By Keren Shavit, Data Coordinator of B’Tselem
The following is the text of a circular e-mail from the respected Israeli human rights organisation, B’Tselem. It is a reflection of the daily harassment in the lives of Palestinians by the Israeli occupying army and it underlines the absence of any real political or democratic rights for millions of Palestinians living under Israeli rule.
Since December 2021, B’Tselem has documented growing pressure by the Israeli military on Palestinian communities in the northern Jordan Valley. Dozens of armed soldiers roam among the families’ paltry tents and dwellings, trampling their fields with tanks and shooting live fire.
In one of these communities, Khirbet Ibziq, residents were required to vacate their homes overnight several times, sometimes up to 17 hours at a time. The military calls this “training troops.”
As a data coordinator documenting the harm to these communities, I look again and again at photos and videos taken by ‘Aref Daraghmeh, our field researcher in the Jordan Valley. Frightened children who dropped the ball they were playing with, standing and watching troops pass by. The view is breath-taking – fields, birds, cows grazing in green pastures, the sun rising behind a mountain. Without the armed soldiers and the tanks, it could be an advertisement for Swiss chocolate.
Continual ‘military exercises’
But we’re not in Switzerland. In just three months, between December 2021 and February 2022, the Israeli military conducted continual “military exercises” in the northern Jordan Valley. In no less than 27 days, the “exercises” were held right on the residents’ land and among their homes. The six families living in Khirbet Ibziq, numbering 35 people in total, including 17 minors, were forced to vacate their homes several times during this period, which accumulated to nine days.
When the military delivers the families orders to vacate – under the guise of concern for their safety – that means massive gunfire can be expected. The residents have to gather their bare essentials, leave their livestock behind, and go stay with relatives or friends. Often, they have to walk up to seven kilometres to get there. Women and children march in procession, accompanied by military jeeps.
The nightmare of Khirbet Ibziq residents does not end when they return home. Then, they have to start warning their children not to curiously touch ammunition duds left behind. The soldiers do not always bother to comb the area before they leave, often leaving ammunition behind as if no-one lives there. In 2017, ‘Udai Nawaj’ah, a 16-year-old community resident, was killed by one such dud while grazing his flock.
Muhammad Nasrallah (50), a father of six from Khirbet Ibziq, told B’Tselem researcher ‘Aref Daraghmeh about being vacated from his home:
“On 30 November 2021, the military handed us and five other families orders to vacate our homes so troops could train in the area. The orders listed four days on which we were supposed to evacuate, from morning till noon. On the first morning we were due to evacuate, 5 December 2021, Civil Administration personnel and the military came again and handed us new orders saying the evacuations wouldn’t last only until the afternoon, but until 2:00 A.M.
“We were in the middle of our morning routine – making breakfast, tending to the flock, preparing the kids for school – but the Civil Administration and the military wouldn’t leave us alone until we left our homes, and then they led us about six kilometres away. They did that on every one of the evacuation days”
Hayel Turkman (41), a father of 10 from Khirbet Ibziq, added:
“Every time, we stayed in a house that belongs to my brother. It’s not our home, and we didn’t feel comfortable there. At night, we heard bombings and gunfire. We stayed awake until 2:00 A.M. and then went home, on foot, of course.
“We were terrified of encountering wild animals in the dark or stepping on ammunition duds. We were exhausted from lack of sleep. Every year, we evacuate our tents for the military training. Our lives have become very difficult, and we don’t feel safe here, but we have nowhere else to live”.
I look at picture after picture and start calculating – how many dunams have been damaged, how many families had their daily routine disrupted, how many times, and for how long every time. Even those who were allowed to stay at home during the training – would any of us be able to function and go about our day with strange soldiers trampling our fields and firing live ammunition?
The decision to “train troops,” as Israel calls it, among the fields and homes of some of the most underprivileged communities in the West Bank is no accident. In addition to this “training,” from early 2021 until date, we have documented the demolition or confiscation of 76 residential structures that housed 146 people, including 81 minors, 142 non-residential structures and one road in the northern Jordan Valley.
These are all manifestations of the Israeli apartheid regime’s policy, designed to create impossible living conditions for these residents so they will give up and leave their land – ostensibly of their own free will.
Is there a way to stop this violent routine and restore peace to this beautiful area? Or is it only other children who deserve a peaceful life in some chocolate advertisement?
The website for B’Tselem, where you can sign up for e-mail alerts and news of campaigns is here.
