Israeli settlements, Palestinians, and human rights
Encyclopedia
Israeli settler violence refers both to acts of violence committed by a restricted number of Israeli settlers
against Palestinians and Israeli security forces, predominantly in the West Bank
. Although the vast majority of settlers are law abiding, there is a rise in violent acts by extremists in their midst against Palestinians and Israel Police
and IDF
troops. In 2007 Israeli prosecutors determined that of 515 criminal suits in that year, 502 related to right wing Jewish settlers in the Occupied Territories. In 2008, the number of Jewish settlers involved in violent acts was estimated to be a few hundreds, out of a total population of about 500,000. Some prominent Jewish religious figures living in the occupied territories, as well as Israeli government officials, have condemned and expressed outrage over such behaviour. In the years 2008-2009, the defense establishment began taking a harder line against unruly settlers.
Israel has justified its civilian settlements by stating that a temporary use of land and buildings for various purposes appears permissible under a plea of military necessity and that the settlements fulfilled security needs. The United Nations affirmed the principle of international law that the continuation of colonialism in all its forms and manifestations is a crime and that colonial peoples have the inherent right to struggle by all necessary means at their disposal against colonial Powers and alien domination in exercise of their right of self-determination. National liberation struggles are categorized as international armed conflicts by Article 1(4) of the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 to which the majority of states (including the Western states) are parties. The International Court of Justice concluded that Israel had breached its obligations under international law by establishing settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and that Israel cannot rely on a right of self-defence or on a state of necessity in order to preclude the wrongfulness of imposing a régime, which is contrary to international law. The Court also concluded that the Israeli régime violates the basic human rights of the Palestinians by impeding the liberty of movement of the inhabitants of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (with the exception of lsraeli citizens) and their exercise of the right to work, to health, to education and to an adequate standard of living.
In Hebron, where 500-600 settlers live among 167,000 Palestinians, B'Tselem argues that there have been "grave violations" of Palestinian human rights because of the "presence of the settlers within the city." The organization cites regular incidents of "almost daily physical violence and property damage by settlers in the city", curfews and restrictions of movement that are "among the harshest in the Occupied Territories", and violence and by Israeli border policemen and the IDF against Palestinians who live in the city's H2 sector.
Human Rights Watch
reports on physical violence against Palestinians by settlers, including, "frequent[ly] stoning and shooting at Palestinian cars. In many cases, settlers abuse Palestinians in front of Israeli soldiers or police with little interference from the authorities."
B'Tselem also says that settler actions include "blocking roadways, so as to impede Palestinian life and commerce. The settlers also shoot solar panels on roofs of buildings, torch automobiles, shatter windowpanes and windshields, destroy crops, uproot trees, abuse merchants and owners of stalls in the market. Some of these actions are intended to force Palestinians to leave their homes and farmland, and thereby enable the settlers to gain control of them."
, an Israeli human rights group which monitors the violation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
, stated that there are between a few dozen and a few hundred extremist settlers using a tactic called Price Tagging
, if the Government sends police or soldiers to dismantle an outpost that is being built, the settlers make the Palestinian population pay the price. While people in the outpost are confronting the security forces, others start harassing Palestinians forcing commanders to divert men from the outpost and making them think twice about launching future operations. It’s such a big headache that many of the relevant authorities give up without trying and the outposts are quickly rebuilt once the army gives up and leaves.
Many Israeli settlers believe that their religion entitles them to the land of biblical Israel. According to a 2003 survey, nearly 40% of settlers in the West Bank "live there out of a belief in a divinely ordained mission to inhabit the land".
Human rights group B'Tselem
says that the violence is "a means to harass and intimidate Palestinians" and that the evacuations are a necessary part of the peace process. According to B'Tselem that when a building is evacuated by the Israeli government, settlers lash out at Palestinians because they're "easy victims" and as a means to widen the area under settler control.
The Yesha Council
and former Knesset member Hanan Porat
has also condemned violence against Palestinians. “The ‘price tag’ response is immoral,” Porat said. “It’s unheard of that one needs to burn the vineyards and fields of Arabs. It’s immoral…and it gives legitimacy to those who are interested in undermining the outpost issue. It’s a very grave matter.”
Yesha Council
is the umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The council chairman Dani Dayan
said that settlers must not use violence to advance their means. He said that such actions were "morally bankrupt" and only serve to "hinder the settlers' struggle."
to Israelis in the occupied territories. B'TSelem has said that the difference in legal status of Israelis and Palestinians in the territories has led to a double standard in which Israelis are given more legal rights and are punished more lightly than the Palestinians who are subject to military and local law. B'Tselem notes the system violates the principles of equality before the law and territoriality.
Referring to settler violence during the police evacuation of the "Federman Farm" near Kiryat Arba
, Haaretz has stated in an editorial "Israeli society has become accustomed to giving lawbreaking settlers special treatment", noting that no other group could similarly attack Israeli law enforcement agencies without being severely punished. Haaretz
has characterized settler violence on soldiers and policemen who participated in the evacuation of the "Federman Farm" as "terrorism".
