Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:01As you can see, it is now destroyed.
00:00:04of Michigan from
00:00:05to win them and control
00:00:07I mean, this
00:00:07simple caravans, but over
00:00:25as an elected member
00:00:26new history being written in
00:00:29voter does not
00:00:36and the Palestinian issue, will this
00:00:37meetings that of the Democratic candidate, a supporter of the Palestinian cause, Abdullah
00:00:40Al-Sayyed, in the primary elections for the US Senate
00:00:47In the past, Party candidate for the for the state of Michigan was a remarkable event in the American
00:00:49students did not political scene. This event has implications
00:00:51that transcend the state's borders amid discussions within the party about
00:00:54the necessity of changing the American view towards the Palestinian
00:00:58Well, can this victory reflect cause and towards changing American policies
00:01:01with Palestinians in light of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. This
00:01:05victory caused a great stir in the American
00:01:08street amid ongoing discussions about the Palestinian
00:01:12is that the strong turnout in cause. I turn to
00:01:16level, on the psychological to win this state in in the my guest from the state of Iowa, Dr. John Dabit, member of the Central
00:01:20Committee of the American
00:01:36to achieve the desired victory remarkable in the American
00:01:40of this political context? The settlers were passing What makes this victory a historic victory,
00:01:44even, and not just remarkable,
00:01:46facts on the ground. is that for the
00:01:50has been built and confiscated in first time
00:01:54I went home. I went to I mean, confront the Republican Party a candidate of Arab origin has been elected
00:01:56Qadum and told them, "Either you tell me this or won to the US Senate in the primary
00:01:59elections. This candidate,
00:02:02Dr. Abdullah Al-Sayyed,
00:02:05will
00:02:09After the third day, the officer came in run in the midterm elections in November
00:02:10the car to against the Republican
00:02:13Party candidate. If he succeeds in these
00:02:15elections, he will become the first Arab
00:02:18and Muslim
00:02:21to, I mean, invest in this in the US Senate. Therefore, we say that these
00:02:25elections led to making history
00:02:28that we have not witnessed before in the United
00:02:35a change in the mood of the Democratic voter, or is
00:02:39it a special case for the state of Michigan?
00:02:42I do not think that there is a change in general in
00:02:45the mood of the American voter because
00:02:48all studies
00:02:51to control and statistics within the Democratic Party tell us that
00:02:56States, mostly the popular base of the Democratic Party, especially among the youth
00:03:00category, has become much more inclined
00:03:03to
00:03:06the Liaison Office, the Wall Authority, support
00:03:085 million dollars in the Palestinian cause and to support the Palestinian cause
00:03:11and the Palestinian people in their suffering from the genocide war
00:03:15that,
00:03:17Doctor, what is the impact of this I mean, is still happening daily and we see it on
00:03:20television and other media.
00:03:23And therefore,
00:03:25community and friends, this change and this transformation shift in the American also had several reasons
00:03:29for Dr. Abdullah Al-Sayyed's
00:03:32success in these
00:03:35gaps through this primary elections in the state
00:03:39the village and they have their papers of Michigan. And even obtain a majority the Zionist lobby
00:03:42AIPAC did not pay
00:03:45with these exorbitant sums
00:03:49that,
00:03:51aspect is that we must work I mean, were more than 60 million dollars, which they put in these
00:03:54primary elections specifically
00:03:57to bring him down, and they failed.
00:04:03Bank settlements, the settlements established on a vote on an item in And that is why
00:04:08how can this victory be interpreted Dr. Abdullah's response to them we, I mean, initiated an analysis of what happened and what brought about this result,
00:04:11and we found that there were factors that led
00:04:14to Dr. Abdullah's success. One of them is that Dr.
00:04:20during the last 103 members of Abdullah mobilized a large number of the popular
00:04:22the Zionist lobby in base in the state of Michigan. I mean, we know that
00:04:25AIPAC
00:04:28at the same time. And that's why, I mean, and the Central Committee. Will this spent 11 to 1 financially
00:04:31daily. Yes. If this against him.
00:04:34So this is a big change that we see So he shifted from the financial factor to the popular
00:04:36mobilization factor, meaning
00:04:39especially those of us who that he, I mean, had tens of thousands
00:04:42of people helping him run in these elections
00:04:47the most prominent features of this and succeed in them.
00:04:48also, I mean, in I mean, they made,
00:04:50in order to win according to our statistics, more than
00:04:56the bypass road, and the occupation We want to bring in a million phone calls with American voters in the state of Michigan. They visited more than 2,000
00:05:00thousand homes and spoke
00:05:03in the with them. I mean, they organized more than 500 events
00:05:05in various parts of the state of Michigan.
