Mas-ha: Thriving Town Taken by the Wall

Tuesday, 7 July 2009

On Tuesday three members of MPT visited Mas-ha, a village of 2,500 people thirty minutes southwest of Nablus. MPT was invited to visit the village by a friend who currently lives in the United States and is originally from Mas-ha.

A view of Mas-ha from the top of the mosque's minaret

Mas-ha is a village surrounded on three sides by Israeli settlements/the Separation Wall and on one side by an Israeli-only road. Before the second intifada, Mas-ha was a thriving market town with a direct road into Tel Aviv, where Israelis and Palestinians coexisted and conducted daily business with one another. Every week Palestinian merchants traveled to Mas-ha where Israeli customers could buy Palestinian-made products at a lower price than in Israel proper. But as a result of the second Intifada Israel closed down the main road thereby ending trade with local Israelis, building an Israeli-only road that runs next to Mas-ha. Today Mas-ha has an extremely high rate of unemployment as a result of the Separation Wall.

The Israeli-only road just beyond the Wall

Three settlements border Mas-ha (El Kana, Ezz Efraim and Sha'ari Tekva) erected on land confiscated from local Mas-ha residents and neighboring villagers. The road Israel has built to connect these two settlements is not a direct route but rather snakes around two large hills composed of Mas-ha olive groves. Furthermore, Israel usually grants only the oldest men in a family the permission to pick olives in those groves in controversial areas – groves near the Wall or settlements. While MPT was there, construction workers were mining in one of the large hills, presumably for future settlement expansion in the area. This annexed area is divided from Mas-ha by the Separation Wall. Concrete in some areas and an electrified fence in others, this wall is under 24 hour surveillance by the Israeli military. Our tour guides explained that if anyone approaches the fence/Separation Barrier, sensors alert the military who immediately come to the scene. During MPT’s tour we observed a large tractor that sweeps the dirt near the Separation Barrier daily so that the military can see any new footprints.

Beyond the wall, Israeli construction is going on, presumably the construction of a settlement.

Military vehicle driving by as we stand near the Separation Barrier.

The final leg of our tour involved visiting on Palestinian family’s home that is completely surrounded by the Separation Wall. To the left of the house is the Elqana settlement and to the right is a series of four gates that separate Mas-ha from the house. This house, once a part of Mas-ha, became isolated in 2003 with the construction of the Separation Wall. The children are not able to play in their own front yard because of the daily footprint sweeps conducted by the military, and because of the electric fence/Separation Barrier around their home. Initially the family was not allowed to have any visitors or leave the house as they were under constant curfew. Today there is a locked gate under 24 hour surveillance, which the family and the military have a key too, although members of the family are often harassed or questioned if they have visitors or arrive home late at night. The family has been offered large amounts of money for their land from the Israeli government, but nonviolently resist the occupation by remaining in their home.

The house is completely surrounded by the Wall, which at some parts is concrete, and at other parts is electric fence. You can see Elqana settlement just behind the house. The family that lives here can only enter/exit through this locked door.

Elqana settlement just on the other side of the Wall from Mas-ha.

While visiting in Mas-ha MPT learned about the struggle that Palestinians go through in order to visit their family outside Palestine, in this case to visit the United States. (According to Badil Resource Center for Residency and Refugee Rights 67% of Palestinians live outside of the West Bank, Gaza and Israel proper.)

Palestinians must apply for permission from Israel to enter occupied East Jerusalem where they must then schedule an interview and apply for a visa from the United States embassy in Israel. Most Palestinians are denied at some point during this multi-stage process, or Israel may grant permission only to elderly members of the family who cannot travel alone. One of the men has applied four times to visit his brother in the U.S., and while his elderly mother was granted permission (she cannot travel alone) he was denied three times. The last time they suggested he stop wasting his money on applications. One of his cousins was also denied a visa to visit his family in the United States.

