27th November 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Al Mughayyir, Ramallah, Occupied Palestine
The village of Al Mughayyir sits 27 miles north of Jerusalem. Sitting above is the settlement of Shiloh, more than a quarter of which is constructed on Palestinian land, the locals say. An elder from the village reports that the settlers now come into the village almost daily. “In the last three days they have cut the olive trees, which are very important for Palestinian people.” He also reported the destruction of their property, car tires slashed, graffiti on the walls, much of it reading in Hebrew ‘Price Tag’ and ‘Revenge’.
The settler violence is becoming more regular and extreme, and there is no authority- Israeli or Palestinian- that responds to the multiple assaults. “Only citizens, Palestinians,” the elder reports.
It is unclear where the attackers are coming from, but it is worth noting that a military encampment was just turned into an outpost- deemed illegal by international law- for settlers, known as “Jbaayt.”
A new outpost known as “Jbaayt” sits east of the village.
Al Mughayyir is a beautiful village, situated among hundreds of olive trees, with bougainvillea that is spread across the landscape. Children in Al Mughayyir walk home from school.
13th August 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Jalud, Occupied Palestine
Yesterday morning, 12th August, settlers from the illegal settlements of Esh Kodesh and Ahiya attacked several houses in the village of Jalud and set land on fire, including ten olive trees.
Abu Osama in his house (Photo by ISM)
On the morning of the 12th of August at 11:30, four masked settlers from the two illegal settlements approached several houses located on the outskirts of Jalud and threw rocks at them. According to Abu Osama, one man who lives in the attacked area, the settlers thought that there was no one in the homes because it was a Muslim holiday. Approximately ten minutes later, as residents went out to push the settlers back, they left. “Imagine if we were not in our homes, they would have destroyed them”, said Abu Osama, clearly worried for their dangerous situation. On their way back to the settlements, settlers set several fires on the land, burning down ten olive trees belonging to the five families in the area.
As the fires were expanding through the land, the residents of Jalud called the fire brigade but they didn’t arrive until the flames were blowing towards the settlements. Only then, the Israeli army and the Israeli fire brigade appeared at the scene and extinguished the flames.
Burnt land with Esh Kodesh settlement visible in the background (Photo by ISM)
The five families living in this area, whose houses are located in areas B and C, meaning they are under Israeli security control, suffer constant attacks and harassment from the settlers. In February this year, a group of settlers attacked their homes throwing stones at family members. As a result, a four-year-old boy had to be hospitalized and get six stitches on his head after being hit by a stone thrown by settlers. A few months later, in May, forty settlers attempted to set two houses on fire by throwing two firebombs at them but luckily didn’t succeed to do so.
Metal grates on Abu Osama’s window (Photo by ISM)
These attacks have been part of the daily lives of the five families for two years. “At the beginning we used to complaint to the District Coordination Office (DCO) and other organizations but we don’t anymore”, says one of the neighbours. “The only support we have got are the metal grates on our windows to avoid rocks smashing our windows” says Abu Osama, clearly concerned by the lack of support they are getting.
Located south east of Nablus, the village of Jalud has had its land confiscated to the illegal settlements of Esh Kodesh (Holly fire), Ahiya, Kida, Shvut Rahel and Shilo. Settler attacks are very common, especially in the area where the five families live. According to a press release issued by B’tselem in 2011, “in spite of repeated complaints by the residents of Qusra and other villages in the area – Duma, Qaryut and Jalud – and human rights organizations, the law enforcement authorities routinely violate their obligation to protect local residents from settler attacks.”
More burnt land – Ahiya illegal settlement visible (photo by ISM)
What happened yesterday is just a small example of the terror situation they are living in. Showing his despair at the situation, Abu Osama stated, “if you are facing all these attacks and no organization supports you, what can I do but feel helpless and hopeless? This is our life”.
16th July 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qaryut, Occupied Palestine
On the 3rd of July 2013, settlers from the illegal colony of Shilo bulldozed land belonging to Qaryut, destroying around two hundred recently planted olive trees. Citizens of Qaryut are now concerned that new houses for the illegal settlement are being built on this stolen land.
Settler bulldozer on Qaryut land (Photo by Qaruout Alsmood)
At around 10am, five settlers with a bulldozer entered onto Qaryut land near to their illegal settlement, bulldozing several dunums of land and destroying around two hundred young olive trees planted recently by the landowners. Two jeeps full of heavily armed Israeli soldiers also accompanied the settlers onto the land.
The illegal settlement of Shilo is built on land belonging to Qaryut, and the land surrounding the colony also belongs to Palestinian villagers. Although the people of Qaryut have ownership papers for this land, they say that one of the settlers also has forged papers, stating that it is his land. The Qaryut land next to the settlement is considered by the Israeli authorities Area C, meaning that it is under Israeli control for both civil and security matters; this means that it is not possible for Palestinians to build there, nor to expand their village. On the other hand, the settlers from the illegal settlement of Shilo are regularly granted access to build and expand their colonies onto Palestinian land – this is the case across the West Bank.
14th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Qaryut, Occupied Palestine
By Team Nablus
Settlers from the illegal colony of Shilo set fire to land belonging to the nearby village of Qaryut. Around 25 families own land in this area. The land contained wheat crops and olive trees and is next to land previously stolen by settlers, which they had been cultivating for themselves only two days before.
