CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT - Part 4 of 4

JEWISH SETTLER TERRORISM AGAINST PALESTINIANS IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP

 

APPENDIX B

JEWISH SETTLER TERRORIST ACTIVITIES 1984-1988

Sources: Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories: 29 October, 1984, A/39/591; 4 October, 1985, A/40/702; 20 October, 1986, A/41/680; 15 October, 1987, A/42/650/; 24 October, 1988, A/43/694.

Hebron residents, on 28 May 1984, complained that about locars had been damaged by unidentified persons. (Ma'ariv, 29 May 1984)

A group of settlers allegedly stopped cars carrying watermelons on the Jericho Bridge before crossing into Jordan, and confiscated their licences and identity cards. (Ai Tali'ah, 14 June 1984).

Israeli settlers allegedly began opening a road on privately- owned Palestinian land in the village of Husan, Bethlehem district, on 13 July 1984, in violation of the order nisi which obliges the Israeli authorities and land-owners not to make any changes in the land until a final verdict is issued by the Military Objections Committee. The land in question — an estimated 4,000 dunums of land from the Arqoub villages of Husan, Wadi Fukin and Nahalin — had been confiscated by the Israeli military authorities in June 1981 and declared State property. (Al Fajr, 20 July 1984)

It was reported on 1 August 1984 that Yosef Zeruya, one of the defendants in the Jewish underground case, was convicted by the Jerusalem District Court of plotting to blow up the Dome of the Rock Mosque, possessing parts of weapons and of fraudulent acts. He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and three years' suspended term. (Ha'aretz, 1 August; Jerusalem Post. Ha'aretz, 5 August 1984)

Moshe Zar, charged with membership in the Jewish terrorist organization and with planting an explosive charge in the car of Bassam Shak'a, was on 9 September 1984 released on bail of IS 750,000 (approximately $57,672) after Prisons Service physicians had given an opinion that further detention would aggravate Zar's health condition. (Ha'aretz, 10 September 1984)

The trial of 20 members of the Jewish terrorist organization reportedly opened on 16 September 1984 at the Jerusalem District Court. The 20 defendants had already admitted the charges attributed to them. The defence lawyers asserted that the confessions were obtained illegally and should therefore be disallowed. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 September, 1984; Jerusalem Post. 21 September 1984)

Avinoam Katrieli, member of the Jewish underground organization, was on 2 1 September 1984 convicted of plotting to bomb the Dome of the Rock mosque and was sentenced to 15 months effective prison term and 33 months suspended imprisonment. (Ha'aretz, 23 September 1984)

A group of Jewish settlers accompanied by Israeli security forces allegedly stormed the "Dar Al Aytam" (orphanage) school in Jerusalem and arrested a 15-year old boy on the pretext of throwing stones. This was reportedly the second case in one week of Jewish settlers arresting Palestinian minors in Jerusalem's old city. (Al Fajr, 28 September 1984)

Jewish settlers from Hebron and the Etzion Bloc, led by Rabbi Moshe Levinger, on 2 October 1984 patrolled the area outside the Dheisheh refugee camp which was under curfew following stone-throwing incidents. One of the settlers fired into the area inside the camp. He was detained for questioning at the Bethlehem police station and was later released. (Ha'aretz, 3,4, 10 and 15 October 1984; Jerusalem Post, 3 and 4 October 1984)

In apparent revenge for a bomb attack on 15 October 1984, in which seven Israeli youths were injured near Nablus, Jewish settlers reportedly vandalized two houses in the Balata refugee camp on 16 October 1984 and chased Palestinians in the streets of Nablus. Villages near Nablus were put under curfew and checkposts were erected at the Balata and Askar refugee camps. (Al Fajr, 19 October 1984)

The Supreme Court, on 7 November 1984, rejected the appeal of Mr. Yehuda Cohen, one of the first members of the Jewish underground to be convicted, against his sentence. Mr. Cohen, a settler from Ofra, had been charged with membership in a conspiracy to blow up the Dome of the Rock mosque and was sentenced to 18 months in prison and another two years suspended term, after pleading guilty. In a related development, it was reported on 14 November 1984 that a GSS agent known as "David," giving evidence in the Jewish underground trial at the Jerusalem District Court, said that he believed that one of the defendants, Mr. Shaul Nir, had killed Mr. Tahsin Abd el-Fatah Hatafteh, aged 18, from Tarkumiya. According to the witness, this happened on 30 March 1983, during a demonstration and stone-throwing by local youths who blocked traffic to Kiryat Arba. One of the passengers of a car at a road block fired at the Arab youth and killed him. According to the witness, it was Mr. Nir, but the witness added that Mr. Nir had denied having anything to do with that killing. At the Jewish underground trial, Mr. Nir had been charged in connection with the booby-trapping of Arab buses, the attack on the West Bank mayors, the attack at the Hebron University and the plot to blow up the Temple Mount mosques. (Jerusalem Post, 8 November; Ha'aretz, 14 November 1984)

On 9 November 1984, Mr. Yehuda Richter, a leading member of Rabbi Meir Kahane's "Kach" Party, was sentenced to five years in prison and a three-year suspended term for his involvement in the shooting attack on a bus carrying Arab workers near Ramallah in March 1984. Mr. Richter was originally charged with attempted murder, conspiring to commit a crime and setting fire to Arab vehicles and to the offices of Al Fajr in East Jerusalem, but after plea bargaining he was convicted of causing bodily harm under aggravated circumstances. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 November 1984)

On 14 November 1984, it was reported that Rabbi Levinger was ordered to leave the room he had rented in the Dheisheh camp since the house belonged to UNRWA. Meanwhile, the camp was declared a closed military area, barring anyone except local residents or the army from entering it. The curfew, imposed on the camp following a stonethrowing incident on 12 November 1984, was lifted the next day after security forces had detained two suspects. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 14 November 1984)

Three men from the Jerusalem suburb of Ein Karem, members of the so-called "Terror Against Terror Gang," were on 20 November 1984 sentenced to six years imprisoned and to a three-year suspended term in the Jerusalem District Court for sabotaging Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. Several persons were wounded in the attacks which were carried out in late 1983 and early 1984. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 November 1984)

