‍Summary

Over the weekend, activists from Looking the Occupation in the Eye marked (somewhat belatedly) the organization’s fourth anniversary with a modest event featuring the screening of Yaniv Bergman and Toni Kubetti’s eye-opening film The Smugglers, which exposes the world of Arabic-language books in “democratic Israel.” At the same time, Mistaclim launched a fundraising campaign that collected over 70,000 shekels by the end of the weekend.

This week another human rights activist was assaulted by Jewish terrorists. A member of the Torat Tzedek organization, led by Rabbi Arik Ascherman, was standing by his car in the Bedouin community of Mukhmas, not far from Michmash. This small community is encircled by illegal outposts. Eight young men from the newly established “Kol Mevaser” outpost, built just days earlier, sprayed him with pepper spray, smashed his car windows, and slashed his tires. The activist managed to get into his car and escape. Police in the Binyamin district refused to provide him with documentation needed to file a compensation claim for an act of hostility. “The Maharal of Prague ultimately took responsibility for the golem he created and returned it to lifeless clay. We must confront the golem we have created, take responsibility for it, and bring it to an end,” wrote Rabbi Ascherman in his appeal to the Israeli President.

This incident joins dozens of attacks initiated by Jewish terrorists against residents of the West Bank; it is mentioned first only because an attack on a Jew receives media attention. In Ras Ein al-‘Auja, where our activists maintain a protective presence, minors and young men housed in a nearby outpost continue their daily incursions—morning and afternoon—into the yards of local families. They assault activists when they feel confident that documenting the incident will be difficult or impossible.

Settlers continue to expand the illegal outpost they are building on the outskirts of Ras Ein al-‘Auja in the area known as “the burned houses.” Vehicles loaded with construction materials were observed throughout the week on their way to the growing “micro-outpost.”

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Daily Reports

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Sunday – A minor and another youth from the outpost herded a flock into the area of the Salameh family homes in Ras Ein al-‘Auja. The minor entered the family’s sheepfold and struck a woman activist who was present. After activists called the police, Gabriel Kalish the security coordinator of Mevo’ot Yericho arrived, and later Officer Ofir Aharonovitz came and told the activists they “could go to Binyamin police station and file a complaint,” then left. Gabriel Kalish remained at the scene with the minor, who brewed coffee over a fire he lit inside the village. After the security coordinator left, the minor spat in a female activist’s face and pinched her; his friend assaulted another activist.

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Monday – Dozens of settlers attacked the Bedouin community of al-Tabaneh near Khan al-Ahmar. They assaulted women in their homes, and a 66-year-old woman was evacuated for medical treatment. The attackers set structures and vehicles on fire, hurled stones, and damaged property, terrorizing children and women in the community.

In the village of Jaba, dozens of settlers set fire to three homes, a caravan, and three vehicles.

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Tuesday – Minors from the outpost entered the lands of the Abu Taleb families in Ras Ein al-‘Auja in the morning with a flock, shadowing activists and filming them for about ninety minutes. In the afternoon, another incursion took place, again involving youths herding sheep into the Abu Taleb family’s land.

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Wednesday – Two settler minors arrived with a herd at the football field near the homes of the Salameh families. One youth entered a home, kicked an activist, and held his phone camera to the activists’ faces. Police were called. The security coordinator of Mevo’ot Yericho rushed to the scene, and Officer Gideon also responded, but neither took action to stop the home invasion or violence by the outpost youths.

In the evening, settlers were documented assaulting Palestinians in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills. Video from the scene shows settlers beating Palestinians with sticks and rods; according to residents, three members of one family were injured—the father, mother, and their son.

Later that night, settlers were recorded slashing car tires and throwing stones through shop windows in the Christian Palestinian village of Taybeh in the central West Bank.

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Friday – A settler from the outpost entered in the morning with a herd of goats and positioned himself on land above the Salameh family homes in Ras Ein al-‘Auja. In the afternoon, settlers carried out another incursion into the Salameh family’s land. The Mevo’ot Yericho security coordinator was present, and Meir Nir, an inspector from the Jordan Valley Regional Council, visited the guest-tent area (the madafa).

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Saturday – Alongside the routine daily incursions by settlers and their herds into Ras Ein al-‘Auja, the Mevo’ot Yericho security coordinator also arrived in the village to taunt human rights activists.

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