Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 
Escalation of Israeli Settler Attacks and Violations Against Palestinians, Condemned by US, the Main Backer of Apartheid State

Editor's Note:

It's amazing that the US government recognize terrorism of the illegal Israeli settlers and the Israeli human rights violations against the Palestinian people (See below). However, the US continues to give the Apartheid Zionist state all the financial, economic, and military aid it needs to maintain its subjugation of the Palestinian people !!!

Illegal Israeli settlers protected by Israeli occupation soldiers	Palestinian Wounded By Settlers Molotov Bomb Is in Serious Condition

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U.S: “Settler Violence Is Terrorism”

Sunday August 19, 2012 14:39 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

In its 2011 Country report, an annual report about global terrorist activities, the United States described the escalating attacks carried out by the illegal extremist Israeli settlers against the Palestinians as “terrorist attacks”. This is the first time the United States describes Israeli settler attacks against the Palestinians as acts of terrorism.

The report stated that shells fired by the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza Strip, along with Price Tag attacks, carried out by extremist Israeli settlers against the Palestinians, are “terrorist incidents”.

The reports also mentioned an attack carried out by extremist Israeli settlers against Ma’man-Allah Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem, in addition to the arson against a mosque in Jerusalem in December and the arson attack against the mosque of Borqa village in the West bank.

It added that extremist settlers attacked 10 mosques in the West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem, and that these attacks included vandalism and setting the mosques on fire. Six similar attacks were carried out in 2010 and one attack in 2009.

The report further referred to a statement by Avi Mizrahi, head of the Central Command of the Israeli army, in which he described settler attacks against the Palestinians and their property as acts of terrorism.

Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that the report was released by the State Department on July 31; it also mentioned an attack that was carried by extremist Israeli settlers against an Israeli military base in December of last year, and said that Israeli military and security officials vowed to counter these attacks and prosecute the assailants.

The State Department also issued a strong condemnation of the most recent settler attack that targeted a Palestinian Taxi two days ago leading to the injury of six Palestinians, including two children.

On Friday, Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, voiced a strong condemnation of the attack, and said that the settlers are escalating their violence and are enjoying the protection of the Israeli army.

Abbas said that Israel is practicing a racist policy against the Palestinians, and that “the army could stop all settler attacks if it wanted to, but is acting under a policy that protects the settlers despite their escalating violence”.

Haaretz said that Yitzhak Molho, the adviser of Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, phoned Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and Prime Minister, Dr. Salaam Fayyad, informing them that Netanyahu ordered the army to “spare no effort in apprehending the attackers”.

The United States grants Israel around 3.6 Billion Dollar annually, in addition to hundreds of million collected on Israel’s behalf by different lobbies, mainly by the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Attacks carried out by extremist settlers against the Palestinians have been sharply escalating, targeting Palestinian civilians, orchards and farmlands, homes and property, in addition to defacing , vandalizing and torching several mosques and churches.

Several Price Tag attacks were also carried out against Israeli peace groups and leftist organizations, especially settlement watchdog groups and human rights organizations in the country.

Settlers Attack Home, Attempt to Torch It

Tuesday August 21, 2012 11:37 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

A number of the illegal armed extremist Israeli settlers attacked, on Tuesday at dawn, a Palestinian home in Far’ata village, west of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and tried to torch it.

Palestinian official in charge of the Settlements file in the northern part of the West Bank, , Ghassan Douglas, reported that several settlers poured flammable liquid at the main entrance of the home and ignited it.

The family noticed the fire fast and managed to extinguish it before it spread to the rest of the property. The home belongs to resident Farid Odah Tawil.
Douglas added that the attack was carried out by at least 12 settlers of the Havat Gilad illegal settlement.

On Monday, the Israeli Police apprehended seven Israeli youths suspected of involvement in the lynch attack, carried out Friday, against three Palestinian youths in Jerusalem, leading to serious injuries.

One of the attacked youths, identified as Jamal Julani, 17, is currently in a serious condition at the Hadassah Israeli hospital in Jerusalem.

Israeli Police spokeswoman, Luba Samri, said that the Police apprehended four males and two females, all under the age of 18, and one 19-year old male. The detained youths are currently under interrogation.

