Jack Liu
Timeline of Sebastia
Flagpole Conflict in Sebastia
The flag as an expression of national spirit is often used as a target of conflict, and the Palestinian flagpole has gradually become one of the most direct representations for the Palestinian to fight against apartheid by Israel. In the following, I will describe two sites of flagpole “war” in Sebastia, Site 1, located near the highest point of the archaeological site, was installed several years ago by spontaneous Palestinians, while site 2, within the boundaries of the village of Sebastia, was built in 2018 under the supervision of UNESCO. In recent years, with the establishment of the Site2, Israeli military invasions of the village have become more frequent and more numerous, causing great inconvenience and panic to the inhabitants, often seriously affecting their daily lives.
SITE 1
Site 1 is located at the top of the mountain which is on the west side of the village Sebastia, and northward of the Israeli settlement Shavei Shomron. It was allocated in Area C according to the Oslo Ⅱ Accord since 1995. There have been dozens of conflict on this site about the Palestine Flagpole in the last 5 years——the flagpole was raised by the Palestinian and then removed by Israeli soldiers, which keep happening again and again.
News Link about Flagpole Conflict in Site 1:
The flagpole in Sebastia, a tale of defence and steadfastness, AUG 30, 2016
The occupation blows up the flagpole in the town of Sebastia, north of Nablus, JAN 30, 2017
"Raising the Palestinian flag in the archaeological area has become annoying the occupation forces and settlers."
Army Abducts A Young Man, Removes Flag Pole, Near Salfit，FEB 28, 2017
“Mohammad ‘Azem, secretary of the Fateh movement in Sebastia, told the WAFA Palestinian News Agency that the Palestinian flag, and its pole, were removed for the 7th consecutive time in the last two months.”
Israeli Army Injures A Young Man In Sebastia，MAR 18, 2017
“The soldiers invaded the town from several directions and headed to its center to remove a Palestinian flag and its pole while firing many live rounds.”
Israeli Soldiers Invade Sebastia, Remove A Palestinian Flag，JUN 27, 2017
“Mohammad Azem, the mayor of Sebastia, said the soldiers invaded the archeological area, removed the flag, and detonated the pole and its concrete ground several times.”
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) blasts Palestinian flagpole in Sebastia，MAR 4,2018
The occupation storms Sebastia and removes the flagpole, FEB 23, 2019
SITE 2
New construction in Sebastia:
A UNESCO-supervised renovation project, funded by Belgium and was approved by the Israeli military in 2018 was conducted in Sebastia's public plaza, adjacent to the village's famed archeological site. However, Israel has been trying to force the municipality to remove a large Palestinian flagpole, following pressure from Israeli settlers who claim it provokes them.
“The Palestinian Authority is Trying to Rob the Heritage and Tradition of the Jewish People”
—— Yossi Dagan(The head of Samaria Regional Counil)
Response by the Israeli side
Much more than the flagpole conflict at site 1, There was a countless voice from the Israeli side that appeared in response to this new flagpole since it was installed on 13 Aug 2020. It’s worth mentioning that there are barely zero Israeli reports about this event in English, but when one searches in Hebrew a large number of reports appear, and for this reason, the following news paragraphs are all translated by Google.
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"Non-governance disgraces and harms our commitment to future generations"
The Samaria Regional Council has been working for several months with the "Guardians of Eternity" organization and with the Ministry of Defense and government agencies to combat the phenomenon of the Palestinian Authority taking over historical sites of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
"For a long time now, Abu Mazen(Mahmoud Abbas_the president of the State of Palestine) and his terrorist comrades have been carrying out development and land preparation work at the entrance to ancient Samaria, the residence of the historic Palace of the Kings of Israel,
Dagan further notes that the Palestinian operations are being carried out in violation of the Oslo Accords, where it is stated that the Palestinian side must preserve archeological sites. He notes: "The action of the 'Palestinian Authority' is an active act of organized and planned destruction of an archeological site of great heritage value to the Jewish people and the whole world. This is a cross-border issue with international consequences of damage to heritage."
Dagan points out that in fact the State of Israel has the authority and duty to act to prevent the destruction of the site, even though part of it sits on Area B: "The authority for the Palestinian Authority in Area B was given only to manage civil municipal matters. "The Civil Administration deals with similar issues in Area B, including air pollution, carbon removal even in Area A, and has used its authority by force of law and security legislation.