In response to the violence directed towards Israeli security forces, Israel declared it would no longer fund any illegal outposts from November, 2008.
After the evacuation of settlers from Hebron
in December 2008, a riot ensued and a Jewish settler, Ze'ev Braude, was recorded on video shooting two unarmed Palestinians. The victims were shot on their own property, which Braude had entered, and later needed surgery. The Israeli State Prosecutor's Office decided to abandon the prosecution of Braude after the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that the prosecution must give the defendant access to "sensitive information". The prosecutor's office had earlier said that some of the evidence against Braude was classified for security reasons, due to "the Shin Bet's sources and methods of operation, and identifying details about its units and people." Braude had petitioned the High Court for access.
The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict
reported on rioting and violence in the West Bank in the period preceding the Israeli military operations in Gaza. The report said "Little if any action is taken by the Israeli authorities to investigate, prosecute and punish violence against Palestinians, including killings, by settlers and members of the security forces, resulting in a situation of impunity. The Mission concludes that Israel has failed to fulfil its obligations to protect the Palestinians from violence by private individuals under both international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
reported on rioting and violence in the West Bank in the period preceding the Israeli military operations in Gaza. The report said "Little if any action is taken by the Israeli authorities to investigate, prosecute and punish violence against Palestinians, including killings, by settlers and members of the security forces, resulting in a situation of impunity. The Mission concludes that Israel has failed to fulfil its obligations to protect the Palestinians from violence by private individuals under both international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The report also stated that the International Court of Justice advisory opinion and “a number of United Nations resolutions have all affirmed that Israel’s practice of constructing settlements – in effect, the transfer by an occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies – constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention”.
According to Amos Harel, attempts by the security forces to bring violent rightwing zealots to justice has suffered from two main problems: investigating Israelis as opposed to Palestinians is subject to more restrictions, and courts have proved to be lenientYesh Din has produced a report, "A Semblance of Law", which found problems with law enforcement actions against Israelis in the West Bank
. According to Yesh Din's study, which was conducted in 2005, more than 90% of complaints against Israelis were closed without indictments, 96% of trespassing cases (including sabotage of trees) against Israelis led to no indictment, 100% of property offenses against Israelis led to no indictment and 5% of complaints against Israelis were lost and never investigated.
As well as collecting statistics, Yesh Din examined 42 closed investigation files and found a number of shortcomings, including the use of Hebrew rather than Arabic, a lack of investigating alibis, police rarely went to the scene of the crime. Many closed files had insufficient investigation and in several cases closed files appeared to have sufficient evidence for indictment,
8% of complaints resulted in indictments. The Israeli Justice Ministry responded by stating that legal authorities were closely following specific cases, but said that it was not in its authority to deal with every case.
Israeli security sources have said that it has become customary for some settlers to take the law into their own hands in the wake of terror attacks in the West Bank.
In the years 2008-2009, the defense establishment began taking a harder line against unruly settlers.
(in 2005) and an eviction in Hebron
(in 2008) triggered settler rioting in protest. There is also continual conflict between settlers and Palestinians over land, resources and perceived grievances.
In August 2007, soldiers clashed with settlers during a raid in Hebron. Paint and eggs were thrown at the soldiers.
A violent settler protest at the Palestinian village of Funduk occurred in November 2007, in which hundreds of extremist settlers converged at the entrance of the village and rampaged. The protest occurred five days after a settler was killed by Palestinians. The settlers smashed the windows of houses and cars. According to Funduk villagers, Israeli soldiers and police accompanied the protesters but mostly stood aside while the settlers rampaged.
In December 2008 Hebron
settlers angry at the eviction of settlers from a disputed house rioted, shooting three Palestinians and burning Palestinian homes and olive groves. Video footage of the attacks were recorded, leading to widespread condemnation in Israel. The attacks were characterized as "a pogrom
" by then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
who said he was ashamed "as a Jew".
Local Palestinians claimed that once the disputed house was evicted, the IDF and the police were "indifferent" to the violence against the Palestinians, and have made no real attempt to stop the settlers from rioting.
Some settlers have publicly adopted what they refer to as a "price tag" policy whereby settlers attack Palestinian villages in retaliation after settler outposts are removed by the Israeli government.
In April 2009, dozens of settlers from Bat Ayin
rampaged through the West Bank village of Safa
, smashing car windows, damaging homes and wounding 12 Palestinians.
The United Nations has warned that up to 250,000 Palestinians in 83 villages are "highly or moderately" vulnerable to settler retaliation if the unauthorized outposts in the West Bank are removed by the Israeli government. 75,900 Palestinians in 22 villages are "highly vulnerable". The report also warns that a number of roads around Palestinian villages may become dangerous for the Palestinians to travel on. The settlements Havat Gilad
, Kedumim
, Itamar, Yitzhar
, Ma'aleh Levona, Shilo, Adei Ad
, Nokdim
, Bat Ayin
, Neguhot, Kiryat Arba
, Beit Haggai, Carmel and Susya
are considered as possible threats to nearby Palestinians. The report criticizes "the inadequate level of law enforcement by the Israeli authorities" and "the ambiguous message delivered by the Government of Israel and the IDF top officials to the security forces in the field regarding their authority and responsibility to enforce the law on Israeli settlers".
