Sa'id Quq, farmer, 53
On Monday, 21 October, 2002, at around 7:45 in the morning I went with my wife, Hasiba Muhammad Quq, 37 years old, and other farmers from the village towards the a-Dhaharat and a-Sasder agricultural areas, that lies about three kilometers east of the village and about 300 meters from the settlements of Shvut Rahel. In total, we were a group of about 40 farmers consisting of members of the Sa'id Shuqri Abu Hasan family, the al-Haj Mahmoud family, the Abu Mukhsin family, the Abu 'Adnan abu Hadiya family, the Ibrahim 'Uda family, the Abu Hussain al-A'araj family, the 'Abd al-Hadi Hazma family and the Zaid al-A'araj family. We all got into 12 cars and one tractor and traveled to the area in order to harvest olives.
At around 8 o'clock in the morning, we arrived at the area and the farmers began to spread out on their lands. My wife and I went to the land that belongs to the Nuri family in order to help them harvest the olives. At around 8:15 in the morning, I saw a private car, a white Subaru station wagon with yellow license plates, approaching from the direction of the settlement. The driver of the car drove past us and continued on about 200 meters. Afterwards, he returned to the settlement. The rest of the farmers and I felt suspicious about this car, in which two settlers traveled. We suspected that they were doing some sort of check-up and that they intended to attack us. We suspected this because in the previous few days settlers had harassed farmers from the village and two weeks prior, about 200 olive trees were chopped down. Similarly, we knew that on 18.10.02, a number of settlers from the Shvut Rahel settlement attacked some farmers in the a-Dhaharet region and stole 14 bags full of olives from them. In addition, they damaged the car of one of the farmers, Mr. Nasar Ghazer Jebera, and threatened to shoot at the farmers in order to banish them.
The moment that I saw the suspicious car I called the Israeli D.C.L. and I spoke with the one in charge; his name is Hagai. I know Hagai from a previous incident in which I was asked to be in contact with the Israeli D.C.L. so that the Israeli army could provide us with protection from the settlers. I spoke with Hagai and informed him that there is suspicious settler traffic and that the army is not present. Hagi asked me, surprised, why the army hadn't yet reached the location and added that he is sending the army immediately. We spoke in English since I had lived in the U.S. for a long period and I even have an American passport.
At around 9:30 in the morning, I saw about 12 settlers arriving from the direction of the settlement. They wore civilians clothes and were armed. Some of them carried guns and others rifles. 4-5 of them had their faces masked. When the settlers came close to us I realized that they were about 20-30 years old. Amongst them was a man named Bo'az, who I had known previously since he had attacked the villagers several times in the past. He also threatened me in 1999, in order to compel me to evacuate my land so that the settlers could control it. In addition, last April he attacked my car and that of Mr. Abu Sa'id together with other settlers. They broke the car's windows. Bo'az wore a kipa and his face was revealed. He carried an automatic weapon and stood at the head of a group of settlers that began to throw stones at the farmers and to shoot into the air. Afterwards they threw a stun grenade and split up into groups. Each group approached one of the groups of farmers scattered in the fields. The group that approached us consisted of five settlers, with Bo'az amongst them.
At that same moment one of the settlers approached me and hit me with his weapon. I protected myself with my hands. Another settlers hit my wife with his weapon and threw stones at her. When I saw the other settler harassing my wife I became very upset and I started to approach him, but the first settler continued to beat me. I pulled the gun with my hand and the case of the gun fell. The settler became busy with the case and I managed to distance myself from him. At that moment, I noticed that my wife had also managed to distance herself from the other settler. We ran together a distance of about 50-60 meters. The settlers chased after us and as I was running, I saw that one of the settlers was harassing 'Abd al-Hamid, who was attempting to protect himself with his hands. 'Abd al-Hamid's wife and his sons managed to run away at the onset of the event. After we had run away the settlers stopped chasing after us, and I saw fire rising from the cars of the farmers, amongst them my car- a 1983 Opel Skuna.
The settlers left the area after they torched the cars belonging to al-Haj 'Abed al-Hamid Abu Hadiya, two Subarus, a 1986 truck, a 1990 Express, a 1999 Mercedes 412 belonging to Ibrahim Muhamed 'Uda, a 1987 Express belonging to 'Isa 'Abed al-Had, Ahmed Sarhan's 1992 GMC and Amjid 'Awad Mihsan Hamza's 1987 Opel Cadet.
At the same time, more residents of the village reached the area. Similarly, I saw two cars arriving from the direction of the settlement. I think that they were green Mitsubishi cars, with a double trunk. I know that both of these cars are used for patrolling the settlement. The two cars stopped at a distance of about 50 meters from where the incident had taken place. Two guards from the settlement got out of the cars. One of them was Mark, who I knew from previous incidents that I mentioned earlier. I yelled at Mark and told him that it would be best if he went back because other residents of the village were arriving. I told him this in order to warn him and to avoid conflicts, which could cause casualties. Suddenly, two army jeeps arrived. At the same time I saw several civilians throwing stones at the settlement guards. The number of village residents had reached about 200. They advanced towards us while the settlers retreated together with the soldiers that had arrived.
The army arrived at around 10:46 in the morning and began to retreat. At the same time, another Israeli army and police team arrived at the location and set up around the settlement in order to calm the situation. My wife identified the settler that had harassed us. She pointed at him with her finger while he was escorting the soldiers. She told me that the settler who was standing near the soldiers was the one who had harassed her. I remember that he was short, with a medium build and looked about 30 years old. Also, he had a beard and side-locks. At this time, we were standing close to the soldiers, who were separating the settlers from us, and my wife, who had identified the settler, hit him with her hands. The soldiers distanced the settler and put him into one of the jeeps. The villagers attempted to get close to the settler and the soldiers attempted to prevent them, and so the situation continued until 12:30 the afternoon.
Afterwards, some of the landowners from the area burned the thorns and bushes in the parts of the field that were barren of trees since the settlers did not allow them to reach those parts the previous year in order to till them. In response, the army ordered the residents to retreat within five minutes, otherwise they would have to take military measures. Myself and other residents of the village talked the villagers into leaving. After we had retreated, I saw the police filming the cars that had caught fire. Afterwards, they transported us, the owners of the cars that were damaged, to the police station in Bet-El in order to lodge a complaint. In Bet-El we lodged a complaint and the investigators took our testimony. I received a copy of the complaint and we were returned to the entrance to the village by about 19:00.
Sa'id Taleb Hasan Quq, age 53, is married, and works as a farmer and resident of Turmusayya. The testimony taken by Iyad Hadad in Turmusayya on 23 October, 2002.