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Depressing story about 100 year old pacifist farm being destroyed by Israeli gov

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J

Jackpot

Banned
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-27883685

A Palestinian Christian family that preaches non-violence from a farm in the West Bank is battling to hold on to land it has owned for 98 years. Now surrounded by Israeli settlements, the family is a living example of the idea of peaceful resistance.
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On his farm outside Bethlehem, Daher Nassar is picking apples from the ruins of the orchard he planted at least eight years ago. The fruit is scattered across ground freshly opened and imprinted with the tracks of a bulldozer. At the field's edge, branches reach out from inside a mound of earth, the bark stripped and mangled, unripe almonds still clinging to the trees.

On 19 May a Palestinian shepherd from the village of Nahalin was out at first light and saw the bulldozer at work in the field, guarded by Israeli soldiers. By the time Nassar arrived the whole orchard - the best part of a decade's work - was gone. His English is far from fluent, but there's no mistaking the pain in his voice: "Why you broke the trees?"

A spokesperson for the Israeli military authorities in the West Bank said the trees were planted illegally on state land.
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Nassar's sister, Amal, has a different explanation. The government, together with the Israeli settlers who live around the farm, is "trying to push us to violence or push us to leave," she says. Amal insists that her family will not move from the land, nor will they abandon their commitment to peaceful resistance.

"Nobody can force us to hate," she says. "We refuse to be enemies."
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For the most part, though, the hills around Bishara's land were still open countryside, farmed by Palestinian families or used as grazing by shepherds. In the 40 years since, Israeli settlements have been built on every one .

There are five settlements in total, the nearest so close that the settlers' voices carry across the valley to the farm. The most recent, Netiv Ha'avot, is little more than a strip of houses encircled by coils of razor wire and festooned with Israeli flags. The largest, Beitar Illit, is a town of more than 40,000 people, a blaze of lights on the hillside at night. All of them are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
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As they watched the settlements rise around them in the 1980s, the Nassars began to worry. Their farm was in a prime location, close to the main north-south road through the West Bank and on high ground.

In 1991 their fears were confirmed. The military authorities declared that more than 90% of the farm now belonged to the State of Israel. Gush Etzion, one of the biggest settlement blocks in the West Bank, looked set to expand on to the Nassar farm.
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In 1924, realising that the Ottoman Empire was finished and worried by rising tensions between Arabs and Jews, Bishara Nassar's father had registered his property with Palestine's new imperial rulers.The British issued land deeds that specified the size and borders of the farm, and Bishara's father, who was a literate man, held on to the documents. Almost 70 years later, those papers would form the basis of a legal case that has been in front of the Israeli courts for 23 years. It remains unresolved.
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When they were informed, after 10 years in the military courts, that their Palestinian lawyer was not eligible to contest the case in Israel's supreme court - because he carried West Bank identity papers - they found an Israeli firm willing to take it on. When they were told to provide a land survey, they hired (at a cost of $70,000) an Israeli surveyor, and sent him to consult maps and documents in the imperial archives of London and Istanbul. When they were asked to bring witnesses in support of their claim to have farmed the land for three generations, they hired a bus to take more than 30 Palestinian villagers to the military court near Ramallah. "We had to wait five hours outside the court under the sun," remembers Amal Nassar. "And then, after five hours, a soldier come out, they say, 'We don't want witnesses, go home.'

"Every time they see you are ready to meet their demands, they ask [for something] more and more difficult, [so] that you say 'I am fed up, I cannot.' Yes, this [is] always the process. We know it. It's a game to push us to leave."
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The way Amal sees it, the Israeli military and the settlers, having failed to evict the family by legal means, are now trying to force them out. She remembers the settlers who uprooted 250 young olive trees in 2002, and who permanently closed the road to the farm with rubble. The demolition orders posted on the gate, threatening to destroy the Nassars' home and water wells. The soldiers who, in 2009, forced her 72-year-old mother out of bed at gunpoint in the middle of the night and made her wait in the cold while they searched the farm.
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Not even trying to hide the corruption it seems.
 
M

MasterOfPastures

Banned
When they were informed, after 10 years in the military courts, that their Palestinian lawyer was not eligible to contest the case in Israel's supreme court - because he carried West Bank identity papers - they found an Israeli firm willing to take it on. When they were told to provide a land survey, they hired (at a cost of $70,000) an Israeli surveyor, and sent him to consult maps and documents in the imperial archives of London and Istanbul. When they were asked to bring witnesses in support of their claim to have farmed the land for three generations, they hired a bus to take more than 30 Palestinian villagers to the military court near Ramallah. "We had to wait five hours outside the court under the sun," remembers Amal Nassar. "And then, after five hours, a soldier come out, they say, 'We don't want witnesses, go home.'