Palestinian pride still holds strong in Mas-ha

MPTers also met one young Palestinian man who is studying in the U.S. but has returned to Mas-ha establish and run a summer camp for fifteen Palestinians between the ages of 16 and 19. One part of the camp includes visiting Jerusalem, a trip most Palestinians in the West Bank are not able to make because Israel denies them the permission to enter. While in Jerusalem he hopes to take them Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial, because according to him Arabs most of all need to see this site.

Nablus: Palestinians Protest Israeli Piracy

Monday, 6 July 2009

MPT attended a small protest of about 50 people, in nearby Nablus on Monday on behalf of Palestinian and humanitarian prisoners. The protest was calm with no disruptions.

The protest was partly inspired by an incident on June 30 in which the Israeli Navy pirated the ship Spirit of Humanity, which was carrying three tons of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. They also detained the human rights workers on board. This is the fourth ship that has been sent by the Free Gaza movement. Among those detained were former Congresswoman and 2008 presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney, Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire, and documentarian Adam Shapiro.

The aid came in response to Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has lasted over 24 months. Israel lets very little aid into the Gaza Strip to put economic pressure on Gaza’s government, strangling the civilian population of food, medicine, and communication to the outside world.

The protest was also inspired on behalf of Palestinian prisoners. According to Addameer, an organization promoting human rights for Palestinian prisoners, approximately 20% of Palestinians (about 40% of the male population) have been detained by Israel since 1967. As of March 2005, there are 7500 Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel. Among these is Marwan Barghouti, one of the most powerful Palestinian politicians.



In addition to the Kafkaesque manner in which Palestinians are arrested and tried, they are held in poor conditions. The prisoners are held in overcrowded tents inadequate for extreme weather, are provided with low-quality food in small rations, and are not provided with medical attention, including those injured during their arrest and/or detention. In violation of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child, Palestinian children aged 14+ are tried as adults. During the protest, people held up a banner created by the Palestinian Prisoners Society which said, “There will be no peace, until the liberation of prisoners.”




The man pictured above, the founder and director of the Center for Global Consciousness, read the following translation of a press release from main political parties in the Nablus Governorate in regard to the attack on The Spirit of Humanity ship and the piracy that the Israeli government has practiced against international solidarity with the Gaza Strip and with the Palestinian people:

“The first point is the siege that is imposed on the Gaza Strip, from the air, and the sea, and the land is one of the worst, racist practices in modern history, and it’s a very clear violation of international law and the legitimacy of the United Nations resolutions.

The prevention of the ship of Spirit of Humanity from reaching the shores of Gaza that was carrying humanitarian aid is a very clear challenge from the Israeli government to the whole international community and its legitimacy again.

The ones who have killed the international solidarity activist, American young woman Rachel Corrie, the martyr of humanity is the same occupation that is now categorically besieging the Gaza Strip and preventing food and medicine from our people. This is the same occupation that should be boycotted on all levels – economic boycott, and social and political boycott – against this Israeli-led occupation.

Four: The claims by Israel that the waters adjacent to the Gaza Strip are Israeli territorial waters is completely against international legality, and against all UN resolutions, that present Palestinian land as occupied land and that Israel should withdraw from it in accordance to all international and UN resolutions.

Number five: The call by the international community to support the [???] of solidarity [???] solidarity with the Gaza Strip that is already besieged, especially the American ship that has been sent by the American people and that encompasses a hundred (persons) from around the world, among them the parliamentary George Galloway.

Number six: The attack on journalists and the imprisonment of journalists that accompanied the ship of Spirit of Humanity is a very clear attack on freedom of the press and is an attempt by Israel to divert attention from what’s happening on the ground. It’s an attempt by Israel to camouflage the reality of its crimes against the Gaza Strip and the people of Palestine.”

