Tag: Settlers

Water Series: ‘There’s no law in the world that says you can cut water from humans’

‘Enemies of life’ – Israeli bulldozer rips up water pipes near At-Tuwani

August 3 | International Solidarity Movement | South Hebron Hills, occupied Palestine

 

This is the second of a series of reports documenting the control and devastation of water sources by Israel as a tool of oppression.

 

Israel is escalating its war on water in the South Hebron Hills, demolishing wells, ripping out kilometres of pipeline and even confiscating trucks carrying emergency water tanks to parched villages.

In the sweltering month of July, five demolitions targeting water infrastructure were carried out, leaving Palestinian farming villages without access to water. 

The latest took place on Wednesday July 31, when the Israeli Civil Administration – the body that governs Area C in the West Bank – cut pipes supplying water to houses and farmland in the area of al-Jaway near At-Tuwani. 

Tariq Hathaleen, a local activist from the South Hebron Hills, says that the number of demolitions on water sources has “more than doubled,” this year compared to previous years.

He told ISM: “Now in the summer it sounds like the Civil Administration has a plan to restrict Palestinian access to water in the South Hebron Hills, in Area C in general, and that’s actually to put more pressure on those people to move them away from those villages. 

“Because the Civil Administration don’t have a direct excuse to expel those people from their land but the plan is to put more pressure to make them leave by cutting their water sources.”

On July 4, bulldozers destroyed three water wells outside the town of Dkeika, a day after they came to the same area and uprooted over 500 olive trees. 

A village elder is detained while trying to protect water sources on July 4

The destruction of the wells and trees have affected around 1,200 people, 60 per cent of them registered as refugees. according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Four water cisterns were also destroyed on July 24 in a park between the villages of Umm al-Kheir and Umm Daraj

“I know the reality of these people,” Tariq, who was at the demolition, adds. “I call them the enemies of life and they prove this by cutting trees, by cutting water pipes, by cutting the lives of people.”

The Good Shepherd Collective, a group that advocates human rights predominantly in the South Hebron Hills, puts the escalation of demolitions down to the actions of far-right settler NGO Regavim. 

Regavim, which receives Israeli tax-payers money and has charitable status, spies on Palestinian communities, looking out for structures built without a permit and reporting them to the ICA. They then speed up demolition cases in the courts through petitions. 

Their devastating impact can be seen by the steep rise in demolitions in the South Hebron Hills; 65 structures have been bulldozed or confiscated so far this year, compared to 23 structures in the same period last year, according to OCHA. 

The al Dababsh family watches as their home is razed to the ground in the village of Khalet al Dabeh

“For anyone who still has qualms about the placement of blame on the state or Civil Administration for the act of demolitions, the message of these continued demolitions in natural areas should serve as a clarifying message,” the Good Shepherd Collective said. 

“The state, the settlers and the organizations like Regavim that push forward the destruction of these areas, structures and resources for Palestinians are not motivated by the preservation of humanitarian rights, environmental laws, or the protection of the natural environment.”

The series of attacks on water sources in July comes after Israel ripped out a huge pipe network earlier this year that had supplied 12 Palestinian towns in the South Hebron Hills with running water. 

The pipes were built in secret and took four months to install. But just six months later, Israel destroyed them, cutting the 20km lifeline. 

The 12 villages have had to return to the old method of accessing water – by transporting tanks on tractors along poor roads which wears down the tyres and wastes precious work days. 

Transporting water in this way adds to the economic burden of the area’s small villages, costing 30 shekkles for one cubic metre. In contrast Israelis pay just 8 shekkles per cubic metre. 

And even the trucks are not safe from Israel’s war on water; on July 15, 18 water tanks were confiscated by Israeli soldiers. In the same raid, several thousand dollars of water pipeline and drilling equipment to install the pipes were also taken.

