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TITLE: Report on Settlers' Attacks on Palestinians During the al-Aqsa Uprising |
AUTHOR: |
PUB/ORG: Alternative Information Center |
DATE: December 26, 2000 |
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December 18-December 25 Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been steadily increasing in the past few weeks. These settlers have generally acted with impunity, as the Israeli military and court system historically have been reluctant to arrest, try, and punish settlers for violence they commit against Palestinian civilians. As a result, settlers are virtually free to carry out intimidation, assaults against people and property, and even murder against the Palestinian population. The existence of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories violates both international law and particular international agreements Israel is signed on. According to Article 49 of the fourth Geneva Convention it is prohibited to transfer civilians of an occupying power to the territory occupied. Since the Oslo accord in 1993, the number of settlers in the West Bank and Gaza has doubled to 200,000, not including approximately 200,000 settlers now living in East Jerusalem. The building during Barak's government has actually escalated, with 14,000 settlers added and tenders issued for building 4,000 units last year alone, compared with 3,000 units a year built under Netanyahu. Compared to 1999, in the year 2000 there has been a 96% increase in settlement building. Israel has continually expropriated large amounts of land from Palestinians for the settlement of Jewish civilians, in order to change the demography of the area and create irreversible facts on the ground. The AIC has been monitoring settler violence, and now introduces a regular updated report. Report XIII December 18-December 25, 2000 On December 18: -Settlers from Yitzhar and Elon- Moreh opened fire in a boys' school in the village of Hawwareh near Nablus, wounding two students: Muhammad Ahmad Huzaim (aged 14) who was hit in the back and is in serious condition, and Ahmad Yuosef A'odeh (aged 17) who was shot in the foot. Both were taken to Rafidya hospital in Nablus. The head master of the school said: "At 7:30 a.m., while the students were waiting for class to start, three settler cars stooped near the main gate of school. Some of the settlers left the cars and opened fire at several students who were standing near the gate, and two were wounded". The residents of Hawwareh have continually faced aggression by settlers during the ongoing Intifada, including the burning of their mosque and repeated firing on their houses. -In the village of el-Janya near Ramallah, settlers from the nearby settlement of Talmon uprooted 2,500 vegetables plants and damaged water pipes belonging to Ahmad 'Atif Yousef from the village. On December 19: -Settlers attacked the village of Boreen and broke into several houses. -Settlers opened fire at pupils of Beit Enoun elementary school in Hebron. On December 23: -Settlers attacked Palestinians and destroyed their cars at the western entrance to Beit Fourik village near Nablus, in the presence of the Israeli army. -A number of armed settlers from Qiryat Arba near Hebron joined Israeli soldiers in shooting at Palestinian civilians near bypass road 60. As a result, 12 Palestinian civilians were wounded, one or them seriously. On December 24: -Fadel Al-Jabareen, aged seven, was run over by a Jewish settler in the Zeev junction east of the village of Yata in the Hebron area. He was critically injured and transferred to hospital. -A group of settlers from Elon Moreh backed by Israeli soldiers uprooted tens of olive trees near Salem Shawqi village in Nablus. On December 25: -Settlers uprooted 400 olive trees in Wadi Marada west of the town of Jma'een in the West Bank. The AIC is a Palestinian-Israeli organization which disseminates information, research and political analysis on Palestinian and Israeli societies as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while promoting cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis based on the values of social justice, solidarity and community involvement. END |