http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0613/p99s01-duts.html
Israeli settlers' attack on Palestinian family captured on video
The recording's release comes as the UN Security Council prepares to
discuss
a resolution demanding the halt of Israeli settlement construction.
By Arthur Bright
posted June 13, 2008 at 10:00 am EDT
A Palestinian family's brutal beating by Israeli settlers has been
captured on video and aired just a week before the UN Security Council
is set to consider a resolution condemning construction of Israeli
settlements in Palestinian territory.
The BBC re****ts that the video, recorded last Sunday, shows four men
attacking an elderly shepherd, his wife, and his nephew after the four
told the shepherd to move his flock, which was grazing near the
settlement of Susia in the West Bank. The BBC describes the film, which
is available on its website:
Over the brow of the hill walk four masked men holding baseball
bats. To the right of the screen, in the foreground, stands a 58-
year-old Palestinian woman.
Thamam al-Nawaja has been herding her goats close to the Jewish
settlement of Susia, near Hebron in the southern West Bank.
Within a few seconds, she, along with her 70-year-old husband and
one of her nephews, will be beaten up.
As the first blows land, the woman filming - the daughter-in-law of
the elderly couple - drops the camera and runs for help.
The BBC writes that Mrs. Nawaja was hospitalized for three days after
the attack with a broken arm and fractured cheek. After returning home,
she told the BBC that her attackers "don't want us to stay on our land.
But we won't leave. We'll die here. It's ours." Agence France-Presse
re****ts that an Israeli police spokesperson says an investigation has
been opened, but no arrests have been made.
The International Middle East Media Center, a joint media effort between
Palestinian and international journalists, re****ts that "Attacks by
extremist Israeli Jewish settlers against the indigenous Palestinian
population of the West Bank are common, and the incidents have increased
as Israeli settlements have expanded on Palestinian land over the last
15 years."
The recording of this particular attack was made possible by the
"Shooting Back" project launched by the Israeli human rights group
B'Tselem. On its website, B'Tselem writes that by handing out more than
100 video cameras to Palestinian families in the West Bank, it hopes to
provide them with a tool to prove illegal abuses they suffer at the
hands of settlers.
Citizen journalism – a phenomenon that has garnered much attention
of late – is particularly relevant in the context of the Israeli
occupation, in which various types of abuse occur on a frequent
basis and impact the daily lives of Palestinians. The ever-present
violations of human rights constitute the mundane, ongoing reality
of military occupation and settler enterprise, and are too often
overlooked.
B'Tselem also uses this footage as a powerful tool for filing
complaints with the army and the police, and as sup****ting evidence
in court cases. In the West Bank, victims of abuse by settlers or
soldiers are often discouraged from lodging complaints by weighty
bureaucratic obstacles. B'Tselem now uses video as one way to
promote accountability and seek legal redress for Palestinian
complainants.
A B'Tselem spokesperson told the BBC that the project is proving
effective.
The thinking behind the project is that when trouble flares, rather
than just giving a statement to the Israeli police or army, video
carries much more weight.
"The difference is amazing," says Oren Yakobovich, who leads the
Shooting Back project.
"When they have the camera, they have proof that something happened.
They now have something they can work with, to use as a weapon."
We asked a spokesman from the Susia settlement for a comment on
Sunday's incident. He declined.
The release of the attacks comes just a week before the UN Security
Council is set to consider a resolution demanding a halt to Israel's
ongoing construction of settlements in Palestinian territory. Haaretz
re****ts that the the resolution was spurred in part by the Israeli
government's announcement of plans to build several hundred more
settlements in largely Palestinian East Jerusalem.
UN sources told Haaretz that the draft is the first that addresses
the settlement issue in "a sweeping, unequivocal and direct manner."
According to the sources, the driving force behind the resolution is
Saudi Arabia, although officially, it was an initiative of the Arab
League.
Diplomats affiliated with the Arab bloc said that Arab
representatives at the UN have been discussing the new resolution
for several weeks, during which time the draft has undergone several
revisions. ...
If the resolution is put to a vote, most Security Council members
are expected to vote in favor of it. However, the United States'
position on the issue is not yet clear. Although the American
administration has consistently opposed Israeli construction in the
West Bank and East Jerusalem, the U.S. nonetheless generally vetoes
Security Council resolutions critical of Israel, viewing them as
unhelpful interference in the peace process.
Haaretz adds that the Arab bloc was also inspired to submit the
resolution by recent comments made by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
In a message read June 3 during the International Meeting on the
Question of Palestine, Mr. Ban condemned the settlement construction,
saying:
Continuing settlement activity contravenes both international law
and Israel's obligations under the Road Map. Also, the construction
of the barrier in the occupied Palestinian territory contravenes the
Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice. These
activities must cease at once.
Voice of America re****ts that the White House would prefer that Israel
not build more settlements, but that Israel does not believe it is doing
anything wrong.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the Bush administration
does not believe Israel should build any more settlements. She said
the moves exacerbate tension in peace talks with Palestinians.
The road map peace plan requires Israel to freeze all settlement
activity. Israel says it never agreed to freeze construction in
Jerusalem, and says neighborhoods in the city have a different
status from settlements in the occupied West Bank.
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