Alternative Information Center - Settler Violence Report 25

"...WHEN THEY FINALLY ALLOWED US TO GO WE FOUND A BIG FIRE ON THE LAND, WE FOUND MORE THAN 1,200 TREES BURNT DOWN TOTALLY..."
Ibrahim Al Kader Director of civil defense in the northern West Bank.

The following incidents and PERSONAL TESTIMONIES of settler violence against the Palestinian population under the Occupation occurred this month:

Settlers from Elon Moreh settlement, near Nablus, threw a burning bomb on the agricultural land next to the main entrance of Al-Badan village. This caused the destruction of 4 dunams of agriculture, mainly olive trees.

In downtown Hebron a group of settlers attacked a car belonging to an official European delegation, accompanied by the TIPH. The group was on a fieldtrip near the Tel Rumeida settlement when they were attacked. One settler grabbed the flag of the delegation and ran into the settlement.

Today and yesterday a large group of settlers attacked the agricultural land belonging to Sura village in the Nablus area. According to sources in the local council, the settlers attacked the areas named Qufr `Adiah and Al- Ezawiyya cutting down 500 trees. The land belongs to Hisham Abdel Majid Awda, Muhammad Said Abdel Rahman, Ibrahim Abdallah Awda, Riad Awad Awda, Ibrahim Jamil Muhammad and others.

A settler from Teqo'a settlement east of Bethlehem opened fire on a group of Palestinians while driving in the Palestinian village of Tqoa'. This caused the injury of Nader Khalil Jibril, 20 who was hit in his bottom, and Mahmud Ahmad Al- Awieda, 21 who was hit in his lower back. Both of them were taken to Beit Jala hospital where medical sources described their condition as critical. Both of them have now gone through operations and are in stable condition.

A group of settlers from Yizhar settlement south of Nablus opened fire on Palestinians on the main road near O'rif village. This resulted in the injury of Bahjad Muhammad Safadi, 15, and Mufid Salim Safadi, 16. Bahjad was injured in his bottom and Mufid in his upper leg while they were shepherding their goats. They were both taken to Rafidija Hospital where their cases are described as serious. According to eyewitnesses there was no provocation for the attack.

In Rafiah, Saker Jaber Abu Samhadana, 7, was injured in his left foot. A settler from the Murak settlement shot him while he was returning to his home by bicycle. According to residents of the area, this place is often exposed to attacks from the settlers.

Around midnight, settlers from Al-Kana settlement burned around 30 olive trees belonging to Palestinians from Masha village near Salfit.

Settlers from various settlements burned down around 1200 olive trees in the `Aba Sharkiyeh village in the Jenin area on a total of 340 dunams of land. Soldiers posted in the area held back the Palestinian official fire trucks on their way to the site for 1 hour. According to the director of civil defense in the northern West Bank, Ibrahim Al Kader: "when they finally allowed us to go we found a big fire on the land, we found more than 1,200 trees burnt down totally. The land belongs to Abdula Karim Azmout, Ahmad Mahameed, and others.

Dozens of armed settlers from Yitzhar settlement attacked a number of houses in O'rif village with stones and gun fire. This resulted in the injury of Naser-Eddine Safadi, 24, who got a bullet in his leg. Bassam Abdul-Fattah, 37 and Samir Safadi 23 were both injured on their heads by stones. It is the second time that the settlers have attacked this specific area within a week.

Around 15 armed settlers tried to enter the Abu Sneineh neighborhood in down town city of Hebron, and confrontations with the residents took place as a result. At the same time other settlers attacked shops in Al Haram Al Ibrahimi street and As Sahla in the Al-Hesba (Old market). They damaged three peddlers' stands. 15 Palestinians were injured from stones and other objects, as well as direct beatings.

Settlers from Kiryat Arba settlement damaged the windows of 12 cars when they were parked near the houses of the Palestinian owners. In addition to this they attacked houses belonging to the Jaber family in the Baker area east of Hebron. They threw stones on the houses causing the injury of 6 residents: Abdel Jawad Jaber and his son, Juda Jawad Jaber, Saber Jaber, Nihad Jaber, Ruba Jaber and Heba Jaber. They were all taken to Aliya' Hospital where medical sources describe their injuries as light to moderate.

Dozens of settlers from Mevo Dotan Settlement closed the road between Ya'bad and Baqa'a Al Sharkiyeh in Jenin area. Moreover, they attacked and the damaged the windows of 4 houses. This happened while soldiers stationed in the area did not interfere.

