Jewish Pogrom Against Palestinians Last Shabbat

Last Shabbat Jews who consider themselves Orthodox shot at Palestinians and Israelis, torched Palestinian homes, injured both Palestinians and Israelis, and stole some 38  sheep in the village of Mukhmas. The two human rights defenders who were among the injured were there providing protective presence as volunteers for Torat Tzedek, the organization I lead. The cost of the destruction and the theft is approximately NIS 240,000 and Torat Tzedek is going to try to raise that money, added to the vandalism and theft in so many other communities.

The army and police only arrived after it was all over, some two hours after the first call for help. If Palestinians were attacking Jews, forces would have arrived within minutes.

I was called to leave my home on Shabbat, was present for much of the pogrom, and had two car windows broken by the stone throwing pogromists. I have a history of being attacked on the Friday of the week we read Lekh Lekha, but it seems this year the schedule was moved up and I wasn’t the primary victim. The pogrom did take place at the time of day when the first aliyah of Lekh Lekha was read in the Shabbat afternoon Minkha service on Shabbat Noakh. The incident was reported in Times of Israel, but below is my first hand account.

I am currently writing from Mukhmas Settlers have been around all day. The police, perhaps chastened by their colossal failure, have appeared and are chasing after them.

One more thought before the account. If other volunteers maintain our 24/7 presence in the villages we protect, there are no emergencies and I am able to be home and in synagogue for Shabbat, I will as always ask to recite birkat hagomel, the blessing when called to the Torah after going through a dangerous experience, for the aliyah when we read of the conflict between the shepherds of Lot and the shepherds of Avram (not yet Abraham). The Torah simply tells us that the area they were grazing in was too crowded for the two of them. However, as I have written before, the classic Torah commentator Rashi tells us that Lot’s shepherds thought that because God had promised the Land of Israel to Avram and Avram had no descendants at that point, Lot would inherit and therefore they had the right to trespass on the grazing lands of others. Avram’s shepherds knew that God’s Promise didn’t give them the right to steal from others.  Many times this week I have taught that to settlers and asked them “Are you descendants of Lot or of Avram?”  But what really moves me is how Avram deals with the situation: “Avram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, between my herders and yours, for we are family. Is not the whole land before you? Let us separate: if you go left, I will go right; and if you go right, I will go left: (Genesis 13:8-9) As always,  I ask why we can’t fight to be Avram’s worthy spiritual descendants and not just fight over the Land. And, what would the world look like if we all realized that all humankind, created in the Image of the One God, Whose shared Image makes us all one, are family.

The account:

The violence began sometime between 4:00 and 4:30 PM. I do have a call from a Palestinian at 3:59, but believe the first call I received specifically about this was at 4:45. There are reports from our two human rights defenders in Mukhmas at the time from around 4:20 and the first pictures I received and forwarded to the army were at 4:54.

Settlers attacked harvesters, injuring several ( I heard 5 ) and damaged two vehicles. I couldn’t figure out in which olive grove the attack took place, except that it wasn’t the grove closest to the settler tent set up earlier in the week, where it turns out that after cutting down trees, they Palestinians also say that the settlers burned the trees that were cut down two days later. In the end, the Palestinians fled and the settlers pursued them, coming within 30 meters of the harvesters. We can hear in one of the videos that there was shooting. Our two human rights defenders were there at that point. The Palestinians report that the settlers’ shot at the feet of the Palestinians. They report that the settler security official Amir arrived and shot in the air, telling the Palestinians to leave and he would take the settlers from there.

Palestinians called the police soom after the event began and as mentioned above, I passed on a message and photos to the Benjamin Brigade at 4:54 PM.

We didn’t know where our human rights defenders ought to be be. The tent that had been set up a few days ago and hadn’t been moved sat on a ridge with the village on one side and the Bedouin neighborhood on the other . There were reports of settlers on both sides. Our human rights defenders returned to the Bedouin neighborhood after about 20 minutes above on the village side next to the animal pens.

I arrived at 5:30 PM , and saw dozens of settlers on the side of the village , and again sent pictures and a description to the Shomron Brigade command center

Then I arrived at the Bedouin neighborhood, I didn’t see anything. I was about to return to the side of the village because there was nothing, when suddenly a large group of settlers started to descend, I tried to cut off their progress with my vehicle. They threw stones at my car and broke 2 windows. I was making turns and circles in the adjacent fields to both draw them away and to reach the Bedouin compound. The compound was partially closed with a gate, and I knew I couldn’t get out of the vehicle to remove it.

