Israeli soldiers violate court order and close off Palestinian homes, assault Human Rights Workers, confiscate cameras and destroy film in Tel Rumeida, Hebron
A human rights worker was filming the Israeli army’s violation of a recent Israeli court order to open a pathway to Palestinian homes at around 12:30 p.m., Wednesday, December 14, near the illegal Israeli settlement of Tel Rumeida. Israeli Occupation Forces recently installed a coil of razor wire, blocking a path that leads to Palestinian families’ homes located just below the settlement. The razor wire violates a recent court order saying that Palestinians in the area are allowed to use the path at all times.
The Israeli military commander at the scene pushed the human rights worker and tried to take her camera. Upon witnessing the scene, another human rights worker started filming and the IOF commander approached him, pushed him to the ground and started dragging him along the street, holding the strap of his bag and video camera until he managed to take the camera. A few minutes later the woman who was initially pushed was once again attacked by three soldiers who surrounded her, pushed her to the ground as she was screaming in fear, and took her video camera. In the commotion a third human rights worker was assaulted in a similar way by another soldier; he was pushed to the ground and the soldier ripped his camera out of his hands. Two other human rights workers were assaulted during this time.
The cameras were returned at 3:15 p.m. with the film missing from the still camera and the tapes in the two video cameras fully taped over by the military.
The International Solidarity Movement, together with the Tel Rumeida Project, provides an international presence in Tel Rumeida to support the Palestinian families in the area in their daily struggle to lead a normal life next door to the violent settlers of Tel Rumeida and Beit Hadassah. Among other activities, these human rights workers accompany Palestinian children to school on a daily basis to help prevent frequent attacks on the children and their teachers by settlers.
For more information about the Tel Rumeida Project, and videos of recent settler attacks in Tel Rumeida, see their website:
www.telrumeidaproject.org.