Home set ablaze amid Jewish racial riots near Nablus

[ 01/03/2011 - 10:04 AM ]

NABLUS, (PIC)--

Hundreds of Jewish rioters continue violent racial attacks against Palestinians near the entrance of the villages of Hawara and Burin southeast of Nablus.

They had set fire to the home of Rabee Taha in Hawara but Palestinian fire crews managed to extinguish it, informed sources reported.

Hundreds of rioters gathered at the entrance of Burin at night and planned to riot and set fire to the Salman al-Farisi Mosque there, a holy site Israeli authorities allege was constructed without permit and have threatened to raze.

The Israeli army has closed off entrances to Palestinian villages to the southeast and west of the West Bank city of Nablus, and has also blocked checkpoints to the west and north as well as the Yitzhar road linking Nablus and Qalqilya.

Meanwhile, riots have turned violent as Jewish settlers led provocative marches near the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil. Locals there reported them smashing car windows parked near Palestinian homes and shouting anti-Arab and Islamic racial slurs.

The night before, settlers wreaked havoc in the Tel Rumaida suburb in Al-Khalil's Old City, beating locals and vandalizing shops.

Israel To Legalize Settlement Outposts

Tuesday March 01, 2011 13:52 by David Steele - 1 of International Middle East Media Center Editorial Group

Israel has announced plans to legalize a total of 96 settlement outposts.

According to Israeli NGO Peace Now, there are a total of 99 settlement outposts, of which the government is planning to dismantle three. However, as part of the same decision, the government is planning to legalize the remaining outposts as they are located on "state lands".

This announcement coincides with a recent surge in settler violence, particularly around Nablus and Hebron. Settlers near Nablus have been outraged by government demolition of two sheds. In contrast, a total of 24 000 Palestinian homes have been demolished since 1967, in contravention of article 53 of the 4th Geneva Convention.

"State lands" within the West Bank refer to areas that the Israeli government has appropriated due to a lack of ownership papers or because the land has not been cultivated in the past three years. In Palestinian society, ownership has traditionally been determined through oral contract, although Ottoman, British and Jordanian authorities often formalized these. Due to movement restrictions it can be difficult or impossible for Palestinian farmers to cultivate their lands.

All settlements and settlement outposts are illegal under international law.

Settlers Attack Homes, Property In Hebron

Tuesday March 01, 2011 12:21 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

A group of armed fundamentalist Israeli settlers attacked on Tuesday at dawn several Palestinian neighborhoods in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

Eyewitnesses reported that dozens of settlers led by extremist settler-leader Baroch Merzel, conducted a provocative march in the Old city, and the area around the Ibrahimi Mosque, to protest the evacuation of some homes at an illegal outpost near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

During the protest, the settlers broke the windows of several parked Palestinian vehicles and hurled stones at a number of homes.

The settlers were marching while chanting slogans against the Arabs, the Palestinians and against Islam, local sources said.

The army was intensively present in the area but did not attempt to intervene, local sources added.

On Tuesday at dawn, extremist settlers hurled Molotov cocktails at a Palestinian home in Huwwara village, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus leading to fire in one of its rooms.

On Monday at night, settlers attacked and punched several residents in Tal Romedia neighborhood in Hebron, and broke into a local shop destroying most of its property.

Also on Monday a 5-year-old Palestinian child was moderately wounded after being rammed by a settler vehicle near the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.

The child, Qoteiba Al Rajabi, 5, was playing near his parents’ home, and the settler fled the scene leaving the wounded child on the ground.

Local residents rushed to the scene and transferred the child to a local hospital in Hebron.

Settlers Set Fire To House in Huwara Village

Tuesday March 01, 2011 11:53 by David Steele - IMEMC & Agencies

A group of extremist settlers set fire to a Palestinian home near Nablus Monday night, Palestinian media sources reported.

According to the Ma'an News Agency, the groups threw Molotov cocktails at houses in Huwara village, near Nablus, which set fire to one home that belongs to a resident identified as Rabee' Taha.

Although firefighters managed to control the blaze, two children were inside sleeping and had to be hospitalized. Palestinian cars around Nablus were also attacked, according to officials.

In a separate incident, clashes erupted in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, on Monday when settlers attempted to enter the village. Locals burnt tires in an attempt to prevent them entering. Eventually the army intervened, prompting the settlers to return to their homes.

