Tag: Qusra

Armed settlers harass the villagers of Qusra, a village south east of Nablus in the West Bank

14 June 2011 | International Solidarity Movement

On Saturday June 11, six or seven armed settlers accompanied by the Israeli military entered the Palestinian village of Qusra and harassed villagers. Before they escaped they threw stones at a village truck smashing the side glass and cracking the windscreen.

At approximately 5.00pm, the Imam of the mosque in Qusra started calling to the population of the village that there were armed settlers (from a new illegal outpost near the village) approaching the village, from one of the surrounding mountains. In a show of strength and solidarity, around 100 villagers went to the mountain with the purpose of defending their land. The army accompanied the settlers and threw several sound bombs to disperse the Palestinians. One of the bombs fell inbetween 19 year old Ismail Aburedi’s legs. It rendered him unconscious and later, deaf and unable to walk. The Israeli army refused to let Ismail be taken to the hospital but it is reported that his friends placed him in the back of a car and raced him to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus where he was kept until 2 am the next day. When interviewed by ISM, Ismail Aburedi said: “We will remain in this land, we have been here for hundreds of years and we will be here forever. These settlers are new, we will stay and I will defend my land. There is no where else for us to go.”

The army also tried to arrest 21 year old Burham Hassan, but the villagers dearrested him and managed to “get him back.” Before escaping, the settlers smashed the front and the windscreen of a truck owned by Hosni Aburedi.

Qusra is a village with approximately 5000 people located in the northern of the West Bank, about 30 minutes away from Nablus. The village has already lost around 300 dunams of their land to the surrounding illegal settlements in the area.

13 injured when Israeli settlers and army attack the village of Qusra

Ibrahim Hassan, 15 years old, shot in the back

In the afternoon of the 7th of March 2011, villagers from Qusra, south of Nablus, were attacked by settlers from the surrounding illegal outposts who shortly were accompanied by the Israeli army. Thirteen Palestinian men were injured and taken to Rafidia hospital in Nablus. Nurses reported that the ambulance staff were prevented from reaching the wounded people.

 

Several of the victims were seriously injured. Ibrahim Hassan, 15 years old, was shot by a live bullet which entered his back and went through his kidney before it exited. His condition is reported to be stable, but he might loose his kidney. Qaher Oude, 25 years old, was first shot in his left leg and then beaten. The settlers beat him on his upper body with stones and sticks and then used a big stone to completely crush his right leg. He will have his surgery tomorrow.

“I heard that people were injured, so I went there to help them and suddenly I got shot. The settlers came from nowhere.” Said Qaher Oude.

Three farmers were working their land outside the village of Qusra when they were attacked by settlers from the nearby illegal outposts. At 16.30 the village imam called for help for the farmers and the people of the village came to their aid. When villagers arrived four Palestinians were already injured and the Israeli army was there, protecting the settlers. In total, there were about 50 settlers accompanied by the Israeli army. The residents of Qusra reported that the Israeli soldiers did nothing to stop the settler violence, but instead actually took part in the beating and shooting of civilians. Some of the injured people reported they had been shot and beaten by soldiers and some by settlers. “They were shot by Israeli bullets, it’s no difference”. Said one of the villagers.

The stone which crushed a palestinians leg (Photo: Petter Lydén/EAPPI)

 

Among the injured in Qusra today were people shot by live ammunition and rubber coated steel bullets, people beaten by settlers and soldiers, and people who suffered the asphyxiating effects of gas inhalation.

Qusra with its 4,000 inhabitants is situated 22 km south of the city of Nablus, near the illegal Israeli settlement of Migalim. This is the second serious incident involving violent settlers in Qusra in the last two months.

Six injured as settlers attack farmers in Qusra

23 January 2011 | International Women’s Peace Service

On January 23, the residents of Qusra organised an action to reclaim village land, which settlers had attempted to confiscate. Four volunteers from IWPS attended, at the request of the village, who asked for an international presence due to settler attacks the previous week, which left six villagers injured.
 
Qusra, a village of 4,000 people, is situated near the settlement of Migalim. There have been incidents of settlement harassment in the past but the present problem comes from an evacuated outpost (1), locally named Yesh Dam. The army dismantled some of the outpost structures on January 12th and according to Ma’an Agency report  ‘armed settlers entered the village burning cars, throwing stones and shooting at houses’ (2) on January 13th.

One of the village leaders informed IWPS volunteers that village farmers were prevented from cultivating their land by settlers on January 13.  Initially 8–10 armed settlers had been present, but their numbers swelled to more than 100. The Israeli military was present but did nothing to prevent the settlers from attack the Palestinian villagers. When the Israeli Border Police arrived, they attacked farmers resulting in the injury of six people, one quite badly.  ‘’They attacked anyone’ he said, “old people, women and children”.   

IWPS volunteers also met with shepherds from the village, who showed the team photos of two of their sheep which had been slaughtered by Israeli settlers two weeks earlier.  

The action on January 23 was to plough the village land in front of Yesh Dam and plant 650 olive trees. It was attended by about 200 people including the media, the Mayor of Nablus and Fatah representatives. The army watched from the hill and the edge of the fields and but did not interfere with the activities.

Village leaders told IWPS volunteers that the action was successful because of the presence of internationals, the media and official representatives.  Village leaders were concerned that they may not be able to access the planted trees in the coming days due to army and settlers presence and that the trees may be uprooted by settlers.  However, IWPS contacted village leaders one week after the planting of the trees and were informed that access had been available and that the trees remained intact.
 

(1) George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon agreed to evacuate illegal outposts in 2001
But this has been and ongoing issue with subsequent Israeli governments
For more details
http://peacenow.org/entries/archive4390
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_settler_violence_fact_sheet_2009_11_15_english.pdf
(2) http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=350748