On 3 January 1985, the Supreme Court imposed a stiffer sentence on Mr. Noam Yinon, who was arrested with the members of the Jewish underground and was convicted of transporting 50 Syrian mines in the Golan Heights for members of the underground. He was sentenced by the Jerusalem District Court to 18 months in jail and 18 months suspended sentence. The State appealed against that sentence and the Supreme Court accepted the appeal and increased the sentence to 28 months in prison and 20 months suspended sentence. In another development the Supreme Court on the same day increased to three years the sentence of Mr. Levy Hazan, a "Kach" member convicted of planning an attack against an Arab bus in Ramallah. (Ha'aretz, 4 January 1985)

Claiming that a settler had been pelted with stones, settlers reportedly surrounded Al ' Amari refugee camp and attempted to enter with aims and axes. Subsequently, the occupation authorities carried out a large-scale search and arrested dozens of youths in the camp. (Al Tali'ah, 10 January 1985)

On 20 January 1985, IDF soldiers forcibly stopped a group of squatters from building a road to Tel-Rumeida where they have been squatting for several months, living in housetrailers without permission from the authorities. On 30 January 1985, IDF troops pulled down a fence erected by Jewish settlers around two plots in Tel-Rumeida which they claimed for themselves. (Ha'aretz, 15 January; Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 and 31 January 1985)

It was reported that the fire at the Court of First Instance in Nablus, which had destroyed most of the land registration records a month earlier, was followed by renewed activities by settlers and companies. A number of Arab landowners reportedly filed complaints with the court and the police concerning the renewed assaults by these companies on their lands. (Al Tali'ah. 24 January 1985)

On 2 and 3 February 1985, Jewish settlers from Hebron reportedly uprooted 38 trees in a plot of land belonging to a local resident, Mr. Jamil Ratab Abu-Heikal, situated in the disputed area of Tel-Rumeida. Settlers in Hebron reportedly admitted to the act, explaining that they had no other choice since the army had removed fences they had placed in the area. According to the settlers the plot in question is registered in the Tabu as belonging to the Jewish Sephardi community in Hebron before 191 7. (Ha'aretz, 4 February 1985)

On 4 February 1985, Rabbi Moshe Levinger and one of his guards opened fire at residents of the Dheisheh refugee camp who threw stones at him. The camp was placed under curfew. It was reported that Rabbi Levinger and his guards later entered the camp and stayed there over one hour in an attempt to discover the stone-throwers. He reportedly ran along the camp alleys, together with a guard, and both men fired into the air in an indiscriminate manner. (Ha'aretz, 5 February 1985)

On 18 April 1985, the Jerusalem District Court imposed prison sentences ranging from 25 months to three years on three members of the Jewish terrorist underground whose trials were separated from the other defendants following a plea bargaining deal with the prosecution. (Ha'aretz, 19 April 1985.20,22,24 and 3 1 May 1985; Jerusalem Post, 19 April 1985, 20 May 1985; Ma'ariv. 31 May 1985)

On 23 April 1985, the Jerusalem District Court determined by a majority vote that the confessions of 14 of the defendants in the Jewish underground trial were admissible and could constitute evidence in the trail. The president of the court, Justice Yaacov Bazak, decided inaminority opinion to accept the defence counsel's arguments and disqualify the confessions of 12 of the defendants, while harshly criticizing the General Security Service for the methods used in order to obtain the defendants' confessions. (Ha'aretz, 24 April 1985)

On 3 June 1985, it was reported that File 345184, the State of Israel vs. Menahem Livni. Shaul Nir, Barak Nir, Uzi Sharabaf and Yitzhak Ganiram, on charge of premeditated murder in the Islamic University in Hebron, was unified with the "big Jewish underground file" concerning the attempted TempleMount sabotage, the attacks on the West Bank mayors and the aborted bombing of five Arab-owned buses. The prosecution reportedly agreed to reunite the cases after the defence consented that there would be no challenge to the confessions made by the defendants. The six defendants on 2 June 1985 pleaded guilty to all the charges except intent to murder. The charges include assaulting the Islamic University campus with automatic weapons fire and throwing a hand grenade into the courtyard of the campus during a class recess. The six said they had "no intention to kill, only to frighten." (Haaretz, Jerusalem Post, 3 June 1985)

On 6 June 1985, a group of settlers allegedly seized three rooms in Aqabat Al Saraya in the old city of Jerusalem and looted them. The three rooms, according to the report, had been owned for over 50 years by an Arab resident who had the official titles to ownership. (Al Tali'ah, 13 June 1985)

On 18 June 1985, a group of 50 Jewish settlers reportedly blocked the easternentrance to the Patriarchs' Cave in Hebron in protest against a military government decision to close the place to Jews temporarily because of the Muslim feast of Id Al Fitr. Someof the settlers reportedly carried arms when they arrived at the site and demanded to enter their synagogue for morning prayers. Three soldiers blocked their way and, in response, the settlers blocked the entry to Muslim worshippers. (Ha'aretz, 20 June 1985; Jerusalem Post, 19 June 1985)

On7 July 1985, it was reported that the Abu Heikalfamily, residing near the Tel Rumeida settlement in Hebron, had complained over the weekend that a number of settlers from Tel Rumeida had attempted to prevent the family entering their home when they returned from a family event. The settlers allegedly threatened the family with weapons not to enter the house. The settlers dispersed when security personnel arrived on the scene. (Ha'aretz, 7 July 1985)

