Il 20 luglio un pastore proveniente dal piccolo villaggio di Am Dirit, nelle colline a sud di Hebron, a pochi metri dall’avamposto di Avigayil, è stato arrestato. Da due mesi a questa parte lo accompagniamo a pascolare a qualche metro dall’avamposto, sorto nel 2001. Z. ha 23 anni e durante la stagione estiva, in mancanza di nutrimento per le sue pecore, si spinge fino alle porte di Avigayil

At around 4:45 pm Operation Dove volunteers were called by a palestinian shepherd from Maghayir Al Abeed village who ask to them to look at one child that was coming to Al-Karmil from Maghayir Al Abeed. When Operation Dove volunteers arrived in Humra valley they found 5 masked settlers that started to throw rocks against them, also with slingshot. One palestinian told to the internationals that the settlers chased the child before their arrival. After, the settlers attacked the volunteers and stopped just when some palestinians came from At-Tuwani. The settlers returned inside Havat Ma’on woods. One relative of the chased child told to Operation Dove members that the victim went to hospital for anxiety disturb connected to the attack.

Pictures of the incident:  http://snipurl.com/24h2fa4

Settlers from Havat Ma’on attacked three palestinian minors nearby the palestinian village of Tuba, South Hebron Hills

(Italian follows)

July 26th, 2012

At-Tuwani- South Hebron Hills

On the 24^th of July, at 6 pm, three Palestinian shepherds, one of whom is 15 years old, the other two are 9 and 13 years old, were attacked by 4 adult settlers coming from Havat Ma’on outpost.

According to the witnesses, the shepherds were grazing close to the Palestinian village of Tuba, when the 4 settlers approched them threateningly, throwing stones and running after them, forcing them to leave.

Ha’aretz 23 July 2012

Amira Hass

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered the demolition of eight Palestinian villages in the South Hebron Hills because the territory is needed for Israel Defense Forces training exercises, the state told the High Court of Justice on Sunday.

The residents of the targeted villages will be moved to the town of Yatta and its environs; the state claims, based on information it obtained from local informers, that most of these people have permanent homes in that area.

The state will allow the residents to work their lands and graze their flocks there when the IDF is not training — on weekends and Jewish holidays – and during two other periods of one month each during the year. Barak agreed to leave four villages that are in the northernmost part of the area, even though this would reduce the dimensions of training area and prevent the use of live fire.

The villages slated for demolition are the larger villages in the region: Majaz, Tabban, Sfai, Fakheit, Halaweh, Mirkez, Jinba, and Kharuba, which have a total of 1,500 residents. The villages to be spared are Tuba, Mufaqara, Sarura and Megheir al-Abeid, which have a total of 300 residents.

2012-07-20

At around 12.30 p.m. four Operation Dove volunteers were accompanying a palestinian man while he was crossing Humra valley going towards At-Tuwan villagei. Suddenly two young settlers masked came out from Havat ma’on outpost and attacked the four volunteers and the palestinian man with slingshots until they reached a safe place, then they returned back and tried to damage an olive tree that belong to a palestinian family. After that, they returned inside the outpost.

At around 4.00 p.m. four Operation Dove volunteers were accompanying the same palestinian man while he was returning back home, crossing Humra valley in the direction of his village. When all of them arrived on Kharrouba hill, two masked settlers came out from Havat ma’on and tried to attack the group. The internationals distracted the attention of the settlers towards them, thus the palestinian went home without problems. One settler launched some stones towards the volunteers, the other one ran after them with a stick.

Pictures of the incidents: http://snipurl.com/24e36ll

Il 14 Luglio nel villaggio palestinese di Al Mufaqarah si è svolta la quinta edizione del Festival della Restistenza Popolare Nonviolenta delle Colline a Sud di Hebron. Dopo che i primi gruppi di partecipanti hanno raggiunto la località l’evento ha avuto inizio intorno alle dieci e mezza del mattino, nel momento di massima partecipazione si sono contate 250 persone: tra palestinesi provenienti da varie comunità locali quali Al Mufaqarah, Ar Rakeez, Tuba, Maghayir al Abeed, At-Tuwani, Susiya e da altre città della Cisgiordania come Yatta e Al Masara.