Settlers have recently been incensed by the demolition of small numbers of buildings in settlement outposts near Nablus. Since 2008, many have pursued a 'price tag' policy whereby local Palestinian communities 'pay a price' for any attempt by the army to reign in expanding outposts. Often the 'price' takes the form of graffiti or damage to property, although sometimes it involves greater levels of violence.

It should be noted, in contrast, that Palestinian homes are routinely demolished by the Israeli military, in contravention of international law under article 53 of the 4th Geneva Convention. According to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), over 24 000 Palestinian homes have been demolished since 1967.

There are presently widespread concerns both within the Palestinian community and NGOs working the West Bank about a recent rise in settler violence. This problem is compounded by a lack of law enforcement against the settlers.

Israeli NGO Yesh-Din claims that 91% of the 642 investigations that it is monitoring are closed without any indictment filed against the defendant. The situation is, in fact, even worse than this because only a small proportion of complaints are ever taken to the authorities: most Palestinians are wary about dealing with the Israeli police.

If settlers are charged then the case is dealt with in Israeli courts according to civilian law, which provides a significant number of safeguards and legal protection. Palestinians live under Israeli military rule and as a result do not enjoy the same legal protection that they would have under civilian rule. This 'dual system of law' is of concern to Israeli human rights group, BT'selem.

All settlements are illegal under international law, although the US recently vetoed a resolution condemning them in the UN Security Council.

Blaming Palestinians for Outpost Demolition, Settlers Intensify Attacks

Tuesday March 01, 2011 10:38 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Angered by the Israeli army for demolishing, on Monday, four homes at the Gilad illegal settlement outpost near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli settlers carried out several attacks against the Palestinians, and vowed further attacks in coming days.
The settlers started rioting after the army demolished four homes in the illegal Gilad outpost, and announced that the Palestinians “will pay a high price” for the evacuations.

They said that they marked down several Palestinians targets, and that they might also conduct attacks against mosques in the Nablus area.

Settler leaders said that the army’s “use of violence against them will have direct effects against the Palestinians who will pay the heavy price for that”.

Israeli Ynet News reported that the settlers vowed that what happened on Monday will not just pass, and that the coming days will prove that the Israeli army’s use of force against them will result in attacks against the Palestinians.

The settlers blame the Palestinians for any evacuation of illegal outposts, while a number of Facebook settler groups called for “retaliation against the Palestinians”.

Following the removal of some illegal structure at the Gilad outpost, the settlers conducted several attacks against the indigenous Palestinians in the area.

Jerusalem, Nablus roads blocked by Israeli settlers in protest against outpost removal

Tuesday March 01, 2011 03:35 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Hundreds of Israeli settlers blocked the Nablus road in the northern West Bank, and dozens more tried to block a main road in Jerusalem on Monday, calling for the Israeli government to allow the expansion of a settlement colony located in the northern West Bank.

The protest came after a group of settlers tried to expand the settlement of Havat Gilad, in violation of Israeli and international law, and the government dismantled a caravan constructed on Palestinian land that the settlers were trying to seize.

In Monday's protest, the settlers burned tires and shouted slogans at drivers on a main Jerusalem road, and called on the Israeli government to allow settlements to continue to expand.

All Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law, as they are constructed on Palestinian land occupied by the Israeli military since 1967. Transferring civilians onto land seized by military force is in direct violation of Israel's duty as an occupying power under the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory.

According to Jerusalem police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, "They set fire to a number of tires, one arrest was made...they have been dispersed." Rosenfeld said the protesters came out in order to support the eight settlers who were arrested on Monday morning during the dismantling of the structure near Havat Gilad.

Rosenfeld told reporters with Agence France Presse that when the military administration came to dismantle the outpost, settlers from Havat Gilad began throwing stones and trying to physically stop the soldiers from dismantling the structure. Several people were arrested with knives, trying to slash the tires of military vehicles.

An estimated 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in settlements, in violation of international law. Many of these settlements are also illegal under Israeli law, although provisions in Israeli law allow these expansions to be turned into 'legal' settlements once they establish a certain number of people in new structures. This policy has implicitly supported the expansion of the state of Israel onto Palestinian land.

Israel remains the only nation on earth that has refused to define its borders, and has continually expanded its territory through military force.