Tag: Settlers

Settler attacks farmers during Qaryut olive harvest

15 October 2009


Three farmers were attacked by a settler outside the village of Qaryut Wednesday, October 15th as they collected their olives for the yearly harvest.  A struggle followed and the farmers managed to detain the settler until the military arrived. The settler was subsequently released without charge.

At around midday, while the Palestinian farmers worked their lands close to the illegal settlement of Eli, a lone Israeli settler approached the three carrying a large stick and began threatening the farmers. Though the village of Qaryut has been coordinating with the District Coordination Office the military was nowhere to be seen. The settler began arguing with the farmers, ordering them to leave their own land. The argument escalated, the settler punched one of the farmers with one of his friends leaping to his defense and a struggle occurred, the third Palestinian man managing to call the DCO to alert the military, and take photos on his mobile phone.

The men managed to subdue the settler and detain him briefly until the military arrived shortly thereafter. They ordered the farmer who came under attack to accompany them to the police station of the Bet El settlement. Upon arrival, the farmer was accused of initiating the attack and wielding the stick the settler had threatened him with.  Now sustaining minor injuries and faced with the possibility of the settler pressing charges on the victim, the farmer was forced to drop the charges and find his own transportation home to Qaryut from Ramallah. The settler was released without retribution.

This is the first incident of settler violence during the olive harvest this year in the village of Qaryut, closely located to the illegal settlements of Eli and Shilo.

Olive harvest in Burin continues with more harassment from army and settlers

16 October 2009

International activists accompanied farmers today to their lands on the edge of the village of Burin, close to an outpost of the illegal settlement of Mar-Bracha, south of Nablus. Farmers enjoyed a quiet two hours of harvesting before eight settlers, one of them armed, appeared on the hill above and began approaching the farmers.

The farmers alerted the Palestinian DCO who in turn called the Israeli military. Army jeeps began to arrive and three soldiers came down to meet with the farmers, paying little attention to the four settlers still moving further down the hillside. The soldiers ordered all internationals to leave the area, declaring it a closed military zone, despite having no official proof of the claim. This has become almost a daily problem for farmers and activists working in the Burin area, as the Israeli military tightens its grip on the role international groups play in assisting farmers with the olive harvest – in the most extreme case, military officials attempted to issue a 6,000 shekel fine to Burin farmers for inviting international activists to accompany them to their land.

Settlers continued to move freely through the land, well beyond the confines of the settlement (and its outpost). The military didn’t interfere, claiming the settlers were simply walking their own land and the activists had no right (or relevance) being there. Meanwhile Border Police arrived, attempting to move both farmers and activists off the land. Eventually the military agreed to permit the farmers to continue the harvest and the activists remained too. It didn’t take long for the military to retreat and, thankfully, the settlers followed in turn. The remainder of the day continued without incident.

Four injured and dozens suffered teargas inhalation during the Bil’in weekly protest

16 October 2009

Bil'in demonstrates in support of universal jurisdiction
Bil'in demonstrates in support of universal jurisdiction

After the Friday prayer, the residents of Bil’in gathered in a protest along with Israeli and international solidarity activists. A group from France came to support the Palestinian people and another group from Norway joined the demonstration in solidarity with the village in their struggle against the Wall and settlement building. The protesters raised Palestinian flags and banners to allow Palestinian farmers to pick olives from their land. The protest called for Israel to remove the illegal Wall and settlements, dismantle checkpoints and road blocks, to stop land confiscations and attacks on Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, and to release all Palestinian political prisoners and detainees.

In a symbolic action, the protesters carried a big model of scales. Scales are used in courts around the whole world as a symbol of justice, however in today’s protest they were slightly different from the usual ones – they had Israel on one side and the world on the other. Israel was heavier than the rest of the world, to emphasize Israel’s policy of not abiding with international resolutions. The protesters in Bil’in wanted to demonstrate, in a creative way, their struggle for justice, especially following the publication of the Goldstone report and the rejection of their case against the Canadian companies involved in the construction of the settlements on their lands by the Canadian courts.