One of the detained youth said he is not sorry for what he and his friends did, and that he does not care if Julani dies. The Police believe that 40 Israeli youths participated in the lynch mob attack.

On Thursday, settlers hurled a firebomb at a Palestinian Taxi causing severe injuries to Ayman Mohammad Ghayatha, 36, his wife Jamila Abdul-Hai, 28, their children; Mohammad, 5, and Eman, 4, and Hasan Mohammad Hasan Ghayatha, 26. The Taxi driver, Bassam Mohammad Ghayatha, 55, was also injured.

Medical sources said that the wounded family suffered fourth degree burns, the worst degree of burns as the flesh is burnt to the bone, and that their condition is deteriorating.

The latest assaults are a serious escalation to ongoing attacks carried out by extremist settlers against the Palestinians, their homes and property, and against their lands.

 

Israeli Police Apprehends 7 illegal Israeli Settlers Involved In Lynch Attempt

Tuesday August 21, 2012 04:46 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Israeli Police reported Monday that it apprehended seven illegal Israeli settler youths suspected of involvement in the lynch attempt, carried out Friday, against three Palestinian youths in Jerusalem, leading to serious injuries.

Israeli Police Spokeswoman, Luba Samri, told Agance France Press (AFP) that the police investigation is ongoing, and that seven Israeli were arrested.

She said that four males and two females, under the age of 18, and one 19-year-old youth, were arrested and are currently being interrogated for direct involvement in the assault.

Samri further stated that a 15-year-old Israeli youth punched the Palestinian youth in the chest, directly above the heart area, leading to a heart attack.
The Palestinian Youth, Jamal Julani, 17, is currently in a serious condition at the Hadassah Israeli hospital in Jerusalem.

The Israeli youth, who punched Al-Jolani in his chest, told reporters before entering the district court in Jerusalem that he is not sorry for what he did, the Quds Net news Agency reported.

“I am not sorry for what I did, I don’t care if he dies”, the youth said, “Forty youths participated in attacking him”.

The Israeli Police said that intends to conduct more arrests as the investigation continues.

The Palestine News Network (PNN) reported that Julani was left fighting for his life after being attacked in “Zion Square” in Ben Yihuda street in Jerusalem. The extremists kept punching and kicking him until he lost consciousness. The assailants were chanting “Death to Arabs”.

Palestinian Wounded By Settlers Molotov Bomb Is in Serious Condition

Tuesday August 21, 2012 04:17 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Palestine News Network (PNN) reported that resident Ayman Hasan Ghayatha, 36, who was wounded along with his family by a firebomb hurled by illegal extremist Israeli settlers at a Palestinian taxi near Bethlehem on Thursday, is now in a serious condition at the Hadassah Israeli hospital in Jerusalem.

Resident Ribhi Ghayatha told the PNN that Ayman was directly hit by the firebomb in his abdomen leading to serious injuries; Mohammad is currently at the Intensive Care Unit in Hadassah Israeli Hospital in Jerusalem.

Ribhi added Ayman suffered several serious injuries, in addition to an injury that led to a hole close to his heart.

Head of the Emergency Department of the Red Crescent in Bethlehem, Abdul-Halim Ja’afra, reported that wounded residents were identified as Bassam (cab driver) Mahmoud Ghayatha, 55, Ayman Hassan Ghayatha, 35, his wife Jamila Abdul-Hai, 28, their children; Mohammad, 5, and Eman, 4, and Hasan Mohammad Hasan Ghayatha, 26.

As for the family members, Ribhi said that their health conditions are gradually deteriorating due to severe injuries and fourth degree burns, the worst degree of burns as the flesh is burnt to the bone.

The settlers who hurled the firebomb apparently mixed it with chemicals to inflict maximum harm, medical sources reported.

Jamila Ghayatha, the wife of Ayman, is currently facing several health complications. The Taxi driver, Bassam Mahmoud Ghayatha, is also in a serious condition.

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, sent letters to Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and Prime Minister, Salaam Fayyad, informing them that his government will apprehend the assailants.

On Monday, Israel arrested five Israeli teenage settlers who participated in a lynch mob attack against a 17-year-old Palestinian youth, in Jerusalem on Friday, causing serious injuries that landed him at the Intensive Care Unit.