00:05:09But in the end, the major factor that
00:05:13mobilized all these efforts was
00:05:16his clear stance on what is happening in Palestine
00:05:19and in the Gaza Strip, and in the war of annihilation. Well,
00:05:23Doctor, in your opinion, can
00:05:27this victory be considered a message to the Democratic Party leadership
00:05:31regarding its policy towards Israel?
00:05:35Yes, certainly. I,
00:05:38of the Central Committee of the Party in the state of Iowa,
00:05:41have always
00:05:45issue. We always discussed in our
00:05:50the traditional leadership must change because the popular
00:05:53base of the party has changed and changed significantly.
00:05:56Therefore, we cannot have a
00:06:00base like this and a traditional
00:06:02leadership that is still living,
00:06:06I mean, 30 or 40 years ago with its old
00:06:09way of thinking. Therefore, we will see
00:06:12that Dr. Abdullah Al-Sayyed's success in these
00:06:15primary elections will bring
00:06:19about a noticeable change within the corridors
00:06:22of the Democratic Party in the United States, specifically
00:06:27discussions that will take place around the table in
00:06:32the central committees and with
00:06:41in other American states?
00:06:43Yes, certainly. Today, of course,
00:06:47was the big picture
00:06:51for this, I mean,
00:06:53election. But today, in the state
00:06:57of Michigan, I mean,
00:07:00two progressive Democratic candidates achieved
00:07:03great successes. I mean, for example, Congresswoman
00:07:06Rashida Tlaib was re-elected for
00:07:10District 12. A progressive
00:07:14Democratic candidate, progressive
00:07:17Will Larson
00:07:19was elected for District 7.
00:07:23I mean, also a progressive candidate
00:07:25was elected for District 13,
00:07:28Dan
00:07:30Kildee, who also ran in elections against
00:07:34a candidate, a congressman,
00:07:37for example, a strong supporter
00:07:41of AIPAC, and AIPAC supported him,
00:07:44I mean, gave him about 3 million dollars, and despite all this, he lost these elections.
00:07:48I mean, the results today were in favor
00:07:51of, of course, the Arab American
00:07:54community and the Palestinian
00:07:57community specifically. And that's why we are seeing these changes.
00:08:00There were also elections in other states, primaries,
00:08:04for example, the state of Washington. I mean,
00:08:08also two progressive members of the Democratic
00:08:11Party won significantly.
00:08:13We
00:08:16look forward to winning more and more in order to,
00:08:19I mean, bring in more progressive congressmen
00:08:23who stand with the Palestinian cause in the midterm elections in November.
00:08:27Well,
00:08:30victory on the midterm elections in the United States?
00:08:33Of course, these elections
00:08:35will be,
00:08:39I mean, very intense because
00:08:42immediately after Dr. Abdullah's
00:08:45victory, the Republican Party attacked him
00:08:48heavily, from President Trump to, I mean,
00:08:52the Republican candidate who will be the candidate
00:08:56who will run in the elections for the Republican
00:08:58Party against Dr. Abdullah, whose
00:09:02name is Mike Rogers. I mean, they immediately
00:09:05attacked him and described him as a communist
00:09:09and other descriptions
00:09:12they used, but
00:09:17was quick and, I mean,
00:09:21comprehensive and strong. And that's why we believe
00:09:25that these midterm elections will mark
00:09:28a different history in the history
00:09:31of elections in the United States. Yes. Well,
00:09:34will we see a division, Doctor? You are a member of the Democratic
00:09:37Party
00:09:40victory lead to a division within the Democratic Party regarding
00:09:43foreign policy, specifically towards the Middle East and the Palestinian
00:09:46issue? I don't think so, my friend.
00:09:50We are in the most dire
00:09:52need now to unite our ranks as a Democratic
00:09:56Party with all its orientations and all its
00:10:00wings the American Congress in the midterm
00:10:04elections. The main goal is to win
00:10:07Congress, and also because there is no significant
00:10:11difference between Democrats and Republicans currently
00:10:15House or the Parliament here.
00:10:18We only have five seats
00:10:21and in the Senate four seats.
00:10:25I mean, it's not easy to win them, but it's possible
00:10:30Congress in November, I mean, in the midterm
00:10:33elections. This is what the Democratic Party is striving for,
00:10:36and therefore, the Democratic
00:10:39Party will begin to unite its ranks
00:10:43across all its progressive, traditional,
00:10:45and moderate wings, among others, in order to achieve this goal,
00:10:49in order to, I mean, curb the extremist
00:10:52policies of Trump that he has pursued
00:10:56since becoming president of the United States. Regarding the war on Gaza
00:11:01victory push the Democratic Party to review its political
00:11:04discourse? Of course, certainly. I mean,
00:11:08for example, the Democratic
00:11:10presidency in
00:11:132024,
00:11:16Kamala Harris, who was the vice president then,
00:11:20issued
00:11:22a statement directly
00:11:26calling for support for Dr. Abdullah
00:11:29in order to win Michigan, because, as
00:11:32you know, the state of Michigan is a swing
00:11:35state, and it is necessary
00:11:40order to also control the American Congress in the midterm
00:11:44elections and then also work on the presidential
00:11:47elections two years later. I mean, the leaders of the Democratic
00:11:50Party have started
00:11:52issuing, I mean,
00:11:56statements, and they are demanding strongly
00:11:58that the party's base, the party's leadership,
00:12:02and the party's politicians unite behind
00:12:06these, I mean, elected
00:12:09officials of the party and members
00:12:13of the party in order to,
00:12:16in the midterm elections. Yes. How
00:12:19can this victory reflect on
00:12:22the influence of lobbying groups supporting Israel within the Democratic
00:12:26Party? I mean, they know that they
00:12:30lost significantly today, especially AIPAC
00:12:33and other Zionist lobbies. I mean,
00:12:37they
00:12:39have almost
00:12:41spent almost, so far, more than
00:12:45100 million dollars on different candidates
00:12:48whom they wished to secure
00:12:52these seats for them, and they failed
00:12:55in some cases and succeeded in others. Usually, AIPAC
00:12:59and the Zionist lobby
00:13:02spend most
00:13:05of the financial support comes in the primary
00:13:09elections because the primary elections tell
00:13:12them who will support them within Congress. Usually,
00:13:15they spend a very small part in the general
00:13:19elections. For example, in 2024,
00:13:22AIPAC spent
00:13:26almost 120 million dollars in the primary
00:13:29elections and only
00:13:33the general elections. And therefore,
00:13:36we expect that the financial factor will not
00:13:39be of utmost importance in these
00:13:43elections, but rather the mobilization that was carried
00:13:46out by the current elected
00:13:49member, Dr. Abdullah,
00:13:52made a big difference in, I mean,
00:13:56closing these financial
00:14:00mobilization that he carried out and, I mean,
00:14:03led to his success in these primary elections.
00:14:06Well, Doctor, does that mean that candidates
00:14:10are now less hesitant to adopt more critical
00:14:14positions towards Israeli policy?
00:14:17Yes, within the Democratic Party, this is true,
00:14:20my friend. I mean, about two weeks ago,
00:14:23there was, I mean,
00:14:27the American Congress,
00:14:30and this item called for stopping financial
00:14:34and military aid to the Zionist entity.
00:14:37For the first time in the history of the United
00:14:40States,
00:14:43the Democratic Party in Congress
00:14:47voted in favor of this item,
00:14:51compared to 98 Democrats who voted
00:14:54to support, I mean, the other side.
00:14:59constantly. We have become in the United States,
00:15:04work daily on the political scene
00:15:08and communicate with party members and party leaders
00:15:12and talk about these matters. Therefore,
00:15:15change has occurred.
00:15:19at least 25 to 30 new progressive
00:15:22congressmen in these midterm
00:15:25elections that will be held in November, and God willing,
00:15:29it will be possible to achieve
00:15:32this. Well, to what extent has the war in Gaza and the Palestinian
00:15:35issue become a factor in the American
00:15:39elections? I mean, this question is of utmost
00:15:43importance, my friend. I mean, a fundamental
00:15:46reason. I mean, we
00:15:50analyzed what happened in these elections specifically
00:15:53since the morning, since it was officially announced
00:15:56that Dr. Abdullah had won.
00:16:00I mean, a main reason
00:16:03for Dr. Abdullah's success was
00:16:06a strong turnout from what
00:16:10we call urban centers and university
00:16:13areas. I mean, the student
00:16:16factor has become a crucial
00:16:19factor in participating in these American elections.
00:16:26care much about the political
00:16:29process. Today, university students
00:16:32and college students have become immersed
00:16:35in politics.
00:16:38And because in the future they will be the leaders of these
00:16:41parties, a main reason
00:16:44we found through our analysis of the data today
00:16:50the urban centers and university
00:16:53areas in various and key areas
00:16:57in the state of Michigan
00:17:01led to Dr. Abdullah's victory in these
00:17:04elections.
00:17:07For example, there was a large
00:17:10turnout from students at the most
00:17:13famous university in the state of Michigan in the city of Ann Arbor.
00:17:16I mean, when we saw the numbers, we were surprised
00:17:19when we saw these numbers
00:17:23and the participation of these students in
00:17:25these elections, and also in the city
00:17:29of Lansing, and also in the city of Grand
00:17:33Rapids.
