Shmuel Cohen-Sitrin says son is innocent
צילום: חיים הורנשטיין
Settler not guilty of stoning, father says
Settler detained for suspection participation of stoning of Palestinian in Gaza innocent of charges, father tells Ynetnews, adding that Jews must defend themselves to be able to survive
TEL AVIV – The father of a settler who was arrested for allegedly stoning and severely wounding a Palestinian in Gaza last week said on Monday that the charges against him were misplaced and that he did not condemn violent resistance against Israel’s upcoming pullout.
Settler youngsters pelted an unconscious Palestinian teenager with stones on Thursday in southern Gaza after a group of Jewish ultranationalists seized a building in a Palestinian town bordering a settlement, sparking clashes with Palestinians. Israeli police have since arrested dozens of suspects, including 18-year-old Shimshon Cohen-Sitrin.
“The facts were distorted,” Cohen-Sitrin’s father, Shmuel, told Ynetnews. “An Arab threw a rock at his friend and wounded him in the face, but it was never reported. I’m sure it was filmed, because it happened close to the time Shimshon threw the stone.”
Jewish ultranationalists have vowed to resist Israel’s planned removal of all 21 settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank, with some urging violence. Thousands of settlers and right-wingers have in recent months blocked roads to protest the plan, which is scheduled to begin in August.
But about 20 percent of settlers slated for evacuation have signaled their readiness to leave by signing compensation deals, government officials said on Monday.
Shmuel, a resident of the West Bank Nahliel settlement, which is not slated for evacuation, said he was not opposed to settlers using violence to protest the pullout.
“I’m not in favor of violence, but I’m also not opposed to it,” he said. “I know it’s not ‘cool’ to see strong Jews. Violence is neither positive nor negative. But if we don’t defend ourselves, we cannot survive here. This isn’t the Midwest – this is the Middle East, and only the strong prevail.”
Jerusalem ambush
He said his son was arrested on Sunday as his family arrived at his grandfather’s house in the French Hill neighborhood in Jerusalem on Sunday.
“When we parked, 10 police officers in civilian clothing attacked Shimshon and beat him up,” he said. “One of them grabbed me and told me I was under arrest as well. I heard one of them say, ‘Now your son will be put away for life.’ The one who grabbed me threw me down and I escaped. He didn’t want me to leak the story to the press.”
Shimshon, the eldest of his eight children, was raised well and helped the community, Shmuel said, adding that friends of his son called Shimshon “righteous.”
“He always brought needy boys to live with us at home, even when it was full of our children,” he said. “I did not educate street hooligans. I raised them with the primary value of loving Israel.”
