- 8 mrt 2011
Child among villagers injured by settlers
NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Activists with the International Solidarity Movement in the village of Qusra said that evening clashes with settlers Monday night had left 13 injured, including a child.
The group identified Ibrahim Hassan, 15, as the youngest victim, who doctors said sustained a bullet wound with an entry point at his back and exit through the kidney, which he would likely lose.
Hassan was shot by setters who villagers said were uprooting olive trees on local lands. Witnesses reported seeing villagers throw stones at the settlers in an attempt to frighten them off, but instead sparked the use of gunfire.
"A settler brought out his M-16 and started shooting at us," said local witness Raed Awdeh.
A second victim interviewed by the activist group, 25-year-old Qaher Oude, sustained a gunshot wound to his left leg, and bruises to his upper body, which he said were sustained when settlers beat him with sticks and stones.
He told the group that settlers used a large rock to crush his right leg.
"I had heard that people were injured, so I went there to help them and suddenly I got shot, the settlers came from nowhere," he told the activists.
Testimony gathered by ISM showed that the attack took place in waves, starting with four farmers who were injured by stones at 4:30 p.m. who called to relatives for help.
Witnesses told the activist group that by the time they arrived to assist, there were 50 settlers standing near the injured farmers all in view of the Israeli military.
"Some of the injured people reported they had been shot and beaten by soldiers and some by settlers," the report from the group said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=366667 14 jan 2012, 18:13 , Respect -
Israel uproots Palestinian olive trees near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli troops blocked off access to agricultural fields near the village of Beit Dajan on Wednesday, while bulldozers tore out dozens of olive trees from privately owned property, officials said.
The trees were uprooted and confiscated, deputy to the Nablus governor Anan At-Ateera told Ma’an.
"Dozens of olive trees from the At-Tyur area east of Beit Dajan were taken ... residents were prevented from reaching the site," At-Teera said.
The official called the incident "bizzare," saying there was "no logical explanation" for the trees to have been uprooted, identifying them as belonging to Jamal Abu Kanaan from Beit Dajan.
Village council member Naser Abu Jeish said he considered the act a "blunt violation of Palestinian rights," adding that there was "not even an Israeli settlement in the area," referring to the common practice of taking down olive groves to facilitate Israeli military patrols around settlements.
A spokesman for Israel's Civil Administration did not return calls seeking comment on the incident.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369210 14 jan 2012, 18:16 , Respect -
Settler vandals continue to do damage
NABLUS (Ma’an) -- At least 100 olive trees were ripped out and four water tankers ruined Thursday afternoon, by what witnesses said was a mob of at least a dozen settlers.
On a hilltop between the Nablus-district villages of Beita and Aquraba, some four kilometers south of the Israeli settlement of Itamar, the area known as Al-Arma lay in ruins.
Local land owner Yousef Derieh told Ma’an that settlers were behind the damage, which affected families from the village of Aqraba.
A torrent of settler violence was unleashed when Israeli officials accused Palestinian militants of being behind the grisly murder of five settlers from the Fogel family in the Itamar settlement on Friday night. Among the slain were two children and an infant.
Settlers have torched cars, broken windows, opened fire on passing Palestinian vehicles, spray painted homes, thrown rocks and bottles at Palestinian homes and cars, and attacked civilians across the West Bank in an apparent response to the killings, for which suspects have yet to be identified.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369629 14 jan 2012, 18:18 , Respect -
Israel says trees planted on 'state land'
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A spokesman for Israel's Civil Administration told Ma'an on Thursday that nearly 100 olive trees bulldozed near Beit Dajan the day before were planted on land that did not belong to Jamal Abu Kanaan.
The spokesman said the land in question was "state land," and said all documents necessary under law had been transmitted before the trees were uprooted and confiscated.
"This was not the first time," the official said.
