October 2014: Olive Harvest

ottobre 26, 2014 at 5:31 pm

Palestinians are harvesting olives in the South Hebron Hills, despite different harassment from Israeli forces and settlers. Schools remained closed in the days dedicated to the harvest and the oil production to allow families to work together.

On October 17, Palestinian families went harvesting their olive trees near Avigayil illegal outpost. Israeli forces tried to prevent them, showing maps stating that some trees were inside the security area of the outpost, where Palestinians are not allowed to enter. Thanks to B’tselem operators and International volunteers Palestinians could finish harvesting.

In Humra valley, in the Palestinian village of At Tuwani, the days of the harvest were almost all quiet: on October 17 some settlers came from Havat Ma’on Israeli illegal outpost, riding a horse and quad bikes, to verbally harass Palestinians.

On October 19 the South Hebron Hills Popular Committee organized a nonviolent action: some Palestinian students from Yatta University went in At Tuwani village to pick olives and water the young trees they planted on the previous spring.

On the land right in front of Suseiya settlement’s entry, Palestinians owners from Susiya had to wait the permission from the DCO in order to pick olives. On October 26 Israeli forces monitored the harvest for the all time.

Students from Yatta University together with members of the South Hebron Hills Popular Commitee, in At Tuwani village.

Students from Yatta University together with members of the South Hebron Hills Popular Commitee, in At Tuwani village.

Palestinin family picking olives in Humra valley, At Tuwani village.

Palestinin family picking olives in Humra valley, At Tuwani village.

DCO offocer checking the harvest in front of Suseya settlement

DCO offocer checking the harvest in front of Suseya settlement

DCO officers tries to prevent Palestinians from picking olives near Avigayil Israeli illegal outpost.

DCO officers tries to prevent Palestinians from picking olives near Avigayil Israeli illegal outpost.

Nelle colline a sud di Hebron si sta svolgendo la raccolta delle olive. I Palestinesi dell’area stanno completando la raccolta nonostante alcuni momenti di tensione. Le scuole sono rimaste chiuse nelle giornate dedicate alla raccolta ed alla successiva produzione dell’olio per permettere alle famiglie di lavorare assieme.

Il 17 ottobre famiglie palestinesi si sono recate per la raccolta sulla loro terra nei pressi dell’avamposto illegale di Avigayil. Le forze dell’ordine israeliane hanno tentato di fermarli, mostrando mappe secondo le quali alcuni degli ulivi di loro proprietà sono nell’area di sicurezza dell’avamposto, dove ai palestinesi è vietato l’accesso. Grazie alla presenza di operatori di B’tselem e volontari internazionali i palestinesi hanno potuto ultimare la raccolta.

Nella valle di Humra, nel il villaggio palestinese di At Tuwani, le giornate di raccolta delle olive sono state quasi sempre tranquille: il 17 ottobre alcuni coloni dell’avamposto illegale di Havat Ma’on sono usciti a cavallo e su dei quod per aggredire verbalmente i palestinesi.

Il 19 ottobre il Comitato Popolare delle Colline a Sud di Hebron ha organizzato un’azione nonviolenta in cui alcuni universitari della città palestinese di Yatta si sono recati nel villaggio di At Tuwani per raccogliere olive dagli alberi adulti, e portare acqua ai giovani ulivi piantati la primavera scorsa.

Nelle terre che si trovano immediatamente davanti all’ingresso della colonia di Suseiya, palestinesi del villaggio di Susiya hanno dovuto aspettare il permesso delle forze israeliane della DCO per poter raccogliere. Il 26 ottobre le forze dell’ordine israeliane hanno monitorato il lavoro per tutto il tempo.

PR: Arrests and violence against Palestinians resisting settlers’ expansion in the South Hebron Hills

ottobre 21, 2014 at 2:00 pm

PRESS RELEASE

Arrests and violence against Palestinians resisting settlers’ expansion in the South Hebron Hills

Israeli forces arrest two Palestinians and four Israeli activists near Mitzpe Yair illegal outpost

(Italian follows)

October 19, 2014

At Tuwani – Saturday October 18, two nonviolent actions organized by the South Hebron Hills Popular Committee took place in the South Hebron Hills area, claiming the right of Palestinians to access their own lands. The first in the area of Umm Al Arayes, located near the Israeli outpost of Mitzpe Yair; the second in the area of the Palestinian village of Susiya, located close to the Israeli settlement of Suseya. Both Palestinian-owned lands are under threat of dispossession because of the illegal settlements’ expansion.

