History of Yanun

n from the Economic Development Group; the ploughing of fields sown with crops, or the burning of crops at harvest time; theft of olive trees; shooting at relatives' cars travelling to visit Yanun; and interrogation of teachers at the Yanun elementary school.

2002 temporary exodus

Assaults and shootings by settlers at Palestinian farmers and foreign volunteers at olive harvest time took place in 2002. A Council spokesman for the Israeli settlement of Itamar, in response to queries about the incidents, replied that he was unaware of claims of harassment and that settlers were trying to keep Palestinian villagers away from themselves.Another Itamar spokesman told The Guardian at the time:

“If anyone is being terrorized it is us. Arabs have to learn that if they continue to be violent they can’t live here. There is all this talk of Arab olives, what about Jewish blood?”

The village was temporarily abandoned on October 19, 2002, the first exodus in recent times of a Palestinian community abandoning a village in the wake of attacks by settlers. The last of 25 families relocated to nearby Aqraba after a reported worsening in their harassment by Itamar residents, including Avri Ran and his organization, the Hilltop Youth. Two aged people stayed behind, refusing to accept the village decision to go. The village was re-occupied with the aid of peace activists from Ta'ayush and the International Solidarity Movement, who came and held a round-the-clock presence there for two weeks when the villagers started moving out in response to harassment. The presence of foreign volunteers as witnesses has acted as a brake on settler assaults. Ta'ayush activist David Nir was reportedly pushed by Avri Ran in Yanun. Amiel Vardi, professor of classics at Hebrew University, was also shot there by a settler whom he subsequently identified and took to court. The case was dismissed. Since