Activist’s footage shows settlement security coordinator telling soldiers to make arrests.

By Amira Hass, October 27 2013 – Video by Operation Dove

VIDEO: http://bcove.me/kbzpg6me

The Israeli army will launch an internal investigation into two cases in which soldiers allegedly arrested Palestinian shepherds on false pretexts, the IDF Spokesman’s Office has told Haaretz.

The investigation, under the auspices of the Israel Defense Forces advocate general and the army’s criminal investigation division, will be studying allegations that troops from the Kfir Brigade arrested Palestinian shepherds near the village of A-Tuwani in the southern Hebron Hills, taking them away from their flocks and pastureland for hours.

In the first incident, as shown in a video taken by an international activist who was at the scene, the soldiers arrested a shepherd on the direct order of an Israeli man named Gedalia, who is the security coordinator of the settlement of Maon. In the second incident, a commanding officer claimed the grazing was forbidden because it was too close to the outpost of Mitzpeh Avigayil. The shepherd testified that the soldiers struck and abused him.

In the A-Tuwani region, international and Israeli activists escort the local farmers and shepherds to their fields because of constant attacks by the residents of the outposts and settlements. The army and police often send the farmers and shepherds away to prevent friction with the settlers. But this was the first time in local memory that shepherds were kept from their pastureland by arrests made on the orders of settlers.

On the morning of Tuesday, October 15, Maon security coordinator Gedalia arrived at Ghali Hill, where Mohammed Shawahin, 31, of the nearby village of Jawiya, was grazing his flocks. Shortly after Gedalia appeared, a military vehicle containing four soldiers, three men and a woman, arrived. Shawahin got the message and tried to leave. But the woman soldier shouted at him: “You’re not going anywhere. Don’t you hear me? I’ve got a gun. You stay here. Don’t you hear me? You stay here. I don’t care. You stay here. Right here.”

It was then the sheep began dispersing. The security coordinator told the soldiers, “He [the shepherd] isn’t carrying an identity card.” In the video documentation, the sergeant can be heard asking, in Hebrew, “What do you want us to do?” The security coordinator said, “He was here yesterday, too — the exact same thing. I want you to hold him, find out who this person is, find out who this terrorist is.”

Shawahin offered to return to his home, a few hundred meters away, and come back with his identity card. The international activist tried to tell the soldiers that two days before, different soldiers had appeared and confirmed that grazing in the area was permitted. But the commanding officer decided to arrest Shawahin anyway, and handcuffed him. Shawahin was taken by jeep to an army camp in the settlement of Sussia. Ninety minutes later he was taken to the settlement of Shim’a, about 17 kilometers southwest of where he was arrested. He returned home on foot about seven hours after he was arrested.

On the morning of October 16, the same jeep appeared, only with different soldiers this time, on the road near the wadi and the privately-owned land on which Nael Abu Aram, 26, of the village of Qawawis, was grazing his flock. Two teenage boys were with him. Abu Aram testified that one of the soldiers took the pipe one of the teenagers was carrying and began striking the sheep to disperse the flock. The soldiers insisted that Abu Aram answer them in Hebrew and refused to believe him when he said he did not speak Hebrew. For several seconds, he managed to film the commander of the troops (Duchifat Battalion soldiers who completed their training in March 2013) telling him: “You’re not allowed to be here, right? You’re not allowed to be here, because this is [the unauthorized outpost of] Mitzpeh Avigayil. You’re not allowed to be here. There’s a Jewish community here, and you’re not allowed near it.”