Amnesty International has said that scores of Palestinian owned sheep as well as gazelles and other animals were poisoned with 2-fluoracetamide near Tuwani on 22 March 2005, depriving Palestinian farmers of their livelihood.
In July 2009, a group of Israeli settlers riding horses and carrying torches raided Palestinian areas, burning 1,500-2,000 olive trees and stoning cars.
, an American NGO, reported to have observed a group of Israelis stop next to a cistern in Humra Valley, open the lid, and raise the bucket. The water was later found to be contaminated. Oxfam
, a British NGO, has reported that settlers deliberately poisoned the only well in Madama
, a village near Nablus
, by dumping used diapers into it; and that they shot aid workers who came to clean the well.
In March 2010, International Solidarity Movement
reported that settlers sabotaged a natural spring used by Palestinians in the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan
by pouring in a mixture of cement and sand. The settlers were protected by the Israeli Defence Forces as they destroyed the springs.
near Nablus
according to Palestinian officials and Israeli police. The people forced their way into the mosque and burned about 100 holy books including Korans, Hadiths, prayer carpets as well as spray painted anti-Palestinian slogans on the floor, some of which referred to the settlers' "price tag" policy.
In January 2010, Israeli security officers raided the settlement of Yitzhar
, forcibly entered the settlement's synagogue and yeshiva
buildings and arrested ten settlers, including the Rosh yeshiva
, for alleged involvement in the mosque attack. All were released by the court due to lack of evidence and the court reprimanded the police for arresting the rabbi. As of January 2010 no indictments were served. The state has appealed the ruling.
In September 2011, the Al-Nurayn Mosque
in Qusra
became the subject of an arson
attack allegedly perpetrated by militant Jewish settlers, who set the mosque on fire by throwing two burning tyres through its windows. Slogans in Hebrew threatening further attacks had been graffiti
ed on the walls, reading "Muhammad is a Pig". A star of David
had also been graffitied alongside. The attack came hours after Israeli police dismantled three structures in the nearby illegal Jewish settlement of Migron
, leading newspapers to suggest that it may have been carried out by settlers in retaliation.
Extremist groups associated with the settler movement include Gush Emunim Underground
that existed from 1979 to 1984 as a militant organization linked to the settler activist group Gush Emunim
. They carried out attacks against Jewish students and Palestinian officials, attempted to bomb a bus and planned an attack on the Dome on the Rock.
The New York Times has noted that the religious, ideological wing of the settler movement is growing more radical. It is widely suspected that a pipe-bomb attack on settler critic Zeev Sternhell
was perpetrated by settler radicals, who left fliers at the scene offering 1 million shekels to anyone who kills a member of anti-settlement group Peace Now. Public Security Minister Avi Dichter
condemned the attack, calling it a "nationalistic terror attack".
Shin Bet security chief Yuval Diskin
warned that he has "found a very high willingness among this public to use violence -- not just stones, but live weapons -- in order to prevent or halt a diplomatic process." He also called settlers' mindset "messianic" and "Satanic".
IDF Major-General Gadi Shamni has warned that there has been an increase in the number of violent settlers from a few dozen to hundreds and that the increase is impairing the IDF's ability to deal with other threat. A UN report recorded 222 acts of violence by settlers in the first half of 2008 compared with 291 in all of 2007.
has condemned "acts of violence and brutality committed against Palestinian civilians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank" calling on the Israeli government to put an end to it.
The Human Sciences Research Council (South Africa)
(HSRC) a statutory research agency released an exhaustive study indicating that Israel practices both colonialism and apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The study was conducted by an international team of scholars and practitioners of international public law from South Africa, the United Kingdom, Israel and the West Bank. The study reviewed Israel's practices in the territories according to definitions of colonialism and apartheid provided by international law. The project was suggested by the January 2007 report by South African jurist John Dugard, in his capacity as Special Rapporteur to the United Nations Human Rights Council. He said that the practices of Israel had assumed characteristics of colonialism and apartheid and that an advisory opinion on the legal consequences should be sought from the International Court of Justice.
A UN report cited 222 incidents of settler violence in the first half of 2008, compared to 291 in all of 2007.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs observed 207 incidents involving settler violence against Palestinians in the period between September 2008 and March 2009. The number of settler attacks peaked on the 4th of December when the evacuation of the Beit HaShalom
in Hebron
took place.
