Tag: Settler harassment - Page 7 - International Solidarity Movement

Settlers lead the Israeli army into a night attack in Jinba: beating children aged 4 to 16

5th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Jinba, Occupied Palestine

Stun grenade thrown into a home (Photo by ISM)

On Wednesday night, the Israeli army carried out a lengthy and violent invasion of the village of Jinba, in Masafer Yatta, south of the West Bank. The army was reported to have been led by two Israeli settlers from the illegal outpost of Mizpe Yair.

The army raided and ransacked twenty houses in Jinba, beating several young men in the process. People were woken up by stun grenades, which in one case the occupation forces threw directly into a house. Another stun grenade was thrown directly at a person, who was sleeping outdoors.

The Israeli army proceeded to break doors and raid Palestinian homes. During these raids, five people were beaten by soldiers, including a 4 year-old, named Ibrahim Jabarin. Ibrahim was hit by the soldiers in the face as he walked in front of them when they entered his home. The others were Thaar Khaled Jabarin, 16, Ahseen Nabil Jabarin, 12, Odi Jabarin, 21 and Sophian Raba’e, 15. Odi Jabarin was woken up by the soldiers beating him with their guns. He suffered several blows across his body, and severe injuries on his left leg.

Three men were then arbitrarily arrested during this raid and released hours later. Mahmoud Isha Ibrahim Raba’e was woken up by the army breaking into his house at 1 a.m., as they smashed his belongings, and he was then arrested and handcuffed. He was released at 9 a.m.

Home ransacked by the Israeli forces (Photo by ISM)

The raid was carried out over settler claim for a sheep

The two settlers accompanying the soldiers in Jinba yesterday claimed that the Palestinians had stolen one of their sheep. In fact they tried, with the cover of the army, to steal away one of the rams belonging to a Palestinian farmer; however they were stopped by the villagers. The ram in question purportedly worth 1600 dollars and is used for breeding purposes. This would have been a significant loss of property for the farmer, given that people in Jinba depend on animal husbandry for survival.

Mahmoud Raba'e posing with his ram, that settlers tried to steal (Photo by ISM) — Mahmoud Raba’e posing with his ram, that settlers tried to steal (Photo by ISM)

Jinba is one of the villages in Masafer Yatta that lies in the area that Israel has designated as “firing zone 918”. This area is the land of 12 Palestinian villages that are threatened with mass demolitions, which is illegal under international law[1]. This would mean the forced displacement of all of their residents. Recently, violence by the Israeli army has escalated over the region in the time leading up to a major court decision concerning the fate of the South Hebron Hills.

[1] See Hague Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, U.S.T.S. 539 (entered into force January 26, 1910) and Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 75 U.N.T.S. 287 (entered into force Oct. 21, 1950).

Settler attack fended off by vigilant residents of Azzun

29th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Azzun, Occupied Palestine

On June 18, settlers hung up a banner in the town of Azzun, threatening to take over the town. Later that day, the town was attacked by settlers, supported by the Israeli army. Local residents successfully fended off the attack through massive mobilizations.

The town of Azzun is the home of about 10.000 Palestinians. It is located in the northern West Bank district of Qalquiliya, close to several settlements. On Tuesday 18^th of June, settlers secretly entered the town and proceeded to hang up a banner at the town entrance stating that “On Tuesday, the village will become ours.” The unconcealed threat was signed by “The Women of Samaria”. The banner was quickly removed but the threat of a violent take-over was still present, as would become evident some hours later

224335 — Banner hung up by settlers (Photo by Ma’an News Agency)

During the late afternoon of the day that the ominous banner was put up, settlers gathered outside the eastern town-entrance for what appeared to be an attempt at fulfilling the prophecy. Luckily, the day before, attentive villagers had intercepted online information that settlers were mobilizing for a lunge against the city on this date and so they were prepared.

About three months earlier, the town had been attacked by around fifty young settlers who entered the town through the eastern-most checkpoint. After this, they proceeded to enter nearby Palestinian houses, throwing stones and empty bottles while shouting that “this is our land”. In spite of being barraged with tear gas and sound bombs by the occupying military forces, which came to the assistance of the attacking settlers, the residents of Azzun managed to fend off the assault. As a result of this experience three months ago, the locals now knew how to react to what looked like a new attempt at a violent assault on the town.

As soon as settlers started gathering outside the eastern-most checkpoint of the town, residents rushed to the site, effectively blocking the entrance to the town for both settlers and the collaborating soldiers that were accompanying them. For about six hours the residents were attacked with tear gas, sound bombs and rubber-coated steel bullets by the occupation forces. These attempts by the occupying forces to help the settlers enter the town left several wounded. In the end, the perseverance of the residents of Azzun caused the attacking settlers to retreat without having entered the town. The soldiers, however, returned the following night to continue harassing the inhabitants of the town.

These evident attempts at forcefully taking over the city are not the only abuses the residents of Azzun face every day. Because of the status of the town as a major traffic hub for the surrounding villages and towns, Azzun is routinely submitted to checkpoint shut-downs. In accordance with this, the main checkpoint of the town was completely shut down between the 15^th and the 20^th of June.

The checkpoint-shut-downs have the purpose of severely prolonging the transport time for anyone hoping to access one of the cities of the region, with the direct consequences for those in urgent need of medical attention of a kind not accessible in the immediate area.