On 10 July 1985, the Jerusalem District Court convicted 15 members of the Jewish terrorist underground on most of the charges imputed to them 14 months earlier, ranging from membership of a terrorist organization to murder, Menahem Livni, Shaul Nir and Uzi Sharabaf were convicted of murder for their part in the attack on the Islamic University in Hebron in which three persons were killed and more than two dozen injured. A conviction of murder carries a mandatory life sentence. Shelomo Ganiram and Barak Nir were convicted, in connection with that attack, of manslaughter and attempted murder. In the case of the bomb-attacks and maiming of the three West Bank mayors and three other members of the National Guidance Committee, 1 1 defendants were found not guilty of attempted murder, but were convicted of causing grievous bodily harm. The court, in a majority decision, convicted 10 defendants of conspiracy to blow up the Dome of the Rock Mosque on the Temple Mount. The president of the court, Justice Yaaeov Bazak, determined in a minority opinion that the plot to blow up the mosque did not reach the extent of a conspiracy and acquitted the defendants on that count. The 10 convicted of conspiracy are Menahem Livni, Shaul Nir, Yehuda Etzion, Yeshua Ben-Shoshan, Yitzhak Ganiram, Benzion Heineman, Ya'acov Heineman, Haim Ben-David, Barak Nir and Boaz Heinemann. Six defendants were convicted of membership of a terrorist organization; six others were convicted of activity in a terrorist organization; and many defendants were also convicted of illegal possession and transport of weapons and of deliberately damaging IDF property. In the case of the booby-trapping of the Arab buses the court unanimously convicted Shaul Nir and Uzi Sharabaf, and, by a majority vote, Menahem Livni and Barak Nir, of attempted murder. Menahem Livni, Shaul Nir and Uzi Sharabaf were also convicted of attempted murder for placing charges at the entrance to several mosques in Hebron, and Shaul Nir was convicted on another count of attempted murder for placing charges at the entrance to several mosques in Hebron, and Shaul Nir was convicted on another count of attempted murder for planting a grenade in a schoolyard in Hebron. Ten other defendants in the case have previously been convicted on the basis of plea bargaining. One, Gilad Peli, was sentenced to 10 years in jail. The trial of two other defendants, army officers charged with prior knowledge of the attacks on the mayors, has been postponed pending completion of the main trial. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11 July 1985)

On 25 July 1985, Gush Emunim leader Rabbi Moshe Levinger was fined IS 200,000 (approximately $15,385) and given a three-month suspended sentence for trespassing in the house of a Hebron woman and attacking her six-year-old son. Levinger told the Jerusalem Magistrate Court that the boy had thrown a stone at his son. (Jerusalem Post, 26 July 1985)

On 15 August, 1985, four members of Knesset of the right-wing Tehiya party, Geula Cohen, Yuval Ne'eman, Eliezer Waldman and Gersho Shafat, reportedly entered the flat in the Casbah area of Hebron that had earlier been occupied by nine Kiryat Arba settlers. The members of Knesset were accompanied by a group of settlers. The area was later declared a closed military area and the IDF evicted the settlers, but not the members of Knesset, who reportedly remained in the flat and were allowed to bring in food, chairs and mattresses. On 18 August, the inner cabinet decided not to permit Jews toinhabit the house in the Hebron Casbah were six members of Knesset were in their fourth day of a sit-in. On 19 August, Rabbi Moshe Levinger, accompanied by eight settlers, blocked the entrance to the Casbah. protesting that closing the area to Jews only "constituted racism." On 20 August, at dawn, the IDFevicted without incident the Knesset members who were holding a sit-in in aflat in the Casbah area of Hebron. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 16 and 18 August 1985; Jerusalem Post, 19 and 20 August 1985; Yediot Aharonot, 20 August 1985; Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 21 August 1985)

On 4 September 1985, it was reported that, following the murder of a reservist and the wounding of another in the Hebron market, settlers in the town attempted to expand the Jewish presence in Tel Rumeida. The attempt was foiled by the security forces. The settlers of the Hebron Jewish quarter also cut open a passage from the "Abraham the Patriarch" area near the wholesale vegetable market into the Casbah. After they had cut open the passage they were evicted from the area, but the passage remained open. In a consultation between the heads of the Jewish councils in the West Bank and Gaza, the heads of the Kiryat Arba and the Hebron settlers it was decided to set up the headquarters of the Jewish Councils in the territories in the Jewish quarter of Hebron until the Government took a decision with regard to the deteriorating security in the region. On 5 September, it was reported that the army had sealed the passage. The settlers later complained they were being placed in a ghetto. When the army lifted the curfew in the Casbah to allow residents to buy supplies the settlers intervened in an attempt not to allow a resumption of normal life only 24 hours after murder of the reservist. Fifteen settlers, including Rabbi Levinger, entered the Casbah and clashes were reported with thesecurity forces. Several settlers attempted to reoccupy the house in the Casbah in front of which the reservist was murdered, but they were forcibly evicted by a border guard. According to one report, Hebron settlers attacked two houses of released prisoners on the night of 4 September. (Ha'aretz, 4 September 1985; Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, Ma'ariv, 5 September 1985)

On 6 September 1985, it was reported that armed groups of Gush Emunim settlers had held "presence-demonstrations" in the streets of Ramallah and Nablus the previous day. Settler sources described the armed patrols as "helping to step up security" in the region and said that the settlers intended to continue holding such patrols in the following days. Military sources said that "patrolling the streets in West Bank towns with legally held weapons is not an offence, and therefore there is no reason to act against the settlers." On 8 September, the Defence Minister Mr. Yitzhak Rabin said at the weekly cabinet meeting that the Government would not permit armed settlers to patrol through Arab areas in the West Bank, but West Bank and Gaza Strip settlers said that despite the army and border police clampdown on the region, they had continued their armed patrols in major Arab towns. One of the organizers of these patrols in Hebron told the Jerusalem Post that settlers in groups of 6 to 10 men patrolled Tulkarem. Nablus and Jenin and were outside the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. The settlers were armed with pistols. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, Yediot Aharonot, 6,8 and 9 September 1985)

On 7 September 1985, during the night, unidentified persons believed to be Kiryat-Arba and Hebron settlers tried to set fire to a house in Dura belonging to Mahmud Mohammad Atrash, whom they suspected of being a released prisoner's relative and that the released prisoner, Azmi Atrash, did not live in that house. Material damage was caused. Settlers also smashed windows in a house in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus belonging to a released prisoner. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, Yediot Aharonot, 9 September 1985)

On 8 September 1985, after midnight, Hebron settlers led by Rabbi Moshe Levinger occupied a house in the Casbah area bordering on the Jewish quarter. The settlers were forcibly evicted from the house by border guards. Four settlers were detained. (Ha'aretz, 9 September 1985)

