Israeli police seize a Palestinian man’s car 

(Italian follow)

March 25, 2015
At Tuwani – South Hebron Hills, West Bank

This morning, the Israeli police seized a Palestinian man’s car permanently because he was driving on the Bypass Road 317 without the Israeli authorization, which is very expensive and difficult to obtain.
The networks of Israeli bypass roads are built in order to isolate Palestinian cities and villages, restricting in this way their freedom of movement.
The Palestinian decided to burn the verbal of the seizure in front of the police men as a clear signal of protest against unjust Israeli law.

La polizia israeliana sequestra la macchina di un palestinese

22 marzo 2015
At Tuwani – Colline a sud di Hebron, Cisgiordania

Questa mattina, la polizia israeliana ha sequestrato in maniera definitiva la macchina di un uomo palestinese perché stava guidando sulla Bypass Road 317 senza apposita autorizzazione, che è molto costosa e difficile da ottenere. Le strade denominate bypass road sono costruite come una rete che ha l’obiettivo di isolare le città e i villaggi palestinesi, limitando così la loro libertà di movimento.
Il palestinese ha deciso di bruciare il verbale del sequestro davanti ai poliziotti come chiaro segno di protesta contro l’ingiusta legge israeliana.

Four Palestinians arrested for harvesting herbs in the South Hebron Hills

(Italian follows)

March 18, 2015

At Tuwani – On March 17,  around 4 pm, Israeli soldiers detained a group of 10 Palestinian young men that were harvesting seasonal herbs in a Palestinian land near to the Israeli illegal outpost of Mitzpe Yair. After one hour the Israeli police arrived and arrested four of the Palestinians, taking them to Kiryat Arba police station.

March is the month in which Palestinians harvest this kind of herbs. Since the settlers, supported by Israeli forces, are attempting to annex the Palestinian land, even the simple activity of collecting herbs become dangerous, especially when the fields are located near to the Israeli settlements and outposts.

In the last two weeks International volunteers witnessed several settler’s attacks, army harassment and even arrest against Palestinians harvesting herbs on their own lands.

Quattro palestinesi arrestati nelle colline a sud di Hebron per aver raccolto erbe

18 Marzo 2015

At Tuwani – Il 17 Marzo, alle 16 circa, soldati israeliani hanno detenuto 10 giovani palestinesi che stavano raccogliendo erbe nelle proprie terre vicine all’avamposto israeliano illegale di Mitzpe Yair. Dopo averli trattenuti per un’ora, all’arrivo della polizia, quattro dei ragazzi sono stati arrestati e portati alla stazione di polizia di Kiryat Arba.

Marzo è il mese in cui questo tipo di erbe vengono raccolte, ma per i palestinesi anche un’attività semplice come questa può diventare molto pericolosa. I coloni israeliani, con l’appoggio dell’esercito e della polizia, tentano continuamente di annettere le terre palestinesi, in particolar modo quelle vicine alle colonie o agli avamposti, scacciando i palestinesi quando questi provano ad accedervi per lavorarle, o come in questo caso anche solo per raccogliervi erbe.

Nelle ultime due settimane i volontari internazionali sono stati testimoni di diversi attacchi da parte dei coloni e tentativi di arresto da parte dell’esercito israeliano a danno dei palestinesi che lavoravano all’interno delle proprie terre.

PRESS RELEASE

Israeli police arrest Palestinian shepherd in South Hebron Hills

Settlers and Israeli authorities continue to chase away Palestinians from their own lands.

(Italian follows)

March 13, 2015

At Tuwani – South Hebron Hills, West Bank

On the morning of March 12, Israeli police arrested a Palestinian shepherd from At Tuwani village as he grazed his flock in the valley of Meshaha, near to the illegal Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on.

