While looking upon olive trees as they burnt Israeli settlers laughed and shouted in delight “Death to Arabs.”
On Sunday (15/5/2022) afternoon Israeli settlers set fire to olive trees in the Wadi Al-Hussain area adjacent to the “Kiryat Arba” settlement in the city of al-Khalil (Hebron). Jamal Abu Saifan a local activist said that the fire had destroyed a large number of olive trees owned by his brother Jamil Abu Saifan. “The Israeli settlers used to provoke us from time to time they sometimes invade our homes shoot at us members in my family were injured” Abu Saifan said. “They either steal our crops or burn our trees.”
This became a daily scene being witnessed in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
In recent months Palestinians throughout the occupied West Bank have been subject to brutal escalating and continuous attacks by Israeli setters. These settler attacks are primarily directed against Palestinian families who live in small farms villages and towns in the occupied West Bank adjacent to Israeli settlements. Many of these Palestinians live in an area called Area C which is designated under full Israeli civil and security control “and where the Israeli annexation ploy is more evident.”
Settler violence takes many forms against Palestinians including physical violence shooting live bullets setting fire to fields and livestock theft and vandalization of property trees and crops throwing stones and intimidating herders and their families.
The United Nations has repeatedly stated that the Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are a ‘flagrant violation under international law’.
In the fall season settlers’ violence is often directed at Palestinians who are picking olives. The harvested olives are stolen or destroyed and olive trees are burnt or cut down. Olive farmers are also attacked with stones and pipes or threatened with weapons.
On numerous occasions settlers have seized private or public Palestinian land bringing sheep and other livestock to graze the land as a pretext to expelling Palestinians from their land. When local Palestinians try to preserve their land they are often met with violence.
In recent weeks several brutal acts have been reported. In early May Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians and their cars during rallies in multiple locations across the occupied West Bank. Settlers assaulted the elderly Mohammed Abdel Fattah Shalaldeh 70 who sustained fractures and injuries after the violent attack near the village of Kisan east of Bethlehem in the southern West Bank as reported by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
In just the past week alone WAFA also reported that a group of settlers from the illegal settlement of “Ibi Hanahel” attacked the residents of the Al-Kanub area near the village of Kisan with stones. Dozens of settlers gathered on lands belonging to a Palestinian family near the settlement of Tekoa east of Bethlehem and settlers from Kiryat Arba settlement east of al-Khalil threw stones at Palestinian vehicles smashing the windows of a number of them.
Not far from Kiryat Arba also in the south of the West Bank a number of settlers gathered at the “Gush Etzion” settlement junction south of Bethlehem to raise Israeli flags and chant racist slogans. Elsewhere in the West Bank groups of masked settlers carrying Israeli flags also gathered near the settlement of “Eli” at the Za’tara checkpoint south of Nablus in the presence of the army.
Settler groups announced via social media their intention to continue to organize and carry out demonstrations in several areas in the occupied West Bank.
Occupation army stands idly by
Badee Dwaik an activist from al-Khalil stated “We witness nearly everyday settlers’ violence the occupation army are watching…They interfere only if they see Palestinians fight back and defend themselves.”
The Israeli government and its military have done nothing to curb this violence and protect the beleaguered Palestinians.
In many cases according to Palestinians Israeli security forces and outside private security companies stand idly by taking no action to prevent violence. Instead they respond to settler-related violence by ordering Palestinians to leave the area including Palestinian-owned land or even actively supporting settlers.
According to UN human rights experts in the occupied territories “the ubiquity of these attacks and the credible reports of the Israeli military’s passivity in combating this violence has deepened the atmosphere of fear and coercion throughout the West Bank.” A report released by the UN in November 2021 notes that “the failure of Israel the occupying power to exercise its core obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention including Article 27 to protect the occupied population is severely worrying.”
According to the Israeli Center for Human Rights B’tselem there are official and unofficial ways in which Israel encourages Jews to move to settlements and develop financial ventures in and around them. Among other things B’tselem reports that Israel offers settlers housing benefits allowing lower-income families to purchase homes. These benefits are one factor contributing to the growth in the settler population.
The report also detailed how Israeli industrial zones in the West Bank receive benefits and incentives through offers of discounted land fees and employment subsidies to factories encouraging their steady growth. More incentives provided by various authorities encourage settlers to take over Palestinian farmland and pastureland. Over the last decade settlers have established some 40 sheep and cattle farms throughout the West Bank where access is now completely or mostly denied to Palestinians.
The settler violence in occupied Palestine is as much a tool of the occupation’s control over Palestinian territory as checkpoints and military patrols. As the occupation expands its position throughout occupied Palestine so too does the settler violence increase indicating that settler violence is not an anomaly but a feature of the occupation.”
– Wafa Aludaini is a Gaza based journalist. She contributed this article to the Palestinian Information Center.