On 27 September 1985, dozens of Kiryat Arba settlers, including "Kach" members, reportedly rioted and caused extensive damage in Halhul following an attack on Egged bus in the area. An Israeli television crew that arrived on the scene to film the rioting was attacked by the settlers. In the rioting windows and windshields were smashed, including the windows of the local mosque. Settlers were also reported to fire shots in the air and to set fire to several shops. (Ha'aretz, 29 September 1985; Jerusalem Post, 4 October 1985)

A number of Arab drivers operating in Al Arqoub village near Bethlehem reported that settlers from Hadar Bitar settlement established on Husan village land had begun to harass the Arab drivers by crowding them off the road, which was narrow and dangerous. (Al Fajr, 15 November 1985)

On 17 November 1985, it was reported that Knesset member Matti Peled (Progressive List for Peace) had requested that the Knesset hold an emergency session to discuss revelations that West Bank settlers were holding large quantities of weapons over which the IDF and the security bodies had no control. According to the military correspondent of Ha'aretz. Zeev Schiff, the Central Region Command had attempted to control the individual weapons held by the settlers, but its efforts were of no avail. Mr. Peled said that "that stupefying revelation should not go unheeded ... today (the settlers) disobey the army and tomorrow they will hold arms against the Government," hesaid. (Ha'aretz, 17 November 1985)

A group of anti-occupation Israelis were allegedly attacked by armed settlers while in Dheisheh refugee camp. (Al Fajr, 29 November 1985)

On 19 January 1986, Israeli settlers from Ne'ot Adumim settlement allegedly uprooted 130 olive trees belonging to Hamdan Jaafreh of Al Sawahreh Al Sharqiyeh village. They also reportedly obliged him, under the threat of the gun, to remove the barbed wire surrounding his land. The landowner * filed a complaint at the Bethlehem police station against the settlers' action. The landowner said that he receivedclearance to plant his land from the Israeli authorities before he started planting. (Al Tali'ah, 23 January 1986; Al Fajr, 31 January 1986)

According to Al Fajr, settlers of Arya'el and Yakeer had intensified their harassment against Arab residents of Deir Hareth and Istya. Settlers allegedly use weapons to threaten them, they also detain them and set firein their fields. (Al Fajr, 21 February 1986; Al Tali'ah, 27 February 1986)

On 26 March 1986. it was reported that several Kiryat Arba settlers on 24 March 1986, after midnight, entered the Patriarchs' Cave in Hebron, knocked down wooden partitions between a synagogue and a mosque and desecrated Muslim prayer rugs by treading on them while wearing shoes. They reportedly attacked soldiers and policemen who tried to evict them. Three settlers were finally arrested while others reportedly eluded the police. The three were released on bail later in the day. On 26 March 1986 Jewish settlers in Hebron held a noisy carnival procession in the center of town. (Ha'aretz, 27 March 1986; Jerusalem Post, 26 March 1986)

On 12 May 1986, it was reported that the security authorities had authorized the march planned by Gush Emunim to be held on Independence Day to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Jewish settlement in Samaria. The authorization was given on condition that the participants in the march undertook not to alight from their vehicles inside the town of Nablus and not to gather in large groups near Joseph's Tomb and near Tel Balata, close to the Balata refugee camp. In addition to the march and visits the settlers were organizing a festive assembly in Eilon Moreh. On 15 May, it was reported that thousands of supporters had taken part in the Gush Emunim organized events. The tours and visits in the Nablus areagave rise to serious incidents in which several people were injured. (Ha'aretz, 12 May 1986; Jerusalem Post, Ma'ariv, 15 May 1986)

On 1 July 1986, it was reported that the Hebron police had arrested for questioning several settlers, some of whom were activists of the Kach movement from Hebron and Kiryat Arba on suspicion of having set fire, several days earlier, to an Arab resident's car and having attempted to set fire to his home. The Hebron police reportedly continued its investigation. No suspects had so far been detained, although several Kach activists had been questioned. (Ha'aretz, 1 and 2 July 1986)

On 7 August 1986, a group of Kiryat Arba settlers allegedly attacked Abdul Rahim Jaber, aged 95. A large stone one settler allegedly hurled at him struck his head and passersby rushed him to a hospital in Hebron. (Al Fajr, 14 August 1986)

On 14 December 1986, a group of reservist paratroopers who had just finished a month's service at Hebron, reported to Mk Ran Cohen about settlers' attitude towards the local population. The paratroopers alleged that the Hebron settlers were gradually - and with the knowledge of all the military echelons - occupying and taking control of the entire surface of the Patriarchs' Cave, including the Yussufiya Hall, where Jewish prayers were prohibited. The paratroopers also complained that, for each Jewish settler at Hebron there were two soldiers to protect him. (Yediot Aharonot, 15 December 1986)

On 13 February 1987, it was reported that villagers from Azzun Atma and Beit Amin, near Qalqilyah, were fired on by settlers when they tried to return to their lands. The two villages were at present surrounded by settlements. (Al Fajr, 13 February 1987)

On March 5 1987, settlers from Kiryat-Arba and Hebron reportedly smashed windows of 20 cars in Halhul, in retaliation for the stoning of 2 Egged buses earlier. On two occasions in the previous week an "Action Committee for the Safe Driving on Judea and Samaria Roads," headed by Kiryat- Arba council member Ben-Yishai, reportedly vandalized Arab property in the Al-Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron, following stone-throwing incidents. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, Ma'ariv, 6 March 1987)

On 19 April 1987, after midnight, three settlers from the Gaza Strip allegedly kidnapped a 9-year-old child from the village of Bani Suheileh, Riad Izzat Al Moughrabi, whom they suspected of stone throwing, beat him and drove him in their car in the direction of the Erez check-point. At the check-point the child managed to escape and reported about his kidnapping to one of the soldiers. On 25 April 1987, a police officer reported that the three would be charged with illegal imprisonment, trespassing, assault and breaking the public peace. On 12 June 1987, the head of the investigation department in the Gaza district police reportedly recommended that the three be tried on charges of illegal detention, trespassing and assault. (Ha'aretz, 21,23 and 26 April 1987 and 12 June 1987; Jerusalem Post, 23 April 1987)