Dagan calls on the ministers in charge and the prime minister "to order comprehensive action to stop the damage to the site. To remove all construction on the site, to allow academic research - archeological excavations by universities to be promoted."
The organization also says that in response to a demonstration held against it three months ago during which the PLO flag was raised, the prime minister called the actions "shame and disgrace." The real shame and even greater disgrace is that the same flag, the flag of the deniers of the historical connection of the Jewish people to the land, is hoisted over the capital of the Kingdom of Israel during the First Temple period. "
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Following the provocation of destruction and looting, which included placing the PLO's terrorist flag at a height of 16 meters in the Old City Forum plaza
To rob the heritage and tradition of the Jewish people and desecrate it, "Dagan even mocked the Palestinian Authority's declaration that it was a historic Palestinian site." The Palestinian Authority is trying to obscure our identity, our heritage and our history in the place.
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while reviewing the damage caused by Palestinian activity instead of antiquities, a Palestinian with a souvenir shop on the site approached them. He offers them to buy antique coins, when to their amazement they realize that these are finds that were looted from the site itself.
This project (the flagpole center) is a significant part of a broader strategic plan - erasing the archeology that binds the country to the Jewish people, and creating a new narrative of a Palestinian nation living here from time immemorial.
As part of the preparations for the ceremony, the Palestinians laid foundations and erected a 17-meter-high mast with a huge flag of the PLO organization. This pattern is also known from another archeological site in Samaria - the Hasmonean fortress at Tel Aroma. This time a demolition order was issued against him, and the Sebastia municipality's Facebook page boasted that the flag would remain on the noses and wrath of the Zionists, and would be hoisted as a "thorn in the throat of the occupation.
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The chairman of the Shomron Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, said: "We got a taste of Jewish roots and human civilization here. We have a great responsibility for history and this place. Unfortunately, the Palestinian Authority is working resolutely to damage the place and own it. The highlight was a few months ago. "As Amit Halevi, the flag of Palestinian terror was waved here, on the antiquities, while breaking and destroying the antiquities, a ceremony was held here to inaugurate the" Palestinian site, ancient Samaria "?
20 August 2020, A Remove Order from the Israeli Authority toward the Palestine Flagpole was signed.
Even though the flagpole, as well as the whole renovated plaza is in Area B which means Palestine has the right of Civil control there, the Israeli army still invaded Sebastia several times after this order, the flagpole, however, has not been demolished yet.
The intentional harassment of Sabastiya's residents is part of the occupation routine, which subjects Palestinians to violence, uncertainty, and fear.
The Palestinian flagpole seems to have intensified the hostility of Israel. Except for the removal order, the military stormed in Sebastia’s plaza several times within the last few months after it was installed. There was even a night invasion on Oct 30 2020 when soldiers fire tear gas and “ rubber bullets “ toward citizens in Sebastia, during this attack, a man name A-Sha'er lost his left eye because hit by a bullet.
Israeli army checked people who want to enter the plaza.
——Picture on Facebook
The map shows the routine of the Israeli military invading Sebastia from the military base next to the Israeli settlement-Shavei Shomron. Most of their invasion was began from the western side of the town where they would park their car beside the Palestinian flagpole then evacuate all Non-Israeli people from the plaza.
“I’m not allowed to move a stone in Area C, That is why the whole rehabilitation project is taking place only in Area B, next to the archeological site.”
—— Mohammed Azzem, the head of the Sebastia municipality
Keywords Comparision
The difference in keyword clouds shows the different focus of the Israeli and Palestinian sides on the flagpole, with the Palestinian side placing more emphasis on the flagpole and the justification of the flag's existence, and often condemning the violation of the settler and the military on the matter, hoping to attract more attention from the international toward the "Israeli crime". Meanwhile, the Israeli side, on the other hand, is completely different. Firstly, they prefer to use the word "Samaria" (the name of the sebastia at the time of the Kingdom of Israel) as the site's name rather than Sebastia, and secondly, they emphasize the relevance of the historical sites around the flagpole to their national history, focusing mainly on the deep connection to Israel from a historical perspective and criticizing the destruction of this connection by the Palestinians.