Abu Aram said that when he tried to use his cellphone to call for help, the commander held his hand strongly, twisting his fingers. “He almost broke them,” he said. The soldiers handcuffed him, blindfolded him and made him get into the jeep. He says he was held for two or three hours at the army base in Sussia, in one of the prefabricated buildings (which he managed to see when his blindfold was removed for a few minutes). There, he testified in a video recorded by activists of the Ta’ayush Arab-Jewish Partnership, the soldiers struck, abused and cursed him while he was still handcuffed and blindfolded. He said they struck him on the chest, back and legs, held a burning cigarette to his mouth and extinguished it on his face, near his mouth. Later on, he was taken to the area near Shim’a, about 15 kilometers from the place where he had been arrested. He returned home about six hours after his arrest. On the afternoon of the same day, the same commanding officer from the Duchifat Battalion tried to arrest another shepherd in the same area on the same pretext — being too close to the settlement — but the shepherd firmly refused to get into the jeep. Because several international activists were present, together with a Ta’ayush activist, the commanding officer backed down.

The IDF Spokesman’s Office responded: “Each of these two incidents will be investigated thoroughly by the relevant parties, including the military advocate general and the army’s criminal investigation division, to clarify the circumstances. We emphasize that IDF troops act on the orders of their commanding officers in the field and are not subject to the orders of security coordinators.”

Press Release of the incident: http://snipurl.com/280gnp9

Despite finding the man guilty of operating outside his authorized territory and committing a criminal offense, Israeli army hasn’t removed him from position.

by Chaim Levinson – October 10, 2013

The security coordinator for the West Bank settlement of Avigail who is responsible for the placement of a roadblock preventing access to the adjacent Palestinian villages will remain in his position.

A Haaretz investigation found that Ahikam Halleli, the security coordinator for that area, who was responsible for initiating and implementing the incident, got off with a mere rebuke by the Israel Defense Forces commander in Hebron, Major-General Avi Bluth.

On August 18, several settler youths from the outposts Mitzpe Yair and Avigail built a roadblock on the dirt road leading to four Palestinian villages – Jinba, Bir el-Eid, Markaz and Hallawa – all located in Firing Zone 918.

Human rights organizations summoned the army, who arrived to the area, spoke with the youth and cleared the rocks. Upon leaving, the settler youth once again blocked the road until nighttime. Israeli soldiers and police returned and once again re-opened the road. Palestinian residents also complained of a stench coming from a water cistern nearby, likely due to an dead animal left there by the youth.

Residents of Avigail say that Halleli did it to avenge the theft of a car from the Mitzpe Yair outpost a few days earlier.

“He emailed all the residents,” a settler living in the area said, “writing that there were several car thefts committed recently, including the day before. Residents were requested to arrive the next day at 6:30 in the morning to help block the road. Ahikam qualified the activity as ‘important.'”

Local settlement councils employ security coordinators, paying their salaries. The army is responsible for vetting each one, and is also his exclusive acting supervisor. Settlement security coordinators are subject to military disciplinary law and IDF investigations and army commanders sign off on maps delineating the territories within which they can act.

In this case, Halleli was operating outside his authorized territory, in addition to committing a criminal offense.

Following Haaretz’s request for a response, Major-General Bluth summoned Halleli for an investigation. Halleli admitted he initiated the roadblock, but Bluth decided to make due with a reproach and keep him in his position.

Halleli has in the past been involved in transferring material for illegal settlement construction. In that case as well, as a result of a Haaretz inquiry, he was called in for an investigation and merely rebuked. He claimed he did not know the materials were being used for illegal construction, and promised it would not happen again.

Halleli refused to comment on this case. The IDF Spokesperson said in a response that a thorough investigation was conducted following the incident, including a conversation between the army commander and the said security coordinator.

“During the conversation it was made clear beyond any doubt that this behavior is not in line with the IDF’s values, and constitutes an impaired decision, as a result of which proper procedure was restated. This was an isolated incident that does not reflect general behavior, as the IDF consistently examines its civilian security officials.”

The press release about the incident occurred on August 18: http://snipurl.com/27ystqj

Video of the incident: http://snipurl.com/27nvjb3

PRESS RELEASE

Israeli army invaded South Hebron Hills village of At Tuwani overnight 

Access roads to the village were blocked and soldiers broke into Palestinian houses

(Italian follows)

October 7, 2013

At Tuwani – Large Israeli military forces broke into the South Hebron Hills village of At Tuwani Sunday night and surrounded it. The army blocked accesses to the village and searched numerous Palestinian homes, finding nothing.

