B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information Center forHuman Rights in the Occupied Territories

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B ' T S E L E M

Free ReinVigilante Settlers and Israel'sNon-Enforcement of the Law

Information SheetOctober 2001

Free Rein

Vigilante Settlers and Israel'sNon-Enforcement of the Law

8 Hata'asiya St. (4th Floor) Talpiot, Jerusalem 93420Tel. 02-6735599 Fax. 02-6749111

E-mail: mail@btselem.orgWebsite: http//www.btselem.org

Information Sheet

October 2001

B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories was foundedin 1989 by a group of lawyers, authors, academics, journalists, and Members of Knesset. B'Tselem documentshuman rights abuses in the Occupied Territories and brings them to the attention of policymakers and thegeneral public. Its data are based on independent fieldwork and research, official sources, the media, anddata from Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations.

B ' T S E L E M

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Settler violence against Palestinians isextensive and has been prevalent in theOccupied Territories for many years. Fromthe beginning of the first intifada, in December1987, to 3 October 2001, settlers have killed124 Palestinians, eleven of them sinceSeptember 2000.1

In March 2001, B'Tselem published TacitConsent,2 which described numerous violentacts by settlers against Palestinians duringthe al-Aqsa intifada. Settlers shot Palestinians,hurled stones at them, damaged theirproperty, blocked roads, and abused themin other ways. Some of these acts entailedentering Palestinian villages, damagingPalestinian vehicles travelling along theroad, and mistreating Palestinian farmersworking their fields. Similar acts, entailinggreater force, have occurred since B'Tselemissued its report.

In addition to these acts, in recent monthsthere have been several lethal shootingattacks that were attributed to a gang (organgs) of Israelis.3 According to someassessments, the same groups are responsiblefor a series of attacks that began in April2001. The police informed B'Tselem thatit is intensively investigating the matter,but did not indicate that any progress wasbeing made in the investigation.4

These acts of violence occur in the contextof the failure of Israeli law enforcement,which treats settler violence with complacencyand forgiveness. This attitude is among thefactors that enable the violence to continue.Israel also ignores its responsibility, as theoccupier of the Occupied Territories, toprotect the safety and well-being of thepopulation under its control. The testimoniesand data collected by B'Tselem in recentyears indicate that Israeli leniency extendsto all aspects and stages of an incident:from the lack of intervention of soldiersand police present when the attacks takeplace, through superficial and incompleteinvestigations, to light sentences and pardonsof the few settlers convicted of assaultingPalestinians.5

Since the beginning of the al-Aqsa intifada,Palestinian civilians have attacked Israelisthroughout the Occupied Territories. Mostof these attacks involved gunfire and/orstone throwing at vehicles and homes, andresulted in the killing of sixty-seven Israelicivilians, forty-nine of them settlers.Intentionally harming civilians is a flagrantviolation of international law and is absolutelyprohibited, whatever the circumstances.Although the settlements violate internationallaw, their existence does not affect the statusand rights of civilians living there and does

Introduction

1. The number of Palestinians killed by settlers may be higher because Palestinians were killed in situations inwhich it was unclear whether Israeli security forces or settlers were responsible. In some cases, there were noeyewitnesses or the IDF Spokesperson's failed to report the killing of Palestinians by security forces. As a result,it was not always possible to determine who was responsible for the deaths. Furthermore, there were cases inwhich settler vehicles struck Palestinians and it was unclear whether the act was intentional or accidental.2. B'Tselem: Tacit Consent: Israeli Law Enforcement on Settlers in the Occupied Territories, March 2001.3. "GSS Director: Jewish Gang Operating in the Occupied Territories," YNET, 17 July 2001.4. Letter of 6 September 2001 to B'Tselem from Chief Superintendent Uri Weiskopf, head of the InvestigationsDivision, SHAI District.5. On settler violence during the first intifada, see B'Tselem: Law Enforcement vis-a-vis Israeli Civilians in theOccupied Territories, March 1994.

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not turn them into a legitimate target forattack.6 International law provides nosupport for the argument that settlers arenot civilians and are, therefore, legitimatetargets of assault in the Palestinian struggle.The distinction between civilians andcombatants is a fundamental precept ofinternational law, which does not recognizethe existence of any other category anddistinguishes between the legal and illegalmeans allowed in every situation.7 Therefore,every attack on Israeli civilians in theOccupied Territories, a population thatincludes children, is absolutely forbidden.8

This report discusses one kind of settlerviolence against Palestinians: mass rioting

by settlers in retaliation for Palestinianattacks on settlers. The rioting is only oneaspect of a broader phenomenon that hasled to the killing and wounding ofPalestinians, extensive property and economicdamage, and prolonged hardship amongmany residents of the Occupied Territories.Although other types of acts have led tomore tragic results, the focus is placed onthese kinds of activities because they involvedlarge numbers of participants, and wereanticipated and committed openly, makingthe failure of the Israeli authorities to preventthem even more grievous.

6. International law prohibits the transfer of a population from the area of the occupying state to the occupiedterritory. It also forbids the occupying power to make permanent changes that do not benefit the local population.See, for example, article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. For a discussion on this matter, see B'Tselem, IsraeliSettlement in the Occupied Territories as a Violation of Human Rights: Legal and Theoretical Aspects, March 1997.7. On the issue of civilian and combatant categories, see B'Tselem: The Proposed Law: "Imprisonment ofCombatants not Entitled to Prisoner-of-War Status," June 2000.8. See B'Tselem, Illusions of Restraint: Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Territories during the al-Aqsa Intifada,December 2000, pp. 16-18; B'Tselem, Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories, pp. 30-31.

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One of the conspicuous phenomena ofsettler violence against Palestinians duringthe current intifada is the rioting by settlersafter Palestinians attacked Israelis. A clearexample of this pattern occurred followingthe killing of Ronni Zalah, a resident ofGush Qatif, on 14 January 2001. Immediatelyafter the killing, hundreds of settlers wentto the Mawasi area in the Gaza Strip andrioted for several hours. The settlers firedweapons and damaged property, destroyedfields, and burned hothouses.9 Similarincidents also occurred numerous times inthe West Bank.

As noted, Palestinian attacks on settlers areabsolutely forbidden by international law.However, such attacks can never justifysettler acts of violence against Palestinians.Even where the attacks on settlers areextremely serious, the official authorities,and not private individuals, are responsiblefor enforcing the law. The only instance inwhich a person may intentionally harmanother person is the case of self-defense- when the person's life is in danger andno other option exists to defend againstthe danger. Firing a weapon to deter or topunish is forbidden in all situations. Itshould be emphasized that the nature ofall the acts described in this report - stonethrowing, vandalism, and damage to property-cannot be considered to fall within therubric of self-defense.

The police stated that settler attacks onPalestinian following attacks on settlers are

not new. Following settler riots in Hebronin the middle of July, a senior police officialcommented that, "Every attack or murderof settlers brings a wave of vengeful activityby residents of the Jewish settlements. Thisis not the first time that [such] thingsoccurred."10 On another occasion, a seniorpolice source stated that, "almost everyPalestinian attack draws a retaliatory actionby Jews."11 Amos Harel, the military reporterfor Ha'aretz, described the phenomenon:

The understanding of the settlers' distress,the strong connection between theirleadership and senior officials in theOccupied Territories, and no less thanthis, IDF and police helplessness inhandling Jewish rioters turned settlerviolence into an expected, almostcustomary, aftermath to every attackagainst them. Every injury or murderof a settler in the West Bank is respondedto by burning Palestinian fields andhouses, beating passersby, attackingjournalists, and occasionally shooting.12

Following the shooting attack in MeshorAdumim on 29 August 2001, Hezi Qalu,former head of the General Security ServicesNon-Arab Division, stated that the primarymotivation behind Israeli violence againstPalestinians during this period is the desirefor revenge.13 An article in Ha'aretz thatanalyzed several incidents in which Israelisharmed Palestinians over the past ten yearsconcluded that among the significant motivesfor Jewish terror was the desire for revenge-

Settlers Acts of Revenge

9. "Settlers' Journey of Revenge," Ma'ariv, 16 January 2001; "Settlers Riot and Burn Hothouses in Protest againstMurder of Ronni Zalah," Ha'aretz, 16 January 2001.10. "Senior Police Official: Settler Retaliation 'Under Control,'" YNET, 16 July 2001.11. "Needed: Volunteers to Drive on Dangerous Routes," Yediot Aharonot, 17 August 2001.12. "The Situation in Hebron: Recent Weeks Turn the City into a Dangerous Spin," Ha'aretz, 15 July 2001.13. His comments were made in an interview on "Good Morning, Israel," Galei Tsahal (army radio station), 29September 2001. In another instance, Qalu expressed concern that a "Jewish intifada" would take place in theOccupied Territories. See "The Coming Goldsteins," Ha'aretz, 2 April 2001.

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by relatives of those injured, by religiousfanatics, and as a spontaneous response toattacks against Jews.14

Some settlers openly expressed fears andwarnings about acts of revenge.15 Groupsalso distributed flyers calling for revenge.A group called "The Staff for GuaranteedBorders," for example, distributed a circularunder the heading "We Want Justice! WeWant Revenge!" The circular stated that,"In the confrontation between Israel andits enemies, revenge is the most positiveand just act."

