I Saw it in Palestine

As those of you who follow news from the West Bank will know, on Monday four Palestinians were severely attacked by Israeli settlers from the settlement of Susiya. At the request of the village, a teammate and I spent the night with the family, one of who remained in the hospital still recovering from her injuries. Other CPTers and internationals have been invited to stay for the rest of the week.

The attack was brutal. Six masked settlers beat a 70 years old Palestinian man in the head. When another elderly woman and a young woman attempted to intervene they were beaten with cudgels and rifle butts. The three where sent to hospitals. An adult Palestinian man was also beaten. He showed us his injuries - huge bruises on his back and arms, a wounded finger, and blows to the head. The family also showed us their papers proving that the land on which they were grazing their sheep was theirs.

We could not ask for better hosts. Like all families from the Palestinian village of Susiya, their house has been bulldozed to the ground. Since 2001, the whole village has been forced to live tents, all of which have been razed to the ground twice already. The family welcomed us in their home, making sure that we were warm and well-feed. They asked us about our families and our impressions of Palestinians. They told us to tell their stories of our friends at home. They, more or less, took the attack in stride. It was awful, especially so, and it was clear to me that they were worried. But it was not surprising. In Susiya village, settler attacks and harassment take place every day. Even my teammate and I couldn't find it in ourselves to be shocked. After living next to Ma'on and Havot Ma'on settlements for six months, I'm just not surprised by any act of violence preformed by settlers. It's a terrible feeling.

I've talked more about this than I expected to. For more details, take a look at the Haaretz. They did cover the story, but I can't find the article. If any of you do, please comment with a link to it.

What a nightmare.