Brighton-Tubas Region Friendship and Solidarity Group

The Palestinian village of Al Mazra’a al Qibliah in the occupied West Bank was the scene of a vicious attack by armed Israeli settlers on 26th/27th/28th October following a demonstration participated in by the Brighton Tubas Friendship and Solidarity Group.

Lucy Collins from Brighton who had just spoken to villagers from Al Masra’a said ‘On Saturday the settlers came back into the village. They uprooted and burnt olive trees, destroyed crops, attacked houses and broke windows. The settlers caught some of the villagers and beat them with sticks and bars.

‘On Sunday the army came to the village and arrested the mayor and another member of the village council. They also arrested thirteen other people, four of whom were university students, two of whom were children under fifteen. They have also denied the village the right to harvest their olives as an act of collective punishment.’

Act now to demand the release of the villagers:

Send messages of support:
Email:scobham@googlemail.com and we will forward them on.

Demand the release of the Mayor and other villager elders.
Write to: Beit El District Coordinating Office:

Email: send to scobham@googlemail.com and we will forward your email on.
Fax: 00972 (0)29977337
Tel: 00972 (0)29977747

Officer of the Central Command of the Army:
Email to scobham@googlemail.com and we will forward your email on.

Ask your embassy to demand their release.

British Embassy
Email:webmaster.telaviv@fco.gov.uk
Fax:00972 (0)3 527 8574

British Consulate in Jerusalem
Email:britain.jerusalem@fco.gov.uk
Fax:00972 (0)2 5322368
For other nationalities please check your embassy and consulate details on the internet.

Background information

Villagers who are being held
Sa'eed Shreiteh (Mayor of Al-Zaytouneh council)
Muhaamed Hasan Shreiteh
Riyad Ribhi Hannoun
Sameer Muhammad Shreiteh
Waseem Ahmad Ladadweh

On Friday 26th October 2007 the people of Al Mazra’ Al Qibliah held a peaceful demonstration against the theft of their land by the ever expanding Israeli settlement of Talmon. They were supported by ten internationals from Brighton Tubas Friendship and Solidarity Group.
In a brave show of non violent direct action the demonstrators pulled up the grape vines (that settlers had planted on the stolen land) dismantled water irrigation pipes and set fire to the small tent on the land . In response the settlers and Israeli Army shot at the demonstrators repeatedly with live bullets and unleashed a campaign of violence and aggressions. Three of the internationals were arrested, held for 33hrs and released without charge.
Immediately after the demonstration the Talmon settlers came to Al Mazra’ Al Qibliah carrying guns and damaged some of the Olive trees. The following day they returned, uprooted and burnt olive trees, attacked houses, broke windows and beat some villagers with sticks and bars.
The Israeli police and army have taken no action against the Israeli settlers. Instead they have unleashed collective punishment against the Palestinian villagers.
On Monday 29th the Army arrested 12 villagers, including the Mayor and two boys aged 15 years. They returned three days later and arrested another 8 villagers, this time the youngest being 14 years old.
Five of them, including the Mayor are still in Israeli prisons awaiting trial. Fourteen others have been released on bail, each having to pay between £125 and £75 bail.
They are being charged with Disturbing the Peace for trying to stop thieves from stealing their land!
What was the demonstration about?
After the demonstration on 26th October, the Mayor explained the situation to the internationals from Brighton:
Al Mazra’ Al Qibliah, near Bir Zeit in the West Bank, is surrounded by seven illegal Israel settlements known collectively as Talmon B. The settlements have been steadily expanding: in the last few years they have appropriated 2,000 dunums of Palestinian land (500 acres) and uprooted Palestinian olive trees. They also monopolise water resources in the area. The Mayor described them as “a cancer” that is gradually spreading over the land.
Four years ago the Talmon settlers took another 500 dunums (125 acres) of land to create a new outpost. The villagers went to court to challenge the theft of their land. They were successful and the new settlement outpost was declared illegal and removed.
Land stolen for ‘Military purposes’
Then, earlier in 2007, the Israeli Army took the land for ‘military purposes’. The settlers returned shortly afterwards and planted vines, installed water irrigation pipes and put up a tent for their ‘security guard’. Again the villagers went to court, and were told that it was ‘public land’ so their complaint was dismissed. When they later went to the Israeli Police station the police refused to take the papers they had brought as evidence, and instead imprisoned and interrogated the Mayor.
“Olives are not just agriculture, they are a way of life, they are our culture”
The village of 5000 people (50% under 15 years old) is almost entirely dependant on the olive harvest. The Mayor said “everything waits for the harvest”. People take out loans to live on that are repaid with the harvest, marriages come after the money from the olives arrives. He added “Before the settlement we were secure, dependent on the olives. Olives are not just agriculture, they are a way of life, they are our culture”. The unemployment rate is 70% and “the few who are working cannot feed everyone”.
They are prevented from harvesting yet more of their olives by the imposition of an Israeli Army ‘military zone’ on all Palestinian land within 500m of the settlement fence.
The villagers live under constant threat of violence from the settlers, and collusion by the army, but their spirit of resistance shines through. In the words of the Mayor: “Of course we will not accept this reality, we will defend our rights, we will continue.”

It is common for villages like Al Mazra to suffer collective punishments at the hands of Israeli military or settlers in retaliation for any form of protest at the theft of Palestinian land. This level of intimidation makes it nearly impossible for Palestinians to tend and harvest their crops, as their fields lie fallow Israeli settlers simply steal this land and attack any Palestinian who dares to complain.

This phenomenon of confiscating so-called ‘uncultivated’ Palestinian land is widespread and often results in the annexation of the land by the illegal Israeli settlements. It is important to note that this is a process being sanctioned by the State of Israel.

For more details contact Tom Hayes on 07846506710 or Sarah Cobham tubas@brightonpalestine.org

Personal account of the demonstration at Al Masra’a
http://brightonpalestine.org/blog/?p=208

More details about Al Masra’a Al Qibliya

www.brightonpalestine.org/blog