MPT in Tuba, assist children, witness protest

Thursday, 2 July, 2009 Last Thursday, two MPTers got the chance to travel to the Southern Hebron Hills to spend two nights in the villages of At-Tuwani and Tuba. Both villages are within the borders of Area C meaning that they are under full Israeli control. In At-Tuwani there is no running water, electricity for only four hours a day and villagers are forced to burn their trash since the Israeli government fails to send anyone to pick it up. This is a huge contrast in comparison to the settlement of Ma’On and its illegal counterpart outpost, Havat Ma’On, which have full electricity and running water. According to a recent study done by the World, the region is entering into its fifth year of drought with Israelis getting four-fifths of the water available, leaving Palestinians with a mere one-fifth of the water supply (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/27/israel-palestinian-water-dispute).

Ma’On and Havat Ma’On have created various problems for the villagers in the area. The road leading from At-Tuwani to the small village of Tuba runs right between the settlement and the outpost. This road was the only road directly to and from Tuba, one of the uses being for the children in Tuba going to school in At-Tuwani. Due to settler violence, the road has been closed for over a decade. Whereas it used to take only twenty minutes to get from Tuba to At-Tuwani, villagers now have to travel out of their way on slightly safer paths that can take up to two hours in order to avoid settlers. This has posed problems in the past in situations where someone in the village has fallen sick and needed hospital care. Even taking the long path is too dangerous in the evening or at night because of settler violence against the villagers. Due to the steep hills and rugged terrain, this path can only be traveled by foot or donkey.

There was a time when children from Tuba ceased going to school because the risk was too great. Peace activists and internationals in the area would accompany children to school but in 2004 internationals were brutally beaten by the settlers while escorting the children to school. The Israeli government was forced to provide an escort of four soldiers to accompany the children to and from school under the condition that no Palestinian adults or internationals would be able to walk with them. The soldiers are often late escorting the children and sometimes do not walk them the full way. Since internationals are unable to walk with the children, members from the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) who are stationed in At-Tuwani, monitor the escort by staying with the children until the soldiers arrive and having people on the other side making sure they arrive all the way to school safely. To learn more about CPT’s work in the Hebron region, visit
www.cpt.org/work/palestine.

The small village of Tuba is comprised of two extended families that have been living in the area for several generations. The families are shepherds, taking their sheep out to graze in the hills on a daily basis. This routine task comes with threats of harassment from settlers and the Israeli Army alike. In the past settlers have thrown stones at the shepherds and the internationals who accompany them and have even killed one of the shepherd’s donkeys. With the army, there is always the threat of arrest. The other week two boys, aged 15 and 16, were arrested while attending their sheep. Even though they shepherd their sheep in the same area day after day, the army claimed the boys were on settler owned land. The boys were taken into the city of Hebron and detained for five hours before being let go. Neither boy had any money and one of them had never even been to Hebron before. Hebron is the second largest city in the West Bank and the boys had no way of getting home. Luckily, a CPT member was in town at the same time and was able to bring them back to Tuba. The Friday that MPT was in Tuba, another villager was arrested for letting his graze sheep on privately owned Palestinian land. The army, once again, claimed that it was Israeli owned land.

While shepherding with the children last Saturday, two MPTers witnessed a demonstration right outside the Ma’On settlement by Ta’ayush, an Israeli peace group. Soldiers, police officers, and border security showed up and told protesters to vacate the land, calling this particular area of Tuba a “closed military zone.” MPT walked with members of Ta’ayush back to At-Twani, followed by the Army jeeps where the Army again confronted members of the protest. As far as MPT knows, no arrests were made.

Burin: Palestinians Resist Settlers Nonviolently

Saturday, 4 July 2009

MPT was called shortly after 7pm about a settler attack in the nearby village of Burin (right). We had previously reported on settler vandalism in Burin, particularly on the damage done to the construction of a Palestinian’s house.

Before our arrival, we were told that one of the settlers had shot a gun at the house’s owner and the District Commanding Officer (DCO) had been called. When MPT arrived, settlers stood at the edge of the illegal Urusi outpost of the Har Bracha settlement, peering down through binoculars. MPT kept their cameras on the settlers, deterring any possible assaults from them other than the earlier gunshots. The DCO was seen at the edge of the settlement several minutes after the settlers had retreated, and they told the homeowner’s brother that there could not have been an attack because the settlers were in the middle of their evening prayers.