Settler revenge has become a routineoccurrence for many Palestinian residentsof the Occupied Territories. For example,Suliman Mahmud Najar, a resident of Burin,Nablus District, informed B'Tselem that,"when a settler is killed or woundedanywhere, we pay the price, even if theincident took place in Hebron. The settlerscome down from Yizhar, destroy property,and throw stones and petrol bombs."16 'Abdal-Rahman 'Odeh, a resident of Hawara,told B'Tselem that:

After incidents occurred in the area, thingswould get worse. After a settler is killedin a nearby area, groups of settlers wouldcome and break windows and throwstones at Arab cars.17

The acts of violence described in this reportclearly illustrate the phenomenon of revengetaken by settlers, and all occurred shortlyafter Palestinians attacked settlers. Due tothe difficulty in determining the precisemotive of each settler act, the report doesnot profess to present a complete and preciselist of incidents of this kind. It may be thatsome of the actions described were plannedsome time earlier. It may also be that certain

actions were taken in revenge for pastincidents. For example, a number of residentsof the Ma'aleh Adumim settlement wererecently arrested on suspicion of throwingstones at Palestinian vehicles on numerousoccasions. The police categorized these actsas "vengeance," but it was unclear if theacts were always taken immediately followingan attack on settlers.18 Recent shootingattacks by a gang or gangs of Jews, whichthis report will not discuss at length, aresuspected acts of revenge. After the attackin Meshor Adumim, on 29 August 2001,in which Khayder Kanan was killed, a noticewas sent to the media that the shootingwas in retaliation for the killing of HillelLieberman at the beginning of the intifada.19

Despite these reservations, the acts describedin this report, like other acts that occurredin the Occupied Territories during theintifada, are part of a clear pattern. Theyare organized, dozens and even hundredsof people participate, usually take placeduring the daytime, and last for a relativelylong period of time.

In recent years, B'Tselem and many othershave frequently warned about the lack ofeffective enforcement of the law againstviolent settlers. In this report, B'Tselemchose to focus on acts of revenge becausethe law enforcement problems are particularlyevident in the authorities' response to theseacts. Although the acts described belowdid not result in deaths, their scope andthe open manner in which they wereconducted indicate, among other things,that the participants knew that the Israeliauthorities would not take significant actionagainst them. Unfortunately, the testimoniespresented below indicate that this is indeedthe case.

14. "Jewish Terror - The Primary Motives: Revenge, Deterrence, Religious Fanaticism," Ha'aretz, 22 July 2001.15. "In the Settlements, Settlers Torn Between Revenge and the Need for Restraint," Ha'aretz, 1 June 2001; "YESHARabbis Oppose Private Initiatives, but Other Voices also Exist," Ha'aretz, 15 June 2001; "Quietly, Settlers Speakabout the Next Goldstein," Ha'aretz, 21 June 2001.16. The testimony was given to Hashem Abu Hassan on 27 June 2001.17. The testimony was given to Hashem Abu Hassan on 16 January 2001.18. "Jews Organized in Ma'aleh Adumim Who Attacked Arabs Exposed," Ma'ariv, 2 August 2001.19. "The Fifth Victim of Jewish Terror," Yediot Aharonot, 30 August 2001.

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1. Hebron, March - April 2001:Several days of rioting in retaliationfor the killing of a ten-month-oldinfant

For some time, Hebron has been one of theprimary focal points of violence in the WestBank.20 On 26 March 2001, Shalhevet Pass,a ten-month-old infant, was killed byPalestinian gunfire. The fear of a violentsettler retaliation against Palestinians wasimmediate, and IDF officials expressedconcern about this possibility. The sameday, the IDF Spokesperson issued a statementthat, "The IDF calls upon the Israeli residentsto be restrained even at this difficult timeand not to respond in a manner that willplay into the hands of the Palestinians andcause the situation to deteriorate."21 ColonelNoam Tibon, head of the Hebron Brigade,stated in an interview with Channel 1television that, "I hope that the area won'tignite."22

Despite being prepared to cope with theanticipated events, the IDF did not makea serious effort to prevent settler riots inthe city, which began the same day that theinfant was killed. For several days, settlersattacked Palestinians, damaged their property,and endangered Palestinian lives. The riotingincluded burning shops, theft, stone throwing,burning buildings belonging to the Wakf(Muslim religious authority), and other

acts of abuse and vandalism.

On 1 April, the settlers exploded a gascanister in a Palestinian shop in the city.Only then, after six days of rioting, did theIDF Spokesperson condemn the acts. Thestatement related only to the danger facedby the soldiers following the explosion andcompletely ignored the attacks on Palestiniansand their property: "The gas canister explosionin the shop in Hebron endangered IDFsoldiers."23

Many of the attacks were conducted openlyin front of television cameras. Furthermore,army and police officials and settlementleaders contended that known extremistsettlers from outside Hebron committedmost of the violence. In comments to agroup of Knesset members, Colonel Tibonstated:

There are some forty people here. Theycame from Yizhar, Tapuah, Kedumim,and Ra'anana. All are somehow connectedto the yeshiva in Nablus... We identifiedthem and warned the heads of the Jewishcommunity in Hebron not to be tolerantof them... We had information thatsomething was about to occur.Unfortunately, they did not heed myadvice and related to them compassionately,and what happened here this past weekis extremely bad. They break into shops,plunder them, burn them. Things thatare hard to believe.24

Sample Cases

20. See Tacit Consent, pp. 8-11; B'Tselem, Impossible Coexistence: Human Rights in Hebron since the Massacre atthe Cave of the Patriarchs, September 1995; Human Rights Watch, Center of the Storm: A Case Study of Human RightsAbuses in Hebron District, April 2001.21. The statement was given on 26 March 2001. IDF Spokesperson releases are published on www.idf.il.22. "Fear of Revenge Following Killing of Infant in Hebron," Ha'aretz, 27 March 2001; "Settler Heads in Hebron:Occupy Abu Sneineh," Ma'ariv, 27 March 2001.23. See the IDF press release of 2 April 2001.24. "Brigade Commander Angry at Police, Settlers, and the Hebron Agreement," Ha'aretz, 3 April 2001. See also"Israeli Critically Wounded by Stone in Samaria," Ha'aretz, 28 March 2001; "Extremist Right Activist in SamariaInvolved in Riots in the City," Ha'aretz, 3 April 2001.

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The brigade commander is sovereign in thearea and therefore has the duty to protectthe lives and property of the Palestiniansthere. By placing blame for the riots on thesettler leadership in Hebron, who showed"compassion" toward the rioters, he seeksto evade his responsibility for the acts ofthe settlers and to justify the army's failureto protect the Palestinians.

In August 2001, some five months afterthese incidents and although they knowthe identity of the rioters, the police haveyet to complete their investigation. Thepolice department's SHAI [Judea and Samaria]District informed B'Tselem that it had openedinvestigation files and that the "events werestill being investigated."25

Testimony of Nadal Farid Hamidan al-'Awiwi, 32, married with five children,Hebron Municipality inspector, residentof the area near the Hebron vegetablemarket26

Before the current intifada broke out, Iworked as a municipal inspector withresponsibility for business licensing andenforcement of municipal laws. My workchanged when the intifada started. Now Iprovide assistance to people during thecurfews, such as carrying food and goingwith people to the doctor, preventing abuseof residents by settlers and soldiers andreporting such incidents to the relevantauthorities, and fire fighting. When thereare emergencies, I work twenty-four hoursa day.

On Monday night (26 March), I was on theroof of my house observing the area. Aroundeight o'clock, more than a hundred settlersentered Area H1 in Abu Sneineh [underPalestinian control] and threw burningobjects at homes and vehicles. They alsoabused residents of Area H2 [under Israelicontrol] who were under curfew, among

them the homes of the Abu Miale, Abu'Akar, Sharbati, and al-Khatib families, andthe al-Qazazin mosque.

Then there was a period of quiet, but aroundten-thirty, the settlers again attacked theneighborhood. At three-thirty in the morning,the disturbances started again. The settlerstorched the offices of the Wakf, which werelocated near the Avraham Avinu settlement.I summoned the fire brigade, but the soldiersdid not allow them to enter the area untilten in the morning. Because of the curfew,I am unable to estimate the amount ofdamage caused by the fire. At 5:40 A.M.,the army removed the settlers from theoutskirts of the neighborhood.

The next day (27 March), many residentscalled our office to report that the settlershad damaged the old city in Area H2. Theyreported three fires near the offices of theurban renewal committee. Following thereports, we called the fire brigade and theyarrived three or four hours later. At two inthe afternoon, around a hundred settlersattempted to break into the Abu Sneinehneighborhood, but hundreds of soldiersand police stopped them and turned themback.

At around 4:30 P.M., settlers broke intoshops that had been closed since the massacrein the Cave of the Patriarchs. They hookedup the electricity in the shops and put bedsinside. They destroyed the wall separatingthe vegetable market and the al-Qial vegetablegarden, which contains a number of shops.They torched a bakery belonging to theShweiki family, and several shops andwarehouses. I saw smoke rising from severalplaces in the area, and I again called thefire brigade.

Today (28 March), the settlers continuedon their rampage and torched six shops onSahaleh Street, which leads to the Cave ofthe Patriarchs, after breaking through its

25. Letter of 12 August 2001 from Chief Superintendent Uri Weiskopf, head of the Investigations Division, SHAIDistrict.26. The testimony was given to Musa Abu Hashhash on 28 March 2001.

