On June 6, dozens of Israeli settlers entered Luban a-Sharqiya and a-Sawiya, two Palestinian villages in the Nablus district of the West Bank, both of which are under complete Israeli security control, and burned agricultural fields, a hothouse, a carpentry shop and a school.
In addition, the settlers shot at residents of Luban. They also broke windows of houses in a-Sawiya while the residents were trapped in their homes under Israeli military curfew. Israeli security forces — present during the entire incident — prevented Palestinians from defending themselves, blocked firefighters and ambulances from entering the villages, and even took part in the violence themselves.
As the occupying power, Israel is responsible for the safety and welfare of Palestinians, and must protect them from settlers. Israel's security forces bear full responsibility for the day's violence, as a result of the following actions and omissions:
- Lack of preparedness, while completely ignoring what was likely to occur.
- Standing idly by while settlers rioted against Palestinians in broad daylight for several hours.
- Enforcing the curfew in a-Sawiya against Palestinians only, which prevented Palestinians from defending themselves and their property.
- Preventing the entrance of firefighters and ambulances in spite of the fires lit by settlers.
- Active participation of security forces in acts of violence against Palestinians.
It is patently obvious that if the situation were reversed, and Palestinians had rioted in the settlement of Shilo, burned a carpentry shop, broke windows and took over the roof of a house, the incident would have ended in an entirely different manner.
Settler violence against Palestinians of the Occupied Territories is a wide-spread and on-going phenomenon. Since the beginning of the first intifada in 1987, 119 Palestinians have been killed by settlers and other "civilian" Israelis. Of those killed, 23 were minors. In many other incidents, settlers wounded Palestinians, damaged their property, and committed various acts of vandalism.
Two months ago, B'Tselem published a report addressing the law-enforcement failures of Israeli authorities regarding settler violence. In 1994, B'Tselem published a comprehensive report on the subject. The conclusions of the two reports, published seven years apart, are identical: Israel's law enforcement policies regarding settler violence is characterised by tolerance and turning a blind eye. In many cases:
- Israeli security forces are present during acts of settler violence against Palestinians and do nothing to prevent the violence.
- In violation of the law, the police refuse to open investigations into acts of settler violence unless the victim files a complaint. Investigations that are opened are not pursued seriously. As a result, some two-thirds of investigations are closed.
Israeli officials have leveled stinging criticism against the police and the military for their law enforcement failures. Critics have included the 1982 Karp commission, the Shamgar commission established following the massacre at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, and Attorney-General Eliyakim Rubenstein.
Unfortunately, these repeated criticisms have fallen on deaf ears. The authorities continue to turn a blind eye to settlers' acts of violence, to view them as justifiable "letting off steam", and to praise their ostensible restraint in the face of violence against them. Israeli authorities are thereby complicit in the on-going violence and vandalism.
[From the Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem]