Video of settler shooting two Palestinians


Video published by B’Tselem

ISM Hebron: The settlers that had been evicted at approximately 14.00 from the occupied Rajabi house, were allowed to roam the Wadi Hassain (Al Ras neighborhood) area freely. After the chaotic evacuation of around 200 settlers, many groups of settlers embarked on their publicized “price tag” campaign by attacking Palestinian homes in the neighborhood. Near the Rajabi house (‘House of Contention’), four Palestinians were shot, no less than 4 fires were started, and all of the homes were stoned.


Photos by Activestills

Hassni Abu Sayfan was shot in the stomach and rather then allow him to seek immediate medical treatment the Army medics held and examined him. Ultimately the army had to airlift him to a nearby hospital by helicopter because his condition had become critical. Another two from the Sayfan family were shot, after an altercation with settlers that had come down to their homes. Two settlers began threatening several Palestinians with a hand gun, shot one Palestinian in the hand and another in the shoulder as he was trying to take away the gun. Another Palestinian was shot two inches from his heart and was taken to a nearby hospital.

The Matari home was attacked by settlers and a fire was started in nearby bushes, burning a corner of the house. The water tanks and satellites on the roof as well as 18 windows were destroyed by stones thrown from Kiryat Arba. The family had to move all of their belongings away from the side of the house that faces the settlement. At the Sayfan homes nearby, 2 water tanks and 2 satellites had been pulled off the roof by settlers. The home was also damaged from stones throw from Kiryat Arba. At the Jabar home, slightly downhill from the “House of Contention,” a burning stack of hay was thrown at the home, but put out by the family before any major damage was caused. A member of the Jabari family also reported that a settler had thrown a military weapon that soldiers later retrieved.

As well as attacking Palestinian homes near the “House of Contention” (close to Kiryat Arba settlement) settlers were attacking in the Old City, Tel Rumeida (Shohada street), Kharsina settlement and the Quarantina area.

Between 20 to 30 settler youth burned 4 cars along the Quarantina street at 15.00, and proceeded towards a mosque, Jabar Al Arahne, to break many windows. Then the Army arrived and walked alongside the settlers, throwing tear gas and sound bombs towards Palestinian homes. They turned back at 15.45 then returned to smash several cars with stones. They came by the Al Rayam mosque and burned 2 cars nearby and 2 cars by a military tower.

At the Da’ana house near the Kharsina settlement, settlers had lit 3 trees in the olive groves around 16.30 after crossing an area illegal to Israelis. About 20 settlers came back at 22.30 and threw stones at the home.

The “price tag” campaign is a commitment to choreographed extremely violent responses if any act offends settlements or settlers.The evacuation of illegal settler occupiers in the “House of Contention” is a justification to enact the open and publicized campaign. The Supreme Court decision on November 16th to evict the settlers had been met with promises of violence against Palestinians and is currently being fulfilled throughout the West Bank. Despite settlers using aggressive tactics to injure Palestinians and destroy property, Palestinians are being restricted to their homes by the Army while settlers are moving freely about Hebron.

Um Kamel Al-Kurd returns to her original home in Talbyieh, West Jerusalem

On Thursday 4th December 2008 Um Kamel accompanied by Israeli, Palestinian and International activists returned to her original home of her parents in the Talbyieh area in West Jerusalem, where they symbolically set up a tent and demanded the right of return for all Palestinian refugees.

Around thirty activists and supporters of Um-Kamel Al-Kurd marched through the Talbyieh area of West Jerusalem and constructed a tent on a roundabout. Um-Kamil and her supporters issued their demand for the right of return of all refugees with banners and placards that they displayed to passing traffic. The demonstration lasted for an hour under scrutiny from the police and although several motorists shouted insults at the group the demonstration was peaceful and ended after an hour when the activists dismantled the tent and left the area.

The Al-Kurd family were survivors of the Nakba of 1948 where they, along with 750 000 others were made refugees from their homes of which Palestinians had been living for generations. The Al-Kurd family had been living in housing created for Refugees by the Jordanian government and UNWRA in 1956 in Sheikh Jarrah, before on the 9th of November 2008 they were evicted by Israeli police after a seven year dispute with settlers who had occupied half of their house. Israel supported the settlers’ action although it was illegal under UN resolutions 242 and 338 that call for Israel to withdraw from the territories occupied including East Jerusalem in the 1967 War. Since Um-Kamil was evicted from her home in the refugee housing her supporters demand that she should be allowed to return to her original home.

All Palestinian refugees have the right to return under UN resolution 194 that Israel has refused to comply with for 60 years. The actions taken by the Israeli government in settlement expansion and house demolitions in Jerusalem show that their illegal annexation of Jerusalem does not extend the same rights that Israelis have to the citizens in the occupied territories.

Settlers riot through Hebron following eviction from Rajabi house: 17 Palestinians injured, one in critical condition

Hebron, 4th November – A Palestinian man is in critical condition after being shot in the stomach as settlers continue to riot through Hebron.