Israeli settlement
An Israeli settlement is a Jewish civilian community built on land that was captured by Israel from Jordan, Egypt, and Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered occupied territory by the international community. Such settlements currently exist in the West Bank...
against Palestinians and Israeli security forces, predominantly in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
. Although the vast majority of settlers are law abiding, there is a rise in violent acts by extremists in their midst against Palestinians and Israel Police
Israel Police
The Israel Police is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism...
and IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
troops. In 2007 Israeli prosecutors determined that of 515 criminal suits in that year, 502 related to right wing Jewish settlers in the Occupied Territories. In 2008, the number of Jewish settlers involved in violent acts was estimated to be a few hundreds, out of a total population of about 500,000. Some prominent Jewish religious figures living in the occupied territories, as well as Israeli government officials, have condemned and expressed outrage over such behaviour. In the years 2008-2009, the defense establishment began taking a harder line against unruly settlers.
Israel's settlement policy
In Hebron, where 500-600 settlers live among 167,000 Palestinians, B'Tselem argues that there have been "grave violations" of Palestinian human rights because of the "presence of the settlers within the city." The organization cites regular incidents of "almost daily physical violence and property damage by settlers in the city", curfews and restrictions of movement that are "among the harshest in the Occupied Territories", and violence and by Israeli border policemen and the IDF against Palestinians who live in the city's H2 sector.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
reports on physical violence against Palestinians by settlers, including, "frequent[ly] stoning and shooting at Palestinian cars. In many cases, settlers abuse Palestinians in front of Israeli soldiers or police with little interference from the authorities."
B'Tselem also says that settler actions include "blocking roadways, so as to impede Palestinian life and commerce. The settlers also shoot solar panels on roofs of buildings, torch automobiles, shatter windowpanes and windshields, destroy crops, uproot trees, abuse merchants and owners of stalls in the market. Some of these actions are intended to force Palestinians to leave their homes and farmland, and thereby enable the settlers to gain control of them."
Causes of violence
Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who deals with the settlements issue in the northern West Bank said, These groups of settlers are organised and support each other...If there’s an outpost evacuation, they call people from Hebron to Jenin to stop the Palestinians working on their lands. Michael Sfard, a lawyer with Yesh DinYesh Din
Yesh Din is an Israeli human rights group providing legal assistance to citizens of the Palestinian territories. Its name comes from a Hebrew phrase meaning “there is law”...
, an Israeli human rights group which monitors the violation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
, stated that there are between a few dozen and a few hundred extremist settlers using a tactic called Price Tagging
Price tag policy
Price tag policy is, according to B'tselem, the name given to "acts of random violence aimed at the Palestinian population and Israeli security forces" by radical Israeli Jewish settlers, who, according to the New York Times "exact a price from local Palestinians or from the Israeli security...
, if the Government sends police or soldiers to dismantle an outpost that is being built, the settlers make the Palestinian population pay the price. While people in the outpost are confronting the security forces, others start harassing Palestinians forcing commanders to divert men from the outpost and making them think twice about launching future operations. It’s such a big headache that many of the relevant authorities give up without trying and the outposts are quickly rebuilt once the army gives up and leaves.
Many Israeli settlers believe that their religion entitles them to the land of biblical Israel. According to a 2003 survey, nearly 40% of settlers in the West Bank "live there out of a belief in a divinely ordained mission to inhabit the land".
Human rights group B'Tselem
B'Tselem
B'Tselem is an Israeli non-governmental organization . It calls itself "The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories"...
says that the violence is "a means to harass and intimidate Palestinians" and that the evacuations are a necessary part of the peace process. According to B'Tselem that when a building is evacuated by the Israeli government, settlers lash out at Palestinians because they're "easy victims" and as a means to widen the area under settler control.
Criticism of Violence by Settler Leaders
The Violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians has been harshly condemned by some of the leading religious figures in the West Bank, including Rabbi Menachem Fruman of Tekoa, who said: "Targeting Palestinians and their property is a shocking thing, (...) It's an act of hurting humanity. (...) This builds a wall of fire between Jews and Arabs."The Yesha Council
Yesha Council
The Yesha Council is an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank , known by the Hebrew acronym Yesha.The Chairman of the Yesha Council is Dani Dayan, elected in July 2007...
and former Knesset member Hanan Porat
Hanan Porat
-External links:...
has also condemned violence against Palestinians. “The ‘price tag’ response is immoral,” Porat said. “It’s unheard of that one needs to burn the vineyards and fields of Arabs. It’s immoral…and it gives legitimacy to those who are interested in undermining the outpost issue. It’s a very grave matter.”
Yesha Council
Yesha Council
The Yesha Council is an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank , known by the Hebrew acronym Yesha.The Chairman of the Yesha Council is Dani Dayan, elected in July 2007...
is the umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The council chairman Dani Dayan
Dani Dayan
Dani Dayan ; Born in 1955 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an Israeli Political Activist and the current Chairman of the Yesha Council.Dayan made Aliyah in 1971 to the Tel Aviv neighborhood of Yad Eliyahu....
said that settlers must not use violence to advance their means. He said that such actions were "morally bankrupt" and only serve to "hinder the settlers' struggle."