"Every time they see you are ready to meet their demands, they ask [for something] more and more difficult, [so] that you say 'I am fed up, I cannot.' Yes, this [is] always the process. We know it. It's a game to push us to leave."
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Jesus fucking christ. It's a goddamned bureaucratic circus. I would have turned terrorist after only a few weeks of that bullshit.
 
C

Chariot

Member
This sounds like the plot of a kids movie. It's always mindboogeling, when people are so obviously and openly mean in real life. I hope this makes big buzz, so the Israelis get more pressure. Things like this are just stupid.
 
W

werks

Banned
But you don't understand, the Israeli's have a legal document older than the family's that says the land belonged to them. It's called the Bible.
 
M

Matt_

World's #1 One Direction Fan: Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you~~~
The most recent, Netiv Ha'avot, is little more than a strip of houses encircled by coils of razor wire and festooned with Israeli flags
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But I dont understand who would want to live in places like this?
There would be no proper infrastructure, no leisure stuff, sounds like a generally grim place and being on the border surely it's a lot more dangerous?
 
R

RustyNails

Member
Matt_ said:
But I dont understand who would want to live in places like this?
There would be no proper infrastructure, no leisure stuff, sounds like a generally grim place and being on the border surely it's a lot more dangerous?
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The Israeli goveenment created infrastructure for them; roads, water, electricity, security posts etc.
 
T

theignoramus

Member
Could they take this shit to the World Court? I remember Israels "Separation Wall" being taken to the world court and ruled manifestly illegal. Not that that would stop them, but a world court ruling with highly credentialed judges carries a kind of legal and moral authority that is not easily dismissed or refuted. That kind of thing can help turn Western public opinion against Israel's settlements.
 
B

bidguy

Banned
theignoramus said:
Could they take this shit to the World Court? I remember Israels "Separation Wall" being taken to the world court and ruled manifestly illegal. Not that that would stop them, but a world court ruling with highly credentialed judges carries a kind of legal and moral authority that is not easily dismissed or refuted. That kind of thing can help turn Western public opinion against Israel's settlements.
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nothing will happen. this whole thing will boil until it all spills over and everyone will ask themselves "how could we let this happen" once again
 
T

theignoramus

Member
vogelkacke said:
nothing will happen. this whole thing will boil until it all spills over and everyone will ask themselves "how could we let this happen" once again
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I figure there must be a way for them to make a legal stink because international law is absolutely on their side. (And I mean a legal battle outside Israel, it's a joke to assume they will get a fair hearing in any Israeli court)

If an American or European company helped facilitate the seizure of their land, be it through direct sale of equipment or contract work, would they be susceptible to a lawsuit for participating in a violation of international law?
 
S

Syriel

Member
What they need is more publicity.

Tit for tat killings and attacks doesn't garner sympathy. From a PR perspective, violent protests don't help the Palestinian side.

More media coverage of stuff like this will sway public opinion.
 
Nikodemos

Nikodemos

Member
Syriel said:
Tit for tat killings and attacks doesn't garner sympathy. From a PR perspective, violent protests don't help the Palestinian side.
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The Israelis are aware of this, and for several decades have been actively trying to sabotage any peaceful protest attempts.



As for the poor farmer, this is what happens when the government gives the nutbaggy fringe way more power than they should ever have. And then the government is too lazy/scared to confront them.
 
C

cartoon_soldier

Member
Syriel said:
What they need is more publicity.

Tit for tat killings and attacks doesn't garner sympathy. From a PR perspective, violent protests don't help the Palestinian side.

More media coverage of stuff like this will sway public opinion.
Click to expand...

What has peaceful existence got the people in question here?
 
N

NateDog

Member
Such a shameful and unnecessary act, this is the type of thing that makes me lose faith in the realistic abilities of honest people and honest work in modern society, it just seems futile nowadays.
 
B

Blader

Member
"Every time they see you are ready to meet their demands, they ask [for something] more and more difficult, [so] that you say 'I am fed up, I cannot.' Yes, this [is] always the process. We know it. It's a game to push us to leave."
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Kinda sums up the whole conflict, doesn't it?
 
H

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
m_shortpants said:
The oppressed have become the oppressors.
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Happens all the fucking time in history. It's one thing to escape the persecution of others, but another to be genuinely interested in tolerance and freedom. Rhode Island was created because the Pilgrims were assholes to those who didn't share their views.
 
