CPTnet
May 29, 2001
HEBRON: Settler Security Officer killed in northern West Bank; Hebron area
settlers retaliate

This morning around 7:00 am, Palestinian gunmen killed 41 year old Gilad
Zar, a resident of the Itamar settlement. Zar was the security officer for
the Shomron municipal region and was father of eight children.

Three months ago Zar was shot and critically injured by Palestinian gunmen
in the same area where he was killed this morning. At that time he was hit
three times in the leg, chest and side.

Zar had several relatives in Hebron and soon after the news of his murder
reached them, settlers (consisting mostly of women, teenagers and children)
began attacking Palestinian homes and shops on Shuhada Street. They briefly
took over the chicken market where the CPT apartment is located. Soldiers
and police eventually managed to intervene and steer the settlers away from
the Palestinian neighborhood areas.

The team then received a call from the Abdel Jawad Jaber family in the
Beqa'a valley east of Hebron, saying their house was being stoned by
settlers. By the time CPTers Jane Adas and Gene Stoltzfus arrived, the yard
was covered with rocks. Four adult members of the family, including Abdel
Jawad, were injured in the attack and taken to the hospital in ambulances.

Gene Stoltzfus, in a phone interview from the site, said he watched as
soldiers and police tried with some difficulty to keep the settlers away
from Palestinian homes, including those of Atta Jaber and Omar Sultan.
Stoltzfus was sitting near the road, at one point, when 30 settlers
approached him. Deciding that it would be dangerous to Abdel Jawad's family
if he retreated to their house and the settlers followed, he allowed himself
to be surrounded. Although the settlers of various ages called him obscene
names, they did not hurt him.

Stoltzfus said that he would be staying with the five children remaining in
the house while their parents are being treated for their injuries.

More information about today's events will follow on CPTnet, along with
suggestions for actions its readership can take to respond to the violence.