The Israeli Civil Administration handed over an order to confiscate 100 dunums from the Beit Surik village land, at the north of Jerusalem. This land will be annexed to Har Adar Settlement West of the Haradar village. It appeared that this land confiscation order was already issued on the 18th of April. The land belongs to Abdul- Kareem Abu Ata, Shihada Abul-Jabbar, Tayseer El Sheikh, Abdul-Ghani Shoukair, and Inad Saker. According to Muhammad Qandeel, Chairman of the local council of Beit Surik, the owners of the land carry documentation that proves land ownership. The confiscation of the land and the further expansion of the settlement means the limitation and prevention of the development of the village. The settlement was established in 1985 on 1000 dunums of land belonging to the village. The settlement contains 450 housing units and 1500 settlers.

Settlers from Qedumim closed the main road between Qalqiliya and Nablus. They gathered at the Jit junction throwing stones at cars without any interference from the IDF soldiers. 3 cars had their windows broken.

Settlers from Yizhar settlement burned down 5 dunams of wheat in Huwwara village in the Nablus district. According to the owner, Muhammad Hamdan Jallad, a white car stopped near his land and 2 armed settlers got out and set fire to the land. The settlers stayed there preventing anybody from stopping the fire, until the crops were burned down completely. The settlers from this settlement carry out attacks on regular basis in the nearby Palestinian areas.

At the Awarta junction in Nablus settlers threw stones at a service car. The driver was hit on his head and lost control of the car, causing it to roll over. The driver, Rafik Otman Ahmad, 45, from Deir Al Hada village, was taken to Nablus Hospital were medical sources describe his condition as very serious.

On the main road near Deir Sharaf in the Nablus area a settlers opened fire on a Palestinian car approaching him in the opposite lane. The driver, who has Israeli citizenship, was hit in his upper part of the leg by a bullet. The bullets entered the door and also injured Daud Fares Al- Hen, who was sitting on the front passenger seat. He was injured by two bullets in his left hand and was taken to the Rafidiyah Hospital. According to Ziad Al-Zalnoon, member of the local council, the same settlers had come to the area half an hour earlier firing shots at workers from Deir Sharaf working on the village pipe system. Ziad Al- Zanoon was on the spot overseeing the work.

June 8, 2001 A large number of armed settlers burned around 65 dunams planted with olive trees belonging to residents from Meshe village near Salfit. The Palestinian civil defense tried to bring firetrucks to the sight but were stopped by the IDF, who on the main road prevented them from reaching their destination. This, of course, increases the loss and damage. June 10, 2001

In the evening a group of settles from Beitar Ilit settlement entered the village of Husan and attacked a number of houses. The settlers entered, among others, the house of Ibrahim `Atia Shusha and aimed their weapons at the women and children. At the same time another group of settlers from the same settlement uprooted around 8 trees (olives and grapes) at the western part of the village near the settlement. The residents from Husan confronted the settlers with protest by throwing stones. The IDF arrived and shot tear gas at the residents and their houses, calling on them with loudspeakers to go home. The IDF entered the village later that evening with their jeeps. Settlers continue to uproot trees in the village of Aboud, near Ramallah, together with soldiers using bulldozers. This is to expand an already existing small settlement road. The leveling of the land in order to begin the construction began a few days ago. The new road is going to be 2 km. long and 80 m. width. According to Elias Azar, the chairman of the local council of Aboud, around 2000 trees have been uprooted. Elias Azar said in a telephone interview: "The leveling has been going on for three days now. As a representation of the people of the village we asked the IDF to show us the confiscation orders in order to appeal them. They told us to go to Beit Ill (settlement, ed.) to get the order". Elias added: "The situation is very difficult now where all the actions are taking place while we are under complete siege. On May 18th a new settlement point was also established on our land". Settlers continue to uproot trees belonging to Meflah Said in Sawiya. Today they uprooted 10 trees using bulldozers. Meflah Said: "A number of settlers came to the area close to my home. They started to level the land and uproot the trees by bulldozers". Meflah Said's home was last week taken over by a group of settlers (see special report on June 6, 2001). Settlers, in coordination with the IDF, started to establish a new settlement point on land belonging to families from Surif, village north west of Hebron. During this process, destruction of a very large area planted with olive trees belonging to the villages of Jaba'a, Beit Umma and Surif commenced. The land, around 500 dunams, is named Al Egrinat. The majority of the land belongs to Eghinaimat family. According to residents of Surif the settlers brought 5 mobile houses to the spot the night before. They then started to prepare for water and electricity hook-ups.

