- 13 mei 2010
Silwan residents say settler arson behind olive grove fire
Jerusalem – Ma'an – Eleven dunums of olive trees were reported destroyed by the Awad family, who blamed nearby settlers for setting the Wednesday night blaze.
The fire, in Silwan's Wadi Ar-Rababa, is located south of Jerusalem's Old City, and behind the Green Line. The zone was illegally annexed to Israel following the 1967 war, and now faces mass home evictions and demolitions as the Israeli municipality prepares to build a national park on much of the neighborhood.
Locals said settlers squatting in the area lit the fire, which destroyed at least three 150-year-old olive trees, as well as dozens of other saplings.
Land owner Shadi Awad said the fire was lit during what he described as a settler rally near the grove.
An Israeli police spokesman said no complaint had been filed, and police were not called to the scene.
Residents who have recently reported settler violence say Jerusalemites are reluctant to call police, saying that more often than not, members of the complaining family are detained by police for questioning, while little is done to apprehend the accused.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=284009 6 sep 2011, 13:39 , Respect -
Maria 24 mei 2010
Israel overturns land in Bethlehem-area village
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israel's Civil Administration, reportedly accompanied by border guards, bulldozed land in the Nahalin village in Bethlehem and uprooted a number of olive trees on Monday, a village council official told Ma'an.
The official, Yousef Shakarneh, said approximately 10 Israeli military vehicles were present during the incident, adding that the digging was largely undertaken near the Betar Illit and Jb'ot settlements.
Clashes erupted between residents and Israeli border guards, with no injuries reported, he said, adding that locals were told not to prevent the Civil Administration workers from carrying out the work and were threatened with live fire if they tried.
Grape vines were reportedly cut down in the incident, and took the uprooted olive trees were taken to an unknown location, the official said.
The diggings, he said, took over seven hours.
According to a spokesman for Israel's Civil Administration, the land in question was "not private Palestinian land," and that residents were informed of the removal notice on 8 March 2010. The residents, he said, had the right to appeal failed to do so until recently, two months after the notice was issued.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=286775 26 sep 2011, 09:57 , Respect -
Maria 25 mei 2010
Fire crews control orange grove fire
Ramallah – Ma'an – Palestinian firefighters said they were able to gain control over a number of blazes across the northern West Bank on Tuesday, a statement read.
Among the fires controlled include a blaze in a Jenin orange grove, which consumed 15 trees, and spread to a nearby olive tree crop near the Jalzon refugee camp and Jafna village, a statement read.
A blaze on a 30-dunum-wheat field was also controlled in the nearby Ijja village and fires that erupted in a child's room in Qalqiliya and in aTubas kitchen were also put out by fire crews, the statement added.
Meanwhile rescue crews evacuated five Palestinians that were injured in a car crash in Hebron.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=287043 4 oct 2011, 13:10 , Respect -
Maria 2 juni 2010
Settlers torch hundreds of Nablus olive trees
Nablus – Ma'an – Residents of the illegal Yitzhar settlement set fire to more than 100 dunums of Palestinian lands near Urif village, southwest of Nablus on Wednesday afternoon, Palestinian officials said.
Local official in charge of the settlements file in the northern West Bank Ghasan Daghlas said the fire was set in the Jabal Marwes area, the hill separating the villages of URif and Asira Al-Qaliya, into which Yitzhar's "municipal area" extends.
"The settlers had set fire to the area, and it spread across a large swath of agricultural land," Daghlas said.
When Palestinians saw the fire, dozens rushed to put it out, Daghlas continued, but said hundreds of almond and olive trees were destroyed.
"Clashes broke out between the Palestinians and the settlers who had lit the fire," Daghas said, and Israeli forces used tear gas to disperse the fight.
The fields, village official Fawzi Shaehada said, belong to Mohammad Salamh A’mer As-Aafadi from Urif.
An Israeli military official said a fight broke out in a "disputed area" between what she estimated was 50 Palestinians and Yitzhar residents, where "mutual rock throwing" took place. She said Israeli border police dispersed the fight and noted no arrests.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=289105 6 oct 2011, 14:02 , Respect -
Maria 8 juni 2010
80 olive trees uprooted in Walaja
Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli bulldozers began overturning agricultural land and uprooting trees in the Al-Walaja, a village south of Jerusalem inside the 1967 Green Line, Palestinian landowners said.
The latest diggings are in preparation for the further construction of Israel's separation wall, as Israel attempts to enlarge its Jerusalem municipal borders into the West Bank.
One land owner, Jamal Barghouti, said more than 80 olive trees were uprooted in the process, as well as Cypress trees over 70 years old.
Meanwhile, a flying checkpoint was also reportedly erected at the village's entrance.
In May, former Yale professor Mazen Qumsiyeh, was among four detained by Israeli forces during protests against the construction of the separation wall in Al-Walaja.
At the time, an Israeli border police spokesman said "Almost every day they attempt to halt construction," commenting on the conditions of the Al-Walaja protests, as the Israel attempts to complete the separation wall.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=290450 11 oct 2011, 14:36 , Respect -
Maria 21 juni 2010
Heatwave causes Qalqiliya crop fires
Qalqiliya – Ma'an – The current heatwave has led to several crop fires across the Qalqiliya district on Monday, Palestinian civil defense forces report read.
Citrus groves have been the most affected by the outbreak of natural fires, the report read. The unseasonably hot weather led to a fire erupting on 50 dunums of planted olive trees southeast of the Kufr Aboush village in the district, which was controlled by civil defense crews.
Earlier, a police statement said Palestinian firefighters controlled a fire on 120 dunums of farmland in the Baqa village east of Qalqiliya, which broke out on an olive and orange grove.
Crews were able to extinguish the fire and rescue the crops, police wrote.
Police cautioned residents to be weary of natural fires caused by the current heatwave, advising locals to stay clear of any blaze erupting on agricultural land.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=293614 13 oct 2011, 09:57 , Respect -
Maria 24 juni 2010
Fires doused in Jenin, Qalqiliya
Ramallah - Ma'an - Firefighters put out several blazes in the northern West Bank on Thursday, civil defense crews said.
In a roundup report, the Palestinian Authority civil defense unit said forces put out fires at a furniture factory and a car in Jenin, while a house-fire in Qalqiliya was also doused.
There was no mention of injury or damage.
A heat wave has led to several fires across the West Bank in recent days.
Citrus groves have been the most affected by the outbreak, a recent police report said. The unseasonably hot weather led to a fire on an olive grove in Qalqiliya, which was controlled by civil defense crews.
Earlier, police said firefighters controlled a fire in the Baqa village east of Qalqiliya that broke out on an olive and orange grove. Crews were able to extinguish the fire and rescue the crops, police said.
Authorities have cautioned residents to be weary of natural fires caused by the heat wave.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=294430 13 oct 2011, 23:41 , Respect -
Maria 8 juli 2010
Palestinians face being walled by Israeli security barrier
Palestinian farmer Ahmed Bargouth looks at his family's land where Israel's controversial security barrier will pass in the West Bank village of Al Walaja.
Al Walaja in the West Bank turned into an enclave despite residents' protests
Sixty-three-year-old Ahmed Bargouth sits in the shade of a walnut tree and contemplates the view before him.
Across the valley is Jerusalem's zoo, which his grandchildren have never been able to visit, although they have watched animals through binoculars.
Below is the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv railway, also never travelled by the Bargouth family. Its route here marks the Green line, drawn after Israeli and Arab armies agreed an armistice in 1949, when Bargouth was aged two, which placed most of the original village of Al Walaja out of the reach of its Palestinian owners. A cluster of Israeli houses stand on land owned, inhabited and farmed by the Bargouth family and other villagers.
Behind Bargouth is the Jewish settlement of Har Gilo, built illegally under international law on occupied Palestinian territory and fast encroaching on what remains of the diminished village.
And in front of Bargouth's garden, planted with figs, plums, grapes and pomegranates, is an ugly scar of raw flattened earth where Israel is erecting a section of its separation barrier that will encircle the village and cut off farmers from fields, students from places of learning and patients from hospitals.
The original route of the barrier which Israel says is necessary for security reasons would have cut Al Walaja in two. The community launched a legal petition to keep the village intact, which was granted with the catch that the revised route, announced in April 2006, would completely encage the village. Al Walaja would become a tiny Palestinian enclave connected to the nearest West Bank town by one road or tunnel controlled by a checkpoint.
This spring the bulldozers arrived. To Bargouth's dismay and anger, the barrier which he expects to be a concrete base topped by a fence will run through his land a few metres from his house. To create the required 100 metre-wide strip of restricted ground for the barrier's route, the Israeli military uprooted 88 of Bargouth's olive trees.
"Some were 180 years old, some were new trees," he said. The military offered to replant the trees, but Bargouth refused to be complicit in the action. "They had no right to uproot my trees. Why should I tell them where to replant them?"
More than 80% of Bargouth's land will be on the other side of the barrier. Going by the experience of other West Bank farmers cut off from their land by the barrier, he expects at best extremely limited access. The future, he says, is bleak.
"There will be no other source of income. We are decent people, we work hard. My children and grandchildren will look at the wall in front of us and know they have stolen our land."
But it is not only future generations that Bargouth is concerned about. Just below his terraces of fruit trees lies the family cemetery where his parents and his grandmother are buried. It is directly in the path of the barrier. "I went to court to get an order, preventing them touching the tombs," he said. A hearing later this month will decide on which side of the barrier the graves will end up. "Not only are the living suffering, but also the dead. Why should I need a permit to visit the graves of my parents?"
According to the UNRWA, the United Nations body that deals with Palestinian refugees, around 70% of Al Walaja's land was lost in the 1948 war. Then, following the six-day war in 1967, nearly half the remaining land was annexed by Israel and placed under the expanded Jerusalem borders. In the 1970s more land was confiscated for Jewish settlements. Now even more land is being taken to construct the barrier.
Half the village is now part of Jerusalem; the other half part of the West Bank. But because almost no villagers hold Jerusalem residency permits, they have no legal basis to live in or even cross into the "Jerusalem" side of the village. Dozens of people have been arrested over the years.
It also means they cannot get permission to build. Forty-five unauthorised homes were demolished between 1985 and 2005, and another 45 have pending demolition orders. Earlier this year, after a lull in orders, two more families received notice that their homes were scheduled for demolition.
The main source of income for Al Walaja's 2,040 inhabitants nearly all registered refugees from 1948 is agriculture. UNRWA is deeply concerned that farmers will be prevented from planting and harvesting crops and grazing sheep and goats on land on other side of the encircling barrier.
There are no health facilities in the village, and older children go to school in nearby Beit Jala or Bethlehem. No one knows whether continuous access in or out of the village will be allowed once the barrier is complete.
Al Walaja has been the focus in recent months of protests against the barrier involving villagers and Israeli and international activists. Bargouth hopes there will be more, despite the stiff military presence containing demonstrators. But, he believes, non-violent protest may not be enough to save his and others' land.
"The occupation must be resisted by all methods, from demonstrations to the gun," he says.
Symbol of peace
Alongside its bleak past, Al Walaja has another historical claim one that, thankfully, has so far escaped the political traumas of the past seven decades.
Down a steep stony track and behind a padlocked gate stands what is thought to be the world's oldest olive tree. Dated variously at 5,000 and 7,000 years old, the tree's magnificent knotted and interweaving trunks and abundant leaves are tended daily by Salah Abu Ali, 38, whose family owns the land.
When a natural spring which irrigated the tree dried up a few years ago, it stopped producing its annual harvest of half a ton of olives, says Abu Ali.
But for two years he has watered the tree by hand and has been rewarded by the appearance of new branches. "It has a promising future," he says.
The olive branch is an international symbol of peace.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/08/palestinians-israeli-security-barrier 20 oct 2011, 18:56 , Respect -
Maria 23 juli 2010
Ramallah: Settlers burn olive trees under military guard
Ramallah – Ma'an – Soldiers protected Israeli settlers as they set fire to olive trees in Saffa village near the West Bank city Ramallah on Thursday, witnesses reported.
Residents and firefighters rushed to the scene, eyewitnesses said, but Israeli soldiers would not allow them to access the land.
Yousef Karajah, member of the popular committee against the wall, said more than seven square kilometers of land were burned.
The Israeli Civil Administration did not respond immediately to requests for comment by phone and e-mail.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=301809 31 oct 2011, 22:32 , Respect -
Maria 26 juli 2010
Fresh settler attacks in Nablus area
Nablus - Ma'an - On Monday evening, settlers launched their second attack of the day on a northern West Bank village, setting fire to land and olive trees and throwing rocks.
Ambulances and firefighters rushed to Burin village to control the flames apparently started by residents of the illegal Yizhar settlement, Palestinian Authority settlement affairs officer Ghassan Doughlas said.
Earlier, dozens of armed settlers raided the village, opening fire on villagers, in protest over their government’s demolition of structures they had built in an illegal outpost. Four settlers were injured in ensuing clashes, as villagers responded to the attack by throwing rocks.
Two Palestinians, Rasim Abid Batouni and 40-year-old Ibrahim Adil Eid, were also injured.
Reports said the nearby Huwwara checkpoint closed Monday evening for the second time in eight hours due to the riots. Witnesses reported earlier that settlers stationed in the area’s hills were throwing rocks at Palestinian cars, which shattered several windscreens. Driver Hashim Abu Zaytoun said settlers attacked a bus belonging to the Beita Bus Company, smashing its windshield.
Settler leader Gershon Mesika blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the "despicable" act of tearing down the structure. "This house will be built again," he said, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=302706
Settlers riot near Huwwara checkpoint
Nablus Ma'an Israeli residents of an illegal West Bank settlement rioted near the Huwwara checkpoint in Nablus on Monday, protesting a decision to demolish illegal structures, onlookers said.
Witnesses said Israeli forces closed the checkpoint in response and that dozens of Israeli policemen operating the West Bank were unable to disperse the riot, diverting traffic to the nearby Awarta commercial checkpoint.
The Israeli settlers were protesting the razing of illegally-installed mobile homes in the nearby Yitzhar settlement, setting fire to Palestinian olive trees in an apparent "price tag" reprisal for the demolitions. Palestinian fire crews deployed at the site to contain and extinguish the fire.
An Israeli military representative said, however, that the checkpoint was not closed. According to Israeli online news site Ynet, the rioters attempted to break through the checkpoint.
Palestinian Authority settlement affairs chief in the northern West Bank Ghassan Doughlas said some settlers opened fire at Palestinian homes in the nearby Burin village.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=302515 20 nov 2011, 16:11 , Respect -
Maria 27 juli 2010
Settlers launch new attack
Nablus - Ma'an - On Monday evening, settlers launched their second attack of the day on a northern West Bank village, setting fire to land and olive trees and throwing rocks.
Ambulances and firefighters rushed to Burin village to control the flames apparently started by residents of the illegal Yizhar settlement, Palestinian Authority settlement affairs officer Ghassan Doughlas said.
Earlier, dozens of armed settlers raided the village, opening fire on villagers, in protest over their government's demolition of structures they had built in an illegal outpost. Four settlers were injured in ensuing clashes, as villagers responded to the attack by throwing rocks.
Two Palestinians, Rasim Abid Batouni and 40-year-old Ibrahim Adil Eid, were also injured.
Reports said the nearby Huwwara checkpoint closed Monday evening for the second time in eight hours due to the riots. Witnesses reported earlier that settlers stationed in the area's hills were throwing rocks at Palestinian cars, which shattered several windscreens. Driver Hashim Abu Zaytoun said settlers attacked a bus belonging to the Beita Bus Company, smashing its windshield.
Settler leader Gershon Mesika blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the "despicable" act of tearing down the structure. "This house will be built again," he said, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=302706
North remains target for settler violence
Nablus - Ma'an - Israeli forces entered the northern West Bank village of Beit Furik Monday night, residents reported, and sealed off the military checkpoint at the main entrance to the area.
Witnesses said troops paroling the village after the checkpoint was closed had opened random fire. An Israeli military spokesman said he was looking into the report.
Beit Furik is located less than five kilometers northeast of Huwwara village and the Israeli military checkpoint at the edge of the area, where settlers set fire to several dunums of olive groves on Monday afternoon in Burin, just west of Huwwara, and later traveled to the checkpoint itself for further protests.
Huwwara checkpoint was sealed twice during the day, and Israeli military was dispatched to quell the violence, as settler leaders reportedly exacted a "price tag" from Palestinians in response to ongoing peace talks around a two-state solution.
The settler violence continued on into the night, with reports from residents from Nabi Salah north of Ramallah saying settlers from the Hallamesh settlement entered the town and perpetrated several acts of violence and vandalism, including breaking windows of homes and cars.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=302777 5 dec 2011, 10:36 , Respect -
Maria 30 juli 2010
Settlers attack Burin village, fires spread
Nablus Ma'an Dozens of Israeli settlers attacked a village south of the West Bank city of Nablus and set fire to village land on Friday, reports said.
Ghassan Doughlas, a Palestinian Authority settlement affairs officer who monitors the northern West Bank, said residents of the illegal Bracha settlement raided Burin village, broke into a home which is under construction and tried to demolish it, and started a fire on the village's eastern side, in the As-Seb mountain area.
Israeli soldiers intervened in the ensuing clashes, firing tear gas and sound bombs at villagers.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said soldiers saw a gathering of Palestinians close to the Bracha settlement, and attempted to disperse the crowd, adding that tear gas and sound grenades were fired when Palestinians threw rocks at Israeli forces. She was not familiar with any fires in the area.
Settlers, angry at their government's demolition of a structure they had built on an illegal outpost, have launched several attacks on the village of Burin this week.
On Monday morning, armed settlers raided the village and opened fire on villagers and set fire to village land. Four settlers and two Palestinians were injured in the ensuing clashes.
The nearby Huwwara checkpoint was closed due to rioting and Palestinian drivers reported that their windscreens were shattered as settlers, stationed in surrounding hills, threw rocks at Palestinian cars.
On Monday evening, settlers set fire to village land again, destroying more olive trees.
