Any month that goes by without a single Israeli feather ruffled is commonly referred to as a time of “relative calm” in the American media. The list of crimes listed below is what that calm looks like from a Palestinian perspective. And keep in mind this list does not include attacks by Israeli Occupation Forces and is only documentation of settler crimes reported. In case you were wondering what reaction from the Israeli government was to this month of mayhem, they rewarded the settlers with more housing on Palestinian land.
- Israeli settlers injured two Palestinians in the Sinjil village Tuesday, residents said. The settlers filmed an attack on one of the Palestinians, according to onlookers in the Ramallah village. The mayor called the Palestinian Authority, which coordinated with Israel the settlers’ evacuation.
- Settler arson attack on the village of Madama: ISM 1 June — On Monday 30 May at 4pm, the villagers of Madama reported that a fire had been started by seven to eight settlers in one of the village’s wheat fields. The field was close to the place where less than a week ago, Hamad Jaber Qut – a 66 year old shepherd, was attacked by 15 settler youths with knives and sticks whilst tending his sheep and getting ready for prayer. Mohammed, a resident of Madama, witnessed the arson attack which came at the hands of settlers who reside in the illegal settlement, Yizhar which is 1.5km away on top of one of the hills overlooking the Palestinian village. Mohammed saw them throw petrol and light the wheat. On seeing the smoke, the residents of Madama called the fire brigade to put the fire out, by which time the settlers had retreated back into the settlement. The fire was put out in due course.
- Rightists in Jerusalem: Muhammad is dead, butcher Arabs: Dozens of right-wing activists marching through Jerusalem Wednesday were filmed chanting inflammatory messages and singing provocative songs in the capital, including “Muhammad is dead, ‘ ‘May your village burn, ‘ ‘Death to leftists, ‘ and ‘Butcher the Arabs. ‘ The disturbing utterances were made during the traditional Flag Dance on the occasion of Jerusalem Day [see video (in Hebrew)]
- A settler attempts to kick a Palestinian child out of his native Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood
- After outpost evacuation, settlers smash 12 cars: TUBAS (Maan) 2 June — Twelve Palestinian vehicles were vandalized Thursday morning, along the Nablus-Ramallah road not far from the Shilo settlement, where violence erupted before dawn as Israeli soldiers evacuated an illegal settlement outpost there. The cars’ windshields were broken by rocks, bats and sticks, locals told Ma‘an, doors dented, paint scraped and decals ripped off in what residents blamed on settler aggression … Under the policy, settlers make Palestinians “pay” for each evacuation of an outpost. In the past, the “price” has included arson, shootings, beatings, burning fields, uprooting trees and poisoning water wells belonging to Palestinians.
- Settlers torch crops in Nablus villages:NABLUS (Maan) 2 June — For the second time this week, villagers reported fires set by settlers in farmlands south of Nablus, with Burin residents pointing the finger at residents of the Yitzhar settlement. Farmlands near the Madama and Burin villages, both south of Nablus, were ablaze Thursday afternoon, and villagers told settlements observer Ghassan Doughlas that settlers were seen in the area. Palestinian fire crews were able to contain the blazes, but several dunums of lands were wrecked, the official said. The fires came following the evacuation of a settlement outpost fifteen kilometers south of the villages.
- The war on Silwan’s children:Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 3 June — Targeting of Palestinian children by Israeli settlers and armed forces has increased in recent days. Undercover units in particular have been involved in the abduction of children from their homes and playgrounds, some of whom are then brought before Israeli courts and accused of crimes they didn’t commit. False witnesses have testified in some cases … Over 25 Palestinians, most of them minors, have been arrested in Silwan in recent days. Detainees families have been denied entry to the interrogation of their children by police, despite the fact that both international and Israeli law rules this illegal. Children as young as 6 years old have been arrested, intimidated and beaten by Israeli forces.
