Tag: Yitzhar Settlement

Burin: Yitzhar settlers leave the mark of violence

by Veronica

10 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Thursday 9 February at about 10pm, a house in the village of Burin near Nablus was attacked by settlers. Approximately 50 armed settlers approached a house near the edge of the village and threw stones and rocks at the inhabitants, shouting at them to get out of the house. Young men in the village were alerted and came to the assistance of the family.

Settlers leave the mark of violence - Click here for more photos

When they arrived the settlers backed off, but soon after 15 jeeps of Israeli soldiers arrived and used flares, teargas and sound bombs to attack the Palestinians defending the house. The attack lasted until about midnight, the settlers staying there with the soldiers. Burin villagers were unable to do anything to defend themselves and their village except throw stones – and even this was difficult in the dark.

Later that night, at about 1am, a house on the other edge of the village was attacked by another group of settlers. They rolled burning tires down the hill towards the house, filling it with acrid smoke. Hanan Nasser who lives in the house with her family said that she was asleep when someone from the village called them to say settlers were attacking. They gathered on the roof of the house and could hear the settlers shouting. About 6 to 10 burning tires were directed at their house, but came to a stop a short distance away. The family was concerned about the effect the smoke from the tires might have on Hanan’s daughter who is pregnant.

Hanan’s house is very close to the illegal settlement of Yitzhar, and they have suffered innumerable attacks from settlers over the last 10 years. In 2002 when her husband built the house, it was set on fire by settlers. Her husband suffered a heart attack and died from the shock of seeing his house on fire. Since then settlers have set fire to the house twice more, poisoned sheep, regularly burn their olive trees and injured her son by throwing a stone at him. Just two months ago they threw paint in a glass container at the house – the metal mesh on the windows prevented any serious damage or injury, but the angry red paint on the bathroom windows is a daily reminder of the settler threat.

Burin is a village of about 3,000 people and sits in a valley between the illegal settlements of Bracha and Yitzhar. There is a further outpost above the village, and it is thought that the settlers who attacked the first house had come down from there, possibly because building had begun on a new house there that day. The settlers regularly come and cause aggravation in the village – usually about once a week, but it had been fairly quiet until last Thursday. Israeli soldiers come much more often, raiding homes and arresting people. Also on Thursday night they raided homes close to Hanan’s home, just up the hill towards Yitzhar. The soldiers inspected one young resident’s shoes for mud, suggesting that this indicated they had been in the settlement, though his house is surrounded by muddy fields.

These settler attacks were the first to happen so late at night in Burin, though the soldiers often raid Palestinian homes in the middle of the night. Unfortunately the residents of Burin felt that after a quiet few weeks, Thursday’s attack may mark a fresh wave of them as the weather gets warmer.

Veronica is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Planting hope and natural resistance in Burin

by Jonas Weber

4 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On the 4th of February International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) attended the replanting of 50 olive trees on the hillsides above the village of Burin, outside of Nablus. The planting went without disturbances from the surrounding illegal settlements of Bracha and Yitzhar.

Replanting livelihood and resistance – Click here for more images

During 2011 around 3700 olive trees were destroyed in the hills around the village of Burin, most of them due to attacks from the illegal settlement Yitzhar. The 50 olive trees replanted today on the hill slopes facing the illegal settlement of  Bracha will not bear fruit for many years but serve as a long term investment for the villagers of Burin. Small as it may be, this initiative marks the relentless struggle to go on with their lives despite of Israeli occupation.

Since the campaign began to raise money for trees, donations were sent nearly daily from Australia, Italy, France, the US, Canada, Sweden, and Finland for example. According to the Trees of Resistance campaign, they  “have received support from past volunteers, hopeful future volunteers, refugees, tree lovers and just fantastical lovely generous people.”

The Bilal al Najjar youth center in Burin has also received considerable support and volunteered its members to partake in the tree planting.

After the planting volunteers were shown the ongoing construction of a new community center in the center of Burin. Some proud, young men showed volunteers the re-plastered insides of an old stone building about to be transformed by the efforts of the Bilal al Najjar center.

An international organizer of the All for Burin campaign stated that while “the center provides projects that need to be kept alive… it also gives the youth of Burin a sanctuary. A place that is theirs, where they can work, learn, plan communal activities and unite. These activities have an overwhelming importance within community. To bring children and adults together, to feel united and most of all to have and create new happy memories to be taken with everyone in the future.”

Support the further planting of trees destroyed by Zionists and help Burin’s youth center for continued peace and livelihood for Palestinian villagers that continue to face mounting threats by price tag campaign extremists and the Israeli military which defends them.

Jonas Weber is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

61 year old Palestinian woman in intensive care after settler attack

by Fransisco Reeves

3 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

When your land is occupied by those who harbor hatred towards you emanating from a belief that they are inherently superior to you, each day brings with it a genuine threat to the security of your life and the lives of your loved ones.

“They want to kill,” is how Fares Muhammed Ibrahim simply put it. And on February 2nd, “they” very nearly did.

A broken windshield of the family vehicle reveals the impact and size of thrown projectiles - Image via Alternative Information Center

At approximately 1pm Maysar Abd Al Majeed Ghanem, Fares’ 61 year old mother, was travelling in a car along with her husband and her son in law on their way to visit her daughter in Ramallah. The family were travelling along the main road connecting their village of Sarah to Ramallah, known as Yitzhar Road due to its proximity to the infamous settlement.

They were attacked by three settlers standing near the entrance to the illegal Yitzhar settlement.

Fares explained that his brother in law, who was driving the car, saw three men standing by the roadside facing away from the traffic and consequently did realize that these men intended to terrorize them in a way that was potentially fatal.