In Umm Al Arayes, at 9 a.m. Palestinian owners of the land accompanied by Israeli activists and international volunteers gathered to claim the right to access their land. The Israeli forces already present on the place immediately stopped the participants and declared the area as “military closed”, preventing anyone to access it. Israeli police arrested two Palestinians and four Israeli activists with the charge to have been in the forbidden area. Last Saturday, during a similar nonviolent action, Israeli activists were brutally attacked by settlers from Mitzpe Yair (video of the incident: http://goo.gl/qFE3fX).

Since 2001 the Palestinians have faced restricted access to these lands. In the past weeks, in response to a legal petition filed by Palestinians’ lawyer, the Israeli Court forced the settlers to dismantle several greenhouses they illegally built on that same land.

In Susiya, at 10 a.m. Palestinian owners, accompanied by Israeli activists and international volunteers, marched on their land to make pressure against the settlement’s illegal expansion. For the third saturday in a row Palestinians dismantled the tent built illegally by the settlers where they used to gather every afternoon preventing the owners to graze on the land and use the well. At 11:10 a.m. Israeli army declared the area as “military closed” and started to violently push away Palestinians and activists, as they were peacefully resisting the evacuation of the area while Israeli settlers were standing there.

In both nonviolent actions Israeli forces prevented the Palestinian owners to access their lands allowing Israeli settlers to grab those lands and illegally build structures on them.

Nevertheless, Palestinians from the South Hebron Hills keep struggling in a nonviolent way to claim justice and to stop the ongoing appropriation of Palestinian land.

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

Pictures of the actions: http://goo.gl/dPcT2u

[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

Arresti e violenza in risposta alla resistenza palestinese contro l’espansione delle colonie, colline a sud di Hebron

L’esercito israeliano arresta due palestinesi e quattro attivisti israeliani vicino all’avamposto di Mitzpe Yair

19 ottobre 2014

At Tuwani – Sabato 18 ottobre, il Comitato Popolare delle Colline a Sud di Hebron ha organizzato due azioni nonviolente per rivendicare il diritto dei palestinesi ad accedere alle proprie terre. La prima nell’area di Umm Al Arayes, vicino l’avamposto israeliano di Mitzpe Yair; la seconda nell’area del villaggio di Susiya adiacente alla colonia israeliana di Suseya. Entrambe le terre di proprietà palestinese sono sotto minaccia di esproprio a causa dall’espansione illegale delle colonie.

Ad Umm Al Arayes, alle 9 del mattino, i proprietari palestinesi, insieme ad attivisti israeliani e volontari internazionali, si sono riuniti per reclamare il diritto di accesso alla loro terra. L’esercito israeliano, già presente sul posto, ha immediatamente fermato i partecipanti dichiarando “area militare chiusa”, impedendo a chiunque di accedere al terreno. La polizia israeliana ha arrestato due palestinesi e quattro attivisti israeliani con l’accusa di essere all’interno dell’area interdetta. Sabato scorso, durante un’azione nonviolenta analoga, gli attivisti israeliani sono stati brutalmente attaccati dai coloni di Mitzpe Yair (video dell’incidente: http://goo.gl/qFE3fX).

Dal 2001 i palestinesi hanno affrontato le limitazioni nell’accesso a questi terreni. Nelle scorse settimane, in risposta ad una petizione presentata dall’avvocato dei palestinesi, la corte israeliana ha obbligato i coloni a smantellare diverse serre che avevano costruito illegalmente sugli stessi terreni.

A Susiya, alle 10 del mattino i proprietari palestinesi, accompagnati degli attivisti israeliani e da volontari internazionali, hanno marciato sulla loro terra per fare pressione contro l’espansione illegale della colonia. Per il terzo sabato di fila, i palestinesi hanno smantellato la tenda costruita illegalmente dai coloni ed utilizzata ogni pomeriggio impedendo ai proprietari del terreno di pascolare nell’area ed usare il pozzo. Alle 11:10 l’esercito israeliano ha dichiarato “area militare chiusa” ed ha iniziato a scacciare con violenza i palestinesi ed gli attivisti che stavano resistendo pacificamente allo sgombero, mentre alcuni coloni israeliani sono rimasti nell’area in questione.

Durante le due azioni, le forze israeliane hanno impedito ai proprietari palestinesi di accedere alla loro terra, permettendo invece ai coloni israeliani di appropriarsene e costruirci illegalmente strutture.

Ciononostante i palestinesi delle colline a sud di Hebron continuano a lottare in modo nonviolento per reclamare giustizia e fermare la continua confisca illegale di terra palestinese.