At about 11 am, two Israeli soldiers came out from the outpost of Havat Ma’on and they stopped a Palestinian shepherd that was grazing his flock on Meshaha valley, accompanied by International volunteers. The soldiers held the shepherd’s documents until the arrival of the police, at about 12:15 pm. The Israeli police collected the charges from one settler, that witnessed the shepherd grazing his flock in a forbidden area. Although the mediation of the lawyers and the request of DCO intervention, in order to clarify the status of the challenged lands, the police decided to arrest the shepherd. At about 1:30 pm, the shepherd was taken to Kyriat Arba police station and he was released at about 4 pm.

The Palestinian lands in front of Havat Ma’on outpost, which is considered illegal also under Israeli law, are object of the outpost expansion. The Israeli authorities prevent the Palestinians from accessing their own lands, even when they try to respect the unlawful restrictions imposed by the occupying forces. It shows the specious nature of these measures focused on the expropriation de facto of the Palestinians lands.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Pictures of the incident: http://goo.gl/9A5fsU

For further information: Operation Dove, 054 99 25 773

[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]

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COMUNICATO STAMPA

La polizia israeliana arresta un pastore palestinese nelle colline a sud di Hebron

Coloni ed autorità israeliane continuano a scacciare i palestinesi dalle proprie terre

13 marzo 2015

At Tuwani – Colline a sud di Hebron, Cisgiordania

Il 12 marzo la Polizia israeliana ha arrestato un pastore palestinese del villaggio di At Tuwani che stava pascolando il suo gregge nella valle di Meshaha, vicino l’avamposto illegale israeliano di Havat Ma’on.

Intorno alle ore 11:00 due soldati israeliani sono usciti dall’avamposto di Havat Ma’on e hanno fermato un pastore palestinese che stava pascolando il gregge presso la valle di Meshaha, accompagnato da volontari internazionali. I soldati hanno trattenuto i suoi documenti per oltre un’ora, fino all’arrivo della polizia, alle ore 12:15. Dopo aver raccolto le accuse di un colono che sosteneva di aver visto il pastore pascolare in un’area vietata ai palestinesi, la polizia ha deciso di arrestare il pastore. A nulla è valsa la mediazione degli avvocati e la richiesta che intervenisse la DCO (District Coordination Office) per far luce sullo status delle terre contese. Alle ore 13:30 il pastore è stato condotto alla stazione di polizia di Kyriat Arba, dalla quale è stato rilasciato alle ore 16.

Le terre palestinesi antistanti l’avamposto di Havat Ma’on sono obiettivo di espansione dell’insediamento che, va ricordato, è illegale secondo lo stesso diritto israeliano. Le autorità israeliane impediscono ai palestinesi il libero accesso alle proprie terre, anche quando questi cercano di rispettare le illegittime limitazioni imposte dalle forze occupanti. Questa è la dimostrazione della natura pretestuosa di questi provvedimenti mirati di fatto all’espropriazione delle terre palestinesi.

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

Foto dell’incidente: http://goo.gl/9A5fsU

Per informazioni: Operazione Colomba, +972 54 99 25 773

[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.]

Israeli forces arrest two shepherds in the South Hebron Hills

The life of South Hebron Hills residents is one of a daily resistance to the Israeli occupation

(Italian follows)

March 1, 2015

At-Tuwani – South Hebron Hills, West Bank

On the morning of February 28, Israeli police arrested two Palestinian shepherds as they grazed their flock in the valley of Umm Zeitouna near the Israeli settlement of Ma’on.

In late morning the security chief of Ma’on settlement and Israeli soldiers arrived in Umm Zeitouna valley where the shepherds, accompanied by international volunteers, were grazing their flock on land which Israeli settlers from Ma’on are attempting to annex. After few minutes the Israeli police arrived and they immediately detained two shepherds and two international volunteers. At about 12.30 pm Israeli police arrested the two shepherds and took them to Kyriat Arba police station. The volunteers were released. The Palestinians were released at about 3 pm, after paying a fine of 500 NIS for each person.     

Residents of the South Hebron Hills experience continual harassment from settlers in nearby settlements and outposts, but remain steadfast in their commitment to nonviolent resistance. Each day that they graze their sheep in contested areas, the shepherds continue to resist settler attempts to drive them from their lands. International volunteers have witnessed shepherds chased from Umm Zeitouna six times since the start of the year (in five of these occasions the Israeli army came after a settler’s call).

