Settlers, Palestinians clash during olive harvest
Annual olive harvest brings annual harassment of Palestinians by settlers in West Bank. Rabbis for Human Rights: 'IDF must enforce the law and allow Palestinians to harvest olives without being attacked'
The Palestinians say that they were attacked by the settlers while they were harvesting their olive trees. IDF and police forces were called to the scene, along with activitist from 'Rabbis for Human Rights'. But according to the Palestinians the settlers had already returned to Shvut Rachel by the time security forces reached the area.
The settlers claim that the area belongs to them, but the civil administration agrees that the land belongs to the Palestinians. Police have questioned parties from both sides.
Hashem Ahmad, a local farmer, told Ynet that soldiers escorted the harvesters from their village to their lands, located near the settlement. But shortly after securing the area the soldiers left.
"A few minutes later 20 settlers came and started attacking us," says Ahmad, "they beat me and my wife and injured one of the harvesters. They broke his jaw and also beat his wife and father. When the soldiers came back the assailants had already left."
Ahmad believes that even if the soldiers had arrived on time, they wouldn't have helped him. "If it weren't for the soldiers," he said, "we men would have handled the settlers – but you can't hit a settler back when you know the soldiers will blame you for starting the fight."
The Palestinians filed a complaint with the district coordination office and military officials arrived at the scene to assess the situation. The outcome? The farmers were removed from the area and the army forbade the continuation of the harvest for the rest of the day.
A representative from 'Rabbis for Human Rights' stated that "the IDF is obligated to follow the orders of the High Court of Justice – and enforce the law against those settlers so that the Palestinians can harvest their olives without risking attack."
