Settler Militia Violence Against Palestinian Farming Families by CPT, Le Anne Clausen 6:41pm Fri Aug 23 '02 address: . Father: "The roadblock has been there for one week. A gang of settler security has been riding through the area, and frequently assaulting Palestinians. Sometimes they have seen us trying to cross, and come out and start beating us. We also must carry our supplies over the roadblock, and they grab the supplies, the sacks of flour from us and destroy them. Three days earlier, a group of three armed settlers from the militia came door to door in the neighborhood asking, "Who lives here? Why are you here? This is the land of Israel!" print article CPT Special Focus Report: Settler Militia Violence Against Palestinian Farming Families By Le Anne Clausen During the past month (July 2002), CPTers interviewed several farming families living in the vicinity of the Israeli settlement of Harsina, [which is situated between the city of Hebron and the Beqa'a Valley]. The CPTers discovered that all of the families had suffered numerous incidents of violence from a militia of settlers known as "Settler Security." While the level of incidents has increased sharply in the region in the past few weeks, the families have reported a steady string of assaults over the past several months. The team is alarmed by the overall pattern of settler militia behavior in and around the edges of the city of Hebron and is working to prevent further violence to the families in these areas. Many of the families interviewed asked their names not be used in this report due to concerns about settler retaliation. CPTers Le Anne Clausen and Jim Satterwhite and a translator visited the Al-Bweira hillside neighborhood of Hebron to investigate a field that settlers had destroyed earlier in the week. On their way, they crossed a roadblock set up just outside the back gate to the settlement of Harsina and stopped at a neighbor's house to help locate the field. Family #1 Father: "The roadblock has been there for one week. A gang of settler security has been riding through the area, and frequently assaulting Palestinians. Sometimes they have seen us trying to cross, and come out and start beating us. We also must carry our supplies over the roadblock, and they grab the supplies, the sacks of flour from us and destroy them. Three days earlier, a group of three armed settlers from the militia came door to door in the neighborhood asking, "Who lives here? Why are you here? This is the land of Israel!" When some families didn't answer the door, the settler gang returned and threw stones at their houses at 1:00 in the morning. "I saw an officer from the Civil Administration [military government] in the area the previous day, so I stopped to complain about the roadblock. I told the officer I have children, and that the settlers grab and destroy my groceries when they see me trying to get across the roadblock. I said, "I have fourteen children. How can I bring them food?" The officer said, "You deserve this treatment. You cause the bombings." When I said that I had no hand in the bombings, the officer said, "Buy a donkey, then." When I said that even a donkey couldn't pass over the roadblock, the officer said, "Okay then, leave," and drove away. "Yesterday, farmers in the area were trying to move their boxes of produce across the roadblock when the security came out to stop them. They destroyed everything. A few months earlier a group of international volunteers came to help us with our harvest. The security detained the internationals and called the police, who took the internationals away. The police discriminate against us. If a Palestinian is attacked, it takes one hour or more for the police to show up. If a settler is attacked, only minutes. "I am afraid that the security might retaliate after the CPTers leave. Last year, when two other CPTers came to visit, some settlers grabbed my son off the road, carried him to the start of our property, and heaved him over a seven-foot high fence. My son had three fractures to his arm as a result. Settlers also threw stones at the house, hitting my seven-year-old daughter in the face. The settlers then said to us, "If you file any complaint against us, we'll show you something that you've never seen." Out of fear, we did not complain to the police. You can see if you go walking, the security inside Harsina has cameras pointed toward on the road and the our houses, so that even when settlers are not outside, they are aware of visitors and will send militia down to harass the families. "One month before this Intifada began, I was badly beaten by the Israeli Border Police. My skull, knee, and leg were fractured in the attack. They struck me with rifle butts and large stones, and kicked me. Afterwards, the Border Police dumped me by the road and left me. I was unconscious then. There was one officer who didn't get out of the jeep. I think his brother or cousin was killed in South Lebanon. They talked about the soldier killed while they were beating me. I know I wasn't the only one beaten that day. There were many men that day. "The soldiers occupy a tall house in our neighborhood, watching everyone coming and going. If the settlers don't like someone passing by, they call the soldiers, who then shoot randomly into the neighborhood. "The problem isn't the settlers, but the settler security. The settler security at Harsina and Kiryat Arba are the worst of all that exist in the West Bank. We don't really encounter other settlers. According to the law, settler security cannot touch a Palestinian or demand their ID cards, but the settler security has taken the law into their own hands. We try to