HEBRON, West Bank – Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has released a footage showing Israeli settlers brutally attacking Palestinian farmers in the West Bank city of Hebron.
"They said we had 10 minutes to leave," farmer Imran Al-Nawajah, 31, told Reuters Friday, June 13.
"But I responded by saying: ‘This is my land. I’m here to plant trees and feed my sheep.’"
The film shows Nawajah tending his sheep along with his 58-year-old aunt Thamam and 60-year-old uncle on Sunday, June 8, in their land near the Susia settlement.
Then four settlers with faces swathed in scarves and holding sticks, showed approaching the farmers.
One strikes a blow before the camera is dropped.
"The two settlers then returned, this time masked, with others and attacked the family," said Nawajah.
"They came toward me and they hit me on my head. I fell and they started beating me. They started beating all of us."
Nawajah and his uncle were taken to a Hebron hospital.
The 58-year-old aunt, who suffered a broken cheekbone and a gashed arm, was treated at an Israeli hospital.
About 500 settlers are housed in several tiny enclaves built since 1980 in the heart of the city, home to more than 167,000 Palestinians.
Israel occupied the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East war.
Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinians lands are considered illegal by the international community.
Savagery
Despite the setters’ savagery, Nawajah, 58, stood defiant.
"They don’t want us to stay on our land," she told the BBC.
"But we won’t leave. We’ll die here. It’s ours."
The Israeli rights group B’Tselem says harassment of Palestinians by Jewish settlers is frequent.
To document the settlers’ attacks, B’Tselem has provided about 100 cameras as a part of a project called Shooting Back project.
"The difference is amazing," Oren Yakobovich, who leads B’Tselem project, told the BBC.
"When they have the camera, they have proof that something happened.
"They now have something they can work with, to use as a weapon."
A recent report by B’Tselem cited 47 cases of physical assaults on Palestinians by Jewish settlers last year.
(IslamOnline.net and news agencies)
