Friday 5 December 2008

No other word than 'pogrom' for settler acts in Hebron

"...Surrounding them are a few dozen masked Jews seeking to lynch them. A pogrom. This isn't a play on words or a double meaning. It is a pogrom in the worst sense of the word..."

(...what does it say on that wall?...)

Posted by GPC, ZBYR, & or Bhmadoun at 8:22 PM

ANALYSIS

Contibuted by Lucia

By Avi Issacharoff

An innocent Palestinian family, numbering close to 20 people. All of them women and children, save for three men. Surrounding them are a few dozen masked Jews seeking to lynch them. A pogrom. This isn't a play on words or a double meaning. It is a pogrom in the worst sense of the word. First the masked men set fire to their laundry in the front yard and then they tried to set fire to one of the rooms in the house. The women cry for help, "Allahu Akhbar." Yet the neighbors are too scared to approach the house, frightened of the security guards from Kiryat Arba who have sealed off the home and who are cursing the journalists who wish to document the events unfolding there.

The cries rain down, much like the hail of stones the masked men hurled at the Abu Sa'afan family in the house. A few seconds tick by before a group of journalists, long accustomed to witnessing these difficult moments, decide not to stand on the sidelines. They break into the home and save the lives of the people inside. The brain requires a minute or two to digest what is taking place. Women and children crying bitterly, their faces giving off an expression of horror, sensing their imminent deaths, begging the journalists to save their lives. Stones land on the roof of the home, the windows and the doors. Flames engulf the southern entrance to the home. The front yard is littered with stones thrown by the masked men. The windows are shattered and the children are frightened. All around, as if they were watching a rock concert, are hundreds of Jewish witnesses, observing the events with great interest, even offering suggestions to the Jewish wayward youth as to the most effective way to harm the family. And the police are not to be seen. Nor is the army.

Ten minutes prior, while the security forces were preoccupied with dispersing the rioters near the House of Contention, black smoke billowed from the wadi separating Kiryat Arba and Hebron. For some reason, none of the senior officers of the police or the army were particularly disturbed by what was transpiring at the foot of Kiryat Arba. Anyone standing hundreds of meters away could notice the dozens of rioters climbing atop the roof of the Abu Sa'afan family home, hurling stones. Only moments later did it become apparent that there were people inside the home.

I quickly descend to the wadi and accost three soldiers. "What do you want from me? The three of us are responsible for the entire sector here," one said, his hand gesturing towards the entire wadi.

"Use your radio to request help," I said. He replies that he is not equipped with a radio.

A group of journalists approach the house. A dilemma. What to do? There are no security forces in the vicinity and now the Jewish troublemakers decided to put the journalists in their crosshairs. We call for the security guards from Kiryat Arba to intervene and put a halt to the lynch. But they surround the home to prevent the arrival of "Palestinian aid."

The home is destroyed and the fear is palpable on the faces of the children. One of the women, Jihad, is sprawled on the floor, half-unconscious. The son, who is gripping a large stick, prepares for the moment he will be forced to face the rioters. Tahana, one of the daughters, refuses to calm down. "Look at what they did to the house, look."

Tess, the photographer, bursts into tears as the events unfold around her. The tears do not stem from fear. It is shame, shame at the sight of these occurrences, the deeds of youths who call themselves Jews. Shame that we share the same religion. At 5:05 P.M., a little over an hour after the incident commenced, a unit belonging to the Yassam special police forces arrives to disperse the crowd of masked men. The family members refuse to calm down. Leaving the home, one can hear a settler yell at a police officer: "Nazis, shame on you." Indeed. Shame on you.

Update

Israeli settlers “at war” with the Palestinians in Hebron

Friday December 05, 2008 00:45

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

On Thursday, Palestinian sources in the city of Hebron, located in the southern part of the West Bank, reported that extremist Israeli settlers carried out a series of violent attacks against Arab residents and set a number of homes, cars and olive trees on fire.

File - Armed settlers in Hebron

The attacks were escalated after the army evacuated the settlers from the home of Al Rajabi, a Palestinian family, after the settlers illegally occupied the property since last year.

The sources stated that settlers, stationed in five illegal outposts in the Old City of Hebron, set ablaze two Palestinian homes and one shop in Wad Al Hasseen area, close to Al Rajabi home. The settlers also violently attacked a number of residents.

In Tal Romedia area, the settlers chased dozens of Palestinian children and hurled stones and empty bottles at a number of homes.

The settlers also attacked and attempted to break into another Palestinian home in an area adjacent to Al Rajabi home while Israeli soldiers fired gas bombs and rubber-coated bullets; several injuries were reported among the residents.

In Al Sahla area, close to the Ibrahimi Mosque, a Palestinian child and her father were wounded after extremist settlers attacked and punched them.

The settlers also set a Palestinian firefighter vehicle on fire as the firefighters were attempting to extinguish several fires the settlers caused to Palestinian homes.

Hebron governor, Dr. Hussein Al A’raj, held the Israeli occupation responsible for the violence in Hebron and demanded the army to put an end to the attacks carried out by the settlers and their supporters. Al A’raj added that the areas in question are under Israeli security control; therefore it is the duty of the Israeli Defense Forces to protect the unarmed Palestinian residents and their property.

He also said that the Fourth Geneva Conventions clearly state that civilians and their property living under occupation should be protected at all times.

Fad said...: I needed to post those photos in some Zionist site but the pictures are not linked in this post

The picture of the boy and his mother kicking and pulling scarf of Palestinian woman can be [the pic of the year for racism]; 1:51 pm, December 06, 2008