- 3 hurt in clash with settlers: NABLUS (Maan) 2 June — Three Palestinians were injured Thursday in clashes after settlers set fire to farmland west of Nablus. Ghassan Doughlas, a Palestinian Authority official in the northern West Bank, said the Palestinians’ injuries were moderate. Settlers blocked a road between Nablus and Qalqiliya and prevented Palestinians from crossing it, he said. Asad At-Taweel, 15, Adnan At-Taweel, 35, and Awad At-Taweel, 40, were hospitalized, medics said.
- Clashes during raid on village near Salfit: SALFIT (Maan) 3 June — Israeli settlers raided a village near Salfit on Wednesday, and soldiers fired live bullets and gas canisters at residents of Yasuf who clashed with the settlers, onlookers said. Abed Ar-Rahman Saleh, head of the village council, said the settlers tried to damage farmland. Four Israeli military jeeps accompanied the settlers and installed a checkpoint, where they checked the IDs of those passing through and fired tear gas canisters at youths who threw stones.
- Settlers attack Palestinian villagers in Nablus and Ramallah districts: NABLUS, RAMALLAH, (PIC) 3 June — …Hebrew sources said that dozens of settlers from Havat Gilad, which is built on confiscated Palestinian land belonging to the villagers of Kasra and neighbouring villages, attacked Palestinian homes at a late hour Thursday resulting in the injury of two Palestinians who were taken to hospital for treatment. Local sources said that the IOF intervened to protect the settlers and arrested three Palestinian youth who clashed with the attacking settlers. Meanwhile, fanatic Jewish settlers carried out provocative acts on Friday morning in the village of Deir Nitham to the northwest of the southern West Bank city of Ramallah. Locals said that a large number of settlers from Hamlish settlement close to the village are roaming the streets and fields of the village and are provoking the Palestinian villagers by writing racist graffiti and hanging Israeli flags on trees.
- Hebron/Al Khalil: Settlers injure Palestinian with stones: Christian Peacemaker Teams 3 June — On 2 June, two boys, residents of the Beit Hadassah settlement in Hebron’s Old City, ages 14 and 15, threw multiple stones at Palestinians walking in the market below. Some of the rocks were as large as 5 inches. One nine year old Palestinian boy was struck with two stones causing a head injury that splattered the sidewalk and storefront with blood. An ambulance arrived to rush the boy to the hospital. An Israeli soldier stationed beside the settlement had neither tried to stop the boys nor take any action against them after they hurled the stones. An Israeli policeman later called on a Palestinian resident who saw much of the incident, and took information to investigate further. This same resident’s house is back to back with the Beit Hadassah settlement. Besides enduring daily harassment from settlers, he boards up his windows to protect his family from the violence of the settlers. Lately, he has reported several incidents, including settlers from Beit Hadassah smashing his car windows and throwing eggs at his store.
- Worse by the day in Jerusalem: JERUSALEM (IPS) 2 June — As thousands of right-wing Israeli settlers descended on Jerusalem to celebrate the so-called unification of the city this week, Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem were confronted by extreme provocations and the stark reality that their city remains very much divided … Ali Jiddah, a longtime Palestinian political activist and alternative tour guide based in Jerusalem’s Old City, told IPS that he refers to Jerusalem Day as “Arrogance Day”. “I call it the day of (arrogance) because Israelis, on that day, (their) behaviour, you will find what’s the meaning of (arrogance). You feel that in some way Israelis are totally drunk by what they have achieved concerning the Old City,” Jiddah said. “They will come down in groups in the streets, (provoking) Palestinians, trying to attack Palestinians.”
- 2,500 Israeli youth march through Nablus district: AIC 5 June — More than 2,500 Israeli youth from settlement schools throughout the northern West Bank marched on Thursday 2 June through the Nablus District. The march, conducted under the title “Decade and Back” was conducted under the auspices of the Israeli education system and marked the “year of Joseph’s Tomb” in the Israeli West Bank settlement schools … Although this area is ostensibly under full control of the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli settlers and army did not request permission to enter or even coordinate with PA officials. Many of the settlers screamed racist slogans from the rooftop of the tomb while others entered Nablus itself, attacking local homes. Addressing the children at the conclusion of the march, Samaria Municipal Council Head Gershon Mesika said that “In the march we all saw this beautiful area of ours and how much open space there is to establish more flourishing communities…throughout Samaria. With God’s help we can return to Josep’s Tomb.”
- Jewish settlers destroy vineyard in Beit Ummar: HEBRON (WAFA) 4 June — Jewish settlers from Bay Ayin settlement, which is constructed on Palestinian land belonging to Beit Ummar, a village north of Hebron, Saturday destroyed a vineyard in the village, according to a local activist. Muhammad Awad, member of the National Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, said settlers regularly damage crops and uproot trees in the area with a goal to force Palestinian farmers to leave their land as a prelude to seizing it.
- Jewish settlers assault Palestinian shepherds in Hebron: HEBRON (WAFA) 6 June — Jewish settlers Monday assaulted Palestinian shepherds in Khirbet Umm al-Khair, a locale south of Hebron in the southern West Bank, according to witnesses. Yaser al-Hathalen, one of the Khirbet’s residents, said a group of settlers from Karmiel settlement, constructed on Palestinian land, assaulted Palestinians in the locale under the protection of Israeli army and border guards. The settlers stopped the shepherds from herding their sheep and forced them to turn back. Al-Hathelan added that they threatened to repeat the assault until the shepherds left the area. Palestinians in Khirbet Umm al-Khair can’t reach their water wells to obtain drinking water for their cattle, said another resident. In a related development, a group of armed settlers attacked Palestinians in the Old City in Hebron on Sunday night and sprayed them with waste water, terrorizing the unarmed civilians living there, said security sources. Israeli army also raided Beit Awwa, a town west of Hebron, and arrested Naser al-Hroub, 25, after searching his house and tampering with its contents.
- Israel regularly violates Palestinian environment, says official: RAMALLAH (WAFA) 6 June — A Palestinian official Monday accused the Israeli authorities and settlers of destroying the Palestinian environment through confiscation of forest land to build settlements on and through burning of agricultural land. Jamil Matawir, deputy chairman of the Palestinian environment authority, told a press conference in Ramallah that the Israeli authorities regularly violates Palestinian environment and Jewish settlers cut down and burn trees, seize lands, attack Palestinians and expel Palestinian farmers after razing their land. Matawir, who was speaking on the occasion of World Environment Day, summed up the Israeli violations of the Palestinian environment between October 2010 and May 2011 in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
- Settlers set fire to mosque near Ramallah: RAMALLAH (Maan) 7 June — A Ramallah-area mosque was torched overnight and its remains graffitied with racist anti-Arab slogans; witnesses said Israeli settlers were seen setting the fire at 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Al-Mughayyir’s village council said the building was badly damaged, and its contents incinerated, drawing condemnation of the third mosque torching in three years … The vandals spray-painted “Alei Ayin” on the walls, which is the name of a nearby settlement outpost demolished by Israeli police last week, sparking fierce clashes with the settlers … The National Christian Coalition in the Holy land condemned the arson, with President Dimitri Diliani blaming Israel’s occupation and unquestioning protection of militarized settlers … Al-Mughayyir, north east of Ramallah, is the fifth village to have their mosque vandalized by settlers in the last three years, four of which were burnt down.
- Jewish settlers burn 250 Palestinian trees in Nablus village:NABLUS, (PIC) 6 June — Jewish settlers started a huge fire in Palestinian farmland in Deir Al-Hatab village east of Nablus on Monday burning 250 olive and almond trees, local sources reported. They said that Palestinian fire brigades managed to contain and extinguish the fire before it spread to nearby groves. The firefighters said that the fire destroyed 200 olive trees and 50 almond trees, but hundreds of others were protected and saved.
