Guest
On 9 March 2021, five members of the a-Tamimi family from Deir Nizam went to their land, which lies near the neighboring village, a-Nabi Saleh. Upon arrival, a settler named Zvi, who established the “Zvi Bar Yosef Farm” outpost in the area and grazes his cattle on land belonging to area farmers, noticed them. The settler summoned soldiers, and the latter drove the farmers out of their land and confiscated their tractor on the pretext that it was “state land.” On the morning of 17 March 2021, several family members arrived at another plot they own, located about 600 meters west of the first plot and about 200 meters from the settlement of Halamish. A few months ago, the family planted 2,400 almond seedlings in this plot and erected a fence around it as part of a program supported by the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture and the Palestinian Center for Development. While the residents were repairing the fence, several settlers showed up and led their cattle to graze on the family’s land. An argument broke out over the ownership of the land. The settlers, including Zvi from the outpost, who was armed, summoned soldiers and a representative of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, who ordered the family members to stop working and leave their land, on the grounds that it was a closed military zone. On 19 March 2021, in the afternoon, the family again came to their plot. They again discovered the settlers had grazed their cattle on the plot’s outskirts. One settler threatened to shoot the family if they did not leave. A few minutes later, more settlers arrived, including Zvi, followed by several soldiers, who dispersed both the settlers and the family. The following day, 20 March 2021, at around 7:00 A.M., the a-Tamimi family returned to their land (200 meters from which the settlement of Halamish was established) to continue working and discovered that settlers had uprooted most of the seedlings they had planted. The family reported the incident to the Palestinian DCO and called village residents who help them replant the seedlings. Later that afternoon, several members of the a-Tamimi family returned to the first plot, which lies near the entrance to the village of a-Nabi Saleh. Then, about eight soldiers and officers showed up and told them to leave. When the family refused, the soldiers demanded to see the land deeds. Even when these was presented to them, they were not content. About 20 other village residents gathered in the area. At that point, a military officer ordered the soldiers to hurl stun grenades and shoot tear gas canisters at them. The residents began to flee, and after they moved about 50 meters away, they stopped and watched the unfolding scene. They saw a soldier uprooting two olive seedlings that had been planted at the plot but were unable to do anything. At around 6:00 P.M., the residents returned home.
