Burin, Nablus District: Soldiers escort settlers stoning residents and fire tear gas and “rubber bullets” at residents who try to make them leave
13 March 2021 · Views: 4,796
On 13 March 2021, Burin resident Muntasser Mansur was working on construction of his house along with another village resident. At around 2:30 P.M., some 20 settlers arrived escorted by about six soldiers, and started throwing stones at the house. Mansur and his friend went outside and tried to make them leave by throwing stones, yet to no avail. One of the settlers fired two shots with his gun, one of which hit the wall behind Mansur, and the two men had to flee towards the village homes.
Meanwhile, village residents gathered round the house. Some of them, along with Mansur and his friend, tried to drive the settlers away by throwing stones. At that point, some of the settlers continued to throw stones at the house while others started chasing the residents. The soldiers, by then joined by more forces, fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas at the residents, who had no choice but to retreat.
The house the settlers stoned lies several hundred meters east of the other houses in the village, and the settlement of Har Bracha and the settlement outpost of Sneh Ya’akov (Giv’at Ronen) were established about a kilometer from it.
The residents of Burin, which is hemmed in by the settlements of Har Bracha and Yitzhar, have been suffering settler attacks for years. In the 1980s, the settlement of Yitzhar was established about a kilometer south of the village and the settlement of Har Bracha was established about a kilometer northeast of the village – both on land belonging to Burin and to neighboring villages.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i, Muntasser Mansur (31), a father of one and a bus driver, recounted how the settlers attacked his half-built house with army backing:
On 13 March 2021, at around 2:30 P.M., I was working on construction of my house together with another resident of the village. Suddenly, about 20 settlers showed up and started throwing stones at the house. I immediately called my family to tell them what was going on, because I was afraid. There were a lot of settlers there, and about six to eight soldiers guarding them who did nothing to stop them. We tried to defend ourselves and threw stones back, but they outnumbered us and one of them had a gun.
One of the settlers fired two shots with his gun, and one of the bullets hit the wall behind me. I realized our lives were in danger. We went outside and started running towards the village. After we went some way, we stopped and watched the settlers. Then some other residents arrived, and together with them we tried to make the settlers leave by throwing stones. Some of the settlers continued throwing stones at the house, and others started chasing us along with the soldiers, who fired “rubber” bullets and tear gas at us. Meanwhile, four military jeeps arrived and more soldiers got out. They also fired “rubber” bullets and tear gas at us. The residents had to draw back. I stayed on the lookout, to watch what they were doing to my house, and saw they were damaging it.
This isn’t the first time they’ve attacked the house. It’s happened several times before, and every time I’ve had to fix what they destroyed. It’s cost me tens of thousands of shekels. They clearly want to expand the settlement of Har Bracha on our land, and therefore want to prevent any new construction in the area. I can’t take these losses any more. I have a family to support and rent to pay. No one can stand these attacks. Every time they attacked and destroyed something in the house, I felt it in my body. It’s an injustice that no one can tolerate – watching your home under attack by settlers guarded by armed soldiers who fire at anyone who comes close. They are free to do as they please. They build houses and roads and create parks wherever they want, and we can’t even build on our own land.
- Physical assault
- Verbal confrontations and threats