CPTnet

16 May 2011

AT-TUWANi: Palestinian trees destroyed in ongoing settler vandalism and harassment

[Note: According to the Geneva Conventions, the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and numerous United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal.  Most settlement outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law.]

In the early morning of 12 May 2011, Palestinian farmers discovered that during the night unknown perpetrators had vandalized ten olive trees in Humra valley, near At -Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills. The trees and the land belong to At-Tuwani resident Salman Jibrin Raba'i. The evidence suggests that the vandals sawed and then broke branches off the trees, completely destroying seven trees and partially damaging another three. 

A spokeperson for the Raba'i family remarked that, due to the late spring rains, they had expected a good olive harvest this year. One olive tree in the area produces an average of twelve kilos of olive oil. Therefore, the cumulative loss of these damaged trees' production is a substantial financial blow to the family. The property owners called the police in order to lodge a formal complaint. Due to numerous prior similar incidents in the area, Palestinians suspect that the likely perpetrators are settlers from the nearby Havat Ma'on settlement outpost.

This incident continues a string of recent episodes of settler vandalism and harassment in the area surrounding At-Tuwani. Several times during the previous ten days settlers had grazed their flocks on Palestinian fields, further harming crops already suffering from the winter drought. On 8 May, seven settler youths harassed a Palestinian shepherd and his flock grazing in Khoruba, south of the outpost. The settlers ran away when the shepherd called the police.

On 5 May, as Ibrahim Ahmed Amur surveyed his olive grove near bypass Road 317, he discovered that vandals had cut about one hundred meters of fence line, destroyed 25 fence posts, and hacked an olive tree. This same olive grove was completely ravaged in January 2006, a deed which police suspected was done by local settlers.  The Amur family thus lost four years’ worth of olive crops from the 120 ravaged trees. They filed a complaint in 2006 but to date have not received any compensation.

On at least three different occasions during the previous ten days, settlers had also harassed Palestinian children on their way home from school in At-Tuwani.  Each time, as the school children walked on the road near the settlement and outpost, settlers stalked the children along the road.  Soldiers from the military escort assigned to protect the school children got off the jeep to walk between the settlers and children, but did not detain the settlers or otherwise address this pattern of harassment.  For further information on the history of the military escort for the school children, in place since 2004, please see: http://bit.ly/ga4xYq

The ongoing settlers’ harassment of Palestinians and damage of Palestinian property, as well as the lack of adequate response by the appropriate authorities, raise questions about the capability of the Israeli government to control settlers in the area and to ensure Palestinian security.

For more photos, see: http://cpt.org/index.php?q=gallery&g2_itemId=22931

Operation Dove and Christian Peacemaker Teams have maintained an

international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

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@cptpalestine.

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