Zionist Israel represents another facet of the occupation, the "Jewish shepherds" trying to usurp Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank in favor of Jewish occupation projects. Jewish shepherds use and destroy Palestinian fields as pasture for their sheep in order to control as much land in the region as possible.
In Sinjil, north of the city of Ramallah, a Jewish settler herder uses Palestinian fields as pasture for his sheep to control as much land as possible in the area. The Jewish invader, who has thirty sheep, is destroying fields belonging to Palestinian farmers with olive and apricot trees. Land-owning Palestinians say the “settler herdsman” is the new face of the “occupation” in the West Bank, where Jewish occupation units are threatened daily. The shepherd wanders around the fields in the town, which has a population of about 6,000 and is surrounded by 5 Jewish occupation units from west to east, has a gun and receives support from Israeli soldiers and Jewish occupation units. In the summer months of last year, when the shepherd started to be seen, there were clashes with the Israeli army and Jewish invaders in the region. This prompted the shepherd to settle in an area near the military camp.
SAME TACTIC IS APPLIED IN MANY REGIONS
The residents of Sincil have approximately 16 thousand acres of land. So far, 3,000 acres of these have been seized or threatened with confiscation in favor of Israeli occupation units. The story of the "invading shepherd" is repeated in many parts of the occupied West Bank.
Generally, Israel provides security protection to the shepherds in question, while the Jewish Occupation Council provides grazing animals, electricity generators, mobile homes, and many other services that threaten Palestinian agriculture.
WE ARE FACED WITH A NEW THREAT
Palestinian farmer Hussam Ayide (67), who has been working in olive fields for years, stated that they are trying to protect the remaining lands of the town from being seized and usurped by the invaders. On the one hand, Ayide clears the weeds in his field, "We are faced with a new threat from the Jewish settler shepherd trying to take control of this land," he said.
Stating that years ago, settlers took control of his approximately 38-decare land and hopes to get his land back through the judiciary, Ayide said that the shepherd in question entered his field several times under the protection of Israeli soldiers and tried to expel him from there, but was unsuccessful. According to Palestinian farmers, "invader shepherds" live in tents and prefabricated houses on land near an Israeli military camp in Sinjil territory and are often visited by Israeli tourists and delegations.
Sincil Mayor Mutez Tawafsha stated that the town is surrounded by an Israeli military camp and five Jewish occupation units stretching from east to west.
Noting that the shepherds are supported by the Israel Settlement Council, which provides protection to him, Tavafsha pointed out that the official duty of the shepherds is to create a water tank and a makeshift house in the first place, and then a settlement outpost.