Burin (Yitzhar), Madama
Settlers Harass Residents of Burin Village with the Army’s Backing
Burin’s location below the surrounding settlements makes it a target of frequent harassment by settlers on the Sabbath and during the week. The photos taken by the residents provide vivid evidence of the evil actions and of the arbitrary nature of the army’s response.
11:00 We left from Rosh Ha’ayin.
We came to Burin because of Fathiya’s report about the settlers’ attack on farmers from Madama and about Saturday’s attack in Burin. Burin is located between two settlements, Yizhar and Berakha, and their outposts.
We arranged to meet our acquaintance, D. She greeted us warmly but her expression was more somber than usual. She was busy responding to frequent phone calls from people who were to go on a trip to Israel the following day. It was hard for her to explain to them all that the trip had been cancelled due to the pre-holiday closure. We couldn’t understand it because the holiday was four days away and there had been no official notice of a closure. Chana Barg told us over the phone that it wasn’t a closure, but rather “travel restrictions.” Why hadn’t they been announced earlier? Why hadn’t an alternate date been set? Who will compensate people for lost work days, expenses and aggravation? Questions that no one asks under occupation.
They told us about the attack, on late Saturday afternoon, from the Giv’at Sneh Ya’akov outpost that established itself on the ridge of Burin’s lands between Jebel Abu Isma’il and the village. Settlers threw rocks at homes at the outskirts of the village. The residents were rallied by calls from the mosque, and came out. We were told some residents photographed the incident. The photos clearly showed the settlers, dressed in their Sabbath finery, picking up rocks and using slings to throw them; some children were beside them as well as clearly visible soldiers. As the disorder increased and more villagers arrived, additional soldiers came with a vehicle and fired gas and shock grenades. Later, when dusk began to fall, close-ups of soldiers could be seen beside one of the buildings at the edge of the village, standing with weapons pointed at the road. A soldier was seen bursting from a courtyard, accompanied by a settler.
Later we drove to the homes at which the rocks had been thrown. We met a woman and her daughter who told us their home has become a regular target of the settlers. They made a number of attempts to set it afire. The son and his family lived in the house and they were forced to move to the mother’s home in a different village because of what the children had experienced. The mother and daughter moved into the targeted house in Burin.
We left, having decided we must come here more often.
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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Madama
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Madama
This village is situated in the Nablus district, about 5 kilometers south of the city of Nablus, at an altitude of 517 meters above sea level. Madama was founded 400 years ago and its villagers originate from the Arabian Peninsula. It numbered 1,728 inhabitants in 2007. 62% of the village area is categorized as Area B, and 38% as Area C.
Over the years, hundreds of dunams have been robbed of the village for the purpose of building settler-colonies, army bases, and paving roads:139 dunams were sequestered to found settler-colony Yitzhar south of the village, and the land was also confiscated for paving road 60. The road and its buffer zone (75 meters on each side) lined by barbed wire fences separate the village’s farmlands to the north and the village farmers are denied access to tend them. The road also separates Madama and Burin, two villages with close neighborly ties, and now not able to access the road directly.
The settler-colony Yitzhar has become a daily threat to the village. The settler-colonists planted trees in fenced-in groves, steal crops, burn, uproot and vandalize Palestinians’ trees, and harm both holy sites and property. They also attack the Palestinian landowners in order to terrorize them and prevent them from accessing their lands.
For further information: http://vprofile.arij.org/nablus/pdfs/vprofile/Madama_vp_en.pdf
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