Tag: settler attacks

Human rights abuses in the Jordan Valley

29 December 2023 | International Solidarity Movement | Jordan Valley

The following article is a snapshot of how life is under occupation and brutal settler colonialism for the Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley. These incidents are just some that took place on one day (Friday 29th December).

Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) soldiers, along with officials from the Mekorot Water Control Company (Israel’s national water company), stormed the village of Bardala and closed the water holes used by the farmers of the village to irrigate crops, as part of a policy of water deprivation. The policy of racial discrimination and apartheid in the right to water constitutes an existential threat to the Jordan Valley communities.

An empty road with a green field to the right and a house to the left, cars can be seen in the distance.
The IOF and Mekorot arrive at village of Bardala to sever water connection.
Photo taken from uphill, showing a green landscape with houses and cars in the distance. In the middle, a powerful gush of water.
Water gushing in to the air from the pipe severed by the IOF and Mekorot.

The IOF and the Jordan Valley Regional Settlements Council closed the only entrance to the pastures to the east of Ain al-Hilweh in the northern Jordan Valley. The iron gate placed across the entrance and guarded by IOF soldiers prevents shepherds and their livestock from entering any of their lands and pastures east of Route 60. With this gate, gangs of illegal settlers now have full control over a vast area of more than 55,000 dunums of land (approximately 14,000 acres) located between Road 60 and Road 90. The loss of grazing land and the confinement of livestock in population centres constitute a disaster for farming communities in these areas and are driving factors in their forced displacement.

A dirt road is blocked by two blocks of concrete and a metal bar between them, alongside two soldiers standing in front. On the other side, a car is parked.
Photo of gate installed by the IOF at village of Ain al-Hilweh.

Citizen Abu Mahdi Daraghmeh from Ain al-Hilweh reported that he is using legal channels to launch an appeal in order to protect him from the herding activities of illegal settlers, as settlers stole 80 cows from his children the day prior. Denial from the settlers along with the complete inability of the Occupation Authority’s Civil Administration to address the problem have left him with no other option. Herding is a strategy increasingly used by illegal settlers to steal land across the West Bank.

House demolitions, a powerful tool for forced displacement and ethnic cleansing used by Israel, are continuing apace in the Jordan Valley. On 26th December at around 9am, Civil Administration personnel came with IOF soldiers and two bulldozers to the village of Furush Beit Dajan. The forces demolished five homes of five families numbering twenty five people, eight of them children. Three of the homes demolished were built before 1967. The forces also demolished three seasonal homes of three families, numbering twenty people, including seven children. A concrete wall around one of the houses as well as a pool used to irrigate crops were also demolished.

A large heap of rubble and metal. Two men are standing on it, one looking to the camera and doing a peace sign.
House demolitions at the village of Furush Beit Dajan.
Photo taken from uphill shows cars driving around a village where a digger is demolishing houses.
House demolitions at village of Furush Beit Dajan.

The Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign is one of the main solidarity organisations active in the Jordan Valley, with which ISM has worked in partnership over the years. It is a network of Palestinian grassroots community groups from throughout the Jordan Valley and stands side by side with Jordan Valley residents in resisting the ethnic cleansing of their communities through direct solidarity.

 

Photos credit: Jordan Valley Solidarity

Ethnic cleansing in Masafer Yatta reaches unbearable level: Call to Action

Masafer Yatta | International Solidarity Movement

Colonial violence and ethnic cleansing is quickly escalating in Masafer Yatta, a rural region south of Hebron, in the West Bank.

Settler militias are terrorizing Palestinians by invading their villages during pogroms, armed with assault rifles, often wearing Israeli army uniforms and accompanied by Israeli soldiers. Palestinians and ISM activists have reported and documented cases of settlers beating up Palestinian residents, including women, children and the elderly; settlers and soldiers shooting towards Palestinian houses and houses, destroying water pumps and electric grids, uprooting trees and taking up Palestinian fields, planting Israeli flags on Palestinian land and houses, and even forcing Palestinians to sing pro-Israel chants and to wave an Israeli flag while holding them at gun-point and filming them.

