2023-11-10 09:00:22
In the West Bank, their settlements are illegal, but they refuse to leave them. Their militias kill their Palestinian neighbors. We went to meet Israeli settlers who are preparing for a new phase of the war.
Were it not for the context, this pleasant walk before dusk would plunge us into sweet bliss. The last rays of the sun envelop the canyon in a glowing aura, children frolic happily on the rocks and we hear the strange yelps of jackals in the distance. At the bottom of the valley, rock dwellings, which were once inhabited by monks, tickle our imagination. On a nearby hill stand the remains of Herod’s palace.the Roman vassal king who, according to the New Testament, was in power at the time of Jesus’ birth.
But in this country, war is never far away. The “hikers” who accompany us take binoculars out of their backpacks to scan the hills on the other side of the canyon, with portable radios clipped to their belts. One of them armed himself with a club he had made with his own hands. And a few centimeters from the foot of his little daughter that he carries on his back, we can see the revolver in Ben Miller’s pants pocket.
“We want to show our Palestinian neighbors that we are not afraid and that we will not stop our normal activities despite the threat of war.”
Ben Miller is one of six Tekoa residents who will patrol the edge of their West Bank settlement, a half-hour drive south of Jerusalem, this followingnoon. “I sense few problems today,” he told us. “But since October 7, we are ready for anything.” The residents of this colony of 4,300 inhabitants have resolved to carry out this round twice a day, in turns. They also patrol at night.
“We want to show our Palestinian neighbors that we are not afraid and that we will not stop our normal activities despite the threat of war,” explains Ben Miller, observing some Palestinian shepherds with his binoculars. “They used to come close to the village, but since the war, we prefer that they stay a good distance away.”
©Wolfgang Schwan
His neighbor Offira Saban says that here, everyone still remembers that 20 years ago, two children from the village were killed, probably by Palestinians. Since the war broke out, she fears further violence. She considers it normal for residents to take their children on patrol. “We want to show them that life goes on and that they don’t have to be afraid.”
She points, angrily, at the house that the Arab neighbors are building on the other side, according to her in a nature reserve. But don’t say a word regarding the dozens of houses under construction behind us, in his own settlement.
Lands conquered in the Six-Day War
Tekoa is one of approximately 144 settlements that Jewish settlers built in the West Bank and East Jerusalem on land captured in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers these settlements illegal, which Israel disputes.
Supported by several successive Israeli governments, the number of settlers has increased to 700,000. This expansion is leading to growing conflicts with the 2.8 million Palestinians in the West Bank. Since the bloody Hamas attack in Israel and the ensuing offensive in Gaza, there has been an escalation of violence on both sides.
The number of settlers has increased dramatically since Prime Minister Netanyahu formed a government with ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties.
The region has thus become a veritable powder keg which risks exploding at any moment. Roads are closed, Palestinians can no longer go to work in Israel and deaths are reported every day in shootings, mainly by the Israeli army which protects settlers who try to drive Palestinians from their land. On the Palestinian side, more than 160 people have already been killed since October 7, including at least 43 children.
“We should be grateful to Hamas”
Just drive through the West Bank to see emerge new colonies everywhere. Guard posts, concrete walls and barbed wire mark the landscape. Bulldozers are digging new roads and tunnels to connect settlements to roads closed to Palestinians. Army sentries are on alert in all directions, guns pointed at anyone who approaches.
In Tekoa, following passing the guard post filled with heavily armed soldiers, the colony bathes in a peaceful atmosphere which hardly creates an illusion. Flowers grow in abundance along the beautifully manicured streets, children play on an indoor basketball court, and in the local cafe, hip young people sit behind their laptops and telecommute. A man holds his baby in one hand and his automatic rifle in the other.
Avi Zornberg, one of the village teachers, has also kept his Beretta pistol in his pocket at all times since October 7. “In fact, we should be grateful to Hamas,” he is not afraid to assert. “The attack woke us all up. It is important that we show our strength and make the Palestinians understand that we are here to stay. This is not only our right, but also our duty. This is sacred land to which we have a right. If we did not live here, this land too would fall into the hands of extremists like Hamas, and the Jewish state would be in danger. We protect Israel.”
“Under the cover of war, the settlers can carry out their attacks as they please, without anyone trying to stop them before, during or following.”
The number of settlers has increased dramatically since Prime Minister Netanyahu formed a government with ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties. The coalition largely supports, financially and logistically, the creation of new settlements. Activist organizations, such as Hilltop Youth, operate like militias by grabbing land from which they dislodge their Palestinian occupants. Other settlers settle in existing settlements because life there is cheaper than in the city.
