Itamar (Israeli settlement): Difference between revisions

For other uses, see Ithamar.

Itamar Template:Hebrew
Country	Israel
Council	Shomron
Region	West Bank
Founded	1984
Founded by	Amana
Population  (2009)	1,032

Itamar (Template:Lang-he-n) is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank's Samarian mountains five kilometers southeast of Nablus. The predominantly Orthodox Jewish community with a population of 1,032 (2009) is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. Under the terms of the Oslo Accords of 1993 between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, Itamar was designated Area "C" under full Israeli civil and security control.

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this. The settlement has several outposts and covers a total area of approximately 7,000 dunams of land.

Itamar's residents have been the target of several lethal attacks by Palestinian militants. HRW reports an extensive number of violent acts by settlers from Itamar and its outposts against local Palestinians. The Yitzhar settlement is reported to be particularly active in instigating price tag attacks.

History

The settlement was established in 1984 by several families from the Machon Meir Yeshiva in Jerusalem with the assistance of Gush Emunim's settlement organization Amana. Originally named Tel Chaim, commemorating Chaim Landau, it was later named for Ithamar, the youngest son of Biblical figure Aaron (Exodus 28:1). Tradition places the burial place of Ithamar in the nearby Palestinian village Awarta.

The settlement of Itamar, not including the outposts, grew from a population of less than 300 in 1995 to 785 in 2008, and reached a population of over 1,000 in 2009, predominantly Orthodox - most of them newly religious - Jewish settlers. According to Itamar's community secretariat, the community's absorption rate doubled following the March 2011 Fogel family massacre. This level of growth, a full 100 percent increase, is unprecedented in Itamar. Locals state that low property prices account for part of the attraction, with a three-bedroom Itamar house priced around £75,000, compared to roughly £375,000 in Jerusalem. Additionally, in February 2013, it was reported that at least 34 babies had been named for members of the Fogel family.

Geography

Samarian hills, 2011

Itamar is situated east of the Israel-Westbank separation barrier, 28 kilometers from the Green line in the region known as "Gav Hahar" (Hump of the Mountain). Its municipal boundaries extend in a south-east diagonal over an area of some 7,000 dunam including several outposts, the furthest of which is about eight kilometers from Itamar. Itamar and its outposts partly encircled the small Palestinian village of Yanun, and block the development of the Palestinian town of Beit Furik, according to a report by Israeli human rights organization B'tselem.

In the 1990s, Itamar annexed the surrounding hills, establishing the outposts The Point in 1996, Hill 836, Hill 851 and Giv'ot Olam in 1998, Hill 777 and Hill 782 in 1999, and in 2002 Itamar North. Five of these outposts were approved by former prime minister Ehud Barak in 2000. At the time, a master plan gave the settlement a total area of some 6,000 dunams. A 2007 report by the left-wing organization Peace Now wrote that it was probable that up to 45 percent of the 4,780 dunams of land Itamar proper sits on is privately owned by Palestinians, though in the data provided by the Civil Administration "there is no mention of whether the private land is owned by Palestinians or by Jews privately owned".

In addition to Itamar, three other Jewish communities are located in the Harey Kadem mountains: Yitzhar, Har Bracha, and Elon Moreh.

Leah Goldsmith, the wife of Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith, wrote about the town:

It is hill country, tremendously big, picturesque and mysterious, varied with long and wide valleys who resemble a mosaic coat of many colors ranging from pea to deep jade greens and chestnut browns in the winter and spring months. In the summertime the colors are dry, like the colors of Rebecca's jug, in which she served Eliezer and the camels in Babylon.

There are springs and wells in the hills. The bounty stemming from the blessing given to Joseph…."The blessings of the father are potent above the blessings of my progenitors to the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills"(Vayechi 49). The tribunal portions of Ephraim and Menashe, the sons of Joseph run across these highlands. In every direction that one looks, the views are emanated with authentic biblical greatness and Jewish nobility. This is the chief feature of the landscape, of your life in it, and you are struck by the feeling of having lived here in the past.

