Tag: Salfit - Page 3 - International Solidarity Movement

Olive tree planting in Kafr ad Dik

7th February 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr ad Dik, Occupied Palestine

On the morning of February 5, ISM volunteers travelled with around 50 Palestinian activists from the Salfit area to the village of Kafr ad Dik to take part in an olive tree planting action organised by the Joint Council of Salfit (a newly formed coalition which includes a group of municipal councils in the Salfit area and the Palestinian Youth Union). The mood in the coach travelling over was upbeat and defiant. Local youth and women, who together formed the majority of participants, sang and discussed the importance of the tree-planting.

Ninety per cent of the village land of Kafr ad Dik lies in Area C of the West Bank; buildings erected (post-1967) or trees planted are liable to demolition and destruction by Israeli Forces at any time, in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention. In an area where the majority of the population are dependent upon agriculture for their livelihood, these illegal acts of destruction and the constant threat of future destruction have a devastating effect on the people´s economic and psychological wellbeing.

The people of Kafr ad Dik also have to contend, as do other villages throughout the Salfit area, with the presence of the illegal Israeli settlements. The Salfit region has a Palestinian population of 60,000, distributed among the 19 villages and one major town, but the aggressive expansion of the illegal settlements in the area means that the indigenous population is now outnumbered by the settlers – one settlement alone, Ariel, has a population of 40,000.

The mayor of Kafr ad Dik told ISM that Salfit is a target for aggressive settlement expansion because of the area´s water resources: it contains the second largest aquifer in historical Palestine. However, the villages have to pay for water to be imported from Israel as they are not allowed to drill wells. The strategic location of Salfit is another factor – the continued expansion of settlements in the region could divide the West Bank, completely isolating the north from the south. Elaborating on the impact which the illegal settlements are having on his and neighbouring villages, the mayor referred to the frequent attacks by settlers who destroy olive trees, and the health problems in the area, which he linked to the pollution from the illegal industrial settlement of Ale Zahav.

120 olive tree saplings, provided by PARC (Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee), were planted in Area C, were planted in Thursday’s action as an act of agricultural resistance. Fayiq Qeshawe, one of the coordinators, told ISM that this was the first in a planned programme of such activities, all of which are intended to empower local communities and help maintain the indigenous population´s presence on, and ownership of, their land. As Majd, a sixteen-year-old from Salfit town, told ISM on the way back to from the action, ¨Today we have all come to volunteer as the olive is so important for the history of Palestine and to plant the olive is to prove that we are here, that this is our land.¨

Collective Punishment for Deir Istiya village

6th January 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Deir Istiya, Occupied Palestine

On 29th December, Israeli military barricaded the village of Deir Istiya, Salfit with a roadblock.

This type of roadblock, termed an ‘earth mound’, is a pile of rubble and earth dropped over the road to obstruct access.

It prevents access from the village to the main road towards Nablus and Qalqilyah where many Deir Istiya residents work and study. Residents and visitors must use the southern route to get in and out through the village of Hares. Hares is a small village with narrow winding roads. The increased traffic through Hares causes congestion and increases risk of car accidents. The diversion of at least 8 km adds to fuel costs as well as journey time.

On the 4th January, a 58 year old resident of Deir Istiya suffered from a heart attack. The increased time to reach Nablus hospital could have proved fatal. The patient is still in intensive care in Nablus hospital.

Residents of the village managed to reopen part of the road a couple of days after it was blocked. The army returned and only fortified it with even larger boulders that were impossible to remove by hand.

Villagers say the army closed the road as ‘collective punishment’ for a youth who had thrown a Molotov cocktail at a car passing from a nearby illegal Israeli settlement but no arrests have been made. There are 5000 people living in the village of Deir Istiya. This kind of collective punishment is illegal under international law, breaking Article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention.

The roadblock was partially removed late last night by the Israeli military, possibly after pressure from human rights organizations including the Red Cross. This now allows vehicles precarious access to the main road to Nablus. The blockade however, still obscures most of the access into and out of the village, particularly problematic in emergency situations, and for parents with children, the elderly and disabled.

The road was last closed in November under similar circumstances.

Israeli forces attack mosque in village near Salfit, detaining and beating a child

3rd July 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qarawat Bani Hassan, Occupied Palestine

At 9 o’clock in the evening of July 2nd, Israeli forces invaded the small Palestinian village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, approximately 10 km northwest of Salfit in the northern half of the West Bank.