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/dPcT2u

[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.]

2014-10-11 : Another brutal attack of Ta’ayush Israeli activists by Mitzpe Yair’s settlers

ottobre 13, 2014 at 7:03 am

UPDATE: SHEPHERD’S DOG SHOT NEAR KARMEL SETTLEMENT

ottobre 10, 2014 at 10:03 am

(Italian follows)

At Tuwani – On October 10, a dog belonging to a palestinian family from Um al Kher village, was shot.

According to Palestinian witnesses, early in the morning a shepherd was grazing his flock with the dog, when they heard a gun shot coming from the Israeli settlement of Karmel. After some minutes the dog returned to the village, with a bullet wound.

The Palestinians from Um al Kher called the Israeli police to complain about the situation and they were asked to go to Kiryat Arba police station. Considering that the police officers know there are not weapons owned by the palestinians from Um al Kher, they decided to enter in Karmel to collect evidences and to speak to the security chief of the settlement.

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

Pictures of the incident: http://goo.gl/7vdfQ4

[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.]

Schermata 10-2456941 alle 12.07.40

P1020304——-

Cane da pastore riporta ferita d’arma da fuoco vicino alla colonia di Karmel

At Tuwani – Il 10 ottobre un cane di proprietà di una famiglia del villaggio di Um al Kher, ha riportato una ferita d’arma da fuoco.

Secondo testimoni palestinesi, di prima mattina un pastore stava pascolando il suo gregge con il cane, quando hanno sentito un colpo d’arma da fuoco proveniente dalla colonia israeliana di Karmel. Dopo pochi minuti il cane è ritornato al villaggio con una ferita d’arma da fuoco.

I palestinesi di Um al Kher hanno chiamato la polizia israeliana per denunciare il fatto e gli è stato chiesto di recarsi alla stazione di polizia di Kiryat Arba. Considerato che gli agenti di polizia sanno che i palestinesi di Um al Kher non possiedono armi, hanno deciso di entrare a Karmel per raccogliere prove dell’accaduto e per parlare con il capo della sicurezza della colonia.

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/7vdfQ4

[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.]

+972: How the army helps settlers establish illegal outposts

settembre 29, 2014 at 2:28 pm

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.

UPDATE: Palestinians resisting settlers expansions, South Hebron Hills

settembre 22, 2014 at 7:06 am

(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.]


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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.]

UPDATE: Israeli settlers entered into At Tuwani village escorted by army, South Hebron Hills area

settembre 19, 2014 at 8:25 am
(Italian follows)

September 19, 2014

At Tuwani – On September 17, at 5:30 a.m. three cars with fourteen Israeli settlers came into the Palestinian village of At Tuwani, escorted by two army jeep.

The settlers entered in the archeological site located between several Palestinian homes, in the middle of the village, one of them was armed. At Tuwani inhabitants started to gather at the closest Palestinian home and the owner of the house demanded to the Israeli army explanations about the happening. After the villagers nonviolent pressure on the Israelis both settlers and soldiers, they left the village at 6:15 a.m. This is just the last of several ongoing provocations carried out by the Israeli army and settlers to which the South Hebron Hills palestinian communities keep reacting in a nonviolent way.

In 2011, in At Tuwani were conducted excavations by Israeli archaeologists escorted by the army. Several archeologist that came to visit the village affirmed that the evidences are dating from the Byzantine period. Yet in December 2011 during an archeology meeting placed in the Israeli settlement of Suseya (in the South Hebron Hills area) was declared that the ruins are part of an ancient synagogue. In the meeting was also explained how to reach the site. The finding of ancient jewish ruins in the ’80s was the formal pretext to forcibly evict the Palestinian population of Susiya village.

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

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

[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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Coloni israeliani entrano nel villaggio di At Tuwani scortati dall’esercito, nelle colline a sud di Hebron

17 giugno 2014

At Tuwani – Il 17 Settembre, alle ore 5:30, tre macchine con quattordici coloni Israeliani sono arrivate nel villaggio Palestinese di At Tuwani, scortate da due jeep dell’esercito.

I coloni sono entrati nel sito archeologico situato tra le case di alcuni palestinesi, nel centro del villaggio, uno di questi era armato. Gli abitanti di At Tuwani si sono riuniti presso la casa palestinese più vicina e il proprietario della casa ha chiesto spiegazioni all’esercito Israeliano riguardo a quello che stava accadendo. Dopo la pressione nonviolenta esercitata dagli abitanti del villaggio sull’esercito e sui coloni, questi se ne sono andati alle 6:15. Questa è l’ennesima delle continue provocazioni compiute dall’esercito e dai coloni israeliani, alla quale le comunità Palestinesi delle colline a sud di Hebron continuano a reagire in maniera nonviolenta.

