On the 27th of September 2008 the Palestinians of Kufr Al Deek were faced by a surprised attack by a group of colonists from the colony of A'ale Zahav. The attack took place in the aftermath of the injury of one of the colonist in a shooting incident on the by-pass road near the colonies of Bado'eil and A'ale Zahav.
The attack transpired when around 60 colonists grouped at the crossroads of the colonies of Bado'eil and A'ale Zahav and the main road leading to the village of Kufr Al Deek at about 9:00 PM. The colonists, then, proceeded towards the village while being armed and under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces.
The colonists began attacking the houses of Mr. Yazeed Darwish, in which 6 Palestinians live, and the house of Mr. Ziad Darwish, in which 8 Palestinians live. The houses are located at the entrance of the village and they sustained great damage to the property including broken windows, doors and front yards. During the attack, colonists yelled racist slurs and anti-Arab insults while the Israeli soldiers looked on without preventing the colonists' attacks. The colonists, then, proceeded to Al Dawwar area of the village where Israeli soldiers assisted them by zooming their spot lights at the Palestinian houses, thus allowing the colonist to throw stones at them. The targeted houses included the house of Mr. Bashir Al Deek (see picture 1). The attacks also led to breaking the glass of 4 cars parked next to Mr. Bashir's house including the car of Mr. Fathi Adnan Al Deek (see picture 2), Mr. Hilmi Yousef Fusool (see picture 3) as well as the car of Mr. Ali Mohammad Bani Jaber (see picture 4). As for occupation soldiers, they started firing into the air and instilling fear into the hearts and minds of the Palestinian residents of the village.
In reaction, the Palestinian residents started to gather in the area of the attack which prompted the colonists to retreat under the full protection of the Israeli occupation forces. Half an hour after the withdrawal of the colonists, Israeli occupation forces carried out an incursion into the village once again and imposed curfew on the village. They, then, started to physically beat a number of the residents which provoked clashes between the youth of the village and the intruding soldiers. The clashes resulted in the physical injury of at least 5 Palestinians including Mr. Abdel Raheem Hussein Al Deek, Mr. Abdel Aziz Iyad Ismaeel Ali Ahmad, Mr. Ahmad Mustafa Musa Al Deek, Mr. Jawdat Younis Fusool in addition to Mr. Salah Attallah Salah.
The colonist tried to attack the village once again after midnight, yet the villagers were alerted to their presence and prevented the colonists from entering the village. Instead, the colonists attacked the nearby village of Al Laban Al Gharbiya.
Mr. Yazeed Darwish gave the following testimony for the Land Research Center's field researcher: ' The attacks of the colonists instilled fear in the hearts of the children of the village. The children's only guilt is that they are Palestinians living in this village. An increasing cases of bedwetting has been reported due to intense fear. If one of us, however, dared to defend himslef, he would have been faced with intense beating by the occupation soldiers. '
On the other hand, Mr. Jamal Al Deek, the head of the village council, indicated the following to LRC's field researcher: ' This was not the first time that the colonists attack the village as similar attacks took place throughout the Intifada. Each time an attack takes place we go to the Israeli Police to file complaints. The Police do not take our complaints seriously. As such, we are only left to defend ourselves by ourselves against both the colonists and the occupation forces.'
The Village of Kufr Al Deek:
Location: The village is located west the city of Nablus and northwest of the city of Ramallah.
Population: The population of the village is about 5,000 Palestinians.
Economy: About 80% of the population depend on agriculture as the main source of income. The remaining 20% work in the public sector. The unemployment rate in the village has reached around 70% of the work force.
Area: The overall area of the village is 17,807 dunums of which 1% is used for grazing purposes.
Colonies: Two colonies were established on the lands of village; Bado'eil and A'ale Zahav which are located north and west of the village. The two colonies were established atop 614 dunums of Kufr Al Deek lands.
Prepared by:
The Land Research Center
LRC
