30 September 2011
HEBRON/OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Dozens of Palestinian olive trees were destroyed in an attack near the city of Hebron, local residents said Thursday, calling it an act of revenge carried out by Israeli settlers. The Israeli military confirmed that “about 40” trees were burnt and uprooted in the village of Shuweikeh, south of Hebron.
The military and local residents said the attackers left Hebrew-language graffiti at the scene, including a spray-painted Star of David and the slogan “Price tag, Halhul.”
The phrase, sprayed on a rock, was a reference to an area adjoining Hebron where a settler and his 18-month-old son were killed last week when the man lost control of his car after being hit by stones hurled by Palestinians.
The West Bank’s most radical settlers have for some time adopted what they call a “price tag” policy, under which they attack Palestinians and their property, usually in response to Israeli government measures against settlements.
The Israeli military said it was investigating the attack, which occurred late Wednesday.
Israeli news website Ynet said that troops called to the scene found tracks leading in the direction of the nearby settlement of Mitzpeh Eshtamoa.
Palestinian and international activists last week launched a campaign to monitor attacks on Palestinians and their property by Israeli settlers.
Recent weeks have seen a rise in attacks following the Israeli army’s demolition of Jewish homes in illegal settlement outposts and rising tension over the Palestinian bid for statehood.
In one incident, a Palestinian man involved in clashes with settlers who entered the northern West Bank village of Qusra died after Israeli soldiers shot him in the neck with a live bullet while trying to separate the two sides.
Elsewhere in the West Bank this month, mosques, cars and agricultural land have been vandalized in at least nine separate incidents blamed on Jewish settlers.
In one attack, burning tires were rolled into a mosque in an attempt to burn it down and Hebrew slogans were inscribed on the building’s walls.
Two other mosques and a West Bank university were targeted, as was the Jerusalem home of an Israeli woman working for an anti-settlement group, and vandals also damaged vehicles on an Israeli army base near Ramallah.
The escalation comes as international pressure was mounting on Israel Thursday over its plans to add another 1,100 homes to the East Jerusalem settlement neighborhood of Gilo ahead of the U.N. deliberations on the settlement bid and a plan from the Middle East Quartet for fresh peace talks
The Palestinians insist they will not return to peace talks without a freeze on settlement activity or reference to the 1967 lines as the basis for talks.
After the European Union and the United States Wednesday condemned the Gilo project, China, Egypt, Russia and other major powers voiced their opposition.
Copyright The Daily Star 2011.