Deputy to the Nablus governor Anan At-Ateera told Ma’an Wednesday that there was "no logical explanation" for the trees to have been uprooted, identifying them as belonging to Abu Kanaan from Beit Dajan.
Village council member Naser Abu Jeish said he considered the act a "blunt violation of Palestinian rights," adding that there was "not even an Israeli settlement in the area," referring to the common practice of taking down olive groves to facilitate Israeli military patrols around settlements.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369664 14 jan 2012, 18:20 , Respect -
NGO: Settlers uproot Hebron olive trees
HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Observers with the Christian Peacemaker Teams reported Wednesday morning that settlers had destroyed six olive trees in the village of At-Tuwani in the south Hebron hills.
"Settlers did this ... they did this because of the settlers who were murdered near Nablus," a statement from the group quoted village resident Fadil Ahmed Raba'i, who referred to the killing of five settlers in the Itamar settlement on Friday.
The destroyed trees were approximately 15 years old, the statement said, adding that they belonged to four members of the Raba'i family.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=369343 14 jan 2012, 18:21 , Respect -
Jewish settlers uproot 21 olive trees in Salfit
SALFIT, (PIC)-- Jewish settlers from Ali Zahav settlement on Saturday morning uprooted about 21 olive trees in Deir Ballut town west of Salfit city.
Head of the municipal council in the town Ahmed Mustafa said the settlers uprooted olive trees east of Deir Ballut belonging to a Palestinian citizen called Sami Ibraheem.
Mustafa added that the settlers destroy and flatten Palestinian agricultural lands around Ali Zahav settlement in order to expand it and build new housing units.
All villages and towns of Salfit city are facing a frenzied settlement expansion campaign aimed at expanding 20 settlement outposts already built on Palestinian lands.
http://bit.ly/eicV76 14 jan 2012, 18:22 , Respect -
Settler vandalism, harassment reported in south
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Villagers said ultra-orthodox settlers chopped down dozens of fruit trees in fields belonging to a Palestinian farmer from the southern West Bank village of Husan, in the latest incident of apparent settler vandalism.
Jabir Taha Hamamra told Ma'an that he was surprised Monday morning when he walked into his fields to discover dozens of trees had been chopped down.
"I was in the fields on Thursday, and they were all fine," he said, pointing to the adjacent settlement of Betar Illit, "but I did notice that there were military vehicles in the area."
He took little notice, however, saying "there are military patrols almost every day," but then wondered if the patrols were in the area because of the settler activity.
Hamamra said 25 olive trees, two almond trees, one fig tree, and four walnut trees were destroyed by vandals.
It is not the first act of settler vandalism that targeted Hamamra's property, the farmer told Ma'an, recalling that in 2010 settlers destroyed a water well set up to collect rain water. "It was used to irrigate my plants, the ones near the settlement," he said.
Palestinian Authority official Awad Abu Swayy visited the field in Husan, and condemned the vandalism as another settler attack.
Swayy is charged with monitoring the settler activity in the area for the Ramallah-based ministry of agriculture.
"Settlers attack Palestinian land, people, trees and water reservoirs under the protection of the Israeli government, which means the government is complicit, he said.
In Yatta, a collection of towns in the southern West Bank, dozens of settlers were reported to have assaulted a group of shepherds east of the population center.
Israeli military patrols were seen near the group, which gathered in the Al-Bweib agricultural area.
Area activist Rateb Al-Habour said the patrol cars did not intervene when the settlers harassed the farmers.
Azmi Ash-Shioukhy, Secretary General of Palestinian People's Committees in the town said the increased settler violence was part of an "Israeli tactic of ethnic cleansing."
Since the end of February, seven Palestinians have been injured by settler gunfire, two have been stabbed, two have been beaten, seven have been injured by stones, at least six cars have been torched, and dozens of acts of vandalism and harassment have been reported.
