‘Like a mafia’: Israeli settlers, forces squeeze Palestinian shepherds out
Al Jazeera
Palestinian farmers face increasing violence and harassment from settlers backed by Israeli forces.
Ein al-Hilweh, occupied West Bank – With two of his sons in prison and his cattle pens – his livelihood – all but emptied, Palestinian shepherd Kadri Daraghmeh, 57, was beside himself.
Inside their open-air tent, with no running water and minimal electricity, his sick wife fought back tears.
“My children are in prison, and every day it’s just more money I need to pay when we don’t even have money to buy food,” said a devastated Kadri.
Kadri’s woes began to worsen dramatically last month. On December 25, he says, settlers stole 100 of his cattle in the night, released some cows near a road, and then called Israeli police.
Cattle “roaming freely” is illegal under Israeli law, so the police confiscated the cows. Kadri was forced to pay 49,000 shekels ($12,900) to get 19 of his cows back.
