Since 16-year-old Israeli Ahuvia Sandak died during a police chase near the settlement of Kochav Hashachar on 21 December 2020, the number of violent settler attacks against Palestinians has sharply risen throughout the West Bank.
On 26 December 2020, at around 6:00 P.M., thousands of settlers protested in front of the National Police Headquarters on Road 1 in East Jerusalem. About three hours later, dozens of settlers began pelting homes and parked cars in the neighborhood of Abu Ta’ah in the French Hill with stones. Four neighborhood residents came out to protect their homes and threw stones back at the settlers. Officers who arrived at the scene several minutes later, pushed the settlers back, but not before they managed to break a window in one of the homes and the windows of two cars.
Residents of nearby neighborhoods who arrived at the scene stayed on the street until 1:00 A.M. to protect the residents.
Muhammad Abu Ta’ah, 55, a married mother of five who lives in the French Hill spoke about the settler attack in his neighborhood in a testimony he gave B'Tselem field researcher 'Amer ‘Aruri:
On Saturday, 26 December 2020, at around 6:00 P.M., settlers started demonstrating on Road 1. At around 8:00 P.M., settlers arrived in our area and stood in front of the neighborhood. I saw them blocking the street on both ends, in front of the white statue, and attacking cars that were passing by - apparently cars they thought belonged to Arabs. They were shouting, “death to Arabs.” There was a large police contingent there.
At around 9:00 P.M., the settlers started throwing stones at the neighborhood. The two closest houses to Road 1 in the neighborhood are ours and my cousin’s Muhannad Abu Ta’ah. Muhannad and I went out to see what was going on, and two residents from the neighborhood joined us. We threw stones back at the settlers to get them away from our homes. It was only when the police saw us throwing stones back at the settlers that they intervened.
Asmaa Siyam, 51, Muhammad’s wife and a mother of five, who lives in the French Hill, spoke about the settler attack on her home and neighborhood in a testimony she gave B'Tselem field researcher 'Amer ‘Aruri:
On 26 December 2020, I was at my house in the Abu Ta’ah neighborhood in the French Hill. My daughters Israa, 30, and Razan, 22, and my son, Suhayb, 15, were with me. My husband stood outside and watched the settlers’ demonstration in front of the National Headquarters.
At around 9:00 P.M., I heard my husband yelling and crying out for help. I came out with my daughters and my son and saw my husband, our neighbor Muhannad Abu Ta’ah and two others, and about 50 settlers who had entered the neighborhood. My daughters started yelling and screaming, and Suhayb was also very scared.
We tried throwing stones back at them to protect our homes. There were only four of us, and 50 settlers in front of us with hundreds more on the main road, in front of the neighborhood, shouting “Death to Arabs.”
I felt that they were about to kill us.
A few minutes later, police officers came and pushed the settlers away. My husband stayed standing in front of the house to protect it and refused to come inside. I stayed with him, and more residents came and stood by our side. Thank God they only damaged one window in our house and a few cars parked on the street.
The settlers left the area at around 1:00 A.M., but we didn’t fall asleep until 5:00 A.M., as the sun went up. We were really worried the settlers would come back. A few friends and relatives stayed with us for three days after the attack, in case the settlers attacked again.