At least seventeen Palestinians have been taken to hospital injured as settlers set fire to several Palestinian homes. Four were injured as settlers opened fire into Palestinian houses.

Hosni Abu Saither has been taken to Aila Government Hospital after he was shot in the stomach during an attack by Israeli settlers who rioted following the eviction. He is currently in a critical condition.

Settlers have also broken into and are occupying a Palestinian property in Hebron’s Old City.

Mobs of settlers stormed through Hebron following the eviction of the Rajabi house today, causing many injuries and widespread damage. Several Palestinian homes were torched, as well as around 20 cars.

International solidarity activists are maintaining a presence in Hebron, staying with Palestinian families that live in the immediate vicinity of the occupied house and who have been the focus for the settler attacks. The internationals report that Israeli soldiers have made Hebron a Closed Military Zone, but are unwilling to confront the violent settlers.

Settlers reported to the media that they have called on supporters to engage in a week long campaign following their eviction. “We will choose the time and place to retaliate,” they were quoted as saying in Ynet.

The mass settler violence has also sparked a series of coordinated attacks across the West Bank as settlers engage in what has been described as a ‘price-tag‘ campaign.

Settlers riot across West Bank as part of ‘price-tag’ campaign following eviction of settlers from Rajabi house, Hebron

UPDATE: Settlers are attacking Palestinian residents and property around the West Bank in a coordinated outbreak of aggression following the eviction of settlers from the occupied Rajabi house in Hebron. Attacks against Palestinians have been reported from Turmas’ayya, Burin, Huwarra, Beit Iba, Azzoun, al-Funduq, Assira-al-Qabliya and Susiya, as well as the mass settler riots in Hebron.

10:30pm 4th December: Settlers have thrown molotov cocktails at a house in Assira-al-Qabliya, Nablus region, setting the house alight. Widespread damage has been reported by Palestinian firefighters who have now put out the blaze.

In Susiya, the tent of Hajet Sarra Nausaja has been burnt down by settlers who have stormed through the area.

One Palestinian man has been taken to hospital in Qalqilya after his car was attacked by settlers close to al-Funduq. His condition is as yet unknown. Residents of al-Funduq also reported that Israeli soldiers ordered all shops to close and people to remain inside their homes in case the settlers arrived.

6:30pm 4th December – These coordinated attacks appear to be the manifestation of settler warnings of a ‘price-tag’ campaign that were reported in September of this year.

Just outside the village of Turmas’ayya, Israeli soldiers stopped a bus and at least 40 other Palestinian cars from traveling down Road 60 that links Nablus and Ramallah. As the cars were being stopped settlers attacked the cars, throwing rocks and other projectiles. Large-scale damage was reported from the scene.

Those trapped inside the cars report that Israeli soldiers are refusing to intervene and prevent the settler attacks or to allow the Palestinian traffic to pass so as to escape from the settler attacks. Witnesses to this have said that they are very scared and that there has been considerable damage caused towards the bus and cars.

In the village of Burin, Nablus region, over 100 settlers have attacked the village, throwing stones at Palestinian houses and damaging property. Settlers have also set fire to Palestinian agricultural land in Burin. Groups of settlers have been throwing rocks at houses with Israeli soldiers seemingly unwilling to prevent them. In one house residents are trapped inside while settlers have repeatedly thrown rocks against their property. International Human Rights Workers in the village have reported that Israeli soldiers in the vilage have been using tear-gas and sound grenades against Palestinians not in their homes, but are refraining from using such force against settlers attacking the village.

Rather than confront the violent settlers, Israeli soldiers have preferred to use force on Palestinian residents in the regions. A resident of Burin was violently detained by Israeli soldiers after settlers had attacked his car and broken his windshield. A similar incident was reported to the International Women’s Peace Service as one resident, while driving home, was confronted by Israeli soldiers who refused to intervene as settlers attacked his car.

International Human Rights Workers have also reported that both Beit Iba and Huwarra checkpoints have been blocked by settlers and that rocks are being thrown at Palestinians attempting to pass through the Israeli checkpoints.

In response to these settler attacks, rather than confront the settlers, have blocked Palestinian traffic from running on Road 60 that links Nablus and Ramallah, the road between Kufr Laqif and Jinsafut and the road between Jit and al-Funduq. With the religious of Eid approaching, it appears that Israeli forces are seeking to prevent Palestinians traveling instead of acting to prevent the settler attacks.

Child Martyrs

ISM Gaza Strip

On Tuesday 2nd December 2008 Gaza Strip, Palestine added two more child martyrs to its already long list of thousands of dead children, the products of U.S. tax-payer money providing the ways and the means for Israel to continue its genocidal occupation and siege.


