REPORTS ON ACCOMPANYING PALESTINIAN BEDOUIN SHEPHERDS, north of Jericho, east of Uja on their traditional grazing lands, large parts of which have been taken over by the settler Omer Atidiah, who over the past fifteen years or more, has created a farm that is illegal even by Israeli law - with enormous groves of mango and olive trees, spreading out on land belonging to the Waqf and other Palestinians.
part of Omer’s farm with the settlement of Yitav in the background
part of Omer’s lush groves
********************************************************************************
September 8, 2021
How do you take over more and more Palestinian land? You create a lovely, shady viewpoint/picnic area/romantic loveseat on a hill at some distance from your illegal settlement, and invite paying guests to come and enjoy the authentic experience of an organic farm in the wide open spaces of the desert.
And then you take over another outlying hill, and yet another. Not all at the same time, but one by one.
You put an electric fence around your hill, to keep away the Bedouin herders,
but also to take over all the land around your hill. You bring water pipes to your new plot, and plant a new grove of trees.
You turn it into a memorial site for an army unit, and, of course, you have great connections with the highest ranking army officers, that you have cultivated over the years, so you can call in the army to declare the area a "closed military zone" whenever the Palestinian shepherds come too close to your liking.
September 20, 2021
As we arrived, we noticed that the illegal settler Omer was on his way on his all terrain vehicle - but he stopped at one of the hills beyond his farm that he has occupied in order to expand his farm, and called the army instead.
Omer’s farm with the settlement of Yitav in the background
Not long after an army van arrived, and a woman soldier stepped out of the large army van. I managed to convince her, quietly, woman to woman, that the shepherds were doing no harm to Omer and his farm, and the herds were just grazing peacefully the very last straws of summer. Soon, after a phone conversation, the soldiers turned around and took off again.
Omer and the army know there are no legal grounds on which to expel the shepherds. At the most the army will declare the area a ‘closed military zone’ for 24 hours - and then we demand to see the document, to make sure they are not bluffing. They cannot declare the area closed on a more permanent basis, as the land belongs to the waqf. The order simply will not stand up in court.
So, as long as the shepherds don't cross the road to his farm, (now paved, did Omer get the army to pay for it, as it also leads to one of the memorial hills?) Omer is apparently willing to let the shepherds be - but by accepting that imposed-upon border, the Bedouin are forced to give up a large part of their traditional grazing land - Palestinian land that does not belong to the illegal farmer Omer. And, in principle, they are not at peace with such a compromise.
In the recent past, even in the hills across the road, several kilometers away from his farm, Omer would terrorize the Bedouin herds out of sight on his all-terrain vehicle, but somehow he has calmed down about that.
"His olive trees are pregnant" - said Ismail with a smile, pointing at Omer's huge olive grove. I loved that expression, (and my Arabic is good enough to understand it) even though it means that Omer has all the water and land he needs to grow such a fruit-laden grove.
October 4, 2021
This morning "nothing happened"?
So this time the settler Omer from the lush illegal farm on land that he stole from the waqf did not order the army to chase away the Palestinian Bedouin, and did not come on his all-terrain vehicle to do so himself.
Still Abu Ismail is full of fear. He lives with uncertainty every single day, never knowing how long he will still be allowed to live in his own home, in his own community, grazing his sheep where he has done so all his life, earning his living.
It is that uncertainty that reigns, even on quiet days.
The occupation continues...
(see the excellent film by Hadara Oren: https://www.facebook.com/ritamendesflohr/posts/10217481433467698 )
October 13, 2021
A seemingly quiet morning, accompanying Abu Ismail as he proudly poses with his prize ram -
but the undercurrent of violence is always there - if not from the illegal settler-farmer Omer and his army-buddies, then in the form of a brand-new outpost, a satellite of the Mevo'ot Yericho outpost that now has adopted the proven strategy of appropriating its surrounding land by taking their own sheep out to graze - with the protection of the army. The new outpost is fenced in, with a deep channel dug around it - obviously, someone is funding it....
As Abu Ismail prepares to go back home to his village, he receives a phone call warning him of those brand-new settlers, whose outpost he must pass on his way home. They have already threatened Um Rashed and her flock earlier this morning, and it is told they steal sheep, but fortunately two of our activists, Ada and Michal, were accompanying her and she stood her ground.
But this incident augurs what is to come.
October 20, 2021
A quiet early morning with Abu Ismail - his herd of sheep and goats finishing the last of the straw left in the fields - hopefully the rains will come soon bringing new green growth.
No disturbances from the side of the illegal farmer Omer. In the not so far distance, we see Omer's own herd of sheep coming in our direction. Settlers, especially those in small illegal outposts, have discovered that grazing their own sheep enables them to spread out and take over more and more land. But Omer’s herd does not reach us, as by eight thirty am, Abu Ismail is ready to return home in these hot summer days.
Omer’s herd of sheep approaching us -
And the all-terrain vehicle that approached us did not stop, its driver greeted us politely and drove by. Perhaps he was a guest at the farm.
Recently, Omer seems to be more interested in attracting Israeli guests to stay at his rapidly expanding farm - marketing it as an authentic ecological experience- rather than chasing the Bedouin away. Not all his guests know (or don't care to know) it is an illegal farm, even in Israel's eyes, that has already taken over huge tracts of Palestinian land belonging to the waqf and that were the traditional grazing lands of the Bedouin. Presumably Omer does not want a bad name as the settler who intimidates the peaceful Bedouin.
Still, Abu Ismail did not take his herds out to graze yesterday, when there were no activists accompanying him. The threat remains....
