19 Oct. 07: Hebron: The Israeli Settlement in the a-Ras Neighborhood

Follow-up Document

On 19 March 2007, a new settlement was established, in the heart of the a-Ras Palestinian neighborhood. In the months that have passed since then, despite the decision of the Defense Minister at the time to evacuate the settlement, the settlement has grown. Recently, the settlement was connected to the electricity grid, and construction and renovation work is taking place at the site.

Since the settlement has been established, the harm to the Palestinian residents has increased and they have suffered further infringement of their human rights. Palestinians suffer both from the settlers and from Israeli security forces who have been assigned protect the settlement.

Researchers from B'Tselem and the Association for Civil Rights found that establishment of the settlement and the failure to evacuate it, have led, for example, to the following:

• Extensive abuse and violence by settlers in the new settlement, carried out in front of the eyes of members of the security forces;
• Abuse and violence by security forces posted on or near the new settlement;
• Increased prohibitions on movement enforced by Israeli security forces.

Failure to enforce the law on violent settlers

During the course of the first six months of the new settlement, B'Tselem and ACRI documented scores of cases in which settlers attacked Palestinians in the area. The attacks include beatings, blocking of passage, destruction of property, throwing of stones and eggs, hurling of refuse, glass bottles, and bottles full of urine, urinating from the settlement structure onto the street, spitting, threats, and curses.

Child from the new settlement throwing a stone on the road in front of the new settlement. Photo: Bassem J'abri, 5 May 2007.

Settlers attack residents of the Palestinian neighborhood daily, in the light of day and in front of large numbers of soldiers and police who protect the settlement. The army set up a position on the roof of the settlement building and a checkpoint on the road nearby, so it is impossible for an attack to occur in this area that is not within the eyesight of security forces. But, as is the case in the neighborhoods in Hebron 's city center where Israeli settlements have been established, the soldiers and police who witness attacks fail to take sufficient action to stop the attacks and enforce the law. At times, they do nothing. In many instances, Palestinians who sought the aid of security forces standing at the site of the attack were told that their only duty was to protect the settlers. text

Harm by Israeli security forces

Violence against Palestinians by soldiers and police is nothing unusual in the City Center . With the establishment of the new settlement, more security forces were assigned to the area, and with it came an increase in harassment, degrading treatment, and violence by security forces against Palestinians living in the a-Ras neighborhood. B'Tselem and ACRI documented many such incidents in the past six months. The violence has included beatings with rifles or hands, frightening Palestinians by firing blanks or by threatening live gunfire, destruction and theft of property, blocking of passage, and swearing and making racist comments.

Soldiers and settlers inside the new settlement's building, 25.3.07.

One serious incident that was documented took place on 22 March 2007, only three days after the settlement was founded. Police severely beat S'adi J'abri, 18, a resident of Hebron , and then handed him over to soldiers who, along with a settler, continued to beat him. In his testimony to B'Tselem, J'abri related:

I walked home with my friend'… Border Policemen didn't let us cross by the house that the settlers took control of. I insisted that we pass. One of the policemen told me, "Come so I can let you pass." He took me behind a Border Police jeep. There were three Border Police officers and two soldiers in the jeep'… They put me against the back of the jeep and the three soldiers beat me. One of them hit me in the right hand with his rifle butt. Another one kicked me in the left leg. One of them grabbed my hand and slammed the jeep's door on it. Then a Border Police officer pushed me against the door, causing my head, in the area by my right ear, to hit it. One of the Border Police officers called to the two soldiers and told them, "Take him further away." They took me closer to the house, about ten meters from the jeep, and gave me a few karate chops in the stomach and all over my body. While they did that, a settler came from al-J'abri's house and kicked me in the leg. The assault lasted about forty minutes. Then a solider ordered me to go back to where I came from, and did not let me cross. I got home at eight o'clock. The beating left me dizzy and exhausted.

Restrictions on movement

Settlement points in Hebron and the restrictions imposed on Palestinian movement

The army contends that following the establishment of the new settlement, the original prohibitions in the area remained intact, and that it did not impose additional restrictions on Palestinian movement. The reality is different: the army established a new checkpoint in the a-Ras neighborhood, near the new settlement. The checkpoint is staffed around the clock, and many of the Palestinians wanting to cross are checked. Some of them, primarily young men, are delayed time and again. Also, the army has prohibited Palestinians from passing along the road by the mosque near the new settlement. It has installed a permanent gate and an observation tower alongside the gate.

The new restrictions on Palestinians in a-Ras are in addition to the prohibition on Palestinian vehicles using the Qiryat Arba road, a north-south artery that passes through the neighborhood. This prohibition has been in place since the beginning of the second intifada, in September 2000.

The gate built next to the new settlement . Photo: Michal Zadik, Mahsom Watch, 16.8.07.

Conclusion

The settlement that was recently established in the a-Ras neighborhood has made the lives of its Palestinian residents, who lived under harsh conditions previously, intolerable. In recent months, Palestinian living in houses near the new settlement have built wire fences and walls to prevent settlers from invading their homes and to protect their families from stone- and bottle-throwing. Also, many residents have stopped parking their cars near the settlement, fearing the cars will be damaged by settlers or security forces.

In other neighborhoods in the city center in which settlements have been built, the infringement on their human rights forced many Palestinian residents and merchants to move out of the area. There is concern that if the attacks and harm continues in the a-Ras neighborhood, residents will be left with no option but to abandon the neighborhood. As the restrictions on movement in the area increase, the greater the harm to the entire city, given that the new settlement in the a-Ras neighborhood completes territorial contiguity of settlement points from Qiryat Arba in the east to the Tel Rumeida settlement in the west.

Israel must immediately remove the settlers from the building, regardless of the issue of whether they purchased it or not .