Turmusaya, Ramallah District: Settlers attack olive harvesters; when the victims try to defend themselves, soldiers fire tear gas and “rubber” bullets at them
On 23 October 2021, about 20 residents of Turmusaya, including seven minors between the ages of three and 17, went to harvest olives in their which lie on a large tract of farmland about two kilometers east of the town. In 2000, the outpost of Adei Ad was established near the area, and two years ago, a new settler “farm” was established nearby.
At around 12:30 P.M., about 20 masked settlers arrived. They spread out among the groves and attacked the harvesters with clubs and stones. The residents tried to defend themselves, including by throwing stones, but eventually had to flee towards the town.
Image
Taysir Jabarah's car, torched by settlers. Photo courtesy of the witnesses
Some of the settlers beat an 80-year-old woman and an 18-year-old youth with clubs, while others sprayed pepper spray in the eyes of two residents. Several residents, including a 10-year-old girl and a 16-year-old youth, sustained minor injuries from stones thrown by the settlers. In addition, the settlers smashed the windows of three cars, punctured their tires, torched a fourth car, vandalized farming equipment and broke the branches of several olive trees. After about half an hour, when dozens of town residents gathered to defend the attacked families and fend off the assailants, the settlers left.
Meanwhile, two military jeeps drove up. Soldiers got out of them and fired tear gas canisters and rubber-coated metal bullets at the residents, injuring two of them. Police officers arrived and documented the scene of the incident. The soldiers stayed in the area until around 2:00 P.M., and after they left, some residents resumed the harvest.
This incident is no exception: the residents of Turmusaya suffer repeated attacks by settlers who harm them and their property. These attacks are another tool Israel uses to take over Palestinian land throughout the West Bank. As part of this policy, the state provides the assailants with military backing, including soldiers who sometimes join in the attacks, and law enforcement agencies offer them protection.
B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad collected testimonies from the attacked farmers on 24 October 2021:
In his testimony, Muntasser Salameh (50), a father of five, recounted:
Image
Muntasser Salameh. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B'Tselem, 24 Oct. 2021
On Friday, 23 October 2021, at 8:00 A.M., we went to harvest olives on our land. We own a plot of 2.5 dunams [1 dunam = 1,000 sq. meters] in the valley east of the town, and have 54 olive trees that are 30 to 40 years old. I went there with my four children, ranging in age from five to 17, with my brother ‘Abd a-Nasser Hamza (48) and his two children (16 and 18), and with two workers. There were 10 of us altogether. The military doesn’t require prior coordination on our part before we access land in that area. But it’s a dangerous area because have settlers set up a “farm” nearby, and there are violent, extremist people there.
Two other families were already working in their groves, which lie next to ours, when we got to the area. We started picking the olives. There was a good atmosphere. It’s a season of joy and we enjoy the work. The kids love working outside and everyone lends a hand.
When we were about to wrap up for the day, we heard a family that was working on a nearby plot shouting a warning: “Settlers! Settlers!” We couldn’t see the settlers because the trees hid them, but pretty soon some of them reached us. They were masked and carrying clubs and sticks. They looked like a gang of robbers.
We didn’t have time to escape. They chased us, threw stones at us, and beat us with clubs and sticks. We tried to run and defend ourselves as much as we could. I was terrified for my daughters Sa’ida (10) and Janat (5). I picked them up, carried them away and sat them under one of the trees. Then I joined my brother and the young men who were there, and we tried to defend ourselves. The girls were crying and terrified, but I had no choice. I had to leave them so I could fend off the settlers.
There were about 10 settlers there. We confronted them and also threw stones at them. After two or three minutes, one of the settlers surprised my brother and pepper-sprayed him. While I was helping the neighbors lift the fence between our grove and theirs so the kids could escape, four settlers jumped me. One of them hit me on the left side of my neck with a club, and another settler came from the right and pepper-sprayed me in my eyes and face. It stung badly and I had to back away.
Meanwhile, my kids had already run away from the grove. The older ones helped the little ones. After we were all out of the grove, some settlers drew back or maybe just stopped chasing us, and some vandalized our cars, which were parked near the groves.
