Many Palestinians have despaired of complaining about violations against them. Yesh Din's new report, "The Road to Dispossession," shows why. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz April 14, 2011 was a special morning for the Hizme family from the village of Turmusaya: it was one of the few days they were allowed to work their land, which unfortunately for them is close to the illegal outpost Adei Ad. They received the necessary permits from the army. Even so, some 90 minutes after they started working, IDF personnel showed up and asked them to leave, so as not to "cause problems…

A quiet phenomenon has been taking place over the last decade: the quiet dispossession of the Palestinians from their lands, which in turn increases their despair and leads them to abandon their villages. All this is done in our name and with our funds, but the government makes certain Israelis remain ignorant of the facts. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz Yesh Din published one of most comprehensive reports, The Road to Dispossession (which has its own mini-site), dealing with the illegal outpost Adei Ad. The outpost sits between four Palestinian villages and robs them of their lands. The information we gathered…

A new Yesh Din report examines the use of outposts as a means for seizing control of Palestinian land. The report uses the outpost of Adei Ad as a case study to illustrate the manner in which the establishment and growth of an outpost prevent Palestinian farmers from working their land.  Between 1998 and 2011, the Civil Administration issued 81 demolition orders against buildings and construction work in the outpost. The vast majority of the orders have not been enforced and the outpost remains intact. Yesh Din has documented 96 separate incidents involving criminal offenses committed in the vicinity of Adei Ad. Approximately…

A Palestinian is attacked by a famous settler. Police detain the Palestinian, but not the settler – because it's already Shabbat. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz At the beginning of February, "I.", a resident of Tel Rumeida, was sitting in his yard with some friends. This was a Friday, twilight was setting in, and I. was sitting with his back to a path servicing the settlers. "B.", a famous settler with a long history of convictions and a longer list of detentions by the police, was passing by, and was identified by "I." A small number of other settlers…

Settlers threw a stone, and then another one, at a Palestinian's head. Then they killed his sheep. The chances they will be indicted for attempted murder are slim. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz At the beginning of March, K., a Palestinian resident of the village of Al Mughayer, took his herd to pasture. As readers of this blog may have noticed, many of the incidents reported here take place in pasture lands; it's a part of the attempt by the settlers to prevent Palestinians from working their land or grazing it. As soon as the Palestinians abandon the…

Much of the Israeli public believes Palestinians lie constantly. This time, Yossi Gurvitz witnesses and documents evidence in real time. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz One of the problems with reporting what happens in the West Bank to the Israeli public is that it has grown accustomed to thinking that Palestinians lie. All of them. All the time. Without taking a break. This isn’t the place to examine this social construct – one suspects it exists because it is so convenient. Because it makes it easy to ignore every complaint with a shrug – and certainly Palestinians have been…

With the active and passive support of the IDF, Shin Bet and police, the terrorists have already won by continuing their attacks with impunity. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz Yesterday morning a "price tag" pogrom took place in the Palestinian village of Yasouf. If the name Yasouf is vaguely familiar to you, it’s probably because in 2009 it became the target of the most famous price tag attack: the burning of its mosque. It's worth mentioning the response of the Shomron local settler council at the time (Hebrew): it called the attack an "act of madmen or a…

Israel approves 90 new settlement homes in Beit El to reward evacuees from the evacuated settlement neighborhood of Givat Ha'Ulpana. The problem? The homes are to be built on lands confiscated for security purposes, a practice the High Court ruled against decades ago. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz One of ancient Greece's sages, legend says, mocked the Athenian lawgiver Solon for writing his constitution and laws. He told Solon laws were like fishing net: It stops the weak fish, but the larger, stronger ones will simply tear it to bits. Ynet reported earlier this week that the government…

Of the 240 complaints received by the army in 2012, not one resulted in an indictment. In certain respects, the IDF has outsourced to human rights NGOs its system for receiving complaints against soldiers. When it comes to investigating those complaints, however, it does a totally unacceptable job. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz The most significant fact in our new fact sheet about law enforcement on IDF soldiers in the Occupied Territories is that although 240 complaints were registered in 2012, they resulted in not a single indictment. It is possible indictments will be filed in the coming…

In the second half of January at least five unarmed Palestinian civilians were shot and killed by IDF fire in the West Bank and Gaza. The following report shows a dramatic downward trend in the rate of indictments served against IDF soldiers for alleged offenses in 2012, a year in which only one indictment was served against a soldier accused of abusing a Palestinian. By Yesh Din In the wake of recent events, Yesh Din has published a new data sheet about criminal accountability of IDF soldiers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The data indicates a clear downward…

Updated: The Knesset on Wednesday voted down a bill called the "Settlement Arrangement Law," a motion tailored to legalize settlement areas and outposts in the West Bank facing legal challenges from Palestinians who claim to own the land privately. The vote failed (69 against, 22 in favor) despite severe pressure from the right this week, and following Prime Minister Netanyahu's threat to fire any government minister who supports the bill. On Tuesday the Attorney General approved a compromise plan offered by Netanyahu, which ensures the future of settlement expansion in the West Bank. In a fierce legislative battle to win state approval for settlement…

Just weeks after the Supreme Court ruling against any further delay in evacuating the outpost settlement of Migron, the government is now working industriously to legalize or otherwise legitimize the status of Givat Ha'ulpana, a neighborhood of the West Bank settlement of Beit El, near Ramallah. In 2008, human rights organization Yesh Din petitioned to have the neighborhood dismantled on behalf of its Palestinian owners; in September 2011, the Court found that Givat Ha'ulpana was indeed built on privately-owned Palestinian lands – in simple terms, this is property theft. The state agreed to demolish the neighborhood (Hebrew) then, and the…

IDF policy requires a criminal investigation be launched immediately when military operations in the occupied Palestinian territories cause death. But a defective system essentially ensures that the investigation will not be conducted in a fair and impartial manner, enabling soldiers to continue to act with impunity. This article was first published in The Jerusalem Post and is reprinted with permission. By Emily Schaeffer The death of 28-year-old Mustafa Tamimi of the village of Nabi Saleh last month raises questions about the Israeli military establishment’s investigative processes. Tamimi was only the latest casualty of the IDF’s abundant use of tear gas to disperse…