On the 1st of June, 2009 a number of Palestinian villages located west of the city of Nablus (including Amatien, Far’ata, Jit, Surrah and Til) witnessed arson of lands and crops in addition to colonists attacks against Palestinian farmers and their agricultural vehicles. The colonists initiated their attacks from the outpost of Gila’ad Zoher which is known for the extremism of its inhabitants.
A group of Gila’ad Zoher colonists setting fire
to the lands of Jit village in Nablus – Associated Press.
The colonists of the outpost set fire to a number of locations in the village in time of harvest. According to the United Nation’s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the blaze burnt 280 dunums planted with wheat in addition to 1300 olive trees along Road 60 running near the outpost.
Furthermore, the colonists blocked the main road connecting between the cities of Qalqilia and Nablus (a.k.a. Road 55) which runs parallel to the colony of Qadumim. They threw stones at passing Palestinians which led to the injury of a number of them including the 41-year old Mr. Mohammad Abdel Latif Fahmi Khaled from the village of Jayyous in Qalqilia. Mr. Khaled is a driver of a vegetable truck who was surprised when he reached the Qadumim intersection with a set of rocks blocking the road. When he stopped his truck, a large number of colonists attacked him with stones before opening the door of his truck, dragging him out, throwing him on the street and started to beat him viciously. When Israeli occupation forces arrived at the scene of the crime, soldiers put Mr. Kheld back into his truck without offering him any first aid or medication. Mr. Khaled drove himself to the nearby Palestinian village of Jit from which he was transported to Rafeedia hospital in Nablus where he received the proper medical care.
The colonists continued their riot as they have damaged a number of agricultural tractors located in the vicinity of the outpost while beating its owners and throwing suspicious liquids at them. That was in addition to attacking a number of houses located at the outskirts of the village of Jit. The outburst of colonists’ violence came on the heels of an Israeli governmental decision to include the violent outpost in a list of 26 outposts to be evacuated in the West Bank.
Gila’ad Zoher Outpost: General Information
The violent outpost is located on the lands of the village of Jit (east of Qalqilia) and the villages of Sirra and Til (in the Governorate of Nablus) as well as the villages of Amatien and Far’ata. The outpost on the Jit lands side is located in an area known as Al Bayyad that is owned by Mr. Mahmoud Saleem Yamin, Mr. Sadeq Oudah and Mr. Musa Al Sayyed.
It is worth pointing out that the residents of the colonial outpost have constantly and continuously attacked the Palestinians of Jit, Amatien and Far’ata especially during the olive and wheat harvest seasons. They have always prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching their lands located close to the outpost in an effort to inhibit them from using it. They would, then, develop the land themselves after placing a fence around so they can “legally” claim that it is theirs at the Israeli courts.
Prepared by:
The Land Research Center
LRC