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doors. The fire brigade went there twice.I saw settlers throwing burning objects atthe firefighters while they were performingtheir duties. The press reported that, as aresult, one fireman was injured. In thecourse of my contact with the fire brigade'sheadquarters, I heard that settlers wereharassing the firemen every time they reachedthe area.

While I was observing the area, two funeralprocessions passed by, one before afternoonprayers and the other in the afternoon. Atthe first funeral, I saw settlers throw stonesat people participating in the funeral. Thesoldiers asked the funeral participants toleave the area and only let a small numberof people bury the man.

I have recently seen many settlers prowlingaround Area H2, many more than usual.Settlers from other settlements apparentlycame to the area. There are lots of soldiers,Border Police, and regular police. I also sawfour tanks moving about the area.

Testimony of 'Alyan 'Abd al-Rauf 'Ali,60, married with five children, ownerof a metalwork shop, resident ofHebron27

My father established the metalwork shopmore than forty years ago. I make plowingdevices, hammers, and chisels in theworkshop, which is built from sheets of tinthat extend over an area of forty squaremeters. I work alone and make around NIS2,000 - 2,500 a month. My income fell sincethe intifada started. Because of the prolongedcurfew, I do almost no work. Even whenI open the shop during curfew, I am unableto work for more than a few hours. Mycustomers are afraid to come to the shopout of fear of settler attacks, because the

workshop is near the courtyard of theAvraham Avinu settlement.

On Tuesday night (27 March), I heard amedia report that the area of the al-Qialvegetable garden, where my workshop islocated, had been torched. I saw my shopgo up in flames. I went to the Border Policepost near Kiryat Arba and reported theincident and the damage to my shop. Iaccompanied them to the area and saw thatthe workshop had burned down completely.

Two policemen and I drove there in a policevehicle. 'Azmi Qassem Abu Miale, ownerof a nearby carpentry shop, was also in thevehicle. His shop was completely burned,including the ceiling and walls. When wearrived, a group of ten to fifteen settlers ofvarious ages were there. They torched myworkshop. More than fifty soldiers as wellas policemen were present but they didnothing. We asked them to stop the settlers,but they claimed that, to prevent the situationfrom getting worse, it was better not tointerfere. The police requested that we goto the police post near the Cave of thePatriarchs.

On noon Thursday (29 March), we arrivedat the police post, but the police refusedto talk with us and asked us to go back tothe Border Police post near Kiryat Arba.We drove there the same day, but thepolicemen told us to go home. They saidthat they would contact us if necessary.

The walls and ceiling of my workshop totallycollapsed. There was also damage to theelectrical system and machines. The initialestimate of the damage amounted to NIS100,000. Many other businesses and shopsin the area were also destroyed.

27. The testimony was given to Musa Abu Hashhash on 3 April 2001.

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2. Sinjil Village, Ramallah District,May 2001: Burning of property inretaliation for a shooting that slightlywounded a settler

On 13 May 2001, a resident of the Ma'alehLevona settlement was lightly wounded byPalestinian gunfire while driving on a roadnear Turmus Ayya. In response, hundredsof settlers came to the area, burned a factorythat makes concrete blocks, and damagedother property.

Testimony of Muhammad Raid KhalilDar Khalil, 43, married with six children,resident of Sinjil Village28

On 14 May, at around 7:30 P.M., I was athome with my family after a day of workat the block-manufacturing factory that Iown. I did not see anything unusual goingon in the area, but I heard that somethinghad happened, I though it was a case ofgunfire at the Sinjil junction, which islocated two or three kilometers from myhome. I did not know if the gunfire hadbeen aimed at soldiers or settlers, or ifsomeone was hurt. In any event, our areawas quiet.

While we were watching television, I hearda loud noise outside. I looked out the windowand saw forty settlers breaking everythingthey could find in my factory. I intendedto go outside through the entrance to thehouse, but the dozens of soldiers in theyard did not let me. They also stood at theentrance of the house to prevent settlersfrom entering.

My wife, my six children, and I remainedin the house. I looked out the window andsaw what the settlers were doing. The soldiersdid not try to prevent them from breakingand burning the cement-block factory. Thesettlers turned on the forklift and the tractorthat were in the factory, got into them, andstarted to destroy the factory. They burneda truck and crane, burned two hundred

platforms of concrete blocks, damaged lotsof equipment, broke about ten thousandblocks, burned grain that was intended forthe sheep, and damaged my car.

The settlers threw stones at the rear partof the house, which faces the factory, andbroke the windows and doors. My familyand I stayed in the house and did nothing.I called the DCO [District CoordinatingOffice] in Ramallah, and they sent a fire-brigade vehicle and Red Crescent ambulance,even though nobody had been injured. Thestone throwing continued for around fifteenminutes. The soldiers who were presentwatched the settlers and did not respond.

The army imposed a curfew on theneighborhood. They probably wanted toprevent the village residents from comingto the site. After the settlers finished, theyleft, accompanied by the soldiers, and thecurfew was lifted. Residents came to thescene to see what happened. My house wasfull of stones thrown by the settlers, so myfamily and I had to sleep at our neighbor'shouse. It took the fire brigade two hoursto bring the fire in the factory under control.A container of fuel also went up in flames,which created a potential danger.

3. Luban a-Sharqiya and a-Samiya,Nablus District, 6 June 2001: Rioting,shooting, and damaging propertyin retaliation for critical woundssuffered by an infant who died afew days later

On 5 June 2001, at 9:30 P.M., YehudaShoham, a six-month-old infant who livedin Shilo, was critically wounded by stonesthrown by Palestinians at a car in whichhe was traveling near the Shilo junction.The infant died a few days later, on 12 June.

The morning after the incident occurred,settlers went to Luban a-Sharqiya and a-Sawiya, two villages adjacent to the Shilosettlement. At the time, residents of a-Sawiya

28. The testimony was given to Raslan Mahagna on 3 September 2001.

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were under curfew. The settlers burnedfarmland, a hothouse, a carpentry shop,and a school, and shattered windows ofhouses. They also fired shots at residentsof Luban a-Sharqiya.

Israeli security forces were present throughoutthe events but did not prevent the violence.In fact, they prevented Palestinians fromdefending themselves, and even joined thesettlers in their violence. Testimonies givento B'Tselem indicate that the soldiers alsoprohibited fire engines and ambulancesfrom reaching the scene.

The events were broadcast the same dayon television in Israel and throughout theworld. Ha'aretz reported that sources fromthe police's SHAI District stated that policedocumented the events on video andpromised that those involved would beprosecuted to the full extent of the law.29

Close to two months after the incidentsoccurred, however, only one indictmenthas been filed and the investigationcontinues.30

Testimony of Miflah 'Abd al-KarimAhmad Ahmad, 42, married with thirteenchildren, carpenter, resident of a-Sawiya31

On Tuesday (5 June 2001), around 11:00P.M., Israeli army vehicles entered thevillage. Six soldiers took me from my home,saying that a settler's child had been injuredin the area, and asked me if I had heardany gunfire. I answered that I didn't hearanything. The soldiers began to argue aboutwhere the child had been attacked. Thena settler arrived in a car with a brokenwindow. He said that he would take themto the site of the incident. They left me andplaced a curfew on the village.

At six o'clock the next morning, I went topray. An army vehicle was standing next

to my house on the main Nablus-Ramallahroad. There were four soldiers inside. Ateight o'clock or so, some 500 settlers weregathered alongside the road. Their carswere on the road, one after the other, andthere were five buses full of settlers. Ateight-thirty, around 300 settlers attackedmy house. I put the children in one of therooms and closed it well. I looked out thewindow and saw the settlers dislodge thedoor of the carpentry shop and storm inside.They burned all the wood in the shop, brokethe machines and took all the light tools.In addition, they cut open five sacks ofwheat and spilled out eight containers ofolive oil.

While that was going on, other settlersshattered the windows of my house anduprooted the trees outside. Some of thesettlers went onto the roof, set up a tent,and sat inside it. All were armed with M-16 rifles. They threw stones and objects atus. My small children cried out in fear. Weheard the settlers outside shouting "Deathto Arabs" and "This is the Land of Israel."

Then they tried to break the steel door ofthe house. After striking the door with largerocks for ten minutes, they opened the doorand entered the kitchen and other roomsof the house. The children and I were ina room whose door was made of strongsteel. They couldn't open the door. I installedthis door specifically because of the eventsand because our house is on the main road.I heard gunshots in the background. I waslater informed that soldiers shot at residentsof the village who began to gather aroundthe house to help us.

About two hours later, some twenty Israelisoldiers who had been on the main roadcame and prevented the settlers from breakingdown the door of the room. Until then, thesoldiers had not done anything to stop thesettlers.

29. "Settlers Riot in Two Palestinian Villages," Ha'aretz, 7 June 2001.30. Letter of 30 July 2001 to B'Tselem from Chief Superintendent Uri Weiskopf, head of the Investigations Division,SHAI District.31. The testimony was given to Hashem Abu Hassan on 22 July 2001.

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One of the soldiers saw a gas canister lyingnext to the burned boards of wood in thecarpentry shop. He went up to the settlersand asked them to leave before it exploded.They left and the whole carpentry shopwent up in a blaze.

