Tag: Susiya

Israeli soldiers harass Susiyan herder

1 August 2009

Yesterday while grazing his sheep, a Palestinian shepherd in Suseya near Yatta, was harrassed and threatened by two Israeli soldiers from a nearby military outpost. Jamal suffers daily from this type of harrassment on his own land. The soldiers forced him off his own land.

Shortly before Jamal was due to take his sheep grazing in the afternoon as he always does, two Israeli soldiers appeared from their post on the hill overlooking the land that is used by a number of families. They were clearly agitated and started shouting and throwing stones about even before the grazing started. As Jamal approached the area that the Israelis no longer let him use, the soldiers marched down the hill with their guns in their hands. There was a very heated debate in which the Palestinian was abused and threatened with being shot.The ISM observers were told that they didn’t know who they were protecting. Jamal continued to allow his sheep to graze for a while which produced a second out burst in which he was told he was now on Israeli land. One of the soldiers claimed to be Tunisian in background. The other at one point found the whole incident amusing and was laughing at the plight of Jamal, though he did get very aggressive when the shepherd’s dog barked at him and threatened to shoot the dog. Eventually Jamal was forced to move his sheep.

Suseya is a community of a small number of families totaling about 400 people near Hebron displaced from their original village of cave dwellings in 1986 by the Israelis and the land they now occupy is close to a settlement declared illegal under international law. They have been moved several times and prevented from building permanent dwellings so they now live in tents. There have been a number of attacks and harassment from settlers from the nearby settlement and the Israeli army on them aimed at driving them from their land and keeping them away from the local settlement. They cannot use the main road to Yatta even in medical emergency and this makes the journey nearly half an hour despite being only a few kilometeres away by the direct route. They are not allowed to use water from their own wells so water has to be brought in by lorry. In contrast, the local settlement has full running water, so much that it can be piped underground to their vines.

Footnote: the harrassment continued this morning, with a solitary soldier harassing young children tending the sheep again forcing them off their own land

Palestinians organize a picnic protest near Susiya outpost

11 July 2009

On Saturday the 11th of July, solidarity activists of Ta’ayush and inhabitants of Susiya (South Hebron Hills) organized a picnic of resistance next to the outpost of the settlement of Susiya.

Activists from the ISM, Tayyoush and Palestinian residents gathered to non-violently protest the illegal outpost. The action was planned for 8am, but two buses with Tayyoush activists driving from Jerusalem were held for approximately two hours at a checkpoint.

At 10am, around 50 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists gathered near the outpost to have a picnic as a means to challenge ongoing illegal outposts on Palestinian-owned land.

On the way to the land, the activists were stopped by Israeli forces. They were able to walk around the soldiers and set up their picnic near the outpost. Israeli soldiers surrounded the picnic area and began to hassle the activists. They announced a ‘closed military zone’ and demanded that everyone leave the area.

Despite the fact that the land is Palestinian owned, and owners have a right to hold a picnic, Israeli soldiers began to physically push the picnickers away from the area. Upon inquiry of what the purpose of the ‘closed military zone’ order was, soldiers told activists that it was meant to ‘protect’ the settlers. Then Israeli occupation forces arrested three Tayyoush activists, using unnecessary violence against the activists.

The three arrested were released within hours due to lack of charges against them.

The Palestinian residents of Susiya face difficulties in living their lives, due to the violence from nearby Israeli settlers and soldiers. As a result of the maintanance of the illegal settlement of Susiya, (illegal in international law by the Geneva Conventions), Palestinians cannot graze their sheep or harvest their land. Israeli soldiers or settlers frequently harass residents and forbid them from going on their land with ‘closed military zone’ orders.

Israeli forces and settlers harass shepherd

29 June 2009

At 9am a group of 5 settlers from the Sussya settlement in the south Hebron hills, accompanied by a uniformed soldier, approached a young shepherd and his sheep. They came with a tractor and trailer and they divided the sheep into two groups and attempted to steal an estimated twenty sheep. The family of the boy saw what was happening and went to help, at this time they were verbally harassed and abused by the settlers.

They took photographs, shouted and swore at the Palestinians and internationals before separating from the tractor and trailer and walking back to the settlement and the tractor driving away as the army arrived. Two jeeps with 8-10 soldiers attended but made no attempt to stop the settlers from walking away despite being clearly visible and not far away. One further vehicle drove past the settlers on the road back to the settlement but did not stop.

The soldiers told the Palestinians that the shepherd had taken his animals to the settlement’s vineyard, however this was not true, the shepherd had stayed in the valley (on his land) the entire time. The road was blocked by the soldiers and their jeeps whilst the Palestinians and internationals were ordered to stay 2 metres away from the roadside. A local farmer phoned for the police and the young shepherd was taken to a police station whilst the two internationals were told they were under arrest and also taken to the same police station.

Settlers set fire to Palestinian home in Susiya

21 June 2009

On Sunday morning at 4 am, some settlers tried to burn a tent in the small village of Susiya, south Hebron hills, with people sleeping inside.

The burned tent was used to host international volunteers and guests in the village and as common and social place during the day. Today very early in the morning three young Palestinians were sleeping there when they suddenly realized the tent was starting to burn. With help of other members of the village they were able to stop the fire and call the police. They could not see the settlers who did the action.

The police arrived around 5 am and took the three witnesses to Kiryat Arba police station for further investigation, which lasted 4 hours.

Susiya is a small group of tent located in the south of Yatta village. For a long time, locals have had problems with the violence from settlers and soldiers. The place is surrounded by settlements, outpost and a military base. The last time locals faced violence from nearby settlers was less than 2 month ago when a settler threw a molotov cocktail at a Palestinian tent.

Left-wing activists evacuated from tent built opposite outpost

Anat Shalev | YNet News

6 June 2009

IDF troops forcibly removed dozens of left-wing and Palestinian activists who were trying to erect a tent in South Mt. Hebron with a Palestinian family claiming ownership of the land. The family says that it owns the land near the Susya settlement on which an illegal outpost has been built. Settlers called the outpost Givat Hadegel.

The activists, members of Combatants for Peace, were successful in erecting their tent but were removed from the area a short time later by IDF troops alerted to the scene. A confrontation ensued between the two sides, culminating in the dismantling of the tent. The outpost still stands.

Ofra Ben Porat, a member of Combatants for Peace: “We came here in cooperation with Palestinian residents of Susya to protest the establishment of the outpost called Givat Hadegel, near Susya. This is a specific example of the reality in South Mt. Hebron. Week after week the settlers steal more and more lands, suffocating the Palestinians and their livelihoods, restricting their movement to the absurd point where their flocks can’t graze in the pastures they own. We came to the hill where the outpost was built and decided to build a tent on the Palestinians’ territory to assert their presence.”

Ben Porat accused the military of declaring areas claimed by the settlers as closed military zones and blocking entry to left-wing activists and Palestinians.

“The soldiers cleared us, 200 people, aggressively. There’s no law, everything is done according to the soldiers’ will. We know that even filing a complaint with the police won’t accomplish anything. When Peace Now turned to the military about this outpost, they were told that this outpost isn’t recognized. The policy is deliberately fuzzy, the soldiers set the policies and there’s complete lawlessness when it comes to the Palestinians,” she said.

The IDF has yet to respond to the protestors claims.