This is the second Israeli settler’s “price tag” in the last 10 days in the area

(Italian follows)

January 10, 2015

At-Tuwani – South Hebron Hills, West Bank

On January 9, in the morning, Palestinians found 40 olive trees and 3 almond trees seriously damaged probably by Israeli settlers. In the afternoon, other inhabitants of the South Hebron Hills discovered about 150 olive trees cut and seriously damaged.

At about 10 a.m. some Palestinians from the Awad and Abu ‘Aram families discovered on their properties several 32 year-old olive trees and three almond trees cut. These trees were located near the village of Qawawis, in the South Hebron Hills area, between the Israeli illegal outpost of Mitzpe Yair and the Israeli settlement of Suseya, beside the Bypass road 317.

At about 2:35 p.m. another oversized destruction was discovered in the same area, between the Bypass road 317 and Suseya settlement. Due to bad weather conditions, neither the Israeli police nor the Palestinian owners have been able to verify the exact number of olive trees damaged. One of the 16 Palestinian owners, all from the Shatat family, estimated in about 150 the number of olive trees damaged.

This is the second Israeli settler’s ‘price tag’ against the Palestinian inhabitants of the South Hebron Hills in the last 10 days. On December 31, as witnessed by Palestinians, at about 3:00 am two settlers wrote with black spray near the front door of a Palestinian’s house in the village of Ad-Deirat this sentence: “Revenge of Jewish Kingdom“. Then, settlers broke a window and threw a molotov cocktail inside the house (read more).

Palestinians in South Hebron hills have suffered the Israeli settlers’ presence since the 70s. The settlers, occupying Palestinian-owned lands and destroying their properties, deprive the Palestinians of their main livelihood. Moreover the settlers, with their ongoing violence, prevent Palestinians from having a regular daily life and restrict their freedom of movement, thus forcing them to leave the South Hebron hills area.

Nevertheless the Palestinian communities of the South Hebron Hills area are still strongly committed to nonviolent popular resistance against the Israeli occupation.

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

Pictures of the damaged trees: http://goo.gl/aLQia2

[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.]

(Italian follows)

January 6, 2015

At-Tuwani – South Hebron Hills, West Bank

During the last school-week, the Israeli military escort failed three times in accompanying the schoolchildren from the South Hebron hills villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed.

In order to reach the school of At-Tuwani, the Palestinian children, aged between 6 and 17 years, usually walk, accompanied by an Israeli military escort, through the shortest route (about 20 minutes) that passes between the Israeli settlement of Ma’on and the outpost of Havat Ma’on (Hill 833). This route is the main road linking their villages and At-Tuwani and it is dangerous for the children since they frequently suffer from the attacks and harassment of the settlers.

On January 4, the schoolchildren waited for the escort until 7:53 a.m. but the soldiers didn’t show up. The children had to attend an exam at 8:00 so, in order to not lose additional time, chose to go through an other longer path, in which they were attacked several times in the past. International volunteers accompanied them in place of the Israeli soldiers.

On December 31, the children arrived at the designated escort meeting place at 10.30 am in order to be accompanied from At Tuwani to Tuba, but the Israeli military escort wasn’t there. The children waited in the winter morning for the army until 11.45 a.m. The children chose to go through the very dangerous shortest route between Ma’on settlement and Havat Ma’on outpost without any escort.

On December 28, the schoolchildren arrived at the designated escort meeting place at 11.08 am, but the army wasn’t there. The children waited for the army until 11.45 am. After that the children chose to go home through an other longer path, but not less dangerous, accompanied by International volunteers in place of the Israeli escort.

In this half school year (from 24 August 2014 to 4 January 2015) Operation Dove volunteers, who monitor the Israeli military escort, collected the following data: on a total of 170 cases, six times the children were not escorted on their trip from and to school. In contravention of the protective mandate of the escort, in this half school year on 98,53% of the cases (on 136 of 170 recorded cases in which the volunteers monitored the military escort) the Israeli soldiers failed to fully complete the escort, not walking until the end of the settlement. Furthermore in this period on 23% of the cases the escort refused to walk with the children, as establish the agreement between the DCO and At-Tuwani major. On 49,4% of the mornings, the children were late to school by more than 5 minutes due to escort delay. The children lost 9 hours because of late or missing military escorts. On 54,1% of their school days, the children had to wait more than 5 minutes after school for the military escort. In the afternoons, the children waited it a total of 22 hours.

