One day after the International Court of Justice declared the Israeli occupation illegal, settlers in the West Bank brutally attack Palestinians and American volunteers – Mondoweiss

Editor’s note: Defend Palestine issued the following press release on July 21, 2024, following an attack on its volunteers in the West Bank village of Qusra, south of Nablus.

Shortly after the International Court of Justice’s decision to declare the entire Israeli occupation illegal and to point to systematic irresponsibility for settler violence, three international volunteers, all American citizens, were evacuated to a hospital in Nablus after they were attacked by settlers in the West Bank village of Qusra, south of Nablus. Israeli authorities on the ground failed to arrest the attackers.

Settlers hailing from the extremist Israeli settler outpost of Esh Kodesh attacked Palestinian farmers tending their land, as well as international volunteers accompanying them to protect them from such attacks. The Israeli settlers carried out the attack using metal pipes and batons, and threw stones at the people at close range.

Three of the international volunteers suffered injuries that were believed to be broken bones and required hospitalization. A Berkeley City College student was struck in the face and arm with a metal pipe (see photo below) and two other American volunteers were beaten with wooden clubs. A fourth American volunteer suffered minor injuries after being pelted with rocks by the settlers, who also stole her phone.

For more information on other recent settler attacks, see this video from Al Jazeera.

Photo: Student volunteer from Berkeley City College is violently attacked by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank

The IDF soldiers who arrived on the scene threatened to shoot a Palestinian farmer who was accompanied by the international volunteers. The volunteers pleaded, “He is with us!” and the soldiers fired two shots in the air next to the Palestinian. In addition, the Israeli police emergency number refused to send forces, telling the international volunteer who asked them for help that “the army has notified them that there is no need to send forces.” None of the Israeli settlers were arrested or punished for the numerous attacks they carried out.

The volunteers attacked were part of the recently launched “Defend Palestine” campaign organized by Palestinian grassroots activists. The campaign calls on international volunteers to come to the West Bank en masse and become part of an organized international protection presence.

Mohammed Khatib, a Palestinian organizer of the campaign, said: “Today’s attack, less than 24 hours after the International Court of Justice ruled that the Israeli occupation is illegal and settlers enjoy impunity for committing violence, is further proof of the urgent need for international civil protection in Palestine. Eighteen communities in the West Bank have been completely wiped out by such violence since October, and the Palestinian people have no time to wait any longer.”

The village of Qusra, surrounded by the settlement of Migdalim and the settler outposts of Esh Kodesh, Bar Farm, Ahiya and Kida, is the target of almost daily attacks by Israeli settlers, who attack villagers, vandalize farms and even burn down several houses in the village without being punished. On October 11, four villagers were killed in one such attack and two more in another attack the following day, October 12.

The attack took place today as international volunteers were escorting farmers to their olive groves near the Israeli outpost of Esh Kodesh. Unchecked settler violence has denied farmers access to these groves and many other parts of their land since October. Although this is private Palestinian land in Area B, which has been under Palestinian administration since 1994, Israeli authorities have made no attempts to rein in the settlers or take any measures to allow Palestinians to use their land.

Palestinian organizers and American volunteers from Defend Palestine, including all those injured today, call on the White House, Congress, and the U.S. State Department to:

1. Investigate today’s attack in Qusra, establish the identities of the settler attackers, and impose comprehensive sanctions on them, as the State Department did on July 11, 2024, when it imposed sanctions on three other violent Israeli settlers and five entities.
2. Make any economic, diplomatic or military support for Israel conditional on Israel’s full compliance with the ICJ ruling, including the withdrawal of its forces and settlers from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
3. Demand and enforce a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the provision of humanitarian aid, and the release of all Palestinian prisoners.
4. Demand the departure of all settlers who are US citizens. An estimated 100,000 of the more than 700,000 Israeli settlers living illegally on occupied Palestinian land. If they refuse to leave, they too should face immediate sanctions.
5. Revoking tax exemption for U.S.-based nonprofits that fund Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied Palestinian territories.
6. Comply with international law and take all necessary steps to realize the rights of the Palestinian people to security, justice and self-determination.

“What happened today is further proof that the Biden administration’s lip service to Israeli settlers is not enough and that much tougher sanctions are needed against the Israeli institutions responsible for enabling Israeli violence and settler impunity,” said Jonathan Pollak, organizer of Defend Palestine.