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Settler Violence Report, May 2006
Hebron
Region 
On May 6, five
students from Om Tuba village, southeast of Yatta in the south hills of Hebron were injured when a group of
settlers from Ma'on settlement stoned them while they were walking home from school.
Settler violence is an ongoing problem for the young people of Om Tuba, who
must travel each day to a school located in Litwani, a nearby village, in order
to study. The students previously traveled along the main street, but the risk
of violence posed by the settlers forced them to walk the longer way around
the mountains in order to avoid attack. Many internationals and Israeli peace
activists are now based in the village and accompany the students to and from the
school, attempting to deter further violence by observing and recording attacks.
The most recent victims of these attacks were Yousef Omar Jundiyya, age 11;
Maryam Omar Jundiyya, 9; Dalal Isa Ali, 9; Odai Ahsed Ali, 11; and Mahmoud
Rashed Ali, 8. According to the Chairman of the Local Council, Sabe Huraini, it
is not the first time that the settlers from Ma’on and other settlements in the
south hills of Hebron have attacked students en
route to and from school.
On May 9, the
settlers from Kiryat Arba' began expanding the fence to the south of the
settlement. So far, they have expropriated 4 dunams of land belonging to the Da'na
family. Three years ago, settlers confiscated, annexed, and fenced 9 dunams of
land belonging to the same family, and now they are demanding more. Israeli soldiers
from the nearby checkpoint observed these illegal confiscations but made no
effort to intervene.
On May 8, in Tel
Romeida, near the outpost Ramat Yashai, settlers threw stones at the house of
Tayseer Abu Aisha, hitting 17 year-old Raja' Abu Aisah who was standing near the
house. The settlers told her to go home, but she refused. When she told them that
she was standing on her land, they threw stones at her. The settlers also threw
stones at students in the main street.
On May 11, settlers
from the outpost Ramat Yashai renewed their attacks on houses located close to
the outpost. They stoned houses and damaged the pipes that supply water to the
houses. On the same day, three armed settlers from Kiryat Arba' attacked Ahmad
Mahmoud Jaber, age 12, and Shahir Jaber on streets west of the settlement. Both
were injured by the impact.
On May 25, the
settlers from the outpost Ramat Yashai renewed the attacks on houses in Tel
Romeida. At noon, a car of settlers chased a child, Ibraheem Abu Aisha,
age 7. When he tried to escape, two settlers ran after him, but soldiers from
the checkpoint kept them from beating the child.
On May 26, settlers
from the settlement Kiryat Arba' and outposts in downtown Hebron stoned Palestinians near the Ibrahimi
mosque. The settlers threw stones and empty bottles at the residents in the
main street west of the mosque. Meanwhile, in the city center, three armed
settlers entered houses belonging to Sa'de Jabber and Imad Hafez Rajabi. They
proceeded to beat Ammar Sa'de Jabber, age 25. This was the second time that the
Jabber family’s house was stoned in three days.
Nablus and the Northern West Bank Region
On May 12, at 3
o’clock
in the morning, tens of settlers from Itamar and Alon Moreh settlements, in the
Nablus district, attacked a stone factory located opposite
the village Hawwaraeh. The settlers damaged several parts of the factory and a
caravan. The guard, Mohammed Qanoni, was in the factory during the attacks, but
he escaped inside a caravan. The settlers chased him, threatening to set him on
fire, but hundreds of residents came to Mohammed’s rescue. Eventually, the
Israeli Army forced the settlers to stop. This was not the first time that the settlers
had attacked this particular factory.
On May 15, the
residents from the city of Salfeet called upon international human
rights organizations to witness the environmental situation on their land. The
sewage of Ariel settlement is running into the agriculture valleys north of the
city and damaging the surrounding agriculture and environment. A few weeks ago,
the settlers began letting their pigs damage trees in the fields belonging to
many villages in the Salfeet district. Farmer Mohammed Younis reports, "While
I was working in my field, located between Salfeet and Iskaka villages, a large
truck came and parked near the main street. Two settlers got out and released
tens of pigs, which then entered the fields and fed on the trees. I fled my
land, afraid of the settlers.” The pigs also often damage the gardens of houses
in Salfeet and nearby villages.
On May 24, settlers
from Rotim settlement, in the Tobas District, took control of more land located
in Wadi Maleh and erected a fence around it. The land belongs to many families
from the Tobas area, but the settlers have already planted it with olive trees.
This land was officially annexed to the settlement two years ago, but only recently
have they fenced it and started planting.
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