N

nib95

Banned
The sad and truly depressing thing about this, is that this kind of thing has been happening month in, month out, for years and years now. All officially documented and all. What's also happening commonly now, is Israeli settlers simply setting fire to, or outright vandalising Palestinian farms in a bid to drive them away, and give them less and less prospects or options.

Made a post of UN reports regarding such data, based just on the last few weeks alone.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=119799449&postcount=162

nib95 said:
The side to it that most of the world doesn't see is a detailed perspective of what fuel's the tensions and clashes in the first place.

Here's some official reports from The UN of occurrences in Palestine over the last few months and years. They release these weekly and it's been the same story for years and years. You can see Israel has been systematically driving Palestinians out of their homes to make way for further illegal settlements on a weekly basis, displacing hundreds, leading to countless deaths and hundreds of injuries.

There is also a consistent and massively disproportionate level of violence and vandalism aimed at Palestinians and their land, from Israeli settlers comparative to the same inflicted on Israeli settlements from Palestinians.

http://www.ochaopt.org/reports.aspx?id=104

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Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 17 - 23 June 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/oc...civilians_weekly_report_2014_6_26_english.pdf

4 Palestinians killed.
100 Palestinians injured.
340 Palestinians arrested.
14 Palestinian structures destroyed this week.
42 Palestinians displaced this week.
Multiple Palestinian charitable organisations closed.





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Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 10 - 16 June 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/oc...civilians_weekly_report_2014_6_19_english.pdf

1 Palestinian killed.
72 Palestinians injured.
200 Palestinians arrested.
3 Palestinian structures destroyed this week.
Movement restrictions to Palestinian supplies, markets and work places.

---

Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 3 - 9 June 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/oc...civilians_weekly_report_2014_6_13_english.pdf

33 Palestinians injured.
5 Palestinian structures destroyed this week.
35 Palestinians affected by demolishing and/or damages.

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Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 27 May - 2 June 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/oc...civilians_weekly_report_2014_6_06_english.pdf

1 Palestinian Killed
84 Palestinians injured.
14 Palestinian structures destroyed this week.
100 Palestinians affected by demolishing and/or damages.

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Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 20 - 26 May 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/oc...civilians_weekly_report_2014_5_30_english.pdf

22 Palestinians injured.
100 Palestinians arrested.
Over 100 people displaced by demolitions to make way for military trainings in the Jordan Valley.
40 Palestinian structures destroyed this week.
70 Palestinians displaced.



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Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 13 - 19 May 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/oc...civilians_weekly_report_2014_5_22_english.pdf

2 Palestinian boys killed
64 Palestinians injured.
Wave of demolitions and displacement in and around the e1 area, east of Jerusalem
20 Palestinian structures destroyed this week.
40 Palestinians displaced.





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Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 6 - 12 May 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/oc...civilians_weekly_report_2014_5_15_english.pdf

43 Palestinians injured.
11 Palestinian structures destroyed this week.
27 Palestinians displaced.

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Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 29 April - 5 May 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/oc...civilians_weekly_report_2014_5_08_english.pdf

42 Palestinians injured.
Over 180 Palestinian Olive tree's damaged by Israeli settlers
21 Palestinian structures destroyed this week.
39 Palestinians displaced.



---

Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 15 - 28 April 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/oc...civilians_weekly_report_2014_4_17_english.pdf

110 Palestinians injured (24 children).
Hundreds of Palestinian Olive tree's damaged by Israeli settlers.
Palestinian families at imminent risk of forcible transfer.
Iissuance of eviction and demolition orders continue.



---

Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 8 - 14 April 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/oc...civilians_weekly_report_2014_4_16_english.pdf

94 Palestinians injured.
15 Palestinian structures destroyed this week.
43 Palestinians displaced.





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Protection of Civilians Weekly Report | 1 - 7 April 2014
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/oc...civilians_weekly_report_2014_4_10_english.pdf

52 Palestinians injured.
Hundreds of Palestinian-owned olive trees damaged by Israeli settlers.
50 Palestinian structures destroyed this week.
93 Palestinians displaced.





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And this occurs week in week out, irrespective of any action from Hamas, or the actions of Palestinians. Ceasefire or not, periods of peace of not, the settlement expansion and the displacement of Palestinians continues.
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S

Saganator

Member
Wow, this is really horrible. I'm not condoning terrorism but I can see why some turn towards it. Not like there is anything they can do and no one seems to want to help, people can only take so much before they break.
 
B

Bigfoot

Member
What Israel does to the Palensteins basically equals what we did to the Native Americans 100+ years ago.

Well maybe not as bad but still, sucks to lose what was yours.
 
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