Walid Sabarna and Ibrahim Abu Maria were working on their land 150 meters from the settlement, when two security guards from the settlement accompanied by six soldiers approached them at 5 pm. The guards asked the farmers what they were doing here, and they gave the obvious answer: working on their land. The guards responded that this was not the case, but that the land belonged to them and that the farmers should go away.

They then attacked Walid, beating and kicking his right leg. He had an operation on this leg some time ago, and the kicking inflicted great pain. The guards also beat him on the back with rocks. Then they broke a mirror and smashed a window in the JCB backhoe loader, leaving cracks in it, before breaking the front window in Walid’s car. All this happened while the six soldiers just stood by watching.

The settler guards also broke branches on 6-7 olive trees.

Walid is now afraid to work on his land alone. But if he is accompanied by others, among them a couple of internationals, he would feel safer. The settlers don’t tend to attack when this is the case.

A report from the UN shows a rise in settler attacks, with 411 documented incidents in 2011, 40 % more than the year before. Over 90 % of the complaints never lead to an indictment, proving there is no accountability and no justice.

Article from the Palestine Telegraph

Kuwait, (Pal Telegraph) – The Palestinian struggle once again relates to oppression of others, this time the case is the murder of Trayvon Martin.

for those whom are unaware of Trayvon’s case, Trayvon; a teenager of African American origin was found on February 26th dead from a fatal gunshot wound in Sanford, Florida. George Zimmerman whom shot Trayvon tells the police that he had acted in self-defense, Zimmerman was armed with a handgun while Trayvon had a bottle of ice tea and skittles.

The police took Zimmerman’s words and did not arrest or administer a drug/alcohol test and he is left to go back to the comfort of his home, immediately we begin to see similarities between the oppression of African Americans in America and the oppression of Palestinians by Israel, The notion of self-defense is misunderstood; self-defense should be when you are the one in danger and in-need of drastic measures to ensure your safety.

Yet it seems that when you are oppressed, the oppressor is free to commit murder even when he has the balance of power on his side and is armed.

Ever since the murder of Trayvon, the African American community has had to protest heavily in order to ensure justice is served and it still remains ambiguous if that will happen, what we are forced to understand, is that justice is not served unless it is demanded that of-course being if you are oppressed, while many do not like to elude to the case of racism, it is impossible to not do so, Trayvon Martin was seen as a threat to the community by Zimmerman even using racial slurs when he called in the shooting to the police.

Oppression of African Americans in America, still exists, actually racism in America has never died except it has been hidden, instead of being direct, it has become covered and subliminal.

The lines of comparison grow stronger when the case of Yousef Ikhlayl is presented as the Palestinian narrative, Yousef a Palestinian teenager the same age as Trayvon, was shot and killed by settlers on January 28th 2011 while farming with his father in the village of Beit Ommar, Yousef was killed from a fatal gunshot to the head, after the shooting occurred and Yousef was rushed to the hospital, the settlers roamed freely in the area shooting at residents and youth whom were throwing stones at them.

During the clashes between the settlers and the residents of Beit Ommar, Yousef’s father took pictures of the settlers in the area and identified individuals that were closest to him and Yousef, when Yousef was shot.

Yet even with all the evidence that is present, the killers of Yousef and Trayvon roam free, ensuring the truth behind the allegation that racism still thrives, Yousef was killed because he was a Palestinian and Trayvon was killed because he was African American.

Oppression anywhere is oppression everywhere, We Palestinians demand justice not just for the killers of us, but we demand justice against all forms of oppression, near and far, local to our land and foreign, we demand that a child, teenagers and adults murder be handled justly without racism being a deciding factor on whether that justice is served. We demand justice for Trayvon, We demand justice for Yousef.