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

Pictures: http://goo.gl/F9Y2VA

[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.]

Israeli settlers burn a house in Ad-Deirat. Israeli forces demolish a tent in Al-Mufaqarah.

(Italian follows)

December 31, 2014

At-Tuwani – On December 31, at about 3:00 am, Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian house in the South Hebron hills village of Ad-Deirat. In the same day, at about 12:50 pm, Israeli forces demolished a tent in the village of Al-Mufaqarah.

As witnessed by Palestinians, at about 3:00 am two settlers wrote with black spray near the front door of a Palestinian’s house in the village of Ad-Deirat a sentence, in which is recognizable only the word: “revenge“. Then, settlers broke a window and threw a molotov cocktail inside the house. The molotov cocktail damaged furniture and the television, but didn’t injure any Palestinian living in the house as they were all sleeping in another room.

In the same day, at about 12:50 pm, Israeli forces demolished a tent and a cement base for a tent, both belonging to a Palestinian family, in the village of Al-Mufaqarah. The tent was a storage of food for the sheep and for the wood used by the family to protect itself from the winter cold.

Palestinians in South Hebron hills have suffered the Israeli settlers’ presence since the 70s. The settlers, occupying Palestinian-owned lands, deprive the Palestinians of their main livelihood. Moreover the settlers, with their ongoing violence, prevent Palestinians from having a regular daily life and restrict their freedom of movement, thus forcing them to leave the South Hebron hills area.

Ad-Deirat and Al-Mufaqarah villages are located in Area C, under Israeli military and administrative control. That means that all the constructions must be approved by the Israeli administration. Israel denies Palestinians the right to build on the 70 percent of Area C, which is about the 44 percent of all the West Bank, while within the remaining 30 percent a series of restrictions are applied in order to prevent Palestinians from obtaining building permits (source: OCHA oPt).

Nevertheless the Palestinian communities of the South Hebron Hills area are still strongly committed to nonviolent popular resistance against the Israeli occupation.

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

Pictures of the settlers ’price tag’ attack in Ad-Deirat: http://goo.gl/hrU4RJ

Video of the demolition in Al-Mufaqarah: http://youtu.be/Veht8zZuCfY

[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.]

Haaretz, by Chaim Levinson Dec. 9, 2014

Settlement analyst says the areas marked are in the Jordan Valley or near settlements; Civil Administration calls claims baseless

The Civil Administration has in recent years earmarked 35,000 dunams (8,650 acres) of land currently defined as military firing zones to expand settlements and outposts, according to a settlement-tracking researcher’s analysis of its figures.

Dror Etkes has analyzed the extensive geographical information in the hands of the Civil Administration and says it shows that the administration has been surveying and mapping the old state lands recently, although these are firing zones. Since 1999, a Civil Administration team – known as the “blue line team” – has been using advanced digital methods to reaffirm the boundaries of the state lands. So far, 260,000 dunams have been mapped throughout the West Bank – 35,000 dunams of which are in firing zones.

New water tanks were needed to provide Palestinian inhabitants drinkable water.

(Italian follows)

November 21, 2014
At Tuwani – On November 20, the Israeli forces seized a tractor, its truck, four water tanks and three tanks’ bases from the Palestinian village of Susiya.
In the early morning DCO officers approached the Palestinian village to take pictures of the ongoing works to install four new water tanks. In the early afternoon DCO officers returned with Israeli army, police, two trucks, one of which with a mechanical arm.

The tractor and its truck, that carried water cisterns and their bases, were seized with the accuse of being used for illegal works, since Palestinians didn’t have permissions to install new water tanks. Tanks and bases were seized without any previous issued demolition order under the pretext that they were not yet installed on the ground.
Water tanks were geared of filters to provide drinkable water and were donated to the Palestinian village because of the lack of drinkable water that effects all the South Hebron Hills area.