We did not know what to do. My wife andchildren cried out when they heard therocks being thrown at the house and at thesteel door. They were startled by the settlers'voices shouting at us to leave the house.

The settlers left and, at 5:00 P.M., I wentoutside after making sure that the settlershad gone away. They destroyed aroundsixty-five olive, lemon, and prune trees thatsurrounded the house, as well as thevineyards. The settlers on the roof left, andIsraeli soldiers remained there. The settlersalso did not spare the rabbits. They tookthe rabbits, which I raised on the roof, threwthem aside and destroyed the cages in whichI raised them. Later, the soldiers went toanother house, located near the girls schoolthat is 200 meters from my house. Thehouse has three large rooms and the armystill controls it.

Two hours later, the soldiers came to getus to leave. They said that a vehicle wouldcome to take us into the village. I refused,and said that I have no other place to live.After two days passed, the Israeli policesummoned me to give a statement at BeitEl. I went there and gave a statement to anofficer named Zion, who was in civiliandress. I retained a lawyer who is going tofile a claim on my behalf.

My children suffer from very severe emotionaldistress. They wet their beds at night andhave nightmares. They are scared wheneverthey see a settler pass the house.

Testimony of Muhammad 'Otman 'Awis,51, married with six children, retiredteacher, resident of Luban a-Sharqiya32

On Wednesday (6 June), around 8:30 A.M.,some 200 to 300 settlers came to Luban a-

Sharqiya. Some went toward the valley andscattered themselves among the stacks ofwheat that the farmers had harvested, whichthe residents would grind and use to makebread. The settlers brought tires, burnedthem, and threw the burning tires at thewheat piles. The stacks of wheat were spreadout over a large area of land.

Other village residents and I left our homesto see what was happening. There werearound seventy Israeli soldiers and twopolice vehicles, but the soldiers and policestood on the side and did nothing to preventthe settlers from burning the fields.

The settlers burned more than fifty stacksof wheat, each of them containing aboutten sacks of seventy kilograms each. Thearea encompassed around 150 dunam [fourdunam= one acre] that belong to five familiescontaining an average of ten persons perfamily.

One of the residents tried to protect hisfield, but the soldiers made a partitionbetween the residents and the settlers anddid not let him approach. The soldiers wereonly there to protect the settlers. Some ofthe settlers stood on the road and shatteredwindows of the houses located alongsidethe road. About forty to fifty settlers startedtoward the Palestinian gas station aroundhalf a kilometer from the village. Residents,including my son Salah, 22, and myself,followed them to the gas station. Aroundtwenty meters away from us were settlersand soldiers were behind them. My sonwas about ten meters from me when oneof the settlers shot him in the lower abdomen.I did not see the soldiers doing anythingto prevent the settlers from firing orcontinuing to riot.

I do not know which settler fired. My sonsaid that he can identify him. I took myson by car to the hospital in Nablus, wherehe underwent surgery. He still suffers fromthe wound, his leg still is not functioningproperly, and he is unable to work.

32. The testimony was given to Hashem Abu Hassan on 25 July 2001.

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I was informed that the Palestinianconfrontations with the soldiers and settlerscontinued. Only at two o'clock in theafternoon were the village residents allowedto enter their fields to extinguish the fires.

4. Northern West Bank, 18 June2001: Rioting in retaliation for thekilling of a settler and for othershooting incidents

On 18 June 2001, Danny Yehuda, a residentof Homesh, was killed by Palestinian gunfirewhile he drove on the Samaria-Homeshroad. The same day, there were several othercases of shootings at settler vehicles in thesame area. That afternoon, settlers went tothe main Nablus -Tulkarm road, burnedtrees, and threw stones at a fire engine thathad arrived at the scene.33

Testimony of Fuaz Khader QassemYunes, 34, married with six children,fire-brigade driver, resident of Tulkarm34

On Monday, 18 June, around 12:30 P.M.,we received a call from the Palestinian DCOthat settlers were burning olive trees. Theincident occurred near the bypass road, inthe area east of the Einav settlement up tothe Beit Lid junction on the main Nablus-Tulkarm road. I drove to the location withfirefighters Muhammad Tayeh and IyadJusy. We drove via Iktaba, Bal'a, and 'Anabta.When we reached the Ramin junction, itwas blocked, so we drove back towardTulkarm. We contacted the Israeli DCO,but they did not send us an army vehicleto accompany us. We drove along the bypassroad near the Tiba checkpoint, in the directionof Einav. When we neared the site wherea settler had been killed earlier in the day,I saw a large number of settlers gatheringalong the bypass road. They put up a thatchedcovering on the hill near the road and abouta hundred of them scattered around the

area, which was full of olive and almondtrees, and burned the trees on both sidesof the road, east of the settlement.

Two army vehicles, containing around tensoldiers, were parked near the settlers.When the settlers saw us approach, theysaid: "It's an Arab. It's an Arab." Theydescended the hill and threw stones at us.They approached in their vehicles and threwlarge rocks that struck the fire engine. Therocks did not cause great damage. Iimmediately turned around in the middleof the road, and returned to the Tiba junctionand entered Tulkarm. Again I contactedthe Israeli DCO to get them to let us returnto the area, because I saw that the soldiersweren't stopping the settlers or preventingthem from throwing rocks at us. Maybeafter I left they tried to stop them. I don'tknow, because I hurried back to Tulkarm.

About thirty minutes after I spoke with theIsraeli DCO, an army vehicle came andaccompanied us to the fire. As we passedthe Avnei Hefetz settlement, many settlervehicles were leaving for the funeral of thesettler who had been killed that same day.When they saw our fire engine, they beganto shout: "It's an Arab, it's an Arab." Someof them aimed their weapons at us frominside the vehicles that were in the procession.They did not fire. They only wanted tofrighten us. We continued along the bypassroad accompanied by the army vehicle andagain reached the site where the settler hadbeen killed. There were around thirty peopleunder the thatched covering. They stoodalong the right side of the road, and beganto throw rocks at us when they saw the fireengine approach. I moved into the farthestleft-hand lane and picked up speed. Therocks struck the back of the fire engine,but did not injure us.

The army vehicle continued to accompanyus, and the officer told me by radio transmitterthat he requested the soldiers near the tent

33. The press reported other settler violence that occurred in the area at the same time. See "The Israeli YouthPlayed Dead," Ha'aretz, 19 June 2001.34. The testimony was given to Hashem Abu Hassan on 30 July 2001.

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to prevent the settlers from throwing stones.They couldn't prevent the stone throwingbecause there were only two vehicles withten soldiers. The soldiers in the vehicleaccompanying us did not get out. We stoppedabout 300 meters down the road. I wentto the officer and said, "You saw that thesettlers threw stones at us. Maybe they'llcome while we are putting out the fire."He said that Israeli soldiers would arriveimmediately to prevent them from doingthat. They put up a roadblock east of Einavto prevent the settlers from approachingwhile the fire was being extinguished.

Muhammad and Iyad got out of the fireengine and began to extinguish the firesraging on the hills and alongside the road.Residents from Beit Lid, Ramin, and nearbyvillages were there, and they helped us putout the fires. We were unable to extinguishfires on the shoulders of the road becausesettlers were still there. An Israeli fire enginewas there but did not help in putting outthe fires. It stayed in the same spot fromthe time that we arrived until we finished,around 5:30 P.M.

When we finished, we decided to go backto Tulkarm. The soldiers ordered us to waituntil another army vehicle came to protectus from the settlers on the way back. Thevehicle arrived and we drove toward Tulkarm.We quickly passed the area of the thatchedcovering, and the settlers threw a hail ofstones at us. The soldiers near the coveringtried to prevent them, but failed. One of thearmy vehicles accompanied us to the Ma'onjunction, from which we entered Tulkarm.

5. Hebron, July 2001: Rioting andproperty damage in retaliation forthe killing of two settlers

On 12 July 2001, two settlers were injuredin the Hebron area: Yehezkel Mualem, a

resident of Kiryat Arba, who died thefollowing day, and David Cohen, a residentof Betar Illit, who died two days later.Immediately after the shooting, settlersbegan to attack Palestinian residents ofHebron and their property. Rafiq MuhammadD'ana, a resident of Wadi Hazin, Hebron,told B'Tselem that:

On Thursday [12 July 2001], two settlerswere wounded at the gate into KiryatArba and the settlers began to riot. Thenext day, around 11:30 A.M., hundredsof demonstrators attacked Palestinianhouses, mine included, and threw stonesat windows, fences, and yards. Thewindows of my house and car werebroken. The settlers also tried to breakthrough the fence that surrounds thehouse. They seemed to be holdingcontainers of flammable materials.35

For several days, settlers continued to attacklocal Palestinians. They fired weapons andthrew stones at residents, burned farmland,damaged vehicles, and committed otheracts of vandalism.36

Testimony of 'Abd Al-Qarim Ibrahim'Abd Al-Haq al-Abari, 43, married withfourteen children, metalworker, residentof the al-Jabri neighborhood of Hebron37

I live with my wife and fourteen childrenin our new, four-year-old house. It is locatedonly fifteen meters from the barbed wirefence surrounding the Kiryat Arba settlement.On July 12, after settlers from Kiryat Arba

were wounded, the settlers began to attackour house non-stop. Hundreds of settlerscame at ten o'clock at night and began todislodge the shutters and tiles around thehouse, break trees, and burn the ground.They tore up the vineyards and put upbarbed wire around the fields belonging tomy uncle and me, an area of seventy dunam,so that they could have control over them.