Settlers from Inab settlement near Ramin and Beit Lit villages east of Tulkarem set fire to around 100 dunams of agricultural land located near the main road leading to the settlement. The land is named "Jebel sharafa". The majority of the land belongs to Khalid Al Sharafa. At an IDF checkpoint located at Ramin junction the soldiers prevented the Palestinians from getting to their land in order to stop the fire and defend the land from the settlers. These events happened after a settler got killed in a car accident in which a Palestinian was involved. The settlers also burned the Palestinian car involved in the accident.

Settlers, together with the IDF, confiscated around 1000 dunams belonging to Esamuan village in the Hebron district. The land was confiscated in order to expand the settlements of Shani and Ya'er, and is called "Eqaiq". According to the farmers an officer from the Israeli Civil Administration came to announce the confiscation order. He told the farmers that area is now classified as a closed military area, and anybody entering the area will be punished according to that policy.

Settlers together with the IDF confiscated around 200 dunams and brought 9 new caravans to a hill between the villages of Al Junia and Ka'asqaka, west of Ramallah. The area between the caravans and the Telmon C settlement is around 2 km. That means in reality that those two kilometers are in danger of further confiscation. The land belongs to Natta family from Al Junia and Suleiman Nufal from Ka'asqaka.

June 12, 2001 At night settlers from Ariel damaged part of the water pipes supplying the village of Marda, causing a complete lack of water to the village. According to eyewitnesses a group of settlers brought a bulldozer to the area at 11 PM and damaged the main pipe. Dr. Abdallah `Idah, a local council member, stated: "The village is now without water. Immediately after the damaging we contacted the DCO (joint Israeli-Palestinian committee) and raised a complaint. We are demanding the pipes to be repaired. It is now the second time the settlers have damaged this particular pipe. Unfortunately the pipe is located near the Samaria crossing road". The Samaria road is a new big bypass road connecting all northern settlements to Jerusalem, like Bypass Road 60 in the south.

5 Palestinians from Qalqiliya area were injured when a large group of settlers from Kedumim settlement attacked Palestinian cars on the main road between Qalqiliya and Nablus. The settlers under the protection of IDF continue to put up small mobile houses on the Jet road and in the Kafr Kadum area. The settlers are erecting these houses in memory of the settler who got killed there. This cuts off the road and allows the settlers to harass the Palestinians.

In Huwwara, two Palestinians were injured from shots fired by settlers. Jihad Hawari was hit in his left foot and his son, Naser Jihad Hawari was hit in his leg. The incident happened while a group of settlers tried to burn down the fuel station belonging to Jihad Hawari. The Palestinians confronted the settlers to defend the gas station. The settlers did not succeed in burning the station but burned 3 cars parked at the station. The cars belong to Jamal Abu Saad, Amer Al Khalil and Jihad Hawari. The settlers have repeatedly attacked this gas station in the past.

The IDF confiscated around 500 dunams of agricultural land to establish a new closed military zone around the Gush Katif settlement. An order saying that the area has been confiscated to establish a new military center on the spot was issued, but it is likely that the area will be used for expansion of the settlement bloc. The soldiers put up a 2 kilometer long electric fence enclosing a zone that is 250 meters in width. The land belongs to families from Al Karara village south of Khan Yunis.

In Hebron settlers, in co-operation with the IDF, opened fire on a Palestinian protest march, taking place in the area between H1 and H2. According to medical sources at the hospitals in Hebron, twelve Palestinians were injured by bullets. Six people have been classified in serious condition. Two Red Crescent staff members were injured while they were carrying out their duties providing the injured with medical services.

Settlers from `Alit settlement near Sawiya began working on a new bypass road in the area. Settlers tried to take over the land named Al Kelela and Ras L'aim. The land is planted with olive trees. June 14, 2001

A group of settlers established a new settlement point on a hill near Deir Samat village in the area of Dura near Hebron. The settlers brought 6 new caravans to the area and supplied them with water and sewage pipes. During the eighties settlers established a small settlement on the same land, but were ordered to remove it in 1992.