At 7.10 pm At Tuwani inhabitants informed Operation Dove volunteers about shooting that occurred near the Havat Ma’on outpost. From the Palestinian home located closest to Havat Ma’on, the volunteers noticed that headlights from the outpost were shining light on the entire Humra valley, located beside it. The volunteers then saw several people walking in the valley, flanked by military jeeps.

At 7.40 pm several flares were shot from various positions around At Tuwani, as Israeli military jeeps and soldiers on foot began to approach the Palestinian village from three different directions. At the same time five settlers and three soldiers entered At Tuwani. The soldiers left the settlers alone, who checked the area using headlights. The settlers were from Mitzpe Yair, Avigayil and Havat Ma’on, all Israeli outposts located in the South Hebron Hills area.

At 8.10 pm two international volunteers went to the entrance of At Tuwani, where they found eight military vehicles. Israeli soldiers were stopping Palestinian cars, searching them, body-searching all the male passengers and taking the vehicle keys. Two army jeeps remained there to block the road and did not allow anyone to enter the village while six jeeps entered At Tuwani. In total five Palestinian-owned cars with about eleven men, three women, an elderly person and a child were stopped. The soldiers allowed the people to return home after more than two hours.

In the meanwhile, soldiers broke into Palestinian homes in At Tuwani and searched them, frightening the inhabitants and in some cases threatening to arrest Palestinians and internationals who were filming the events. The Israeli army searched the local mosque, five homes -one with just women inside- and two stables, without finding anything.

At least ten army and two Border Police vehicles invaded the village, in addition to numerous soldiers on foot.

The reaction of At Tuwani inhabitants demonstrates how they are strongly involved in using nonviolence as a way to resist the Israeli occupation: all village residents demonstrated solidarity in the homes invaded by the soldiers;; some residents were filming the developments; the women made pressure on the soldiers, who ran after them, to open the road. Finally, some Palestinians invited soldiers to drink tea while they were breaking into their houses.
The absence of aggressive behaviors toward the soldiers and the constant presence of cameras substantially contributed to a decrease in the level of violence.

The Israeli army left At Tuwani village at 10.30 pm, providing no explanation about the military operation to the internationals and the local inhabitants.

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

Pictures of the incident: http://snipurl.com/27y2is8

Video of the incident: available soon

[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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On September 4, at the entrance of At Tuwani village, Israeli police stopped and confiscated a tank truck just filled at the water pomp located nearby.

Since last week there has been often presence of Israeli police at the entrance of At-Tuwani village. This road has an heavy traffic of water tanks from the whole South Hebron Hills area. This because At Tuwani is, for most of the villages located in the area, the nearest point for the water supply .

La polizia israeliana confisca un’autobotte palestinese piena d’acqua

All’ingresso del villaggio di At Tuwani, il 4 settembre, la polizia israeliana ha fermato e confiscato un autobotte appena riempita dalla pompa dell’acqua situata nelle vicinanze.

Dalla scorsa settimana la polizia israeliana è stata spesso presente all’entrata del villaggio. Questa strada è molto trafficata da serbatoi d’acqua provenienti da tutta l’area delle colline a sud di Hebron, poiché At Tuwani, per la maggior parte dei villaggi dell’area, è il punto più vicino per la fornitura di acqua.

La strada per l’inferno è lastricata di buone intenzioni. La riproduzione casuale mi passa questa bomba con la nonchalance che solo un computer può avere. Frase già sentita molte volte, ma gli esplosivi spesso hanno bisogno di un detonatore e forse qui l’ho trovato. Mi trovo nelle budella di un conflitto che sanguina da decenni, ma sento solo gente che chiede la pace. La chiede il soldato israeliano orgoglioso della sua divisa e della sua arma, tanto quanto il palestinese che sogna una terra per il suo popolo dove nessun israeliano possa più metter piede, armato o meno.