“The feeling is hard to accept, the fact that those people, those humans out of blood and flesh agree on themselves to cut other peoples’ lives by cutting the water,” Tariq tells ISM. 

“It’s far from doing something legal. There’s no law in the world that says you can cut water from humans and forbid him from having water access. Its insane.”

A bulldozer destorys water wells while a Regavim drone hovers above

The South Hebron Hills is in Area C of the West Bank which means it is under full Israeli control. Palestinians in this region are denied building permits even to install water pipelines or wells, and are not allowed to hook up to the water network that Israel has laid across Palestinian land to supply illegal settlements. 

As a result, villages in the area are subject to unrelenting attacks on not only their water sources but farmland and homes. 

 

Settler tour exemplifies the difficult reality of occupation in the Old City of Hebron – a photo essay

July 7 | International Solidarity Movement | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Every Saturday, illegal Jewish settlers from around the West Bank take a “tour” of the busy souq (market) in Old City of Hebron, the busiest market street in the area since the closure of Shuhada Street. Local Palestinians believe that the Israeli authorities facilitate the tour as a deliberate method of intimidation, making life intolerable and unsustainable for them in order to prompt displacement.

On the tour, current and prospective settlers are given a skewed history of Hebron which disregards and contradicts the documented history of peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Jews in the city before 1948. Instead, it identifies the land’s heritage as solely Jewish. As shown, the settlers are escorted by numerous Israeli soldiers and Border Police officers, who randomly detain Palestinians for ID checks and prevent free movement in the souq during the duration of the tour.

Military and police can also be seen on the rooftops of Palestinian homes, many of which are now empty as a result of forced evictions for surveillance purposes. Palestinians living in the Old City are under constant threat of home invasions by the Israeli military and Jewish settlers, further contributing to displacement and the theft of Palestinian property.

 

 

Livelihoods destroyed in two days of demolitions in South Hebron Hills

Village elder Hajj Suleiman violently arrested during demolition of public park

 

July 4 | International Solidarity Movement | South Hebron Hills, occupied Palestine

The South Hebron Hills have faced two consecutive days of demolitions starting early yesterday morning, with bulldozers destroying water wells and uprooting over 500 trees in two villages.

An elderly Palestinian activist from Um al-Khair was also hospitalised yesterday after being violently detained by occupation forces.

Five JCB bulldozers accompanied by Israeli Civil Administration vans began uprooting trees – some of which were over 14 years old – and demolishing water wells in a public park between the villages of Hashem Daraj and Um al-Khair at around 9am yesterday morning.  

70-year-old man Hajj Suleiman, was aggressively dragged out of the road, where he had tried to stand in the way of the bulldozers, by soldiers and pushed to the ground. He was later seen unconscious before being taken to hospital for medical attention. 

Some hours later, the village elder was discharged. Despite his ordeal, Suleiman was back the next day to try to disrupt the violence of the bulldozers. He was briefly detained again before being driven in a military jeep to Um al-Khair in a attempt by soldiers to prevent him carrying out further direct actions.

Unconscious village elder carried to safety after being aggressively detained and pushed to the ground by Israeli soldiers
Hajj Suleiman receives medical attention

His nephew Tariq described yesterday’s demolition spree by the Israeli Civil Administration – the body that governs Area C in the West Bank – as “brutal.”

“They don’t leave anything alone,” he told ISM. “They demolish the peoples houses, they demolish the animal barns and now they’re starting from this year to demolish trees and water cisterns.”

The park, which is now a heap of uprooted trees, was one of the few public spaces belonging to Palestinians in the region.

This morning, the bulldozers came again, destroying two water cisterns and uprooting more trees in Dkeika, a village close to the West Bank border.

The cisterns are vital during the summer months for shepherds to graze their sheep and goats.

While the villagers’ resources were being demolished, a drone belonging to far-right Israeli NGO Regavim was documenting the scene. The group, which receives Israeli taxpayers money, is dedicated to evicting Palestinians from Area C and within Israel through court petitions. It’s likely they played a direct role in the two day demolition spree. 