As the car approached the three men standing near the entrance to the settlement, the men turned around to reveal the large rocks they were holding in their hands. It is clear to the family that this was a premeditated attack on unsuspecting and innocent victims.

 The target was obviously Palestinian, without concern for gender or age of passengers. On this occasion it was Mrs. Abd Al Majeed Ghanem who was the unsuspecting victim. The rocks thrown by the three attackers were of such a size and thrown with such force they destroyed both the large rear window and smaller right rear window before striking Ghanem, causing three fractures to her skull and bleeding to the brain.

 The injuries were so severe that Ghanem spent 24 hours in the Intensive Care Unit of Nablus Hospital before the doctors considered her condition stable enough for her to be released to the general ward.

 “When you throw a stone at a moving car it’s is like throwing a bomb,” said her son. Fortunately the events were not as catastrophic as they potentially could have been, although this is no comfort for the family of the 61 year old.

 “This time…they didn’t kill her, but I don’t know about next time” explained Ibrahim. He explained that his mother was one of many victims of attacks by settlers from the illegal Yitzhar settlement and neither the Israeli Occupation Forces nor police do anything to prevents such attacks but instead protect the violent, illegal settlers.

 A Palestinian accused of throwing a stone at professionally trained and armed military faces the prospect of years in an Israeli prison.

 Ibrahim made the point that if a Palestinian were even accused of committing a similar act to that committed by these three settlers the entire Palestinian village would become a restricted military zone and the accused Palestinian would likely have their home destroyed before type of military trial could begin.

The village of Sarah, home to the family, is a village of many  in the Nablus area that was declared under siege in 2007 after a Military Order had crippled movement between the villages and their access points to Nablus and Ramallah with checkpoints and increased military presence. Now the presence of violent, illegal settlers has increased the tensity of the area and its mobility.

When visiting the family in hospital a day after the attack occurred, and being invited into the hospital ward to see Ghanem, surrounded by several women relatives, sleeping and recovering from her injuries, one could not help but sense the immense feeling of indignity Palestinians are subjected to, and yet the family, like all Palestinians, endure with much dignity.

 All the men of the family stood outside of the hospital room.

Under normal circumstances undoubtedly the gender divisions present in some aspects of Palestinian culture would have been maintained, yet ISM volunteers were welcomed to visit the woman. All that remains with the family and Palestinian victims to the violent Israeli military occupation is a hope that the world will eventually take notice of the injustice Palestinians are forced to endure and resist even if that means allowing strangers into the most private of spaces.

 Fransisco Reeves is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

In Photos: Burin withstands settler violence

by Amal

9 November 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

In the past three years Burin has faced increased settler violence. This small village of approximately 3,000 people deal with a constant threat of settler attacks or Israeli army harassment.  Three settlements surround Burin: Yitzhar, Bracha, and Givt Arousa.  The residents of these illegal settlements make it clear that they will do whatever it takes to force the Palestinians out of their homes.  Their criminal acts range from burning olive trees, stoning farmers, and shooting live ammunition at Palestinians.

Burin surviving the olive harvest – Click here for more information

The Burin people have already lost over 2,000 olive trees since April by settler fires. In order to ensure that the trees are ruined the settlers alter their attack by the time of day to make their violent crimes less visible. The burning of trees is usually done during the day, while the cutting down of trees is usually done at night. During the warmer months, the settlers mostly burn down trees because they know the fire will spread quickly due to the heat. The people of Burin are always watching and waiting for the next inevitable hate crime to occur.

There has not been a single settler attack on Burin in over a month, which is really unusual. The last period without any attacks lasted for 60 days. This “peaceful” period was broken with a day full of settler violence. The people are anticipating the next attack. They do not know when, but that it will happen. In addition to waiting on the next attack, they are still waiting on the Israeli court ruling of whether a mosque in Burin should be demolished for disturbing the peace in the settlements during the call for prayer. The air in Burin is filled with anxiety for what is to come in the near future.

Burin today is still standing tall and strong despite the many obstacles that suffocate daily life in the village.

Amal is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name changed).

Israeli military “superiors” interfere in Burin’s olive harvest

by Alistair George

12 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The Israeli military ordered villagers to stop picking olives on their own land in Burin, near Nablus, today. The soldiers refused to give a reason for suspending the harvest.

“It is nothing to do with us, we just get orders from our superiors,” they said.

Villagers from Burin were picking olives on their land high up in the hills, near the illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar. At around 8 AM Palestinian farmers and ISM activists entered the land closest to the settlement, and after just a few minutes an Israeli security truck was visible on the hilltop next to the land.  Four soldiers arrived in an armoured vehicle at around 8:30 AM and instructed villagers to immediately stop picking olives in the area. They stated that villagers must ask for permission and would only be given three days to finish picking all the olives on their land.  The farmers continued the harvest further away from the settlement.

At around midday, a military vehicle was again seen driving through the olive groves further down the hill, closer to the main road. At one point the vehicle left the track, breaking branches as it maneuvered through the densely planted olive grove.

Ghassan Najjar, 21, is the Director of the Community Centre in Burin.  His father owns the land nearest the settlement. He said that it was common for the Israeli military to interfere with Burin’s olive harvest.

“I was extremely uncomfortable today – I controlled my emotions for my father’s sake and to avoid escalating the situation, otherwise nothing would make me leave my land.”

Settler attacks have been escalating in recent years. This year settlers have already attacked locals four times since April and more than 4,000 trees have been burnt down. Gangs of settlers have fired live ammunition and thrown stones at villagers during olive harvests in previous years.

 

 

Alistair George is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).