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Settler Violence During July 2007 Print E-mail
Written by Anahi Ayala Iacucci and Ahmad Jaradat, Alternative Information Center (AIC)   
Sunday, 26 August 2007
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Hebron and South of West Bank

On 7 July, settlers from the Ramot Yishai settlement outpost in downtown Hebron renewed their attacks against the Taysser Abu 'Aisha family. Five young settlers threw stones at 16-year-old Fida Abu 'Aish, and her 13-year-old brother Ashraf. Then the settlers ran after them while they were walking to their home located in the area. The family said that the aggression happened in front of Israeli soldiers standing at the checkpoint, yet the soldiers did nothing to stop the attack.

On the same day, some of the settlers who occupied the al-Rajabi building to the west of Kiryat Arba three months ago, attacked the 58-year-old resident, Yousef Abed Almajeed Abu Sharar, and beat him with stones. Abu Sharar was injured in his face and was taken to nearby clinic for treatment.

On 13 July, settlers from Kiryat Arba and other settlements in the Hebron region, the same that occupied the al-Rajabi building  three months ago, renewed their attacks and aggressions against the residents and the houses located near the building itself. The armed settlers stoned many houses, belonging to Bassam Ja'bari, Majdi Kayed Ja'bari, Mansour Ja'bari and Monther Ghaleb Ja'bari. Bassam Ja'bari reported that the settlers repeatedly threw stones at the houses during the day, yet the soldiers who were there did not stop them. More than that, the soldiers in the area forced the resident to stand for many hours under the hot sun, merely because they were attempting to use the only street that reaches to their houses. The soldiers checked their identity cards and questioned them for long time, forcing even children and old people to stand for hours under the sun.

On 16 July, settlers from the Otniel settlement in the south hills of Hebron, took over 30 dunam belonging to families from Karma village and town of Yatta, uprooting 20 olive trees. The Palestinian Land Defence Committee in Hebron stated that tens of settlers in the last days began working on the land located between the mentioned settlement and the near outpost, to connect them directly. The outpost is located one kilometer to the southeast of the settlement, which means that if they continue their work, they will take hundreds of dunam of land belonging to the villagers. It is important to mention that the outpost was established two years ago on 40 dunam belonging to the villages. The settlers and the settlement security guards used to prevent the farmers from entering their land close to the settlement and to work it.

On 19 July, settlers from the Pnei Hever settlement, located to the southeast of the Bani Na'im village, east of Hebron, under the leadership of the settler Avraham, who is well known to the farmers as very extreme, burned 200 olive trees. The farmer, Ali Qasem Manasra said that the targeted trees were between 5 and 15 years old, and they belonged to Ali Qasem Manasra, Husain Qasem Manasra, Mohammed Qasem Manasra, Ali Mohammed Mousa and Ibraheem Ali Haj. He added that Israeli fire brigades came and stopped the fire. This land and the land close to the settlement are usually targeted by the settlers, with the aim to confiscate them for the expansion of the settlement. For this reason, the farmers and tens of Israeli and international supporters started weekly activities, each Friday, against the settlers and the Israeli military there.

On 23 July, settlers from the Susiya settlement, to the southeast of Yatta, tried once again to take over 15 dunam located 150 meters to the northwest of the settlement, belonging to Hushiyya family. Local Palestinian council sources reported that eight armed settlers from the settlement forced the farmers to leave their land while brandishing weapons and threatening. The settlers arrived despite a publicized decision of the Israeli military to prevent them from entering the land until the Israeli Civil Administrative Court takes a decision on the ownership of the land.

On 24 July, a settler ran over 11-year-old Mu'tasem Abed el Jaleel, from Hebron city. The settler, who was driving his car from the Abraham Mosque to the Kiryat Arba settlement to the east, drove away from the accident immediately after it occurred, leaving the child injured on the ground. Later, the residents took the child to the hospital in Hebron, and his case is described as serious, with injuries to his back and legs.

On 25 July, tens of settlers from the Efrat settlement, located to the south of Bethlehem, held a large demonstration in the Palestinian villages of Wadi Rahhal and Artas, to the northeast of the settlement. The action took place on the land that the settlement has recently taken for its expansion. With this demonstration, the settlers attempted to send a clear message to the Palestinians: the land will be confiscated soon, despite the weekly protest activities that the residents have organized in cooperation with internationals and Israeli pacifist groups. The settlers did the demonstration under the protection of the military.

On 30 July, the Israeli military built an iron gate and a military checkpoint on the main road near the Rajabi Building in Hebron, which was occupied by tens of settlers three months go. The new gate and the checkpoint were built to protect the settlers there, but with these closures, the movement of hundreds of Palestinian residents in the area will be very difficult, because now they cannot use cars to reach their houses near the building.


Nablus and North of West Bank

On 7 July, settlers from the Anabta settlement, near the village of Rameen in the Tulkarem district, burned around 150 dunam of land planted with wheat. Saduq Saleh, the representative of the Palestinian National Committee, said that the targeted land is located in Wadi al-A'raj, to the west of the village, and Jabal al-Ras to the east. He added that this is the fourth time that the settlers burned the land of the village this year with the purpose of expanding the settlement.

On 13 July, tens of settlers, under the protection of the Israeli military, began construction of a new settlement outpost on the land of the Midya village, in the Ramallah district. The settlers came to the land belonging to the village and laid some engineering works there, marking the land. The Israeli soldiers told the local people that the settlers would come soon to establish outpost there.

On 15 July, 77-year-old Palestinian farmer, Ahmed Isma'el Kokash, from Dier Istiya village to the west of Salfit town was attacked by a settler from Yakir settlement. The settler beat Kokash while he was working in his land in Wadi Qana area, near the settlement. Ahmed was stoned in his back and hands and was taken to the near hospital in Nablus.

On 22 July, tens of settlers from the Homesh settlement, which was dismantled in 2005 following a ruling by the Israeli government, came back to the area in a protest action, during which they stoned many houses located to the south of the ruins of the settlement. In addition, and with cooperation from the Israeli military, the settlers closed all the roads in the area. Saleh Hantoli, the mayor of Selit Daher village, stated that the settlers, during their ongoing protest actions, cut the water pipes that supply the village. The military announced to the villages of Selt Daher and Borqa that the area was designated a military closed zone until the settlers would leave. The settlers from the area come from time to time in big numbers to protest and to call for rebuilding the settlement. During their actions, they attacked the residents and damaged trees (see AIC previous reports).

On 23 July, settlers from the Itamar settlement in the Nablus district, burned 50 dunam of olive trees belonging to Anabous village and 80 dunam of land belonging to families from the village of Beit Fourik. Farmers from the villages said that 30 settlers from Itamar participated in this action and the local residents were unable to stop the fire because the settlers threatened them with weapons.


 
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