RAMALLAH: Spain has joined France, Britain, Canada, and the United States in imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank due to acts of terrorism against Palestinians. Meanwhile, discussions are underway within the European Union to make similar decisions in the near future.
On February 2, the U.S. administration imposed sanctions on four Israeli settlers, followed by Canada imposing sanctions on another four, and two weeks later, Britain imposed sanctions on four more settlers. Subsequently, France barred 28 settlers from entering its territory. Last Thursday, Spain announced sanctions on 12 Israeli settlers in the first batch due to their attacks on Palestinians.
Observers consider these sanctions a precedent, the first of its kind, coming after a remarkable rise in settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. However, questions have arisen about the impact of these measures on the settlers’ behavior and whether they will deter their assaults.
To the east of the city of Nablus, in the Al
-Atmawiya area of the Central Jordan Valley, it seems that the echo of these sanctions has not reached settler Moshe Sharvit yet. His name was included among the four settlers on the British sanctions list for threatening, harassing, and attacking Palestinian shepherds and their families in the Jordan Valley.
In October 2023, Sharvit forced a community of 20 Palestinian families to evacuate after assaulting them and giving them a 5-hour ultimatum to leave, according to the British Foreign Ministry.
Yacob Abu Kabash, one of the 60 Palestinians living in the community, tells WAFA that Sharvit, whose attacks were limited to expelling shepherds and assaulting them before the sanctions, has escalated his attacks noticeably and criminally.
“Today, we cannot reach pastures just 20 meters away from our tents. Sharvit closed all pastures to us. Every day, he and his gangs enter the gathering with hilltop youth riding horses from 9 am to noon, engaging in violence against the residents,” adds Abu Kabash.
He points
out that over the past week, Sharvit’s attacks and his colonial gangs against the community’s residents have escalated. Not a single night passes without their raids on the gathering and directly launching illumination bombs towards the tented homes with the intention of burning them.
Abu Kabash emphasizes, “We can’t do anything. For seventy years, we’ve been living in this community, and what’s happening in the Jordan Valley is very dangerous, a confiscation of lands and closure of pastures. The goal is to force us to leave and look for other places. There must be urgent international and local action to stop what is happening in the Jordan Valley.”
Sharvit, listed for sanctions, established a farming center named Moshav Moshe in 2020 in the Central Jordan Valley. He faced charges of committing two attacks against Bedouin communities in the region, preventing Palestinian shepherds from herding their livestock, according to the settlement affairs official in Tubas and the Northern Jordan Valley, Mutaz Bisha
rat.
Daniella Weiss, a veteran settler leader, holds an Israeli flag during a scouting mission to find new hilltops to settle near the Israeli settlement of Kokhav Hashahar, in the occupied West Bank (6 November 2022)
Sharvit and his associates from the settlers of Moshav Moshe are accused of carrying out stone-throwing operations, threatening with stabbing, beating, and burning, threatening with dogs, driving vehicles into herds, nightly raids on shepherd communities, and carrying out attacks against human rights activists accompanying the shepherds.
Bisharat says that settler Sharvit erected tents with his family in the colonial center when it was established, gradually turning the tents into ready-made rooms. He expanded after joining hilltop youth gangs and the Regavim organization, with unlimited support from the settlers’ council and members of the Knesset and the far-right government. Eventually, he took control of 12,000 dunums, preventing Palestinians from entering and grazing their livestock.
He
notes that four citizens were injured in Sharvit’s attacks on Palestinian shepherds, three of them after the war on Gaza. Also, 13 sheep were attacked.
Sharvit and his gangs carry out 4-5 attacks on Palestinian farmers in the area daily, ranging from attacks on shepherds to nighttime invasions of citizens’ homes,” confirms Bisharat.
He points out that the attacks intensified after the British sanctions were imposed on Sharvit. Since October 7th, 138 attacks have been carried out, including 46 attacks after sanctions were imposed, especially after receiving support from members of the Israeli Knesset and the head of the settlers’ council. They openly expressed that the sanctions were insignificant and would not affect their plans. They encouraged him to continue his attacks.
In the northern Jordan Valley, settlers from the colonial gangs, numbering about 300 settlers aged between 15-21, established six new centers. They committed severe violations and attacks against Palestinian residents, closed the area t
o Palestinians, estimated at 85,000 dunams, took control of most springs, renovated and fenced them, turning them into tourist parks off-limits to Palestinians.
An article by independent journalist Zack Beauchamp in The Guardian describes the imposition of U.S., British, French, and Spanish sanctions on over 30 Israeli settlers for committing violence and incitement against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as a historic step.
However, the writer believes that these sanctions on a few settlers will not solve the fundamental problem, as they are part of a long-term systematic policy of the Israeli government aiming to expel Palestinians from their lands to expand settlements. He describes it as a flawed policy that only produces corrupt individuals.
Amir Dawood, the documentation director at the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority, believes that the American, British, French, and Spanish positions imposing sanctions on settlers are important and unprecedented. He sees potential for accumulation an
d future investment in these decisions, confirming that this is the first time such resolutions have been taken.
He explains that the sanctions targeted 47 settlers involved in serious attacks and violations against Palestinians. Although a small number, he considers this a decision that can be invested in. However, the authority estimates that more than 20,000 settlers have committed crimes against Palestinian communities.
Dawood confirms that settler attacks, especially those subjected to sanctions, have escalated after their imposition. This is a clear challenge to the world under an extreme right-wing government protective of colonial projects and settlers. It also emphasizes to the world that sanctions will not deter the audacity of the settlers.
Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA