Israeli Minister’s Aide Calls Hebron Settler Rampage A Pogrom on Arabs
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| Jewish settlers went on the rampage without the least provocation |
JERUSALEM,
July 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The deadly attack sparked
by Jewish settlers in Hebron against the Arab civilians in the city
was a "pogrom, according to an aide to Israel's right-wing Public
Security Minister Uzi Landau, an Israeli daily newspaper reported
Tuesday, July 30, 2002.
Colonel
Moshe Givati, Landau's security advisor for the settlements, said
rioting that broke out Sunday after the funeral of a settler slain by
Palestinian gunmen was a "pogrom against the Arabs of Hebron,
with no provocation on the Palestinian side," Ha’aretz
reported.
A
Palestinian girl was shot dead and 23 other Palestinians were injured
Sunday, July 28, by Jewish settlers who went on the rampage through
the West Bank city of Al-khalil, causing widespread fear and panic
among the Palestinian civilians.
As
she stood on her balcony near the Tomb of the Patriarchs, Nivin Musa
Jamjoum, 14, was shot in the head, by a mob of Jewish settlers. The
place, also known as the Machpelah Cave, is a contested religious site
in Hebron where a Jewish fanatic shot dead 29 Palestinians in 1994,
reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Jamjoum‘s
brother was also wounded, but only slightly.
Twelve
people were injured by the fanatic settlers, including a family of six
riding a horse-drawn cart, which was rammed by settlers in a car on a
by-pass road, eyewitnesses said.
The
family members were said to be moderately-to-seriously injured.
Two
others, one of them a man in his 20s, were suffering from gunshot
wounds, while a nine-year-old was beaten up and stabbed, they said.
Another
Palestinian youth was reportedly stabbed and later evacuated for
medical treatment.
Eleven
other people, including an Israeli policeman, were injured in the
rioting.
Israel
army radio said the policeman was injured in the face by settlers.
Witnesses
said the settlers had also taken over a three-story Palestinian house,
confining the Abu Nagiba al-Sharbati family to a single room, while a
second Palestinian house was torched and badly damaged.
The
burned house, a three-story building belonging to the Abu Samir
al-Sharbati family, contained a large collection of antiquities. The
family was evicted before the house was torched.
Settlers
were also shooting and throwing stones at Palestinian houses near the
Jewish enclave of Avraham Avinu after the funeral of an Israeli
soldier and resident of the area who was killed Friday, July 26, in a
Palestinian ambush.
Givati
was at the funeral and said he had seen "brutal acts" by the
settlers, dismissing their claim that they were acting in self-defense
after Palestinian provocations.
"At
most, and I even doubt that, a small rock was thrown from the
direction of the Palestinians. And that was enough. That was the
signal for the thugs to charge," he told the Israeli daily.
He
said most of the troublemakers were from hard line settlement outposts
set up near the northern West Bank.
"For
some reason, they were all carrying army-issue weapons, and they
charged into the Palestinian houses," he said.
"Dozens
of thugs, including youths from Hebron, burst into Arab houses for no
reason. They broke windows, destroyed property and threw stones. These
people were there for the purposes of making a pogrom," he said,
using the term historically used for attacks on Jewish communities in
Europe.
Meanwhile,
Israeli police arrested another Israeli in connection with Sunday's
riots in Hebron, Israel public radio reported Tuesday.
Four
others that were arrested were conditionally released, as police have
not been able to identify which of the detainees shot and killed the
Palestinian teen, the radio said.
Israeli
police were cooperating with their Palestinian counterparts to deal
with the damage done by Jewish settlers during the rioting, it added.
Israeli
police were not initially available to confirm the report.
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