report settler attacks to the police, but the police pay no attention. When the political situation is bad, the police do nothing. Filing complaints is worthless. Seven years ago, there was more justice for us when the settlers did something. So I will keep filing the reports and saving copies, because there might be justice when the situation improves. "The security also uprooted irrigation lines in one of the neighbors' fields near Route 60. They said it was illegal for Palestinian farmers to water their crops. On Wednesday, the Security detained two brothers, Ziyad and Fathi Sultan, and accused them of stealing water from the settlers. They are 55 and 70 years old. The settlement construction destroyed the Palestinian water lines several years ago, and the settlers and military promised to provide us with water instead. However, they have not kept this promise. "When I used to work in Israel, I would enter a house and feel like one of the family. Israelis are different from the settlers. There is still a small group of good people in Kiryat Arba who want peace. One settler speaks Arabic and told me he is a Palestinian Jew. This settler moved to Kiryat Arba from Jerusalem because of the [Israeli government's economic] subsidies. However, all his children returned to Jerusalem because they were unhappy with the environment in Kiryat Arba." After the CPTers documented the field that had been razed by settler security, they walked along the new road encircling the settlement. The road appears to connect the back gate of Harsina with the military base in Wadi Roos. As they walked into the Ein Bnei Salim neighborhood, a young man approached to show them his family's field. Accompanied by the CPTers and translator, they walked out into the field, which lay empty just under the settlement. Family #2 Son: "My brother, who is 25 years old, has served a month and a half of a six-month sentence for being in our field, which has been confiscated by the settlement. My other brother in the family was beaten while working in our field. Once, I had to cross the field in order to catch one of our rabbits that had run away. Settlers threatened me saying, "Next time, we will shoot you." I would not walk out here now, except that you are with me. Otherwise they would come down and do something to me. The field produced vegetables throughout the year and was our main source of food and income. Look here, settlers dug large holes in the land to make it impossible to cultivate or walk through. "Settlers opened the new road around two months ago, at about the same time they put up a larger fence around the settlement. All the families here have received military orders forbidding us to build new houses in the area, and we may only add one additional floor to each existing house. [The CPTers counted at least eight multi-family houses in the immediate area of the settlement expansion]. We worry that we may be forbidden to work in any of our fields that are located within 200 meters of the road, just like other Palestinians with fields near settler roads. Son, joined by Parents: "We do appreciate the new settlement boundary fence because settlers have not come down to our houses to attack us since it was installed. Only one house still suffers regularly from settler harassment, because it is located near the fence and settlers throw stones from the other side of the fence. This usually happens on Shabbat. All the families in the neighborhood frequently complain to the police, but the police have done nothing to help us. Other times, the settlers themselves bring along the soldiers or police to back them up when they want to confront us. It was unsafe for us to leave our homes during the early evenings before the fence was installed because of the settler attacks. The windows of our sunroom were completely destroyed by settlers throwing stones. The Hebron Rehabilitation Committee replaced the glass for us." Janet Shoemaker and Le Anne Clausen returned to the Al-Bweira neighborhood next to Harsina to interview a family whose vineyard was destroyed two nights earlier. Settlers had cut 100-125 vines. The vineyard is located 50 meters from a manned Israeli military watchtower. Family #3 Husband: "I went to my vines at 5:00am when I awoke and saw from my window that the arbors were sagging strangely. On the way, soldiers in the watchtower threatened me with their rifles because curfew had not yet been lifted. Cutting a vine is like losing a member of the family. You spend so many years nurturing each plant until it bears fruit. Each vine bears 100 lbs of fruit per year. The vineyard was the main source of income for our family. We are devastated by the loss. We have worked ten years cultivating that land, and have only reaped three years' worth of crops. Now we have nothing. We applied to the Agricultural Relief Department, but the Department only distributes a small amount of food supplies rather than compensation for damages. We also called the police, who said that they would come to document the damage, but never showed up. "My wife will have our first child in a few days. But I am worried that she will go into labor at night while there is curfew, and we risk being shot by the security if we try to make it to the hospital. We are also afraid of the soldiers stopping our car and jailing us for violating the curfew. "Our family bought land several decades ago in partnership with another local family. The title to the land is in both families' names. The other family sold their portion off to the settlers some years ago, and now the settlers are trying to take our portion as well. We are challenging the confiscation in the