Description

Photo:
Scene. Published by Maan News

3 scenes of a new settlement outpost in Umm Zuka, Jordan Valley. (Nirit Haviv) Published by 972Mag

A Palestinian shepherd herds his flock near the Israeli settlement of Argaman in the Jordan Valley. Oded Balilty/AP. Published by Haaretz

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BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Three Israeli settlers and two Israeli soldiers reportedly attacked three Palestinian shepherds who were grazing their herds Friday morning, near an illegal Israeli settler outpost in the northern Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, Israeli media reported on Saturday.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that the Palestinian shepherds were attacked near a newly created illegal settler outpost near the border of the Umm Zuka Nature Reserve, and also within eyesight of the Israeli military’s Netzah Yehuda base, where a special ultra-Orthodox Jewish unit is stationed.

Haaretz quoted the shepherds as saying that two Israeli settlers approached them and asked them to leave the area before a third settler came out of the illegal outpost who was escorted by two Israeli soldiers.

According to the shepherds, the soldiers and settlers cuffed them, and proceeded to inspect their bags and seize their mobile phone. They were also beaten by the Israelis, the shepherds added.


An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an they were not familiar with the incident.

The women-led Israeli rights group Machsom Watch released a report earlier this month detailing a new settler outpost near the reserve, at least 40 dunams (10 acres) of which they said has been built on privately owned Palestinian land.

Haaretz said Saturday's incident came just after the Palestinian shepherds alerted locals that "Israelis were approaching them in an intimidating manner," and were joined by other shepherds over the course of the day to ensure they weren't attacked again.

According to the report, on Jan. 4, a large number of Israelis began erecting farming structures at the outpost, after multiple attempts were made by Israelis over the course of 2016 to seize lands in the area and acquire building permits.

As of the beginning of February, Haaretz reported that the outpost was equipped with a large water tank, a tractor, two large tents, all-terrain vehicles, two caravans, sheds, a generator, and a horse.

Haaretz described the outpost's inhabitants as "seven pre-army teenage boys, at least some of them armed, who say they grew up in settlements and dropped out of yeshiva high schools," and that the teens "described their activity as volunteer work that fulfills settlement ideals."

Machsom Watch said that the so-called owners of the illegal outposts's facilities were two residents of a nearby illegal settlement. According to Haaretz, Israel's Civil Administration is aware of the new illegal outposts.

Haaretz said that Palestinian residents of the area have told them that the boys travel in groups and are always armed.

"They threaten the Palestinian shepherds and bar them from taking their flocks to pasture. On at least one occasion, they also threatened a man who came out to till his land, forcibly stopping him. The intimidation includes shooting in the air, scaring away the sheep, and approaching the tents where the shepherds reside in a menacing manner," the report said.

Earlier this month, the Israeli government passed the outpost “Regularization law,” which paves the way for the retroactive legalization of settler outposts on occupied Palestinian territory considered illegal in Israeli law. However, the 196 official Israeli settlements scattered across Palestinian land are not considered illegal in Israeli law, despite being routinely condemned for being a clear violation of international law.

The law states that any settlements built in the occupied West Bank “in good faith” -- without knowledge that the land upon which it was built was privately owned by Palestinians -- could be officially recognized by Israel pending minimal proof of governmental support in its establishment and some form of compensation to the Palestinian landowners.

The law was adopted just a few days after Israeli authorities forcibly evacuated the illegal Amona outpost that was slated for demolition following an Israeli Supreme Court ruling after local Palestinians petitioned the courts that the land was private Palestinian land.

An initial version of the Regularization bill included a clause to retroactively legalize Amona, but was later dropped from the proposal. Critics have said that the bill was pushed through parliament in order to prevent another Israeli outpost on Palestinian land from meeting the same fate as Amona.

Meanwhile, PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi stated at the time of the bill’s passing that the law gave “clear license to the settlers to embark on a land grab in the occupied West Bank with impunity.”

“Such a law signals the final annexation of the West Bank,” she said. “This also proves beyond doubt that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist, racist coalition government are deliberately breaking the law and destroying the very foundations of the two-state solution and the chances for peace and stability.”

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there were a total of 221 reported settler attacks against Palestinians and their properties in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem in 2015, and 107 in 2016.

The majority of settler attacks committed against Palestinians are met with impunity, with Israelis rarely facing consequences for such attacks.

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by Amira Haas for Haaretz

Three Palestinian shepherds said they were attacked by a group of Israeli civilians and soldiers on Friday morning near a new Israeli outpost in the northern Jordan Valley.

According to the three, the incident involved three civilians and two soldiers and occurred within eyesight of the Israeli military’s Netzah Yehuda base, where a special ultra-Orthodox Jewish unit is stationed. The base is near the border of the Umm Zuka nature reserve.

According to the Palestinians, two of the civilians initially demanded that the shepherds leave the area with their flocks. They were then joined by two soldiers and another civilian who arrived on an ATV. The group allegedly detained and searched the Palestinians, took their mobile phones and beat them.

The Israeli army said that it isn’t familiar with the claims. “If a complaint is filed or if substantiated information is submitted, it will be seriously investigated,” the military said.

Just prior to the incident, the Palestinian shepherds managed to alert a few people that Israelis were approaching them in an intimidating manner. The information reached Rabbi Arik Ascherman from the human rights NGO Hakel (The Field) — Jews and Arabs in Defense of Human Rights, who immediately called the police. Two hours later, the Palestinians were released.

The shepherds refused to leave the area and said their flocks have been grazing there for many years. Other shepherds joined them over the course of the day to ensure they weren’t attacked again.

At the end of 2016, there were multiple attempts to acquire land and building permits for the new outpost in the Jordan Valley. On January 4 of this year, Israeli civilians came in large numbers and started erecting various farming structures in the outpost.

As of the beginning of February, the outpost hosted a large water tank, a tractor, two large tents, all-terrain vehicles, two caravans, sheds, a generator and a horse. The outpost is populated by seven pre-army teenage boys, at least some of them armed, who say they grew up in settlements and dropped out of yeshiva high schools. Last month, they told activists from the Machsom Watch NGO that the “owners” of the facilities are two residents of a nearby settlement. The teens described their activity as volunteer work that fulfills settlement ideals.

Israeli activists told Haaretz that the so-called owners occasionally turn up at the site as well as at another outpost that was built a month or two ago in the region. The Civil Administration is aware of the new illegal outposts.

The teenage Israeli boys herd a dozen cows in the northern Jordan Valley. According to Palestinian residents of the area as well as reports by activists from Machsom Watch and another NGO, Taayush, the boys travel in groups and are always armed. They threaten the Palestinian shepherds and bar them from taking their flocks to pasture. On at least one occasion, they also threatened a man who came out to till his land, forcibly stopping him. The intimidation includes shooting in the air, scaring away the sheep and approaching the tents where the shepherds reside in a menacing manner.