- Report: Wine bottle smashed at Al-Aqsa compound: JERUSALEM (Maan) — A bottle of red wine was broken in the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning, by “Jewish extremists” who had snuck into the compound, an eyewitness reported. In Islam, alcohol is forbidden, and bringing it into a Muslim holy site is considered to be desecration. The report of the incident was made public by the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Heritage and Islamic Endowments. Waqf officials told the official Palestinian Authority news agency WAFA, that the visiting Jewish group was “drinking wine and breaking the empty bottles on its ground to celebrate the Jewish Shavuot holiday.” Foundation officials said the Jewish group entered the compound through its Maghreb Gate with Israeli police protection. Israeli police did not intervene, the WAFA report stated, except to separate the Jewish group from a gathering of Muslim worshipers who were angered by the violation of religious law … On Tuesday, Israeli parliamentarian with the right-wing National Union party Michael Ben-Ari had toured the mosque with a group of Israeli settlers.
- Settlers set fire to Palestinian crops near Hebron: Hebron (PNN) 8 June Exclusive – As part of the daily attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villages, on Wednesday afternoon settlers set fire to crops owned by Palestinian farmers from the village of Bani Naim, near Hebron City in the southern West Bank. According to local sources, the settlers came from Kiryat Arba settlements, and according to villagers the settlers set fire to wheat crops and destroyed them entirely … According to sources, Palestinian and Israeli fire engines rushed to the scene and tried to stop the fire that was spreading over a vast area of Palestinian land, but they noted that the Israeli fire fighters were only focusing on the areas closest to the settlement.
- Settler war against South Hebron Hills shepherd community: AIC 9 June — In the past week residents of Khirbet Umm al-Khier in the South Hebron Hills have suffered from attacks by settlers from the nearby Karmel settlement, who are preventing them from taking their flocks out to graze. Preventing access to their lands is done with the full cooperation of the Israeli police and army. On Sunday 5 June, a new stage in the struggle of Khirbet Umm al-Khier residents began for their right to live in the face of strangulation attempts by the Carmel settlers and occupation forces. Nabil Tapash, an officer of the Israeli Civil Administration, came to Khirbet Umm al-Hir on Sunday and spoke with a resident of the Eid village. According to the settlers, several olive trees they planted earlier this year were damaged by the herds of Umm el-Khier. Settlers demand compensation of NIS 250, although they provided no evidence of the claimed damage or of the responsibility of Umm el-Khier residents for said damage. Nabil threatened that if compensation was not paid, he would prevent the herds from walking through the pasture, thus obligating the herders to walk on foot via a long bypass route. And indeed, since Monday morning settlers and the army have prevented passage of the herders. A military captain went even further, kicking several of the goats, including one in the head who died several hours later.
- Palestinian injured in clashes with settlers near Ramallah: RAMALLAH (Maan) 10 June — A 65-year-old Palestinian was shot and injured Friday during clashes with Israeli settlers and soldiers near Ramallah, witnesses said. Locals told Ma‘an that dozens of settlers tried to enter an illegal outpost near Kafr Malik village, which had been evacuated by Israeli forces. Villagers tried to stop the settlers, who were supported by Israeli soldiers. Clashes erupted and Yousif Hamad Al-Qaq was shot and injured, onlookers said.
- PA: Armed settlers raid Nablus village: NABLUS (Maan) 11 June — Dozens of armed Israeli settlers on Saturday attacked residents of Qusra village in the northern West Bank, Palestinian officials said. PA settlement affairs official Ghassan Doughlas said settlers beat several residents at the entrance of the village, south of Nablus, and smashed the windscreen of a truck belonging to Husni Abu Reeda. Doughlas said the settlers were from an illegal outpost Alei Ayin, which the Israeli army recently evacuated. Settlers from the outpost were suspected of torching and vandalizing a mosque near Ramallah on Tuesday. Meanwhile, in the nearby village Iraq Burin, Israeli forces sprayed tear gas and stun grenades at protesters in an weekly anti-settlement rally, residents said. Locals told Maan that Israeli forces surrounded the village on Saturday morning to stop activists joining the protest.
