Olive harvesters attacked by Israeli settlers and soldiers near Tulkarem

Date: 05 / 10 / 2008  Time:  16:19
Qalqiliya – Ma’an –

Palestinians preparing lands for the olive harvest were attacked by a group of illegal Israeli settlers and Israeli occupation army soldiers just outside the village of Kafr Qaddum south of Tulkarem.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing Israeli soldiers beat civilians, driving them out of the lands. Soldiers claimed the land belonged to the illegal Israeli settlement of Qedumim, located less than one kilometer east of the city. The Palestinians were told that the land was off limits despite being outside the fences surrounding the settlement.

Illegal Israeli settlers clash with Rabbis guarding a Palestinian olive orchard

Saturday October 04, 2008 02:48 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Reuters reported on Friday that extreme illegal Israeli settlers clashed with activists of the Rabbis For Human Rights movement, near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, as the Rabbis were protecting Palestinians residents beginning the olive harvest season.

The illegal Israeli settlers attacked local Palestinian residents and international peace activists while Israeli policemen and soldiers wrestled the settlers.

 Arik Ascherman, the executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, said that the Palestinians are just starting the olive harvest season which will be ongoing for two months.

 He added that activists will be present in 40 Palestinian villages in an attempt to protect the Palestinian villagers who have the right to work in their lands and harvest them.

“The activists will act as human shields if needed”, Ascherman said.

Meanwhile, a fundamental settler woman shouted at the Rabi “Murderer, murdered”, while other extremist settlers angrily shouted down an activist being interview by media agencies.

 Every year, extreme Israeli settlers clash with the Palestinian villagers during the Olive harvest season, the illegal settlers always attempt to seize more Palestinian lands especially the orchards that are close to their illegal outposts.

Furthermore, Ascherman stated that there are “people who say that this land belongs to the Jewish people, but everybody knows that these are Palestinian-owned olives”.

Israeli Ynet News reported that the settlers are attempting to annex Palestinian lands in order to create “a secure route” from the settlement outpost to a cave regarded as a Jewish holy site.

 Ascherman stated that the settlers actually want to create forced facts on the ground by annexing more Palestinian lands. He also said that the settlers have been trying to create their outpost in this location in order to annex more Palestinian lands.

 Rabbis For Human Rights issued a statement saying that their delegation also joined Palestinian villagers for the olive harvest season near Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank.

 The group added this year’s harvest season is going to be more difficult as settlers recently carried repeated attacks in that area.

Football fans forced to spend night at checkpoint by Israeli soldiers

Date: 05 / 10 / 2008  Time:  17:01
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

Busloads of Palestinian football fans were forced to spend the night at the Israeli occupation forces Hamra checkpoint in the Jordan River valley on Saturday night on their way back from a match in the West Bank city of Jericho.

Fans of a team from Askar Refugee Camp in the city of Nablus were told that they arrived at the checkpoint too late. The drivers told Ma’an that they had arrived at the roadblock before the scheduled closing time of 11pm.

Israeli occupation soldiers staffing the checkpoint reportedly assaulted some passengers, and forced the busses to wait until 4am when they reopened the checkpoint.

Askar Camp’s team had played Jabal Mukabbir (from Jerusalem) to a 0-0 draw. The game at Jericho stadium was a regular match in Palestine’s first league.

Nine Palestinians taken by Israeli occupation forces in raids in West Bank

Date: 05 / 10 / 2008  Time:  09:26
Bethlehem – Ma’an –

Israeli occupation forces on Sunday early morning seized nine Palestinians in the West Bank what the Israeli occupation forces claimed were “security” reasons.

According to the Israeli occupation army, five of the arrestees were in Ramallah in the central West Bank, and four from Bethlehem in the south. Army sources have not revealed identities of the arrestees.

Local Palestinian sources in Bethlehem said Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Tuqu east of Bethlehem and detained 33-year-old Umar Nawawra.

Separately, in Duheisha Refugee Camp, south of Bethlehem, another Israeli force raided the camp and nabbed 17-year-old Mustafa Al-Ghari and 18-year-old Murad Al-Ghari.

Invading Israeli occupation forces also ransacked several homes overnight in both neighborhoods before they arrested the three young men.