An escalation in violent attacks began after the Israeli government dismantled an illegal settlement outpost on February 28. Under a professed "price tag" policy, settlers make Palestinians "pay" for each evacuation of outposts. In the past, the "price" has included arson, shootings, beatings, burning fields, uprooting trees and poisoning water wells belonging to Palestinians.
Harassment and vandalism escalated further following the murder of five residents of Itamar settlement by unknown attackers on March 11. But many of the incidents causing hospitalization occurred before.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=373048 14 jan 2012, 18:22 , Respect -
Palestinian youth attacked while planting olive trees
RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- A group of Palestinian youth said they were attacked by Israeli soldiers while planting olive trees on Wednesday.
Around 30 young men and women from a group "Ihna Gheir" (We are different) planted around 100 olive trees in A'bud village north west of Ramallah to commemorate Land Day.
One of the participants told Ma'an that Israeli military jeeps raided the area and threatened the group. The soldiers were followed by a group of settlers, who uprooted the trees, and two Palestinians were injured in ensuing clashes.
The Palestinian youth said they moved to another area to continue planting the trees.
An Israeli military spokesman said he would look into the report.
Land Day commemorates mass protests against Israel's confiscation of Palestinian land in 1976. Israeli forces brutally quashed the demonstrations, killing six Palestinians and injuring over 100.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=374539 14 jan 2012, 18:23 , Respect -
Itamar settlers uproot tree saplings near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Residents of Itamar settlement who recently erected an illegal outpost destroyed dozens of tree saplings in the area, Palestinian farmers said Tuesday.
The outpost was founded in the wake of the murder of five members of the Fogel family in Itamar settlement. It was erected on what villagers said was privately owned agricultural lands, weeks after Israel's Knesset approved a law to demolish all settlement outposts on areas declared to be private Palestinian lands.
At the time, a spokesman for Israel's Civil Administration, which controls planning and zoning in the West Bank's Area C, said the case of the Fogel outpost was unclear.
The saplings had recently been planted through an initiative by the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, which has in the past supported farmers who cannot afford to seed fields. The initiative is meant to support farmers so they can continue to work their lands despite hardship.
Villagers said this was the fourth time in recent weeks that agricultural products and equipment have been vandalized.
An investigation into the murder of five members of the Fogel family is underway, but a persisting gag order for the Israeli press means little has surfaced as to the details of the case. Israeli leaders pointed the finger at Palestinian militant groups, but none have claimed the attack.
Following the murders, settler attacks against Palestinians increased, in the wake of already frequent attacks carried out under the "price tag" policy, after the dismantling of an outpost in the Nablus region by soldiers in late February.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=375733 14 jan 2012, 18:23 , Respect -
Settlers uproot olive trees in Al-Khalil
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Jewish settlers on Monday attacked the Palestinian village of Beit Ummar in Al-Khalil and destroyed 45 fruitful olive trees under protection of the Israeli occupation forces (IOF), local sources reported.
Mohammed Awad, the spokesman for the national anti wall and settlement committee in the town, said that the settlers came from the Beit Ayan settlement north of Beit Ummar and attacked four areas.
He explained that the settlers assaulted Palestinian farmers, prevented them from tending to their land, and uprooted the 45 olive trees after which the IOF declared those areas closed military zones.
http://fwd4.me/zPw 14 jan 2012, 18:24 , Respect -
Settlers plant trees on Palestinian land
TUBAS (Ma’an) -- Residents of the Rotem settlement continued planting olive trees on lands on which they are squatting.
Israeli forces accompanied the settlers in the “Khilet Hamad” area in the northern Jordan Valley.
Aref Daraghmeh, head of Al-Maleh village council, said the lands are for Palestinian citizens who live near Ein Al-Baida village and hold official papers that prove that.
He appealed to the landowners to hold to their rights and to the human rights organizations to stop Israeli aggressions.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=377670 14 jan 2012, 18:27 , Respect -
US consul tours West Bank agriculture projects
NABLUS (Ma’an) -- US Consul General Daniel Rubinstein announced Tuesday that the US government invested with more than $30 million over the past 10 years to increase greenhouse agriculture and the production of olive oil, as well as natural and dried herbs.