On 5 May 1987, during the night dozens of settlers from Alfei-Menashe, Karnei Shomron and Kedumim, led by the Gush Emunim secretary general, Daniella Weiss, broke through an IDF road-block at the entrance to Qalqilyah - which was placed under curfew - smashed empty bottles against store fronts, set tyres on fire and overturned garbage bins and vegetable carts. The operation was reportedly in reaction to the throwing of a petrol bomb at an Israeli settler's car. On 19 May 1987, a charge sheet was filed with a magistrate's court in Kfar Saba against Mrs. Daniella Weiss, who was reportedly facing charges of unruly conduct in a public placeand o f intentionally causing damage. (Ha'aretz, 7,8 and 10 May 1987; Jerusalem Post, 7 May 1987; Ma'arir, 8 May 1987)

On 6 June 1987, some 70 armed settlers from Kiryat Arba and Hebron, believed to be supporters of the Kach movement, rioted in the Dheisheh refugee camp; they fired in the air and set fire to two cars. Local residents threw stones at them and a violent scuffle broke out. IDF troops stepped in and dispersed the rioters. Six settlers were arrested and the camp was placed under curfew. Five more Kiryat Arba settlers were arrested on 7 June 1987, bringing the number of suspects to 11. On 12 June 1987, a charge sheet was filed against 12 of the suspects. Six of them were charged with aggravated assault and rioting. The other seven, charged with lesser offences, were released on bail. On 15 June 1987, it was reported that the six suspects held in custody had gone on hunger strike and that other Kiryat Arba settlers were to join them in the strike in sympathy On 17 June 1987, the six settlers charged with rioting at Dheisheh were released on bail on condition that they remain in their homes every day from 9 p.m. to the 6 a.m. and stay away from Dheisheh and AL Aroub refugee camps. On 18 August 1987, the State Attorney's Office added two members of the Kiryat Arba council to the list of persons charged with rioting in the Dheisheh refugee camp in June 1987. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, Ma'ariv, 7- 11, 14, 16 and 18 June 1987; Ha'aretz, 19 August 1987)

On 19 October 1987, students of the "Shuvu Banim" yeshivain the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City attacked and beat Arab shopkeepers and passersby. Three yeshiva students were arrested and questioned by police about the incident. Following the incident Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek urged Prime Minister Shamir to help remove the yeshiva from the Muslim Quarter and replace it with a yeshiva "capable of behaving as a good neighbor with the residents." On 9 November 1987, it was reported that Prime Minister Shamir had rejected the request by Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek. In a letter received by Kollek it was stated that "the Prime Minister does not deal with removing Jews from the place where they are settled, either in Old Jerusalem or elsewhere in the Land of Israel." (Ha'aretz, 22 October 1987 and 9 November 1987; Jerusalem Post, 20 and 25 October 1987)

On 10 November 1987, four settlers from the Gaza Strip were held for questioning following a stone-throwing incident near Deir El Balah in which settlers opened fire after their cars were stoned, allegedly killing a 17-year-old pupil, Intisar El Atar. Settlers in the Katif bloc reacted angrily to the detention of four of their members and demanded that civil guards be reintroduced to the region. They claimed stone-throwing incidents occurred daily. On 12 November 1987, the Ashkelon magistrates' court ordered that two of the suspects, Menahem Beit Halahmi, spokesman of the Gaza District Regional Council, and Avner Shimoni, secretary of the Katif council, be released on NIS 10,000 ($6,500) bail, with the provision that they remained in Ashkelon and reported to the police in that town twice daily. The other two suspects, Yosef Fisheimer and Shimon Mar Yosef, were released on bail without any conditions. Security sources confirmed on 12 November 1987 that the slain girl was found inside the school courtyard, and not near the barricades at which the settlers' cars were allegedly stopped. Her shooting was a clear violation of standing orders, but it was not clear who was responsible. On 4 December 1987, it was reported that the Gaza district police was holding a settler from the Neve Dekalim settlement, on suspicion of having killed Intisar El Atar. On 6 December 1987, it was reported that the settler Shimon Yifrah, 30, had admitted to having fired the shot that killed El Atar. On 7 December 1987, it was reported that the police had transmitted the file of the four settlers to the Southern Region Attorney, with a recommendation that Yifrah be put on trial on a charge of manslaughter, and the other three settlers who were with him in the car on charges of assistance and failure to prevent the offence. On 13 December 1987, it was reported that Yifrah had been charged, at the Beersheba district court, with acting with criminal negligence when he opened fire on the courtyard of the girls' school in Deir El Balah, killing Intisar El Atar. On 17 December 1987, Justice Efraim Laron of the Beersheba district court ordered that Yifrah should be released on bail of NIS 30,000 ($20,0001, and that he should stay in Arad (near Beersheba) and avoid any contact with the settler population of the Katif bloc. The office of the Southern Region Attorney announced that it would lodge an appeal with the Supreme Court against the decision. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 11, 12, 13 and 18 November 1987; Ha'aretz, 4.6,7,13 and 18 December 1987; Jerusalem Post, 6, 1 3 and 16 December 1987)

On 26 November 1987, the Southern Region Attorney, Yaacov Krosser, ordered the authorities to close the inquiry file against three settlers from the Katif bloc who, on 2 1 April 1987, abducted and detained an Arab boy. The incident occurred after their car was pelted with stones near the Bureij refugee camp. They noticed one of the stone-throwers, Raid Al Mamri, chased after him to his hom and forced him to accompany them to a police station. The boy's grandfather later complained to the police that the boy had been beaten. (Ha'aretz, 27 November 1987)

