In recent years — and especially since 7 October 2023 — there has been a sharp increase in both the number and severity of settler attacks against Palestinians. The incidents reported on this blog do not reflect all incidents of settler violence in the West Bank, but only those that B’Tselem was able to document and investigate.
Deir Jarir, Ramallah District: Settlers attacked Palestinian olive harvesters and drove them off their land. Police officers who arrived later arrested three activists
Riyad and Sabiha Farahneh after being attacked. Photo: Alessandro Stefanelli
On Friday, 8 November 2024, at around 9:30, dozens of farmers from the village of Deir Jarir harvested olives on their lands northeast of the village, adjacent to Route 449. They were joined by about 50 activists due to concerns over attacks by settlers from the nearby outpost.
About half an hour after the harvest began, about 15 settlers arrived at the site in cars and ATVs. Most of them were masked and armed with clubs, handguns, and rifles.
Some of the settlers began attacking the farmers with stones and clubs to drive them away. The farmers fled to their vehicles parked nearby. Shortly after, soldiers and Border Police officers arrived at the scene, declared it a closed military zone, and demanded the activists leave.
When the villagers tried to go home, the settlers blocked their way and called the police. The police officers who arrived detained the farmers for about two more hours, and then confiscated two vehicles, claiming they were unlicensed. The officers told the residents a court would hold a hearing about the confiscation.
The officers also arrested three activists on allegations of violating the closed military zone order. Two were released that day under restrictive conditions and the third was released the next day, after a court hearing, under similar restrictive conditions.
Two farmers required medical attention after the attack: Riyad Farahneh, 65, who was beaten with a club, and his wife, Sabiha Farahneh, 57, who suffered from anxiety. Their access to medical treatment was delayed when settlers stopped them from driving away in their cars and told the soldiers their car was unlicensed. The soldiers held them until the police arrived, and the officers ultimately confiscated the car and asked another harvester to give them a ride home. The man drove Sabiha Farahneh home and then took Riyad Farahneh to a medical center in the nearby town of Silwad, where they received treatment. The next morning, another farmer (34) sought medical treatment for serious injuries he suffered when beaten with a club and falling while fleeing from the settlers.
The farmers and activists attempted to work again in the same area a week later. Despite receiving permission from the DCO, police officers standing at the entrance to the farmlands presented the activists with a closed military zone order and denied them access to the lands.
B’Tselem field researcher Muhammad Romaneh collected testimonies about the event:
Testimony of Riyad Farahneh, 65, from Deir Jarir:
Image
Settlers in the olive groves of residents of Deir Jarir. Photo courtesy of residents
On Friday, 8 November 2024, at around 9:30 A.M., I was in my grove in She’b Sadar, harvesting olives with my wife Sabiha (58), my son Muhammad (27), my son ‘Assem (20), my sister-in-law Huriyyah (69) and her son ‘Abd a-Rahman (35). We went there after the Deir Jarir Local Council informed residents that permission was given to access the area. We came accompanied by international activists because harvesting in the area has become dangerous after a shepherding outpost was established near our lands. Settlers from the outpost attacked farmers and destroyed crops and groves in the area.
Less than half an hour after the harvest began, a few settlers invaded the grove on ATVs from several directions. They had black face coverings and only their eyes were visible. They were holding wooden sticks and had handguns in belt holsters, and some of them had rifles.
At first, the settlers tried to attack my wife and sister-in-law, who were about five meters away from me, but some activists stood between them and the attackers and managed to stop them. Then five settlers, who looked to be between 20 and 30 years old, attacked me and my sons and beat us with sticks. I ran away from them because I knew I couldn’t take them or fend them off. I knew that if I tried to defend myself, the soldiers would accuse me of attacking settlers and arrest me or shoot me.
The settlers chased me to a distance of about 50 meters, while hitting me on the back with sticks. One of the blows hit me on the left hand as I was trying to protect my head from behind. My two sons managed to escape. My nephew, ‘Abd a-Rahman, tripped and fell while running away. Before he fell, a settler hit him with a stick and injured his left hand.
At that time, soldiers arrived at the scene and separated the residents from the settlers, and then we managed to get to our vehicles, but when we tried to leave, settlers blocked our way and called the police. Rather than investigate the settler attack, the police officers who came demanded we present the vehicle’s licenses to verify they were legal. These are two vehicles that we use only for agricultural work - to get to the groves, harvest the olives, and transport the crops to the village. The police held us there for two hours, and in the end, they confiscated both vehicles. They told us there would be a court hearing about the confiscation in May.
Testimony of Sabiha Farahneh, 57, Riyad’s wife, from Deir Jarir:
While we were unloading the farming equipment from our vehicles, I heard screams. I looked around to figure out what was going on and saw about 10 settlers coming towards us from all directions. Most of them were young. I estimate they were less than 25 years old. They had wooden sticks, and some were masked. Some ran to us and others rode ATVs. They were accompanied by two older settlers, who were armed, dressed in very dirty clothes, and looked very scary.
The settlers came to me and my elderly sister-in-law, and three activists stood between us and prevented them from getting closer. Then the settlers noticed my husband, my son Muhammad, and my brother-in-law’s son, ‘Abd a-Rahman, who were standing about five meters away from us. They ran towards them immediately and hit them with sticks as they were trying to run away. At that time, the two armed settlers stopped at the edge of the dirt road, in front of our vehicles.
Within less than five minutes, the army came and stood 15 meters away from me. I waved at the soldiers and started screaming, trying to direct their attention to my husband, son, and brother-in-law’s son, who were still being beaten by the settlers. The soldiers saw what was happening, ran in their direction, and got the settlers away from them.
My husband, son, and brother-in-law’s son managed to get to me and my sister-in-law. I saw that my husband’s left hand was swollen and red. I asked him how it happened, and he told me that the settlers had beaten him with a stick and that his hand was very sore. I took some cloth from our vehicle and wrapped it around his hand.
After removing the settlers from the area, the soldiers ordered us to leave immediately, but we saw that the two armed settlers were still standing at the edge of the dirt road, 15-20 meters from where our vehicles were parked. I told the soldiers that we wanted to get the cars and drive home, and we needed them to secure the road for us. My son Muhammad got into the driver’s seat instead of my husband, whose hand was very sore, and my husband and I also got into the vehicle. My sister-in-law and her son got into their vehicle and were getting ready to go home, while the activists remained in the area. When we got to the edge of the dirt road, the two armed settlers blocked our way and prevented us from driving. They told the army our vehicles weren’t licensed, and then the soldiers told us that we had to wait until the police came and checked if the vehicles were legal. They detained us for 25-30 minutes, until two police vehicles arrived, and two police officers got out. The officers ordered us to stay in our vehicles and asked for the vehicle papers, but we didn’t have any.
After about half an hour, the armed settlers left and went to stand on the paved road about 50 meters away, while the police continued to check our vehicles. The police took two hours to check on the legal status of the vehicle. During this time, they told my sister-in-law and me to get out of the vehicles and go stand with the solidarity activists, 10 meters away. Because I suffer from a herniated disc, I got tired from standing for so long and went back to the vehicle. When I came back, the police told us they had to confiscate our vehicle and my brother-in-law’s vehicle because they were both illegal. We all got out of both vehicles and started looking for someone to help us get home. The Israel Police confiscated both of our vehicles without asking us anything about the settler attack. The soldiers asked our neighbors’ son, who has a large transport vehicle and was with his family on their land to drive us because our cars were confiscated, and he did.
