SURGE IN SETTLER VIOLENCE DIRECTED AT PALESTINIANS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001429

SIPDIS

NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE. NSC FOR ABRAMS/SINGH/PASCUAL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/04/2018
TAGS: KWBG PBTS PREL PHUM IS ASEC
SUBJECT: SURGE IN SETTLER VIOLENCE DIRECTED AT PALESTINIANS

REF: A. JERUSALEM 1368

B. JERUSALEM 1165

C. JERUSALEM 1055

D. JERUSALEM 1004

Classified By: Consul General Jake Walles, per reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Across the West Bank this summer, settler
groups have clashed with the IDF, Palestinians, Bedouins, and
Israeli and international peace activists. Post has heard
eyewitness accounts of projectiles fired at Nablus area
villages, beatings of Palestinians near Hebron, and torched
agricultural land, slashed tires, stone throwing, poisoned
wells and general harassment by settlers (REF A-D). Settler
actions have resulted in several arrests by the Israeli
authorities. The following instances are the latest in the
upward trend. END SUMMARY

Northern West Bank: Settler-IDF Clashes
lead to attacks on Palestinians
--------------


2. (C) After the IDF removed a bus from Adei Ad outpost
(southeast of Nablus) on July 25, there was a wave of settler
violence across the Northern West Bank. According to
Palestinian accounts, the settlers set fire to fields,
blocked roads, threw rocks, and fired weapons. Press
reported that one settler near Yitzhar seized an IDF
soldier's weapon and put a knife to his neck. Yitzhar
settlement spokesman Yigal Amitai told POLOFF there is a "a
new policy" of coming in large numbers "from all over" to
"oppose the action." During Poloffs' July 28 visit to the
neighboring Palestinian village of Burin, villagers confirmed
this account of clashes between settlers and the IDF, adding
that a settler from nearby Bracha had thrown a molotov
cocktail into a villager's home July 27 (REF A).

Brick through a windshield
--------------


3. (C) Press reported August 1 that a Palestinian woman and
her daughter were severely injured when a young Yitzhar
settler threw a brick through their car windshield. Yitzhar
settlement spokesman Amitai confirmed to POLOFF August 4 that
the suspect was arrested and complained to POLOFF that "in
the last month there have been 57 instances in which
Palestinians threw stones at Israelis that never made the
news."

"It's hot and everyone's home"
--------------


4. (C) PASF contacts confirmed reports that settlers from
Hebron attacked a Palestinian wedding resulting in a fifteen
year old boy falling from a roof and breaking his back on
August 3. David Wilder, spokesman for the Hebron settlers,
told POLOFF August 4 that events began with "an exchange of
words" that turned into "a free for all like at a baseball
game" and "a kid fell off a roof." He insisted that "there
are no rooftops where you find both Israelis and
Palestinians," rejecting the accusation that settlers had
pushed the boy. "It's summertime here - it's hot and
everyone's home - so the fact that things have only gone this
far is a good thing," he said. The press also reported July
31 clashes between Hebron area settlers and villages,
resulting in slashed tires and broken windows across Hebron's
H2 area.

IDF halts escorts, settlers attack
--------------


5. (C) Yehuda Shaul, Director of the Israeli NGO Breaking
the Silence, told POLOFF that this summer the IDF has refused
to escort Palestinian children to summer camp in At Tuwani
(southeast of Hebron) saying they only escort children during
the official school year. (Note: Since 2004, IDF troops have
escorted Palestinian children from surrounding villages to
their school in At Tuwani following repeated instances of
violence from settlers at nearby Maon. End note.) Members
of the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) who escort the
children reported that settlers from Maon attacked children
going to camp on July 27. (Note: One of the CPT escorts Joel
Gulledge is an AmCit who was beaten severely with rocks. End
Note)

Daniela Weiss: The Instigator
--------------


6. (C) Some 200 young settlers led by former Qedumim mayor
Daniela Weiss began a week-long "Land of Hilltops Trek" on

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July 27. According to press, as they approached the outpost
of Maoz Esther next to Kochav Hashachar settlement (east of
Ramallah),on July 29, they "fired shots" on nearby Bedouins.
The IDF detained five of the settler hikers. Kochav
Hashachar Council Chairman Barry Schuman told POLOFF the
hikers were "attacked by Bedouins with rocks and sticks," and
two boys were injured. Press reported that settlers involved
in the incident were restricted to their home settlements for
thirty days.

WALLES