In recent days, violence in the West Bank has escalated several notches. On Wednesday, the army deployed warplanes to strafe the Palestinian city of Hebron. The Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, which has closely monitored the violence in the occupied territories for years, is alarmed by the fact that the state is giving settlers more free rein than ever: ” Under the cover of war, settlers can carry out their attacks as they please, without anyone trying to stop them before, during or following,” laments the organization.
Climate of impunity
Mairav Zonszein, analyst at the International Crisis Group, shares this observation. “One might think that the army would have an interest in limiting the escalation of recent weeks as much as possible, to mobilize all its energy for the fighting in Gaza, but that is not the case,” she explains. “On the contrary: even more than before, the army seems to be paving the way for the settlers by attacking Palestinians and their property.”
According to Mairav Zonszein, military commanders who in the past have expressed reservations regarding the military’s complicity in illegal colonization have been sidelined or subjected to bullying. “Add to this the fact that regular soldiers went to the front and were often replaced by reservists from the colonies themselves. The latter are, to say the least, in a conflict of interest and contribute to a climate of impunity.”
©Wolfgang Schwan
The settlers retort that they are only acting in self-defense. It is true that, in recent weeks, attacks from the Palestinian camp have increased. Extremist organizations such as the al Qassem and al Quds Brigades, and the al Aqsa Martyrs call to attack the army and the settlers.
“Of course, many settlers are not extremists and are really afraid,” says Mairav Zonszein. “But they must not lose sight of the fact that the Palestinian villages preceded them and that the expansion of the colonies endangers the income of the first inhabitants. These are shepherds and olive farmers who are being deprived of their land.”
Teacher Avi Zornberg challenges this view. He supports Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s (far-right) call to ban Palestinians from harvesting olives near settlements. “It has been proven that they take photos of our villages to see where they can attack us.”, he says. “These are the same preparations that Hamas undertook to attack us in the south, which led to the deaths of 1,400 Jews a month ago.”
Antique wine press, as cadastral proof
Not all settlers are extremists who see their Palestinian neighbors as eternal enemies. In his comfortable home a little further away in Tekoa, where you can see a vegetable garden outside the door and a child’s bicycle in the garden, Rabbi Shaul Judelman explains how he tries to bring the two communities together with his organization. Roots.” “We may not be able to resolve the entire conflict, but we can start on a small scale,” he hopes.
©Wolfgang Schwan
This is how he brought settlers together with their Arab neighbors to pick olives, how a delegation of Palestinians came to pray with them following one of the Jewish residents was stabbed, or how a rabbi made people understand children that throwing stones at their neighbors was once morest the Jewish faith. “But since October 7, all our activities have stopped and I don’t know if we will be able to resume them one day“, notes Shaul Judelman bitterly.
He too notes that the Hamas attack opened the eyes of his fellow citizens. “Since then, everyone has been sleeping with a gun under their pillow.“. The rabbi vehemently rejects the idea that his status as a settler makes him part of the problem since he is taking land from his Palestinian neighbors. “This is our sacred land. During excavations in the surrounding area, we found a Jewish wine press and spa. We’re just taking back what’s ours.” And when we ask him if he legally acquired the land that belonged to the Palestinians, he evades the question. “We studied Ottoman, Jordanian and British maps and found no trace of their presence here.”
“I see no future for peace in this country as long as the West turns a blind eye to the policy of illegal settlements.”
Far West
Mairav Zonszein fears a further escalation of the conflict, which might lead to a third war front, following Gaza and the fighting once morest Hezbollah on the northern border with Lebanon. The settlers are already heavily armed, but the Palestinians, who are not legally allowed to own weapons, manage to obtain them. “They go through Jordan or make their own weapons,” she explains. “The Palestinians have no political perspective and are faced with settlers who behave like militias. They increasingly see struggle as their only option.”
The analyst fears that a major attack – like that of Zionist extremist Baruch Goldstein who shot dead 29 worshipers at the Hebron mosque in 1994 – might lead to an unstoppable outbreak of violence in the West Bank. “It has become a kind of Wild West, with civilians shooting each other, without the army intervening. Even though the war in Gaza will eventually end, I see no future for peace in this country as long as the West turns a blind eye to the illegal settlement policy.”
Rabbi Shaul Judelman also does not believe that there will be peace tomorrow. He supports the Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip. “Of course the bloodshed is terrible, but I don’t see any other plan. The other side is unwilling to negotiate peace, including here in the West Bank, where President Abbas’ Fatah is in power. The painful but fair conclusion is that here in Israel we are condemned to rule by force of the sword.”
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