The Palestinian village of Susiya is located in area C, under Israeli military and civil administration, and it is surrounded by the Israeli settlement of Suseya, the outpost of Suseya’s Ancient Synagogue and the military base of Suseya North. Around the settlement and the military base there are 26 wells and water cisterns that Palestinians are forbidden to use even if they are on Palestinian private proprieties. Even more, DCO doesn’t allow Palestinian residents of Susiya to connect to Israeli Makorot Company’s water pipes that run right through the Palestinian village and bring water from the settlement of Suseya to the outpost of Ancient Synagogue.

Palestinian residents of Susiya pay 35 NIS per cubic meter of tanked water, six times more than the nearby settlement, which is served by the network. Water consumption of Palestinians in Susiya is 28 liters/capita/day, significantly less than the 70 l/c/d consumed by an average Palestinian and well below the World Health Organization standard of 100 l/c/d. (source OCHA OPT)

The Palestinian inhabitants of Susiya are struggling through the nonviolent popular resistance in order to gain the right to access their own lands and to live a dignified life.
Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Pictures of the incident: http://goo.gl/AUCv8x

[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.]

The Israeli forces violently assaulted the inhabitants of Um Al Kher village.

(Italian follows)

October 29, 2014

At-Tuwani – On October 29 Israeli forces demolished a total of four structures in the Beduin village of Um ad Daraj and a traditional oven in Um Al Kher beduin village. Men and women from Um Al Kher were assaulted by Israeli soldiers and Border Police officers, while they were peacefully trying to prevent the demolition.

At 7:40 am Israeli military forces broke into Um ad Daraj with two bulldozers. The IDF demolished a toilet, a shelter for the sheep, a cave used as home and a tinplated house, in which were living eight people.
At 9:00 am the Israeli forces arrived at Um Al Kher village and declared a “close military area” for internationals and Israeli civilians, subsequently pushed the international volunteers present to monitor the human rights violations far from the village, threatening them to be arrested. After that a bulldozer, escorted by Israeli army and Border Police went inside the village damaging a fence and an olive tree.
Palestinians inhabitants of Um Al Kher gathered in front of the traditional oven and tried to peacefully prevent the demolition. Israeli soldiers and Border Police officers attacked them, pushing violently away the women and shoving down a boy. After the aggressions the bulldozer destroyed the oven.

The traditional oven was already demolished, without any demolition order issued for it, on October 27 together with other six structures. On October 28, the oven was rebuilt by the South Hebron Hills Popular Committee together with the inhabitants of Um al Kher. (For more informations about the demolitions on October 27 you can see: www.tuwaniresiste.operazionecolomba.it ).
The traditional oven was rebuilt for the second time by Palestinians before the end of the morning.

Palestinians from the South Hebron Hills keep struggling in a nonviolent way to claim justice and defend human rights.

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

Pictures of the demolitions:http://goo.gl/VD2etW

[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.]

——-

COMUNICATO STAMPA

L’esercito israeliano demolisce nei villaggi beduini di Um ad Daraj e Um Al Kher, nelle colline a sud di Hebron.
L’esercito israeliano ha aggredito gli abitanti del villaggio di Um Al Kher.

29 ottobre 2014

At-Tuwani – Il 29 ottobre l’esercito israeliano ha demolito un totale di quattro strutture nel villaggio beduino di Um ad Daraj e un forno tradizionale nel villaggio beduino di Um Al Kher. Uomini e donne di Um Al Kher sono stati aggrediti mentre tentavano di interporsi pacificamente alla demolizione.

