Testimonies

Kafa Shatiwi, 38

I live in the village of Kadum and am married to the head of the village council. We have a plot of land in Udla, about two kilometers southeast of the village and one and a half kilometers west of the Qedumim settlement. Settlers put up tents close to our plot, which lies next to Route 55. During the olive harvest, foreign activists usually join us, helping us pick and protecting us when necessary.

This morning [Monday, 20 October], I went with three activists from Britain to the plot. We traveled by taxi, going along Route 55, to a place not far from the plot, from where we intended to walk to the olive grove. It was 7:30.
A settler stood two meters away from us. When he saw the taxi was slowing down to stop, he whistled and shouted something in Hebrew. Within a minute, many unarmed settlers, aged 20-40, appeared. Most were wearing black plants and white shirts and had skullcaps on their head. They came from the direction of the hill on which they had set up their tent, about two hundred meters from where we stopped.

The settler tent encampment near Kfar Qadum. Photo: Ra'aed Moqdi, B'Tselem, 7 Sept. 2008.

The settlers came toward us. To protect ourselves, we remained inside the car. I didn't see any policemen or soldiers in the area. They surrounded the taxi and we had no choice but to get out. When we  got out, the settlers shouted and swore at us and kicked the vehicle. They made threatening motions with their hands. I felt that we will be in danger if we don't leave.

The three foreign activists tried to convince the settlers to stop, but the settlers surrounded them, swore at them, and pushed them. The settlers forced me to get into the taxi, and the driver told me that if he didn't leave, they would torch the vehicle. I asked him not to go so as not to leave the activists in the hands of the settlers. Some settlers kicked the taxi and others tried to prevent the activists from getting in.

After the activists managed to get into the taxi, we drove away. After we had gone about two hundred meters, the taxi stopped and the three activists and I got out. The taxi continued on its way. I called my husband and told him what happened. He immediately called the Palestinian coordination and liaison office, which called the Qedumim police.

Around 9:30, a large contingent of soldiers and police arrived. They declared the area a closed military area and didn't let the foreign activists help us, primarily in areas close to the settlers' tents. The settlers could move about wherever they wanted. The soldiers said it was a Jewish holiday and they didn't want problems during the holidays.

We went and picked olives in a different area.

Kafa 'Abd al-Karim Hamed Shatiwi, 38, married with nine children, is a homemaker and a resident of Kfar Qadum in Qalqiliya District. Her testimony was given to Ra'aed Moqdi on 20 October 2008 in the olive orchard.