The Village Of Burin: Under Attack By Surrounding Settlements
Reageer (0)27-9-2010
The village of Burin is located less than 10 kilometers south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. With a population of approximately 3,500 that is wholly dependent on the yields of their olive trees, Burin’s lands are hemmed in by two settlements on the North and South ends of the village, named Bracha and Yitzhar respectively. In addition to these government-sanctioned settlements, there are four outposts that have taken root up on these hilltops over the last 10 years. The center of Burin, where most families live, lies at the base of these hills. For decades the surrounding hills of Burin are filled with their olive groves and farmlands.
However, since 2000 Burin’s olive groves and land have been preyed upon by the surrounding settlers, who have declared their desire to annex the entire area into their own territory. Attacking Burin both literally and administratively, the settlers have terrorized the village by burning olive fields, slaughtering sheep, stealing farming equipment, and throwing rocks at villagers. In the last ten years the village has lost more than 16,000 trees, 5000 of which were ancient (more than 1000 years old). At the beginning of August, the settlers took Burin to court for building a mosque near the center of town.
Akram Ibrahimali is a farmer in Burin whose land reaches the southern most boundary of the village, making his land particularly vulnerable to the attacks of the Yitzhar settlement. Akram told me that last year the settlers cut down 81 of his trees and this year they have already cut 17. As he spoke, Akram was unruffled. Though his calm demeanor seemed to reflect his shyness more than his thoughts about what is happening to his land.
Similarly, the Sufawan house stands high up on the southern hill of Burin. The Sufawan house is the only house that remains this close to the Yitzhar settlement. B’tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, reported that the Sufawan house was attacked a total of 91 times this year alone by the Yitzhar settlement.
A cement wall surrounds the interior of the large house, and now barbed wire lines the wall to further guard the home against settler intrusions. Hanan Nasser Sufawan, a widow with nine children, invited me to sit talk with her in her sitting room, which had to be restored after one arson attack last year. The room was furnished with richly colored sofas and on the coffee table were two intricately designed large ashtrays symmetrically placed on either side of a centerpiece. A photo of her late husband hung on the wall.
While we sat there, Hanan explained how the settlers have attacked her house. Usually the settlers from Yitzhar run down the hill at nighttime. They bring water bottles full of gasoline throw them into her courtyard to set fire to her home, or they stab her exposed goats and sheep to death. Last month, some settlers stole her hose and plough she needs for her land.
Recently, the Yitzhar settlement has garnered significant attention due to the ultra-right ideology of their head Rabbi, Yitzhak Shapira, who has been charged with advocating for the killing of non-Jews in his recently published book, The King’s Torah. Shapira’s argument for the removal of Palestinians from “Judea and Samaria” aligns with the Kach movement and political party, which was illegalized in Israel in 1994. In Shapira’s book, he justifies the killing of non-Jewish people, including children, as a legitimate means to protect Jews. Members of the Israeli government have denounced Shapira’s incendiary statements and Israeli police have investigated Rabbi Shapira’s role in inciting violence. Yet his seminary has been the beneficiary of ample government funding. However, Jonathan Cook reports that Yesh Din, a Tel Aviv-based human rights organization, discovered that Rabbi Shapira’s seminary received $300,000 from the Israeli government. Furthermore, Rabbi Shapira has received thousands of dollars worth of international donations from individuals in America and England (1).
On 26 July 2010 a force of settlers stormed Burin, burning 3,500 olive trees and throwing rocks at villagers. While the Yitzhar settlement is among the most extreme, it is not isolated. Settlers from all over the West Bank joined the Yitzhar settlement to carry out this raid.
Using the Internet, settlers are able to notify everyone about any upcoming action. Eric Ascherman, from Rabbis for Human Rights, could inform the mayor of Burin, Ali Eid, of the impending attack because he received a message of the event on the Internet.
Zakaria Saddh, the Coordinator from Rabbis for Human Rights, said, “The settlers are organized across the West Bank. They can send an SMS or a message on the Internet, and they come to the area they are organizing in.” Rabbis for Human Rights works in over 45 villages in the West Bank. “We believe the Palestinians have a right to access their lands freely without attacks from the settlers or the army,” Saddh said.
Last weekend, settlers from the surrounding area came into Burin to steal the Palestinian olive groves. While this most recent trespass by the settlers was less violent, it reflects the same ideological argument that motivates all their actions. Eid says, “[the settlers] believe the harvest belongs to Jewish people, so it’s allowed for them to take because it is a gift from God to the Jewish People.”
Preventing further building/ settlements are expanding
In addition to terrorizing the village through raids and attacks, the settlers have also taken their battle for the land to the Israeli High Courts in an attempt to prevent any construction in the village of Burin. Raga Zin, a non-profit organization dedicated to rights of settlers and settler expansion in the West Bank, submitted a petition to the courts on 2 August 2010 against Burin’s mosque that was built in 2005 amidst houses that pre-date 1967.
According to Tawfiq Jabareen the attorney representing Burin, the petition claims that the mosque lies in Area C and therefore was illegally constructed. Furthermore, the petition argues that the mosque is too close to the Yitzhar settlement and is endangering the lives of the settlers. Former Attorney General, Judge Elyakim Rubinstein, who Jabareen described as “radically right,” ruled over the petition and issued a temporary injunction order one week ago, instructing all construction to halt on the mosque. Jabareen says, “If the Palestinians continue building after a temporary injunction is issued they will be held in contempt of court. But they are not under the jurisdiction of the Israeli High Court, so I don’t know what will happen.”
Jabareen estimated that only 10% of Burin Village is left in Area B, while the rest of the village is in Area C, “Since 1994 they have to develop, build houses, build mosques, and they have no land in Area B… they cannot find a plot of land to build.”
However, when the villagers do construct in Area B they face reprisals from the settlements. Ibrahim Omar Eid has been trying to build a house for his family of six on a piece of land that lies in Area B, but has come under significant attack from the settlers. Ibrahim Eid has been attacked more than 10 times. Most recently, he was injured during the attack and taken to the hospital.
Meanwhile, the settlements and outposts have expanded over the last 10 months. Hanan Sufawan describes how she hears construction at midnight occurring just over her hill on the Yitzhar settlement. Two days ago three big trucks arrived carrying construction materials to the Yitzhar settlement, reported the mayor. “There is no settlement freeze, and these settlements have expanded and can build a house in one day. But we can’t even build one house in our village.” Eid reports that 18 news houses have been built on the settlements since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a 10-month settlement freeze on 25 Novemeber 2009.
Despite these blatant and consistent attacks, there is no intervention by the Israeli Occupying Forces or the Palestinian Authority. It is up to the villagers to work together to try to protect each other’s land from the settler attacks. When Hanan Sufawan hears the settlers cutting Akram Ibrahimali’s trees she calls him, and a large group of villagers confront the attacking settlers.
As Akram looks over his trees, many slashed and in the process of being repaired, or some simply too injured to save, he shakes his head and motions towards the center of town, “But each time the attacks are closer and closer to the center of Burin, taking more land.”
(1).Cook, Jonathan. “Israeli rabbi preaches slaughter of non-Jews.” http: 2 August 2010. //electronicintifada.net/v2/article11438.shtml
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