35. The testimony was given to Musa Abu Hashhash on 24 July 2001.36. See "Settlers Attacked Palestinians, Damaged Property and Burned Fields," Ha'aretz, 13 July 2001; "On theBrink of the Chaos," Ma'ariv, 13 July 2001; "Settlers Take Control of House in Casbah of Hebron, and RemovedSeveral Houses Later," Ha'aretz, 16 July 2001.37. The testimony was given to Musa Abu Hashhash on 16 July 2001.

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On Saturday [14 July], at 3:15 a.m., whilemy children were sleeping, I heard voicesoutside the house. I looked out a windowand saw around forty settlers, most of themyoung, standing around the house. Someof them had rested two ladders against thehouse and began to climb up to get ontothe roof. Six of them came into the house.In defense, I grabbed a sword, which I hadmade in my metal workshop, to frightenthem. They had knives and bottles full ofpetrol. I think that they wanted to burn thehouse. The others in my family who hadawoke and I yelled, "Allah akhbar" and ourneighbors called the police. After aboutthirty minutes, during which the settlerstried to break into the house via the stepsand I continued waving my sword at them,four soldiers and two policemen arrived.They removed the settlers with force, pushingthem and forcing them to go down thesteps. Over the two days that followed,settlers continued to throw stones at thehouse from a distance, and hundreds ofstones landed on the roof and alongsidethe house.

I have not yet filed a complaint because,since Thursday, there has been a curfew onthe area where I live. I do not think thatfiling a complaint will help. Despite this,my uncles, my brothers, and I got togetherand decided to file a complaint with thepolice when the curfew is lifted. We willcomplain that the settlers trespassed andtook control of our land and damaged ourhouses. If the judge himself is your enemy,to whom can you complain?

6. 'Izbat Shufa, Tulkarm District,15-17 July 2001: Torching anddestruction of property followingshootings at settlers

On 15 and 16 July, there were three incidentsof shooting at settlers' vehicles travellingon the road between Einav and Avnei Hefetz.

In retaliation, settlers went several timesto Khirbet Shufa, which lies near the road,and damaged property of the residents.

Testimony of Saber 'Abd al-QaderMahmud Hemed, 35. married with threechildren, farmer, resident of KhirbetShufa38

I am married and have three children, theoldest seven and the youngest three. I livein Khirbet Shufa, which is in the TulkarmDistrict. The village has 1,200 residents,most of whom make a living by farming.There is an Israeli army base near the village.Around two kilometers away is the AvneiHefetz settlement, and four kilometers eastof the village is the Einav settlement. Ourhouse is about 200 meters from the bypassroad, which is used by the settlers from thearea and from the Nablus area. I have beenfarming for ten years, and it is my onlysource of income. I have nine hothousesthat I built on my land around fifty metersfrom the bypass road. My brothers alsomake a living from working this plot ofland.

On Sunday [15 July], around eight in theevening, some one hundred settlers torethe plastic covering of the hothouses andbegan to destroy the produce. I was at homewith some of my brothers. We went to thesettlers and shouted to them to leave andstop what they were doing. They were armedand threatened us with weapons, sayingthat if we didn't move back, they wouldfire at us. We went back to the house andnotified the Palestinian DCO about whatwas happening. The settlers continued todamage the hothouses for around fourhours, until the Israeli army came andremoved them.

The next day, at 8:00 P.M., around a hundredsettlers returned. They had chairs and tablesand set them up near the hothouses. Someof them sat down and the others poured

38. The testimony was given to Raslan Mahagna on 8 September 2001.

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petrol on the vegetables and damaged thehothouses. Three dunam of tomato plantswere totally destroyed. They also damagedthe irrigation pipes and the main waterpipe, which is 200 meters long. The settlerswere armed. They sang and shouted all thetime. We were afraid to approach the area,and we called the Palestinian DCO. Afterfour hours or so, the army arrived. Thistime, the army did not remove the settlersfrom the area. The settlers remained on theroad and prayed. Only in the early morninghours did they leave.

The following day [17 July], at three in themorning, three settlers came in a whiteVolkswagen commercial vehicle. Theyburned the hothouses containing cucumberplants that spread over an area of threedunams, and damaged the irrigation system.I called my neighbors and family. We gatheredaround sixty people from the village, andat 3:30 A.M., we went to the hothouses andshouted at the settlers and threw stones atthem. The three settlers saw us and beganto flee. Two of them ran toward the bypassroad, and the third remained and wasapparently looking for the keys to the vehicle,which he couldn't find. The two settlersshouted: "Ya'akov, Ya'akov, get out," andhe fled before we got there. We recognizedhim and his vehicle because he lives inAvnei Hefetz. After five minutes had passed,four army jeeps arrived with the threesettlers. The soldiers asked us who fired atthe vehicle that was parked there. Weexplained that nobody fired, and that thesettlers were trying to disguise the fact thatthey were there to torch the hothouses.

In the meantime, the fire in the hothousescontinued. The soldiers took out a fireextinguisher to put out the blaze. But thiswas unsuccessful, and the fire continueduntil it devoured the nine hothouses. Moresoldiers arrived, and they told us to go backto our homes. The soldiers said that theywould question the settlers about the incident.

They added that they believed us when wesaid that nobody had shot at the vehicle.

Our loss is estimated at NIS 50,000.

7. Hebron, 9 August 2001: Acts ofviolence following the attack onthe Sbarro Restaurant in Jerusalemin which fifteen Israeli civilianswere killed

On 9 August 2001, a suicide bomber attackedthe Sbarro Restaurant in Jerusalem, killingfifteen Israeli civilians. Testimonies givento B'Tselem indicate that, immediately afterthe attack was reported, several Palestinianswere attacked in Hebron.

Testimony of Fadel Muhammad JarilAbu Miale, 47, married (two wives andten children), bakery employee, residentof the Old City, Hebron39

I live with my wife and ten children in anold house with several rooms. My entirefamily lives in only two rooms. The otherrooms await approval of the Israeli authorities,which have prevented the Palestinian OldCity Urban Renewal Committee fromrenovating the house. The reason is thatthe house lies near the Avraham Avinusettlement. Our kitchen is not completeand does not have a door. The same is trueof the bathroom. Opposite our house, ata lower elevation, is an Israeli army post,which is positioned on the roof of the Baderfamily's house. The house is empty, andthe settlers can enter its rooms from whichthey can observe one of our two rooms.The street is narrow, with some 2.5 metersseparating us from the Bader house.

On Thursday (9 August] at 4:50 P.M., mywife, 'Aida Abu Miale, was sitting in theroom looking out over the road. She is fortyyears old and gave birth to a girl, Shirin,on 24 July 2001. The family was around

39. The testimony was given to Musa Abu Hashhash on 21 August 2001.

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and one of the neighbors came to visitbecause of Shirin's birth. Shortly before shearrived, we heard about the suicide bombingat the restaurant in Jerusalem. Suddenly,large stones began to be thrown onto theroad from the roof of the Bader house, wheresoldiers were standing. My second wife,Faiza, 45, saw a sixteen or seventeen-year-old settler dressed in a blue shirt throwlarge stones that he had gathered from thedemolished fence on the roof. My son Sultan,who is sixteen, saw another settler, aroundsixteen years old, stand at the same placeand throw stones at the house. Sultan toldme that he recognized the settler, and thathe had seen him in the area more than once.

The throwing of stones at our house andthe street continued for more than twohours. While it was going on, I left thehouse and went to a-Sahaleh Street, whichis around a hundred meters from the house,to tell the soldiers there about what wastaking place. I told three soldiers that I sawthat settlers were throwing stones at us.They went toward the house and saw whatwas happening. One of the soldiers spokeinto a radio transmitter. They left withouttrying to get the settlers to stop throwingthe stones. Near the entrance to the AvrahamAvinu neighborhood, I saw a police vehiclewith a policeman inside. I told him whatthe settlers were doing, and he advised meto go to the police station near Kiryat Arba.Then I went home. When I got there, I wasamazed to see that my house was in flames.Lots of my neighbors were there and theyhad succeeded in putting out most of thefire with water and fire extinguishers. Iwent into the house and saw that the roomfacing the road, where my wife who hadrecently given birth was sitting, wascompletely burned, together with thefurniture, mattresses, cabinet, television,and table.

My daughter Howida, 18, was injured inthe head by a stone. She was taken to 'AliyahHospital, where she was treated anddischarged the same day.

I think that the settlers threw a burningobject into the room from the Bader house,because the windows face each other. Thatsame night, after the neighbors had succeededin putting out the blaze, my wife Faiza wentwith our neighbor 'Abd al-Halim Abu 'Arfe,to the Kiryat Arba police station. The policelistened to her and then four policemenalong with four soldiers came to the siteand took pictures of the house and whatwas left after the fire. Two days later,policemen returned and examined thehouse.

The army imposed a curfew on the areathroughout the night. On Friday, it waslifted for a few hours. As a result of thecurfew, I was fired from my job.