On 11 January 1988, two Palestinians were shot dead and a third died of wounds received earlier. Rabah Hussein Mahmoud Ghanem, 17, was shot dead by two Israeli settlers whose car was stopped at a barricade in the village of Beitin, near Ramallah. The settlers, from the nearby Ofra settlement, were named as Pinhas Wallerstein, the head of the Binyamin Regional Council and a Gush Emunim member, and Shai Ben Yosef, aregional security officer. After the incident they were questioned by police and were later released on bail. On 16 May 1988, it was reported that the family of Rabah Ghanem had petitioned the High Court of Justice, demanding that Pinhas Wallerstein be tried for murder and causing serious injury to the victim's brother. The family also demanded that the results of the autopsy be released to them. According to the petition, submitted by the family's lawyer FeliciaLanger, Wallerstein fired at the two youths from a distance of 70 meters. After hitting Rabah Wallersteindidnot try togive him first aid. Wallerstein told the police after the incident that he acted in self-defence, after stones were thrown at him. He was detained, but was released the same evening, following intervention by Prime Minister Shamir. On 3 1 May 1988, it was reported that Attorney General Yosef Harish had decided to summon Wallerstein for questioning, before he decided whether the settler should be put on trial. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 12 January 1988; Ha'aretz, 16 and 31 May 1988)

On 13 January 1988, the Tel Aviv District Court passed a six-month suspended sentence on Ephraim Segal from the Eilon-Moreh settlement for his role in a shooting incident that occurred on 26 July 1987 in Nablus, in which a local woman was killed and another was injured. The incident occurred during a stone-throwing demonstration during which Segal's car was attacked. Judge Uri Strausman said it was clear that Segal had not fired in the air, but the court bore in mind the factthat he was acting under pressure inan attempt toextricate himself and his family from danger. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 14 January 1988)

On 14 January 1988, a group of settlers raided the village of Kissan, Bethlehem, and tried to seize the cattle. Settlers used live ammunition when the villagers showed resistance, killing Ahmed Ali Alabiyat, 45, and injuring his brother. (Al Ittihad, 15 January 1988)

On 2 February 1988, settlers raided Al Aza, Aida and Dheisheh camps, firing bullets and causing serious damage to residents' property. Security forces and military officers reportedly participated during the settlers' assaults. (Attolia, 4 February 1988)

It was reported that on 7 February 1988, Jewish settlers kidnapped five young girls of Khula Bent Al Azur school in El Bireh. They were released the same day after having been beaten. Three residents were also kidnapped and beaten by settlers in Silwad, triggering serious clashes. (Attalia, 11 February 1988)

On 8 February 1988, settlers helped IDF troops in raiding houses and assaulting local residents in Kalkiliya. They also attacked the villages of Kafr Malik, Ein Yabrud and Silwad where they fired at residents, injuring three persons. Two other residents were detained by them. (Attalia, 11 February 1988)

On 9 February 1988, Itzhak Rabin promised Kiryat Arba settlers to increase IDF troops on Jerusalem-Hebron road. Israeli settlers carried out works, under the protection of border guards, on land that belongs to residents of Husan and Nahalin near Bitar settlement. The case of the land in question is still pending before the courts. (Attulia, 11 February 1988)

On 28 February 1988, a settler from Neveh Tzuf shot and killed two youths near the village of Abud. They were named as Ibrahim Al Barguti, 22, and Raid Mahmud Al Barguti, 17. The settler was detained for questioning. (Ha'aretz, 29 February 1988)

On 1 March 1988, it was reported that an Israeli student from Jerusalem, Danny Kirtchuk, had witnessed an incident that occurred on 26 February 1988, in which several settlers from Homesh attacked the village of Burka, near Jenin, following a stone-throwing incident. The settlers were accompanied by soldiers, some of them reservists from the same settlement of Homesh. Together they entered Burka, armed with assault rifles and sub-machine guns, and fired bursts in and around the village. MK Amira Sartani reportedly asked Defence Minister Rabin to open an immediate inquiry into the report. No casualties were reported. (Ha'aretz, 1 March 1988)

On 10 March 1988, it was reported that Defence Minister Rabin described the organized acts of vengeance by settlers from Ariel against Arab passers-by and villagers from Haris, two days earlier, as "a very serious development that will aggravate the problem." The settlers reportedly went to the main road, blocked it, stopped Arabcars, beat theirpassengers and set fire to the cars. They subsequently conducted"stonethrowing battles" with villagers of Haris and Kifl Harith. The Ariel settlers were also operating an armed patrol, which consisted of vehicles with armed settlers that accompanied settlers' cars travelling on the Trans-Samaria road. The IDF reportedly did not prevent the operation of the settlers' patrols. (Ha'aretz, 10 March 1988)

On 1 1 March 1988, it was reported that settlers had thrown stones at Arab rioters in Hebron and fired bursts of machinegun fire. According to Arab sources six quarters of Hebron were attacked by settlers on the night of 8 March 1988. The settlers allegedly damaged cars and fired dt homes before bursting inside, smashing windows and vandalizing furniture. (Jerusalem Post, 11 March 1988)

On 27 March 1988. yeshiva students in the Old City of Jerusalem attempted to evict an elderly Arab woman from her room in the Muslim Quarter. The students had a court order, but they tried to apply it on their own, without notifying the police. Their action sparked off a riot, and police quickly intervened and put the old woman's belongings back in the room. The woman was named as Rafikah Salamiyeh. The students belonged to the "Ateret Layoshna" yeshiva. (Jerusalem Post, 28 March 1988)

On 11 April 1988, it was reported that settlers attacked two villages, Deir El Hatab and Burin, near Eilon Moreh, following the incident in which a group of settlers were attacked in Beita. (Ha'aretz, 11 April 1988)

On 5 May 1988, Jodeh Muhammad Awad, 28, a shepherd from Turmus Aya, was shot and killed by a settler from Shilo, Israel Ze'ev. The circumstances of the incident were not clear. The settlers alleged that Awad, together with several other shepherds, had thrown stones at the settlers, but Arab sources denied this and said the settlers opened fire without any provocation. The incident occurred near Shilo. Another Arab shepherd was injured. On 8 May 1988, more details were published on the incident. On 1 May 1988. the police maintained in the Jerusalem magistrates court that Shilo settler Israel Ze'ev had shot the shepherd Awad because of a land dispute and not because the shepherd attacked him. The police said there was no evidence that there was provocation on the shepherd's part, and that Ze'ev was suspected of murder and attempted murder. The court remanded Ze'ev for afurther 10 days. (Ha'aretz, 6 and 8 May 1988; Jerusalem Post, 6 and 17 May 1988)

