Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Emily Gordine
00:17 Mohammed Foqahaam | Sinjil resident
01:50 Moataz Tawafsha | Sinjil Mayor
02:08 Ashwas Awashreh | Sinjil farmer

Script:

Minutes after we started filming a Palestinian protest against settler violence, an attack unfolds in front of our eyes.  
It’s a daily reality here.  
To stop the settlers from descending into their village, residents set fire to the base of the hill.  

+++ SOT Mohammed Foqahaam, Sinjil resident+++
If they attack us, we're done for, and if the army comes it's just more protection for them [the settlers].+++

The settlers then chase our team away, just as Israeli army officers arrive. 
But the settlers don't immediately retreat. In fact, more arrive. ((have this on video))   

And others move to the base of the hill – seemingly now protected by the army’s presence.  

From afar it appears that the officers struggle to defuse the tension (kerfuffle on video).  
  
While our team is filming this, settlers vandalize cars in the area – including ours.   

((Drone))  

Attacks like these happen regularly...  

MAYBE BURN A DATE INSERT FROM HERE ON? (obviously not on the graphics) 

When we came here for the first time a few weeks ago, residents of Sinjil told us they feel like they’re being boxed in from all sides. 

((split screen map))  

Sinjil lies north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. 
 
To its north are a cluster of several illegal Israeli settlements and outposts, seen here in various shades of dark blue –  which Road 60 winds through, the West Bank’s main north-south traffic artery, here in white. 

The village used to have five ways out. Israel shut four of them – and built a huge fence to Sinjil's east.  

Construction started in August 2024.  It’s six meters high and runs along one side of the village. 
The IDF says it's meant to prevent Palestinians from throwing stones at cars that drive past Sinjil. 
But the fence has cut off families and friends from each other. 

Clip C0077  

00:37-00:57  

+++SOT Moataz Tawafsha, Sinjil Mayor:+++
((Ua aidan))  
It has separated 47 homes from the town — homes that now lie beyond this racist wall and are cut off from the community. This wall will shrink Sinjil,  
isolate Sinjil, and suffocate Sinjil. ((bal de Sinjil))+++

It’s much harder now for people to get to where they need – including their own land. 

C0093 

00:43-00:55 
+++SOT Ashwas Awashreh, Sinjil farmer +++
I want to visit my land, harvest olives, or do anything at all, I have to go around the entire town. That’s a walk of no less than three kilometres just to reach that parcel. +++

Their situation is exacerbated by frequent attacks from settlers on the village’s western borders.  
When we approached the area, Israeli border police stopped us – telling us there weren't any settlers to be seen. 

+++SOT Soldier ((can’t see him)) +++
“We were on the hill and there’s nobody.” +++

But as they left, we were able to see several settlers sitting on the hilltop next to Sinjil. 
Then as now, the settlers appear to be able to launch attacks with impunity.  
With devastating consequences to local communities.