The view of Flagpole Square with Palestinian in normal day
The view of Flagpole Square when Israeli tourists with the army
SEWAGE PROBLEM
Since 26th December 2012, the nearby illegal settlement of Shavei Shomron had begun discharging raw, untreated sewage onto Sabastiya’s farming land. Ten farmers were affected, they said, and many of their crops were ruined. For a community that relies heavily on agriculture, this situation threatens much more than just their sense of smell so that some reports described this issue as a “bio-war” against Sebastia, As the sewage is absorbed into the land, olive and apricot trees are rendered diseased and, according to the residents, “poisoned”. The flow of human waste begins from a pipe on the perimeter of the settlement, creating a sort of reservoir which then runs through the adjacent Palestinian fields, compelling each subsequent landowner to create a canal to drain the sewage water onto his neighbors land and further away.
“Settlers are trying to spoil as much as they can of Palestinian fields in an attempt to force farmers to desert their lands completely.”
—— Ahmad Kayed, a Sabastiya resident
The settlement has three factories, processing and producing aluminum, leather, and plastics. It is believed that the grey fluid pumping out into the Olive Groves of Sebastiya is industrial sewage coming directly from these factories.
Around 600 dunums (square kilometers) of land are estimated by local farmers to be affected by the leak. It was first noticed around 3 years ago. In early January it turned from an occasional trickle to a constant flow, increasing late at night and early in the mornings. Following the stream of water back to its source at the tall wire fence separating Sebastiya and Shavei Shomron, one is immediately struck by the noxious odor that it emits and the evident difference in the grass and trees in its vicinity. They are dead or dying, turned a metallic grey by contact with the waste.
West Bank Diary | Sebastiya: how Palestine’s trees are being poisoned
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Settlement Uses Stinking Tactics, DEC 26 2012
Shavi Shamron Sewage in Palestinian Fields. JAN 23 2013
A settlements `bio-war` against the ancient city of Sabastiya, FEB 12 2013
West Bank Diary | Sebastiya: how Palestine’s trees are being poisoned, FEB 15 2013
Ancient Palestinian Village Threatened by Israeli Settlement, MAR 05 2013
Israeli occupation bars Palestinian farmers from harvesting their olive crops, NOV 11 209
Settlers flood Palestinian farmland north of Nablus with sewage, OCT 20 2020
Jewish Settlers Flood Palestinian Farmland with Sewage, Disrupt Olive Harvest, OCT 20 2020
On March 10, 2013, 150 activists-including Israelis, internationals, and Palestinians from Sebastia and surrounding villages-marched en masse from the village with a note in Arabic notifying the farmer that it will be cleared. Above the olive grove, the American suburb-like perfectly painted white houses and red roofs of the Shavei Shomron settlement are perched on the highest hill, overlooking the entire valley. IDF soldiers stood guard next to two tanks, midway down the mountain between the Palestinian protesters and the Israeli settlement.
The protestors-waving Palestinian and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine flags-advanced up the side of the mountain, drawing kuffiyehs over their mouths and noses in anticipation of the onslaught of suffocating teargas from the IDF soldiers. True to form, the IDF soldiers responded by firing teargas canisters-routine for a West Bank demonstration-sending protestors running back down the mountain and away from the clearing, crying, coughing, and spluttering the suffocating gas out of their eyes and mouths, leaving their land filled with the clouds of noxious teargas and the ever-present stink of sewage
However, We can see a completely opposite voice from Israeli reports:
The Palestinian Authority pumped more groundwater than was allowed, causing irreparable damage to the groundwater system.
“ Despite the shortage of water, Israel preferred — perhaps out of a desire to create firm foundations…to supplement the water needs of the Palestinian Authority, to fill the Palestinian glass until it overflowed.
The EU for its part transferred funds to the Palestinians for the construction of the wastewater treatment system. However, these funds never reached their destination, the groundwater in Judea and Samaria became polluted. “
Poisoning the water in Judea and Samaria: The real story, JUL 03 2016
“… …We are doing everything we can to prevent pollution in Judea and Samaria, but nevertheless, the Palestinians refuse to cooperate,”
—— Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan told The Jerusalem Post.
“ A few months later, when they noticed that the water had become brackish, the PA decided to dig again in different places, causing yet further damage to the groundwater. It was this and other damage, on top of the constantly increasing population, that created the severe water shortage that has nothing to do with the settlers or settlements…….Despite Israeli offers to connect the 22 surrounding Palestinian villages to the same pipe, all but one of them refused the proposal, Instead, their sewage flows into the aquifer below and ends up directly in the stream, according to the officials. ”