On 10 May 1988, the Chief of Staff, Maj.-Gen. Dan Shomron, addressed the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. Referring to relations between settlers and Arabs in the territories he said that prevailing tensions in the West Bank was due partly to acts by the Jewish settlers. "When stones are thrown (at settlers), but there is no danger to life, (the settlers) should report to the army and the army will deal with the case," he said. Referring to the incident in the village of Beita (in which a settler girl and two Arabs were killed) he said: "The bodies investigating and judging Jews function at a slower pace than those dealing with Arabs, but despite this difference the law will be observed and some of the settlers mentioned in the report on the Beita incident will have to stand trial, at least with regard to the coordination of their excursion (with the army). We have an interest that justice should be done, and seen, regarding both Jews and Arabs." (Ma'ariv, 1 May 1988)

On 19 May 1988, it was reported that MK Dedi Zucker had submitted to Police Minister Haim Bar-Lev a list of 13 Arabs from the territories believed to have been killed by settlers. In all those cases the IDF maintained that the death had not been caused by troops. MK Zucker asked the Minister to report on the state of the investigation into those cases, and what the police had recommended to the State Attorney's office with regard to each of them. The cases were the following: Tabat Hawihi, 17, from Beit-Hanun, killed on 15 February 1988; Tukan Misbah, 32, on 11 January 1988; Abdul Basat Jum'a, 27, from Kaddun, killed on 7 February 1988; Kamal Darwish, 23, from Deir Amar, killed on 21 February 1988; Radda Najib Hassan, 13, from Bak'a Sharkiya, killed on 27 February 1988; Hamed Muhammad Hamida, 4 1, from Mazra'a Sharkiya, killed on 9 March 1988; Nujah Hassan Hizag, 18, from Turmus Aya, killedon 9 March 1988; Musa Salah Musa, 20, and Hatem Ahmed El Jaber, Turmus Aya, killed on 4 May 1988. (Ma'ariv, 19 May 1988)

On 29 May 1988, it was reported that the Ministry of Justice, the defence establishment and the Police Investigations Department had set up a joint team to look into complaints by Arab residents of the territories against Jewish settlers. Most of the complaints, filed through the Red Cross or the complainants' lawyers, concerned alleged violent acts by settlers that had not been duly investigated by the police, owing to a shortage of investigators. The number of such complaints had reportedly increased since the beginning of the uprising in the territories. (Ha'aretz, 29 May 1988)

On 23 May 1988, it was reported that State President Chaim Herzog reduced the prison terms of three convicted members of the Jewish terrorist organization who had originally been sentenced to life imprisonment and later had their sentence reduced to 24 years. The President now further reduced it to 15 years. The prisoners concerned were Menahem Livni, Shaul Nir and Shaul Sharabaf. They were convicted of murder in the case of the attack on the Islamic College in Hebron, in 1984, in which three were killed and over 30 were injured. They were also convicted of planting bombs in Arab buses and of threatening to blow up the Temple Mount mosques. (Ha'aretz, 23 May 1988)

On 2 June 1988, it was reported that the Judea district police were investigating the circumstances of an incident in which Rabbi Moshe Levinger had allegedly beaten Arabs of the Samuh family, who live near the Hadassa House in Hebron. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 June 1988)

On 3 June 1988, a group of Israeli civilians believed to be settlers entered the village of Shuyukh, provoked villagers, beat some of them and opened fire at houses. Mustafa Ahmed El Halaika, 20, was shot in the chest and died of his wounds. A 15-year-old boy was injured in the arm, and two others, a 15-year-old boy and a man aged 42, were hospitalized in Hebron with broken limbs. The IDFannounced that its forces Jewish Settler Terrorism Against Palestinians in The West Bank and Gazu Strip were not involved in the incident. According to one report, Kach movement members privately admitted to being responsible, saying they acted in retaliation to the killing in Jerusalem of a yeshiva student, several days earlier. (Ha'aretz, Ma'ariv, 5 June 1988)

On 3 June 1988, five young armed settlers arrived at Si'ir, near Hebron, and asked for the location of the mosque, built on the traditional site of Esau's grave. The settlers told villagers they wanted to live near the mosque and asked whether there was a house for rent. They then opened fire, wounding a local youth. From Si'ir the settlers went to the nearby village of Shuyukh, where they broke windows and doors in three houses and attacked and beat Nai'm Khalaika, 46, and his wife, On their way out the settlers opened fire, killing Mustafa Khalaika, 20, who was grazing sheep nearby. The settlers were seen leaving the area in jeeps. According to one press report, Kach movement members were responsible for the acts, but a spokesman for the movement denied that report. (Jerusalem Post, 6 June 1988)

On 5 June 1988, it was reported that settlers from Ramat- Mamre, near Kiryat Arba (the former "Porcelain Hill"), had severely beaten an Israeli, Shmuel Cohen, after mistaking him for an Arab. The man needed medical treatment. In another development, it was reported that two settlers had been caught by the IDF officers destroying wheat sacks belonging to Arabs in the Mas'ha region. The two were handed over to the police, which opened a file against them and started an inquiry. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 6 June 1988)

On 24 June 1988, two incidents involving settlers were reported. InNablus asettler's car was stoned andits occupants opened fire at stone-throwers. Troops arrived on the scene and dispersed the crowd with tear gas and rubber bullets. According to Arab sources 13 persons were hospitalized. In Hebron a settler living in the Hason house in the town was stabbed in the shoulder. The settler, YonaCheikin, amember of theKach movement, chased after his assailant, shot at him and injured him. The assailant was named as Abd El Majid Sharawna. He was later discovered in hospital. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 26 June 1988)

On 7 July 1988, it was reported that the High Court of Justice had rejected a petition by family members of Jodeh Abdallah Awad, from Turmus Aya, who asked that Israel Ze'ev, the Shilo settler suspected of killing Awad, be charged with murder and not merely with manslaughter. The High Court justices ruled that there was no ground for intervening in the Attorney-General's discretion, when hedetermined that the evidence held by the prosecution did not contain the element of intention to kill necessary for a murder charge. (Ha'areft, 7 July 1988)

On 2 August 1988, it was reported that the Attomey- General, Yosef Harish, had decided that Pinhas Wallerstein, headof the Binyamin Regional Council, should be put on trial on a charge of manslaughter. Wallerstein would be charged with the killing on 11 January 1988 of Rabah Mahmud Hussein Hamad, 17, and the wounding of Ziad Hamad, during a demonstration in Beitin, near Ramallah. On 11 August 1988, Wallerstein was charged at the Jerusalem District Court with manslaughter and causing injury in aggravated circumstances. (Ha'aretz, Jerusalem Post, 2 and 12 August 1988)

 

NOTES TO CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

1. Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, dated 24 October, 1988, United Nations Document A/43/694, pp. 102- 103.

