Editor’s Note: The organization Defend Palestine issued the following press release on July 21, 2024 following an attack on its volunteers in the West Bank village of Qusra, south of Nablus.
On the heels of the ICJ decision pronouncing Israeli occupation illegal as a whole and pointing out to systematic lack of accountability for settler violence, three international volunteers, all American citizens, were evacuated to a hospital in Nablus after being attacked by settlers in the West Bank village of Qusra, south of Nablus. Israeli authorities on location failed to arrest the assailants.
Settlers who descended from the extremist Israeli settler outpost of Esh Kodesh attacked Palestinian farmers tending to their lands, as well as international volunteers accompanying them for protection against such attacks. The Israeli settlers carried out the attack using metal pipes, batons and threw stones at the people from close range.
Three of the international volunteers sustained wounds requiring hospitalization with suspected fractures. A Berkeley City College student was hit in the face and arm with a metal pipe (see photo below) and two other American volunteers were clobbered with wooden batons. A fourth American volunteer suffered more minor injuries after being hit by stones thrown at her by the settlers, who also stole her phone.
For more on other recent settler attacks, watch this Al Jazeera video.
Photo: Berkeley City College student volunteer violently attacked by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank
The IDF soldiers who arrived at the scene threatened to shoot a Palestinian farmer who was being accompanied by the international volunteers. The volunteers pleaded, “He is with us!” and the soldiers fired two rounds in the air next to the Palestinian man. Additionally, the Israeli Police emergency hotline refused to dispatch forces, telling the international volunteer who called them for assistance that “the army notified them that there is no need to send forces.” None of the Israeli settlers were arrested or sanctioned for the multiple assaults they committed.
The volunteers who were attacked were part of the recently-launched Defend Palestine campaign, organized by Palestinian grassroots organizers. The campaign calls on international volunteers to come to the West Bank en masse and be part of an organized international protective presence.
Mohammed Khatib, a Palestinian organizer with the campaign said, “The attack today, not even 24 hours after the ICJ ruled that Israeli occupation is illegal and that settlers enjoy impunity when exercising violence, serves as further proof for the dire need for international civil protection in Palestine. Eighteen communities in the West Bank have been completely wiped out by such violence since October, and the Palestinian people have no more time to wait.”
The village of Qusra, surrounded by the settlement of Migdalim and settler outposts of Esh Kodesh, Bar Farm, Ahiya and Kida, has been the target of nearly daily attacks by Israeli settlers who attack villagers, vandalize farms and have even burnt several houses in the village with complete impunity. On October 11, four villagers were killed following such an attack and two more were killed in a subsequent attack the following day, on October 12.
The attack today took place as farmers were accompanied to their olive groves adjacent to the Israeli outpost Esh Kodesh by international volunteers. Unchecked settler violence has prevented farmers from accessing these groves and much more of their land since October. Despite these being privately-owned Palestinian lands in Area B, allocated since 1994 to Palestinian administrative control, Israeli authorities have not made any attempt to reign in the settlers or act in any way to allow Palestinians to use their lands.
Palestinian organizers and American volunteers with Defend Palestine, including all who were injured today, call on the White House, Congress and the U.S. State Department to:
- Investigate today’s attack in Qusra, determine the identities of the settler assailants and issue comprehensive sanctions against them, as the State Department did on July 11, 2024 when it sanctioned three other violent Israeli settlers and five entities.
- Condition any economic, diplomatic or military support to Israel on Israel’s full compliance with the ICJ decision, including withdrawal of their military forces and settlers from the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
- Demand and enforce a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, entry of humanitarian aid and release of all Palestinian prisoners.
- Demand the withdrawal of all settlers who are U.S. nationals, estimated to be about 100,000 from the total of over 700,000 Israeli settlers illegally living on occupied Palestinian land. If they refuse to leave, they too should face swift sanctions.
- Remove tax exempt status of U.S. based nonprofits that are funding Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied Palestinian territories.
- Follow international law and take all steps necessary to realize the rights of the Palestinian people to safety, justice and self-determination.
“What happened today is yet another piece of evidence that the lip service measures imposed on Israeli settlers by the Biden administration are not enough, and that much stronger sanctions are needed against the Israeli institutions in charge of enabling Israeli violence and the impunity of the settlers”, stressed Defend Palestine organizer Jonathan Pollak.
Americans and being violently attacked by illegal settlers in the West Bank. Where is the uproar in the press? Where is the condemnation from the US government?
Long past time for Israel’s membership in the UN and all international forums to be revoked.
From long time ago Netanyahu’s right wing government has had a ‘blind eye’ (very conveniently) to the violent attacks by the settlers. For shame, USrael…for shame. And this ‘wild West’ carried out by so many ‘settlers’ coming from the US. Violence right up their alley, eh?