00:17:35All of this, I mean, indicates the importance
00:17:39of the participation of the new generation in these
00:17:42elections in order to change the results of these
00:17:45elections and in order to change the political
00:17:48reality. We, I mean, must work very
00:17:52hard with this student group and the new
00:17:55generation in order
00:17:58work and in order to, I mean, achieve the
00:18:02change that we
00:18:06desire to see in the United States,
00:18:09especially in the policy of Congress in the United
00:18:12States. Yes. What is the extent of the influence of Arab
00:18:15and Muslim voters on the result of Abdullah
00:18:18Al-Sayyed's victory? Of course, it has a strong
00:18:22impact. To be honest,
00:18:25the largest Arab and Palestinian community, not
00:18:29Palestinian, but Palestinian and Arab in the United
00:18:34lives in the state of Michigan. I mean, the Arab
00:18:37voter, of course, had a significant impact on
00:18:41Dr. Abdullah's
00:18:44success, especially since the result was
00:18:47very, I mean, very close.
00:18:51I mean, the difference is not large. I mean, the difference
00:18:54is about 20,000 votes. I mean, if it weren't
00:18:58for the Arab and Palestinian
00:19:03it would have been difficult for Dr. Abdullah to succeed in these
00:19:06elections because we are talking
00:19:09about hundreds of thousands of Arab
00:19:13Americans who live in the state
00:19:16of Michigan and who participated significantly
00:19:18in these elections due to the importance of these
00:19:22elections, because we realize that
00:19:25these elections will lead the United States to a new
00:19:29history. And that's why, I mean,
00:19:32the support of the Arab citizen
00:19:35and motivating
00:19:37participation in the electoral process was of utmost
00:19:40importance. Yes. Well, Doctor,
00:19:45in Israel and by the lobby
00:19:48supporting Israel within the Democratic
00:19:51Party? Of course, I think,
00:19:54I mean, according to what we heard since the morning,
00:19:59the United States, even that
00:20:02lobby within the Democratic Party,
00:20:05they are, of course, unhappy with the results
00:20:09because they had a dream of the success
00:20:13of Haley Stevens, who was
00:20:16supported by the Zionist lobby with more than 60 million
00:20:20dollars. And that's why they are unhappy,
00:20:22and I think
00:20:25the Israeli entity, I think
00:20:29they are not happy because they know
00:20:33what Dr. Abdullah's success
00:20:36means and what the re-election
00:20:40of Rashida Tlaib to Congress
00:20:44means, and also the
00:20:46election, not re-election, but
00:20:50the election of two new members in the state
00:20:54progressive Democrats who are friends of the Palestinian
00:20:57cause and the Palestinian people,
00:21:00and the loss of Democratic members
00:21:04who were among the strongest defenders of AIPAC and
00:21:07the Zionist lobby. This change is of utmost
00:21:11importance. And that's why I said that what we witnessed today is
00:21:16the United States. But
00:21:19we must not sit back and say that
00:21:22we made history and that is enough. We must work
00:21:26more and more daily and every
00:21:29minute from now until the midterm
00:21:32elections in order to secure the success
00:21:35of those who won today in these
00:21:38primary elections
00:21:41in order to start the process of change in
00:21:44the American Congress.
00:21:48on the nature of the relationship between the US and Israel in the future,
00:21:52or will American institutions
00:21:54keep foreign policy on
00:21:57its course?
00:22:00My friend, this question is of utmost importance. I mean,
00:22:03the goal of electing
00:22:06more and more progressive Democratic
00:22:09members is to change this
00:22:12policy. I mean, as I said, out of
00:22:16435 members of the American Congress,
00:22:20103 Democrats
00:22:22voted for the first time
00:22:26to stop financial and military aid. This
00:22:29these policies that are biased
00:22:32towards the Zionist entity. However, if we
00:22:35bring in new congressmen
00:22:38in addition to the 103, then our position
00:22:41will become stronger, and of course, the political
00:22:45position of these people will become stronger
00:22:48because they will become a force to be reckoned with
00:22:52within Congress. Therefore,
00:22:55I mean, the work continues, and change
00:22:58is happening. It takes time, and also,
00:23:02I mean, these results came from
00:23:06continuous work for more than 30 years
00:23:10within the Democratic Party. I mean, I remember
00:23:1330 years ago, if we were at any party conference
00:23:17and said the word Palestine, they would
00:23:21attack us. Now, I am responsible for writing, I mean, the political
00:23:24program of the Democratic Party in the state of Iowa,
00:23:27and we wrote a political program that is,
00:23:30I mean, exceptional regarding
00:23:33Palestine, and, I mean, with our heads held high in popular
00:23:36terms regarding Palestine. This came from
00:23:40political involvement in political work
00:23:43within the parties and taking our seats at the table
00:23:47for this change, and that's why
00:23:50it's happening, and God willing, after the midterm
00:23:53elections, the influence of groups
00:23:56that support the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian
00:23:59right will be stronger and stronger through
00:24:03the election of more members. But, Doctor, what
00:24:07needs to happen for us to say that there is a real
00:24:12position on the Palestinian issue?