Differing legal status and treatment of Israeli settlers and Palestinians
Unlike Palestinians, Israeli civilians living in the Palestinian Territories are not subject to military or local law, but are prosecuted according to Israeli penal law. This originates in the Emergency Regulations bill enacted in 1967 and extended since which gives extraterritorial rightsExtraterritoriality
Extraterritoriality is the state of being exempt from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Extraterritoriality can also be applied to physical places, such as military bases of foreign countries, or offices of the United Nations...
to Israelis in the occupied territories. B'TSelem has said that the difference in legal status of Israelis and Palestinians in the territories has led to a double standard in which Israelis are given more legal rights and are punished more lightly than the Palestinians who are subject to military and local law. B'Tselem notes the system violates the principles of equality before the law and territoriality.
Referring to settler violence during the police evacuation of the "Federman Farm" near Kiryat Arba
Kiryat Arba
Kiryat Arba or Qiryat Arba , lit. "Town of the Four," is an Israeli settlement in the Judean Mountains region of the West Bank on the edge of Hebron. Its settlers consist of a mix of Russian immigrants, American immigrants, and native-born Israelis numbering close to 10,000...
, Haaretz has stated in an editorial "Israeli society has become accustomed to giving lawbreaking settlers special treatment", noting that no other group could similarly attack Israeli law enforcement agencies without being severely punished. Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
has characterized settler violence on soldiers and policemen who participated in the evacuation of the "Federman Farm" as "terrorism".
In response to the violence directed towards Israeli security forces, Israel declared it would no longer fund any illegal outposts from November, 2008.
After the evacuation of settlers from Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
in December 2008, a riot ensued and a Jewish settler, Ze'ev Braude, was recorded on video shooting two unarmed Palestinians. The victims were shot on their own property, which Braude had entered, and later needed surgery. The Israeli State Prosecutor's Office decided to abandon the prosecution of Braude after the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled that the prosecution must give the defendant access to "sensitive information". The prosecutor's office had earlier said that some of the evidence against Braude was classified for security reasons, due to "the Shin Bet's sources and methods of operation, and identifying details about its units and people." Braude had petitioned the High Court for access.
The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict
United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict
The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, known as the Goldstone Report, was a team established in April 2009 by the United Nations Human Rights Council during the Gaza War as an independent international fact-finding mission to investigate alleged violations of international...
reported on rioting and violence in the West Bank in the period preceding the Israeli military operations in Gaza. The report said "Little if any action is taken by the Israeli authorities to investigate, prosecute and punish violence against Palestinians, including killings, by settlers and members of the security forces, resulting in a situation of impunity. The Mission concludes that Israel has failed to fulfil its obligations to protect the Palestinians from violence by private individuals under both international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
Law enforcement action against settlers
The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza ConflictUnited Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict
The United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, known as the Goldstone Report, was a team established in April 2009 by the United Nations Human Rights Council during the Gaza War as an independent international fact-finding mission to investigate alleged violations of international...
reported on rioting and violence in the West Bank in the period preceding the Israeli military operations in Gaza. The report said "Little if any action is taken by the Israeli authorities to investigate, prosecute and punish violence against Palestinians, including killings, by settlers and members of the security forces, resulting in a situation of impunity. The Mission concludes that Israel has failed to fulfil its obligations to protect the Palestinians from violence by private individuals under both international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The report also stated that the International Court of Justice advisory opinion and “a number of United Nations resolutions have all affirmed that Israel’s practice of constructing settlements – in effect, the transfer by an occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies – constitutes a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention”.
According to Amos Harel, attempts by the security forces to bring violent rightwing zealots to justice has suffered from two main problems: investigating Israelis as opposed to Palestinians is subject to more restrictions, and courts have proved to be lenientYesh Din has produced a report, "A Semblance of Law", which found problems with law enforcement actions against Israelis in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
. According to Yesh Din's study, which was conducted in 2005, more than 90% of complaints against Israelis were closed without indictments, 96% of trespassing cases (including sabotage of trees) against Israelis led to no indictment, 100% of property offenses against Israelis led to no indictment and 5% of complaints against Israelis were lost and never investigated.
As well as collecting statistics, Yesh Din examined 42 closed investigation files and found a number of shortcomings, including the use of Hebrew rather than Arabic, a lack of investigating alibis, police rarely went to the scene of the crime. Many closed files had insufficient investigation and in several cases closed files appeared to have sufficient evidence for indictment,
8% of complaints resulted in indictments. The Israeli Justice Ministry responded by stating that legal authorities were closely following specific cases, but said that it was not in its authority to deal with every case.
Israeli security sources have said that it has become customary for some settlers to take the law into their own hands in the wake of terror attacks in the West Bank.
In the years 2008-2009, the defense establishment began taking a harder line against unruly settlers.