Nel 2011 ad At Tuwani sono stati condotti scavi da parte di archeologi israeliani scortati dall’esercito. Molti degli archeologi che hanno visitato il villaggio affermano che i ritrovamenti risalgono all’epoca Bizantina. Eppure nel Dicembre 2011, durante una conferenza sull’archeologia avvenuta nell’insediamento Israeliano di Suseya (nell’area delle colline a sud di Hebron), è stato dichiarato che le rovine sono appartenenti ad una antica sinagoga. Nella conferenza è stato anche indicato come raggiungere il sito archeologico. Il ritrovamento di antiche rovine ebraiche negli anno ’80 è stato il pretesto formale per l’evacuazione forzata della popolazione palestinese dal villaggio di Susiya.

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/mJicAx

[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.]

PR: Israeli settlers attacked internationals and a Palestinian shepherd

settembre 16, 2014 at 3:02 pm
PRESS RELEASE

Israeli settlers attacked internationals and a Palestinian shepherd

As a result of the attack one international and the shepherd were detained by Israeli Police

(Italian follows)

September 15, 2014

At Tuwani – On September 14, two Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian shepherd and two international near the Israeli outpost of Mitzpe Yair, South Hebron hills area. During the aggression the settlers stole from the internationals their videocameras and broke one of their phone. Israeli police detained the Palestinian shepherd and one of the internationals for 6 hours. There were no consequences for the settlers.

At about 9:00 a.m. four Palestinian shepherd from the South Hebron hills village of Qawawis were grazing their flocks accompanied by two internationals, on Palestinian owned land nearby the Israeli outpost. Two settlers from Mitzpe Yair crossed a closed area (where the access is forbidden to everyone) in order to attack one palestinian shepherd, starting to chase away his flock. The two internationals present taped the scene.

Afterwards the settlers assaulted the internationals: at first they grabbed by the neck one international and knocked him down, they snatched his camera and broke his phone; subsequently the settlers attacked the other one twisting her arm and seized also her camera. When the settlers run back to the outpost holding the stolen cameras, the Palestinian and the internationals went to Qawawis village.

The Israeli police came to the Palestinian village and asked to the shepherd and to the international that was attacked to follow them to the Israeli Police station in Kiryat Arba settlement, due to one settler claiming that they threw stones against him. The Police officers detained both of them for 6 hours and questioned them about the incident. Israeli police released them at 5:00 p.m. without consequences.

The South Hebron hills area suffered the Israeli settlers’ presence since the 70’s. Eight Israeli settlements and outposts (among which Mitzpe Yair) almost isolate 16 Palestinian villages from the rest of West Bank. The settlers’ violence includes also overt violent attacks on Palestinians and their animals, damages of private properties, limitations to freedom of movement with consequences on their daily life. Since the beginning of 2014 Operation Dove registered the arrests of 15 Palestinians, included minors, because they were on lands near the settlements. During the same period there were no consequences for Israeli settlers involved in the incidents occurred in the area.

In spite of the violence suffered by the Palestinians from the South Hebron Hills area, they are keeping on grazing and farming on their lands resisting in a nonviolent way the Israeli occupation.

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.]

Palestinians keep struggling for Umm Al Arayes land

maggio 12, 2014 at 8:09 am

Every saturday, since one year and a half, Palestinians together with Israeli activists organise nonviolent actions to claim the right to return to their land in the South Hebron Hills, on which settlers from the Israeli illegal outpost of Mitzpe Yair have built greenhouses. The land is situated between the Palestinian village of Shi’b Al Butum and the Israeli illegal outpost of Mitzpe Yair.

This land is called Umm Al Arayes and it’s a Palestinian private propriety.  Demolition orders have been issued against the greenhouses by the Israeli District Coordination Office. The Israeli army declaration of lands as closed military zone impedes the Palestinians from accessing their land. Since 2001 the Palestinians in the area have faced restricted access to these lands.

Palestinians from the South Hebron Hills keep facing the Israeli occupation through the popular nonviolent resistance.

