Posts tagged hilltop 18

Settlers Attack Ta’ayush at Hilltop 18

Jan 24th

Posted by Joseph Dana in Southern Hebron Hills

“I was shocked that they did it with so much hatred. Thirteen of us arrived there, and we were attacked by four people, who were urged on by others,” -Keren, Ta’ayush Activist.

Settlers Attacking at Hilltop 18

Yesterday masked settler youth attacked Ta’ayush activists at an illegal outpost called Hilltop 18 near the mega settlement of Kiryat Arba in the South Mount Hebron Hills. This is an outpost that Ta’ayush has been monitoring for over one year and Mairav/I have written about in Haaretz. Below is a video of settler demi-god Baruch Marzel attacking Ta’ayush activists at Hilltop 18 last April.

The settlers reacted with pure violence and hatred towards Ta’ayush activists who came to the outpost in order to monitor its construction which has been deemed illegal by international and Israeli law. The right of center mass daily Yediot Aharont has run a typically skewed account of the day’s events. Please follow the link for video form Ta’ayush. (Hebrew Link). I will be posting video of the event when I have it. Notice that no comment is made about how the army/police handled the settlers obivious attacks.

No settlers were arrested or charged with any crime despite the clear violence of the attacks. This attack has come a day after the Sheikh Jarrah protest which has garned international headlines. Unfortunately, this attack will not penetrate mainstream media outlets in the same way despite its obvious news quality. Even the left leaning daily Haaretz is not covering the crimes. Only Yediot because of the papers obvious right wing leanings.

hilltop 18, Settler Violence

My Testimony

Jun 10th

Posted by Joseph Dana in Southern Hebron Hills

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Today I went to the police station at the Russian Compound in central Jerusalem to provide my testimony of the assault on a fellow Ta’ayush activist by Baruch Marzel last month at Hilltop 26 (18). We are hopeful that Marzel will be held accountable for the assault, however experience shows this is not likely.

Just this week, settler Ze’ev Braude who shot and injured Palestinians in Hebron had his indictment rescinded and was released due to the court’s decision not to disclose “classified information,” citing security concerns. Clearly “security” trumps justice and as such, yet another violent Israeli living in the occupied territories dodges punishment, free to continue endangering lives in the name of state security.

Policeman Yoav met me at the station in plain clothes and asked me to wait while he found a room for us. His dyed silver hair spiked up with gel made him look rather pubescent for a middle-aged police officer. While uploading the old IBM computer in the small room where a Beitar Jerusalem poster was hanging, I asked him how things were in Hebron today, where he is stationed. He said fine and mentioned that he had never seen me before, and then asked if I am “affiliated” with any group.

When I replied “Ta’ayush,” he said, “oh yes, with Ezra” and proceeded to inquire as to who the leader of our group is and who organizes and arranges our activities. I asked how this is relevant to the testimony and he said it is not, that he is just curious. I reserved my right to remain silent, despite the fact that nothing about our activities is covert and I’m certain the police is well aware of what we do.

He typed quite slowly, with both his index fingers, and I found it amusing when he asked me how to spell Ta’ayush, which he thought was a Hebrew acronym, unaware that it is in fact a term in Arabic meaning “life in common.”

I proceeded to present my testimony, telling him about what I saw, about the blatant violence inflicted on us under the gaze of the IDF and police, who did nothing to curtail it, much less take the attackers into custody. He asked some questions of clarification and that was it. While waiting quite a while for the archaic, dusty printer to work, the policeman turned to me and said, “I’m not used to this office. I have much better conditions in Hebron.” It left me wondering to which side of the Green Line the authorities will send the next new batch of computers and printers they receive.

Here is a video clip of part of the assault:

baruch marzel, hilltop 18, IDF, Settler Violence, taayush

update from hilltop 18: Rebuilding an illegal outpost

May 31st

Posted by Joseph Dana in Southern Hebron Hills

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Ta’ayush has been tracking the illegal outpost of hilltop 18 (26) over the past two months. Last week it was ‘dismantled’ by the IDF at the directive of the Israeli government. This is an important step but, if history is any guide, not a long lasting one. The day the outpost was ‘dismantled’ Ta’ayush activists were on the ground protecting local Palestinian residents from settler attacks of reprisal. We were not able to reach the actual outpost because of the IDF presence and certain arrest waiting for us there. Our goal was to document the reconstruction of the outpost. Today the settlers of Kiryat Arba have done us a favor and posted photos of their rebuilding. You can visit their forum here if you read Hebrew otherwise here are the photos. Does the Israeli government think that the public is stupid? Why don’t they declare the area a closed military zone and not let any settlers return? I am taken aback by this insanity.