Illegal Shilo settler Moshka takes pictures of his handiwork, torching Palestinian land (Photo by Qaryut villagers)
Red Crescent paramedics went to the scene of the fires at around 6pm, where many villagers had already arrived hoping to put out the fires. However they were prevented from doing so by four settlers and half a dozen soldiers who had turned up to protect the settlers. Villagers were made to stand and watch their future harvest go up in flames. With the fires building up they had nothing to do but argue in vain with the soldiers about the gross immorality of the situation.
The settlers present also prevented the fire from spreading on to the annexed land they have been cultivating. It was clear to see the fires had been deliberately lit as there were many separate fires in a close range, rather than one large fire spreading on the overcast and wet day. Villagers witnessed Moshka, one of the settlers – (who is a regular problem causer; his son is a patrolman for the settlement too) – use a lighter to set fire to their land. The fire was only put out by the arrival of heavy and atypical rain from a thunderstorm an hour later.
Two days prior to this attack the settlers had started ploughing stolen land and cut down four trees. They have been expanding the settlement on the Palestinian side of the highway to Ramallah and Jerusalem. Fifteen dunams of land was torched. Meanwhile two dunums of wheatfields had been burnt in the South Hebron Hills earlier that day.
A familiar sight, soldiers and settlers working together (Photo by Qaryut villagers)
20 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On Monday, August 6, Mershid (19), son of Muhamad Abdalah Dawabsheh, checked for oncoming cars and started to cross the road between Nablus and Ramallah with his herd of goats. The time was approximately 5 p.m., and he was leading the herd towards the small village of Duma after a day of grazing. An Israeli car appeared as he was walking down the road but instead of slowing down it picked up speed and drove through the herd, killing 12 goats.
Driving through the herd, the front bumper including registration plate was ripped from the car. The Israeli settler stopped his car to retrieve his plate from the ground. As Mershid saw the armed settler he got scared and ran away.
The whole incident was witnessed by Muhamad’s nephew, who was standing some 50 metres from the scene. As he started for the herd, the settler saw him, got in his car, and hit another three goats including the leader of the herd (the only male) as he drove off, leaving registration plate and bumper behind. In all, 15 goats were killed and 2 mortally injured, now hovering between life and death.
As Muhamad arrived on the scene, he called the Israeli police. When no help was offered, he turned to the Palestinian Authority (PA) police. They asked him to come to the police station with pictures of the dead goats and car plate. He refused, arguing it is their job to go to the crime scene to gather evidence.
In the meantime, the Israeli Military arrived at the scene about one and a half hour after the incident. According to Muhamad, the commanding officer seemed uninterested, asking only if it was his goats killed and if it was his son herding them. When demanding a copy of the report, Muhamad was told to keep quiet and stop asking questions.
An officer from District Coordination Office (DCO) arrived with the purpose of notifying Muhamad that he could not help him. For reasons unknown to Muhamad, the DCO officer refused to help find the guilty settler. Muhamad was informed that he had to go to an office in the illegal settlement of Bet El if he wanted to pursue the case.
This might seem like an easy venture, but Palestinians are forbidden access to the Israeli settlements built illegally on Palestinian-owned land.
A PA officer arrived to the scene in a private car, but stopped in proper distance when he recognized the Israeli forces presence. He asked Muhamad to go and take pictures with a PA phone as evidence for the police report.
Yet, with experience from similar incidents in mind, Muhamad seriously doubts the results of any such PA report.
The family of Muhamad has been living and farming on the land of Duma for countless generations. One of their main products is goats’ milk and cheese. The goats are like family to Muhamad and he clarified to International Solidarity Movement volunteers that the loss is just as painful.
Muhamad Abdalah Rashid Dawabsheh. Photo by Markus Fizgerald. Click for more pictures
His herd consists of some 100 goats. Males are sold and females are kept to produce dairy products and offspring. The death of the male means a huge economic loss for the family of 8. The goats have undergone selective breeding for many generations and are considered some of the finest. For Muhamad, it is impossible to put a price on the lost goats. They provide a living for the family and, for him, the mere question of pricing and money is an insult to the importance of the animals.
Duma is a little farming village 21 km southeast of Nablus. Muhamad is head of one of two big families in the villages. Until the PA, subsequently to the Oslo-accords in 1994, appointed their own regional strong man, Muhamad was considered the unofficial head of the village.
Duma is surrounded by 3 settlements: Shilo, Ma’ale Efrayim and Migdalim, and Muhamad believes the guilty settler is from one of these settlements. For the last 2 years, the villagers have experienced countless settler attacks. Not a single one has been solved, and Muhamad has little faith that the PA or DCO will act differently in this case.
The village of Duma is considered Area B (Palestinian civil control, Israeli military control), but the enclosing Area C (full Israeli control) makes it a problematic task to farm on considerable parts of the land, belonging to the village.
Yet Muhamad states that he will stay on his land and his sons will farm it when he is gone.
“I was born on this land and have been working with olives and goats here for 40 years. I have other places I could go, but I want to stay here. This is my place, this is where I belong.”