Last night, settlers and soldiers invaded the village of Susyia and threatened residents that if they don’t leave within 24 hours, they will be back and start killing Palestinians in the village. A similar threat to residents of the village of Khirbet Zanuta has already resulted in the community leaving the land in order to save their families.

CALL TO ACTION: Residents call on people around the world to “check in” to Masafer Yatta on FB and Instagram in solidarity with the villagers facing imminent violence. This will throw off Israeli security forces tracking the online activities of both Palestinians and local solidarity activists speaking out against settler violence. It will also show settlers and soldiers that the world is watching and that the residents of Masafer Yatta are not alone.

Check out the hashtag #savemasaferyatta and share content on Masafer Yatta from pages like:

Youth of Sumud

Masafer Yatta (Instagram)

ISM Instagram, ISM Facebook , ISM Twitter

What follows is just a summary of some outstanding cases of settler violence

  • On October 25th Israeli settlers and soldiers invaded the land belonging to a Palestinian family in Tuwani and used a bulldozer to uproot trees and destroy the family’s garden.

 

The soldiers then shot a half a dozen warning shots towards ISM and Israeli activists who were filming the scene.

 

  • On October 13th, an Israeli settler invaded Tuwani and shot a Palestinian man in the stomach at point blank range, while being protected by an Israeli soldier. The day before, Israeli settlers dressed in Israeli army uniforms had invaded Palestinian agricultural land, planted Israeli flags and started shooting towards Palestinians and solidarity activists. Israeli soldiers robbed ISM activists of their phones.

 

  • On October 26th, a resident of the village of Khallet al-Dabaa was arbitrarily arrested by Israeli soldiers. When he was released two days later, he showed clear signs of abuse and turture on his body.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Youth Of Sumud (@youthofsumud)

 

  • On October 26th, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) flew drones over villages in Masafer Yatta transmitting the following message in Arabic: “We can see you everywhere. Wherever you are, we are coming for you”.

  • On October 27th, Settler militias destroyed over 200 trees, along with irrigation pipes, water pumps, electrical cables, and a water tank belonging to local Palestinian residents in the Al-Ain Al-Bayda village in Masafer Yatta.
  • They also severed the water supply pipeline for the community in Saddet al-Tha’ala village, while making death threats against local residents.

 

  • The same day, a large group of settlers attacked residents in the village of Susiya, who confronted the colonists and forced them to run away after an outbreak of a fistfight. Several people suffered bruises. The settlers threatened that they would come back at night with Israeli soldiers, and they did.

 

  • On October 28th, armed settlers forcibly removed a Palestinian man from his car, in the village of Umm Al-Khair, and then destroyed his car by throwing large rocks and by shooting at it.

  • On the same day, two armed Israeli settlers dressed in Israeli army uniforms assaulted and detained 6 Palestinians, including a 16 year old girl, who got her hand broken by the settlers during the attack.

 

  • On October 29th, armed settlers and soldiers raided the village of Susiya again and threatened Palestinians there that if they did not leave the village within 24 hours, they would come back and start shooting and killing residents.
  • The same day, armed settlers invaded the village of Khirbet Zanuta and told residents: “If you don’t leave, we’ll do to you what we are doing in Gaza”. The community decided that they had to leave to save their families, knowing that they have nobody to protect them.
  • The same day, armed settlers raided the village of Tuba and stole 6 sheep from a Palestinian family, as well as a gas cilinder, a phone and a sheep feeder. A few days earlier, settlers had entered Tuba during the night and damaged the water tanks with knifes. Palestinians and ISM activists in Tuba have reported that the settlers appear to be building a new illegal outpost just meters away from the houses of Palestinians in Tuba.

 

  • On October 29th, armed settlers invaded the village of Umm Al-Khair and forced some Palestinians to raise the Israeli flag over their houses and to record videos of themselves in which they spoke against Palestinians in Gaza. The settlers then said that they would come back the next day and that if they did not see the Israeli flags on people’s houses, they would displace Palestinian families.

  • On October 29th, Israeli settlers and soldiers assaulted an elderly man and his children in his home, in the village of Sha’ab al-Butm.