2. Anthony Lewis, "A Warning Signal," New York Times, May 7, 1984, p. 19.

3. Jerusalem Post, May 3, 1984, p. 8. Quoted in Jan Demarest Abu Shakrah, Israeli Settler Violence in the Occupied Territories: 1980-1984 (Chicago: Palestine Human Rights Campaign, 1985). p. 44.

4. Ze'ev Schiff, "The Military Potential of the Settlers," Ha'aretz, November 15, 1985. Published in Israel Source, volume 2, April 2, 1986, pp. 15-16.

5. Meron Benvenisti, 1986 Report: Demographic, Economic. Legal, Social and Political Developments in the West Bank (Jerusalem: The West Bank Data Base Project, 1986), p. 75.

6. Ze'ev Schiff, "The Military Potential of the Settlers," Ha'aretz, November 15, 1 985. Published in Israel Source, volume 2, April 2, 1986, pp. 15-16.

7. New York Times, 6 November. 1985, p. 15.

8. Ibid.

9. Sally V. Mallison and W. Thomas Mallison, "Legal Postscript: The Law Applicable to Israeli Settler Violence in Occupied Territories," in Israeli Settler Violence, pp. 78-82. For a detailed analysis of the judicial system under Israeli occupation see Raja Shehadeh, Occupier's Law: Israel and the West Bank (Washington, D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1985), pp. 76- 102.

10. The Karp Report: An Israeli Government Inquiry into Settler Violence Against Palestinians on the West Bank (Washington, D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies, 1984), pp. 35-49.

11. David Zucker et al, Research on Human Rights in the Occupied Territories 1979-1983 (Tel Aviv: International Center for Peace in the Middle East. 1983), pp. 47-59.

12. Meron Benvenisti, 1986 Report, pp. 70-71.

13. Amnon Rubinstein. "Some Remarks on Jewish Terror," Ha'aretz, 22 May 1984. Israel Shahak, Shahak Papers, Collection No. 2: Background to the Jewish Terror, pp. 11-13.

14. Uriel Ofek, "Thou Shalt Not Kill? Not Always!," Davar, 6 July 1984, Shahak Papers, Collection No. 4: Background to the Jewish Terror, pp. 11 - 13.

15. Pe-er-Li Shahar "Yuval Ne'eman: In 1945 a Palmach Unit Castrated an Arab," Hadashot, 11 May 1984. Shahak Papers, Collection No. 3: Background to the Jewish Terror, pp. 1-2.

16. Chicago Tribune, 13 July 1985, p. 1-2.

17. Davar, 2 May 1984. Shuhak Papers: Collection No. 1: Background to the Jewish Terror, pp. 1-2.

18. Robert I. Friedman, "In the Realm of Perfect Faith: Israel's Jewish Terrorists," The Village Voice, 12 November 1986, p. 17.

19. Jan Abu Shakrah, Israeli Settler Violence in the Occupied Territories, p. 15.

20. The Karp Report pp. 38-39.

21. Abu Shakrah, Israeli Settler Violence in the Occupied Territories, pp. 14-36.

22. Jan Metzger, Martin Orth and Christian Sterzing, This Land is Our Land: The West Bank Under Israeli Occupation (London: Zed Press, l983), pp. 30-31.

23. Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, dated 4 October 1985, United Nations Document A/40/702, p. 55.

24. Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Occupied Territories, dated 29 October, 1984, United Nations Document A/59/591. pp. 58-66.

25. Report of the United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories, dated 29 October, 1984, United Nations Document A/59/591, pp. 58-66.

26. Washington Times, 15 April, 1986, p. 8.

27. New York Times. 9 December 1985, p. 11.

28. Dani Rubinstein, "Two Nightmares," Davar, 24 May 1984. Shahak Papers, Collection No. 4: Background to the Jewish Terror, pp. 2-3.

29. Robert I. Friedman, "The Return of the JDL: Nice Jewish Boys with Bombs," The Village Voice, May 6, 1986, p. 23.

30. Friedman. "In the Realm of Perfect Faith."

31. Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Population of the Occupied Territories, dated 29 October, 1984, United Nations Document A/39/591, p. 55. 32. Ibid., pp. 55-56.

33. The Karp Report, p. 45.

34. Jay Y. Gonen, A Psychohistory of Zionism (New York: New American Library, 1973, p. 182.

35. Zucker et al. Research on Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, p. 52.

36. Ibid.

37. Jerusalem Post International Edition, 14 June 1986, p. 2.

38. Meron Benvenisti, The West Bank Handbook: A Political Lexicon (Jerusalem: The Jerusalem Post, 1986), pp. 126-127.

39. Al Hamishmar, 12 March 1984. Shahak Papers. Collection No. I: Background to the Jewish Terror, pp. 3-4.

40. Friedman, "In the Realm of Perfect Faith."

41. Ibid.

42. The Jerusalem Post International Edition, 24 June- 1 July 1984, pp. 12-14.

43. Beita: Lidice Revisited (Washington: RootsfFriends of Palestinian Prisoners, 1989), pp. 5-6. 44. Ibid., pp. 7-9.

45. Ibid., pp. 11-12.

46. New York Times, February 23, 1989, p. 12.

47. Hadashot, February 9. 1989, as cited by the Jerusalem Press Daily Report, February 9, 1989, p. 6.

48. Yediot Ahronot, February 9, 1989, as cited by the Jerusalem Press Daily Report, February 9, 1989, p. 7.

49. New York Times, February 23, 1989, p. 12.