The demonstrators walked through the streets of Bil’in, chanting slogans condemning the occupation, and calling for national unity, as well as stressing the need for popular resistance. Demonstrators carried ladders and other tools they would use to harvest olives. Once they arrived at the gate of the Wall located in the Athaher area, they tried to cross to the land annexed by the Wall to harvest their fruits and olives. At that point, the Israeli soldiers showered them with tear gas grenades, causing injuries to four protesters: one journalist, a French national Marten Bogho and two Palestinians – Abdullah Alrwashda and Jaber Abu Rahmah, while dozens of people suffered teargas inhalation.

The Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’in also condemned the Israeli army’s threat to the Palestinian farmers around Nablus to impose a fine of up to 6,000 Israeli shekels ($1,700) for seeking help from foreign volunteers to reach their lands close to the Israeli settlements. The committee considers this as an oppressive measure that allows settlers to exercise their terror over the Palestinian farmers, as when the international volunteers are not present, nobody can reveal the terror attacks committed by the settlers to the world.

Settlers and army disrupted olive harvest in Jamma’in village

15 October 2009

For a week between 9 and 15 October, ISM activists have accompanied a group of families from the village of Jamma’in, picking in olive fields located just south of highway 505 and close to a large outpost of the Kfar Tappuah illegal settlement. The Palestinian farmers here have had problems with settlers annually for the last seven years and this one was no exception.

This year the harvest began on Friday, 9 October, and already on the first day the local settlers showed up on the farmers’ land. At about 1pm a settler came very close to the trees where the farmers were picking. The man was carrying an iron chain and had two unleashed dogs with him, a German shepherd and a border collie. He didn’t react to the ISM activists and the Palestinians telling him to leave, and instead he continued walking through the olive grove, trying to confront some of the Palestinian men, at one point attempting to punch one of them. He left the area eventually.

At about 9am on Saturday morning three settlers showed up in the olive grove. They tried to start a conflict, telling the Palestinian families to leave their land. After about 15 minutes, they were joined by five more settlers, all armed with M-16 riffles, along with another armed man, supposedly a settlement security guard. After a short attempt to escalate the situation, they left when a group of Israeli soldiers arrived.

The rest of the week passed without any more problems with settlers, but while the Palestinians were picking olives on Tuesday, the Israeli army cut off the road to the village. The road was already a bypass road as the main road from highway 505 to Jamma’in was blocked during the Second Intifada. The new bypass road adds about 20 minutes to the already prolonged journey between the village and the villagers’ land.

Bedouin community declared ‘closed military area’ while residents attempted to build new poultry-house

13 October 2009

On Tuesday, 13 October 2009, Israeli soldiers and police prevented the residents of Umm al-Kheir, located in the South Hebron Hills, from finishing the construction of a new chicken house. The families are not allowed by the army to build houses and are therefore living in tents that are located just outside the gate to the illegal settlement of Carmel.

Umm al-Kheir

During the day one of the families started to build a small house, approximately 2,5 x 3m, using stones and cement, to house their chickens. When international and Israeli activists arrived at the scene, at around 5pm, one military jeep and one settlement security car was stationed in the middle of the Bedouin community, on the road outside the settlement gate. During the two following hours more and more soldiers and police arrived and different police men repeatedly inspected the chicken house and filmed both the house and the locals and activists that were observing the situation. At 6pm the local residents and one Israeli activist continued with the construction, while being filmed and closely watched by the police, army and settler security. At around 7pm the army brought documents showing that they had declared the whole community a ‘closed military area’, forbidding all internationals there. In the document they also included one Palestinian working for B’Tselem.

The following day the area was opened again, and the ground to the chicken house was still standing.

The residents of Umm al-Kheir, approximately 80 people in six extended families, are originally from Tel Arad inside Israel, but were forced to leave in 1948 and instead settled down east of the town of Yatta in the West Bank. In 1981 the Carmel illegal settlement was established on top of the same hill and since then the residents of Umm al-Kheir have suffered from numerous attacks and harassments from the settlers. During the last five years, the settlement has expanded significantly, steeling further land from Umm al-Kheir.