Abd al-Halim 'Abd al-Fatah Gh'afre, a medicfor the Palestinian Red Crescent in Hebron,told B'Tselem about another incident thatoccurred the same day:

On Thursday [9 August] at 4:25 P.M.,I received a call to transport an injuredindividual. We drove toward BeitHadassah. A few meters before gettingthere, we came across a white GMCvehicle that was blocking the road. Thedriver was inside. Amjad, the ambulancedriver, honked for him to move so thatwe could pass, but the Israeli driverdidn't hear. Another vehicle, a blackGMC, came and stopped on the right-hand side of the ambulance and partiallyblocked it from the rear.

At the same time, about five to sevenguys who were fifteen to twenty yearsold came out of Beit Hadassah and threwstones at the ambulance. The stonesshattered the front windshield and theside window, and struck the body of theambulance. Three soldiers were standingnearby. We asked them to help us, butthey mocked us and stayed where theywere. After a few minutes, Amjad wasbarely able to back up and get awayfrom the area.40

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40. The testimony was given to Musa Abu Hashhash on 11 August 2001.

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8. Near Burin, 17 September 2001:Attack on truck following theassassination of Rehavam Ze'evi

Following the assassination of RehavamZe'evi on the morning of 17 October 2001,two truck drivers travelling to Burin wereattacked near Yitzhar.

Testimony of Mo'adh 'Abd al-Mu'inWassef Musmar, 23, married with achild, truck driver, resident of Nablus41

On Wednesday [October 17, 2001], at noon,I was standing in line at the Hawaracheckpoint, at the east entrance to Nablus.I was coming back from Jericho in a seventy-ton semi-trailer. It was loaded with thirty-eight tons of steel belonging to the a-Nahadhafirm in Nablus. When I got to the checkpointitself after an hour of waiting, the soldiersordered me to go back. I turned aroundand my friend Jamal Darwazeh, who wasdriving another semi-trailer, did the same.He was ahead of me in the line.

I drove behind Jamal to the Burin village,which is near the checkpoint, and we turnedonto a bypass road running in front of theentrance to Yitzhar. I was driving uphill.About two hundred meters before thesettlement, I saw about ten settlers throwinglarge stones at Jamal's vehicle. Other settlerswere standing near the entrance to thesettlement. I was very frightened. I backedup in an attempt to escape, and I couldn'tsee Jamal's truck. I saw five settlers rushingat me. I remember what they look like andcan identify them. They poured liquid onthe front of my truck. They also pouredliquid inside the truck, through the openwindow. One of the settlers threw a burningobject inside and it started a fire. I felt thefire spreading toward me, but I managedto open the door quickly and get out of thevehicle.

A settler carrying a large rock came towardsme and threw the rock at me. I blocked itand it fell on the ground. Then, anothersettler, who was short and fat, appeared.He, too, was carrying a large rock, and hethrew it at me. I threw a rock at him. It hithim, and he cried out in pain. It was around1:30 in the afternoon. I'm not exactly sure,because my watch, ID card and vehicledocuments were scattered inside the truck.I heard a loud sound coming through amegaphone from far away. I could onlyrecognize the word "jeep". Four of thesettlers got into a two-door, silver OpelKadette that was parked there. The fifthsettler got into the car through the window,as they were trying to make a quick getaway.They drove toward the settlement. I wentto my truck and realized I would not beable to put out the fire. I turned the engineoff and started to run toward Burin.

Testimony of Jamal Munir FathallaDarwazeh, 45, married with two children, truck driver, resident of Nablus District42

On Wednesday [17 October 17], at 4:00A.M., I left Nablus for Jericho in a twenty-five-ton semi-trailer. On my way back, atabout noon, I got to the Hawara checkpointat the east entrance to Nablus. I waited forabout an hour, and when it came time forme to pass, the soldiers did not let me. Idecided to go via Burin, which was nearby.My friend Mo'adh Musmar followed me inhis semi-trailer.

I drove along a bypass road that runs infront of the Yitzhar settlement. I was ascendingfor about 1,500 meters. About 150 metersbefore the entrance to the settlement, Inoticed a 1983 or 1984, two-door, silverOpel Kadette. The hood was up, and a settlerwearing a skullcap, blue T-shirt and jeanswas standing in front of the car. He lookedabout twenty-four years old. When I

41. The testimony was given to Sabia 'Abd al-Hadi on 21 October 2001.42. The testimony was given to Sabia 'Abd al-Hadi on 21 October 2001.

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approached the settlement's entrance, thesettler put the hood down. Suddenly, fifteensettlers who had been hiding in an openditch by the roadside appeared. They cametoward me and started to throw large rocksat the semi-trailer. I kept driving, but couldnot go any faster than 30 kilometers anhour because the truck, including the load,weighed sixty tons.

The settlers were wearing bulky white shirtsand skullcaps. They were thirty metersaway from me and continued to throwrocks. I tried to protect myself by leaningonto the seat next to me. The settlers startedshooting at me. I laid flat on the seat.

I heard the sounds of the bullets hittingthe semi-trailer. I felt the truck rolling, butI did not really understand what was goingon. I felt the vehicle hitting the groundhard time after time. I tried to get up, butmy head was below the seat and my legswere on top. I tried to lift my head again,and found myself on the back seat as aresult of the severe blows to the vehicle.I realized something serious had happened,but I didn't quite understand what wasgoing on around me. Then I lostconsciousness. When I came to, I foundmyself lying on the main street in Burin.

I later found out that the truck had veeredoff the road and rolled down the mountain.

The front of the truck was completelydestroyed. People from Burin took me outof the truck and undressed me to see if theshots had injured me. They poured wateron me to help me regain consciousness.They said they saw the settlers shooting atme and that they saw the truck rolling downthe hill. They called the Palestinian policeand an ambulance, but the ambulance nevershowed up.

There was an Israeli military vehicle nearthe bypass road. An Israeli officer namedAvi was inside. He couldn't believe that Iwas the driver who had fallen down themountain, because he saw the severe accidenthimself. He was moved and told me I wasclose to God. He gave me his telephonenumber so I could call him to give testimonyas to what had happened.

A police car took me to the police stationin Ariel, where I gave testimony. I told thepolice officers what had happened to meand about the soldier who would testify onmy behalf. I am not sure whether I gavethem his telephone number. The policeofficer gave me a document indicating Ihad filed a complaint.

I still feel pain all over my body, but it isnot very severe. The bullet holes and thesevere blows my truck received rollingdown the hill destroyed it completely.

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For years, Israeli officials have severelycriticized the bodies charged with lawenforcement in the Occupied Territories.As far back as 1981, a committee headedby Deputy Attorney General Yehudit Karpwas appointed to examine the police'shandling of offenses committed by settlers.The committee found serious flaws in lawenforcement and called upon the police tofind an urgent solution to the problem toprevent deterioration of the situation anda weakening of the rule of law.43 In 1994,following the massacre in the Cave of thePatriarchs by a settler, a state commissionof inquiry, headed by the President of theSupreme Court, Meir Shamgar, was appointed.The Shamgar Commission also criticizedthe law enforcement on settlers, placingblame on both the police and the army.44

Following publication of the report, theSHAI [Judea and Samaria] District of theIsrael Police Force was established, and theattorney general at the time, Micha'el BenYair, established orderly procedures for lawenforcement in the Occupied Territories.45

In 1998, Attorney General Elyakim Rubinsteinrevised the procedures. In response tocriticism of the procedures by varioussources, Rubinstein stated that they arenecessary to solve the continuing seriousproblem of insufficient law enforcement inthe Occupied Territories.46 The proceduresprovide, in part, that the police are responsible

for law enforcement in the Israelicommunities, and in incidents in whichthere is information that enables advancepreparations. The IDF is responsible forhandling incidents outside the Israelicommunities and incidents in which soldiersare the first to arrive at the scene.47

Testimonies given to B'Tselem indicate thatthese procedures are almost neverimplemented. The near complete disregardfor the procedures is especially apparentin the acts of revenge described in thisreport.

Preparation

In the chapter titled "Intelligence andSituation Evaluation," the procedures statethat the police and the army are to maintainongoing evaluation, both permanent andtemporary, regarding anticipated violentevents. The procedures provide that, "Forthis purpose, the officials will consider thenature of the incident, its scope, the potentialinvolvement of non-Israelis, the existenceof danger to life or property, the risk ofpotential escalation, and the like."48

The procedures also discuss measures tobe taken in such cases. A chapter in thedetailed appendix explicitly mentions"preparatory action for an incident regardinglaw enforcement, about which there is prior

Failure of Law Enforcement

43. Investigation of Suspicions against Israelis in Judea and Samaria - Monitoring Committee Report, 1982.44. Report of the Commission in the Matter of the Massacre in the Cave of the Patriarchs, in Hebron, Jerusalem 1994.45. For details, see Tacit Consent, pp. 25-27.46. "At Meeting with YESHA Council Rubinstein Refuses to Cancel Law Enforcement Procedures for the OccupiedTerritories," Ha'aretz, 5 May 1998.47. Procedure for Law Enforcement and Order Regarding Israeli Offenders in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip,September 1998).48. Section 7(b).