Alle 7:40 le forze militari israeliane sono entrate ad Um ad Daraj con due bulldozer. L’esercito israeliano ha demolito un bagno, un recinto per le pecore, una grotta usata come casa e una casa di lamiera dove vivevano 8 persone.
Alle 9 le forze israeliane sono arrivate ad Um Al Kher e hanno dichiarato “area militare chiusa” agli internazionali e civili israeliani, di conseguenza hanno cacciato i volontari internazionali presenti sul posto per monitorare le violazioni di diritti umani, minacciandoli di arresto. A quel punto i bulldozer, scortati dall’esercito israeliano e polizia di frontiera sono entrati nel villaggio danneggiando una recinzione ed un albero d’ulivo.
Gli abitanti palestinesi di Um Al Kher si sono riuniti di fronte al forno tradizionale per tentare di interporsi pacificamente alla demolizione. Soldati e poliziotti israeliani li hanno attaccati, spingendo violentemente le donne e buttando a terra un ragazzo. Dopo l’aggressione il bulldozer ha demolito il forno.

Il forno era già stato demolito, senza che venisse consegnato nessun ordine di demolizione ufficiale, il 27 ottobre insieme ad altre sei strutture. Il 28 ottobre il forno era stato ricostruito dal Comitato Popolare delle Colline a Sud di Hebron insieme agli abitanti di Um Al Kher (per più informazioni sulle demolizioni del 27 ottobre vedere: www.tuwaniresiste.operazionecolomba.it)

I palestinesi delle colline a sud di Hebron continuano a lottare in modo nonviolento per reclamare giustizia e per la difesa dei diritti umani.

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

Foto delle demolizioni:http://goo.gl/VD2etW

[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.]

By Yossi Gurvitz, for Yesh Din (+972 Magazine)

Through the use of civilian security coordinators in settlements and outposts, the IDF has, essentially, privatized law enforcement in the West Bank. A further aspect of this symbiotic relationship is the army’s use of the coordinators to promote de facto recognition of unauthorized settler outposts.

Our first post about our report “The Lawless Zone” focused on the unclear relationship through which Israel effectively privatizes powers in the field of defense, law enforcement and policing, and transfers these to Israeli settlers. The security coordinators are residents of West Bank settlements who receive quasi-military powers. Although they are not formally empowered to issue commands to soldiers, in practice they do so, and in many cases they exploit their powers in order to expand their settlements’ territory.

This is the main problem created by the institution of the security coordinators, and accordingly our key recommendation is that the army should reassume these powers and appoint security coordinators who are officers in the permanent army and are accountable solely to the army and not to the settlements. There is another problem, however, one that highlights the symbiotic relationship between the army and the settlers.

In the mid-1990s, the Israeli government decided not to establish new settlements unless they were approved by the entire government. Since then the phenomenon of the “outposts” has developed. An outpost is the result of the seizure of land that is ostensibly private and unauthorized, but enjoys the de facto support of the authorities, including generous support from government sources. This tool is used by settlers to seize Palestinian or public land. This process was described in extensive detail both in a report prepared by Attorney Talia Sasson and in the Yesh Din report “The Road to Dispossession.” In recent years the emphasis has been on expanding and approving existing outposts, rather than on establishing new ones.

None of this could have happened without extensive assistance from the army. In one instance, the outpost of Netzach Binyamin was torched by Palestinians. The army did not provide protection and so the Israeli civilians fled. In a case involving the land seizure orders in Dura al-Qara, the army concealed the existence of the orders from the Palestinian residents to prevent them appealing, exposing a long-standing pattern of collaboration between the army and the settlers. Our latest report has identified a new dimension to this collaboration.

In 2009 the district brigades redefined the guarding areas for which the security coordinators are responsible. The changes were made after many years in which the coordinators effectively worked without any geographical restriction, since the guard order defining their operations did not specify the boundaries of the settlements. Following a petition submitted by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the army took no less than four years to prepare the amendment.

The amendment led to two changes. Firstly, the guarding area of the settlement was defined not according to its municipal boundaries, but according to the defense perception of the brigade commander. More importantly, for the first time the orders defined guarding areas for illegal outposts: 48 such outposts were allocated independent guarding areas, while 35 more were included in the guarding area of their parent settlement.

This provision constitutes the de facto approval of the outposts by the IDF – and this in an administrative process that was supposed to restrict the security coordinators’ operations.

This process happened quietly, without a government decision, without public discussion and without updating the courts, which are still hearing the issue. An ostensibly technical military order bypassed all these stages, granting official recognition to a criminal offense.

