This week – April 17-23, 2022 – in the Occupied Territories
A colonist minor hit an activist in Simra with a club and
wounded him in the head, the activist was hospitalized; Occupation soldiers
fired in the air while chasing Palestinian workers trying to enter Israel in
Massafer Yatta; The Israeli police caused again an accident in Umm Al Kheir while
trying to confiscate a vehicle, which overturned, the driver was denied medical
care and arrested; Palestinian teachers on their way to school in Massafer Yatta
were detained for hours at a checkpoint and released only after the school day
was over – their driver was arrested; A military force doing a colonist’s
bidding chased away Hamra shepherds by shooting live fire; An Israeli army
officer grabbed and violently threw away an activist’s cell phone in the
southern Palestinian Jordan Valley; Activists kept a daily vigil in En Al Hilwa
during the Passover week, protesting the fencing of the spring, its blocking to
Palestinian shepherds and herds, and its being turned into another ‘dipping
pool’ for colonists and occupation tourists; Two busloads of colonists, secured
by large army and police forces, went traveling inside Area A; Terrorists from
the colonist outpost above Zanouta invaded Palestinian fields with their flocks
and attack dogs, when an activist summoned police he was detained and accused
of a ‘false complaint’
South Hebron Hills
In the Massafer Yatta area (firing zone 918), occupation soldiers
chased Palestinian workers on their way to work inside Israel on Sunday and
Tuesday, firing in the air in the course of the chase. On Monday, soldiers began
to dig barriers in this area, some of them on privately owned and tended
Palestinian lands. That day, they detained a car with
teachers on their way to school and confiscated it. Activists arriving at the
site were also detained for a short while. On Wednesday, army forces again
blocked the teachers on their way to school in Jinba and this time detained
them for many hours. The teachers were released only after the school day was
over, the vehicle and the driver’s phone were confiscated. On Saturday,
soldiers arrested a mother and son from Markaz who were herding their
flock close to home, located inside the ‘green line’ – with the excuse that
they had entered Israeli territory. They were released only at night.
In Umm Al Kheir, on Monday, April 18, a police chase after a
jalopy ended once more in an accident: the vehicle overturned but medical teams
were not allowed to aid the driver, who was arrested. On Friday, a colonist
with his car entered the village and threatened the villagers, but left after
soldiers arrived (and put up a checkpoint at the entrance to the village).
A colonist in his car followed Touba schoolchildren on
Monday on their way to school in Tawane, escorted by soldiers who
forbade the children to photograph him. On Thursday, the soldiers were nearly
an hour late for their morning escort, and a violent colonist arrived instead.
On the way back, soldiers conditioned their escort on a group of activists and
tourists leaving the area. Colonists have been reported building a new
structure on land belonging to Harouba, near Tawane.
In Tha’ala this week, soldiers tried to limit grazing and
chase away Palestinian shepherds upon orders from the colonist living in ‘Havat
Mann’ outpost, but on Tuesday and Thursday activists accompanying the shepherds
prevented this, aided by the intervention of the villagers’ attorney. On
Saturday, the colonist came back to harass the shepherds and the activists. In Atariya,
too, activists managed to prevent colonists from chasing away shepherds on
Monday and Friday; on Wednesday a colonist with his flock invaded a tended
Palestinian field and damaged it.
On Wednesday, April 20, colonists went out in two buses, secured by
about 10 military and police vehicles, on a tour to a water pool near Karmil,
inside Area A. The occupation forces threatened to arrest activists who arrived
at the scene.
In Zanouta, colonists (one of them masked) invaded tended
Palestinian fields on Thursday, April 21, with their flocks and attack dogs.
Activists summoned police, but the policeman, who arrived after a long delay, detained one of the activists on grounds of a
‘false complaint’. The activist was taken to a police station where he was not even
questioned, and got released unconditionally. On Saturday, too, a colonist tried to invade Zanouta fields
with his car.
While accompaniment of the landowner at Umm Al Arais took
place unhampered, a colonist with his flock harassed activists who stood on
the nearby Simra hill, attacked one of them from the back and hit his head with
a club. The activist was wounded and had to be hospitalized.
https://www.facebook.com/itai.feitelson/posts/10225861619982810?__cft__[0]=AZVZFSqthsP8HGNgH6lMF0rdqmYlscunf-zsH3qWWai9Syfu49xNc0OdD4brVDUyFzcFDIDI-SsxmH569qpugz38GBJuQrlJb3984gA1uyClzYYs0swf3NbpTsIq7aiehIc&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
This week shepherds from Bani Naim reported colonists who
chased them away from the grazing grounds near ‘Pnei Hever’ and threw stones at
the flocks.
police.