A drone operated by Israeli far-right NGO Regavim hovers over bulldozers wrecking water cisterns

Many Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills, which is located within Area C, live with the constant threat of having their homes, water systems, roads and farms bulldozed by the Civil Administration. 

Structures built by Palestinians in Area C without building permits (less than 1% are approved by the Civil Administration) are served demolition orders while illegal Israeli settlement outposts have free reign to build with impunity.

Olive trees, some 14 years old, unearthed by bulldozers

South Hebron Hills: Settlers wielding sticks launch night attack on Palestinian home

June 17, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement | South Hebron Hills, occupied Palestine

Occupation forces attempt to arrest Palestinians outside At-Tuwani house

Settlers bearing sticks from the notorious Havat Maon illegal outpost tried to attack a Palestinian home two nights ago in the village of At-Tuwani, South Hebron Hills – the latest in a stream of attacks against the same home.

The Zionist attackers ran towards the house on June 15, which belongs to the Rabai family, bearing sticks but retreated after children playing nearby called out to their parents.

The group of around 8 settlers were seen running back into the line of trees encircling the illegal settlement, situated just 300m from the Palestinian home.

 

 

Due to the close proximity of the Rabai house to the outpost, it faces near constant assaults, with settlers often breaking the windows and even attacking members of the family.

A member of the Rabai family told ISM that he has had to replace the windows at least five times.

Occupation forces, called by the settlers, marched to the house shortly after the incident, claiming that 49 Palestinians had attacked the initial aggressors with stones.  

However, not only was it clear that Palestinians had not started the assault, it was also clear that there were nowhere near 49 villagers at the scene.

Four IDF soldiers tried to enter but were prevented by the presence of other villagers, local activists and  international observers.

The soldiers eventually left without making arrests. However, the Rabai family requested ISMers to stay on the roof till morning in case soldiers returned to detain anyone in the middle of the night.

The soldiers did not come back to the house but were seen making patrols until the early hours of the morning.

The family’s home is the closest house in At-Tuwani, a village of 350 people, to Havat Ma’on outpost, making it a prime target for the 40 particularly violent settlers who live there.

 

The Rabai family home with Havat Maon, an illegal outpost in the background

 

One member of the family, who prefers not to be named, told ISM that the settlers had previously thrown stones at his mother and wife while she was carrying their child.

‘My house can never be empty,’ he tells ISM. ‘My daughter is crying in the middle of the night, if she sees the gun of the soldier she will shout, ‘they will kill us, they will kill us!’

In the past, settlers would try to attack the house on a daily basis. The Rabai family have to be on constant alert. ‘I keep my clothes and shoes ready by my bed,’ he told ISM during the incident. 

At-Tuwani and its surrounding villages have been terrorised by the settlers of Havat Ma’on and other illegal outposts – as well as by the soldiers that protect them – for 20 years. But despite using vicious tactics to scare the Palestinians into leaving, including poisoning their sheep and water supply and beating farmers and international observers, the villagers have held their ground.

 

Settlers call the shots in Al-Khalil

February, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Ramallah, occupied Palestine

Last week, a notoriously violent and antagonistic Israeli settler Ofer, who calls for the extermination of Palestinians, had me arrested and detained by the Israeli police, and if I was Palestinian, I could have been killed. Furthermore, this was another incident demonstrating the concerning and increasing trend of collaboration between settlers and the Israeli Occupation, as they attempt to force the remaining witnesses out of Al-Khalil (Hebron).

