Settler Violence and Occupation Watch: Report II
October 17th - October 20th, 2000
In the last few days Israeli settlers have focused on
preventing Palestinian farmers from harvesting their fields in many
areas throughout the West Bank. This is the olive season in Palestine,
one of the main sources of income for Palestinians, and a delay in
harvesting threatens the livelihood of many villagers. The following
report details the recent series of incidents in which settlers used
armed intimidation and physical force to prevent Palestinians from
working their own land:
Settlers killed Farid Nasasreh, a 28 year-old from Beit
Fureik, on October 17 while he was gathering the crop in his field near
the Itamar settlement. Five other members of his family were injured as
well. Last week settlers from Kfar Oreh (near Ramallah), in
cooperation with the guards of the settlement, prevented the farmers of
Um Safa village from picking their olive harvest. Villager Mousa
Mohammed stated in al-Quds daily newspaper on October 20 that "while
dozens of other farmers from the village and I were in our fields, the
settlers came and put their weapons in our faces, calling us to leave
the area, telling us they would shoot us otherwise." On Friday, October 20, settlers from Har Brakha laid
siege to 70 farmers from Kufr Qallel village (south of Nablus), while
they were gathering the olive crop in Khala and Mintareh, near the
village. The event continued for 7 hours as the settlers fired upon the
villagers, who were forced to hide in caves to avoid the bullets. On Friday, October 20, settlers from Ma'aleh Amos
(south of Bethlehem), prevented the farmers from al-Rashaideh and
al-Shoyoukh villages from harvesting the crop in their fields near the
settlement. They left the site under the pressure of the weapons that
the settlers aimed at them. On October 21, the settlers from Betar Ilit, west of
Bethlehem, attacked the farmers from Husan, Nahhaleen and Battir, while
they were in their fields gathering the olive crop. Clashes took place
between the villagers and the settlers who fired in the area, which
ended only when Israeli soldiers came to the site and forced the
farmers to leave their land. This pattern of activity indicates that these are not
isolated incidents or the actions of individuals, but rather a
carefully organized campaign carried out by the settlers, who have
given themselves the right to be another power in addition to the
Israeli army which controls the lives of Palestinians. Update: Ibrahim Abed 'Alami, age 25 from Beit Omar,
died on October 19 as a result of injuries inflicted by a settler on
October 12.
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