The International Solidarity Movement maitains its presence on the ground in Masafer Yatta, with ISM activists standing with Palestinians as they face colonial violence in their villages.

 

Palestinians hospitalised in settler attack near Ramallah 

Wadi Siq school has been regularly attacked by settlers from new outposts set up near the Bedouin village, east of Ramallah

 

 

15 October, 2023 | International Solidarity Movement | Wadi Siq

Armed settlers attacked Palestinians and international volunteers in the Bedouin village of Wadi Siq, east of Ramallah, on Thursday (October 12) hospitalising two people. 

Villagers were also beaten after the illegal settlers returned for a second attack later that day, ISMers were told. 

ISMers and Israeli activists in partnership with the Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC) have been based in the village several nights a week at the request of residents due to increasing intimidation and violence by settlers following the setting up of outposts nearby in recent months. 

The villagers have experienced harassment, intimidation, assault and damage to, and theft of, their property on a regular basis. This usually happens at night, increasing the trauma inflicted on villagers. 

Wadi Siq, which consists of individual family encampments widely dispersed over rocky, hilly terrain, is served by the Al-Tahidi School. Providing education for 60 Bedouin children from the age of five to 14 years, the school is also on the receiving end of attacks by settlers.

The headteacher reported that settlers have rammed the school bus with children onboard and teachers’ cars as they leave work. Thefts of school property are common with the building’s generator being stolen last week. The head is also very worried about the impact of the attacks on the physical and mental wellbeing of the children.

Last week, Israeli activist Rabbi Arik Asherman was detained after he reported to the police that the entrance to the village had been blocked by the settlers. He was then arrested and, at the time of writing, is still being held.

Following Israel’s bombardment of Gaza last Saturday, settlers have ramped up their attacks even further. 

On Thursday at around 11am a group of armed settlers set upon volunteers based at the site. Two of the CRWC personnel (Abu Hassan and Mohamad Nada) were badly beaten, requiring hospitalisation.  

Settlers also circled the village in SUV to intimidate residents while a group of volunteers were threatened with guns when they approached two settlers who were standing on the track close to one of the encampments. 

After sunrise settlers broke into a large metal storage container and stole valuable items including a solar power unit and batteries and vandalised the other items being stored. This represented a serious loss for the family concerned. 

 

The olive harvest: Struggle, resistance and oppression

 

December 31 | International Solidarity Movement | Olive Harvest journal 

The olive harvest in Palestine (October – November) represents much more than simply picking olives. While it is an important contributor for the income of thousands of families in the West Bank – with a revenue between $160m and $190m in 2021 according to Aljazeera – it is also a symbol of resistance and defiance towards the occupation. Families come together in the fields and endure and resist systematic harassment by Israeli soldiers and settlers. Settlers notoriously insist on watching olive pickers, throwing stones at them and often attacking them and their vehicles. The IOF regularly allows this behaviour, protecting settlers during these actions, and being an aggressor itself.

Most of the olive trees are situated in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli control. Some private Palestinian lands are inside the apartheid wall or inside illegal settlements, or they are very close to Israeli military areas or settlements. In these cases, farmers need a permit issued by the Israel administration to access their land and harvest. Farmers are normally given 2- or 3-day access permit which is not enough to finish harvesting all the olive trees. In the rest of the areas, there is a coordination programme through the Israeli-Palestinian district coordination offices (DCO) for farmers to ask for a permit. These permits are sometimes refused even on lands far from settlements.

International activists joined Faz3a, a Palestinian youth-led campaign that supports Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest, other organizations and Palestinian families to show solidarity and support during this season. Their presence is a reminder that the international community is aware and documenting the disgraceful treatment of Palestinians.

ISM activists joined farmers in many locations across the West Bank for the 2022 olive harvest. This is what they witnessed:

Al-Janiya, west Ramallah

More than 30 Palestinians, Israelis and international activists joined the Faza3 campaign on their first day in the fields this year in Al-Janiya village, west of Ramallah.

We were there to support the farmer Abu Mohammed who hasn’t been able to access his land since the first intifada. His land is at the edge of three settlements surrounding his village from east, north and south.