Tahani Muhana, 20 and her husband Tamer Yusef Al Farabeta, 27 was taken to `Aliya hospital after they were attacked by settlers. According to Tamer: "We were working on the main road near Kafr Etzion waiting for a car to go Hebron. Near the roadblock established by the IDF, four settlers attacked us and beat us. My wife bled from down [from her reproductive organs]. She is pregnant in her 5th month". Medical sources advised Tahani to get a check-up every second day in the coming weeks. Tamer was beaten on his face and arms.

Settlers from Tel Rumeida started building a wall to expand the house units in the settlement. During the construction they damaged an ancient ruin dating back to the Byzantine period. During the British mandate a decision was made to preserve the area by not issuing any building permits, because of the various ancient ruins in the area. This decision was kept under the Jordanian rule and not violated until today. The Palestinian municipality has appealed to the Israeli High Court.

Settlers from Efnehe Fes in the Tulkarem area burned down a number of trees spread over 6 dunams belonging to Kufr Al Labat village, in particular at the Deir Eban location where a new small settlement were established 3 years ago.

At night settlers from a group of northern West Bank settlements destroyed 80 olive trees in Juris village east of Nablus. According to eyewitnesses, a large number of settlers attacked the fields at the Kufr `Atia'a land and cut down the trees with chain saws. 50 of the trees belong to Tawfiq Eid Ahmad , 20 trees to Fateh Hussein Ahmad and 10 trees belongs to Hamze Lataifeh. The AIC spoke to Tawfiq who witnessed the destruction. The IDF started to put up a 2 meter high and 500 meters long fence around Dugid and Eli Sinai settlements west of Beit Laher city in Gaza. This caused the prevention of 45 Palestinian families to enter, leave, or go through the area without going through the guarded gate in the fence (like the fence in Hebron between H1 and H2). This area is an area of housing, shopping and agriculture. Moussa El-Ghoul, one of the people living in the area who is now living inside the fence said: "This procedure will limit our movement, especially during the night. It becomes dangerous for us to enter or leave the area in the night because of the many soldiers and tanks in the area. This fence is to put more pressure on us to leave the area so the settlement can be an object to expansion". The Israeli Authority has been leveling land in the same area during the last months in order to open a new road linking Dugid and Eli Sinai settlements. All this is creating an isolated settlement zone in the area.

Hundreds of settlers leveled a large area of wheat for the second time in the village of Asboud west of Ramallah. When the residents came to defend their land, they were approached by an IDF officer in his jeep. He told the residents that they could not enter the area because it is now a closed military zone. The previous night the settlers burned some trees in the same area.

A large group of armed settlers from Halmish settlement near Deir Nissam village burned 14 dunams of crops of wheat belonging to Muhammad Hussein Al Khatib and others. Among them was the chairman of the local council, Ahmad Jabra Abdel Basat Tamim who said: "During the aggression from the settlers, when the people came to defend their land the soldiers opened fire against them".

Fatima Al Gharda, 70 from Abu Ghada bedouin tribe south east of Qalqiliya was run over by a settler on the bypass road leading to Alfe Menashe settlement. Fatima died from her injuries. The day before on the same road, Ahmad Mahmud Ali from Beit Emrin village was killed when a settler hit him with his car. In both of the incidents the driver was driving very fast.

Also in the northern West Bank Wasim Zeben, 14, from Issa village was injured. According to eyewitnesses a car driving very fast on the main road between Jenin and Baker Al Gharbiyye hit him. His injuries are classified as serious.

Settlers from Enab settlement set fire to 400 dunams of land belonging to Beit Lit, Ramin and Anabla villages in Tulkarem area. Other settlers burned around 70 dunams belonging to Kafr Kadum village near Qalqilia. In addition to this the settlers threw stones and opened fire on Palestinian cars passing on the main road near Kufr Lakef. This is according to some af the drivers, Ghassan Sawana and Muhammad Shubeita.

Settlers took over 10 shops in downtown Hebron, while a Palestinian resident tried to defend them. This commercial building belongs to the municipality of Hebron, who rents it out to the shopkeepers. The municipality raised an appeal to the supreme court through lawyer Mazen Qubi.