Settlers looking at us (click to enlarge)

The DCO looking at us (click to enlarge)

Meanwhile, the villagers showed us a few olive trees that settlers had broken at a previous time. In addition, many of their olives had been stolen.

Broken olive tree

When the owner of the vandalized house noted that the settlers damage the property on a daily basis, MPT realized that the owner was resisting nonviolently. Despite the destruction of his home numerous times since construction began, and despite knowing that these attacks will probably not stop after moving into his home, he continues to build – he had laid new pavement since we were last in Burin.

24 June 2009

4 July 2009

This man’s situation is a good example of how difficult it is for Palestinians to build homes anywhere in the West Bank. Under the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, 1995, the West Bank was divided up into three zones: A, B, and C. In Area A the Palestinian Authority has full control de jure. In Area B the Palestinian Authority is in control of administrative matters, but the Israeli army occupies it. Area C is under full control of Israel.

Area C contains the majority of West Bank land, yet it is nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain a building permit from Israel in order to build housing or any other structure. In the time period of 2000-2007, 94.5% of requests from Palestinians for building permits in Area C zones were rejected.

Owner of house showing us damage done by settlers in the past

The man in Burin noted that his house is in Area B, Palestinian land under both the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli army. But he described how Area B can seem like Area C – Palestinian land under the Israeli army that’s forbidden to most Palestinians. His house, he told us, is an example of how Palestinians often cannot even build on Area B. But he is determined to keep his property, despite the problems that come with it.

Huwwara: A Settler Night Visit

Thursday, 2 July 2009

Shortly before 11 p.m. MPTers were phoned by their Palestinian contact, Zakiraya, who told them that a Huwwara resident driving down the main highway had noticed that a group of settlers had entered Huwwara near the mosque. Three MPT members walked the short distance from their house down to the main street and toward the mosque. When they approached the Mosque, they noticed nearly a dozen settlers sitting about 200 feet from the Mosque. They were presumably from the illegal settlement of Yizhar. The settlers appeared to be praying. MPT made their presence known by filming the street. More settlers arrived in a car and some left as though they were taking shifts.

A picture of the mosque during the daytime

Zakiraya called the team members and informed them that the DCO (District Commanding Officer) had been notified and said he would come to the scene. Team members were then asked to document in case violence occurred as well as maintain their presence, to deter the settlers from using violence.

About fifteen minutes later an army jeep arrived with soldiers, shortly followed by two more jeeps. The soldiers and settlers walked around the corner of a nearby building almost out of site of the MPT members. The soldiers stayed with the settlers for another 15 minutes and then both parties left. Before the soldiers left, they walked up to the three MPTers and asked in a joking manner if “everything was cool”.

MPT was at the scene for about an hour total. While they were waiting for the army to arrive, a Palestinian husband and wife whose home MPT was standing near approached them. The couple invited MPTers in for coffee, but the team members explained that they were working. Although MPTers tried to explain to both the man and woman that they were monitoring settler presence on the road, the woman did not understand as she only spoke Arabic and the team members only spoke English. When the woman finally looked to her left, she pointed fearfully and exclaimed to her husband, “mustutaniin,” the Arabic word for “settlers”.

Zakiraya, MPT’s Palestinian contact, told the team members that it is extremely unusual for settlers to come into the town of Huwwara in this manner.

A map of the area: Huwwara is in the south. The Yitzhar settlement is just to the northeast. (Courtesy of www.poica.org).

They do use the main highway that passes through the town, but they do not walk or sit. As relayed in previous reports, the Palestinians in the villages surrounding Yizhar settlement have experienced a large amount of violence from settlers in this area. Due to this, they are concerned when settlers come into their village. Additionally, the fact that the settlers were praying near the mosque at a time when evening prayers had just finished and villagers were likely to be making their way home, seemed to be a statement of some kind.