Twenty-five years ago on this day, Baruch Goldstein, a New York-born Israeli settler – who Ofer worships and refers to as “the Holy Saint” – walked into Ibrahim Mosque in Al-Khalil and opened fire, killing 29 Palestinians and seriously wounding more than 150. The “official” response to this attack was an injection of international observers throughout the city – UN group Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) – with the belief that this presence would dissuade the settlers from unleashing further terror on the native Palestinian community. In effect, what transpired was little more than a speed bump as the settlers continued their crusade, albeit gradually, as they attempted to colonise Al-Khalil and erase the Palestinian soul from the city. Today Goldstein is memorialized in his settlement of Kiryat Arba, home to Ofer, where his revolting shrine is well tended and revered.

At the start of February, the Israeli Occupation expelled the UN observers, and, while I acknowledge the multitude of valid criticisms concerning the work of TIPH, what the Occupation and their fanatical foot-soldiers are scheming is gravely concerning. The Palestinians fear that the international expulsion is yet another stage in the planned ethnic cleansing of Al-Khalil. I joined up with a team of local and international activists who mobilised to maintain a presence throughout the city and fill the observational void. The settlers though – galvanised by their recent victory – have shifted gear, intensifying intimidation tactics from daily harassment and aggravation to sticking up “wanted” posters of activists around the city and death threats, hoping to force the remaining witnesses out of Al-Khalil.

A few days ago, while monitoring a checkpoint on Shuhada Street as Palestinian children passed through on their way to school, Ofer – who harasses us on a daily basis – tried a new tactic to get us expelled from the city. This settler – a man who has called for the extermination of Palestinians, who locals know as a murderer, who yelled “the dog is still alive, somebody do something” right before the extrajudicial execution of Abed al Fatah a-Sharif, who unnervingly shoves his handgun into his belt as he gets out of his car – told the police that I had attacked him, resulting in my subsequent arrest and detainment. For a privileged foreigner, this meant a strange (no typical blindfolding) sort-of kidnapping, where I was awkwardly bundled into the back of an Armoured Personnel Carrier and taken to the military compound for investigation. Had I been Palestinian though, this accusation could have had me killed – as has been the case many times before. It’s what locals describe as the Israeli policy of: “Shoot first and throw a knife beside the lifeless body later”. The Israeli army, the so-called “Most Moral Army in the World”, in typical doublespeak dialogue legally permits soldiers to respond with lethal force against children (“terrorists”) throwing stones. That bestows honorifics, as was the “Terminator,” a member of a military unit who shot dead three alleged Palestinian assailants in the space of nine days.

When I was arrested – although demonstrating early in the proceedings that I wasn’t actually in Khalil on the day of the alleged attack – I was subject to hours of interrogation of which little had to do with the accusations. Nevertheless – as I’m sure is the case for most foreigners who know they didn’t “do it” – I sat there confidently, assured of my entitlement to justice, with a lawyer and embassy at my beckoning. As I indignantly said “no comment”, I thought of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy I’d met a few weeks previously who had just been released from prison, after serving three years for allegedly “planning” an attack on the way home from school, while I was accused of actually attacking a settler. The “evidence” for that boy was an extracted confession after 14 hours of interrogation and a dubious photo of a knife.


Currently, there are almost 500 Palestinians being held in administrative detention without trial or charge – a period that can last up to six months and be renewed by the military. The Israeli Occupation routinely uses administrative detention and has, over the years, placed thousands of Palestinians behind bars for periods ranging from several months to several years without charging them, without telling them what they are accused of and without disclosing the alleged evidence to them or to their lawyers.

For me, eventually after my DNA samples were taken, I was informed of my exclusion order that prevents me from entering the southern half of the West Bank – effectively deported from Al-Khalil. My royal treatment culminated in being  allowed to “remove” myself from the city to collect my things. Less can be said for more than 1500 Palestinians deported between ‘67 and ‘92, many simply kidnapped, escorted and thrown over the border into Jordan, in total disregard of proper administration and due process. Scornfully, the officer wished me luck trying to ever get back into “Israel”. Had I thought of it in the moment I would have replied that, like the five million Palestinian refugees who are illegally denied the right of return, I’ll be back when Palestine is liberated.