Alternative Information Center - Settler Violence Report 56

On December 19, three armed settlers from Negahot, southwest of Hebron, attacked Fawzee Ahmad el-Horoub, 30 years old, from the village of Efgages, while he was driving his car on the main road. Fawzee was beaten in many parts of his body, injured in the head, back, chest and hands, and was treated at ?Alya? Hospital in Hebron. Fawzee reports:

?I was driving my taxi on the main road in my village Efgages, when I reached the junction, I saw a green Jeep coming from the road leading to the Negahout settlement. When the jeep passed by my car it stopped, three armed settlers got out and, without saying anything, started to attack me. They used both the rifle butts and their bare hands, aiming specifically at my head. A few minutes later, they pulled me out of my car and pushed me onto the street, continuing beating me all over my body. After about half an hour, a military jeep stopped near us. The settlers continued beating in clear sight of the soldiers for a few more minutes and then left. The soldiers took me to Dora town centre; where a Palestinian ambulance took me to ?Alya Hospital."

On December 23, the chief of security of Ma?on settlement, a settler known as Ya?couv, prevented the farmer Khaled Husain Jabareen from the village of Jenba, from farming his land. Ya?couv told the farmer that the land belongs to the settlement of Ma?on and called the police, who detained Khaled at the police station in Qiryat Arba?. The police tried to force him to sign a commitment not to access the above mentioned land.

Khaled described the situation as one where, ?we used to sow our land with wheat but the settlers prevented us from doing so, they attacked us many times. Many others from the villages in the area went through what I went through, in the past. On 18 December the settlers attacked my relative Na?een near my land, and forced him to leave, with his livestock, after first detaining him for 2 hours.? Ya?couv often patrols the lands of the villages, chasing the Palestinian farmers off them. The villagers complaints to the Israeli police never seem to help.

On December 20, the settlers from Qiryat Arba? repeated their attacks on Palestinian homes in Wadi El-Nasara and Beyar Mahawer, south of the settlement. During the afternoon, about 15 settlers threw stones at the houses and chased Palestinians who walked through the main street. The settlers claimed, yet again, that the street is only for settlers? use. Stones were thrown at the houses of the Da?na and Jaber families, while soldiers, posted in the area, watched and did nothing to stop the settlers. According to Samih and Monder Da?na, this kind of aggression has become a daily occurrence.

0n December 28, tens of settlers from many settlements in the old city of Hebron attacked Palestinian houses near to Al-shuhada Street and the city centre by throwing stones at the houses. Shaher Mohammed Fathi Ja?baree, 15, and Anas Baed, 15, were beaten and suffered from injuries to the head and hands after the settlers stopped them in Sahla Street and attacked them, using stones and stakes. The settlers threatened people, forcing them into their homes, and barring them from entering the streets. Mohammed Ja?baree said that the settlers tried to impose a curfew on the Palestinians.

Nablus and North of West Bank:

On December 23, about ten armed settlers from Homesh came in four cars to the village Selit Daher, east of Jenin, and shot at boys from the secondary school in the village. The students were forced to leave the school in order to avoid the shooting. On the following day, the same number of settlers came to the same school and opened fire in the direction of the school. The teachers asked the student to go homes in order to avoid the settlers. The settlers then went to the shops in the village and attacked many of the shop owners, forcing them to close their shops.

Raghib Abu Diyak, Mayor of the village reports that "what happened in the last week, is very serious, we informed the DCO [District Co-ordination Office], so that they would inform the Israelis, we are very worried for our students and all the people because of those armed settlers. No-one moves at nights, and we are in constant fear that the settlers may come at any time.?

On December 21, settlers from Kfar Tafouh sabotaged a small construction of an electricity project in the village of Yasuof, south of Nablus. Mustafa Azmi, a resident, said that "seven armed settlers came to the room and damaged it, using hoes, causing a delay to the project?.

On December 30, a settler ran over a child, Raslan Mohammed Husain, from Baqa al-Sharqiya, north of Tulkarem. Palestinians security resources informed us that the child was run over by settlers driving very fast, whilst he was walking down the main road near to the village.

Land confiscation and new outpost:

On December 17, the Israeli army issued an order to uproot thousands of trees on land near to the settlement of Telem, 7 km west of Hebron. The trees belong to tens of families from the village Tarqomya. Mohammed Ja?fra, Mayor of the village reports that "the officers of the army informed us that all of the trees located in Taiba site, near the settlement of Telem would be uprooted; about 300 Dunams would be damaged?. Ja?afra added that the land is located between Telem and Adora settlement, which probably means that they intend to link the two settlements, suggesting that the threatened land will be confiscated later.

On December 16, Israeli bulldozers started leveling a part of the land owned by the Abu- Snaina family in the village Zelfi, south of Hebron. Mohammed Shatat, Mayor of the village, says that "this work is intended to expand bypass road #60, 10 Dunams were damaged up to date?. Abd-El-Hadi Hantash, from the Land Defense Committees adds that "the work on that area is intended to expand bypass road #60 and thus to link two military centres in the area 'Tal Forsa' and 'Tal Zeafi'. Shatat further reports that the Israeli army issued a demolition order on three shacks used for raising livestock in the village, near to the area that was taken. The army?s claim is ?illegal building?, but we believe this is a part of the project they are working on now?.

On December 23, the bulldozers continued leveling the land to the northwest of Qiryat Arba?. Ten more Dunams owned by the Ja?bari and Idrees families were damaged, all planted with grape vines and olive trees. This work is aimed at taking over the land located between Qiryat Arba? and Kharsena settlements to the north. The Land Defense Committee suspects that this work is related to the separation wall that is planned at that area.

On December 26, the army started opening the new bypass settlement road to the north of Kharsena settlement. The land was confiscated during the last few weeks. Omar Al-Ajrab, one of the land owners believes that "the new road is a part of the separation wall being planned in that area, and it means that they will take over more land to the west and north of the settlement."

On December 25, settlers brought a number of caravans to 'Khalit Kharouba', 15km to the east of Yatta, south of Hebron, in order to renew the outpost 'Havat Ma?on, which was removed three years ago by the Army. The settlers prevented the farmers from the village of Twani from entering their land near to the new outpost.

On December 29, the bulldozers continued to level the land in Wad Grouz and Baq?a, east of Qiryat Arba?. Around 100 Dunams have been damaged, all planted with grape vines. The land belongs to Ahmad Sa?ed Jabber, Shaker Roben Jaber, Abed Mousa Jaber, and the Ashhab family. At the same time, engineers from the Israeli Civil Administration put signs on around 50 Dunams in Buwaira area, east of Kharsena settlement, indicating that the land is threatened with confiscation or reallocation.

On December 17, bulldozers leveled around 60 Dunams of land, cultivated with olive trees southeast of the village of Wad Fokeen, west of Bethlehem. The land belongs to Mousa Mustafa Huroob and Saleh Sulaiman Huroub. The army prevented the owners from reaching the land during the work. Husain Huroub says the purpose of this work is "to expand the settlement Betar Ilit westwards. This land is very close to the Palestinian houses, and is only about 50 metres from the village school. We have initiated legal actions against this confiscation."