00:24:15I mean, there are two aspects.
00:24:18The first is control or obtaining a majority
00:24:22in Congress. This is what we strive for.
00:24:26If Democrats
00:24:30and obtain, I mean, leadership of Congress in November,
00:24:33this will change the political
00:24:37equation. This is one aspect. The second
00:24:41from now to support
00:24:45a Democratic candidate for the American
00:24:48presidency who is a friend of the Palestinian
00:24:52people and the Palestinian cause. We must
00:24:54work from now with these people who
00:24:58are considering running in these elections,
00:25:01support them, stand with them, and work with them in order to
00:25:04change and increase the chances
00:25:07of their election to the American presidency. These
00:25:10two aspects are intertwined. I mean, we must
00:25:13work in both directions
00:25:18this work is happening
00:25:21victory, Doctor, as we discussed, is a new
00:25:24stage and a historic victory, what are the most prominent
00:25:28features of this stage, and what message
00:25:31does it send to American politicians alike?
00:25:34I mean,
00:25:37victory are that,
00:25:40I mean, the genocide that
00:25:44we are still witnessing daily
00:25:47has become a crucial factor in
00:25:51determining American policy in the United
00:25:53States. We said it from the
00:25:56beginning, I mean, you don't have
00:26:00to be Palestinian to be with
00:26:02Palestine. You must be a human being first.
00:26:06And that's why,
00:26:09humanitarian factor appears in some
00:26:13of these, I mean, candidates, especially
00:26:16progressive candidates.
00:26:18And that's why the Democratic Party's base
00:26:22supports and elects them,
00:26:26and they succeed in this because, I mean, because the American
00:26:31accept what they
00:26:34see on television of a daily
00:26:38war of annihilation against the Palestinian
00:26:42people. And that's why, I mean, this has also
00:26:46become a humanitarian issue that they are defending
00:26:49with this approach
00:26:52and this framework, and not just a political
00:26:55issue. And that's why support for
00:26:59those who are running in the elections, raising awareness and supporting
00:27:03the right of the Palestinian people,
00:27:05has increased. This is a very
00:27:09important message to the leaders of the Democratic
00:27:12Party, and I am very
00:27:16confident that we, as elected leaders of the Democratic Party
00:27:19in various states in the United States,
00:27:22will study these cases extensively
00:27:25and we will
00:27:28come up with things
00:27:30or data for the party at the United States level
00:27:34that it must follow in order
00:27:39success
00:28:55Total destruction. Not a single house. All three
00:28:58or four houses on top of each other. We don't even know where our house is. But
00:29:02we don't know. All three of our neighbors are on us, and we are on our neighbors. There is no house
00:29:06under me. It's not visible at all. Our house is gone, and we don't know where
00:29:10our house is, and we don't know. It's all just sand, all marble, my uncle.
00:30:28Our journey today is in the heart of the eastern region of Qalqilya governorate.
00:30:33To learn about the reality of settlement there, how it
00:30:36began, and where
00:30:38it has reached.
00:30:44The story does not begin from an alley in a settlement, but from a strategic
00:30:48hill overlooking the road connecting
00:30:52Qalqilya and Nablus in 1975.
00:30:55On the lands of the village of Kafr Qaddum,
00:30:59specifically at a military point known as Camp
00:31:02Qaddum, the first nuclei of what would later
00:31:06become the settlement of Kedumim were placed.
00:31:10This settlement is considered today
00:31:13the mother of settlements in
00:31:23the north of the West Bank. The sites on which the settlement
00:31:26project began in the Qalqilya governorate are
00:31:29places that were declared camps for the Jordanian army or
00:31:32declared lands, state lands, not
00:31:35private. After that, the settlement expansion began
00:31:39on all parts of Qalqilya governorate, especially
00:31:42the eastern part to separate the city from the governorate.
00:31:51After that, there was a settlement wall also between Qalqilya
00:31:54and Tulkarm, which was represented by the settlement
00:31:58of Qadamim, extending to the west
00:32:01to form a barrier with the settlement of Annab
00:32:03and Sal'id to the west on the lands of the
00:32:06governorate of Turk.
00:32:17When we first came, we were in caravans, a military camp
00:32:20for Arabs for the Jordanian army. They put caravans,
00:32:24the Jews came walking from a company. We
00:32:27used to live in that
00:32:30northern neighborhood.
00:32:34They came walking, they brought them caravans, they started putting caravans for them
00:32:37and they sat. Well,
00:32:40the eastern region, and we stood in the neighborhood and watched them
00:32:44walking.
00:33:20Behind these silent concrete blocks stands
00:33:24the name of Musa Zohar, the godfather and engineer who was not
00:33:28just a settler, but was the mastermind
00:33:31who, through maps and political contacts,
00:33:35designed how to plant strangers in the heart of Palestinian
00:33:38villages.