Israeli High Court. The law states that if land is confiscated but not sold, settlers cannot build on the property. If we lose the case, we will receive a minimal 'compensation' for our land. During our case, the High Court has stopped an Israeli development corporation that had already laid foundations from further building on the land. The police told us that we may cultivate our land in the meantime, but we cannot build houses or greenhouses on the property. When I asked why the settlers can build, the police didn't answer." As the CPTers were interviewing the family, several neighbors dropped by to tell their stories as well. Farmer: "We have to take a 10-kilometer detour around the blocked road in order to bring our crops into the market in Hebron. One day last week, some of the farmers tried to remove the roadblock, but the security arrived and chased them away. We are afraid to resist by removing the roadblock because we would likely be sent to prison and no one would notice. The security has been shooting at pedestrians along Route 60. It is more dangerous for us to work our fields along the highway. But we have to go. Two weeks ago, they fired three shots at Ismail Sultan in his vineyard. We have all complained about the security's behavior to the police, but the police have ignored us. One of the greatest difficulties we face is when our gas runs out and we have to bring it from the city. The detour road is extremely rough for using donkeys or handcarts, and only a few of the farmers have carts to begin with. The rest must carry their goods by hand. We don't know what will happen now since the settlers have closed off the road. We are most afraid that our fields will be destroyed. Ziyad and Fathi are still in police custody. They were due to be released Friday evening, but were kept an additional day due to Shabbat. The police can make decisions like that." Truck Driver: "I haven't been allowed to deliver my goods for the past month. Hebron residents are seen as 'troublemakers' by the military and not allowed to pass the checkpoints. The only Palestinians who are allowed to move between roadblocks are those with ID cards from the Jordan Valley villages. When I went and tried to reason with the soldiers that I should be allowed to pass since I am not on any of the military's wanted lists, the soldiers replied, "We know you are clean, but we have orders." The military told me to apply to the Civil Administration for a permit. I went, but I didn't get a permit. Hundreds of Palestinians are waiting for permits, but the permits are only given to owners of large companies that do business considered vital to Israel's economy." Shoemaker and Clausen also interviewed another family whose house is situated close to the paved road. They showed the CPTers damage from settlers standing outside their gate and throwing stones into the front yard. As a result, their yard lights and front door glass had been shattered, and their intercom on the gate smashed. Family #4 Father: "Every day beginning with early evening here, it is like curfew. We don't dare go out, because of the settler attacks. Seven months ago, we had guests for our sister's engagement party, who parked outside the gate. A settler gang came by and slashed all the car tires. The settlers have also repeatedly thrown stones at visitors to the house. Even our relatives don't visit anymore. There are 70 or 75 families living in 33 houses that are affected by this roadblock. The land lying 100 meters past our house [and extending down the valley to Route 60] has all been confiscated. Who knows what will happen next?" add your comments Source file

Palestinians Or Chechens?.. by Avi Gurwitz 10:13pm Fri Aug 23 '02 print comment The settlers think that Palestinians are Chechens. The daily assaulting of Arabs is done Russian way. As to the Stealing Wall - settlers and CIA-exKGB Ltd call it a fence - it cannot protect settlers forever. That's why they are afraid. Like Russians in Caucasus. add your comments

hello by me 6:26pm Sun Aug 25 '02 print comment With all due respect, The protests that the Jewish citizens of Judaea and samaria are the classic example of nonviolent resistance. The wicked beasts. The Nazis who not only worshiop Satan/MOhammed but as taught by the stinky Q'uran that when they perform palestine/suicide bombing they "Take the soul of mohammed in thier hand" - I.e. they become body and soul of their Islamic Lord Satan add your comments

WRONG by Shive 6:57pm Sun Aug 25 '02 print comment Islam strictly forbids suicide and the slaughter of women, children, elderly and non-combatants. Though you are correct that the people who have vainly thrown away their lives in suicide bombings have heeded to the whispers of Satan. Mohammed (peace be upon him) was nothing more than a man like you and myself and anyone who tells u otherwise has fallen into idolatry. The G-d of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Issac, Ishmael, Jacob, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, Benjamin, Moses, David, Solomon, Jesus and Muhammad is the same G-d. To ascribe partners to G-d or to say that he has begotten a son is idolatry. G-d sent these messengers to mankind as a guidance and example but men like yourself a willful and stubborn and hear only the lies of the accursed regardless of whether they call themselves Jewish, Christian or Muslim their acts will attest to or betray their words. add your comments

Settlers = War Criminals by John Veldhuis 3:08pm Mon Aug 26 '02 print comment Israeli civilians found in Gaza or WestBank should all be treated as war criminals. Their children should be rescued from them. add your comments