- Settlers hurl stones at Palestinian homes in Hebron: IMEMC 14 June — Dozens of fundamentalist Israeli settlers, living in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, hurled on Tuesday at night, stones at five Palestinian homes in the city while chanting racist slogans and slurs at the Palestinian natives of the city. Mofeed Sharabaty, a local resident, stated that approximately 100 settlers attacked his home, the homes of his brother Zeidan, and the homes of Abdul-Rahman Al Salayma, Idrees Zahda, and Ali Al Nather. The army was present in the area but did not attempt to stop the settlers.
- The sad face of a boy who had his bike stolen in the middle of the night: PNN 14 June — When your neighbor steals your bike and you see them riding around the streets enjoying it and as happy as can be, what do you do? Go and take it back? Not if you live in Palestine and your neighbors are settlers. This was the case of one boy living in Tel Remeida who left his bike outside his front door before going to bed at night, as he always used to do, only to wake up in the morning to find it gone.
- PA official: Settlers burn farmland near Nablus: NABLUS (Maan) 16 June — Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian farmland south of the West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday, a Palestinian official said. Ghassan Doughlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlement affairs in the northern West Bank, said the incident occurred near the illegal settlement of Itamar, south of Nablus. The settlers burned 15 dunums of farmland of olive trees in an area known as Berkat Al-Marah, which belongs to residents from Roujeeb in the southeast of Nablus, Doughlas said.
- Jewish settlers burn olive trees west of Ramallah: RAMALLAH, (PIC) 16 June — Jewish settlers torched tens of Palestinian olive trees in Bilin village land behind the separation wall west of Ramallah city, the popular anti wall committee said in a statement on Thursday. The statement said that the fire started last night near a Jewish settlement, which was established on Bilin village land. It pointed out that the Israeli occupation forces stationed at the wall’s gate blocked entry of fire brigades to extinguish the blaze, which led to the spread of fire.
- Settlers set fire to Palestinian crops; IOF troops burn olive groves: NABLUS (PIC) 17 June — Extremist Jewish settlers on Thursday torched Palestinian crops in agricultural land belonging to the villagers of Awarta to the south east of the Northern West Bank city of Nablus. Qais Awwad, head of the village council of Awarta, told the PIC correspondent that settlers from Itamar and Yitzhar settlements were behind the fires in the villagers fields. Awwad added that seven dunums (1 dunum= 1000 square meters or 1/4 acre) planted with wheat were affected by the fire before the Palestinian fire brigades managed to control the fire.
- Medics: Settlers assault Palestinian in central Hebron: HEBRON (Maan) 18 June — A group of Israeli settlers harshly beat a young Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, medics said. Anas Hashem Abu Al-Halawa, 21, came under attack while walking in central Hebron, Red Crescent official Naser Qabaja said. The incident, on Shuhada street, left Abu Al-Halawa with extensive bruising. He was admitted to the government hospital.
- Witnesses: Settlers torch farmland near Ramallah: RAMALLAH (Maan) 18 June — Dozens of settlers on Friday set fire to farmland in Al-Mughayyir village near Ramallah, witnesses said. Villagers said settlers torched around 35 dunums of wheat. Israeli forces and Palestinian and Israeli liaison officials visited the area to investigate the incident.
- 5 settlers released after ‘price tag’ allegations: Ynet 21 June — Two Jerusalem courts ordered the release Tuesday of five settlers police had arrested on suspicion of carrying out revenge acts against Palestinians, commonly dubbed ‘Price tag’ acts. Yaska Weiss, 20, was released along with a 17-year old girl. Both were suspected of torching Palestinian vehicles in Hebron. During the hearing police appealed for a remand of their arrest, though their representative had already admitted there may not be enough evidence to charge the two.Earlier three residents of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar suspected of torching the car of a police commander during the razing of Ali Ayin outpost were also released. Yitzhar settlers were furious at police conduct in the case, and a source in the settlement accused officers of performing unnecessary arrests instead of properly investigating the vandalism. “It has become the norm to perform stupid and baseless arrests in the small hours of the night, frightening children and infants,” the source said.
