Settler violence in the West Bank is on the rise. In the first 8 months of 2008 UNOCHA recorded “290 settler-related incidents targeting Palestinians and their property”. When compared to the figures of the previous two year (182 in 2006 and 243 in 2007) it is clearly evident of a worrying trend. According to B’Tselem, “Israelis, individually or in organized groups, carry out the attacks on Palestinians and Palestinian property to frighten, deter, or punish them, using weapons and ammunition they received from the IDF.” In cataloguing accounts of settler violence UNOCHA have concluded that, “settler violence is not random criminal activity; in most cases, it is ideology-driven, organized violence, the goal of which is to assert settler dominance over an area”.
40% of all settler violence in the West Bank takes place in Hebron. Around 400 settlers live in four settlements implemented inside the city and they are extremely aggressive. They are called ideological settlers as they believe in establishing an exclusively Jewish State over Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, which would become the Great Israel.
Tel Rumeida settlement was established in 1986. It is implemented in a Palestinian residential area in the heart of Hebron. The families who live there have faced many attacks and all kinds of harassment over the years: Hani, who lives in this area with his wife and four children, had his car burnt more than once. His older son was attacked by a young settler, who broke his foot with a stone. Hashem, whose direct neighbours are also very violent, cannot harvest his olives anymore. All the trees have been cut. The settlers also throw stones at him and at his family on a regular basis. They even entered his house and destroyed everything inside. A star of David is roughly painted on his backyard door. He doesn’t want to wash it off because it is a proof of settler violence against the residents of Tel Rumeida. Finally, another family who lives in the area has to deal with a permanent army base on the roof of their house.
In spite of all this violence and the constant threats directed to their families, the Palestinian people haven’t given up. Hani, for example, is very active in different peace organisations such as B’Tselem. Hashem takes a lot of tourists and delegations to his house in order to tell them his story and to show them the damages caused by settler violence. Both of them also think that it is very important to remember that “we don’t have any problem with religion here, only with occupation”. Unfortunately, settlements are not about to disappear in Hebron. For now, we can only hope that settler violence will come to and end.
Tel Rumeida settlement was established in 1986. It is implemented in a Palestinian residential area in the heart of Hebron. The families who live there have faced many attacks and all kinds of harassment over the years: Hani, who lives in this area with his wife and four children, had his car burnt more than once. His older son was attacked by a young settler, who broke his foot with a stone. Hashem, whose direct neighbours are also very violent, cannot harvest his olives anymore. All the trees have been cut. The settlers also throw stones at him and at his family on a regular basis. They even entered his house and destroyed everything inside. A star of David is roughly painted on his backyard door. He doesn’t want to wash it off because it is a proof of settler violence against the residents of Tel Rumeida. Finally, another family who lives in the area has to deal with a permanent army base on the roof of their house.
In spite of all this violence and the constant threats directed to their families, the Palestinian people haven’t given up. Hani, for example, is very active in different peace organisations such as B’Tselem. Hashem takes a lot of tourists and delegations to his house in order to tell them his story and to show them the damages caused by settler violence. Both of them also think that it is very important to remember that “we don’t have any problem with religion here, only with occupation”. Unfortunately, settlements are not about to disappear in Hebron. For now, we can only hope that settler violence will come to and end.
Tel Rumeida settlement photographed from Hashem's backyard
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