Main Points: The proclamation by Trump says that if the Palestinians don’t talk with the Israelis now, US aid to Palestine will be stopped. Also, that Trump’s decision on Jerusalem is final. These two decisions have angered the Palestinians, who don’t agree that anyone should make their decisions for them. Settlers from Shvut Rachel have tried to take over some fields from private owners in the town.

Turmusaya: As soon as we walked into the Council building in Turmusaya we were greeted by the mayor, M., and another man, M., who works in the Council and has talked with us before. They were glad to see us and had a lot to say. US President Trump’s latest tweet has really riled the Palestinians. [The Palestinians must sit down to talks with the Israelis, otherwise the US will stop all aid to Palestine. My decision on Jerusalem is final, and it is off the agenda.] (These are my words, but they are the idea of what Trump wrote.)

“Trump has united the Arab world,” they said. “Does he think that the Palestinians don’t see television and don’t read the news! Does he think we don’t know what is going on.  We have been waiting for 24 years for the implementation of the Oslo Accords. Will the West Bank always be under Israeli control? Jerusalem is a city for the three religions – Muslims, Christians and Jews. Jerusalem has existed for 7000 years. It is special for everybody. It was ruled by the Romans, and the Turks, and many more. The city belongs to us all. This country must be for both Palestinians and Jews. Nobody can sign for either one. Everyone knows the situation here. This may spark a new Intifada. The situation is very dangerous for both sides. All the villages are suffering. We need our land to grow, to expand, so we can relax and not be afraid. We hope to see a real peace process, but we are losing hope. We want to be able to go wherever we want in our land. I went to Jerusalem just one time in the last ten years! The children have never seen the sea or enjoyed it. And the children are afraid of the Israelis. The lack of implementation of the Oslo Accords has put us in jail, generation after generation. We have to have our human and civil rights, just like the Israelis.”

(The mayor spoke English and the other man spoke Hebrew. They were speaking one after the other all the time. It was quite difficult to record all that they said, but I hope that the paragraph above gives an idea of the flood of words and emotions.)

Then they told of the latest incursion of the settlers from Shvut Rachel.  One morning three days ago the settlers came onto private land that is some distance from the town itself, but which belongs to a family from Turmusaya. They came with a bulldozer to clear the large stones from the fields, and with a tractor to plow the fields and prepare for planting grapevines. In Turmusaya the people suffer harassment from settlers in Shilo, Adei Ad, and Shvut Rachel. There is someone from the town who drives around the land belonging to the town every day to report on incursions of the settlers. As soon as he saw the bulldozer working he called the Council and people came out to the field. They called the police and the DCO. The work was stopped, but the police demanded to see the papers of ownership. These papers were taken immediately to the Binyamin police station, where copies of them are now. The Council also notified Yesh Din, who will now help them with their case. M., who works at the Council, came with us to show us the fields and the bulldozer still standing, but not working, on a hillside. Because of the ride out to the fields, which was important to M. and to us, we did not have the time to visit another village.

Infringing on Turmusayya farmland: a bulldozer to open a road for Shvut Rachel settlers. 3.01.18