Three short video clips of the settlers.

Assira Qibiliya (South Assira) Part II: Wheat harvest

MPT was called at 3 p.m. by South Assira villagers who had been informed that settlers were seen coming down the hill towards the same house that had been vandalized and harassed the previous night. These settlers were from the illegal outpost Shalhevet Yitzhar (pictured at left). When MPT arrived, soldiers were walking in the hills between the settlement and the village as well as sitting in a tent under the settlement and in view of the village houses. MPT stayed with the family from 3:30 pm to 8:30 pm to deter settlers from returning to the village. While visiting with the family three of the children were playing in their yard where they collected teargas canisters, sound bombs, live bullets and rubber-coated steal bullets from the Israeli Army. Also collected were countless shells from live ammunition, presumably from the settlers. MPT was also told that the Army had arrested two villagers in their twenties at 2 am. The reason for their arrest as well as where they were taken is currently unknown.

Sound bomb (top left), Tear gas canister (top right), live bullets (bottom)

Rubber-coated steel bullet

Before leaving MPTers helped local villagers collect their wheat in the hills since the previous night’s violence had made it unsafe for them to be working the hills near the settlement. After collecting the wheat, MPT was invited into the home of one of the villagers for dinner and to hear more about the situation in South Assira. MPT learned that some of the family members have been too afraid to return to the wheat fields ever since the settlers came down from the settlement and attacked villagers working in the fields two years ago. During dinner, one of the family members who is an English teacher at the nearby boys school told three MPTers that the school has been traumatized by the murder of one 9^th grade boy by a settler during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan last September.

hauling bags of wheat back from fields

Settlers in the area surrounding Nablus have frequently attacked Palestinians in the nearby villages. On June 1, there was a van of 17 Palestinians on their way to work in Jerusalem who were attacked by settlers from the Nablus area. Four men were injured and one seriously injured. Please see article written by AFP http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5giCLoqxk--2Tu-m8t0qBCx53SM6Q.

Van that was attacked by settlers

(photo courtesy of Zakiraya)

3 of the men that were attacked, one seriously

(photo courtesy of Zakiraya)

Assira Qibiliya (South Assira) Part I: Sound bombs, teargas and Settlers Attack

Monday, June 29, 2009--MPT received a call from Zakiraya, MPT’s Palestinian contact person, that settlers from the Yitzhar settlement and its nearby illegal outpost Shalhevet Yitzhar were attacking the village of South Assira. At 7 pm 50 settlers came into the village followed fifteen minutes later by another 100 settlers. Villagers explained that the settlers started a few small fires in the hills of the village while settlers later told news reporters that the villagers started the fire and the settlers came down from their settlement to put out the fires (See http://www.ynetnews.com and http://www.uruknet.info). MPT witnessed the fires but arrived after the settlers had returned to their settlement, therefore MPT was not present at the time the fires were initially started but did see that fires were started on Palestinian land used specifically for the growing of crops.

MPTers talk with Palestinian about the situation in Assira

MPT arrived at the same time as the Israeli Army. A large crowd of villagers had gathered at the top of the hill near one particular house that has been repeatedly targeted by the settlers. The Israeli Army fired several sound bombs and teargas canisters to disperse the crowd, both of which MPT witnessed.

