what is Allowed to Jewish Settlers is forbidden to Palestinians
from 6 am to 11 am.
At Rashash, off the Alon Road, north east of the village of M’raar, south of Duma, is a Palestinian Bedouin herder encampment that has asked our help, as the hilltop youth from an illegal outpost next to an army base up on a hill have been intimidating them, and they no longer feel secure to go out to their traditional grazing lands.
The outpost, called Mal’achei HaShalom – the Angels of Peace – has been in the area for some four years, but protests against its location on Palestinian land, finally moved it to the hill of the army base. We wonder if it is not illegally receiving water and electricity from the base – for where else does it get its water and electricity from?
The outpost settlers also have their own flock of sheep, and at times mingle with those of the Bedouin, and intimidate them.
A large part of the grazing land has been declared a live fire zone by the army, but before the settlers arrived, there was some kind of arrangement, where the army would warn the Palestinian herders when exercises would be held, but at other times, did not enforce the firing zone restriction.
Not so anymore. The day before, activists and the herders were expelled from the firing zone – the army commander said he also expelled the settlers’ herd – he wants to be fair, he said.
Today, we were there only for a couple of hours, very peacefully, with an occasional settler looking up from the high ridge, but not coming down. Then an army jeep appeared, and the also called the police. We were told to leave the firing zone, move the herds closer to the steep wadi Rashsash that runs below, to the north. “Until an arrangement can be made”– said the commander, who did not like at all that he would have to come every day to chase out the Palestinians from the firing zone.
We are now waiting a few days, to see if such an arrangement can be made, with the help of the “matak’ – the coordinator of Palestinian relations with the army. The Palestinians will only go to the areas that are not part of the firing zone.
While in the field, we received a call from Guy Hircefield who accompanying Palestinian herders near Al-Auja, together with Italian activists from Operation Dove. The army arrested the Palestinian – for the second day – even though they did not show the ‘closed military zone’ order, and then arrested Guy himself and took him to Ma’ale Efraim police station. So we hurried to Al-Auja, to be with the Palestinian’s family, making many phone calls, until both he and Guy were freed.