Milan () – In the month of October alone, at least 80 incidents occurred in 42 Palestinian villages where the local population, with the support of international organizations, is dedicated to one of the few activities that still provide economic sustenance: the collection of olives. This is documented by the Israeli NGO Yesh Din, which speaks of shootings, violent attacks, threats and expulsions of collectors, blockades of activities, theft of crops, equipment and forced uprooting of plants. In the shadow of the conflict in Gaza, and the escalation with the Lebanese Hezbollah on the northern front of this intricate regional puzzle, a “silent war” is taking place launched by Israeli settlers and extremist groups against Palestinian civilians. A panorama of abuses and violations carried out under the gaze of the police and security forces of the Jewish State, present in 85% of the cases: the agents, in fact, leave the aggressors free rein or they themselves fuel the violence.
“A state policy”
The crescendo of the combined violence of the settlers and the army worries the United Nations: according to the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Jewish State uses “war” tactics in the West Bank that do not even spare the peasants, with the resulting increase in victims. Between October 8 and 14, nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, sparking widespread alarm among local communities and human rights groups. The increasing number of incidents and the cooperation between settlers and security force personnel,” Yesh Din experts point out, “raise fears that the blockade of the olive harvest in the West Bank is a deliberate Israeli policy.”
One of the most notable incidents occurred when Hanan Abd Rahman Abu Salameh, a 59-year-old woman, was killed by an Israeli soldier while picking olives near Jenin, riddled with a dozen bullets. The activist NGO has also documented 32 settler attacks on Palestinians and their property since the beginning of October, and some 600 valuable olive trees have been “destroyed, vandalized or stolen by settlers,” the report continues. For Palestinian communities in the West Bank, the fruit represents the most important asset and is an integral part of local history and tradition, generating up to 70 million dollars a year for producers. Between 25% and 33% of the population participates in various ways in the olive industry, from which, among others, the renowned oil and soap are obtained.
In addition, to the attacks and expropriations there are severe restrictions on access to land during the last harvests. This is what the activist NGO HaMoked, which supports farmers in the harvest, denounces: for “hundreds of thousands of Palestinians,” they say, “it is the most important event of the year” both on a “cultural” level and “main source of livelihood.” . An event that this year, more than in the past, is “really in danger” because in many areas the Israeli authorities have “closed” access to land beyond the dividing wall. These areas, designated as Seam Zones by the military (IDF), make up almost 10% of the West Bank. Some 150 Palestinian cities and towns have olive groves in these fertile areas. While in the past growers faced severe restrictions and bureaucratic obstacles, as of October 7, 2023, passage is practically closed and the doors closed, while deadlines are increasingly tight to avoid crop loss. .
Anti-activist working group
In recent weeks, Israel has simultaneously stepped up its efforts to hinder the work of activists and international organizations working in the West Bank, especially those supporting olive harvesting. Since the beginning of October, eight foreigners have been detained and five of them subsequently expelled or forced to leave the country, while the other three have been banned from entry for varying periods of time. The arrests represent an escalation of restrictions on international access to occupied territory, a policy facilitated by a special “working group” created in April by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. A force whose objective is to control foreign activists and which operates under the central unit of the Israeli police in Shai (West Bank), in coordination with the Population and Immigration Authority.
According to data from the Human Rights Defenders Fund, at least 15 foreign activists were detained and then deported or forced to leave the country. The magazine +972 collected several testimonies about threats, intimidation and false accusations during interrogations by security agents. Many claim they were labeled “terrorists,” “people who hate Israel,” “Hamas supporters,” and that they wanted to “attack Jews and soldiers.” In some cases, the police presented them with photographs that revealed close and prolonged monitoring both on the ground and through their social networks.
In this sense, there are Americans, Germans, Canadians and Koreans among those who have been in the crosshairs of this special police force whose objective, according to Ben-Gvir, is to counter the activities of “anarchists and terrorists” through “arrests and expulsions.” . Netta Golan, one of the founders of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), highlights the extensive use by the police of the charge of “terrorism”. “They blame people who have no relationship with the acts of violence, they lie and exaggerate,” he attacks, “up to the level of “support for terrorism” and “incitement to violence.” “When these accusations,” he continues, “are made against international citizens, [la policía] You don’t have to prove them and people are detained and deported.” “But when the same charges are brought against Palestinians, in the West Bank they are sent to administrative detention [sin cargos ni juicio]they are tortured and risk dying of starvation in prison. And in Gaza,” he concludes, “they are killed along with their children and entire families.”
Colonists, a year of attacks
Finally, the attacks against Palestinian lands and peasants are part of a broader panorama of violence perpetrated by Jewish settlers, with the endorsement of Israeli government authorities – in some cases linked to pro-occupation movements -, which fuel the assault and expropriation. One of the latest incidents took place yesterday morning, when a group of settlers set fire to several Palestinian cars and vehicles after attacking an industrial area near the West Bank city of Al-Bireh. According to witnesses, at least 20 cars were set on fire by armed assailants, who did not hesitate to open fire on the civil protection teams and ambulances that were at the scene, preventing them from reaching the burned vehicles and providing help.
According to Palestinian figures, last year – after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 that sparked the conflict in Gaza – Israeli settlers carried out some 16,663 raids against people, land and property in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
According to estimates by the Israeli anti-occupation movement Peace Now, there are at least half a million settlers – illegal under international law – spread across 146 settlements and 224 outposts. Attacks that join a general situation of high tension throughout the Holy Land due to a conflict that, in just over a year, has caused the death of almost 43,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, especially women and children. A spiral of violence that, although centered in the Strip, has not even spared the West Bank where, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, there are at least 768 victims and another 6,300 injured in army operations or attacks by settlers. An escalation that has not stopped, but has intensified after the ruling of the International Court of Justice, which in July declared the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands for decades “illegal.” The judges finally demanded – so far in vain – the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
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