Palestinians across the West Bank describe how Israeli settlers, with military backing, are intensifying their takeover of land for illegal construction.
by Imad Abu Hawash, +972 Magazine
Since late December, Palestinians living in the village of Battir, west of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, have been cut off from significant portions of their land. A group of Israeli settlers simply arrived in the area one day — which UNESCO has designated as a world heritage site — and set up a new outpost, with a few small shacks for living in and for keeping their livestock.
“Settler shepherds took control of the area and started grazing their flocks on villagers’ lands, preventing Palestinians from reaching their pastures,” Ghassan Alyan, a resident of the village, told +972 Magazine. “They even flew drones into our flocks to disperse them and threatened to shoot them.”
As a result, the farmers and shepherds of Battir have completely lost access to land that used to be the source of their livelihood. “This area became forbidden for Palestinians to reach — settlers may shoot any Palestinian who is found there. The settlers wear army uniforms and move under the army’s protection,” Allyan continued, noting a trend by which the enlistment of settlers into the army’s reserves amid Israel’s war on Gaza has made it harder to distinguish between settlers and soldiers.
Recent Posts
Why Do We Let Zionists Decide What We Can and Can’t Say?
Take Action Now Kraft is a man who appears in the Epstein files, was twice caught on camera with prostitutes, donates heavily to the IDF, and even…
Trump Says He’s Banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico From the White House
Take Action Now “These outrageous attacks only demonstrate how scared he is of an informed public,” said one press freedom advocate.By Stephen…
Bases Without Names: How Governments Rebrand the U.S. Military Presence
Take Action Now Across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, governments use an expanding vocabulary to describe sites that accommodate U.S. troops,…
Getting Into ‘Good Trouble’ Over Arc de Trump
Take Action Now A retired Army colonel flew in from Hawaii to make sure Trump’s arch doesn’t go up quietlyBy Jonathan Capehart, Substack On the…