They approached the mosque in the center of town and fired tear gas and stun grenades inside. One witness described the scene as follows:

“There were maybe 500 people inside the mosque – many old men, women and children. The tear gas was horrible. It was difficult to breathe. The sound bombs were terrifying, and the children were so afraid.”

Photo by a villager from Qarawat Bani Hassan.

The motives of the soldiers remain mystifying, since the streets surrounding the mosque had been empty before the attack. “They just come here to make problems,” suggested one witness.

The occupants of the mosque escaped the tear gas, and clashes ensued on the nearby streets. Qasaam Mareh, a fourteen year old boy, was detained by the soldiers. According to witnesses, they interrogated and beat him, before they took him away in a jeep. Qasaam was held for approximately eighteen hours before finally being released the next day.

Israeli army attacks two elementary schools in Salfit

7th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Salfit, Occupied Palestine

Two educational institutions were attacked with tear gas and stun grenades by the Israeli army yesterday morning in Salfit. At least ten female students required medical attention after suffering from excessive tear gas inhalation.

At 12:30 yesterday afternoon, Salfit’s female elementary school was empty. Only a few staff remained, attempting to clean the walls after Israeli soldiers threw tear gas and stun grenades in an attack earlier in the morning. According to the headmistress of the school, the attack took place at approximately 9:30 am. At this time, the classrooms were full of female students between the ages of six and 12-years-old. The soldiers shot the tear gas from the street and it landed in the playground, school corridors and on the roof, with the tear gas itself drifting into the classrooms.

Staff from the school reported that ten young students required medical attention on site; two of them temporarily lost consciousness due to the inhalation of tear gas. When the headmistress was reassured that the Israeli army had left Salfit, at approximately 11:30 am, she began evacuating the girls. Both the school psychologist and headmistress agree that the girls were in shock, many of them crying when the attack began and after were afraid of leaving the school by themselves. The school psychologist expects that at least half of the students will not attend the following day after this experience from the Israeli army.

A female secondary school is located just meters away from the elementary school. Fortunately, no one was injured in that institution despite some exposure to the gas, but it did eventually close early as a precaution.

Witnesses reported that Israeli forces have also harassed neighbours to the school who photographed the attack. That is the case with Ahmed Zubuydi, aged 21. He was working in a nearby shop when a military jeep stopped in front of him and interrogated him for 20 minutes. He was asked to show his ID and was thoroughly searched. The commander of the Israeli soldiers began asking personal questions, such as where Ahmed worked, where he studied, and where he spends the money he earns. Ahmed reports that this is not the first time he has been interrogated by the Israeli army.

The headmistress of the girl’s elementary school reported that this is the second time this year that this sort of attack has occurred, with the first taking place in January. The school fears that these attacks may become systematic and will therefore seek training from the Fire Department to help cope with future incidents.

Israeli army demolish a house in the Salfit village of Deir Ballut

29th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Deir Ballut, Occupied Palestine

On Thursday morning at five am, the Israeli army demolished a house under construction, and left the area before the owner Ghaneem Mahmoud Abdullah Al-Karim or other villagers were able to arrive at the scene. It is believed that the Israeli forces conduct these activities so early in the morning in order to avoid nonviolent resistance from the villagers. This was the first house to be demolished in Deir Ballut but there are over sixty houses that have been served demolition orders from the Israeli army.

The village is over five hundred years old, and within the Oslo Agreements the village was literally split between Area B and Area C. There are over a hundred and eighty houses that now fall within Area C and therefore are under threat of demolition. The inhabitants of Area C need permission from the Israeli government to even refurbish their houses, which is often impossible to get.

Deir Ballut (to the left of the map) is in risk of being surrounded by the annexation wall. The red line is the wall today while the black marks the planned route (source: OCHA).

The majority of Deir Ballut, as with other villages in the area, is classified as Area C and is controlled by the occupation forces. Many villages in the Salfit area have lost land to settlement and to the construction of the separation wall. Deir Ballut has lost 2,000 dunums which was confiscated when Israel built the Apartheid Wall, and the intended reassignment of the Wall which is to be carried out in coming years will mean that the village will lose even more land and is surrounded by the wall.

As Deir Ballut’s population increases, families are forced to build in Area C, as is the case for the Al Karim family. The villagers are committed to continue constructing homes on their land, and to help Ghaneem and his family to rebuild their house.