On Friday night, 28 August 2020, at around 2:30 A.M., settlers torched the ‘Assayreh family’s car, which was parked near their home in the southern neighborhood of the village. Lama’ Assayreh (21) awoke to the sound of an explosion and woke her parents, Wael and Suhair (both 47). Lama’s sisters, Lana (14) and Lin (5), were also woken by the commotion outside. The family put out the fire and discovered that settlers had also sprayed their wall with a slogan: “Jewish blood is not cheap.”
Wael ’Assayreh notified the village council of the incident and at midday, Israeli military officers, DCO personnel and police officers arrived at the house. The latter took ‘Assayreh’s statement and photographed the torched car, which he had bought only two months earlier.
In a testimony she gave on 30 August 2020, Lama ‘Assayreh described what happened to her family that night:
I was woken by noises outside my bedroom window, but went back to sleep. A few seconds later, I heard an explosion. I jumped out of bed, looked out, and saw my father’s car burning. I rushed to my parents’ room and woke them up. Then I went outside without even thinking, to put the fire out before the gas tank exploded and caused a disaster.
My sisters, Lana and Lin, woke up and we all helped my dad bring water from the container in the yard to put out the fire. Then, we noticed graffiti in Hebrew on our fence. The whole thing terrified me: I thought about what would’ve happened if the settlers had attacked us while we were inside the house. Our home is far from the rest of the village houses.
I couldn’t sleep that night or the night after. I keep remembering the flames reflected on the ceiling of my room on the night of the fire. I can’t forget that sight or the noises I heard outside. It was a horrible night. My little sister Lin asked if they’re going to burn down our house. She’s become very nervous since it happened.
We don’t feel safe in our own home and are thinking about building a wall around us, so that no one can reach us. I asked my dad to install security cameras so we can see what’s going on around the house.