Soon after harvesters reached their lands, which are sequestered between the Israeli settlement of Migdalim and Road 505, a military force arrived on the scene and demanded that they leave the area. When challenged, the soldiers claimed to not have the order in their possession. They then changed their version to say harvesters pose a security risk because of the proximity to the road – a practice forbidden even by the Israeli army's own regulations (see here, Hebrew). The soldiers were accompanied by two settlers, who took pictures and video of those present, mocking and taunting them. They were not asked to leave by the soldiers. Soon after, the two American nationals were detained for no apparent reason.
The harvesters were able to resist being forced out of their lands and continued picking olives for about two hours, until additional forces arrived on the scene. The soldiers presented an order they claimed was a closed military zone, but was, in fact, an order only restricting the movement of individuals through checkpoints in the area. There were no checkpoints in or nearby the area where the harvesters were.
Despite the lack of any legal ground, the soldiers continued to force the harvesters away from their lands using force. The two detainees were handed over to the police, and taken to the Shai (West Bank) Central Unit, where a special investigative team operates, which was tasked with the repression of international solidarity by the extremist Israeli minister, Itamar Ben Gvir.
Despite the fact that no close military zone order ever existed, and that any other order, irrelevant to the situation, was only brought long after the arrest, the two American nationals are suspected of:
- Violation of lawful directive (article 287 of the Israeli Penal Law)
- Entering a closed area, article 125 of the Defense Emergency Regulations.
- Obstruction of a public servant (soldier), article 288(a) of the Israeli Penal Law.
- Identification with or support of a terrorist organization, article24(a) of the Israeli Terror Prevention Act. This allegation revolves around them having allegedly participated at a demonstration in Ramallah.
Following an interrogation at the Central Unit, Chung and Schor were taken for a deportation hearing at the Israeli Ministry of the Interior, where the motion to revoke their staying permit is reviewed and accepted, resulting in their effective deportation. They were released – without a valid visa – with a ban from entering the West Bank and on the condition that they independently leave within the coming days.
Background
The arrest and pending deportation are another escalation in the Israeli attempt to suppress International solidarity over recent weeks, which is part of the assault on Palestinian ability to resist Israeli colonialism.
On October 2, two German nationals were arrested in the village of Tuwani in Masafer Yatta, while accompanying local community leader Hafez Huraini in his garden, which is undisputed private Palestinian land, recognized as such by Israeli authorities. They were held under detention for five days, partly because it was during Jewish New Year, and were questioned three separate times while in detention.
They, like all the following cases, were questioned by the Shai (West Bank) Central Unit of the Israeli police, which is highly unusual for such cases.
In court, it was said by the police that the alleged suspicions against them were:
- Membership in a prohibited association (an article of law that was actually removed from the Israeli penal code and replaced by the article of membership in a terrorist organization in the Israeli anti-terrorism law. They weren’t suspected of that), for being associated with ISM. The records do not show that ISM was declared a prohibited association.
- Identification with or support of a terrorist organization (article24(a) of the Israeli Terror Prevention Act). We aren’t clear exactly what this is about. The file remains secret until an indictment is filed, which didn’t happen, and they weren’t asked about anything specific that could help us understand what the story is.
- Obstruction of a police officer (Article 275 of the Israeli Penal Code), for not handing over his passport quick enough
After five days in detention, they were offered to be released on the condition they will agree to be driven to the Allenby Bridge and cross to Jordan, which they accepted and never charged or officially deported.
On the evening of October 8, 2024, three Israeli citizens and American journalist Jeremy Loffredo were stopped at the Israeli checkpoint between Burin and Nablus. They were detained there for several hours, then taken to an undisclosed military base, and from there to the offices of the Shai (West Bank) Central Unit of the Israeli Police in E1 near Maaleh Adumin.
One of the Israelis was questioned for trying to enter Area A and the two others were released without even being questioned. Loffredo, however, was questioned for assisting an enemy in war (article 99 of the Israeli Penal law), which is one of the most grievous in Israeli law, and one of very few offenses punishable by death. The suspicion was in regarads to this video, citing publicly available information about missile hit locations in a YouTube video: https://youtu.be/nu0zptW49eM?si=AcFumI7_AcixQPzd
He was brought to court the following day, where the police asked to extend his arrest by seven days in order to continue the investigation. The judge only partially accepted the request, extending his detention by only 24 hours. He was eventually released without being deported at the end of these 24 hours, after an Israeli journalist testified that the Israeli military censor allowed him to publish the video in question as part of the report on the arrest.
On October 10, a 78 years old American veteran, was arrested in al-Tuwani, at the exact same place the Germans were detained at.
He was questioned for:
- Obstruction of a police officer (Article 275 of the Israeli Penal Code), for not handing over his passport quick enough.
- Disturbing the peace (Article 141(1)(b) of the Israeli Penal Code), for allegedly staging provocations.
- Supporting BDS (Article 2(d) of the Entry to Israel Law. This isn't a criminal offense, but is grounds for deportation).
Once questioning was over, he was offered to be released on the condition he will agree to be driven to the Allenby Bridge and cross to Jordan, which he accepted and was never charged or officially deported.
On October 11, Israeli and international activists joined the farmers from the village of Duma, south-east of Nablus, for olive harvest near the Alon Road. After several hours, Israeli forces tried to force harvesters away from their lands by claiming the area is a closed military zone. They initially showed an order for the previous day, and then another one for a different area.
After activists confronted them with the fact that both orders in their possession are not relevant to the time and area at question, the soldiers claimed it is forbidden to pick olives anywhere in Area C - some 60% of the West Bank - without prior coordination and started forcing people away from their lands.
At about 20:00 of that day, Israeli authorities carried out a raid on the international house in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus. It was carried out at gunpoint by a heavily armed force of both soldiers and police .
The raid was led by the military officer who commanded the force that expelled harvesters in Duma in the morning. During the raid, he pointed out people to the police, saying he recognized them from earlier in the day.
The police had broken into the house by destroying the door using a pneumatic hammer and carried out a search of the premises without a search warrant, as well as of the car of a Palestinian resident of Qusra who was there at the time.
Israeli law and police regulations only allow for police to require identification on the basis of suspicion of having broken the law, or for several specific reasons, which must be stated to those identified. The police had refused to state their grounds for either the search or identification, even declaring before they left that "You have done nothing wrong, we were only here to see who you are." The relevant police procedure can be found here (Hebrew). The relevant articles are 4 and 5(2).
On October 12, Palestinian farmers were told by that Palestinian DCO in Nablus that the Israeli Civil Administration informed them that the army will require harvesters to coordinate access to their lands with the army ahead of time anywhere internationals will be present, even in areas that did not previously require it. This is an attempt to require Palestinians to face settler violence and prevent any criticism of the Israeli systemic inaction against it.
On October 14, two American nationals have been arrested by Israeli forces in al-Tuwani, Masafer Yatta, again, at the exact same place. They too have been taken to the Israeli Shai (West Bank) Police's Central Unit. They were questioned for obstruction of a public servant (Article 161(1) of the Israeli Penal Code), but we aren’t really sure what for, cause they immediately handed over their passports when asked to.
Following their questioning they were offered to be released on the condition he will agree to be driven to the Allenby Bridge and cross to Jordan, but declined to cooperate. They were then released on the condition that they do not enter the West Bank for 15 days.
