Foreign Victim of Settler Violence in Hebron The Palestinian Human Right Monitoring Group

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PHRMG Hotline Update # 3/2002

Jerusalem, February 12, 2002

Foreign Victim of Settler Violence in Hebron

One would think that it should be easier for non-Palestinian victims of settler violence to bring settler criminals to justice. The case of Angela Zelter indicates just how hard it really is, and how settlers in Hebron operate with almost total impunity.

On 29 August 2001, an Israeli settler assaulted Angela Zetler, a British peace activist affiliated with the Christian Peacemakers Team (CPT) in the Old City of Hebron.

As she was taking photographs in the Old City of Hebron, Ms. Zelter came upon a group of settlers armed with rocks attacking Palestinian civilians, including Saadi Suliman al-Karaka (75) in the presence of a number of Israeli soldiers. One of the soldiers and another Palestinian attempted to help the old man who was bleeding from his head and neck, but the soldiers refused to call for an ambulance. Ms. Zelter began to take photographs of the man’s injuries and of the settlers as they continued to attack other Palestinians in the area. Alarmed by the increasing violence, she approached an armed man standing nearby and appealed to him to help stop the attack. The following is an excerpt from Ms. Zelter’s testimony:

“I was trying to take photos of the violence going on all around and also asking him to try to stop it rather than letting it going on. He screamed that he had to suffer while the filthy Arabs took over his land and how he couldn’t go certain places because of them, how they should all be killed. This may have taken only a couple of minutes but as he continued to scream at me more kids were gathering around and shouting ‘Nazi, Nazi’ and he got angrier and angrier and hatred was streaming out of him. One of his hands was clenched on his gun which was held slung out of him and it was jerking up and down. He suddenly came at me ‘to teach me’ and hit me on the right hand side of the head. I flinched and shut my eyes and did not see which hand he hit me with. The violent assault continued and he grabbed my camera which was round my neck and which I held in my hands. I tried to keep hold of it but he wrestled it out of my hands and over my ears and dashed it to the ground and stamped on it over and over again, screaming. By this time I was starting to cry from shock at seeing the old man hit with the rock and from all the hate and violence I was experiencing from the armed settler. I just stood there with my hands open, looking at him with tears streaming down my face, trying to stop crying but not managing. Unfortunately my weakness seemed to make him and the kids even angrier. By this time the kids were closing in with taunts and I was really scared. Soldiers were looking on from their cars, like they had the whole time.”

At that point, another CPT worker approached with several Israeli police officers, who observed some of the children exposing the film from the broken camera. Ms. Zelter told the police what had transpired, and requested them to take fingerprints from the camera and arrest the man who had abused her. The Israeli police detained the settler and allowed Ms. Zelter to come to the police station to file an official complaint. The Israeli police refused to give Ms. Zelter a copy of her statement, and would not tell her the name of the man who had attacked her, allegedly because they feared she would retaliate against him or his family.

Incredibly, the case against the settler was later dropped by the Israeli police for lack of evidence despite the fact that he was identified and arrested at the scene of the assault and despite the existence of numerous eyewitnesses, including Israeli soldiers and police.

Both Angela Zelter and the PHRMG have contacted the British Consulate in East Jerusalem who have been in contact with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding this complaint. As a result, the Israeli police now claim to be looking into the case, but have not confirmed that it will be re-opened for investigation and prosecution.

To date, thirty-one of thirty-three letters sent by the PHRMG to the Israeli police regarding cases of settler violence have gone unanswered. We can only assume that nothing has been done in those cases in which we have received no response from the police to our inquiries. Lack of proper police follow-up of complaints filed by Palestinian victims is a serious and consistent problem and creates the impression that there is no legal redress for Palestinian victims of settler violence. The PHRMG is preparing to petition the High Court for an order requiring the Israeli police to respond to correspondence sent on behalf of our clients.