Masked men from the settlement of Yitzhar in the Occupied Palestinian Territories wielding metal rods and stones attacked volunteers from Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR), a human rights organization based in Israel, while they were picking olives alongside Palestinian farmers in the West Bank village of Burin on Wednesday, October 16. According to a spokesperson for the organization, settlers set fire to the olive groves, causing a blaze that spread rapidly and burned for hours.
An Israeli activist who was attacked by settlers in the Palestinian village of Burin in the northern West Bank, October 16, 2019 (Photo: Rabbis for Human Rights)
“They used metal rods and stones, and several volunteers were injured,” RHR reported. “One of the volunteers, Rabbi Moshe Yehudai, an RHR board member, was wounded in his head and limbs, and is currently being treated in the hospital for light injuries. We call on the law enforcement agencies to roll up their sleeves and bring these violent criminals to justice. This is an almost daily reality in the Occupied Territories, it is the reality of the occupation, and it is time for it to stop.” RHR added that the extremists also set fires to groves belonging to villagers from Burin.
Yesh Din reported that 15 members of a Palestinian family from the West Bank village of Deir Ammar were attacked on Saturday, October 12, while working in their fields, allegedly by Jewish extremists. The attackers used clubs and stones, Yesh Din reported. Two Palestinian children, age 10 and 12, were severely assaulted and subsequently hospitalized, the human rights group said.
On Wednesday morning, residents of the same village of Deir Ammar awoke to discover that unknown vandals, believed to be far-right extremist settlers from nearby outposts, had slashed tires and spray painted Hebrew slogans and Stars of David on their homes and 10 cars. They punctured tires and spray painted Stars of David and messages in Hebrew, including one that said, “The Jewish nation lives.”
On Sunday, October 13, residents of the Palestinian village of Marda suffered a similar attack of vandalism. Eight cars were damaged, and black graffiti was spray painted on walls and homes, including one message that said, “We shall take control of our destiny, and expel our enemies.”
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