The Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) has observed & documented Israeli violations of international law for 22 years. Netanyahu has cancelled their mandate following a leaked TIPH report of widespread Israeli abuse. Palestinians fear the worst without the watchful eye of TIPH; Israeli settlers say it will be “a breath of fresh air.”
As Israel criticizes Palestinians for their legal resistance against an illegal occupation, illegal Israeli settlers attack Palestinians on a daily basis – often with protection from the Israeli military – and go unpunished. Sometimes they destroy crops, sometimes vehicles; sometimes it’s graffiti; this week a member of the Israeli parliament called for open violence, and settlers obeyed.
Israeli settler violence against Palestinians is increasing, and exasperated Palestinians have begun organizing neighborhood watch groups. Israeli officials worry that these groups may endanger Israeli vandals.
Palestinians who rely on olive harvests for their livelihood have been terrorized by Israeli settlers since the beginning of the occupation in 1967. Settlers – often guarded or assisted by Israeli military – destroy trees and equipment, steal large quantities of olives, kill livestock, and attack Palestinian farmers.
In the ongoing travesty of justice, some olive groves are only accessible to their Palestinian owners for a few days a year; swaths of farmland has been appropriated by Israel for settlement expansion or military use.
Israeli soldiers and settlers terrorize Palestinians every day. Stories from November 4-5 (that won’t appear in mainstream media) include 2 Palestinian deaths, at least 14 abductions – some of them children, a settler free-for-all in Hebron, and an injured infant.
Gaza and Khan al Ahmar have made the news recently. But nothing newsworthy from the West Bank. What does a typical week look like there? Here’s a glimpse.
Elor Azaria shot an injured, unarmed Palestinian in 2016 & served a short sentence in prison. Back at the scene of his crime, he was treated not like a criminal, but like a prince.
Israeli settlers from the fanatical Yitzhar settlement allegedly attempted to kidnap two Palestinian children as they raided the nearby village of Madma.
Jewish settlers burnt scores of acres of Palestinian farms near Nablus in the occupied West Bank, damaging hundreds of citrus trees and likely to impact the harvest. Palestinian fire fighters could not access the fire due to the presence of Israeli occupation forces and extremist settlers.