Economy

Itamar was among the settlements which were designated a "national priority zone" in December 2009, and is entitled to an average of NIS 1,000 per person per year in subsidies in addition to the ordinary settlement subsidies.

There are several businesses in the settlement, and many of the residents grow organic crops and raise sheep and goats; larger farms produce a range of further products, such as cheese and olive oil. According to local residents, 80% of Israel's domestically sold organic eggs are produced at Itamar's chicken farm. Other businesses include a yogurt and cheese factory; a small perfume factory; a stained glass workshop; and a hothouses for the vegetables. Itamar also has programs for the learning disabled and the physically disabled.

Education

Avichai Rontzki founded Hesder yeshiva

Itamar's educational system includes kindergarten, elementary school for boys and girls, and several institutions of secondary education and higher learning which attract Jewish students from the entire region. Among them are a Talmud Torah for boys, the Be'er Miriam Talmud Torah for girls, the Hitzim yeshiva high school for boys, co-founded by Rabbi Moshe Goldsmith who also serves as mayor of Itamar, and the Itamar Hesder yeshiva founded by Rabbi Brigadier General Avichai Ronsky, IDF Chief Rabbi from 2006 till 2010. As of 2011, the Hesder yeshiva has over 170 full-time students.

In April 2012, female students from Bnei Akiva’s branch wrote dozens of letters in support to the students of Otzar Hatorah school in Toulouse, France, where three young children and a teacher were killed in a terrorist attack in March. Emunah Zeitoun of Bnei Akiva is reported as saying that the children of Itamar, having experienced a number of murderous attacks over the years, could strengthen and identify with the children of Toulouse.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Itamar and its residents have repeatedly been the target of murderous attacks by Palestinian terrorists, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), human rights organisations and media report an extensive number of violent acts by Itamar settlers against local Palestinians. HaYovel, a non-profit organization based in the United States, reports that Israeli farmers "suffer incessant and cruel systematic harassment" from the Arab population, and B'Tselem also criticises that "Israeli authorities have been delinquent in enforcing the law on the offenders."

Israeli victims

Residents of Itamar who were killed in attacks outside the settlement include Gilad Zar (41), Meir Lixenberg (38), Matan Zagron (22), and Eliyahu Asheri (18). Zar, the son of settlement leader Moshe Zar and one of Itamar's founders who worked as security officer of the Shomron Regional Council, was shot dead in an ambush by Palestinian militants in May 2001 while driving in the West Bank between Kedumim and Yitzhar. Lixenberg was shot and killed in a roadside ambush between Har Bracha and Itamar while returning home from work on 27 August 2001. Zagron was killed by a suicide bomber on 27 October 2002 in Ariel along with two other Israelis. Asheri, a high school student, was kidnapped by Palestinian Tanzim militants in June 2006 while on his way from Beitar Illit to Neveh Tzuf, northwest of Ramallah, and murdered while in captivity. His body was later found in an open field.

Rabbi Binyamin Herling (64), a Holocaust survivor, was killed near Itamar on 19 October 2000 when Fatah and Palestinian security forces opened fire on a large group of men, women, and children as they were going to see the remains of Joshua’s altar on Mount Ebal. Arieh Arnaldo Leon Agranionic (48) was shot and killed at close range on 8 May 2001 while defending Itamar.

The victims of the March 2011 attack. (Clockwise, from top left:) Ruth Fogel (35), Udi Fogel (36), Hadas (3 months), Yoav (11), Elad (4)

A number of infiltrations into Itamar have also resulted in deaths. In May 2002, a Palestinian gunman shot and killed two students playing basketball outside of the Hitzim yeshiva high school. He then entered the yeshiva and shot three more teenagers, one of whom died from his wounds, before being shot by one of the teachers. The victims were Netanel Riachi (17), Gilad Stiglitz (14), and Avraham Siton (17).