Several residents of the town came to help us, and one of them took me to a private clinic. My brother ‘Abd a-Nasser got there a few minutes before me. My children arrived after me, with my brother-in-law. The girls were terrified, and Sa’ida had bruises on her back from the stones. They gave her ointment to relieve the pain. My two nephews arrived, too: Naji (16), who was hit by a stone in the face, and Jamal (18), who was hit by a stone in the hand and a club blow to the back. They were given first aid there.
Image
Car vandalized by settlers. Photo courtesy of the witnesses
In her testimony, Nabihah Jabarah (80), a mother of seven, recalled:
Image
Nabihah Jabarah. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B'Tselem, 24 Oct. 2021
On Saturday morning, 23 October 2021, I went with my family, including my two grandsons, who are 11 and three years old, to our land. Two agricultural laborers also came with us: four young men and a woman. There were two other families there, working in nearby groves. Everyone was harvesting olives.
At 12:30 P.M., we took a lunch break. I recited the afternoon prayers. My grandson Jalal (11) took his brother Rasmi (3) to the road, so his mother could pick Rasmi up from there. He came back shouting, “Grandma, Grandma, the settlers are attacking us.” I stopped praying and went to see the settlers.
I saw more than 20 masked settlers with clubs. They were young, about 20 or 25 years old, and were coming towards us. I shouted at them, “What do you want? What do you want?” but they didn’t answer me. One of them picked up a thick club and tried to hit me in the head, but I pushed it away with my left hand. When the workers saw what was happening, they started shouting and ran away from the area. I ran away, too. The settlers chased us and threw stones at us. They destroyed everything in their path. They broke ladders and cut two sacks of olives we’d filled with a knife
When we were a bit further away, I checked the young ones to see if anyone was hurt. The neighbors also fled the grove. The settlers managed to hurt some of them. I saw the settlers breaking the windows of cars parked near the groves and puncturing their tires. They destroyed two of our family’s cars, smashed all their windows and punctured their tires.
After the settlers left, we went back to the grove and found out they’d scattered three sacks of olives and broken two ladders, two jugs of water and a chair, as well as the branches of five trees. I later found out they’d also destroyed Muntasser Salameh’s car and torched Dr. Tayasir Jabarah’s car.
Military jeeps arrived, not in order to defend us but to reinforce the settlers. They drove away the residents who came to help us and fired tear gas canisters and “rubber” bullets. Two young men were hit by rubber bullets.
The settlers ran towards the farm established two years ago about 200 or 300 meters east of our land. Since it was established, we’ve had many more problems. The settlers from the farm attack us and damage our property, and the military allows it. They don’t let us have a day of peace. Every time, we hear about a farm or another facility they’ve damaged. We’re in constant fear for our crops and our very lives. But we put our faith in the good Lord.
In his testimony, Taysir Jabarah (78), a married father of five, described what happened:
Image
Taysir Jabarah. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B'Tselem, 24 Oct. 2021
During the attack, which lasted about 15 minutes, residents from the town started coming to help. When the settlers saw the crowd, they started to withdraw, and then I saw two settlers going over to my car, which was parked by my grove. One of them poured lighter fluid on the hood and the other on the trunk, and then they set fire to it. I was about 50 to 60 meters away. I shouted to people, “Look, look, they burned my car.” People told me not to go near because they were afraid the gas tank would explode. I didn’t go near to put out the fire, and neither did anyone else. The settler who torched the car withdrew towards the mountain area, in the direction of the outpost.
Shortly after the residents arrived, a military jeep drove up, followed by another jeep. They were there to defend us but to protect the settlers. There were six soldiers, and they started shooting tear gas canisters at the residents. At first, they fired towards the cars that were coming from the town and were still far away, so they wouldn’t come closer. Then they fired in our direction, where the people had gathered. I started tearing up and felt a terrible burning. I ran away from there. My nose started bleeding because of the tear gas. I stopped the bleeding with some tissue and stayed far back.
After about 10 minutes, the situation calmed down a bit. We tried to go back to our lands, but the soldiers didn’t allow us and fired volleys of tear gas canisters and “rubber” bullets. Two young men from the town were hit by “rubber” bullets and taken to the town for treatment. About an hour after the settler attack began, the soldiers left the area, and some people continued to work their land.
When the people went back to harvesting, with reinforcement from the residents who had arrived, I called the workers who’d been with me earlier to come back and complete the work, but they apologized and said they were too afraid to return. I went back to picking together with 20 residents who volunteered to help me, and we picked the remaining olives offf five small trees. I had another dunam left to harvest in a grove that’s separated by a road from the land where we’d worked earlier. It has 10 olive trees that are 30 years old. But we didn’t go there because we were afraid the settlers would come back.
