International reporting
In the West Bank, an operation of “wild colonization”
Audio 02:30
Tents in their backpacks, young Israeli settlers dance.
They celebrate the creation of a new outpost - an illegal settlement even under Israeli law - next to the Palestinian village of Bruqin in the occupied West Bank.
© Alice Froussard / RFI
By: Alice Froussard Follow
4 mins
In the West Bank, on Wednesday July 20, during an operation at the initiative of a Jewish nationalist movement Nahala, thousands of Israeli settlers decided to settle themselves on Palestinian land.
A rally that had been planned for months - ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit to the region - and for which the organization raised the equivalent of more than $ 1,400,000 in donations.
For these settlers, the goal was to establish new outposts, illegal even under Israeli law, as they did not obtain government approval.
If all these outposts were evacuated in the following days, the motivation of the settlers has not ceased, and all hope to return to the scene.
To the chagrin of Palestinians, who see more of their land confiscated,
Advertising
From our correspondent in the Palestinian Territories,
It is a small Palestinian land, wedged between the industrial zone of the settlements of Ariel and Barkan.
From the road, we see multicolored tents, some with an Israeli flag on top.
For the settlers, we are in the new Gofna outpost.
Noam made the trip from Kyriat Ono: “
We start with tents, then caravans.
For it is written: the people of Israel must be spread throughout all Israel.
We are here to say that this land belongs to us, that we are going to live where we want,
” he explains.
On the spot, there are whole families with young children, many young people, backpacks filled, from which protrude packets of cereals, pots, sleeping bags... Some gather stones, as if to build homes, protected by the Israeli police and army, despite the illegality of such an initiative.
These Jewish nationalists sing, dance, and to thunderous applause, far-right deputy Itamar Ben Gvir enters.
Leader of the openly racist Jewish supremacist Otzma Yehudit party, he dreams of a "Greater Israel" encompassing all Palestinian lands, Jordan, part of Syria and Saudi Arabia, and believes that the 250 existing settlements are not sufficient.
A speech that seduces Matan, 28, from the colony of Peduel, eight kilometers from here: “
The government does not go far enough, really not enough.
So our goal is to stay here, not for a night or two, but for weeks, months, until the government says to us
: 'Ok, we are with you'
”.
To the objection that there are Palestinians here, that they are on their land, he replies: “
Who says that the land belongs to them
?
Who says that ?
Just because they say the land is theirs doesn't mean it's true.
We're not in the middle of an Arab village there, that's not our goal.
Finally, in the future, perhaps, but here, our goal is not to settle in the middle of an Arab village.
»
► Also to listen: Two Palestinians killed during an Israeli raid in the West Bank
Like them, thousands of activists have met today, from north to south of the West Bank, to create six new illegal outposts there, even under Israeli law.
Some left-wing activists try to stop them, in vain.
Dana Mills works for the Israeli organization
Peace Now
: “
We know that the settler interest groups in the government have already gotten what they wanted from the old government, so they are stealing more and more land , with impunity
.
On the hill above, there is the Palestinian village of Bruqin, where Ahmad, an engineer, tells us about the road below which he cannot use, reserved for settlers and the regular attacks in the village.
“
And the olive trees, on our hills, they cut them down all the time.
Just so we don't go to our land.
»
Since the beginning of the year, according to human rights defenders, at least 71 Palestinians have been injured by settlers and two Palestinians have been killed.
Around 700,000 Israelis already live in settlements in the occupied West Bank – 10% of Israel's Jewish population – in complete violation of international law.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Palestinian territories
Israelo-Palestinian conflict
Israel