Settler riots
Israeli withdrawals from GazaGaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
(in 2005) and an eviction in Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
(in 2008) triggered settler rioting in protest. There is also continual conflict between settlers and Palestinians over land, resources and perceived grievances.
In August 2007, soldiers clashed with settlers during a raid in Hebron. Paint and eggs were thrown at the soldiers.
A violent settler protest at the Palestinian village of Funduk occurred in November 2007, in which hundreds of extremist settlers converged at the entrance of the village and rampaged. The protest occurred five days after a settler was killed by Palestinians. The settlers smashed the windows of houses and cars. According to Funduk villagers, Israeli soldiers and police accompanied the protesters but mostly stood aside while the settlers rampaged.
In December 2008 Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
settlers angry at the eviction of settlers from a disputed house rioted, shooting three Palestinians and burning Palestinian homes and olive groves. Video footage of the attacks were recorded, leading to widespread condemnation in Israel. The attacks were characterized as "a pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
" by then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert
Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003....
who said he was ashamed "as a Jew".
Local Palestinians claimed that once the disputed house was evicted, the IDF and the police were "indifferent" to the violence against the Palestinians, and have made no real attempt to stop the settlers from rioting.
Some settlers have publicly adopted what they refer to as a "price tag" policy whereby settlers attack Palestinian villages in retaliation after settler outposts are removed by the Israeli government.
In April 2009, dozens of settlers from Bat Ayin
Bat Ayin
Bat Ayin is a village and an Israeli settlement and in Gush Etzion, on the edge of the Judean hills in the West Bank, between Jerusalem and Hebron. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council...
rampaged through the West Bank village of Safa
Safa
Safa is a name commonly used in the Arab world. Safa is written as صفا in Arabic. It comes from the verb 'Safa', meaning purity, fineness and clarity...
, smashing car windows, damaging homes and wounding 12 Palestinians.
The United Nations has warned that up to 250,000 Palestinians in 83 villages are "highly or moderately" vulnerable to settler retaliation if the unauthorized outposts in the West Bank are removed by the Israeli government. 75,900 Palestinians in 22 villages are "highly vulnerable". The report also warns that a number of roads around Palestinian villages may become dangerous for the Palestinians to travel on. The settlements Havat Gilad
Havat Gilad
Havat Gilad is an Israeli settlement outpost in the West Bank, beyond the jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. It was established in 2002 in memory of Gilad Zar, security coordinator of the Shomron Regional Council, who was shot and killed in 2001. It is considered an un-authorized...
, Kedumim
Kedumim
Kedumim , also spelled Qedumim, is an Israeli settlement and a town located in the Samarian hills of the West Bank that was founded during Hanukkah 1975 and now enjoys the municipal status of local council. Founded in 1975 by members of the Gush Emunim settlement movement, its current population is...
, Itamar, Yitzhar
Yitzhar
Yitzhar is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank south of the city of Nablus just off Route 60, north of the Tapuach Junction. The predominantly Orthodox Jewish community with a population of 895 is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council...
, Ma'aleh Levona, Shilo, Adei Ad
Adei Ad
Adei Ad is an Israeli settlement outpost in the West Bank. Located near Shvut Rachel, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council.The outpost was established in 1998 by a group of students at the Sdor Amir yeshiva in Shvut Rachel....
, Nokdim
Nokdim
Nokdim , lit. Shepherds) is a communal settlement and Israeli settlement in the West Bank, located south of Bethlehem in the northern Judean hills...
, Bat Ayin
Bat Ayin
Bat Ayin is a village and an Israeli settlement and in Gush Etzion, on the edge of the Judean hills in the West Bank, between Jerusalem and Hebron. It is administered by the Gush Etzion Regional Council...
, Neguhot, Kiryat Arba
Kiryat Arba
Kiryat Arba or Qiryat Arba , lit. "Town of the Four," is an Israeli settlement in the Judean Mountains region of the West Bank on the edge of Hebron. Its settlers consist of a mix of Russian immigrants, American immigrants, and native-born Israelis numbering close to 10,000...
, Beit Haggai, Carmel and Susya
Susya
Susya refers to the site of an ancient village of the biblical Judea, in the southern Hebron Hills of the West Bank that has come to light in recent archeological investigations, to a Palestinian village settled in the 1830s, and to a religious communal Israeli settlement, under the jurisdiction...
are considered as possible threats to nearby Palestinians. The report criticizes "the inadequate level of law enforcement by the Israeli authorities" and "the ambiguous message delivered by the Government of Israel and the IDF top officials to the security forces in the field regarding their authority and responsibility to enforce the law on Israeli settlers".