Less than a month later, two Palestinian militants broke into the home of the Shabo family and opened fire, killing Rachel Shabo (40) and three of her children, Neria (15), Zvika (12), and Avishai (5). Two other children, Asahel (10) and Avia (13), were shot and severely wounded. Yosef Twito (31), father of five, who served as commander of the neighborhood preparedness team, was also shot to death in the attack, as he approached the family's home to help. Another eight Israelis were injured when soldiers stormed the house to rescue trapped civilians. Ambulances carrying the wounded were delayed by roadblocks and pelted with stones. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the attack. Twitos successor, Shlomo Miller (50), was killed in August 2004 by a Palestinian identified as a member of the preventive security forces of the Palestinian Authority.

In July 2002, an armed Palestinian broke into the home of David (44) and Orna Mimran (40), stabbing both of them. He also stabbed the empty beds of their eight children, who were away visiting their grandparents. They fought back and survived the attack, and an army officer killed the terrorist. David Mimran suffered sixteen stab wounds.

In a terrorist attack on March 2011 five members of the Fogel family were stabbed to death in their sleep: Udi Fogel (36), Ruth Fogel (35), and their children Yoav (11), Elad (4), and Hadas (3 months). According to multiple sources, the infant was decapitated. The bodies were found by Udi and Ruth's twelve-year-old daughter, Tamar. Two young Palestinian men, Amjad Awad and Hakim Awad, from the village of Awarta were arrested in April and proudly confessed to the murder, reenacted it before the security officials, and expressed no remorse. They were both convicted of five counts of murder and sentenced to five consecutive life sentences. They were also convicted for weapons-related and other security offenses. The attack has been called a massacre by various reports. In February 2012, more than 1,000 members of the Likud party visited Itamar and planted 1,500 trees in memory of the victims of the Fogel family massacre as part of annual Tu Bishvat festivities throughout Israel.

Funeral for victims in Givat Shaul

Dozens of women and children from Itamar protested in October 2011 when Palestinians from Awarta were allowed to harvest olives within their security zone, as they said they were not informed prior and relatives of the murderers of the Fogel family were among the harvesters. According to the Shomron Residents Committee, Palestinian harvesters taunted the surviving Fogel children, threw rocks at Itamar residents, yelling “We will turn you into Fogels” and other threats. Tamar Fogel joined the protestors. Gershon Mesika, the head of the Shomron Regional Council, called the incident "total insensitivity" and further said, “To bring in Arabs from the Awad family six months after the murder in Itamar to harvest olives in the community is first-rate irresponsibility. I want to remind that only a year ago, the murderer Hakim Awad was among the olive harvesters and collected information that later assisted him in carrying out the terror attack. The olive harvest was done without coordinating with me, without coordinating with anyone.” According to the Itamar settlers, "In previous years, the yeshiva students had harvested the olives and transferred them to Awarta free of charge".

Several Jewish holy sites and tombstones have reportedly been desecrated, and worshippers have noted that according to agreements, it is the Palestinian Authority's responsibility to safeguard the holy places. In September 2000, Palestinians targeted the site of Joseph's Tomb, burning the yeshiva to the ground, incinerating its books and painting the dome green, the color of Islam. The tomb was handed over to the PNA on 8 October 2000 after Border Police Cpl. Madhat Yusuf (19) died of gunshot wounds sustained in a gun battle at the site. It was pillaged and torched by Palestinians hours after its evacuation. The next morning, the bullet-riddled body of rabbi Hillel Lieberman (36), a cousin of Senator Joseph Lieberman, was found on the outskirts of Nablus, where he had gone to check damage to the tomb. On 1 February 2012, the Tomb of Eleazar was found spray-painted with abusive slogans in Arabic praising the perpetrators of the Fogel family massacre. The vandalism was discovered by over 500 Jewish worshippers and their IDF escorts during a pilgrimage to the site. Soldiers and worshippers then covered the tomb with white paint to mask the graffiti.