00:33:40This strategic hill near the village of Jin Safut
00:33:44was carefully chosen by Zohar to be his home
00:33:48on top of it, like a watchtower that reveals
00:33:51the finest details of the surrounding Palestinian villages,
00:33:53and from it he began to change the features of the region
00:33:57in favor of settlement.
00:33:59Zohar excelled in terrorizing the law, forging,
00:34:03defrauding, and exploiting every loophole
00:34:06the land, turning the area into concrete
00:34:10blocks that swallow thousands
00:34:12of dunams.
00:34:26Five years after Qadamim, specifically in 1980,
00:34:29the features of the Ma'aleh Efrayim settlement
00:34:33began to appear on the lands of the towns of Azzun, Jin
00:34:37Safut, and Kafr Laqif, to become
00:34:40today one of the largest settlements with its own industrial
00:34:43zones. It did not stop at gnawing at the land,
00:34:47but rather turned the neighboring villages into isolated enclaves. Today,
00:34:50we see how the fence and concrete blocks
00:34:53have been applied to the entrances of the town of Azzun, and how the towers
00:34:57have surrounded it from every direction, turning the settler's
00:35:00security into a daily prison for thousands
00:35:03of Palestinians. The town of Azzun lives in exceptional
00:35:06circumstances and an exceptional situation due to the occupation's practices. What the people of Azzun
00:35:10are subjected to are daily and continuous practices
00:35:13as a result of the constant incursions. The town of Azzun, I will describe
00:35:17the town of Azzun to you. The town of Azzun consists of five
00:35:21gates and an apartheid wall. It is surrounded by three
00:35:23large settlements from all directions.
00:35:26The town of Azzun is besieged. More than hundreds of dunams are uprooted
00:35:29or cut off from the town of Azzun, as
00:35:32you can see. The continuous fence that cut off
00:35:36hundreds of dunams from the town of Azzun, and that besieges the town of Azzun from all
00:35:40sides, from this eastern direction, and also from the northern direction, there are closed
00:35:43gates and the eastern entrance is closed from the First Intifada.
00:35:47Azzun suffers from a difficult economic situation, a state
00:35:50of struggle, a state of continuous closure on the town of Azzun. The
00:35:53presence of towers that fire bullets and tear gas,
00:35:57like this tower and the western and northern towers. These towers
00:36:00fire bullets at citizens. This
00:36:03area experiences continuous incursions, especially
00:36:06when there is even a security pretext that stones are thrown at
00:36:11forces come and terrorize the safe people here in this
00:36:15eastern area of Azzun. The town of Azzun.
00:36:18The
00:36:30settlements surrounding the village of Jin Safut, as you see from the east,
00:36:34Qedumim, and also from the southern
00:36:37side, Immanuel, and
00:36:40from the west and north and southwest,
00:36:43also a settlement bloc
00:36:46overlooking Wadi Qana, and we have settlements
00:36:50or four four settlement
00:36:53outposts, two outposts on the northern and southern hills
00:36:57of Qarnayim, and also the settlement of Qarnay
00:37:00Shomron settlement
00:37:03bloc surrounds the lands of the town
00:37:07from all sides. Since the beginning of the settlement
00:37:11movement in 1982, which
00:37:14began in this area, approximately 2500 dunams of the village's
00:37:18lands have been confiscated for the expansion and establishment of settlements
00:37:21and the construction of bypass roads in this town.
00:37:25The land inside
00:37:39the settlement, the settlement is all around,
00:37:43around, I am around here,
00:37:47and around there, and from here around, there is empty
00:37:50land in it. I kept reaching
00:37:53it. Yes, I kept reaching it. They sat with me as if
00:37:57they let me in. After that, I came and told the girls to make me a cup of tea.
00:38:01We need to have breakfast.
00:38:04by the street, they jumped on us, one wanted to take off the scarf
00:38:07from the girls, one wanted to. I stood at the tractor and said, "It's an hour."
00:38:11They deflated our tire, we couldn't leave. I called
00:38:14after they let me in. By God, he didn't open the window until he said to me,
00:38:18"I can't help you. Take your things and go."
00:38:24land is yours or it's not yours. But you take me and humiliate me and humiliate."
00:38:27It came out. So the news reached her, she called
00:38:31back. They stayed for three years.
00:38:38the settlement at the guard. He said, "Are you Suleiman Jabr?" I said, "Yes." He
00:38:42said, "Wait." I waited. He
00:38:45said to me, "10 minutes." 10 minutes later, a car came, not a Mark IV, it had four
00:38:49soldiers, a police car had four soldiers, an army car had four
00:38:53soldiers. When they let me in, there was a car in front of me and a car
00:38:57behind me. When I wanted to cross the street, I would block the street from here, block the
00:39:01other street. This situation lasted with me for three
00:39:03years. After that, the crisis eased a little,
00:39:07little by little. Two soldiers remained with us
00:39:11until the war that happened three
00:39:13years ago. They let me in for three weeks,
00:39:17every week two, three, four,
00:39:20five.