Omar Abu-Hamad

15 year-old Omar Abu-Hamad, born 28th January 1993 and 19 year-old Ramzi El Dahini were blown to bits standing in the street outside their homes – they both lived in the same neighborhood and were also cousins. Two other children were seriously injured and taken to Al-Najar hospital in Rafah, Gaza Strip. Their injuries were so serious that they are being transferred to a hospital inside Israel, since the hospitals in Gaza are so very limited in the treatment they can give to those who need urgent emergency care.

According to Omar’s family, he and his mother were home when they both heard an explosion. It sounded like a gas canister and they went out to see what happened. An Israeli remote operated drone plane had shot a missile nearby. Omar’s mother came back into the house and heard another explosion. She had thought that Omar had come back into the house with her, but he wasn’t around. She went back outside looking for him. She questioned the people in the street about Omar and the neighbors said that he wasn’t there in the street among the dead, for her to look elsewhere. But her heart told her that he was there in the street, blown to bits by the remote controlled missile. She saw a shoe in the street and recognized it as her son’s and knew that he was dead.

She went to the hospital and asked about her son, they didn’t want to let her see him, he was in parts, no longer in one recognizable body.

Omar’s brothers, 17 year-old Emad, 12 year-old Ibrahim, and 10 year-old Mahmoud told everyone how they had found out about Omar’s death. Emad was at home when the shooting took place. He went outside and was told like his mother that Omar was not dead, but Emad insisted on going to the hospital. Once there he went to the morgue and told the technicians to open the refrigerator where they store the dead bodies. He saw Omar’s pants and one of his legs and before seeing the rest of the blown apart body knew that it was Omar. Ibrahim had come home from school and asked about Omar, his mother told him that he had been killed. Mahmoud came home from school and found a house full of women and he was told “your brother was killed”. The people in the street also told him that Omar was dead.

Amal, Omar’s 18 year-old sister was at the clinic the day he was killed. She came home from the clinic and they chatted and then he went outside and was killed. She didn’t believe that he was dead.

ISM Gaza Strip volunteers had gone to the home of Omar to pay respects and some of the family were reminiscing about him. When Omar was still going to school, in the morning he would stop by at a poor woman’s house in the neighborhood and bring her bread. One day when he went there he found her dead in her bed. After looking closer he saw bullet holes in her wall and saw that she had been killed by being shot by a bullet. This incident impacted him so strongly that he couldn’t focus on his studies and stopped going to school.

His mother reminisced that he was very clever, he could fix anything – the computer, the closet – just give it to him and he would find a way to fix something broken or to build something that was needed. He was also very clever in school.

His sister, Amal, talked about his personality – he would make jokes and he was very helpful. Everyday he would get up at 6:00am and go to his step-mother’s house to take his step brother to the store. She remembered that he had planted the trees outside of their home and had painted his name on the walls of the house. How can they continue to live in this house now?

The family continued to talk about Omar, saying that he had a sheep which had recently had a lamb. The family had decided to not sacrifice the sheep or the lamb for Eid Al-Adha, but to keep them both in remembrance of Omar.

The family talked about the relationship of the father with Omar. The father has been in an Israeli prison for the last 9-10 months and he still does not know that Omar has been killed, murdered by the Israeli occupation force army. His health is suffering and the family is concerned about how the news might affect him. The father used to say that Omar was his right arm and in his letters to the family he would mention how much he depended on him. The family also mentioned that the father had told Omar to write a letter expressing how he felt. Omar asked him to whom he should write the letter and the father told him to write it to a good friend. Omar said the children are my friends. The family remembered that Omar would call a 10 month-old child his son and one of Omar’s younger brothers would call him “Ba”, another Arabic name for father.

Ramzi was at home before the incident, when a friend called by and asked him to go to help repair his bicycle. He joined a group of young people who were sitting on a fence at the side of the road just in front of his house, chatting. A few minutes later the Israeli drone fired a missile. People in the neighborhood had observed the drone flying west, away from the area, and thought it was safe. But then the drone returned. Ramzi’s mother said she heard a loud explosion and ran out of the house to see what had happened. She saw the bodies of the teenagers not realizing that one of them was her son. She went back into her house to get some blankets to cover the bodies as the ambulance hadn’t arrived yet. Ramzi’s brother was on the scene. She asked him if Ramzi was one of the people killed and he told her that he was. It was a huge shock. She later commented that she raised her son for nineteen years only for the Israeli army to steal his future.

The families of Omar and Ramzi are still in shock over the sudden loses of their beloved sons, brothers, cousins and uncles. Unarmed children standing in a field after one explosion hit the area, torn to smithereens by a second murderous missile. These families will have a gaping hole of loss for the rest of their lives. It was a genocidal attack that killed also the future generations of these two man-children. The loss of life reverberates throughout the world – this genocide of Palestinians can be stopped, it must be stopped, the only question is when?!

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Donna Wallach, contributed to article, cell: +972-59-88-36-420, email: cats4jazz@gmail.com