Two foreign peace activists say they were assaulted by settlers Tuesday in South Mount Hebron while accompanying a Palestinian family to the village of Tuba. One of the activists was reportedly kicked in the stomach and needed medical attention. The two women, who filed a complaint with the police, had their cameras stolen as well.
"My colleague and I were with a family that was on its way home when we were harassed and assaulted by settlers," Sarah MacDonald, one of the activists, told Ynet.
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| Palestinians return home, harassed by settlers / Ali Waked |
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Residents of Khirbet Bir al-'Idd in Hebron area forced to leave their homes 10 years ago following repeated attacks by settlers. Last week, families return with IDF approval but are harassed again |
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MacDonald, who is hear as part of her activities with the Christian Peace Group," advised the family to travel on a different route because, according to her, many settlers travel on that route.
"They chose to take the long way home, and we went with them. We crossed the hills south of Havat Maon when we saw four settlers on the ridge above us, about 50 meters (yards) away. They stood between the outpost and us. When we kept walking, they started to run after us."
"The Palestinian man said to them, 'We just want to go home.' Then the settler pushed him, and the Palestinian boy started to cry. My friend, Laura Chigi, tried to separate the settler and the Palestinian, but the settler pushed her," added MacDonald.
"They kicked Laura's ribs after she had fallen to the ground, and they injured her. They also managed to steal our cameras that were in action throughout the entire incident. They moment they did this, they left in the direction of Havat Maon."
Laura needed stitches and was evacuated to a Palestinian hospital for medical attention.
When the two activists arrived in Tuba, they called the Judea and Samaria Police. The police came to take their testimonies.
According to MacDonald, the incident only reinforced the reason she came to the territories in the first place. "We walk with Palestinian families, get involved in certain incidents, and try to prevent violence. In addition, we document the events. This is why we had cameras," she explained.
MacDonald added that the residents of Maon and Havat Maon regularly exercise violence of this sort.
MacDonald and Chigi are slated to arrive at the police station Wednesday in order to identify pictures of the suspects. Judea and Samaria Police reported that testimonies were taken from the two peace activists and that they are conducting searches for the suspects.
Ali Waked and Efrat Weiss contributed to this report
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