On Tuesday, 30 August 2022, at around 5:00 P.M., three young settlers drove a car through the village of Kisan in Bethlehem District. They sped inside the village and ran over a goat belonging to a local resident. They then tried to escape, but their car was blocked by a vehicle carrying cargo and they had to slow down. At that point, children and youths from the village threw stones at them and smashed the car windows. The settlers turned around and left the village. They returned some 15 minutes later, with about 15 other settlers and about 10 soldiers. The settlers threw stones at village homes in front of the soldiers, who refused to intervene when locals approached them. Some youths from the village threw stones at the settlers in an attempt to fend them off. One of the settlers drew a handgun and fired a single bullet towards the village residents. The soldiers fired a barrage of tear gas canisters at the homes, causing some residents to choke. They received first aid from Palestinian paramedics who arrived at the scene. At around 7:00 P.M., the settlers and most of the soldiers left the village. It is not uncommon for settlers to enter Kisan. Local residents, especially the shepherds, are by now used to harassment almost every day. While violent assaults, as occurred in this incident, are rarer, they do occur in the village due to Israel’s overall policy in the West Bank. This policy also explains why soldiers were present during the incident, why they refused to intervene and protect the Palestinian residents, and why they took action only after Palestinians began throwing stones too. On 1 September 2022, B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari collected testimonies from residents of Kisan who were hurt in the incident. Saleh al-’Abayat (59), a father of eight, said: I have 250 heads of sheep, which provide my family’s livelihood. On 30 August 2022, at around 5:00 P.M., I was sitting by my house. A car with three young settlers inside drove along the nearby road at a crazy speed. They ran over a goat that belongs to our neighbor, ‘Adnan al-’Abayat, near his house. The settlers tried to get away, but a vehicle carrying hay was driving in front of them, so they had to slow down. Some kids and young guys from the village threw stones at them and shattered the windows. The settlers turned around and drove off. About 15 minutes later, they came back with more than 15 settlers and two military jeeps, which let out about 10 soldiers. The settlers threw stones at village homes in front of the soldiers. Some residents asked the soldiers to make the settlers to back away, but the soldiers ignored them, so some kids and young guys started throwing stones too, to try and make the settlers leave. One of the settlers drew a handgun and fired one shot in their direction, and the soldiers started firing dozens of tear gas canisters at village homes. I heard women and children screaming all over the village. Before I managed to run away and take cover, some tear gas canisters landed near me. I think there were four. The gas surrounded me from every direction, and I fell down. I passed out, and when I came to, maybe a few minutes later, I saw I was far from my house and next to a Palestinian ambulance whose crew was giving me first aid. They put an oxygen mask on my face. The soldiers were still firing tear gas canisters. At around 7:00 P.M., a Civil Administration car arrived. An officer, who I think is the area commander, got out. He shouted at the residents who were throwing stones at the settlers, and then the soldiers and the settlers left. Red Crescent crews treated people who were choking on the tear gas. I still have trouble breathing, and my eyes are stinging. Thank God, my grandchildren weren’t hurt. My daughter-in-law took them to the top floor and shut the windows and doors, so they weren’t hurt. ‘Adnan al-’Abayat (33), a father of three, said: On Tuesday, 30 August 2022, at around 5:00 P.M., I was sitting in the yard by the house with my family. I saw a car with an Israeli license plate speeding along a road in our village, with three young settlers inside. Three children who were playing on the road ran away. The car kept going and ran over a goat of ours that was in the pasture by our house, near the road. After that the settlers tried to escape, but a vehicle carrying hay was driving ahead of them so they had to slow down. Some young guys and kids from the village attacked the car with stones and smashed its windows. At some point, the settlers managed to get away. About 15 minutes later, they came back with more settlers and two military jeeps. They threw stones at residents’ homes, and the soldiers did nothing to try and stop them. Young guys from the village threw stones back at them, and then one of the settlers drew his gun and fired one bullet in their direction. At that point, the soldiers started raining tear gas canisters down on the homes. The canisters landed in the yards of homes, making many residents choke, including elderly people, children and sick people. My wife Sabah (32) and our little kids choked on it, too. I tried to reassure them, to take them inside and give them first aid, but before I could do it, one of the canisters hit my 7-year-old son Ayham on the left side of his face. While I was trying to help him, I saw my neighbor, Saleh al-’Abayat (59), choke and fall over. I left Ayham with my wife and ran over to him, and a tear gas canister hit me in the left leg. In the meantime, two Palestinian ambulances came and gave us all first aid. They bandaged my leg. At around 7:00 P.M., an officer came in a Civil Administration car, and it was only then that the soldiers stopped firing tear gas. The settlers left the area. The officer yelled at us, accusing us of attacking the settlers and wrecking their car, and then he left the area with the rest of the soldiers, except six who stayed. Samaher al-’Abayat (41), a mother of eight, said: At around 5:30 P.M., I was sitting with my family in the yard when I heard screaming in the village. We saw settlers attacking the village. Before I managed to get the children inside, and before my husband managed to get the flock into the pen, tear gas canisters started landing in the yard. My young kids, ‘Ali (4), Ahmad (6), Azhar (7) and Jawaher (9), started screaming and crying. One of the canisters hit a sheep directly in the leg. The kids felt like they were choking, and their eyes stung. They screamed and writhed in pain. Ahmad has liver disease, and the first thing on my mind was getting him away from the yard, where the canisters were falling and sending gas clouds up everywhere. My husband choked too, while he was trying to gather all the flock to get them inside the pen. I tried to calm the children down after I got them inside. I tried using onion to ease the effect of the gas. Then a team of Palestinian paramedics came to the village. They gave us first aid – my husband, my young boys and me. The tear gas firing went on until about 7:00 P.M. My kids didn’t sleep that night because of the pain and stinging in their eyes, especially Ahmad, who also had a stomach ache. My eyes also still hurt and sting, and I’m having trouble seeing.
Last week, on 28 September 2021, dozens of Israeli settlers, some of them armed, attacked the Palestinian community of Khirbet al-Mufaqarah, which lies in the Masafer Yatta area (South Hebron Hills) in the West Bank, in one of the most severe settler attacks against Palestinians in recent years. At one point, three-year-old Muhammad Baker Mahmoud Hamamdeh was injured by a stone that hit him in the head. The incident was captured on video by B'Tselem volunteers and received wide media coverage. Far-right Israeli media outlet HaKol HaYehudi quoted a military officer claiming that he had seen a young Palestinian setting fire to a structure and that the latter had tried to pin the arson on settlers. To support this version, several seconds of footage were sent to Channel 12 News reporter Ofer Hadad in which the officer is seen accusing Basel al-Adraa – an activist, journalist and volunteer with B'Tselem's camera project – of starting the fire, without presenting a shred of evidence. Today, B'Tselem published new footage proving the allegations baseless: In the new footage, a pile of dry branches is seen catching fire from a tear gas canister shot by soldiers, followed by attempts by soldiers and Palestinians to put it out. These are the minutes that preceded the seconds aired on Channel 12 News last night, which served reporter Ofer Hadad to accuse al-Adraa of trying to torch a house. The officer who made the false accusation was recently described by the IDF spokesperson as "not reflecting the conducted expected of him," given documentation of his behavior in recent weeks. Basel al-Adraa responded: "The fake news is a desperate attempt to stop me from documenting, as I am the one who filmed the settler attack on Tuesday, in which 60 masked settlers beat up families, vandalized homes, and fractured the head of a three-year-old boy – backed up by soldiers. I don't create "false videos" to make settlers seem bad – they seem bad because they commit horrible crimes. Want me to stop? Stop the occupation." Channel 12 News did not run a basic fact check before sharing the footage and the unfounded allegations against al-Adraa – nor was he asked to comment. Israeli soldiers, settlers, bureaucrats, government ministers and judges routinely mete out harsh violence against Palestinians. This time, they were joined by Apartheid’s Watchdogs in Channel 12 Newsroom.
The report surveys the broad spectrum of issues regarding the Israeli authorities' human rights record in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the past year, the 44th year of the Israeli occupation. An interactive version of the report is available online and distributed through social media. The report documents a sharp increase in the number of uninvolved Palestinians killed by the Israeli security forces in the Gaza Strip in 2011. There was also an increase in the number of Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians, compared to 2010.
