17 May 2011 | International Solidarity Movement
Jamal Abu Saifan told the International Solidarity Movement that around 6.30 pm on Sunday, four masked settlers appeared and started to throw Molotov cocktails and glass bottles towards one of the houses of the Abu Saifan family in Western Hebron. 19 people live in the house which was attacked, including several children. The family has five houses, situated just below a religious school of the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba. The attackers were standing in the school yard.
When the settlers appeared the family called The Red Crescent and TIPH, Temporary International Presence in Hebron, also appeared. Jamal Abu Saifan told ISM that the settlers threw bottles and some Molotov cocktails towards the TIPH personnel when they started to take photos to document the attack.
On Monday 16, the same day as ISM spoke to the family, around 14 settlers appeared at the school yard and threw stones towards the houses. Israeli police arrived and gathered stones and bottles from both attacks. The family has made a complaint to the police about the events. No one was injured in the attacks.
The family has been exposed to settler violence many times. In December 2009 two members of the Abu Saifan family were shot by settlers. Jamal Abu Saifan told ISM that most of the 90 members of the family have been exposed to stone throwing by settlers from the illegal settlement Kiryat Arba. Water tanks and satellites on the roofs of the houses have also been destroyed by settlers on several occasions.