After 15 minutes of continuous firing, the effects of the teargas forced the villagers to take cover behind the targeted house. At that time, the Army descended from the hill approaching the group but continuing to fire, therefore forcing those Palestinians who had moved forward in order to speak to the soldiers to retreat once again. Finally, the soldiers ceased firing on the crowd at which point one of the Palestinians from the village asked MPT members, as internationals, to go to the front of the crowd with their cameras to encourage the soldiers to back away from the house. Two MPTers were able to get to the front where eight soldiers had lined up facing the crowd, with another ten soldiers behind them. Once the soldiers saw internationals with cameras they immediately backed away wherein village leaders were able to talk to the Israeli DCO (District Commanding Officer), the same DCO officer that MPT saw at the vandalized home in Burin. After fifteen minutes of conversation between villagers and the Israeli DCO the crowd began to disperse and the soldiers retreated up the hill. MPT was told that the soldiers, who are not always present at each settlement, would be staying near Yitzhar and Shalhevet Yitzhar for the next two to three days to monitor the situation. The Israeli DCO also spoke to the mother of the targeted house and asked her to call him directly if she experienced any further problems from the settlers.

MPT remained at the house where a family of six people, four of them children under the age of ten, and many other villagers explained how this house and the village have experienced settler harassment for the past few years. The mother of the family had footage of the settlers who had come down earlier in the evening with automatic weapons firing live ammunition.

This picture was taken while the army was firing sound bombs right outside this young girl's home

The family explained that settlers come down every Friday and Saturday to harass the village with increased and surprise attacks during the weekdays over the past three months. The settlers have set a fire on the patio of the previously mentioned house, spray painted the Star of David on the outside walls, and shot at their front window in the middle of the night. Before leaving MPT gave out contact cards so that the family and other villagers could call if they experienced any more harassment. Additionally members of International Solidarity Movement (ISM) in nearby Nablus came after the settlers and army left and stayed overnight with the family in case of further attacks.

Burnt Well

Stars of David spray painted on side of home

Huwwara: Men beaten for license plates

The Israeli army assaulted two Palestinian men in Huwwara early Monday. The army stopped the men on the main road for driving a company vehicle with an Israeli license plate. The two men, one of whom is a resident of Huwwara, were using the vehicle for work.

The four soldiers asked the driver and passenger why they had Israeli plates when they were Palestinian and told the men to take off the license plates. They then proceeded to beat both of them with their hands and with their guns. After beating them, the soldiers took both the front and back license plates from the vehicles and left.

license plate removed from front of vehicle

The construction company, which the men worked for, had legally purchased the car in Israel and the two men had the papers to prove it. After purchasing a vehicle in Israel, Palestinians have a short time to switch over to Palestinian plates. In the West Bank, only Israelis can use Israeli license plates, so that Israeli authorities can enforce a ban on Palestinians using certain roads. The difference is easy to spot: Israeli license plates are yellow with black numbers, and Palestinian license plates are white with green numbers.

Israeli license plate
(picture from http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Israel-license-plate.jpg)

Palestinian license plates
(picture from http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Private_vehicle_plate_palestine.JPG&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Private_vehicle_plate_palestine.JPG&usg=__KTVw0ymxyyFM88fLMpJ7vvUy8d0=&h=181&w=287&sz=14&hl=en&start=23&sig2=q09C5knY7vr6Js-9ZDJ3qw&tbnid=TsR1yg4uqLGcgM:&tbnh=73&tbnw=115&prev=/images%3Fq%3DPalestinian%2Blicense%2Bplate%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18&ei=lqVMSvWjH9CysAbxx5CyBA)

The Israeli army does not have authority over the issue of license plates, let alone the right to beat civilians for it. They must call the police to settle the matter. Never were the police called.

Al-Walaja

Yesterday, MPT had the chance to visit Al-Walaja, a village just northwest of Bethlehem. MPT had formerly been based in a town nearby, and has written several reports about the situation in al-Walaja.

The trip from Huwwara to Al-Walaja was 3-4 hours on the way there, and the same on the way back. The distance between them is only about 30 miles. Due to all the Israeli military checkpoints, roadblocks, and the Separation Wall put in place by Israel for “security reasons,” travel in the West Bank takes much longer.

Al-Walaja as it is today is “new.” “Old” Al-Walaja had been confiscated by the Israelis in 1948 for the Gilo and Har Gilo settlements. The number of Palestinian refugees today tracing back their origin to “old” Al-Walaja is estimated to be above 11,000. Some of the residents of “old” Al-Walaja built “new” Al-Walaja nearby, and we could see “old” al-Walaja from the home of our friend Ata and his family.
