00:39:22Three weeks of them, one week of them, one day they said there were elections, they didn't
00:39:26let us in. One day it rained, they didn't
00:39:29let us in. We worked for 10 days. 10
00:39:32days. I made a ton
00:39:35of oil. The last day remained for me. The last
00:39:38day, they said the coordination for Azzun, for Kafr
00:39:41Laqif, for Jin Safut is now for Akrit and for
00:39:45Saff Kaddoum. After that, the war happened and we didn't
00:39:48get it. I don't know what happened
00:39:51to them.
00:40:01If we head north towards Jayyus, the settlement of
00:40:04Tzufim appears, which was established in the eighties of the last century
00:40:07and is still expanding with the construction of hundreds of new
00:40:10units.
00:40:18So, Tzufim settlement is part of the settlements or the eastern
00:40:21belt, even the belt that connects
00:40:24the eight Green Line settlements. The West
00:40:31the West Bank, are part of it. It began to expand in
00:40:34the first nucleus began in the early 80s,
00:40:38and currently, two years ago, the southern
00:40:42settlement neighborhood was established, which
00:40:44is called Novy Tzufim or Kedar
00:40:47Tzufim. It is being advertised on TikTok, advertising
00:40:51to promote the purchase of apartments and settlement
00:40:55units available. And this settlement
00:40:57changed the approach that
00:41:00was and the program that the Israeli planning administration
00:41:04had. Buildings are being established by establishing settlement
00:41:07towers. For the first time, towers are being
00:41:10built, as is the case in the area of the settlement
00:41:14of El-Faq. The southern neighborhood also has a system of towers that were established,
00:41:17not ground residential
00:41:21units, but rather
00:41:24to keep pace with what they claim is a population
00:41:28increase, and the population count that increases
00:41:30year after year.
00:41:43Here, the settlement was not content with the land, but rather pursued people in
00:41:46their water. The wall that surrounded Jayyus isolated behind it
00:41:50thousands of dunams of the best agricultural land and artesian water
00:41:54wells, to prevent farmers from reaching
00:41:57their trees except with humiliating permits, in
00:42:01a clear policy to displace farmers by
00:42:04drying up their sources of livelihood. By God,
00:42:07it's all hard work. I mean, death.
00:42:10Worse than this, we suffer a lot. I mean, you have to
00:42:14wait for an hour or they open it for us sometimes,
00:42:17sometimes they don't open it for us.
00:42:21You wait for an hour, half an hour, according to the Jews. I mean, whatever
00:42:24the Jews want, they let us pass. This land is like this in your mind. I mean,
00:42:28I can see it in two minutes, perhaps.
00:42:31I need two or three hours, perhaps. The coast.
00:42:35And sometimes they let us to the coast. And sometimes they tell you,
00:42:38"Go back."
00:42:41By God, they open it for people once a day. By God, I mean, sometimes they delay us.
00:42:44The gate opens, they open it at nine, for example, at ten they open it. We used to go home, for example.
00:42:48Sometimes they open it early in the morning, sometimes they don't open it.
00:42:52I mean, it's according to their mood. It's temperamental. They brought us back. For example,
00:42:56we have cucumbers that we pick and string.
00:42:59Or is it not right to pick and string them? Cucumbers are known to be picked
00:43:03day after day. If you miss picking cucumbers, then the farmer, excuse me,
00:43:06didn't bring anything. If he has to go pick them and they are cut off from him, that means
00:43:10he should stay at home. But we remain steadfast in this land.
00:43:24Havat Gilad, the monster that grew in the dark,
00:43:28the matter did not stop at official settlements. In
00:43:322002, on the lands of Qaryut, Fur'ah,
00:43:35and Sarra, the first caravan was placed
00:43:38for what was then called
00:43:40a pastoral outpost. It began as a settler
00:43:44rebellion, but today it is a forced reality
00:43:48that devours hundreds of dunams, supported by a complete
00:43:50infrastructure and military protection,
00:43:53turning the lives of farmers in Fur'ah, Immatain,
00:43:57and Qaryut into a daily hell, forming a link
00:44:01connecting the eastern settlements to the depth of Nablus
00:44:04and completing the siege.
00:44:40Oh, Sheikh Zayna, they tell us the army, "You are the ones who uprooted them. You
00:44:43are fighting with people in your country. They came and uprooted them." And here
00:44:47in Asfour, they don't even see him. Now we came to you, we came here
00:44:50to film how they are coming at us.