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information."49 The procedures require,among other things, prior preparation,setting up a command center, increasingthe complement of soldiers, and declaringan area a "closed military area," enablingthe army to prohibit entry and exit. It alsostates that, "Where necessary, distantobservation posts and blockades shall beplaced in the designated area in time toprevent the gathering of additionallawbreakers."

The incidents described in this report belongto a set, recurrent pattern, and the policeand army should expect that an attack onsettlers would lead to violent acts by settlersagainst Palestinians. The procedures relatespecifically to incidents of this kind andstate in detail how the security forces areto prepare. However, as seen from the casespresented in this report, the police andarmy do not implement the preparatorymeasures mentioned in the procedures.

Response when the incidentoccurs

As noted, the police are responsible for lawenforcement on Israeli civilians in theOccupied Territories when there is priorinformation about the incident or afterpolice officers are summoned to the scene.The procedures state that the handling ofviolence by settlers shall include dispersingdemonstrations, making arrests, movingforces, blocking, and protecting. In addition,the procedures state that, "The police willbe responsible for employing the means todisperse demonstrations, by using meanssuch as fire engines and tear gas. In theabsence of police at the location, the IDFwill employ these means." Cases describedin this report clearly show that the policehave blatantly failed to perform their duty:police officers present in the area do notact sufficiently to prevent violent acts andattacks on Palestinians.

IDF soldiers are also obligated to intervenewhen settlers attack Palestinians and toprotect those under attack. However,testimonies presented above and manyother testimonies given to B'Tselem indicatethat, in many cases, soldiers present duringthe attacks did nothing to stop them. Attimes, soldiers did not intervene even afterthe Palestinians under attack expresslyrequest assistance. In some cases, the soldierseven took part in the violence initiated bythe settlers.

The procedures reemphasize the duty ofsoldiers to protect the Palestinians fromsettlers. They state that, "IDF commandersand soldiers in operations in Judea andSamaria and in the Gaza Strip shall be guidedby the provisions of these procedures."50

However, the situation in the OccupiedTerritories indicates that the proceduresare not implemented at all, and the testimoniesgiven to B'Tselem by soldiers who servedin the Occupied Territories during the pastyear show that the soldiers were not providedany instruction about the procedures. Inhis testimony to B'Tselem, a reserve-dutysoldier who served in the Gaza Strip inrecent months stated:

Regarding settlers, we did not receiveany instructions on how to act towardthem, not even if they riot and harmPalestinians. They told us in a generalway that we were also supposed to protectthe Palestinians located in our sector(residents of al-Mawasi), but I felt thatthey were just going through the motions.The general atmosphere was not to harmsettlers, whatever the circumstances.51

A soldier who served in the West Bankdescribed how he understood he shouldact when settlers attack Palestinians ordamage their property:

As a soldier, you are forbidden to doanything. Maybe shout at them and callthe police. That is because they are Israeli

49. Section 10.50. Section 9(a) of the detailed appendix to the procedures.51. The name of the witness is on file at B'Tselem. He gave his testimony to Ronen Shnayderman on 19 July 2001.

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citizens. They told me that, after a while,they stop because it is ineffective. Untilthe police arrive, there is nobody to grab.52

On 15 July 2001, a discussion was held onthe subject of "various law enforcementproblems in the region." The participantsincluded, among others, the attorney general,the OC Central Command, and thecommander of the SHAI District of thepolice. The participants decided to incorporatethe attorney general's 1998 law enforcementprocedures "in briefings to commandersand soldiers serving in the region."53 It issuperfluous to say that the need to issuesuch a directive indicates that, at the presenttime, the procedures have not beenincorporated.

An indication of the compassion shown bythe IDF to the illegal acts of settlers is itsattitude toward the independent armedpatrols periodically operated by settlers insome areas of the West Bank. IDF officialsinformed B'Tselem that they severely opposethe patrols and that they are liable to leadto Jewish militias in the Occupied Territories.54

In response to a letter from B'Tselem, theIDF Spokesperson stated that, "The armedpatrols are not operated in cooperationwith the IDF. The army is acting to stopthe activity." The spokesperson added thatthe IDF is attempting to stop this illegalactivity "through hasbara [publicity]."55

The IDF's preference to cope with theorganized, armed activity, which the IDFitself defines as illegal, by hasbara alonerather than taking significant measuresagainst those involved clearly indicates itsdisregard for the harm that settlers inflicton Palestinians.

The testimonies given to B'Tselem in thisreport indicate that the police and army

are clearly not acting in accordance withthe procedures set by the attorney general.The failure is all encompassing, from allowinglarge groups of settlers to enter Palestiniancommunities or neighborhoods, when theirintention is obvious and openly-stated, tosettlers being able to freely abuse the residentsand damage their property. In time andplace, the acts of revenge occurred proximateto the Palestinian attacks, so a large contingentof security forces were present in the area.In some of the locations, such as Hebronand a-Sawiya, the Palestinians were evenunder curfew, the enforcement of whichrequired a large army presence. Even thisfact did not lead to firm action being takenagainst the rioting settlers. The curfew onlyaided the settlers by enabling them to actunimpeded.

Investigation

The SHAI District of the Israel Police Forcewas established to rectify the defects inpolice investigations of settlers. The roleof the District Prosecutions Division wasdefined as management of the prosecutionprocedures for offenses of disturbance ofthe peace by settlers and land disputes (thedivision later began to handle criminal filesof Israelis in the Occupied Territories aswell).56

Examination of the functioning of the SHAIDistrict since its founding does not attestto an improvement in the handling ofoffenses by settlers or the thoroughprosecution of lawbreakers. In some cases,the district did not open an investigationfile, claiming that a formal complaint hadnot been filed, although, according to law,the police must investigate every casebrought to its attention regarding commission

52. The name of the witness is on file at B'Tselem. He gave his testimony to Lior Yavneh on 30 July 2001.53. See the state's response in HCJ 4647/01, HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual v. Commander ofIDF Forces in the West Bank, par. 21.54. On the subject of armed patrols, see Tacit Consent, pp. 23-24.55. Letter of 11 July 2001 from the IDF Spokesperson.56. See State Comptroller, Annual Report 52A (in Hebrew), 23 September 2001, p. 182.

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of an offense. Investigations have beenprolonged, and a large percentage wereclosed on the grounds of lack of evidenceor "offender unknown."57

The State Comptroller's report publishedin September 2001 sharply criticized thepolice's handling of investigation files againstsettlers.58 The State Comptroller'sinvestigations showed that:

Seventy-five percent of the investigationfiles opened against settlers for offensesrelated to disturbance of the peace between1998-2000 were closed, primarily dueto lack of evidence and lack of publicinterest, and indictments were not filed.

Ninety percent of the investigation filesopened against settlers between Januaryand October 2000 were later closed.

A prosecutor begins to handle a filebetween six to eighteen months afterthe complaint is filed, creating difficultiesin completing the investigations.

Although a primary reason for establishingthe District Prosecutions Division wasthe handling of land disputes, since itsestablishment in 1995, not one indictmenthas been filed on this subject.

The division lacks basic working tools,such as computers, which severely affectsits activity and, among other things,delays the handling of indictments.

In conclusion, the State Comptroller statesthat, "The police and relevant officialsshould respond and act to rectify all thedefects that were raised on the subject oflaw enforcement."

In the state's response in the petition to theHigh Court of Justice on the matter of thefailure to enforce the law on violent settlers,

filed in June 2001 by HaMoked: Center forthe Defence of the Individual, the stateexplained that the police encountered manydifficulties during the investigation of casesof settler violence.59 The state noted, amongother things, that the police had to copewith the lack of cooperation by suspectsand witnesses, difficulties in collectinginformation from the scene of the offense,the large number of offenses committed byIsraelis and Palestinians, and the problemin collecting testimonies from soldiers whoare heavily burdened with work.

Undoubtedly there are objective difficulties,but every police force in Israel and aroundthe world faces problems like the lack ofcooperation of suspects, and they do notprevent them from solving crimes. Thepolice must act to overcome these difficulties,and the government must allocate additionalpersonnel and resources when necessary.The State Comptroller, whom it may beassumed was aware of the problems thatthe police face, did not believe that thesedifficulties justify the lack of law enforcementon violent settlers, and demanded that thedefects be rectified.

Furthermore, it seems that the difficultiescharacteristic of an intifada, such as collectingevidence or the heavy burden on soldierswho witnessed the offenses being committed,does not visibly affect the activity of theauthorities and their ability to thoroughlyprosecute offenders when the suspects arePalestinian. This comparison indicates abias. Against Palestinians suspected ofharming Israelis, the system works withtenacity, at times violating the human rightsof suspects. When Israelis are suspected ofharming Palestinians, the system iscompassionate, and does not exert noticeableeffort.60

57. See Tacit Consent, pp. 32-33.58. Annual Report 52A, pp. 180-196.59. State's response in HCJ 4647/01, supra, footnote 51, par. 15.60. For a comparison of statistics on investigations and prosecutions in cases in which Palestinians killed Israelisand cases in which Israelis killed Palestinians, see Tacit Consent, pp. 34-35.

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Summary

Analysis of the response of the Israeliauthorities to settler attacks on Palestiniansreveals a blatant disregard for Palestinianlives and property. This disregard is reflectednot only in the lack of preparation to handleincidents, the failure to intervene whensettlers attack Palestinians, and the incompleteand feeble investigations, but also in thetotal disregard for the criticism andrecommendations of state bodies and officialsregarding the law enforcement system.These officials, from the Karp Committee,in 1982, to the State Comptroller, in 2001,pointed out the flaws in law enforcementon settlers.

