Attacked By Settlers Again

photo:EAPPI

This post is based on a report from EAPPI Action Alert, Protection of Civilians Weekly Report 27 June-10 July 2012 and my own reflections of my short time in Yanoun

On Saturday, July 7 2012, at approximately 3:00PM Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Itamar approached three Palestinian farmers in Yanoun who were harvesting their wheat and grazing their sheep. The settlers were armed with knives and guns. They killed three sheep.

A clash broke out in which the settlers and farmers began throwing stones at one-another. The armed settlers also used their guns and knives to shoot, club, and stab people. When the Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) arrived to the scene, three fires were ablaze in the fields. 

photo: EAPPI

It was unknown whether the flames were intentionally lit by the settlers or were started by teargas canisters that the Israeli military fired at the farmers. Nonetheless, two wheat fields and one olive grove were burnt, and when other Palestinian farmers arrived at the scene to put out the flames, Israeli soldiers and police prevented them from reaching the fields by firing more teargas at them.

Unfortunately for the villagers this was not the first time such a scene has occurred. Since 1996, residents of the village have been beaten up, their sheep mutilated, and their land seized. They have been unable to farm their land.

view from the International House where the EAs live

Yanoun is a small village in Area C of the West Bank, just southeast of Nablus in the north of the West Bank. It has about 65 inhabitants who are dependent upon farming and animal husbandry as their main source of livelihood. The village is surrounded by the illegal Israeli settlement of Itamar.

In October of 2002 the settlers of Itimar forcibly evacuated Yanoun of its inhabitants. International humanitarian agencies and Israeli human rights organizations then came to Yanoun to provide a protective presence with the aim of facilitating the return of the community. These groups left Yanoun within weeks of the community’s return; however, the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) has remained in Yanoun since October 2002.

Based in Yanoun Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) provide a protective presence, monitor, and report on human rights violations in the community, as well as the entire Nablus Governorate and Jordan Valley.

During my three month volunteer work as an EA in Bethlehem, Yanoun was mostly quiet or without incident except for the afternoon some settler youth decided to swim in the village well. Just live the event in April of 2010 the EAs explained that they were swimming in someone’s drinking water only to rebuffed with rude remarks to leave them alone. 


I had the opportunity to visit Yanoun on one of my site visits. My time there was tense but quiet. I snapped pictures of the lovely view and old olive trees as I accompanied my colleagues on their daily rounds. On one walk we discovered a newly born lamb crying out for its mother under the shade of an olive tree.  Finding this newborn  lamb reminded me of how precarious and fragile hope is in such a situation and how we must all become "good shepherds." I had trained myself to be mindful of the predators, the settlers with their guns slung across their chests, but I had forgotten that our accompaniment work also was about carrying for the vulnerable. 

So despite media focus on Israel and the settlements and now attention on the Levy Report declaring that there is no occupation and the settlements are legal very few have heard about the constant harassment and violence that Palestinians face every day from these settlers. Unfortunately this situation in Yanoun is replicated in various ways throughout the West Bank and recorded in weekly logs by the EAs and other international organizations working for human rights. According to the Protection of Civilians Weekly Report from the UN, this attack "highlights the risk of displacement" for they face "systematic settler violence." I appreciate the use of the word "systematic" as it indicates this is not a once in awhile problem and that the result goes beyond bodily harm to displacement. 

Much to most people's surprise the Occupation is legal under international law however the occupiers must follow certain laws and policies.  For example the International Court of Justice has stated that the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian persons in times of war applies to the occupied Palestinian territory. Thus, all Israeli settlements are illegal according to Article 49 the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states, “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies." Article 4
 of the Fourth Geneva Convention also states, “Persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying Power of which they are not nationals.” Thus, according to International Humanitarian Law, Israel has the duty as an occupying power to protect Palestinians from settler attacks.  This rarely happens and on saturday July 7, reports indicate that the soldiers contributed to the bloodshed.

Rashid, Mayor of Yanoun and long-etime EAPPI local contact, expressed fear that settlers initiated the clash to enforce new invisible boundaries, which would defacto confiscate much of the area’s wheat fields to the Itamar Settlement. Over the past ten years Rashid says a total of ten families have moved out of Yanoun due to a combination of factors due primarily to settler violence, the inability to build new structures and access restrictions. Destroying the crops and animals is one very effective way of driving  or forcibly removing people from their homes. 


So what can we do besides weep that once again violence against Palestinians has erupted in the small village of Yanoun?  Here are a few things. We can start by praying for those who have been hospitalized. Adding their names to your prayer chains or worship services. Naming and praying for the victims helps others also get a sense of that these are people with names and histories. In total six Palestinians were injured, and five were hospitalized:

Jawdat Bani Jaber (Hospitalized): was beaten and stabbed multiple times by settlers, then shot in the face and foot by Israeli soldiers. He was then handcuffed by Israeli soldiers and attacked again by the settlers while the soldiers pursued other Palestinian farmers. After being attacked, the military did not allow a present ambulance take him to a hospital or care for him for approximately 3-hours.

Ibrahim Bani Jaber (Hospitalized): was beaten by a soldier on his head with the butt-stock of an M16 rifle, causing damage to his eye, and was later beaten by settlers while handcuffed.

Hakimun Bani Jaber (Hospitalized): was shot in the arm at close range by a soldier.

Adwan Bani Jaber (Hospitalized): was beaten by settlers with clubs.

Ashraf Bani Jaber: was beaten by a soldier with a club.

Jawdat Ibrahim (Hospitalized): was handcuffed, beaten by Israeli soldiers and then released for the settlers to attack as they watched. He was then tied up by the settlers and left on his land; he was found the next morning (Sunday, 8 July 2012).

2,000 year old olive tree in Yanoun

The second thing you can do is to email our Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro to let him know that we condemn this Israeli Settler Violence and all those who have violated human rights in the Occupied Territories should be held accountable. You should also mention that though the settlers were the attackers, the Israeli soldiers and officers also attacked Palestinians who defended themselves from the settlers, and did not attempt to put out the fires that blazed through Palestinians’ fields - nor let anyone else do so, and delayed medical attention for the victims of the attack. We should also continue to keep pressure on our government to not accept the Levy report and point to this tragedy as one of the many reasons. We must also acknowledge and support the dictates of international law especially those articulated in the 4th Geneva Convention. 

Resources from EAPPI on Area C can be found at http://www.eappi.org/

008 - Area C EAPPI Factsheet.pdf

For more information on the tragic history of this village and EAPPI’s long standing accompaniment check out Living With Settlers: Interviews with Yanoun Villagers


To sign up for The Protection of Civilians Weekly Report go to http://www.ochaopt.org/


Ask Clinton to Express Opposition to Legalization of Settlements
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5575/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=11238


For more information about the Levy Report see ELCA's Peace Not Walls summary and links at
Levy Report says settlements legal and there is no occupation

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