After two years of agony, the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC) succeeded in getting a court order from the Israeli High Court of Justice calling for the removal of Israeli colonists from Al Rajabi Building in the City of Hebron. However, the colonists (who have moved into the building on the 19th of March, 2007) refused to leave the Building without leaving their violent print on the Palestinian population living in the vicinity of the Building as well as in all of the H2 area of the City of Hebron.

 

Photo 1: Al Rajabi Building after the eviction of Israeli colonists in December 2008.

 

On April 16th, 2008 the HRC petitioned the Israeli Court on behalf of Mr. Fayez Al Rajabi to evict the colonists from his Building. On Sunday November 16th, 2008 the Court issued its decision to eject the colonist out. The decision gave the colonists “3 days (starting from November 16th, 2008) to move out voluntarily. Otherwise, they will be removed by force.”

 

The aforementioned decision was issued after the High Court has rejected an appeal filed by the colonists to allow them to continue to stay in the Building. When the colonists knew about the decision of the Court, streams of sympathizers and supporters flowed into the Building and started a series of synchronized attacks against Palestinians and their property in the Wadi Al Hussein area surrounding the Building. Tens of car tires were slashed by the colonists in addition to burning a number of Palestinian cars and houses. Even mosques and Islamic cemeteries were not spared the attacks of the colonists under the full watchful eye of Israeli occupation forces and their protection.

 

  

 

Photos 2-6: The damages caused by Al Rajabi Building colonists and their supporters to Palestinian property.

 

It is worth noting that a Member of the Knesset from the Shas party, Ze’ev Naseem, was one of those who came in person to the Rajabi Building to show his solidarity with the colonists. His presence and stance is an example of the support the colonists enjoy within the ranks of the Israeli political system.

 

Mr. Yehya Jaber (60 years old) informed the Land Research Center (LRC)’s about the barbarism of the Al Rajabi Building colonists who attacked his house during their eviction. He noted that about 30 colonists threw stones at his house and used metal pipes to break all of the windows of the house. The damage was so extensive that Mr. Jaber fortified the windows with wood and carton in an attempt to prevent rain and the cold weather from entering his house.

 

Photo 7: Mr. Jaber pointing to his windows damaged by the colonist.

Mr. Jaber, whose land was confiscated earlier for the establishment of the colony of Kiryat Arba, continued by saying that when he was defending his house against colonists’ attacks, one of the colonists threw a stone at his right knee before being pushed on the ground. The attack led to an internal bleeding in the knee which made him unable to move for a number of days. He, also, indicated that Israeli occupation soldiers raided his house and placed him and his family in one room of the house while taking the rest of the house for their own usage and damaging it in the process.

 

Photo 7-b: A medical report indicating the injury of Mr. Jaber’s right knee

 

Eye witnesses have indicated that Israeli occupation forces shot teargas, sound and smoke bombs towards the Palestinians who tried to defend themselves against the continued colonists’ attacks. In the eyes of the Palestinians, the soldiers were assisting the colonists during their attacks through providing them with physical protection and using their own forces to suppress the Palestinians defending themselves in an uneven battle.

 

 

Photo 8: The bombs used by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinians
during the eviction of Al Rajabi House.

 

 

As for Mr. Bassam Jaber, he doesn’t seem to forget the moment that the door of his house was set ablaze by colonist gangs. His family and he were besieged inside the house when colonists used tires and wood to set the door on fire. His family members suffered from breathing difficulties due to the burning tires and their condition began to worsen due to their inability to reach out of the house to breathe properly.

 

Photo 9: The aftermath of the burning attempt of Mr. Bassam Jaber’s House

 

LRC has documented the violations committed by Al Rajabi Building colonists against Palestinians and their properties between the issuing of the eviction order and its implementation. The following table lists these violations in chronological order:

