Palestinians establish 4th protest village, Al Manatir at Burin village near Nablus

Dear friends,
200 Palestinian activists yesterday established a fourth Palestinian protest village called Al Manatir on land belonging to Burin village near Nablus.  The village was built on Palestinian land which has been slated for confiscation to enable the extension of an illegal Israeli settlement.

Within hours, Israeli Occupation Forces and settlers violently attacked the village.  At least 20 Palestinian were injured and many arrested.

Please find below Maan News report on the establishment of Al Manatir.

In solidarity, Kim
 
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Activists set up new protest village near Nablus, shoot teens.
 
by Maan News: 2 February 2013

NABLUS (Ma’an) -- Palestinian activists and farmers on Saturday erected a new tented protest village south of Nablus, sparking clashes with settlers which left one teen injured.

Around 200 supporters from across the West Bank set up tents in an area of Burin village that activists say is slated for confiscation by a neighboring settlement.

Israeli forces immediately moved to shut down the area, and blocked traffic at the nearby Zaatara checkpoint, stopping several buses of activists destined for the village, witnesses told Ma'an.

Soldiers fired tear gas and sound grenades to disperse the activists, and detained five Palestinians, they said.

Israeli settlers also raided the village and fired at the Palestinians. Zakariya Al-Najjar, 16, was hit by bullet in his thigh, a Ma'an reporter said.
Settlers managed to seized a trailer in the encampment, activist Salah Al-Khawaja told Ma’an.

He said fistfights broke out between Palestinian men and Israeli soldiers trying to remove them.

An Israeli military spokesman said forces used riot-dispersal means when Palestinians threw rocks at them.

Residents said the new village was established to protest Israeli land confiscation for settlement building. Burin is squeezed between the Bracha and Yitzhar settlements, and the target of regular settler violence.

They are calling the new encampment the "Al-Manatir neighborhood" after the traditional stone huts built for watchmen in Palestinian agricultural land.

It is the fourth such initiative in recent weeks.

In January, Palestinian activists started a new wave of tented protest camps in the West Bank.

The Bab al-Shams village was set up in an area where Israel plans to build the "E1" settlement, severing the West Bank from Jerusalem.

Then, locals established the al-Karamah (Dignity) village in Beit Iksa, northwest of Jerusalem, which is set to be tightly encircled by Israel's separation wall.

Last week, activists set up the Al-Asra, or prisoners, protest village in the village of Anin, northwest of Jenin.

Israeli forces have moved to evacuate the camps and dismantle their structures.

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Israel evacuates Nablus protest village, dozens injured.

By Maan News: 2 February 2013

A Palestinian activist runs from teargas after Israeli forces evacuate a
protest camp in the West Bank village of Burin, south of Nablus,
Feb. 2, 2013. (Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces evacuated a protest tent set up earlier on Saturday by Palestinian activists in Nablus, leading to clashes which injured at least 20 people.

Earlier, around 200 people from across the West Bank set up the "Al-Manatir neighborhood" encampment in an area of Burin village that activists say is slated for confiscation by a neighboring settlement.

Burin is squeezed between the Bracha and Yitzhar settlements, and is the target of regular settler violence.

Israeli forces raided the area and forcibly removed all activists from the site. Soldiers fired multiple tear gas canisters at the protest village, injuring at least 20 Palestinians, witnesses said.

Palestinian Authority official Ghassan Daghlas told Ma'an that during the clashes, settlers attacked Burin with fire-bombs and rocks, damaging homes, cars and setting fire to olive trees.

Earlier on Saturday, 16-year-old Zakariya Al-Najjar was hit in his thigh by a bullet fired by settlers in Burin, a Ma'an reporter said.

Groups of settlers also gathered near Yizhar settlement and threw stones at passing Palestinian cars.

Palestinians Diyaa Bani Audah, Ashraf Abu Rahmah from Bilin, Wahib Qadus, Barakat al-Najjar, Bakir al-Najjar, Ibrahim al-Najjar and Udayy Ahmad from Burin were detained by Israel's military during the clashes.

An Israeli army spokesman confirmed that seven people were arrested.

Fatah official Mahmoud al-Aloul told Ma'an that Palestinians will continue to confront settlers and illegal settlement expansion.

"If they demolish a protest village, we will erect a new one, and we will continue until the Palestinian people retrieve all their rights," he said.

Burin protesters said they had been buoyed by a report issued on Thursday by United Nations human rights investigators who called on Israel to halt settlement expansion and withdraw all settlers, adding that the practice could be subject to prosecution as a possible war crime.

The "Al-Manatir neighborhood" is the fourth such initiative in recent weeks.

The Bab al-Shams village was set up in an area where Israel plans to build the "E1" settlement, severing the West Bank from Jerusalem.

Then, locals established the al-Karamah (Dignity) village in Beit Iksa, northwest of Jerusalem, which is set to be tightly encircled by Israel's separation wall.

Last week, activists set up the Al-Asra, or prisoners, protest village in the village of Anin, northwest of Jenin.

Israeli forces have moved to evacuate the camps and dismantle their structures.