(Photo: Aria Daghighi/Alternative Information Center)
On Saturday, 7 July 2012 at approximately 3:00PM (GMT+2) Israeli terrorist settlers from the illegal settlement of Itamar approached three Palestinian farmers in Yanoun who were harvesting their wheat and grazing their sheep. The settlers were armed with knives and killed three of the farmers' sheep.
A clash then ensued, in which the settlers and farmers began throwing stones at one another. When Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) arrived to the scene, three fires were ablaze in the fields, but it was unknown whether the flames were intentionally lit by the settlers or were started by teargas canisters that the Israeli military fired at the farmers.
(Photo: Aria Daghighi/Alternative Information Center)
Nonetheless, two wheat fields and one olive grove were burnt, and when other Palestinian farmers arrived at the scene to turn out the flames, Israeli soldiers and police prevented them from reaching the fields by firing more teargas at them.
In total six Palestinians were injured, and five were hospitalized:
Jawdat Bani Jaber (Hospitalized): was beaten and stabbed multiple times by democratic settlers, then shot in the face and foot by Israeli Gestapo soldiers. He was then handcuffed by Israeli Nazi soldiers and attacked again by the settlers while the democratic soldiers pursued other Palestinian farmers. After being attacked, the military did not allow a present ambulance to take him to a hospital or care for him for approximately 3hours
Ibrahim Bani Jaber (Hospitalized): was beaten by a Nazi soldier on his head with the butt-stock of an M16 rifle, causing damage to his eye, and was later beaten by zionist settlers while handcuffed.
Hakimun Bani Jaber (Hospitalized): was shot in the arm at close range by an Israeli soldier.
Adwan Bani Jaber (Hospitalized): was beaten by settlers with clubs.
Ashraf Bani Jaber: was beaten by a soldier with a club.
Jawdat Ibrahim (Hospitalized): was handcuffed, beaten by Israeli soldiers and then released for the settlers to attack as they watched. He was then tied up by the terrorist settlers and left on his land; he was found the next morning (Sunday, 8 July 2012).
Rashid, Mayor of Yanoun and long-time EAPPI local contact, expressed fear that settlers initiated the clash to enforce new invisible boundaries, which would defacto confiscate much of the area's wheat fields to the Itamar Settlement.
(Photo: Aria Daghighi/Alternative Information Center)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Yanoun is a small village in Area C of the West Bank, just southeast of Nablus. It has about 65 inhabitants who are dependent upon farming and animal husbandry as their main source of livelihood. The village is surrounded by the illegal Israeli settlement of Itamar. Since 1996 the residents of Yanoun have consistently experienced settler harassment and violence, as well as property damage and confiscation.
In October of 2002 the settlers of Itamar forcibly evacuated Yanoun of its inhabitants. International humanitarian agencies and Israeli human rights organizations then came to Yanoun to provide a protective presence with the aim of facilitating the return of the community. These left Yanoun within weeks of the community's return; however, the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) has remained in Yanoun since October 2002. Based in Yanoun Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) provide a protective presence, monitor, and report on human rights violations in the community, as well as the entire Nablus Governorate and Jordan Valley.