This post is presented as a public service, in case you still believe in the fairytale about the wild settler and the army that does not pick and choose its operations. The army very much picks and chooses its operations; it has always done so.

Written by Yossi Gurvitz in his capacity as a blogger for Yesh Din, Volunteers for Human Rights. A version of this post was first published on Yesh Din’s blog.

Read the full Yesh Din report here.

(Italian follows)

September 22, 2013

Tuwani – On September 20, the South Hebron Hills Popular Committee (SHHPC) have organized a nonviolent action to claim the Palestinians right to access to the land and to denounce the illegal settlers expansion, near the Palestinian village of Susiya.

One week ago the Israeli settlers illegally built a tent (about 20 s.m.) on Palestinian land, situated between the Palestinian village of Susiya and the Israeli Suseya settlement, where the settlers used to gather every afternoon. Beside this tent there is a well owned by a Palestinian from Susiya in which the settlers used to swim. This violations prevented the Palestinian shepherds and villagers to use the well and to graze in the valley close to the place.

On Saturday morning, at 10 a.m. several Palestinian men, women and children, with the solidarity of Israeli activists went to the tent and dismantled it. Subsequently they collected the garbage around the well and they took water from it as a demonstrative action.
Suddenly around ten settlers came out from Suseya and some of them crossed an area in which the access is forbidden to Israelis and raged against the nonviolent activists.
In the meanwhile Israeli Forces arrived and the Palestinians denounced the settlers violations. At 10:45 the Israeli army and Border Police declared the area a “close military zone” for one day, in order to push away the Palestinians and the Israeli activists. Yet the settlers remained inside the temporary close military area with the Police and army.

The nonviolent action aimed to prevent the settlement illegal territorial expansion and to stop the ongoing appropriation of Palestinian land from the settlers present in the South Hebron Hills are.

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

Pictures of the action: http://goo.gl/21d7bw

[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.]

——-

I Palestinesi resistono all’espansione delle colonie, colline a sud di Hebron

22 settembre 2014

At Tuwani – Il 20 settembre, il Comitato Popolare delle colline a sud di Hebron ha organizzato un’azione nonviolenta per affermare il diritto dei Palestinesi di accesso alla terra e per denunciare l’illegale espansione dei coloni, vicino al villaggio palestinese di Susiya.

Una settimana prima i coloni Israeliani hanno illegalmente costruito una tenda (di circa 20 mq) su terra di proprietà palestinese, situata tra il villaggio Palestinese di Susiya e l’insediamento Israeliano di Suseya, dove i coloni usano riunirsi tutti i pomeriggi. A fianco alla tenda c’è un posso di proprietà di un palestinese di Susiya, nel quale i coloni fanno il bagno. Queste violazioni impediscono ai pastori e gli abitanti palestinesi di usare il pozzo e di pascolare nella valle vicina.

Il sabato mattina alle 10:00 molti palestinesi (uomini, donne e bambini) con la solidarietà degli attivisti israeliani sono andati alla tenda e l’hanno smantellata. Successivamente hanno raccolto i rifiuti intorno al pozzo e, come azione dimostrativa, hanno utilizzato l’acqua.
Improvvisamente circa dieci coloni sono venuti dall’insediamento di Suseya e alcuni di loro hanno attraversato un’area in cui l’accesso è vietato agli israeliani e si sono infuriati contro gli attivisti nonviolenti.
Nel frattempo sono arrivate le forze armate israeliane e i palestinesi hanno denunciato le violazioni dei coloni. Alle 10:45 l’esercito israeliano e la polizia hanno dichiarato la zona un area militare chiusa per un giorno, al fine di scacciare i palestinesi e gli attivisti israeliani. Eppure i coloni sono rimasti dentro la temporanea area militare chiusa con la polizia e l’esercito.

L’azione nonviolenta ha lo scopo di impedire l’illegale espansione territoriale della colonia e di fermare la continua appropriazione di terra palestinesi da parte dei coloni israeliani nelle colline a sud di Hebron.

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

Foto dell’azione: http://goo.gl/21d7bw

[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.]

September 15, 2014

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

Pictures of the incident: http://goo.gl/oLGr8A

[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.]