To join Ta'ayush in The South Hebron
Hills this Saturday call 055-2770168
Please make an effort to register no later
than Thursday evening. Please bring an ID/passport, a hat, water
and food for the day. It is advised to take into consideration cultural
differences in the choice of clothing.
Palestinian Jordan Valley and the West Bank Hill Range
In Auja in the southern Palestinian Jordan Valley, colonists
from the area’s outposts and their holiday guests harassed and chased away
Palestinian shepherds and shepherdesses and their flocks from their own grazing
grounds all week, but the daily accompaniment of activists helped continued
grazing. Activists documented construction on a new outpost near the road between
Auja and the Tayibe Junction.
In the northern Palestinian Jordan Valley, activists accompanied
shepherds daily in Hamra and Khalat Makhoul. On Monday, April 18, an
army force serving the violent colonist from the nearby outpost shot live fire
at shepherds while chasing them away, and an officer grabbed a woman-activist’s
phone and smashed it to the ground. See: קצין בצבא חוטף טלפון מפעילה ומטיח אותו על הקרקע
|  | קצין בצבא חוטף טלפון מפעילה ומטיח אותו על הקרקעחייל שחוטף טלפון נייד של פעילת בקעת הירדן ומטיח אותו על הקרקע אינו "קורבן של הנסיבות". הוא עבריין במדים. חיילים... |
|
|
The next day, Tuesday, soldiers again arrived on the spot at the
colonist’s bidding and tried to chase away the shepherds and their flocks, but
activists present prevented this. In En Al Hilwa, activists placed
explanatory stands during Passover week, protesting the thieving tourism in the area and the
fencing-in of the local spring, which prevents Palestinian shepherds and their
flocks from approaching and using the water, turning the spring into a
colonists’ ‘dipping pool’. The activists suffered harassment, curses and
violence by the colonists and their guests. A demolition order has been issued
against the fence but had not been implemented.
Over the West Bank Hill Range, activists dealt with repeated
invasions by colonists and their flocks into tended Palestinian lands near Deir
Jarayer and the Tayibe junction. The activists documented these
invasions on Monday and Wednesday, and reported them to the
To join activity in the Jordan Valley, please contact Arik:
050-5607034
Jerusalem – Ir Amim reporting
This week in Jerusalem was marked again by violence around Temple
Mount/Haram A-Sharif. The police assaulted many Palestinians this week and
plenty of documentation on the net shows police beating up Palestinians in the
holy compound – including women, journalists and people uninvolved in any kind
of activity.
On Sunday, April 17, the police began to limit Palestinians trying
to enter the compound. Some were forced to leave their IDs with the policemen
in order to enter. Large police forces entered the compound and enabled Jewish
groups to visit the place.
On the same day, Israeli force entered the home of the Al-Julani
family in the Bab Huta neighborhood of the Old City, attacked local youths
and arrested several.
On Monday, April 18, too, the police persisted in entering in large
forces into the Temple Mount/Haram A-Sharif compound and violently
distancing Muslims in order to enable Jewish groups to visit. In clashes
between police and the Palestinians, many of the Palestinians were wounded
and/or arrested. In some cases, the policemen entered the mosques.
On Wednesday, April 20, hundreds of right-wing extremists marched
in Jerusalem and confronted police around the Damascus Gate. Some
managed to enter and march in the Muslim Quarter where they cursed and attacked
Palestinians. Later, Jewish right-wing activists attacked Palestinians on the
city’s light rail as well.
That evening, a joint iftar dinner was held in the Sheikh
Jarrah neighborhood, peacefully attended by about 200 activists and inhabitants.
However, after the meal was over, police arrived in great numbers, arrested a
young Palestinian woman-activist, and attacked activist Mohammad Abu Humus, who
was pepper-sprayed by colonists.
On Thursday, April 21, the police in large numbers entered and
exerted violence in the Issawiya neighborhood.
On Friday, April 22, the police flew a drone which dropped smoke
grenades in order to disperse Palestinians at the Temple Mount/Haram
A-Sharif compound – for the first time ever. The police attacked a young
Palestinian man – 21-year-old Walid Ashrif, inhabitant of the Old City –
wounding him in the head. He was taken to hospital in critical condition.
On Saturday, April 23, as the ceremony of the Holy Fire was celebrated by the Orthodox
Christian Church, the police limited in the extreme entry of people coming to
pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in spite of the Supreme Court’s
intervention. Cases were also documented of the police exerting violence
against people praying there.
The weekly protest in Sheikh
Jarrah takes place every Friday. We will
meet at the Sheikh Jarrah Garden, Nablus Road and Dahlmann St. at 4 p.m