Violence against Jewish shepherds has also been reported. In December 2011, an agricultural area in Itamar was infiltrated by Arabs from the village of Aqraba, who came armed with stones, sticks, metal bars, and other items. They attacked a group of shepherds grazing a flock of sheep, injuring several of them, and threatened to come back later with guns. The infiltrators also attacked IDF soldiers who came to the shepherds' aid. Two attackers were arrested. In April 2012, two residents of Itamar were injured after being attacked while herding sheep on Hill 777, a nearby outpost. According to their account, a group of Palestinians threw rocks at them and beat them with clubs. One of the victims was Matan Fogel, the younger brother of Udi Fogel. This was the second incident to occur in the same week, after Palestinians began farming in Harish, a restricted area.

Palestinian victims

The IDF prohibit Palestinian farmers from working at their fields close to the settlement and are required to protect them during the olive harvest. However, residents of Itamar and its outposts have been reported harassing local Palestinians, damaging their property and obstructing their access to land, particularly during the olive harvest. They have reportedly stolen olives, prevented Palestinian farmers from reaching their land, even when accompanied by international activists, shot at farmers picking their olives, or grazing their animals. It is alleged that they have set fire to hundreds of olive trees and thousands of dunam of cultivated land belonging to local Palestinians. The small village of Yanun, which is flanked by the settlement's outposts, particularly suffered from constant harassment, which caused the villagers to abandon their village in October 2002 and move to the larger nearby village of Aqraba.

In some cases, the violence has resulted in death. Among the victims are Farid Musa Issa Nasasrah (28) from Beit Furik and Hani Bani Maniya (22) from Aqraba. Nasasrah died of a gunshot wound shortly after arriving at the hospital in Nablus in October 2000. Three others were also injured. Two Itamar residents who were suspected to be responsible for the killing were arrested and released after five days for insufficient evidence. Maniya was killed and two others were wounded in a similar incident in October 2002, while harvesting olives near the village of Aqraba. In September 2004, Itamar resident Yehoshua Elitzur shot and killed Sa'il Mustafa Ahmad Jabarah (46), a Palestinian Taxi driver from Salem, near the Itamar junction. Elitzur was convicted of manslaughter, was released to house arrest, did not show up in court for his verdict and disappeared.

2012 Lawsuit

In March 2012, Itamar sued Haaretz reporter Neri Livneh for describing the town as “a settlement populated by particularly violent people,” and claiming that “someone there commits murder roughly once every two years.” Livneh accused two residents of murder, Gadi Tene and Yaron Degani. Neither Tene nor Degani has ever been accused or indicted for murder, manslaughter, assault or any similar crime. Itamar is suing for 200,000 shekels in damages. Benny Katzover, head of the Samaria Residents Council, remarked, “The Samaria Residents Council will take legal action against any journalist who allows himself to lie and to slander residents of Judea and Samaria. The time in which journalists felt free to disparage Jews in Judea and Samaria and to set them up as legitimate targets for murder has ended.”

In November of that same year, registrar Uri Poni of the Jerusalem Magistrates Court ruled in Itamar's favor and ordered Livneh to pay 225,000 shekels to the community in addition to attorney and court costs. This ruling was reportedly reached after Livneh ignored repeated requests for an apology by Itamar residents.

See also

• Itamar attack (2002)
• Itamar massacre

External links

• Unofficial website
• Amidst political strife and a firing range on the West Bank, the Zimmermans farm, market, and sanctify the land
• Friends of Itamar
• Breaking the Law in the West Bank – One Violation Leads to Another: Israeli Settlement Building on Private Palestinian Property. A Report of Peace Now's Settlement Watch Team, October 2006
• Friends of ITAMAR - Gem of the Hills