00:44:54Parking on the land is allowed for us to pass through, build on it, and everything
00:44:58on it. But these came and prevented us. Havat Gilad
00:45:01was a settlement outpost located
00:45:04east of Fur'ah. Uh,
00:45:07bordering the lands of Immatain and Fur'ah. These lands
00:45:10were shared between Fur'ah and Immatain,
00:45:14and it was a border outpost
00:45:17between Immatain and Fur'ah. It is
00:45:21a hill, meaning in a border area. I mean,
00:45:24the expansion was east and west
00:45:27of the Yitzhar road. This comes
00:45:30west of the road with eastern Fur'ah
00:45:34and Immatain, and the eastern borders are also
00:45:37Jitt. So it expanded.
00:45:40It has been more than perhaps
00:45:4320 years, in 2008. Oh, oh, it has been more than 20 years
00:45:47since it existed and expanded. It was a small outpost
00:45:49and now it has expanded on the lands of the citizens. Thousands
00:45:53of dunams were seized by it and extended
00:45:56to a new settlement outpost
00:46:00war. A pastoral outpost
00:46:04extended to the southern eastern
00:46:08lands.
00:46:10And it controlled all the agricultural areas,
00:46:13especially the olive nursery
00:46:17and these settlements. Their owners
00:46:21use sheep
00:46:24to graze excessively among the olive trees
00:46:28and other agricultural lands.
00:46:43It started more than 20 years ago,
00:46:47but its impact extends
00:46:50horizontally, meaning we are talking about.
00:46:53It was established, called Havat
00:46:56Gilad,
00:47:00time there was horizontal expansion.
00:47:03What does horizontal expansion mean for the residents
00:47:07here? It means stifling, destroying the eastern
00:47:10region, and now the area we are in. Let's anticipate
00:47:14the discussion. This horizontal expansion
00:47:18affected it, meaning we are talking about a pastoral
00:47:21settlement. A settlement
00:47:24began to expand and consume everything green and dry.
00:47:28I mean, this eastern facade and the area known
00:47:32as the Harika area, which is an area
00:47:34of course, where our people in
00:47:38Tell and Immatain and we in Fur'ah
00:47:42are partners in the destruction of lands. And when we talk about the destruction
00:47:45of lands, we are talking about the actual destruction
00:47:48of livelihoods and sources
00:47:51of income. Lands planted with hundreds of olive
00:47:54trees, and also pastoral lands
00:47:58for Palestinian farmers. Therefore,
00:48:01today we are talking about great harm on the social
00:48:05level, on the economic
00:48:08level for
00:48:11the citizens.
00:48:18This is what happened before, but what happened in the last three years,
00:48:22specifically since the outbreak of the last war on Gaza, was not
00:48:26an ordinary expansion, but rather a settlement
00:48:29earthquake. At a time when attention was focused
00:48:33on the destruction in Gaza, the settlers here
00:48:36were fighting a war to consolidate
00:48:38What
00:48:42recent years is equivalent to decades of previous
00:48:45work. The outposts have turned into municipalities,
00:48:49and the dividing lines between settlements have disappeared
00:48:53to form a single contiguous bloc. The settler
00:48:56no longer waits for permission, but rather
00:48:59the bulldozer has become the law, and the legitimate weapon against
00:49:02the farmer is
00:49:03the ruling.
00:49:09And after October 7th, they completely banned
00:49:13coordination for Jitt due to its location between
00:49:16the settlements. And after October 7th, about
00:49:20500 dunams of their olive trees were cut down, their fruitful trees,
00:49:23whose age is older than the age of the state of
00:49:26Israel. I mean, there are olive trees that are 100 years old, 70 years old, and 80 years old.
00:49:30The last aggression was carried out by
00:49:34the occupation by confiscating about 450 dunams,
00:49:37uh, located next to
00:49:41the illegal Havat Gilad outpost on
00:49:44our lands. And the 450 dunams are located in the middle
00:49:47between the town of Fur'ah and the town of Tell. We
00:49:51got the largest share of this confiscated land.
00:49:55We tried to contact
00:49:58who tried to get farmers to submit papers and objections to these lands,
00:50:02because these lands, according to what they claim, have no owners.
00:50:06No, they have owners, real owners, and they reach
00:50:10them and cultivate them, and they are planted with olive trees. But
00:50:13they were prevented from doing so after October 7th. And
00:50:16this was the occupation's pretext. They prevented them on the pretext that
00:50:19after a while, they would say the land is important, no one can reach
00:50:23the land, so it will become state property for them.
00:50:26But these are lands that have their owners, and their owners are in
00:50:31and what proves that these lands belong to them. There is no,
00:50:35God forbid, any leak or anything like they claim.
00:50:38No, the land is there and its owners are there,
00:50:41the real ones.
00:50:42The
00:50:57furious settlement attack. The