The arrest followed a nonviolent action that morning during which residents successfully repaired the road which links At-Tuwani village to Yatta, and the attendance on February 27 of the South Hebron Hills Popular Resistance Committee at the 10th anniversary nonviolent action in Bil’in. These are two examples of the commitment of the South Hebron hills people to use nonviolence to resist the occupation, both in their own communities and throughout Palestine.           

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Pictures of the actions:  http://goo.gl/LjwcDz

Video of the arrest:  http://goo.gl/dSeJgT

[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]

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Le forze israeliane arrestano due pastori nelle colline a sud di Hebron

La vita degli abitanti delle colline a sud di Hebron è già una quotidiana resistenza all’occupazione israeliana

1 marzo 2015

At Tuwani – Colline a sud di Hebron, Cisgiordania

La mattina del 28 febbraio, la polizia israeliana ha arrestato due pastori palestinesi mentre pascolavano il loro gregge nella valle di Umm Zeitouna, vicino alla colonia israeliana di Ma’on.

In tarda mattinata il capo della sicurezza di Ma’on e alcuni soldati israeliani hanno raggiunto la valle di Umm Zeitouna, dove i pastori, accompagnati da volontari internazionali, pascolavano il loro gregge in una terra che i coloni israeliani di Ma’on stanno cercando di annettere. Dopo pochi minuti è arrivata la polizia israeliana che ha immediatamente detenuto i due pastori e i due volontari internazionali. Intorno alle 12:30, la polizia israeliana ha arrestato i due pastori e li ha portati alla stazione di polizia di Kyriat Arba. I volontari sono stati invece rilasciati. Intorno alle tre del pomeriggio anche i palestinesi sono stati rilasciati, dopo aver pagato una multa di 500 NIS a persona.

La vita dei residenti delle colline a sud di Hebron è fatta di continue minacce da parte dei coloni dei vicini insediamenti e avamposti, ma resta ferma nell’impegno per la resistenza non violenta. Ogni giorno, quando pascolano le loro pecore nelle aree contese, i pastori continuano a resistere ai tentativi dei coloni di cacciarli dalle loro terre. Volontari internazionali hanno registrato l’inseguimento di pastori in Umm Zeitouna sei volte dall’inizio dell’anno (in cinque di queste occasioni l’esercito israeliano è arrivato dopo la chiamata dei coloni).

L’arresto avviene dopo che, quella stessa mattina, gli abitanti dell’area hanno riparato con successo, tramite un’azione nonviolenta, la strada che collega il villaggio di At-Tuwani a Yatta, e dopo la partecipazione, il giorno precedente, del Comitato di Resistenza Popolare delle Colline a sud di Hebron al decimo anniversario dell’inizio delle azioni nonviolente a Bil’in. Questi sono due esempi dell’impegno degli abitanti delle colline a sud di Hebron a resistere all’occupazione, sia nelle proprie comunità, che in tutta la Palestina.

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

Foto delle azioni:  http://goo.gl/LjwcDz

Video dell’arresto:  http://goo.gl/dSeJgT

[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.]

(Italian Follow)

On January 27, at around 12:20 p.m., Israeli police detained a Palestinian shepherd in the South Hebron Hills area village of At Tuwani. He was released at about 5:00 p.m., without paying any fine.

The shepherd was grazing on the Khelly hill, near the Israeli settlement of Ma’on, when at around 11:20 a.m. the security chief of the settlement arrived at the place in order to take evidences of the Palestinian shepherd’s presence on the hill and call the Israeli forces.
At 11:35 a.m., Israeli army jeep came at the place, while the shepherd was still grazing his flock. At around 12:15 p.m., also Israeli police reached Khelly hill. The police stopped him. After some minutes, several women and children from At Tuwani village reached the place in order to disturb the Israeli forces action. Because the presence of a lot of people, the policemen chose to put the Palestinian into the jeep. After that the policemen and the soldiers checked the maps in the presence of the security chief of Ma’on and of a settler from the Israeli illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on, Yoshafat Tor. Finally the Israeli DCO reached them. At about 1:20 p.m. the policemen took the Palestinian to the Israeli police station of Kiryat Arba. After a questioning, the Palestinian was released at about 5:00 p.m.

