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Home arrow News arrow Settlements and Settler Violence project arrow Settler Violence Report for March-April 2008
Settler Violence Report for March-April 2008 Print E-mail
Written by Ahmad Jaradat, Alternative Information Center (AIC)   
Thursday, 08 May 2008
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settlers_make_outpost.jpg
Israeli settlers marching toward a hill near the settlement of Efrat in the occupied West Bank, attempting to set up a permanent outpost.

Hebron and the Southern of West Bank-

On 15 March, settlers from the Carmiel settlement in the southern hills of Hebron, in cooperation with Israeli soldiers, prevented farmers from the Palestinian villages on the area to reach their land to work it. Jaber Humidat, the Mayor of the Palestinian village of Saffa, reports: "in the last days we have begun to face more serious and intensive attacks from the settlers. They want us to leave our land next to their settlements, especially around Carmiel. We have approximately 500 dunam of land planted with wheat, and this is the harvest time for us, but the settlers, in cooperation with the soldiers, daily run after us and shoot in the air, in order to scare us and force us to leave. The settlers used to claim that this land is part of their settlements. When we went to the police station there and denounced the settlers' attacks, the policemen advised us to leave the situation like this for a while, to not go to our land and to wait for some positive changes. Months passed by, but attacks are still continuing. It means we are going to lose the wheat crops of this year, the most important source of income for our farmers." 

- On 21 March, tens of settlers engaged in a march all along the streets of downtown Hebron, beginning to throw stones at the Palestinian residents, and thus forcing many people to close their shops in Wadi Husain, al-Ras, Wadi  al-Nasara and other streets in the old city. The attacks happened during the celebration of a Jewish feast. Bassam Ja'bari, one of the victims, reported that the settlers forced him and many others to close their shops in al-Ras, located to the west of the Kiryat Arba settlement. Other shops targeted belong to the Mahdi Ja'bari, Awni Da'na and Jamal Ja'bari families. According to Bassam, such attacks took place in front of the soldiers' eyes. However they didn't do anything to stop the settler violence. Many settlers from several outposts around the city gathered near the Abraham Mosque for a big celebration and began running after the people in order to prevent them from moving or walking in the area around the Mosque. During their gathering, they insulted the residents shouting bad words at them, such as “Death to Arabs...”

- On 22 March, the Israeli military began construction for a new settlement road in the southwest of Hebron. According to Land Defense resources in the District, hundreds of dunam of land will be confiscated for this project. The land targeted belongs to tens of families from the villages of Burj, Diar Asal Foq, Dair Asal Tehta, al-Majd and Sekka. The new road will link the settlements of the south west of the district to the areas over the Green Line in the south of Israel.  This project, in addition to the land confiscation, will also limit the natural development and growth of those villages, deeply affecting their future. This road will, in fact, run very close to the route of the Separation Wall to the west and south of the Hebron District.

-On 23 March, three Palestinian residents were seriously injured by settlers' blows. The victims—nine-year-old Wisam Bahjat Zughair, and Mohammed Abed Elmuhsin Duwik and Amjad Rajab Rajabi, both age 13—were taken to the Hebron  Hospital. This happened during a clash where the settlers stoned many shops and houses in the downtown for the celebration of the Jewish holiday of Purim. The houses stoned belong to Jamil Abed Elhai abu Is'efan, Husni Abu Is'efan, Kaed Sa'eed D'na, Kaed Mansour Ja'bari and Ghaleb Mansour Ja'bari. According to one of the victims, Tayseer Abu 'Asha, whose house is located near the Ramot Yashai settlement outpost in Tel Rumeida, the settlers started to stone his house while he was inside with his family, preventing them from going out. All of these attacks occurred during the night.

- On 26 March, the Israeli military began construction on Obayyat village land, to the south east of Bethlehem. The plan is to expand the road near the settlement of Efrata settlement (south of Bethlehem). Tens of dunam have been leveled and damaged and trees uprooted. The land belongs to the Sowais family from the village.

- On 28 March, in the afternoon, 37-year-old Naser Salem Odra, and his 80-year-old father, from Yatta town, were beaten and injured all over their bodies by a group of settlers who assaulted them. The attack happened while the father was on his land, shepherding his goats, to the west of the Israeli settlement of Ma’on in the southern hills of Hebron. A group of armed settlers approached and beat him with branches and stones. When his son, Nasser, intervened to stop them and to help his father who was lying on the ground, the settlers attacked Nasser, too. Israeli soldiers, who arrived later, seized Nasser and held him for hours in spite of his injures on his back and hands. The father and son were taken to the town clinic for medical treatment. It is well-known among the residents of the area that such events have happened often in the past.

-On 11 April, 12-year-old Ahmed Mohammed Rashid, from the Palestinian village of Susya was injured by three Israeli settlers from the nearby Susya settlement. They beat him on his back and head. Ahmed was taken to the Yatta Clinic for treatments. According to sources in Local Council, "such attacks against the residents happen from time to time in the area. The settlers want to make it difficult for the residents to live here, in order to force us to leave. We assist people under this daily violence, and every time such attacks are reported by human rights organizations. A lot of cases have been raised to the Israeli military but with no positive responses."

