses are located in Area C (under complete Israeli military and civil control), they were declared illegal by Israeli authorities last week. A legal decision regarding their demolition is set to be decided in an Israeli court on an unknown date.

Qusra, a Palestinian village in Nablus Governorate of approximately 4,500 people that is hundreds if not thousands of years old, is no stranger to settler violence and harassment. The most infamous incidences 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.

Last February, several people from Qusra were injured and hospitalised following a settler attack in the village. A sixteen year-old boy was shot in the forehead with a rubber coated steel bullet by soldiers and had to go through surgery. Additionally, Helmi Abdul Azeez Hassan (26) was shot with live ammunition in the chest by settlers and spent nine days unconscious in Hadassa hospital in Israel.

Despite all this, the people of Qusra will continue to resist settler harassment and violence and have plans to build a school and mosque in honor of the martyr Essam.

“You got what you deserved”

23 February 2013| International Solidarity Movement, Qusra, Occupied Palestine

UPDATE : After being unconscious for 9 days, Helme who was recently shot close to his heart by an ISraeli settler , awoke on the tenth day to find a Shabak agent in his ICU unit who proceeded to interrogate him and accuse him of throwing stones. He then told Helme that he had “got what he deserved.” Helme needed to have 66% of his liver removed and still has 13 pieces of shrapnel in his body rendering him partly handicapped. On the 23rd of February Helme came out of work to find between 15 and 20 settlers around him armed with metal bars, pistols and M-16 assault rifles. A settler who was hiding behind a rock shot Helme on sight. On the orders of Netanyahu , Helme was transferred from Rafida hospital to Hadassa hospital in Israel.

Following a violent incursion by Israeli fundamentalist settlers into Qusra, two people have been hospitalized with serious injuries. Around 15 settlers from Esh Kodesh (Holy Fire) and Shilo entered Qusra, the clashes that ensued left many people injured, including a sixteen year-old boy who is currently in surgery and may lose his left eye as well as a 26 year-old man fighting for his life after being shot in the chest, by an Israeli settler. Another, 14 year-old Mustafa Hilal was shot in the foot.

At around 11am this morning settlers began attacking the village of Qusra. Armed with rifles, they attacked homes on the outskirts of Qusra, throwing stones they broke windows. The youths of the village attempted to defend their homes. In the clashes that ensued Helmi Abdul Azeez Hassan was shot by a settler, the bullet narrowly missed his heart.

Soldiers arrived on the scene and, as usual, protected the invading settlers. Clashes then continued for the remainder of the day with the Israeli military firing rubber coated steel bullets and tear gas directly at local residents. A sixteen year old boy, Osama Rami Hassan, was shot with a rubber coated steel bullet in the forehead that narrowly missed his eye. He is currently undergoing surgery at Rafidia hospital in the attempt to save it, however the prognosis is not good.

Helmi’s situation is critical; he is currently at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus fighting for his life. Doctors hope he will stabilize through the night so he can be transferred to an Israeli hospital where he can receive a higher quality of care.

A local resident explained to ISM volunteers that he cannot remember a week in which Qusra had not been attacked over the last two years. He went on to say that recently things have been getting progressively worse. Today’s assault is the culmination of events which have been evolving all week. There have been incursions in three out of the last four days. The village expects more in the week to come.