For more information about the area you can see also: http://tuwaniresiste.operazionecolomba.it/?s=Umm+Al+Arayes

 

2014-05-10: Isareli army and Border police preventing Palestinina from accessing their private land in Umm Al Arayes

Palestinesi continuano a lottare per la terra a Umm Al Arayes

Ogni sabato, da un anno e mezzo, palestinesi insieme ad attivisti israeliani organizzano azioni nonviolente per reclamare il diritto di accesso alla propria terra nelle colline a sud di Hebron, dove i coloni dell’avamposto illegale israeliano di Mitzpe Yair hanno costruito delle serre. La terra in questione si trova tra il villaggio palestinese di Shi’b Al Butum e l’avamposto illegale israeliano di Mitzpe Yair.

Questa terra è chiamata Umm Al Arayes ed proprietà privata palestinese. Contro le serre sono stati consegnati ordini di demolizione dal Ufficio di Coordinamento Distrettuale dell’Amministrazione Civile Israeliana (DCO). Ai palestinesi è impedito l’accesso alla propria terra in quanto dichiarata dall’esercito israeliano “zona militare chiusa”.

I palestinesi delle colline a sud di Hebron continuano ad affrontare l’occupazione israeliana tramite la resistenza popolare nonviolenta.

Per maggiori informazioni riguaradanti l’area potete vedere anche: http://tuwaniresiste.operazionecolomba.it/?s=Umm+Al+Arayes

P/R: Palestinian girl badly injured by Israeli settler attack

aprile 24, 2014 at 3:43 pm

Israeli settlers attacked with stones four Palestinian children who were returning home from school with their mother

(segue versione in italiano)

April 24, 2014

At Tuwani – On Thursday April 24 at around 12 pm, two Israeli settlers coming with a quad-bike from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on attacked with stones four Palestinian children and the mother of three of them, as they were returning from school to their homes in the villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed. A seven year old girl child was hit by a stone and fell while attempting to run away, badly injuring her head.

Her father, who witnessed the attack as he was harvesting his land situated on top of the Old Havat Ma’on hill, immediately brought her to the nearby village of At Tuwani, where an ambulance came to rescue her and bring her to the hospital.

The girl required five stitches and is now resting at home with her family.

The five Palestinians were coming from the village of At Tuwani, where the children attend school, through the only path they can use without the military escort that everyday accompanies the children from Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed on their way to and from school since 2004. On this path Palestinians cross the hill where the outpost of Havat Ma’on was situated before it was dismantled in 2000 and moved to Hill 833. Through this hill passes a paved road used by Israeli settlers as a hiking trail. The five Palestinians were attacked by two Israeli settlers who were riding with their quad-bike on this trail.

 

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

 

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.]

The seven years old Palestinian girl injured by the attack

 

The Palestinian ambulance that brought the child and her father to the Hospital

COMUNICATO STAMPA

Bambina palestinese ferita gravemente da un attacco di coloni israeliani

Coloni israeliani hanno attaccato con pietre quattro bambini palestinesi che stavano facendo ritorno da scuola con la madre

14 aprile 2014

At Tuwani – Giovedì 24 aprile alle ore 12 circa, due coloni israeliani a bordo di un quad, proveniente dall’avamposto illegale di Havat Ma’on, hanno attaccato con delle pietre quattro bambini palestinesi e la madre di tre di loro mentre, dopo la scuola, stavano facendo ritorno ai villaggi di Maghayir Al Abeed e Tuba. Una bambina di sette anni è stata colpita da una pietra mentre cercava di fuggire e, cadendo, si è procurata una profonda ferita alla testa.

Il padre di questa, testimone dell’accaduto mentre stava lavorando la propria terra situata in cima alla collina di Old Havat Ma’on, ha portato la piccola al vicino villaggio di At Tuwani dove è arrivata un’ambulanza che le ha prestato i primi soccorsi e l’ha trasferita poi all’ospedale.

Alla bambina sono stati applicati cinque punti di sutura ed ora si trova a casa con la propria famiglia.

I cinque palestinesi arrivavano dal villaggio di At Tuwani, dove i bambini frequentano la scuola, attraverso l’unico sentiero che possono percorrere senza la presenza della scorta militare che, ogni giorno dal 2004, accompagna sulla via per e dalla scuola i bambini di Tuba e Maghayir Al Abeed. Questa via attraversa l’area in cui era ubicato l’avamposto di Havat Ma’on prima di essere smantellato nel 2000 e ricostruito sulla Hill 833. Su questa collina passa una strada sterrata usata dai coloni israeliani come percorso di trekking. I cinque palestinesi sono stati attaccati da due coloni israeliani che stavano percorrendo questo sentiero con un quad.

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

 

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.]