Baruch Marzel Steals Five Goats
by ISM Hebron, 29 April 2007
Tel Rumeida, HEBRON–At 3.45pm on April 29, Israeli settler Baruch Marzel directed 2 male Israeli settlers to capture 5 Palestinian goats who had wandered close to the Israeli settlement of Tel Rumeida. At 4.15pm, human rights workers (HRWs) were alerted by a Palestinian boy who took the HRWs to the roof of a Palestinian house next to the settlement from where the HRWs were able to photograph two of the goats being held outside Baruch Marzel’s house. The goats were seen to be eating his trees. When Israeli settler children noticed that the goats had been spotted they took them away from view.
Meanwhile the goatherd, a Palestinian from outside Tel Rumeida, spoke to Israeli soldiers. After some negotiating, the soldiers managed to persuade the settlers to return the stolen goats. Two soldiers were seen running up the steep hill in pursuit of an escaped goat. One goat made a run for it, escaped through the checkpoint and made his own way home. The rest of the goats were reunited with the goatherd and the rest of the flock and he took them all home.