Al-Walaja, with the settlement of Gilo in the background (click to enlarge)


Ata related a number of stories to us about Al-Walaja, especially stories affecting “new” Al-Walaja today. The present community of Al-Walaja is threatened constantly with the demolition of their homes, for example. His home has been threatened for several years (though usually the families only have 18 months). He told us about how his neighbor’s home had been demolished by the Israeli army, but also how the community worked together and rebuilt the house. They worked day and night during the winter and were able to finish it within 23 days after the demolition. Ten months later, the new home had been demolished.

The residents of Al-Walaja also have to endure harassment. Ata’s son, Muhammad, 15, had been arrested when he went down into the valley for water after the water in Al-Walaja had been turned off. Just recently, he was arrested again at a checkpoint near Jerusalem. On top of that, the planned construction of the Separation Wall will enclose and trap the village.

Yet Ata and his family have been able to remain cheerful, and were very gracious to us. Ata lightened the mood with a number of jokes, saying that he wanted to make us laugh because he knows how hard it can be for young people like us to come and see what’s going on.

Watch for more to come about the situation in Al-Walaja . . .

Burin: Settler Vandalism

24 June 2009--Zakiraya, our Palestinian contact person in the area, called MPT mid-day on Wednesday to alert us that Settlers from an illegal outpost near the West Bank village of Burin had vandalized a Palestinian home. As three summer team members arrived at the scene with Zakiraya, two Israeli DCO’s (District Commanding Officers) were showing up as well.



Israeli DCO talks with owner of house

The Settlers had broken three water tanks, demolished the wood frame of the house and another wooden structure, and ripped open large bags of cement with pieces of metal broken off of the house’s foundation.

The 3 barrels which were wrecked

Broken wood frame

These metal rods were used to rip the cement bags seen in the picture below.



Whitney and Beth listen to owner tell what happened

Construction on the house began twenty days prior. During this time, settlers have demolished the home three times. First on June 10th, then again the morning of the 16th, and once more two hours before MPT arrived in Burin on the 24th. The owner of the house told MPT that on the 16th, some citizens of Burin came to help him when the Settlers were destroying his construction site. The Israeli Army came to the scene and used gas bombs and bullets against the Palestinians. Luckily, there were no injuries. On the 24th, while MPT was present, the owner of the home was making his statement to the DCO. He explained how the Settlers had come into Burin and vandalized his home. However, the officers told the owner that the Settlers come into Burin to pray.


The Settlers came from a nearby outpost, which is located close to the Israeli settlement of Barakha (UN map Barcha or Har Barcha). Outposts are roughly constructed houses or structures built in order to claim Palestinian land for a new Israeli settlement. The Israeli government does not authorize them. Settlements on occupied land are illegal under international law. Outposts are illegal even under Israeli law. Yet they are rarely evacuated by the government. The Israeli group Peace Now just published their annual 2008 Settlement report, which reported that 261 new outpost structures were built last year. The government did not evacuate any of these illegal outposts.

There are many settlements in the area surrounding Huwwara (where MPT lives) that take the land of Palestinian villages and provide regular harassment and violence against Palestinians. In the nearby village of Jit, the Settlers from Havat Gilad had uprooted and burned the seedlings of Palestinian residents the same day MPT visited Burin.





After MPT investigated the vandalized home, we went to the Office of the Burin Village Council. The head of the council, Ali Eid, told us more about the problems of Burin. It is a village of 3,500 people who are bothered daily by Settler and soldier harassment. When there are issues with Settlers, the residents are told to call the Palestinian DCO, who then calls the Israeli DCO. The head of the council said that after Palestinians have made a report with the Israeli DCO, nothing ever comes of it.

[For more information about Burin please see past MPT report—“Burin: A Beleaguered Village” May 13, 2009]