- Israeli settlers attempt takeover of Jerusalem home: BETHLEHEM (Maan) 22 June — A Beit Safafa family said several members were brutally beaten by Israeli settlers on Wednesday morning, in an attack that was said to have lasted four hours starting just after midnight. The Zawahra family lives adjacent to an Israeli settler outpost known as Givat Hamtous, located in a Palestinian home confiscated through a court process which observers said used spurious documents showing ownership. Akram Zawahra told Ma‘an that shortly after midnight a group of settlers from the home forcibly entered the Zawahra building in what he described as an attempt to take over the home and expand the settlement. The man’s 27-year-old brother was stabbed and later run over by the settlers, causing severe bleeding and a break to his right leg. He was taken to the Makassed Hospital and then was transferred to the Hadassah Hospital for surgery, his brother said. Three other members of the family, including Akram, his wife Ala’a and son Farouq were also injured, he said, noting the home sustained damages during the family’s attempt to keep he settlers out. Police arrived at the home hours after the attack began, Akram said, detaining him and three sons, who were all taken to the local police station and interrogated he said. An Israeli police spokesman said he had no knowledge of the incident. Akram said police remain in the home, which is being held pending a review by officers and border police. The neighborhood of Beit Safafa is located within the West Bank, on the eastern side of the 1967 borders, but was illegally annexed as part of Israel’s municipality of Jerusalem in the 1980s.
- Artas: Roof destroyed on Palestinian farmer’s summer home: CPTnet 20 June — On 17 May 2011, vandals, whom local Palestinians assumed to be settlers from the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, destroyed the roof on an agricultural home belonging to the family of Mohammed Saleh Abu Swai. In the summer, Palestinian farmers often sleep in stone houses out in their fields. Abu Swai had come out to his olive orchard two days earlier to fertilize his trees and put the roof on the house. When he returned, he saw that the planks he had laid across his house were broken and up-ended. … Mohammed’s entire family of eleven often stays in his small home located in the middle of the olive orchard. Before this latest destruction of the roof, the military had confiscated much of Mohammed’s land, declaring it state land.
- Hebron: 11 settlers armed with knives, stones attack Palestinian shepherds in South Hebron Hills: AIC 26 June — Around 10 am on Saturday 25 June, Palestinian shepherds were grazing their sheep and goats in the Meshakha Valley when they were attacked by 11 settlers who came over the hill from the nearby illegal outpost of Havat Maon, armed with stones and knives. Some of the settlers were masked as they ran toward the shepherds throwing stones, yelling blasphemies against Islam and stating that internationals were now not present to protect them. According to Shaady from Maghayr al Abeed, a settler attacked his donkey with a knife, and when he attempted to stop the attacker and protect his donkey, he was then hit by stones in the back and torso. Blows that took his breath away. Shaady has a huge welt on his back and bruising as a result of the attack. Sheep and goats were also pummeled with rocks and the shepherds were forced to run to protect their flock. The shepherds were chased for several hundred meters. According to the Palestinian shepherds the soldiers saw the incident and refused to get involved. After the attack, Israeli soldiers were seen greeting and shaking hands with the settlers as they walked back into the trees of the outpost of Havat Maon.
- ‘Mohammed is dead’ sprayed on home: Ynet 28 June — Unknown persons sprayed racial slurs and a Star of David on a Palestinian home in the West Bank village of Beit Ilu … Mohammed Raduan, head of the village council, told Ynet that the graffiti was found Tuesday morning. He added that it was not the first time Beit Ilu had been targeted in such a fashion. “They wrote, ‘Mohammed is a pig’ and ‘Mohammed is dead’, as well as ‘Revenge’ and ‘Settlement 18’,” he said. The latter may have been in reference to a recently evacuated settlement near Beit El.
