Ma'amun 'As'us, son of olive harvester, age 26

I live with my brothers, the youngest of whom is twelve years old, in our parents home in Burin. I earn NIS 940 a month. Two of my brothers are students, but one had to stop because my father could no longer pay for his studies. My father is the primary bread winner in the family. He farms thirty dunam [7.5 acres] of his own land, and he also earns money plowing land for other farmers with his own tractor. Fifteen dunam of our land lie adjacent to the Yizhar settlement, seven dunam of which are olive groves, and the rest are used to grow wheat and barley. Twelve dunam of our land lie adjacent to Hawara, and three dunam are next to Burin. All these parcels of land are olive groves.

The last time that my father went to his field next to Yizhar, was two years ago, when he and other farmers were attacked by settlers. My father was beaten in the head with a metal pipe. As a result, he was taken to the hospital, where he required ten stitches to close the wounds. Since then, nobody in my family has dared go to that field.

If this situation continues, much of our income from olive picking, which is our main source of livelihood, will be lost. The money that my father makes from plowing other farmers' lands - NIS 50 a day - is not sufficient to pay for my brothers' education and to support our family.

Ma'amun Yusef 'Abd al-'Azur 'As'us, age 26, is single, and an employee of the Civil Defense office in Burin. He is a resident of Burin. The testimony was taken by Raslan Mahagna in Burin on 9 October 2002.