Abu Mohammed told activists that every time he tried to reach his land the settlers would attack him and prevent him from entering. His cousin also said that one day Abu Mohammed’s father was attacked by settlers throwing stones, hitting him in his head. He was seriously injured and died a few months after the settlers’ attack.

All day ISM activists on the ground were followed by a drone from a nearby settlement filming their work and movements. Despite this, activists managed to harvest a good part of Abu Mohammed’s land without settlers interfering or attacking, which proves how important international solidarity and campaigns like Faza3 are.

Burin, near Nablus

ISM activists joined Faz3a, with Palestinian and Israeli activists, in the village of Burin, near Nablus, to help the farmer Abu Jamal, a young owner of a olive field attacked several times by Ytzar settlers who also burned his house. We had a successful harvest day and enjoyed the food Abu Jamal’s wife prepared for us. We also met his child, a two-year-old boy who was recently terrorized by settlers. Abu was able to rescue his child, but the settlers attacked and set fire to his car.

Hares, near Salfit

In Hares, near the West Bank town of Salfit, activists joined Faz3a to harvest. The farm was near the illegal settlement of Rivava. The farmer asked for help as he had not received his permit yet, but he believed it is still his right to go and harvest his land.

IOF arrived soon after we started and tried to chase people away. They inspected documents, took pictures, told the farmer where we could and could not go, giving us “only 5 minutes” to finish harvesting olives from this tree or that tree. We worked hard trying to ignore them and we had a very successful harvest under the constant watch of the army.

Husan, near Bethlem

ISM activists joined Palestinian farmer Shireen for the olive harvest in Husan, 19 km from Bethlehem, up on a hill several times besieged by the army. The field has already been burned 6 times (Shireen has lost more than 100 trees) by the illegal settlers of Beitar Illit, who also stole many donums of land. This year, settlers protected by the army stole more land and dumped earth and boulders over olive trees in order to build an Israeli security control station. While the land already taken is becoming a large road to connect Better Eleet with another illegal settlement.

On the second day, we found a big tree had been cut down and big stones thrown at her property. This time there were no physical assaults, but nonetheless, settlers caused deep suffering and frustration. Shireen will file a complaint, but to whom if the prime offender is the Israeli government?

At-Tuwani, Massafer Yatta

IOF threw tear gas and violently disrupted the olive harvest in at-Tuwani, a small village in the Massafer Yatta region in the south of the West Bank. More than 50 Palestinians, internationals and Israeli volunteers took part in an olive harvest event organised by Faz3a and the Ministry against the Wall and Settlements in the valley of Humra, near at-Tuwani.

Farmers from the village are exposed to settler violence and harassment neighbouring the 1981 illegal settlement Ma’on and its early 2000’s expansion, the illegal outpost Havat Ma’on.

Not long after arriving at Humra and starting to pick olives, the first settlers showed up, quickly followed by Israeli army and police. Five army jeeps with around 20 soldiers and around 15 settlers were there. Palestinian activists went to the edge of the field facing the army and settlers, raising Palestinian flags and chanting their right to be on their land and in Palestine.

The army reacted violently by throwing tear gas at the crowd, making it impossible for people to stay. Most people were forced to stop and only a small group remained to harvest.

Jibya, north Ramallah

A Palestinian activist was injured and over 12 cars were smashed by settlers in Jibya, north of Ramallah.

ISM and Faz3a activists, joined by international journalists, went harvesting near an outpost of the Israeli settlement of Halamish. The farmer appealed for help because he faces systematic attack from Israeli settlers. He tried to harvest his land a couple of days earlier but was harassed by settlers.

Soon after we started, a group of settlers with M16 arrived, taking pictures of everyone to provoke us. Army and more settlers also joined. Settlers were asking where everyone was from and why we were there, and army tried to remove us saying the area was a closed military zone. People then heard women crying and shouting: settlers had gone down the hill and threw stones and smashed the parked cars’ windows. One of the activists who was on the scene filming and telling the settlers to stop attacking, was injured as he fell on a piece of metal that cut his leg while trying to reach security and he needed 15 stitches.

