Masked Settlers Attack three Palestinian Women
13 April 2009

Note: According to the Geneva Conventions, the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and numerous United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts are considered illegal under Israeli law.

(Umm-Zeitouna Valley, South Hebron Hills, West Bank) On Apri l 10 at about 10 a.m., five Israeli settlers attacked three Palestinian women from the Bedouin village of Umm Al Kher, south of Yatta, while the women were grazing their sheep and gathering herbs in the nearby Umm Zeituna valley.

The women reported that the men were masked and armed with wooden sticks They beat one of the women, aged 21, injuring her arm, and chased the women and flocks off the land while throwing rocks. The injured woman needed to be hospitalized.

Later that morning in the same area, four settlers harassed shepherds from Tuba and Umm Al Kher, chasing them and their flocks off their land. The four settlers also harassed two members of Christian Peacemaker Teams, who were passing in Umm Zeituna on their way to Tuba. One of the settlers tried to seize a mobile phone from the CPTers while another stole a video camera. The CPTers reported that the four men then ran toward Ma'on settlement.

Palestinians and At-Tuwani team members made complaints to the Israeli police, providing video and photographic evidence. The police said they would start investigating on Sunday.

Settlers from nearby settlements regularly harass and attack Palestinians in the area of Umm Zeituna while the Palestinians are grazing their flocks, farming their land, or walking to the city of Yatta.

Release: Israeli settlers attack, harass, and intimidate Palestinian schoolchildren on their way to and from school

On 29 March, Israeli settlers harassed, intimidated, and attacked Palestinian children on their way to and from school in the village of At-Tuwani. In the morning, settlers yelled and threw stones at the children coming to school from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed. The military escort in the area, which is to take the children to and from school to ensure their safety, did nothing during the attack. Fearing for their safety, the children were forced to take a different path to school, doubling the walk from 20 to 45 minutes. On their way home from school, one adult Israeli settler and four children followed the Palestinian children and military escort. They were soon joined by two adult settlers, and a large group of adults and teenagers. The settlers yelled insults and threats at the school children, but the Israeli army kept them at bay.

An adult settler displayed his buttocks to international observers monitoring the escort.

About twenty children from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed walk to school in At-Tuwani each day. The Israeli military, under orders from the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) Committee for the Rights of the Child, have accompanied the children past the illegal settlement outpost of Havat Ma’on since 2004 because of settler attacks on the children.

Release: Israeli settlers attack and intimidate Palestinians: Israeli authorities allow twenty Israeli settlers to remain on At-Tuwani land

On the morning of 29 March, twenty Israeli settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement outpost Havat Ma’on entered the village of At-Tuwani. Throughout the day, groups of four to five settlers entered the village three additional times. While in the village, settlers harassed

Palestinians, twice displaying their buttocks to Palestinians and internationals in the area. Israeli authorities did nothing to move settlers away from the village. Israeli military spoke and joked with settlers when they entered the village, allowing them to stay on land owned by Palestinian residents of At-Tuwani. Palestinians report a military commander threatened to tell the settlers to attack the village after the military left the area.

These incidents were preceded by settler attacks and intimidation on 28 March. In the morning, settlers attacked two Palestinians in the face and eyes with aerosol spray. Later that day, masked settlers drove through the village, shouting insults, and throwing stones at Palestinian children and a woman carrying a baby. The masked settlers retreated into the trees of the illegal settlement outpost of Havat Ma’on, but remained visible until Israeli military arrived.