Israeli forces attacked the participants by stun grenades, tear gas, water cannon and physical violence

(Italian follows)

January 24, 2015

Susiya – South Hebron Hills, West Bank

On January 23, during an action organized by the Al Mubadara party and the South Hebron Hills Popular Resistance Committee, claiming the right of Palestinians to access their own land near Susiya village, Israeli forces attacked Palestinians and Internationals activists by stun grenades, tear gas, water cannon and physical and verbal violence. During the action, the Israeli forces arrested four Palestinians.

At around 11 a.m. about 150 people, after they got together in the Susiya village, tried to reach a Palestinian-owned land between the Israeli army base and the Israeli settlement of Suseya in order to plant olive trees. Immediately the area was declared a closed military zone by the Israeli army, but nevertheless the demonstrators tried to arrive to the land. After 20 minutes, Israeli soldiers arrested the first Palestinian, only because he removed soldier’s hand from his breast. Few minutes later the soldiers arrested a second Palestinian. The large part of the demonstrators reached the land and started to plant the olive trees. Immediately, Israeli soldiers and policemen pushed the crowd back, in direction to Susiya village. During their charge, the Israeli forces used stun grenades and tear gas, pushing and attacking the people and arrested other two Palestinians.
At around 12.45 p.m. the participants got together on the hill of Susiya village and slowly went away from the Israeli soldiers and policemen while they were throwing tear gas and using the water cannon.

In the last five days in the South Hebron Hills area the violences by the Israeli army increased. Operation Dove registered six episodes of direct violence or harassment to Palestinians. On January 19, the soldiers killed a sheep in the Tuba village area, while they were chasing away a flock owned by Palestinians. On January 20, Israeli soldiers arrested a 14 year-old Palestinian, while he was grazing a flock near Maghayir Al Abeed village. In the same day, the Israeli army demolished 4 structures in the Ar-Rifa’iyya village.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Pictures: http://goo.gl/jCidYm
Video: http://goo.gl/ctjy0N

[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]

After the Israeli army carried on several demolitions in the Bedouin village of Um Al Kher during the months of October and November, Palestinian inhabitants together with Israeli activists and supported by several International NGOs are now building new structures.

The European Union provided three tin-plated shelters to be used as houses, through the program “Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection”. Palestinians together with Israeli activists rebuilt the traditional oven for the third time, after it was recently illegally demolished once again; worked on an old well that can now provide water to the village through pumps; built a dirt patch that leads to the above-mentioned well.

On November 19 the DCO issued demolition orders for the three tin-plated shelters. Nevertheless Palestinian inhabitants of Um Al Kher are still strongly committed to the nonviolent popular resistance as a way of defending their right to live on their own land.

The well recently improved with water pumps.

Palestinians and Israeli activists work at the new dirt-patch on December 13.

One of three new tin-plated shelters recently provided by the European Union and already under demolition order.

In corso i lavori di ricostruzione nel villaggio beduino di Um Al Kher, nelle colline a sud di Hebron.

Dopo le varie demolizioni effettuate dall’esercito israeliano nei mesi di ottobre e novembre nel villaggio beduino di Um Al Kher, gli abitanti palestinesi stanno ora costruendo nuove strutture con l’aiuto di attivisti israeliani e il supporto di varie ONG internazionali.

L’Unione Europea, attraverso il programma “Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection”, ha fornito al villaggio tre case di lamiera. Palestinesi e attivisti israeliani hanno ricostruito il taboon, forno tradizionale, per la terza volta dopo che era stato illegalmente nuovamente demolito di recente; hanno apportato migliorie ad un vecchio pozzo che ora fornisce acqua al villaggio tramite tubature; costruito una strada sterrata che porta al suddetto pozzo.

