CPTnet
11 May 2005
HEBRON: Israeli settlers escalate violence against Palestinians at Tel
Rumeida
Palestinian families in Hebron who live near the Tel Rumeida settlement are
in a crisis situation. Settler attacks against these families include
harassment and stoning of Palestinian children on their way to school,
blocking access to Qurtuba girl's school, stoning and vandalism of homes as
well as other types of assault.
Palestinian families near Tel Rumeida are living as virtual prisoners in
their own homes. Access to their homes is increasingly difficult and
dangerous.
The Israeli military and police have done nothing to prevent these attacks
or prosecute those responsible for their violence, though the families have
filed many complaints with the Israeli police.
Hani Abu Haikel, a long-time resident of Tel Rumeida, recounts how his
father refused to leave his home in Tel Rumeida due to settler attacks,
saying, "I am at the end of my life. I want to stay." Now, Hani also
refuses to leave and calls the current situation "the final battle." The Abu
Haikel family, in particular, as suffered from violence and restricted
movement on the part of Israeli soldiers and settlers. Settlers have stoned
the Abu Haikel house and thrown rubbish on the family's garden and thrown
stones at Hani Abu Haikel while he tended his vineyard. Rima Abu Haikel,
pregnant and in labor, had to walk to the hospital on cold, wet night
through mud because the military denied her access to a road where she could
be driven. The military also has denied Israeli police access to the Abu
Haikel family when they were being attacked.
The following is an account of some recent attacks, harassment and
difficulties families living in the Tel Rumeida area have experienced:
April 4 - Settlers and Israeli soldiers take over the Siyaj house.
April 22 - A settler attacks Mohammed Abu Aisha, with a battery-operated
drill.
May 2 - Settlers place razor wire and a tree as a blockade to the front
entrance of the Abu Haikel house. Palestinians immediately remove blockade
May 3 - Settler cars block entrance to Palestinian Qurtuba girl's school.
Settler Anat Cohen slaps CPT member Dianne Roe and shouts while Roe attempts
to protect Palestinian girls, "Go to Auschwitz and take all the Arabs with
you."
May 4 - Settlers stone the home, cut phone line and the water pipes of Dr.
Tayseer. Border police were present while the vandalism continued
unchecked.
May 5 - Israeli soldiers block access to a diplomatic tour group organized
by Hebron Rehabilitation Committee. Diplomats included representatives of
the Palestinian consulates of South Africa, France, Switzerland, Ireland,
and United Kingdom. They planned to tour the site of the proposed new
road for the use of Israeli settlers from Tel Rumeida only. Israeli
soldiers declared the area a closed military zone.
Racist graffiti has appeared all over the area recently, including, "Gas the
Arabs, JDL."
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