Settler arrested for throwing dung at Palestinians
Police detain for questioning man who fired into air next to Palestinian farmers working near illegal outpost. 'He came over with a jug, told us it was tea and poured urine,' human rights group volunteer recounts
A settler from an illegal outpost iswas questioned by the Hebron Police on Friday, after firing into the air and hurling dung and urine at Palestinian farmers and human rights activists who were working in the area. A police official told Ynet that additional arrests may take place.
The incident took place Thursday, when Palestinian farmers, accompanied by volunteers from the Rabbis for Human Rights organization, began to plow their fields south of the West Bank settlement of Susya.
According to the volunteers, a settler wearing a prayer shawl emerged from the nearby illegal outpost of Ma’aleh Asael and began to fire shots into the air.
Yoram Rosenfeld, a volunteer with Rabbis for Human Rights, came to the Mount Hebron region on Thursday along with three other volunteers, in order to help Palestinian farmers plow their land.
In recent months, he noted, a settler from an outpost overlooking these fields has been interfering in their work and becoming increasingly hostile towards the group.
“We joined the Palestinians, who were plowing their fields in an area just below the outpost,” recounted Rosenfeld. “Now, when I say outpost I mean a family with four trailers and a road which they have paved for their use alone.”
Rosenfeld told Ynet that he and his friends stood watch atop a nearby hill, when the settler in question left the outpost, stood on a hilltop and began to fire warning shots in the air. The Palestinian farmers nevertheless continued to work through the ruckus.
Water mixed with sheep dung
When the settler began to fire rounds of bullets, the human rights activists decided to intervene and contact the IDF as well as the police.
Rosenfeld noted that “two military vehicles arrived on the scene, which did not prevent the settler from approaching the Palestinians with a pitcher of what he claimed was tea, but was in fact water mixed with sheep dung. He threw the dung at two volunteers, and also took one of the tractors belonging to the farmers.”
Showdown at Susya (Photo: Eran Brin)
Rosenfeld asked IDF soldiers to intervene, but they insisted that this was a police matter. The Hebron Police ultimately did come on the scene, and officers arrested the settler, after both the activists and the farmers were questioned and presented proof of ownership of the field in question.
“A police officer arrived after we had contacted the police department, but the settler and the officer began to hug and speak in private, “said Rosenfeld. “When I told the officer that I was a volunteer for a human rights group, he told me that he does not want to talk to me.”
Another police officer arrived shortly afterwards and questioned Rosenfeld and his friends.
“It is simply unfathomable that this settler, living in an illegal outpost, is making life miserable for these Palestinian farmers,” said the activist. “He told them that after they are done working he will 'sic' his sheep on their land and steal their produce.”
One of the settlers in the area told Ynet in response, "Those left-wing activists and anarchists are the ones causing provocations and clashes with the Palestinians. Instead of the police preventing those leftists from arriving at the place and prompting the clashes, they are looking for us."
Efrat Weiss contributed to this article