Il 19 novembre la DCO (District Cordination Office, una branca dell’esercito israeliano che si occupa dell’amministrazione civile nei territori occupati palestinesi) ha emesso ordini di demolizione per le tre case di lamiera. Nonostante questo, gli abitanti palestinesi di Um Al Kher sono fermamente impegnati nella resistenza popolare nonviolenta quale via per affermare il proprio diritto a vivere sulla propria terra.

(Italian translation follows)

Forced relocation plan decrees overcrowding for West Bank Bedouin. Nearby Jewish settlements, meanwhile, sprawl free.

Pages upon pages came out of the fax machine at the Civil Administration’s Central Planning Bureau last week. They contained objections to the establishment of a Bedouin township to be named Talet Nueima (in Hebrew, Ramat Nueima) north of Jericho, which is slated for 12,500 people. This comes on top of objections sent in by registered mail and email.

The Civil Administration subcommittee that deals with such objections will have to read more than 200 objections. Opponents of the plan include Bedouin from the Kaabneh and Jahalin tribes, whom the Civil Administration plans to expel from their homes and resettle in the township together with the Rashaida tribe which is already based in the area. Jericho and nearby Palestinian villages object to the plan as well.

The objectors are represented by the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center; Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights; the Association for Civil Rights in Israel; and attorneys Sliman Shahin, Basem Karajeh, Tawfek Jabarin and Shlomo Lecker.

An oft-repeated objection is that the Civil Administration drafted the Talet Nueima plan without consulting the Bedouin or the Palestinian communities in the area, and without taking their needs into consideration.

Dozens of private individuals and activists in Israel/Palestine and abroad have also sent in standard objections to the plan.

The Hebrew standard objection states, among other things, that: “The plan disregards the cultural characteristics of Bedouin society – including the division of the family complex, to which entrance is highly restricted.” The objections note that the families “take great care to guard their privacy, and the privacy of women in particular.”

According to this argument: “Allowing this part of their culture to exist requires spatial planning that completely contradicts what the plan contains. Instead of small two-family lots of a half dunam each, the lots must be much larger and include a residential portion alongside a large area that will let family members keep their flocks near their places of residence.” This means at least three dunams (0.7 acres), instead of a quarter dunam, per family.

The plan was preceded by the state’s decades-old policy of uprooting the Bedouin in the West Bank (most of them refugees expelled from the Negev after 1948) by reducing the space available to them, demolishing their shacks and blocking their access to water and markets. The Civil Administration even considers the tarps that protect them from the rain illegal construction and confiscates them.

To solve the problem of the Bedouin’s subhuman living conditions, which as everybody knows came out of the blue, along comes the compassionate Talet Nueima plan (which is comprised of four detailed master plans and two additional plans for roads).

In a letter to attorney Shlomo Lecker, Capt. Yaniv Ya’ari, a consulting officer in the military legal adviser’s office in the West Bank, wrote: “The plan … was prepared to create a suitable planning solution that took the population’s needs into account … in accordance with proper planning principles …. Contrary to your claim, several meetings and hearings have taken place in recent years in which your clients and you were given full opportunity to have your say to present alternative solutions for the area’s inhabitants – the members of the Bedouin population.

According to Ya’ari, “As far as we are concerned, the fact that these talks did not result in agreements is no indication of unwillingness to include the community in the planning process, but only of the regional authorities’ position that the rationale and planning of the proposed programs was preferable to those that you proposed.”

The objection by Bimkom reveals significant shortcomings in planning (on top of the original sin of forced relocation).

It’s possible these shortcomings are innocent mistakes – such as the assumption that the Bedouin’s basic organizational unit is the nuclear, not the extended family, or that the size of the average Bedouin nuclear family is 5.6 people, not the actual 7.1. It’s also possible that because of human error, there are crude discrepancies in the various parts of the plan, which also includes the demolition of already-existing homes of the Rashaida tribe.