Comunicato stampa
Tre ordini demolizione consegnati al villaggio palestinese di Al Mufagarah, nelle colline a sud di Hebron

17 luglio 2012 – At-Tuwani – Colline a sud di Hebron

Il 16 luglio 2012, alle ore 13.30 circa, il DCO (District Coordination Office: la sezione dell’esercito israeliano che si occupa dell’amministrazione civile dei Territori Palestinesi Occupati), accompagnato da una camionetta dell’esercito israeliano, ha consegnato tre ordini di demolizione ad altrettante strutture nel villaggio di Al Mufaqarah.

Nello specifico si tratta di una casa, in cui vive una famiglia composta da undici persone, e due tende, di cui una costruita su fondamenta di mattoni.
Tali provvedimenti si ricollegano ad altri precedenti: il 10 giugno, infatti, sono stati emanati ordini di fermo dei lavori che coinvolgono le stesse strutture, peraltro utilizzate a fini abitativi.

In base a quanto riportato negli ordini in questione, i proprietari hanno tre giorni di tempo per abbattere autonomamente le costruzioni, in caso contrario l’autorità israeliana provvederà alla loro demolizione.

Una delle strutture coinvolte è stata costruita durante la campagna “ Al Mufaqarah R-Exist”, volta alla costruzione di case di mattoni per affermare il diritto del villaggio (sistematicamente minacciato da politiche di evacuazione) a continuare ad esistere sulla propria terra.
Una delle due tende è stata utilizzata durante la campagna per ospitare le delegazioni internazionali in visita e per il campo estivo tenutosi al villaggio a cui hanno partecipato anche i bambini provenienti dai villaggi limitrofi (At-Tuwani, Jawwaya, Maghayir Al Abeed e Tuba).

L’autorità israeliana continua a perpetrare una politica di restrizioni, chiusura, demolizioni, evacuazioni e soprusi che unita alle continue violenze da parte dei coloni presenti nell’area, nega di fatto i diritti dei palestinesi, ostacolando la possibilità di vivere nei propri villaggi, coltivare le proprie terre e impedendo lo sviluppo delle comunità locali.

Gli ordini di demolizione sono stati consegnati due giorni dopo il Quinto Festival Annuale della Resistenza Popolare Nonviolenta delle Colline a sud di Hebron tenutosi proprio ad Al Mufaqarah con lo scopo di celebrare l’impegno che gli abitanti di tutta l’area portano avanti attraverso azioni di resistenza nonviolenta per difendere la propria vita e le proprie terre.

Operazione Colomba mantiene una presenza costante nel villaggio di At-Tuwani e nell’area delle colline a sud di Hebron dal 2004.

Foto:  http://snipurl.com/24cbzog

[Note: secondo la IV Convenzione di Ginevra, la II Convenzione dell’Aja, la Corte Internazionale di Giustizia e numerose risoluzioni ONU, tutti gli insediamenti israeliani nei Territori Palestinesi Occupati sono illegali. Gli avamposti sono considerati illegali anche secondo la legge israeliana.]

In the morning of 3rd July two Operation Dove volunteers found these writings on a Palestinian well in Humra Valley, next to Havat Ma’on Israeli outpost.
The writings say: “Mavet laaravim – Kahane tsadak”, which mean “Death to the Arabs, Kahane was right”. Martin David Kahane, also known as Meir Kahane, was the leader of the Israeli terrorist and anti-arab organisation Kach.
On the 27th June, settlers from Havat Ma’on outpost came out several times and took a bath in this well.
On the same day a Palestinian shepherd found a sticker on the same place, saying: “We want a Jewish state”.
The well of Humra is the only one with a high level of water, this is due to the fact that the Palestinians are afraid of using it because of the violence of the settlers.

By Amira Hass, Haaretz – 18 June 2012

Three High Court justices sit down to familiarize themselves with the facts: The residents continue to build without construction permits. And the three justices issue an interim order against any such construction within the two clusters that the petition relates to. The order was issued on June 7, the day after the petition and had been discussed.

Subject of the petition: Illegal outpost

Essence of the petition: Disregard of the laws of symmetry and the failure to implement the house-demolition orders issued regarding the structures of the said outpost. The subtext is clear: You ruled against Migron and the Ulpana neighborhood; why are you silent this time?

The justices: Asher Grunis, Hanan Melcer and Daphna Barak-Erez

The buildings: Neither low-rise apartment blocks like the ones in the Ulpana neighborhood nor single-family villas similar to housing in the West Bank settlement of Ofra (the vast majority of which is constructed on private land belonging to the villages of Silwad and Ein Yabrud, and therefore also lacks a detailed construction and development plan ), not even trailers hooked up to water and electricity like the ones in Migron and Givat Assaf. Only a cluster of hovels, tents and concrete rooms slapped together in a hurry.

