The ‘Ein al-Harasha spring, which lies east of the town of al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah, attracts many visitors. On Monday, 6 April 2020, six masked settlers, one them armed, started throwing stones at four Palestinian 12-year-olds strolling by the spring. The terrified children fled back to the town.
Muhammad Shreiteh (57) lives not far from the spring. When he heard the commotion, he went outside and saw children running and settlers chasing them with stones in their hands. After the children managed to get away, the settlers turned their sights on Shreiteh and started hurling stones at him. He hid behind his truck, which was parked out front. The settlers smashed the truck windows and then, apparently satisfied, and headed towards the Haresha outpost.
The Haresha outpost was built in 1997 on land privately-owned by Palestinian residents, about 400 meters from the town.
Fearing the settlers would return, Shreiteh alerted the municipality and reported the attack to the Palestinian DCO. When a group of soldiers arrived from the direction of the outpost, he quickly went over to lodge a complaint, but they sent him away:
I thought the soldiers had come because I’d called the DCO, so I went over to them. But they sent me away and one of them yelled at me as if I was to blame. I obeyed their order with a heavy heart. I don’t know how I can fix the truck, it will cost at least 2,000 shekels (~560 USD). I’ve been out of work since March and we’re a family of nine. I have 300 (~85 USD) shekels left in my pocket. That won’t last even a week.
Nobody compensates us for the damage the settlers cause and the insurance company doesn’t recognize such incidents. What can I do?!