The Israeli Police said that intends to conduct more arrests as the investigation continues.

Chanting 'Death to Arabs', the settlers attacked three young Palestinians, nearly killing one and severely wounding the other two.

PNN reported that resident Jamal Julani was left fighting for his life after being attacked in “Zion Square” in Jerusalem. He was surrounded by approximately a dozen young settlers who kept beating and kicking him even after he fell unconscious.

Settlers Construct Chicken Farm On Palestinian Land

Monday August 20, 2012 13:19 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

A number of illegal Israeli settlers constructed a chicken farm on a privately-owned Palestinian land, in Khallit Ein Masour area, near Al-Khader city in the Bethlehem district.

Ahmad Salah, member of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, told the Quds Press news agency that a number of extremist Israeli settlers stole land that belong to members of Sbeih family, and installed their chicken farm.

Salah added that the land in question is on a mountain that has no power or water supplies, and no road access.

“The settlers are using primitive means to transport water and other supplies to the land”, he said, “They are eying at occupying 10 Dunams of land that surround the farm”.

Salah further stated that the new outpost is close to the Daniel illegal settlement, and that the settlers will likely try to bring mobile homes in order to officially establish their outpost.

Extremist settlers, including the Hilltop Youth settlement movement, focus their land theft on sensitive areas in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; they establish their illegal outposts on top of hills, mountains, on fertile lands such as the Jordan Valley and around West Bank villages and towns.

The Guardian newspaper in Britain recently published a report stating that settler population in the West Bank grew by more than 15000 last year, and that the number of Jewish settlers in the occupied territories currently exceeds 350.000.
The Guardian added that the population registry in Israel recorded a %4.5 increase of the settler population in the past year.

The Guardian also quoted Israel Today (Yisrael Hayom) stating that additional 300.000 Jewish settlers live across the pre-1967 border in occupied East Jerusalem.

Consecutive Israeli governments legalized dozens of illegal settlement outposts built on privately-owned Palestinian lands while the current government of Benjamin Netanyahu and his fundamentalist coalition partners are considering legalizing more outposts.

Israeli Occupation Soldiers destroy Palestinian Car in Hebron

Tuesday August 21, 2012 03:37 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian sources reported that Israeli occupation soldiers smashed, Sunday, the windshield of a Palestinian car that was parked in the center of Hebron city, in the southern part of the West Bank, and used a metal barrier to smash its doors.

The car was parked at the entrance of the Old City of Hebron; Israeli soldiers smashed its windshield after claiming that “the car was parked near a settler’s outpost” in Al-Shuhada Street.

The soldiers further used a metal barrier in smashing the doors and trunk of the car before forcing its owner to move it to a different location, away from the illegal settler outpost.

The Hebron district is the largest Palestinian district in the occupied West Bank with more than 600.000 Palestinians living there. The district lost approximately %51 of its land to settlements and outposts since it fell under Israeli occupation in 1967.

The district has been largely impacted by the Israeli Annexation Wall that led to the isolation of more than %60 of Palestinian orchards and farmlands.

Approximately 350-400 Israeli settlers, in addition to more than 200 Yeshiva students, live in the heart of the City of Hebron. More than 6000 settlers living in the Keryat Arba’ settlement in Hebron; there are more than 27 Israeli settlements and 17 settlement outposts in the Hebron district.

Hebron, one of the largest Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank, is home to 250.000 Palestinians, and was supposed, under the Oslo Peace agreements, to be gradually handed to the Palestinians.

In 1997, the city was divided into two main parts; H1, under the “control” of the Palestinian Authority, and H2 under full Israeli control.

Approximately 25.000 Palestinians live in H2 area, in addition to around 350-400 settlers and 200 Yeshiva students; more than 1.000 Israeli soldiers are also deployed in the area.

Illegal Israeli measures in Hebron led to the closure of 1829 Palestinian businesses; 1141 were closed during the second Intifada, and 440 of them were closed under direct Israeli military orders; the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B’Tselem) reported.

Palestinians living in the Old City of Hebron are subject to frequent attack by extremist settlers living in illegal outposts.

Israel’s settlements in the occupied Palestinians territories, including East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, and the Fourth Geneva Convention to which Israel is a signatory.