Yanun: Settlers from Itamar expelled the few remaining residents
On Wednesday morning Abu Mussa, Doha’s husband, drove a group of children and two teachers to the school located in the western entrance of Yanun. On their way the narrow road was blocked by a settler woman standing in the middle of the road with several sheep. Abu Mussa and his passengers had to wait for about half an hour until she made way for them and enabled them to continue their drive.
As they got to the school, while the children disembarked and before entering their classrooms, a group of Itamar settlers arrive accompanied by an army jeep. The settlers, armed with clubs, began to violently attack Abu Mussa, the two women teachers and two other teachers standing by.
According to Abu Mussa, the assailants gave them a real beating, kicked them (especially in their lower bodies) and did not spare even the women teachers. All this took place in full view of the schoolchildren, 6 and 7-year-olds, who shook in fear and shock as their intimidation made them pee in their pants.
There were only 6 families left in Yanun village. The settlers have fenced in the houses and placed a gate at the entrance, presenting the residents with an ultimatum: leave, or remain caged in the homes with their sheep. At the end of the day, lacking food for the flock, the residents were forced to leave.
During their departure the settlers arrived, joyfully “offering their help” to pack the residents’ belongings in order to speed things up. Afterward, the settlers divided the residents’ homes among themselves and settled in.
The settlers are from Itamar settlement, seat of the military governor.
This is the harsh reality on the ground.
Location Description
Burin (Yitzhar)
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Burin (Yitzhar)
This is a Palestinian village in the Nablus governorate, a little south of Nablus, on the main road passing through the West Bank. The settlements: Yitzhar and Har Bracha, settled in locations that surrounded the village, placed fences so it is cut off the main road.
There are around 4000 inhabitants. Most of them are engaged in agriculture and pasture, although many graduates of the two secondary schools continue to study at the university. Academic positions are hardly available, they find work as builderd, or leave for the Gulf countries.
The village lands were appropriated several times for the establishment of Israeli settlements and military bases, and as a result, Burin's land and water resources dwindled. lSince 1982, more than 2,000 dunams of village land have been declared "state land" and then transferred to Har Bracha settlement.
Over the past few years and more so since 2017, the villagers have been terrorized by the residents of Yitzhar and Har Bracha, the Givat Ronen outpost and others. Despite the close proximity of soldiers to an IDF base close to one of the village's schools, residents are suffering from numerous stone-throwing events, vehicle and fire arson, also reported in the press.
In 2023, the prevention of the olive harvest in the village plot was more violent than ever. Soldiers and settlers walked with drawn weapons between the houses of the village and demanded that people stop harvesting in the village itself and in the private plots outside the village. The settlers from Yitzhar and Giv'at Roned raided the olive groves and stole crops. 300 olive trees belonging to the residents of Burin, near Yitzhar, were uprooted. The loss of livelihood from the olives causes long-term economic damage to the farmers' families, bringing them to the point of starvation.
(updated for November 2023)
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