Zenuta - settler terror

The village of Zenuta is on Route 60, west of Meitarim Junction. The road is paved on the village lands meaning it divides it into two, the part south of the road suffers more because it is close to the new Ettinger farm. It is possible that the farm contains a small plot which has been sold to the settlers, although the Palestinians are not allowed to sell land to the settlers. Now the settlers are taking over the surrounding lands, trying to isolate the village by closing it off from all sides to the south.

The village has about 300 residents. The school with the Palestinian flag was built by Fatma, a teacher from the Idna area.

Following the quarrel with the settlers, 3 members of the village are currently in prison. Council Chairman Faiz Ethel, who is a doctor working in Dahariya, went on trial today in the Ofer Court near Beit El, so we get an update from his brother who is acting for him, Adel. With him is also a nephew, Hazem, a lawyer who studied international law in Algeria and now specializes in a law firm in Dahariya.

Last Thursday, the shepherds were with the herd, 3 km from the settlers' farm. The settlers sent a skimmer and also 4 settlers who threw stones at the sheep, beat pregnant sheep, all in an attempt to take over the herd. The Palestinians tried to stand between the flock and the settlers. The soldiers watched from afar and did nothing until the settlers called them to help. The soldiers then threw a noise bomb , their dogs attacked the sheep and killed three. The village called in the police who questioned the shepherds. The one Palestinian showed how his hand had been wounded when he was trying to get away.  The settlers showed the police their photos in which of course only the Palestinians are seen without the context of defending themselves and the flock against the settlers' violence. Unfortunately the Palestinians only took pictures at the end of the incident. They ask for a good camera with zoom (B'Tselem's cameras are not good enough to document such incidents).

The police arrested 3 shepherds - Salem Ribhi al-Batat, his brother Fadi Mus and’ad Sliman Hadirat. They were taken to the Kiryat Arba police and today they will be brought before a judge. The settler was also taken to Kiryat Arba but was immediately released.

In addition to the three sheep killed, there were ten abortions, 12 lame sheep being hit by stones in their legs, 8 paralyzed and lying down, the dog badly wounded, all according to the diagnosis of a veterinarian brought from Dahariya. This is a large financial loss for an entire year. Adel went to Dahariya today to buy medicine according to the veterinarian's instructions.

The owner of the sheep, the father of the detainees, took the photos and certificates of the veterinarian and yesterday filed a complaint with the Kiryat Arba police. The policemen there spoke to the court in Ofer and here they hope it will help.

Later in the day we were updated: The police asked to extend the detention by five days, the court allowed two days and the trial would be held the next day.

The attorneys who are handling are from the Rabbis for Human Rights and, regarding the lands, Adv. Kamar Mishraki says that the Civil Administration will draw boundaries between the settlers and Zenuta. It will be an achievement for the settlers tryinag to take over the lands.

Further down the road in front of Shima – a settler farm. What else is new ....