Palestinian, settlers squabble over Homesh incident

A Palestinian taxi driver filed a complaint with the police saying that settlers returning from the evacuated settlement of Homesh in the northern West Bank tried to burn him in his car. The "Homesh First" headquarters outright denied the claims, saying the driver had attempted to run over several Jewish men.

Police confirmed they have opened an investigation into the claims.

Ibrahim Hamamra, a 51-year-old resident of Ja'aba, a village near Jenin, told Ynet on Thursday that he was attacked after exiting his car.

"A group of 12 or 15 settlers attacked me. They tried to pull me into the car to burn me in it, but I fought them and managed to get away," said Hamamra, adding he also sustained several blows.

After fleeing he said he spotted the settlers taking the car and driving it into Homesh, there it was torched and rolled away into the nearby wadi.

Hamamra said he took a taxi to the IDF base near Shavei Shomron, and informed soldiers of the incident. "The soldiers headed out towards Homesh, but they refused to take me with them. I had to stop a ride and follow them," he said.

"They refused to let me go up the road into the settlement and I had to walk the whole way there. When we reached the entrance to the settlement they wouldn't let me in."

Hamamra said the soldiers stood at a distance from the burning car, while some of the settler youths were still standing beside it.

"The soldiers were talking on the phone, they told me they were calling the police. I yelled at them and said why call the police when the people who burned the car are right here. They told me not to interfere and then left after the police showed up."

However by the time the police unit arrived, Hamamra said, the settlers had gone. "The police took me to the station in Ariel and gave me first aid, took my statement and showed me pictures of settlers on the computer so I would identify them. I only identified one, but I don't understand why I have to identify them on the computer when minutes before they were next to the burning car, next to the soldiers who did nothing."

Hamamra said that the police assured him the were dealing with the complaint, and gave him a telephone number to call if he wanted updates on the investigation.

The Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem slammed the army for not intervening. Staff member Najib Abu Rokaya said: "Would the soldiers have done the same if it was a Jewish driver and Arabs were burning his car? Why the double standard?" He said the authorities must compensate Hamamra for the incompetence displayed by the soldiers and the police.

Settlers: This is blood libel

The 'Homesh First' organization flatly denied the taxi driver's claims. "This is a false and ridiculous story made up by Arab hooligans who tried to attack the group of Jews who have been in Homesh for over 18 months now.

"It was a car with two Palestinians, not one, which drove into Homesh territory and tried to run over three Jews. They were followed by a tractor with a dozen Palestinians carrying hoes and bats, intending to attack the Jews and destroy the structures they live in.

"Only after security forces arrived did they leave the area, but not before setting a car on fire, apparently under the wrong impression that it belonged to Jews. This deceitful story is just like the blood libel from three months ago about a Bedouin youth who was allegedly murdered by settlers but in the end it was revealed that he died while playing with an unexploded shell."