June 17, 2001 When a delegation from Peace Now was visiting the down town areas in Hebron a group of settlers approached them and threw rubbish and plastic materials at them. Some local officials and the local journalists who joined the delegation identified two of the settlers: Nahum Arnon, the spokesman of the settler community in Hebron and Baruch Marcel, one of the Kack movement leaders. In addition to this the settlers kept attacking Palestinians in the downtown area, especially near Tel Rumeida, throughout the day. Taysir Abu Aisha, a Palestinian resident in the Tel Rumeida area said: Two of my children, Muhammad, 11 and his sister Fida, 8 and my nephew Nihad Samir, 13 were all beaten by settlers and taken to the `Aliya Hospital".

At noon settlers set fire to a large area planted with olive trees, especially on the land named Al Kharba. The land belongs to Luban Al Gharbiyye village north west of Ramallah.

Settlers continue to destroy and level land belonging to As Sawiya near Salfit (see earlier dates + special report on June 6, 2001). One of the owners, Isma'el Shiqair who witnessed the destruction said that the settlers uprooted 15 olive trees and leveled other dunams. This is the second day this has been going on.

June 23, 2001 Settlers attacked Palestinian houses near Tel Rumeida, damaging the windows of the As Said family house. The settlers also burned down some trees and blocked the roads linking Palestinian homes with cement blocks.

Settlers with bulldozers in coordination with soldiers leveled around 7 dunams east of Yata in the Hebron district. The work is to begin the construction of a new road linking Ma'an and Karme'e settlements.

Around 70 settlers from Kafr Etzion and Karmet Zur attacked Palestinian farmers while they were working in their land located near bypass road 60 and near the villages of Halnus and Beit Umma. The settlers threw stones at the farmers.

Faisal Ahmad Abu Baker, 27 from Jit village near Qalqilia was injured at his head. A settler from Karnei Shamron threw stones at Faisal's car while he was driving on the main road. According to eyewitnesses a group a settlers threw stones at the road around 5 PM. Faisal was taken to Rafidiah Hospital in Nablus.

Settlers from Alit settlement near Luban Al Sharqiyye attacked Palestinian farmers on their land near the settlement. The settlers opened fire against the people. The families who were attacked are: the family of Baraqma and the family of Khader. Kamal Khader, 43 who was injured in his face and chest said: "Around 15 armed settlers attacked us while we were on our farms. The settlers tried to take over land before but we have managed to defend our 200 dunams. 4 days ago the settlers uprooted trees in an area of 300 dunams and leveled 5 dunams in the same area. That's why we decided to go to our land to protect it".

Settlers from Janim and Kadum settlements blocked of the main road at the entrance east of Jenin. The settlers raised their guns and threatened people on the road. According to eyewitnesses 15 cars belonging to the settlers and guarded by IDF soldiers stopped on the road blocking it for 3 hours. This road is the only road connecting Jenin with its 8 eastern villages. The population in these villages is estimated to be 20,000. The villages are Arabuna, Deir Rasala, Faqua, Jelboun, Beit Gat Shamalliyyeh, Beit Gat Janubiyye, `Ada Ebi and Deir Abu Dauf.

Bulldozers continue to level land near Nagahud settlement in the area west of Dura in the Hebron district. The settlers destroyed 3 dunams of land and brought 5 new caravans to the spot. In the same area settlers from Haifar settlement east of Ben'naim village uprooted 20 olive and peach trees.

In Ramallah area settlers burned 25 trees belonging to Mousa Karbna from Ras Es-Karqa and destroyed 5 dunams of land. The incident took place in the area located near the main settler road connecting Telmon C, Niili coalition and Kiryat Sefer settlements.

The settlers from Enab near Tulkarem uprooted and cut down trees near the bypass road close to the settlement. The land belonging to families from Beit Lit, Kufr labat and Safarin villages is called Gherbad Samara. AIC spoke to Muhammad Assat, 68, from Beit Lit owned 75 dunams of trees that were destroyed. The trees were his main income.

Settlers in downtown Hebron attacked a large number of Palestinian houses and cars while the Palestinian population in Hebron H2 were under curfew. The curfew was imposed after a number of shooting incidents had taken place.

In the early morning a group of settlers attacked houses and cars in Al Akhtal street in Wadi Al joz. The settlers came by cars, parked near Dung Gate. They destroyed 47 cars, cutting their wheels using sharp tools and destroying their windows. After the attack the police came and put notes on the destroyed cars telling the owners to appeal at the police station. When the people went to the police station the officer there refused to receive the complaints. Hadj Mufid Muhammad Arafat had 4 cars damaged belonging to him and his sons. "This is the first time our cars have been attacked by right wing settlers". The owners of the cars called the Israeli government to compensate.