Date	Neighborhood in Hebron City	The Violation
Nov. 19th, 2008	Wadi Al Nasara, Wadi Al Hussein, Al Ras, Al Jabari Neighborhood.	The colonists, mostly masked and armed with guns, clubs and iron pipes, attacked an unspecified number of Palestinian houses in the said locations. Attacked houses includes those belonging to Nafez Jabari, Bassam, Suleiman and Naser Fahed Al Jabari, Mohammad Nu’aman Jaber, Mohammad Ayyoub Al Jabari, Salman and Areef Awwad Jabari, Issa Jaber, Ghaleb Ragheb Jabari, Munther Dana, Hafez Jabari, Kayed Mansour Jabari, Awni Dana, Ayman Mohammad Rabee Jabari, etc.
Nov. 20th, 2008	Wadi Al Hussein, Jaber Neighborhood, Al Salayma Neighborhood and the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque	Israeli occupation soldiers surrounded the area and took over building tops while colonists threw stones and brok the windows of Palestinian houses in the said locations.
Nov. 20th, 2008	Wadi Al Nasara, the vicinity of Al Rajabi Building and Jabal Jalis	The uprooting of tens of olive trees in addition to the breaking of the windows of 20 cars and throwing stones at 50 Palestinian houses. The windows of Al Ras Mosque were broken while anti-Islam slurs were scrabbled on its doors and walls.
Nov. 22nd, 2008	Wadi Al Hussein, Al Salayma Neighborhood, the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque and Al Rajabi Building	The Israeli occupation forces occupied five houses in the vicinity of the Building. About 20,000 colonists ascended to the City of Hebron in support of the colonists of Al Rajabi Building. Incidents of stone throwing at Palestinians and their properties were reported.
Nov. 24th, 2008	Wadi Al Hussein and the vicinity of Al Rajabi Building	The steps taken by the Israeli occupation forces and the attacks carried out by the colonist transformed the area into a state of undeclared curfew as none of the Palestinians went out of their homes and none headed to work.
Nov. 26th, 2008	Wadi Al Hussein, Wadi Al Nasara, the vicinity of Al Rajabi House and some parts of the Old City of Hebron.	Stone throwing at Palestinians in the said locations in addition to slashing the tires of a number of cars.
Nov. 26th, 2008	The Old City of Hebron and the vicinity of Al Rajabi House	Attacking a number of Palestinian houses including those belonging to Ghaleb Mansour Jabari, the brother Majdi, Mansour, Fayeq, Tariq and Najih Al Jabari, Bassam Al Jabari, Jamal, Jameel and Abdel Hai Abu Sueifan, etc. The series of attacks led to the injury of the 61-year old Munawwar Jabari and Mr. Joma’a Jabari. They were both transported to the Governmental Hospital in Hebron.
Nov. 27th, 2008	The vanity of Al Rajabi Building	Attacking Palestinian houses with Molotov cocktails and stones.
Nov. 29th, 2008	Wadi Al Hussein, Al Ras, Wadi Al Nasara	The injury of at least 15 Palestinians including 3 children due to attacks by hundreds of colonists rampaging throughout the said locations. The injured included Mr. Issa Amero, the representative of B’tselem Israeli human rights organization. Palestinian houses were also damaged as a result of a series of stone throwing incidents.
Nov.30th, 2008	The vicinity of Al Rajabi Building and Wadi Al Hussein	The breaking of the windows of 23 Palestinian cars in addition to throwing stones at Palestinian houses in the said locations and desecrating the cemetery.
Nov. 30th, 2008	The vicinity of Al Rajabi Building	The injury of 5 Palestinians including 2 children with varying injuries.
Dec. 1st, 2008	Al Sahla Street near the Ibrahimi Mosque	The injury of 4 Palestinians due to dog bites when a colonist released his trained dog at a group of Palestinians in the said location. The injured were later transported to the hospital.
Dec.2nd, 2008	Al Ghussein Neighborhood, located east of the City of Hebron	The injury of 5 Palestinians due to attacks carried out by colonists and their dogs in the late hours of the night at Palestinian houses in the Neighborhood.
Dec. 3rd, 2008	Bab Al Zawiya, Al Jabari Neighborhood, Al Ras	The injury of the 2-year-old Sundus Al Jabari and her father, Mr. Nizam Al Jabari with multiple bodily injuries due to colonists’ attacks. Also, Israeli occupation forces carried out an incursion into the center of the City of Hebron. Teargas bombs were extensively used.
Dec.4th, 2008	Wadi Al Hussein	Attempting to set Khaled Ibn Al Waleed Mosque ablaze while Israeli Special Forces began evicting Israeli colonists from Al Rajabi Building.
Dec.4th, 2008	Wadi Al Hussein and the vicinity of Al Rajabi House.	The injury of 3 Palestinians including the aging Abdel Hai Matariya when a colonist opened fire at him at close range.
Dec. 4th, 2008	Tel Rumeida neighborhood in central Hebron City.	Setting a mosque ablaze in Tel Rumeida as colonists threw a Molotov cocktail at it.
Dec.4th, 2008	The Old City of Hebron	The burning of a number of houses in the Old City of Hebron.
Dec. 4th, 2008	Bab Al Zawiya, the Old City and the vicinity of Al Rajabi Building	The serious injury of a Palestinian elder due to the colonists’ attacks. He was later transported to an Israeli hospital due to the seriousness of his injury. Hundreds of colonists tried to reach Bab Al Zawiya neighborhood despite the fact that it is located in the H1 area of the City of Hebron.
Dec. 4th, 2008	The Old City of Hebron	Rampage carried out by colonists in the Old City of Hebron leading to the burning of a number of Palestinian houses in this section of the City.
Dec. 6th, 2008	The Old City of Hebron	Colonists from the colony of Abraham Avino burn part of the house of Mr. Nidal Al Owaiwi after damaging most of its furniture. Mr. Al Owaiwi kept all of his 9 children in one room in fear of any further attack from the colonists.

 

Over a period of three weeks of continued attacks by the colonist, the attacks came to a peak during Al Adha Feast while Israeli occupation forces provided protection for the aggressive colonists. This protection has led to an increase in the number of such attacks. A number of Palestinian families were forced to leave their houses by the occupation forces under the pretext of protecting them !!!.

 

The list of colonists’ attacks in the City of Hebron goes on and on. Despite the fact that the colonists were evicted from Al Rajabi Building, yet their attacks have continued afterwards. This fact proves that the colonists enjoy a status that is above the law especially if we take into consideration that fact that when one of the colonists opened fire at a Palestinian at a very close range during the eviction, the Israeli legal system apprehended him for only few hours before releasing him. Also, now that the Building was evicted Israeli occupation forces are still stationed at the top and front of the Building under the pretext of preventing the colonists from coming back. The question becomes until when will they stay? Is Mr, Fayez Al Rajabi, the owner of the Building, will ever be able to go back to his Building???

 

The colonists are controlling the area in which the Building is in; the colony of Kiryat Arba is located only tens of meters from the Building while the main road in Al Ras neighborhood is controlled by the colonists who use the road to travel from and to the colony of Kiryat Arba and the Ibrahimi Mosque. All that while the Palestinian residents of the area have no protection whatsoever.

The solution of this current dilemma lies in the eviction of all colonists from all the occupied Palestinian lands which seems like a distant dream. That is true in light of the recent report published lately which indicated that the number of colonists in the occupied West Bank has tripled to become 270,000 colonists. That is despite the fact that the Road Map and the Annapolis Conference demanded that Israel halts its colonial expansion.   

 

 

 

Prepared by:
The Land Research Center
LRC