- On 14 April, tens of settlers from Efrat in the south of Bethlehem tried to prevent the farmers from the Palestinian village of Ma'sara from reaching their land in the morning. The land is located to the west of the Separation Wall route. The farmers refused to obey the settlers and this caused some clashes involving both sides. Israeli soldiers arrived and tried to stop the farmers, ordering them to leave in order to facilitate the situation and to avoid problems in the area. The farmers refused to leave and went ahead with their march through their land. Mohammed Brijeyya, a member of the Popular Committee for Defense the Land in the District, stated that such aggressions take place in the frame of the settlers and Israeli military policy to prevent the farmers from reaching their land, in order to make it easy for the Israelis to take possession of it. Mohammed Brijeyya called upon human rights and international organizations to place pressure on the Israeli government to stop settlement expansion and land confiscation policies against Palestinians and against peace in the region. 

- On 25 April, settlers attacked residents and internationals activists to the west of the settlement of Kiryat Arba, who came to protest the Israeli government’s policy of land confiscation. The protest action started as a march in the center of the city with a gathering in front of the Rajabi building, which was taken over by settlers years go. During the march, the settlers from many outposts threw stones at participants on the main street of the city, injuring five of them and damaging cars parked on the street. The soldiers stopped the protestors with the pretext to check them, thus delaying the march.  

- On 26 April, Israeli soldiers forced Mohammed Naser Nawaj'a, a farmer from Susya village to the south east of Yatta, to leave his land while he was harvesting his wheat crops. Other families too, in the same area, have been forced by the soldiers to leave their land because they claimed it is too close to the nearby Susya settlement. Nawaj'a reported that if the settlers and the soldiers will continue their aggressions, they will lose the crop of the year. 

 

Nablus and the Northern of West Bank


- On 7 March, ten armed settlers stoned Palestinians cars on the main road of Wadi Galt, in the Jericho District. No one was njured but they caused damage to several cars.

- On the same day, a group of settlers the Yizhar settlement to the south of Nablus threw stones at Palestinian cars on the main road. The car of the Palestinian Legislative Council member Seham Thabet from Tulkarem was hit, causing him injures in his eyes. Seham stated: "while I was in my car driving onto the main road near the Yizhar settlement, I saw some settlers standing near the street throwing stones at us. Two stones hit my car damaging both the front and the back windows. The glasses injured my eyes.”

- On 23 March, on the main road near the Palestinian village of  Ni'leen to the west of Ramallah, a settler in a car ran over 25-year-old Jihad Sulaiman Sarawna and immediately escaped from the place. Jihad, who had his left leg broken, was taken to a hospital in Ramallah.

-On the same day, a settler from the settlement of Eli to the south of Nablus, stopped two children—14-year-old Iyad Kamal al-Hindi, and -17-year-old Bilal Abed Elfattah Hindi—from the village of Allobban to the south of Nablus while they were shepherding their goats outside of the village. Both of them were taken to the  settlement of Shilo. After three hours, thanks to the intervention of the Palestinian Authority they were released.

- On 28 March, a female settler from the north of the West Bank attacked Rawda Ali Khader from the village of Izbet al-Tabeeb, East of Qalqilya. Rawda reported: "while I was standing near the main junction on the road which leads to the settlement, waiting for a car heading to Salfeet city, I saw a woman from the settlement coming towards me and starting to beat me with a stick. She was shouting at me to leave the place. After a while an Israeli Army jeep came and the soldiers stopped her and took her away. Residents from my village came and took me to the clinic."

- On 1 April, 80-year-old Izzat Jaber al-Khateeb from Qaryout village south of Nablus was injured in many places over his body and taken to the Hospital in Ramallah after five armed settlers from the nearby settlement attacked him. At the time he was cultivating his land, located very close to the settlement. According to the mayor of the village, Abed al-Nasser Badawee, farmers often face settlers' attacks during their work and in spite of many complaints raised to the Israeli military and police, nothing has changed.    

- On 7 April, 15-year-old Shareef Bajes Farid Ishtayya, from the village of Salem to the east of Nablus, died after having been run over by a settler bus from the Alon Moreh settlement. The event happened in the afternoon while Shareef was trying to cross the settler bypass road nearby with his goats. Ten of his sheep died with him in the accident.

- On 13 April, tens of armed settlers gathered at the place where the settlement of Homesh was located, which was dismantled by the Israeli military in the past. The settlers often come there to protest against the Israeli government decision to dismantling the settlement. During the protest action, settlers threw stones at Palestinian residents' houses and cars in the village of Borqa. On the same day, tens of settlers attacked Palestinians houses in the village of Tal. The settlers, who came from the nearby Gil'ad settlement, stoned the houses and opened fire on them, causing extensive damages. One week before, the same people uprooted 20 olive trees belong to families from the village. Ten days ago, they also shot and killed four goats belonging to Jamal Fayez Mas'oud from the Borqa village.

- On 24 April, tens of settlers attacked a green house which belongs to Sami Juniadi from Dair Shaarf village in Nablus District. The settlers gathered on the main road that links Nablus to Tulkarem and started throwing stones on Palestinian cars. They entered the green house and damaged its water pipes and its trees.  

- On 25 April, 24-year-old Isam Abed al-Qader Issa, from Yasouf village on the eastern side of the Salfeet District, was injured on his hands and taken to Salfeet Hospital. Six settlers from the nearby settlement were shooting on Palestinian houses in Tal, to the south of the village when Isam was standing in front of his home.

 
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