Apart from these shut-downs, the military has a practice of arresting young boys on various arbitrary charges. While in custody, the boys are pressured into signing forms in Hebrew being informed that this is a prerequisite for being released. What the boys don’t know is that the forms are in fact made-up testimonies, denouncing other boys of taking part in illegal activities. This practice is adopted by military as a sort of divide-and-rule strategy where released boys and their families are under constant suspicion of being collaborator and informants, thereby playing residents out against each other. The local boys’ school can also confirm a correlation between the time of the year and the amount of arrested teenage boys. There seems to be a surge in the amount of arrest as soon as the exam-period gets closer meaning that a lot of these young men are prevented from taking their mandatory 12^th grade exams.

The ISM will continue to monitor the situation in the town that is also being closely followed by another group of internationals, EAPPI.

988631_10151474199257227_673337611_n — Settlers gather outside the entrance to Azzun

Settlers demolished solar energy building in Ad Dawa

23rd June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Ad Dawa, Occupied Palestine

On the 19^th of June, a group of settlers from the Illegal settlement of Itamar attacked a building that was being constructed for solar energy to provide electricity in the village of Ad Dawa, near Aqraba.

Residents of Ad Dawa around the demolished building (Photo by Ad Dawa municipality)

The building was being constructed without a roof to house the solar system, including the solar panels and the water pump to provide Ad Dawa with electricity and water. This is part of a project financed by a Spanish cooperation and the Energy Research Center at An Najah University.

The building, located in a valley with a small pond and over 100 trees on the land including figs, lemons, pomegranates and oranges, was completely smashed and demolished.

Settlers from Itamar settlement frequently attack the residents of Ad Dawa. They usually disguise themselves as soldiers and tell people to leave their own land, attacking farmers and trying to work Palestinian land. Thus, the five families living on the outskirts of the village, in this area, are subjected to continuous settler harassment, violence and land theft.

Ad Dawa's valley (Photo by Ad Dawa municipality) — Ad Dawa’s valley (Photo by Ad Dawa municipality)

UPDATED: Illegal settler colonisers attack workers in Asira

17th June 2013 | International Women’s Peace Service | Asira al Qibliya , Occupied Palestine

UPDATE 19th June: Settlers from the illegal settlement of Yizhar again attacked the water reservoir project in Asira. At 4pm on the 19th of June fifty settlers, accompanied by over thirty Israeli soldiers trespassed onto village land and attacked locals working on the site. The workers left the project immediately, but the settlers and army remained in the area until 8pm. The army threatened to arrest concerned locals and international activists, stating that the area was now a closed military zone. Tear gas was shot at villagers who stood observing the scene. A number of villagers have noted an increased military presence around the village, with training exercises taking place nearby the past three mornings.

UPDATE 18th June: The illegal settler continue their attacks on the village of Asira. Yesterday (18 June) they burnt the power/electricity switch box of the water reservoir project. Apart from the immediate labour and financial costs, such criminalities aim to further block Palestinian access to their water.

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In the evening of Sunday 16 June, a gang of illegal settler colonisers, accompanied by some 30 Israeli soldiers, attacked the small group of Palestinian men who were working on a water project in the village of Asira, south of Nablus. The settlers threw stones while the army threw stun grenades and fired tear gas at the workers and the villagers who had gathered at the site to protect them. The attackers then told the workers that they “must leave the area”.

Such criminal activities against the workers are committed almost daily in Asira. Even despite the fact that the project they are working on – building a water reservoir and a pipe to connect the surrounding villages of Madama, Burin, and Asira, to a water source – has a building permit, they are not allowed to do their work uninterrupted by violence from the illegal settler colonisers and the Israeli army, who have also destroyed some 100 pipes originally bought for the project.

Asira [al Qibliya] is an ancient village with the current population of 3,500. West of the village Roman ruins are still visible; before the Romans the territory was inhabited by the Phoenicians and the Canaanites.

Tradition has it that at the beginning of spring, the villagers of Asira would gather for celebrations on a hill close to the village, which according to Islam is a holy site. Among other festivities, they would play with brightly coloured eggs: one who cracks an egg against another’s, wins.

In mid-1980s, the illegal settler colony of Yitzhar was established on that very hilltop. That was the end of the Palestinian spring celebrations, and the beginning of Asira’s land and, crucially, water theft. Before the colony, the area was the locals’ breadbasket, thanks largely to its generous water resources. The nearby natural spring used to be Asira’s main source of water; the illegal settler colony, backed up by the Israeli government and the army, has completely blocked Palestinian access to the spring. Since then, villagers are forced to rely on water tanks; one such tank costs NIS 130 (US $36) in a place where unemployment is high; it is enough for a family for only a week. In this context, water theft is yet another method intended to drive the indigenous population off their land.

Residents of the illegal Israeli settler colony of Yitzhar are considered to be among the most violent in occupied Palestine; they physically attack Palestinian villagers (oftentimes children), set their land and property on fire, destroy houses, and cut or burn olive trees together with other vital sources of livelihood. “[The illegal settler colony of Yitzhar] is like a cancer in the heart of this area,” a local resident told IWPS. “… And in our hearts.”

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.