The officials in charge of law enforcementon settlers are well aware that the systemis not functioning properly. In response tothe conclusions of B'Tselem's report TacitConsent, Minister Ephraim Sneh, who servedas deputy minister of defense at the timethe report was drafted, confirmed that thesystem does not deal harshly enough withrioting settlers.61 After settlers rioted inHebron at the end of March 2001, theHebron Brigade Commander, Colonel NoamTibon, said that, "The law here has no teeth

at all. I have no means by which I canremove the hooligans from here."62 MajorGeneral Shahar Ayalon, commander of thepolice force's SHAI District, admitted that,"Criminal incidents that the police handlein a few hours in Netanya, take a year inKiryat Arba and Hebron."63

Despite the officials' awareness that the lawis not enforced on violent settlers, the statehas not made a serious effort to improvethe system and prevent attacks on Palestinians.In the July 2001 discussion on lawenforcement in the Occupied Territories,in which the attorney general, the OCCentral Command, and the commander ofSHAI District took part, the officials decided,among other things, to recommend thatadditional forces be assigned to SHAIDistrict.64

B'Tselem does not know if thisrecommendation was implemented. However,the fact that this discussion was held almosta year after the intifada began, and afterhundreds of violent attacks by settlersagainst Palestinians, clearly indicates thatthe officials in charge of law enforcementdo not give significant attention to thissubject.

61. The comments were made in an interview on "Good Morning, America," Galei Tsahal, 22 March 2001.62. "Brigade Commander Angry at Police, Settlers, and Hebron Agreement," Ha'aretz, 3 April 2001.63. "Many in Hebron Think it Necessary to Take Law into Their Own Hands," Ma'ariv, 20 July 2001.64. See the state's response in HCJ 4647/01, supra, footnote 51, par. 21.

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During the current intifada, settlers committedhundreds of attacks on Palestiniansthroughout the Occupied Territories, fromblocking roads to Palestinian traffic toshooting and killing Palestinians. The rootof this phenomenon is the failure of Israelilaw enforcement bodies - the police andthe IDF - to cope with settler violence.

This failure is particularly grave whenconsidering events of the kind describedin this report. The vast majority of theseincidents could have been prevented if thepolice and army had been properly preparedand had made any effort to prevent anticipatedviolence. Even after the settlers began toattack Palestinians and damage their property,the security forces did not make a seriouseffort to stop them.

The failure of the authorities to respond tothe repeated attacks on Palestinians bysettlers attests to the shameful disregardfor Palestinian life and property, and transmitsa message that these acts are legitimate.The settlers participating in the violenceare well aware that no, or no significant,measures will be taken against them, andact openly in front of television cameras.The state's policy enables the continuedattacks on innocent people and violates thestate's duty, as the occupying power, toprotect the Palestinian population.

Palestinian attacks on settlers are a flagrantviolation of international law, and all partiesmust take all legal measures within theirpower, to prevent harm to civilians. However,such attacks cannot sanction settler revengeattacks on Palestinians. On this point, theShamgar Commission's comments areappropriate:

Adopting this approach [of sanctioningretaliation] is liable to challenge thefoundations of law and order. There isno substitute for the law being imposedby those authorized to do it. Implementingcriminal responsibility is the task of thesovereign, and it alone. Expropriatingthe [imposition of] punishment from itand depositing it in the hands of anindividual or group of people unauthorizedfor this purpose is a proven recipe foranarchy.65

B'Tselem urges the Israeli authorities to:

Undertake advance preparations toprevent the occurrence of acts of revengeof the kind described in this report, andto act immediately to halt such acts, inaccordance with the law enforcementprocedures drafted by the attorney general.

Brief all soldiers serving in the OccupiedTerritories on the provisions of theseprocedures relating to their duty to defendPalestinians when settlers attack them.Action should be taken against soldierswho violate the procedures and againstcommanders who do not implement theprocedures in their units.

Act to improve investigations conductedby the police force's SHAI District. Thepolice must investigate every suspicionof settler violence against Palestiniansefficiently and without discrimination.

Increase the forces assigned to the SHAIDistrict and provide it with a budgetthat would improve its performance, anecessity warranted, in part, by thefindings of the State Comptroller's report.

Conclusions

65. Shamgar Commission Report, p. 168.

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Israeli Defense ForcesThe IDF SpokespersonPublic Relations BranchItamar Ben Avi StreetTel Aviv code: 63476Tel/Fax: 972-3-6080339/4015 October 2001

B'Tselem - Ms. Korin Dagani

Re: Response to B'Tselem's report on settlers' acts of revenge against Palestinians

Dear Ms. Dagani,

Our response to the aforementioned B'Tselem report is as follows:

The IDF, together with other security bodies, such as the Border Police and the Israel PoliceForce, acts to prevent violent conduct by settlers against the Palestinian population.

In light of lessons learned from past events, forces in the field are prepared for disturbancesby Jews following violent acts taken by Palestinians. The number of forces employed atpoints where friction between settlers and Palestinians is likely to occur is increased, andeven reinforcements from other security bodies are summoned, to prepare for the eventsand to minimize the possible damage.

It should be noted that, where a suspicion exists that soldiers did not prevent violence bysettlers against the Palestinian population, an investigation of the circumstances of the caseis conducted, and appropriate measures are taken against those responsible. Disciplinary/commandhandling is among the actions taken. In the event that a serious deviation is found, indictmentsagainst the soldiers in military court are also filed.

IDF soldiers are trained to protect a person's human dignity and property.

The Central Command in particular provides information to the soldiers and emphasizesthe subject.

It should be noted that the soldiers have been in combat for about a year and some of thecases are a direct result of the violent events in the field.

Sincerely,

s/

Lt. Col. Adir Harubey

Head, Public Relations Branch

Response of the IDF Spokesperson *

* Translated by B'Tselem

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SHAI District HeadquartersTel: 02-6279200Fax: 02-627923931 October 2001

To:

Re: Response to B'Tselem's report Free Rein

The District provided responses to the events described in the report at the time they[requests for a response] were received, and we continue to stand by these responses.

The law enforcement procedure issued by the Attorney General is well known, is studiedintensively in every forum at all levels of the District hierarchy, and we comply withthem. Regarding the incorporation of the procedure within the IDF, we are not the properbody to respond.

The investigation mechanism in the District is constantly being improved and mademore efficient and professional. The objective is to uncover the perpetrators of criminaloffenses.

Regarding the cases of shooting at Palestinians, which is ostensibly attributed to Jews,District Commander Major General Shahar Ayalon greatly enlarged the staff of policeofficers and investigators handling these incidents and gave the investigations top priority.

The order issued by SHAI District headquarters to its units is unequivocal: Upon beinginformed of the suspected commission of an offense, an investigation is to be opened.This does not mean that the investigation will ultimately lead to the location andprosecution of the suspects. The testimony of a Palestinian complainant who was injuredas a result of an offense committed against him is indeed grounds for constructing abody of evidence for presentation in court. Without the testimony of the injured party,it is almost impossible to prove the suspect's guilt. For this reason, such testimony hasgreat evidentiary weight and importance.

There is a problem in getting Palestinians from the area to testify in Israeli courts. Thisproblem arises primarily because the Palestinians fear that they will be suspected ofcollaborating with Israeli authorities.

District Coordinating Offices are located throughout Judea and Samaria. The DCOs areintended to house both Palestinian and Israeli officials. Palestinians are supposed tofile complaints there in their own language. Unfortunately, since October 2000, thePalestinian DCO officials have not been in the [DCO] offices and the cooperation andcoordination has ceased. This has also occurred in many other areas of activity. However,police officials are still present in the offices. The Palestinians realize that they could

Response of the Israel Police Force, SHAI District *

* Translated by B'Tselem

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go directly [to them] and do not have to go to [police] stations in Israeli communities.The charge that Palestinians are supposed to go to police stations located in Israelicommunities is completely false.

We have always requested that Palestinians at least go to the DCO, where they will bequestioned by District investigators. In our opinion and according to our assessment,Palestinian governmental officials prevent the citizens from coming as required. In manyinstances, we made requests through DCO officials to get Palestinians to appear andto summon witnesses to court. Our requests were not answered.

Relevant statistics reflecting the activity of the District are as follows:

In 2000, the District handled 356 Palestinian complaints against Israelis for variousoffenses, in comparison with 324 complaints in 1999. In Samaria, fifty-three percentof the cases were solved, and in the Hebron area, the figure was in excess of seventypercent. This level of success is one of the highest in the Israel Police Force. Thesestatistics testify to the seriousness, resolve, and extreme attention given in the courseof the combined efforts expended in investigating the cases. These results were obtaineddespite the complex and dangerous conditions and without the cooperation of bothsides.

On the other hand, since October 2000, there has been an increase of more than fortypercent in the number of serious security offenses, including the throwing of stonesand petrol bombs, placing of explosive devices, and serious instances of gunfire at Israelisin Judea and Samaria. There have been thousands of these kinds of attacks.

Sincerely,

s/

Rafi Yaffe, Superintendent

District Commander Spokesperson

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