Israeli settler violence blocks land in occupied West Bank

DW (English)

Settler attacks are a frequent occurrence in the occupied West Bank, preventing many Palestinians from accessing their lands. When a DW team traveled to the town of Sinjil to cover a protest by residents, they themselves, along with protesters, came under attack.

Transcript

00:00Minutes after we started filming a Palestinian protest against settler violence, an attack

00:05unfolds in front of our eyes.

00:07It's a daily reality here.

00:11To stop the settlers from descending into their village, residents set fire to the base

00:15of the hill.

00:16If they attack as we're done for, and if the army comes, it's just more protection

00:20for them.

00:23The settlers then chase our team away, just as Israeli army officers arrive.

00:29But the settlers don't immediately retreat, in fact, more arrive.

00:34And others move to the base of the hill, seemingly now protected by the army's presence.

00:40From afar it appears that the officers struggled to defuse the tension.

00:45While our team is filming this, settlers vandalize cars in the area, including ours.

00:51Attacks like these happen regularly.

00:55When we came here for the first time a few weeks ago, residents of Sinjul told us they

01:00feel like they're being boxed in from all sides.

01:03Sinjul lies north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

01:07To its north are a cluster of several illegal Israeli settlements and outposts, seen here

01:13in various shades of dark blue.

01:15Which road 60 winds through, the West Bank's main north-south traffic artery, here in White.

01:22The village used to have five ways out.

01:24Israel shut four of them and built a huge fence to Sinjul's east.

01:30Construction started in August 2024.

01:32It's six metres high and runs along one side of the village.

01:36The IDF says it's meant to prevent Palestinians from throwing stones at cars that drive past

01:41Sinjul.

01:43But the fence has cut off families and friends from each other.

01:46It has separated 47 homes from the town, homes that now lie beyond this racist wall and are

01:53cut off from the community.

01:55This wall will shrink Sinjul, isolate Sinjul and suffocate Sinjul.

02:00It's much harder now for people to get to where they need, including their own land.

02:05I want to visit my land, harvest olives or just do anything at all, but I have to go

02:10around the entire town to do it.

02:12That's a walk of three kilometres just to reach my own land.

02:17Their situation is exacerbated by frequent attacks from settlers on the village's western

02:21borders.

02:23When we approached the area, Israeli border police stopped us, telling us there weren't

02:28any settlers to be seen.

02:30We were on the hill, but there's nobody.

02:33And as they left, we were able to see several settlers sitting on the hilltop next to Sinjul.

02:39Then as now, the settlers appear to be able to launch attacks with impunity, with devastating

02:44consequences to local communities.

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