{According to B’Tselem, “Since the beginning of the [second] intifada, IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] soldiers have killed at least 1,656 Palestinians who took no part in the fighting. Of those killed 529 were children. Many of these deaths result from changes in the Rules of Engagement, which now allow soldiers to open fire on Palestinians in a variety of non-combat situations, even when the soldiers are not in danger… Over the past four years, the IDF conducted only 89 military police investigations into the deaths and injuries of Palestinians. Of these investigations, only 22 resulted in indictments. To date, one soldier has been convicted of causing the death of a Palestinian. Thus in the vast majority of cases, no one is never held accountable.” See: “Rules of Engagement and Lack of Accountability Result in Culture of Impunity for Civilian Deaths,” B’Tselem, November 24, 2004.}

{Author: Yasir M. Tineh / Click Here To Visit Blog}

The settlement is practically on top of them. The settlements have a monopoly on the water, cutting off irrigation for Palestinian crops. The Bedouin in Om Al Kheir have to buy their water and bring it in from the outside. There’s a fence separating Karmel from Om Al Kheir, and on the settlement side, the land is lush and green, but the Palestinian side is brown and rocky. All electricity in the camp is solar-powered.

The settlements are literally just feet away from the Bedouin tents. According to the Bedouin there, the settlers say in court that they’ve stopped building, but the settlement construction continues. The Bedouin have pictures documenting this, but the courts pay no attention to their claims.

The Bedouin’s homes are frequently bulldozed, and every home has a demolition order except for two that have been there since before the settlement was established in the early 1980s. This area has been the home for the Bedouin for much longer than that, and the settlements are illegal under the 4th Geneva Convention. Nevertheless, the courts continue to rule in favor of the settlements.

Most of the settlers are opposed to any sort of fence separating the Palestinian land from the settlement because they consider all of the land as belonging to them, despite the settlement being illegal under international law. The settlers tend to be very religious, and from all over the world: U.S., Europe, Russia, etc. Wad Abu Reesh is covered in plum, olive and grape trees, which the settlers periodically cut down to hurt the Palestinian farmers economically and to frighten them into leaving the land. Activists from Palestine Solidarity Project went to observe the situation, and found a large rock with graffiti in Hebrew that referred to the “price tag” movement. The “price tag” campaign is led by violent right-wing settlers who are known for burning mosques, attacking Palestinian people and property, and setting fire to Palestinian fields, as the “price” for any actions against the settlements. For more information on “price tagging” and settler violence: http://www.btselem.org/settler_violence.

The demonstrators began to remove the fence from the road and by 11am the road was clear for cars to pass. The Israeli military did not intervene during this successful direct action, though a Palestinian man transporting food on his donkey passing near the settlement outpost was beaten by Israeli settlers. International solidarity activists witnessed the event and tried to intervene, but were prevented from doing so by Israeli soldiers.

On Tuesday, January 31st, Yousef’s friends and family were attacked by the Israeli army as they marched towards the military watchtower at the entrance of Beit Ommar. Four people were injured after soldiers unleashed tear gas and sound bombs and began beating the demonstrators. One Palestinian activist had his nose broken and several others were roughly hit with the butts of the soldiers’ guns.

On January 28th, 2011, settlers from Bat Ayn, one of five Israeli settlements built on illegally taken from the Palestinian residents of Beit Ommar, rampaged through the village and shot 17-year-old Yousef while he was on his family’s farmland with his father. To date, no settler has been investigated, let alone arrested and charged, for his murder. The lack of justice in Yousef’s case is part of a wider pattern of impunity under which settlers are allowed to steal from, terrorize, and even kill, Palestinians in the West Bank.

Karmei Tsur settlers have also uprooted olive trees saplings which were planted last Saturday during the Beit Ommar’s weekly nonviolent protest, organized by the Popular Committee in the town, even though these saplings were planted outside the so-called security fence.

The settlers wandered through Beit Za’tah and Alkarn neighborhoods before moving onto Wadi Esheikh area close to the illegal settlement of Karmei Tsur to the south of the village. During this provocative tour, the settlers blocked Route 60, the main road connecting Hebron with Jerusalem and the main avenue of transportation for Beit Ommar residents. Palestinian vehicles were prevented from moving in the area. Additionally, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and sound bombs at Palestinian villagers as the settlers passed through their town. This recent provocation is a continuation of settlement harassment of Palestinians in the area. Another large group of settlers entered Beit Ommar less than one month ago and settlers routinely destroy farmland, stone vehicles, and attack an even kill Palestinians in the village. On January 28th, 2011, Yousef IKhlayl, a 17-year-old Palestinian resident of Beit Ommar, was killed by Israeli settlers as he was working his family’s farmland.