Non è il fucile puntato che fa impressione, e nemmeno il sasso scagliato di chiunque sia la mano dietro, quanto l’uomo che la comanda cercando la pace. Non ci sono giusti nel naufragio della vita, siamo tutti vittime e carnefici.
Possiamo essere carnefici di un popolo oppresso perché vittime di un sistema troppo forte, carnefici di menti violentate dall’odio perché vittime di ingiustizie troppo grandi, ma sempre con le migliori intenzioni e le nostre giuste ragioni. Sembra quasi disumano uscire dal sistema causa-effetto della catena dell’odio, ingiusto essere proprio io l’anello che cede perché tutta la catena si spezzi.

In the morning of August 15, Palestinian shepherds were attacked by Israeli settlers and subsequently harassed by the Israeli army in the South Hebron Hills. Three Palestinians from the village of At Tuwani were grazing their sheep and working the land in Humra valley around 6:30 am, when three settlers came from the nearby Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on and threw stones to chase them away. One of the Palestinians has a camera provided by the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem but as the settlers attacked, the man walked away but remained in the valley.

The settlers then returned to the outpost and Israeli soldiers arrived to the area. One settler talked to soldiers and accused one of the Palestinian shepherds of having gotten too close to the outpost and pushing his sheep amongst the outpost trees.  Palestinians and Operation Dove volunteers showed the soldiers the six damaged olive trees discovered in the Humra valley the previous day. Soldiers responded  that this was probably a “price tag” attack since the settlers claim a Palestinian stole sheep from the outpost some days before. Around 8:30 am the army left the area. No Palestinians or Israeli settlers were detained.

La mattina del 15 agosto 2013 tre palestinesi del villaggio di At Tuwani stavano pascolando le pecore e lavorando la terra nella vicina valle di Humra quando, intorno alle 6:30, tre coloni sono usciti dall’avamposto di Havat Ma’on tirando pietre contro i pastori nel tentativo di farli fuggire. Uno di questi ultimi portava con sé la telecamera fornita dall’organizzazione per la difesa dei diritti umani B’tselem ma, a causa dell’attacco improvviso, non è riuscito a riprendere.

Successivamente i coloni sono tornati indietro verso l’avamposto e i palestinesi sono rimasti in valle. Poco dopo sono arrivati i soldati che, dopo aver parlato con uno dei coloni presenti, hanno accusato i pastori di aver portato le pecore all’interno del bosco dell’avamposto. A quel punto i palestinesi e i volontari di Operazione Colomba hanno mostrato ai soldati i sei ulivi tagliati il giorno precedente nella medesima valle. I militari hanno risposto che, probabilmente, il taglio di ulivi è stato frutto di una azione di “price tag”* ad opera dei coloni. Questi ultimi, infatti, nei giorni precedenti, avrebbero denunciato il presunto furto di una pecora da parte dei palestinesi. Intorno alle 8:30 l’esercito è andato via, senza prendere misure nei confronti di nessuno.

* Il così detto “price tag” è un’azione di vandalizzazione volta a punire la vittima per una presunta violazione precedente, di solito usata come scusa pretestuosa. Soltanto tre mesi fa i coloni hanno tagliato 62 alberi di ulivo in un campo situato nelle vicinanze del villaggio di At Tuwani (http://tuwaniresiste.operazionecolomba.it/?p=2259).

Settler while talking with soldiers

Palestinian shepherd while talking with soldiers and showing the cut trees in Humra valley

On the morning of August 13 Palestinians and Operation Dove volunteers found six seriously damaged olive trees in the South Hebron Hills’ Humra valley, near the Palestinian village of At Tuwani. The trees were apparently damaged by Israeli settlers during the previous night. The Humra valley is located very closed to the Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on.

The number of Palestinian-owned trees uprooted and damaged in the South Hebron Hills area since January 2012 now rises to 165, a large number of which are located in the Humra valley.

Olive trees are an essential resource for the Palestinian community in the South Hebron Hills area, and their damage results in substantial economic losses for local residents.