During his visit to Tubas and the Jordan Valley, Rubinstein met with local officials and businessmen. He praised the efforts of the Palestinian Authority and its role in economic development.
On Monday, Rubinstein met Maj.-Gen. Jibril Rijoub, head of the Palestinian Soccer Federation, a statement from the US consulate in Jerusalem said.
During the meeting, Rubinstein was briefed on the federation's activities and youth issues. He noted US support for programs aimed at promoting youth engagement, including sporting activities. He was also briefed on the recent performance of the Palestinian soccer team.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=378178 14 jan 2012, 18:29 , Respect -
Palestinian says 150 trees cut by settlers
Samaria resident says settlers cut down his trees; Civil Administration confirms details, but founder of nearby Jewish outpost says trees are his.
Palestinian villager Ibrahaim Salah faced a rude welcome after arriving at his olive grove Tuesday, claiming that his trees were cut down by settlers.
"I arrived at my land Tuesday morning and couldn't believe my eyes," said the Samaria resident, who is allowed to access his grove only a few times a year with a security escort. "We found some 150 olive trees that are dozens of years old cut down."
Salah says that only 60 trees remain in his plot of land at this time, yet most of them are too young and do not produce commercial quantities of trees.
"I don't know what to do now. I have nothing except for these trees," he said. Salah added that a caravan belonging to the nearby Havat Gilad outpost was placed by his cut down trees.
"When we arrived, we saw the settlers standing on a hill far away and looking at us. When the police saw them, they decided that we cannot work the land, claiming there were insufficient forces to secure us," the Palestinian farmer said. "I intend to file a police complaint next week over what was done to me, but I don't have high expectations, because in all the previous times I complained about abuse, nothing was done."
Civil Administration officials confirmed the details of the story and said they photographed the cut down trees and informed the farmer about his right to file a police complaint.
However, one of the founders of Havat Gilad, Itay Zar, said the plot of land is part of a disputed area.
"These are trees we've been working in the past 10 years, and only recently a Palestinian who is unwilling to tell us his name claimed the area belongs to him," Zar said. "There are some 20-30 trees in the grove, certainly not 150. Besides, the trees were trimmed, not uprooted, and we didn't do it."
"There are laws in this country, and it can't be that a nameless Palestinian suddenly arrives and claims that land I've been working for years and trees I've been growing belong to him," Zar said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4056588,00.html 14 jan 2012, 18:29 , Respect -
CPT: Settlers torch Palestinian olive grove
HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers set fire to an olive grove belonging to a Palestinian family near Hebron on Friday, an international monitoring group reported.
The fire damaged 16 trees belonging to the Abu Haikel family in Tel Rumeida, Christian Peacemaker Teams said, adding that some of the trees affected were over 1,000 years old.
Palestinian firefighters arrived to put out the blaze, but Israeli soldiers confiscated their hoses and gave them old equipment to use, CPT said.
Volunteers with the US organization said they asked soldiers to return the equipment but the troops did not respond.
Asked if the trees would produce olives again, Abu Haikel's son told CPT "No, they've burned them for the last seven years."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=391716 14 jan 2012, 18:33 , Respect -
Jewish settlers burn 250 Palestinian trees in Nablus village
NABLUS, (PIC)-- Jewish settlers started a huge fire in Palestinian farmland in Deir Al-Hatab village east of Nablus on Monday burning 250 olive and almond trees, local sources reported.
They said that Palestinian fire brigades managed to contain and extinguish the fire before it spread to nearby groves.
The firefighters said that the fire destroyed 200 olive trees and 50 almond trees, but hundreds others were protected and saved.
Jewish settlers deliberately target Palestinian plantations at this time of the year when the temperature is high so as to facilitate spread of the blaze.
http://fwd4.me/03Hg