Hashmonaim Settlers Complaining Inconveniences Resulting From NI’LIN Protests

After 1967 Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, illegal settlements were built on Ni’lin village lands. Furthermore, constructions of the Wall on the western side of the village and a military base on the southern side have confiscated further 2500 dunums of land.

Since the Wall was built up, Ni’lin villagers have started organising and participating (together with international and Israeli activists) a non-violent protest, marching every Friday. Every Friday Israeli Army tries to stop the march, raining down tear gas canisters and rubber bullets on protestors. In the last year, use of stinking liquid has became very usual, in order to force activists to disperse.

Now illegal settlers are complaining of being shut in their houses because of the smell outside.

As Na’alin protests fence, Hashmonaim residents hide

By Liel Kyzer

At about noon on Friday, at the village of Na’alin a demonstration begins against the separation fence, which signals to the residents of Hashmonaim, a community several hundred meters away, that it is time to close the blinds and windows and stay inside.

Nearly six months have passed since several dozens protesters against the fence have began to regularly demonstrate in the area, and the Israel Defense Forces and Border Police who arrive to contain the demonstration use a variety of means to disperse the crowd. The means, including tear gas and a sprayed substance that covers the demonstrators with a terrible smell, helps disperse the demonstrations, but they also disrupt the routine of the people in nearby Hashmonaim. "This was a quiet place, a nice place to live," said Osnat Gilad, a resident of Hashmonaim, near Modi’in Ilit, for the past decade, "but since the trouble started everything changed."

She says that "on Fridays, midday, it is impossible to go outside, you just cannot breathe." She lives at the edge of the community, very close to the fence. "If you want to go out and enjoy the garden on Friday afternoon, it is simply impossible because of the strong smell outside," she said. "At first, when the demonstrations began and the army began using the foul smelling stuff, we were sure that the neighbor is using fertilizer for the lawn, but we understood later that it came from the direction of the fence. Our relations with the residents of Na’alin are very good and we’ve hired them to work here for years, and suddenly we found ourselves living on the border." About 500 families live in the religious community, and on Friday evening several dozen people walk to prayers at the local synagogue, as the tear gas and the smell still lingers in the air.

"Last week, the son of the neighbors came over in panic and said that his eyes were burning," said Tamar Roth, whose home is also close to the fence. "I washed his face with lots of water and tried to calm him down but it is not an easy thing." "There are stink bombs and the smell is just sickening, and we are closed in the house and dare not go outside because it takes several hours for the smell to pass, and during Sukkot we were afraid we would not be able to sit in the sukkah because of the frightful smell," Roth said. "The IDF is taking action in order to secure the fence with a broad mix of crowd dispersal means whose purpose is to minimize harm to those involved in the disruption of order in the area of Na’alin," the IDF Spokesman said.