La mattina del 13 agosto pastori palestinesi e volontari di Operazione Colomba hanno trovato sei alberi d’ulivo gravemente danneggiati nella valle di Humra (colline a sud di Hebron), che si trova nei pressi del villaggio palestinese di At Tuwani. Il danno è stato probabilmente effettuato da coloni israeliani la notte precedente. La valle di Humra si trova molto vicino l’avamposto israeliano di Havat Ma’on.

Sale a 165 il numero di alberi d’ulivo palestinesi sradicati e danneggiati nell’area delle colline a sud di Hebron da gennaio 2012, gran parte di questi si trova nella valle di Humra.

Gli alberi d’ulivo sono una risorsa essenziale per le comunità palestinesi delle colline a sud di Hebron, e il loro danneggiamento provoca una notevole perdita economica per gli abitanti locali.

One of the biggest tree damaged

Pictures of the incident: http://snipurl.com/27mlq11

On 12 August six Israeli soldiers entered the South Hebron Hills village of At Tuwani. The soldiers searched an olive orchard while three armed settlers observed from the gravel road running between Havat Ma’on outpost and At Tuwani. The settlers spoke with the soldiers during this operation, and an army jeep subsequently entered the village. The soldiers remained in At Tuwani for about one hour, and the excuse they gave to Operation Dove volunteers was that the Palestinians threw stones at the army the previous night.

Il 12 agosto 2013 sei soldati israeliani sono entrati nel villaggio di At Tuwani. I militari hanno ispezionato un oliveto, mentre tre coloni armati osservavano la situazione dall’alto della strada sterrata che si trova tra At Tuwani e l’avamposto di Havat Ma’on. Durante l’operazione i coloni hanno interloquito con i soldati mentre una camionetta dell’esercito entrava nel villaggio. I militari sono rimasti nel villaggio per circa un’ora. Questi, rivolgendosi ai volontari di Operazione Colomba, hanno giustificato la loro presenza dicendo che la notte prima i Palestinesi avrebbero tirato delle pietre contro l’esercito.

In the morning of August 9, two Palestinian shepherds from the South Hebron Hills village of Tuba were chased away by the Israeli army when grazing their sheep on the Shaeb El Shaadi hill, situated between Tuba and the Israeli settlement of Ma’on.

Around 9:30 a.m. two soldiers came walking from the Ma’on settlement toward the Palestinian shepherds, who immediately started running away from fear of possible harassment or arrests. While the shepherds were escaping their flocks got left behind, and when reaching the sheep the two soldiers attempted to block and prevent them from going toward the Palestinian village. After the Palestinian shepherds reached Tuba they decided to come back for their flocks, this time equipped  with a camera (provided by the Israeli human rights organisation B’tselem). Seeing the camera, the soldiers then began heading back to Ma’on.

La mattina del 9 agosto due pastori palestinesi del villaggio di Tuba (colline a sud di Hebron) sono stati scacciati dall’esercito israeliano mentre pascolavano le loro greggi sulla collina di Shaeb El Shaadi, tra Tuba e la colonia israeliana di Ma’on.

Intorno alle 9:30 due soldati sono arrivati a piedi da Ma’on in direzione dei pastori palestinesi, i quali hanno immediatamente iniziato a scappare per la paura di possibili violenze o arresti. Mentre i pastori scappavano, le greggi sono rimaste indietro, e quando i soldati le hanno raggiunte hanno cercato di bloccarle e di impedirgli di tornare al villaggio. Quando i pastori hanno raggiunto Tuba, hanno deciso di tornare per tentare di recuperare le pecore, questa volta muniti di telecamera (fornitagli dall’Organizzazione per i diritti umani B’tselem). Quando i soldati hanno visto che i palestinesi avevano in mano una telecamera hanno lasciato le greggi per dirigersi in direzione di Ma’on.

Two soldiers tried to block and prevent the sheep from going toward the Palestinian village (photo by B’tselem)