Settler leader Gershon Mesika blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the "despicable" act of tearing down the structure. "This house will be built again," he said, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=303816 14 jan 2012, 09:22 , Respect -
Maria 6 aug 2010
Masked settlers assault peace activists
HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers violently attacked two international peace activists in a neighborhood east of Hebron on Friday, the International Solidarity Movement reported.
Witnesses said three masked settlers attacked the activists in the Al-Buweira neighborhood, and fled after taking their passports and cameras, adding that Israeli soldiers offered the activists first aid.
Canadian national Peter Cunliffe, 26, and Koba Soernesen, 23, from Denmark, were transferred to the Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron, where medics said they had been harshly beaten.
In an ISM statement, the activists said the unprovoked attack occurred while they were sitting under a fig tree, although locals said they were in a car when the attack began.
Cunliffe was knocked to the ground and beaten with metal poles and wooden sticks, and treated for a probable broken nose, the statement said, while Soernesen sustained injuries to his left foot and is unable to stand following the attack.
Soernesen said the settlers appeared from nowhere, explaining, Peter had his back to them and didn't see them coming. They continued to beat him when he was on the floor, but I was able to fend them off a bit with my leg.
An ISM spokeswoman confirmed that Cunliffe will be having surgery for a broken nose on Saturday. She added that Soernesen had been threatened by settlers the day before the attack.
Peace activists in the area have been trying to prevent settlers setting fire to olive trees, and documenting attacks on Palestinians by settlers.
Locals said a Palestinian woman was beaten by settlers in the same area on Thursday.
The recent bout of settler violence follows the evacuation by Israeli authorities of an illegal Israeli outpost near the Kiryat Arba settlement in Hebron.
The more extreme of Israel's 500,000 settlers operate a price tag strategy, committing violent acts against Palestinians as a price for every perceived injustice carried out by Israeli authorities against settlers.
The strategy has been condemned by international organizations and in several reports by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
In a recent report, Israeli rights group B'Tselem said an undeclared policy of leniency is applied to settlers, who rarely face prosecution for acts of violence against Palestinians.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=305882
Settlers torch farmland east of Nablus
NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers set fire to hundreds of dunums of farmland in the northern West Bank village of Beit Furik, locals said.
High temperatures, dry earth and a water shortage all caused the fire to spread rapidly, witnesses added, noting a delay in the arrival of Civil Defense Crews.
Ghassan Doughlas, a Palestinian Authority settlement affairs officer who monitors the northern West Bank, said the fires started east of the Beit Furik, near the illegal Itamar settlement, an area Palestinians cannot reach because of an Israeli military bridge.
Olive, fig and almond trees were destroyed in the attack in addition to several grape vines, Doughlas said, adding that Palestinian firefighters vehicles could not reach the area because of the terrain.
The PA official called on officials from the EU, US, UN and Russia, who make up the Middle East Quartet, to end settler attacks on Palestinians in order to push the peace process forward.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=305876 14 jan 2012, 13:35 , Respect -
Maria 16 aug 2010
Official: Settlers uproot 200 olive trees south of Nablus
NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli residents living on an illegal West Bank outpost uprooted over 200 olive trees near the Qusra village in the Nablus district Monday, a Palestinian Authority official said.
PA settlement affairs officer in the northern West Bank Ghassan Doughlas said residents of the nearby Svhut Rachel outpost ascended upon the village, uprooting the olive grove which belonged to Ali Abdul Hamid Mohammad Hassan.
Doughlas called on the international community to pressure Israel to stop settler attacks against Palestinians and their property.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=308393 14 jan 2012, 13:37 , Respect -
Maria 19 aug 2010
Witnesses: Armed settler threatens farmers
NABLUS (Ma'an) -- An armed settler accompanied by settlement security guards prevented Palestinian farmers and peace activists from irrigating their land near Nablus on Thursday morning, witnesses said.
A resident of the illegal Itamar settlement, carrying a rifle and traveling in an armored vehicle with guards, approached farmers en route to water their recently planted olive trees. Witnesses said the settler threatened to shoot the farmers, from Awarta village, if they did not leave the area.
Israeli forces arrived and reiterated the settler’s orders, giving the farmers five minutes to evacuate the area, locals added.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said an armed security guard working at Itamar noticed a group of around 30 gathered near the settlement and notified the Israeli army, before approaching the group himself. Soldiers arrived and inspected the group's documents, and permitted some farmers to work their land, she added. The spokeswoman was not aware of the presence of an armed settler.
Hassan Awad, head of Awarta village council, said that villagers will continue to work on their land every Thursday to protest the expansion of illegal settlements on their land.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=309294