Khalet, a Faz3a activist, said: “This happened under the watch of the Israeli army. The settlers were armed. We were peacefully activists and volunteers who came there just to help the farmers picking olives.”

Bidu, south-west of Ramallah

Around 40 volunteers, Palestinians and internationals, joined a harvest organised by Right to Movement in the village of Bidu, near Ramallah. We had a successful day with plenty of olives harvested.

The farmer is suffering as two of his sons are unjustly imprisoned by the Israeli occupation and the family in general face difficulties due to the occupation.

Kafr Qalil, south of Nablus

ISM activists joined the Suleiman al-Quni family in Kafr Qalil, south of Nablus, to assist in harvesting their land. The Israeli government granted them permits to harvest on 2 days.

The land is on a hill and valley overlooking the main road into Nablus, near the settlement of Bracha. During the harvest the pickers were watched constantly by a small number of settlers and 6 IOF soldiers, but the day went well without incidents, in an area that is often on the receiving end of harassment.

Kafr al-Dik, west of Salfit

We joined Ali Nassar, a Palestinian farmer from the town of Kafr al-Dik, west of Salfit, who has an olive field near the settlement of Alie Zahav. Kafr al-Dik’s land was confiscated for building Alei Zahav. Ali has around 120 olive trees. We harvested close to the settlement without any issues.

Burin, near Nablus

ISM activists joined Faz3a in the village of Burin, near the Yitsahar settlement. The elderly farmers we were there to help had been attacked and chased off their land the previous day by settlers, and the elderly woman was limping as a result. In the end, the couple were too afraid to take us harvesting because they were threatened by settlers not to return, especially with international support, unless they’d coordinated with the military.

Atara, north of Ramallah

We harvested in Atara Spring, very close to the illegal Israeli settlement of Ateret, which is currently being expanded.

ISM members were helping to harvest on behalf of the land owners who were attacked on multiple occasions last year whilst harvesting, so were afraid to harvest this year.

On multiple occasions, the settlement security stopped to ask what we were doing, if it was our land, and told the Palestinian farmer not to make a mess and to keep the road clear. At one point two settlers stopped their car to get out and watch us.

Olive Harvest 2022: Call for Volunteers

 

September 15 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied Palestine

ISM is issuing an urgent call out for volunteers to join the 2022 Olive Harvest at the invitation of Palestinian communities, starting next month. 

Olive trees are a national symbol in Palestine. As hundreds of thousands of trees have been uprooted by the Israeli military and illegal settlers – more than 11,700 olive trees were destroyed in 2021 alone – harvesting has become more than a source of income, but a form of resistance. 

Recent years have also seen an explosion in settler violence against Palestinian communities, and a series of illegal settler outposts set up across the West Bank.

The new outposts – primarily located in the northern regions of the West Bank close to the cities and towns of Salfit, Hares and Nablus – puts Palestinian farmers in these areas at an increased risk of violence and attacks this Olive Harvest. 

ISM is calling for volunteers to join Palestinian farmers on the ground to support them to assert their right to earn a living and be present on their lands. 

International activists joining the harvest engage in non-violent direct action, practical support and document human rights abuses against Palestinians, which enables many families to pick their olives.  ISM activists work alongside other international organisations to support farmers during the Olive Harvest. 

The harvest will begin on October 1 and run until mid-November 2022. We request a minimum 2 week commitment but we ask that if possible, volunteers could stay as long as they can. Our work is dependent on relationships with the Palestinian communities in which we work, and a long-term presence is a massive help towards that end. We kindly ask volunteers to start arriving in the first week of October if possible, so we are prepared when the harvest begins. ISM activists will receive training upon arrival with information on what to expect and how to act in what can be tense situations. 

To register your interest in joining the Olive Harvest this year contact ismtraining@riseup.net

 

When: October 1 – mid-November 

Where: the occupied West Bank, Palestine

How to sign up: email us at ismtraining@riseup.net

 

More information on the Olive Harvest: 

  • https://www.btselem.org/settler_violence/2021_olive_harvest