Huge Herd Arriving from Multiple Settlements Destroys Palestinian Field. Israeli Authorities Refuse to Act

In Massafer Yatta, a 300-strong herd of sheep and goats is considered huge. But precisely such a herd materialized there on Sunday, May 19, 2024, in the most malicious of ways. A herd of 300 sheep and goats, belonging to Jewish settlers, raided the cultivated fields below the villages of Taban and Fakhit. The fields belong to several families from the area, who sowed barley to feed their own herds. The raid was like a coordinated military operation. Three separate herds came from three directions: one from Mitzpe Ya’ir, the second from an outpost that popped up under Mitzpe Ya’ir, the third from an outpost adjacent to the (also illegal) settlement of Havat Ma’on.

Editor’s note: not only was the raid coordinated, the animals were also brought there from quite a distance. As can be seen in the map below, the settlements involved (brown rectangles) are not at all adjacent to Taban and Fakhit (green ellipse). The settlers went out of their way, to torment and rob Palestinian residents who are often spared the daily agony of living right next to them.

Heading the operation was Yosef, from the outpost under Mitzpe Ya’ir. He is a known figure in the area and has already been involved in several incidents that ended in arrests and violence. A few months ago, he tried to kidnap the son of our friend A., who was grazing on his land. A. was called to the place and arrived on his tractor. Yosef and his friends confiscated the tractor’s license and held and beat the son, all of this when they were wearing no uniform and without any authority. Much intervention was needed on our part to release the son and return the license to its owner.   

The settlers’ herds grazed in the sowed fields where, after the good rains this year, the barley grew to a nice height and was supposed to feed the locals’ sheep and goats during the long, dry summer. The raiding herds ate all the crop: the sheep grazing what grew above ground and the goats tearing off the roots – left nothing. A D-Max pick-up truck accompanied the settlers. They sat by its side, made themselves coffee and enjoyed this operation of destruction and starvation.  The settlers had started raiding the fields already the day before. The chased away a Bedouin shepherd who was grazing there, his face covered with a kaffiyah, against the dust. Yosef tore the Kaffiyah from his face and when the shepherd asked what right he had to touch him, Yosef summoned the army.

When the soldiers arrived, the Palestinians complained to them about the robbing of their crop. The settlers, in response, claimed that the Palestinians threw stones at them. Since there was no documentation of stone throwing, the soldiers did not arrest anyone, but they also did not make the settlers go away. After the soldiers went, the Palestinians called the police. The policeman asked where is it. They explained exactly where it is. “Ah, this is a firing zone”, said the policeman. “I cannot go there.” Yes, yes, this is how it works.

We were sitting in S.’s nice house in Fakhit, listening to the story. Outside there’s a heat wave, and inside – a pleasant breeze. We remembered a former visit, a few months earlier, when suddenly it started raining heavily, flooding all the wadis. S. remembered these rains. Yes, it was a good year, he said. It is only a pity that the settlers’ herds ate everything. Now, S. and his friends will have to buy expensive fodder, instead of the barley they grew. Fodder prices are still high, a bit less than at the beginning of the war in the Ukraine, but still higher than usual. Thousands of Israeli Shekels a month. How are you going to manage? S. answered us with a shy smile. S. tells all of this with a smile, without making himself a victim and without complaining, accepting everything as fate, with this wondrous serenity characterizing the villagers of Massafer Yatta, without anger or rage. They just don’t understand how all this evil has befallen upon them.

Yair, on behalf of the Villages Group [translated by Tamar Almog]