At that point one of our human rights defenders emerged from the compound and ran towards me with her broken arm. I evacuated her to the road to the village. She and the second human rights defender say they entered the compound. Settlers surrounded them and hit them with stones when they tried to break out. There are different reports as to whether there was shooting in the Bedouin neighborhood as well. The Palestinians say yes. There were 2 with rifles – Amir and someone else. They stood on the road and fired about 5 shots. The human rights defenders and I didn’t hear. There are sounds in the videos that could be shooting. It could be something else.

Before I returned to the neighborhood, the human rights defender I evacuated filmed me while I personally called the police (There were probably several incident numbers because many caused the police. The police even later told me they were confused because people called from Tel Aviv. I had the police event number 3888 ). The woman answering the emergency number says that everything will be OK and there are forces on the way. I tell her it is not okay. People have already been hurt, my windows have been broken, and if the army or police don’t arrive immediately, someone could be killed.

By the time I returned to the neighborhood, houses were already on fire and the settlers’ vehicles were on their way out. They also demolished two animal shelters and a storage shed. Everyone was in a panic because we didn’t know where he second human rights defender was and the Palestinians were afraid that she might be inside a burning house, but she wasn’t. Apparently the Palestinians fled and came back. Apparently it was while they were away that the settlers stole the sheep (38 head). The human rights defender had gone up from the Qaabnah homes to the Jahalin homes.

I sent more pictures to the IDF of the settlers and of the houses on fire . And yet the police and the army arrived only after everything was over.

I asked everyone where to get water and whether there was a fire department in the village, and they told me there wasn’t .

I made contact with the second human rights defender who was bleeding from her head and took them both to a pharmacy. There a Palestinian doctor arrived and began treating them. Two additional activists arrived and managed to call the Israeli fire department. They arrived, and Palestinian firefighters after. They put out most of the flames. I called an additional human rights defender and asked for someone else to come and evacuate the wounded or to meet me on the way because we couldn’t abandon the village, but we had to evacuated our wounded. He decided to come himself. I left our two injured with the doctor because one had left a backpack and I was also very worried because two Palestinians from the village I had been talking to stopped answering. I drove in the direction of the animal pens.

Palestinians confirmed to me that there were no more settlers near them and that there were no more olive pickers in the area (it was also starting to get dark). I met one of our contacts who said that second was also okay. He said that there were 5 wounded and he couldn’t tell me the level of the injuries, or whether they had been evacuated, etc. On the way back, I met the army. I said that there were 5 wounded Palestinians and 2 of ours. They asked about the condition of the Palestinian wounded and I brought them to the pharmacy. They asked questions and then asked that we all leave. Then they changed their minds and asked that the wounded be left for the army medical team and probably for more questions, but that I had to leave. I agreed since the Palestinian doctor said it was possible and he also would stay with them. He thought that urgent treatment was needed for the fracture. The second human rights defender needed stitches. Both of them needed a CT scan because both had been hit in the head. At the same time, the police in the neighborhood told the activists that there was a closed military area in the neighborhood. They left.

I asked the army to stay as long as possible. And when I saw the force pointing weapons at residents, I asked them not to do anything that could lead to confrontation with residents when the situation was already tense. I made it clear that if the army is not there and there are still threats from settlers, we would have to go in.

The defender coming to take the two defenders to the hospital arrived at the same time as I was leaving the village. Yes, there was a military vehicle at the entrance to Mukhamas, but he went in. The army blocked him about 50 meters from the pharmacy and did not allow him to get to our defenders. An army medical team did arrive, but did not do much. They treated the fracture a little. In the end, the military force received an order to release them and our additional defender took them to the hospital. There it turns out that our defender with the head injury also had liver bleeding. The defender with the fracture was released that night. The second was in the hospital until Tuesday. All of the Palestinians returned home after treatment.

At the same time, there was the incident of a settler being arrested. The police and army in the Bedouin neighborhood were interviewing the residents. Suddenly, a settler appeared. According to the residents, he was in his 40s. (There is a photo) They asked him for an ID and he said he didn;t have one. A policeman took a picture of him, and then went to his computer He asked a soldier to guard the settler. The settler hit or pushed the soldier and ran away. He was caught, beaten and kicked by the arresting officers. The police statement said that he was arrested as a suspect in arson. I also heard reports of 2 arrests.

After the army left , we returned . We were eventually four, and divided between Mukhmas and Duma.

The Shin Bet also came that night. On Sunday I requested that the case be investigated by the Yamar special police, and that is what has been happening. They seem to be taking the investigation seriously, but we are waiting to see what happens.