Involvement of youths
Some settler who attacked or harassed Palestinians are disaffected youths, referred to in the Israeli media as "hilltop youths". Welfare minister Isaac Herzog has labeled them a "security threat" as well as a "societal and educational danger".Attacks on Palestinian agriculture and property
Olive farming is a major industry and employer in the Palestinian West Bank and olive trees are a common target of settler violence. B'Tselem alleges that "olive pickers in areas near certain settlements and outposts in the West Bank have been a target of attacks by settlers, who have cut down and burned olive trees and stolen the crops" and that "security forces have not taken suitable action to prevent the violence." The IDF barred olive picking in extensive areas of land, claiming that the closures were to protect the olive pickers. The case went to the Israeli High Court in 2006 which found that, as a rule, lands are not to be closed because of settler violence, and that the IDF must enforce the law. According to B'Tselem the IDF has worked around this by saying the lands are closed to protect the settlers.Amnesty International has said that scores of Palestinian owned sheep as well as gazelles and other animals were poisoned with 2-fluoracetamide near Tuwani on 22 March 2005, depriving Palestinian farmers of their livelihood.
In July 2009, a group of Israeli settlers riding horses and carrying torches raided Palestinian areas, burning 1,500-2,000 olive trees and stoning cars.
Claims of staged vandalism
A settler group named "Tazpit Unit" claimed to have documented that Palestinians had destroyed trees with the intention of blaming settlers for the destruction. According to Yedioth Ahranoth, photos taken by the group "allegedly show Palestinians and left-wing activists cutting down Palestinian olive trees using an electric saw". The settlers claimed that the reported "price tag" operations by settlers were actually carried out by Palestinians with the aim of tarnishing the image of the settlers.Well contamination
On 13 July 2004, residents of Hirbat Atwana near Hebron found rotting chicken carcasses in their well after four Jewish settlers were seen in the village. Israeli police said they suspected militant Jews from a nearby settlement outpost called Havat Maon. Settlers blamed the action on "internal tribal fight between the Palestinians;" Israeli police spokesman Doron Ben-Amo said it was "unlikely" that the Palestinians would contaminate their own well. On 9 December 2007, members of Christian Peacemaker TeamsChristian Peacemaker Teams
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an international organization set up to support teams of peace workers in conflict areas around the world. These teams believe that they can lower the levels of violence through nonviolent direct action, human rights documentation, and nonviolence training. CPT sums...
, an American NGO, reported to have observed a group of Israelis stop next to a cistern in Humra Valley, open the lid, and raise the bucket. The water was later found to be contaminated. Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
, a British NGO, has reported that settlers deliberately poisoned the only well in Madama
Madama
Madama is a border settlement on the northeast frontier of Niger. Little more than an army post, the settlement serves as a frontier station controlling travel between Niger and Libya. It is also the site of a former French colonial fort.-External links :*...
, a village near Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
, by dumping used diapers into it; and that they shot aid workers who came to clean the well.
In March 2010, International Solidarity Movement
International Solidarity Movement
The International Solidarity Movement is an organization focused on assisting the Palestinian cause in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict using nonviolent protests. It was founded in 2001 by Ghassan Andoni, a Palestinian activist; Neta Golan, an Israeli activist; Huwaida Arraf, a...
reported that settlers sabotaged a natural spring used by Palestinians in the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan
Qarawat Bani Hassan
Qarawat Bani Hassan is a Palestinian town in the Salfit Governorate, located thirty kilometers southwest of Nablus and seven kilometers northwest of Salfit in the northern West Bank. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of over 3,700 inhabitants in...
by pouring in a mixture of cement and sand. The settlers were protected by the Israeli Defence Forces as they destroyed the springs.
Attacks on mosques
In December 2009, suspected settler extremists attacked a mosque in the northern West Bank village of YasufYasuf
Yasuf is a Palestinian town located in the Salfit Governorate in the northern West Bank, northeast of Salfit, southwest of Nablus and adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Kfar Tapuach. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, it had a population of approximately 1,761 in...
near Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
according to Palestinian officials and Israeli police. The people forced their way into the mosque and burned about 100 holy books including Korans, Hadiths, prayer carpets as well as spray painted anti-Palestinian slogans on the floor, some of which referred to the settlers' "price tag" policy.
In January 2010, Israeli security officers raided the settlement of Yitzhar
Yitzhar
Yitzhar is an Israeli settlement located in the West Bank south of the city of Nablus just off Route 60, north of the Tapuach Junction. The predominantly Orthodox Jewish community with a population of 895 is within the municipal jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council...
, forcibly entered the settlement's synagogue and yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
buildings and arrested ten settlers, including the Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
, for alleged involvement in the mosque attack. All were released by the court due to lack of evidence and the court reprimanded the police for arresting the rabbi. As of January 2010 no indictments were served. The state has appealed the ruling.
In September 2011, the Al-Nurayn Mosque
Al-Nurayn Mosque
Al Nurayn Mosque is a mosque in the Palestinian town of Qusra in the West Bank. It gained attention in September 2011 when it became the target of an arson attack allegedly perpetrated by militant Jewish settlers.-Arson attack:...
in Qusra
Qusra
Qusra is a Palestinian town in the Nablus Governorate in the northern West Bank, located 28 kilometers Southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics , the town had 674 households with a population of 4,377 inhabitants in 2007.Under the terms of the Oslo Accords of...
became the subject of an arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
attack allegedly perpetrated by militant Jewish settlers, who set the mosque on fire by throwing two burning tyres through its windows. Slogans in Hebrew threatening further attacks had been graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
ed on the walls, reading "Muhammad is a Pig". A star of David
Star of David
The Star of David, known in Hebrew as the Shield of David or Magen David is a generally recognized symbol of Jewish identity and Judaism.Its shape is that of a hexagram, the compound of two equilateral triangles...
had also been graffitied alongside. The attack came hours after Israeli police dismantled three structures in the nearby illegal Jewish settlement of Migron
Migron
Migron may refer to:* Migron, Charente-Maritime - commune in France.* Migron - Israeli settlement....
, leading newspapers to suggest that it may have been carried out by settlers in retaliation.
Settler extremism
Many settlers desperately want to be regarded as part of the Israeli mainstream. As of September 2010, only a small minority among them is violent. The number of settlers involved in violent activities is estimated to have grown from a few dozen individuals into a few hundreds, out of a total population of about 500,000 Jewish settlers.Extremist groups associated with the settler movement include Gush Emunim Underground
Gush Emunim Underground
The Jewish Underground was a militant organization formed by prominent members of the Israeli political movement Gush Emunim that existed from 1979 to 1984. The group's highest profile plot was to destroy the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem....
that existed from 1979 to 1984 as a militant organization linked to the settler activist group Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim was an Israeli messianic and political movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. While not formally established as an organization until 1974 in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, Gush Emunim sprang out of the conquests of the Six-Day War in 1967, encouraging...
. They carried out attacks against Jewish students and Palestinian officials, attempted to bomb a bus and planned an attack on the Dome on the Rock.
The New York Times has noted that the religious, ideological wing of the settler movement is growing more radical. It is widely suspected that a pipe-bomb attack on settler critic Zeev Sternhell
Zeev Sternhell
Zeev Sternhell is an Israeli historian and one of the world's leading experts on Fascism. Sternhell headed the Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and writes for Haaretz newspaper.-Biography:...
was perpetrated by settler radicals, who left fliers at the scene offering 1 million shekels to anyone who kills a member of anti-settlement group Peace Now. Public Security Minister Avi Dichter
Avi Dichter
Avi Dichter is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Kadima. He is a former Minister of Internal Security and Shin Bet director.-Biography:...
condemned the attack, calling it a "nationalistic terror attack".
Shin Bet security chief Yuval Diskin
Yuval Diskin
Yuval Diskin was the 12th Director of Shabak .In the Israel Defense Forces, Diskin served as deputy company commander of Sayeret Shaked . In 1978, he was recruited to the Shabak and served as area coordinator for the Nablus district...
warned that he has "found a very high willingness among this public to use violence -- not just stones, but live weapons -- in order to prevent or halt a diplomatic process." He also called settlers' mindset "messianic" and "Satanic".
IDF Major-General Gadi Shamni has warned that there has been an increase in the number of violent settlers from a few dozen to hundreds and that the increase is impairing the IDF's ability to deal with other threat. A UN report recorded 222 acts of violence by settlers in the first half of 2008 compared with 291 in all of 2007.
International reactions
The European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
has condemned "acts of violence and brutality committed against Palestinian civilians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank" calling on the Israeli government to put an end to it.
The Human Sciences Research Council (South Africa)
Human Sciences Research Council (South Africa)
The Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa primarily conducts large-scale, policy-relevant, social-scientific projects for public-sector users, non governmental organisations and international development agencies in support of development nationally, in the Southern African Development...
(HSRC) a statutory research agency released an exhaustive study indicating that Israel practices both colonialism and apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The study was conducted by an international team of scholars and practitioners of international public law from South Africa, the United Kingdom, Israel and the West Bank. The study reviewed Israel's practices in the territories according to definitions of colonialism and apartheid provided by international law. The project was suggested by the January 2007 report by South African jurist John Dugard, in his capacity as Special Rapporteur to the United Nations Human Rights Council. He said that the practices of Israel had assumed characteristics of colonialism and apartheid and that an advisory opinion on the legal consequences should be sought from the International Court of Justice.
Statistics
According to B'Tselem 49 Palestinians were killed by Israeli civilians between 2000 and 2010, of which the majority is settler-related. According to B'Tselem a significant portion of the dead were killed while attempting to infiltrate settlements or attacking Israelis. B'Tselem also keeps a record of incidences of settler violence.A UN report cited 222 incidents of settler violence in the first half of 2008, compared to 291 in all of 2007.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs observed 207 incidents involving settler violence against Palestinians in the period between September 2008 and March 2009. The number of settler attacks peaked on the 4th of December when the evacuation of the Beit HaShalom
Beit HaShalom
Beit HaShalom, , or the Al Rajabi House settlement is a four-story structure that housed a local Hebron Jewish community of 25 families, youth and yeshiva students. The structure is located on the main road linking Kiryat Arba to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron...
in Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
took place.