Guess: The residents are Palestinians (only Palestinian “illegal outposts” remain unconnected to the electricity grid, phone and water lines ).

The land: Private Palestinian land, just like in Migron, Givat Assaf and Ofra, but unlike the Jewish outposts, this “outpost” is located on land owned by its inhabitants. No forged signatures or documents, no other acts of fraud perpetuated.

Name: Susya, southern slope of Mount Hebron

Some history: The adjacent Jewish West Bank settlement of Susya was erected in 1983.

1986: A confiscation order is issued against the lands of the Palestinian village Susya. The village is decreed an archaeological site (because of remnants of an ancient Jewish settlement ). And the Palestinian residents? Instead of treating them with respect and thanking them for preserving the location over the centuries, the IDF and Civil Administration expel them from their homes (caves located among ancient stone structures ), wells and fields.

And then? Susya’s Palestinian residents, members of the Nawaj’ah family, move onto the land they’ve been farming, into caves and tents.

July 2001: Under the guise of the second intifada, the IDF and Civil Administration expel the Nawaj’ah family for a second time. Tents are crushed, caves and wells sealed and wrecked, farmland destroyed, animals killed.

A small but surprising twist: On September 26, 2001, the High Court of Justice instructs the authorities to stop destroying the buildings at the height of a public campaign by the residents and left-wing groups, and the residents’ legal battle led by attorney Shlomo Lecker.

Despite the injunction, Jewish settlers and the army prevent the residents’ access to some 3,000 dunams (about 740 acres ) of their land.

The court orders an end to the demolition and expulsion, but does not instruct the Civil Administration to allow the Palestinians to build, forcing them to build without permits, for example, a school. As of May 2012, 18 demolition orders have been issued against hovels and buildings, including a school.

Another plot twist: Via the organization Rabbis for Human Rights, Susya residents appeal the blocked access to their private land and the fact that Jewish settlers are making a grab for it.

Another surprise twist: In October 2011, the military commanding officer declares a large part of their land as “closed to Israelis,” i.e., Jewish settlers, in order to stop the encroachment and land grab.

An attempt to fix the twist, February 2012: Regavim, a nonprofit association to protect the Jewish nation’s land, and the Jewish settlement of Susya petition the High Court to accelerate the pace of the Palestinian Susya demolition orders and to stop construction. In other words: a recipe for a third expulsion.

In her response, Attorney Avital Sharon of Rabbis for Human Rights points to the petition’s lack of good faith, and why it should be rejected outright. For example, she points to unauthorized construction in Jewish Susya and to the fact that the director general of Regavim himself lives in an unauthorized outpost.

Sharon also also gives reasons for the case in question: the earliest expulsion. The Civil Administration discriminates against Palestinians by not creating construction and development plans for them. Contrary to what is stated in the petition, the Civil Administration tirelessly demolishes Palestinian structures. In the last four years alone, 1,101 such structures have been demolished. Susya and the rabbis are busy working on a construction and development plan for the village (even though this is the responsibility of the official authorities ).

The judges listen to the supposed voice of symmetry coming from the petition submitted by Regavim and the Jewish settlement of Susya and do not reject the petition outright. They even issue an interim order to stop new construction in the village of Susya.

Construction in the Jewish settlement Susya continues, as it does in its satellite outposts.

As a result of the High Court ruling, officers of the Civil Administration show up in Susya on June 12 and hand out six collective demolition orders affecting 52 buildings, including a preschool, a clinic and a solar panel system supplying electricity to the village and its steadfast residents.

Demolition time frame: within three days (Attorney Quamar Mishirqi Assad of Rabbis for Human Rights manages to get a 10-day extension to submit challenges to the demolition orders ).

The residents of Susya ask the honorable justices Grunis, Melcer and Barak-Erez: Is this how you understand the word “justice” of your titles?

Link: http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/the-law-ass-or-donkey.premium-1.437023

COMUNICATO STAMPA

Cinque ordini di fermo dei lavori consegnati al villaggio di Tuba, nelle Colline a Sud di Hebron

18 giugno 2012

At-Tuwani – Alle 11:30 del 18 giugno il DCO (District Coordination Office: la sezione dell’esercito israeliano che si occupa dell’amministrazione civile dei territori palestinesi occupati) ha consegnato nel villaggio palestinese di Tuba cinque ordini di fermo dei lavori che coinvolgono le proprietà di due delle tre famiglie che vi abitano.