13 September 2008
IMRA translation of statement by
Yigal Amitai – Spokesman – Yitzhar – 052-4767065 amitayster[at]gmail.com
A new height was reached in the attack by the Arabs of Asira el-Kibliyeh against the residents of Yitzhar. A terrorist entered the Shalhevet neighborhood at dawn, burned a home to the ground, tried to break into an additional home and knifed a child from the neighborhood.Close to 06:30 a terrorist from the village entered the Shalhevet neighborhood in Yitzhar, dressed in jeans and a black shirt. The soldier posted at the position saw him, but says that he “didn’t realize that it was a terrorist.” The terrorist broke into the home of the Ben Shlomo family, which miraculously had gone for Shabbat to their parents in Rechovot. The terrorist burned the four room home to the ground, destroying all the belongings of the family of four.
The terrorist tried to break into the adjacent home of the Ofen family but the door was locked. He tried to open a window of the home, but the mother, Roital Ofer, saw him and struggled with him, thus preventing him from entering. The terrorist saw a 9 year old boy on the street on his was to the synagogue, and knifed him. The child struggled with him, but the terrorist overwhelmed him and threw him down a nearby ravine of some five meters depth.
This is the seventh arson incident in recent months carried out by the Arabs of Asira against Yitzhar.
Despite this, neither the police nor the IDF has taken any significant step to arrest the arsonists or deter them.
Instead of this, IDF Central Command chief, Major-General Gadi Shamni decided only two weeks ago to remove one of the residents of the neighborhood from his home because of the approaching Palestinian olive harvest. “Unfortunately, the olives of the Arabs of Asira are more important to General Shamni than the blood of a Jewish child.”
Israel National News account of the attack on Yizhar and the Yizhar reaction:
Arab Terrorist Stabs Boy in Yitzhar, Residents Attack Village
An Arab terrorist stabbed a nine-year-old Jewish boy at the Shalhevet neighborhood in Yitzhar in Samaria on the Sabbath, torched an empty house and tried to set fire to a second building. The terrorist threw the boy four meters down off of an outdoor porch, into an area filled with construction material – yet he landed on the only bush in the area. He was treated in a nearby hospital and was said to be in light condition.
Dozens of residents of Yitzhar retaliated and attacked the adjacent Arab village of Asira al-Kabaliya, where it is suspected the terrorist resides. Villagers claimed that the Jews rioted in the village, destroyed houses, overturned vehicles and shot at least two Arabs.Arabs threw rocks and stones at the Jews until IDF soldiers arrived, broke up the riots and slapped a curfew on the village. The troops arrested one suspect in the stabbing.
A relatively unknown terrorist group calling itself Ahrar Al-Jalil (Freedom for the Galilee) Brigades claimed responsibility for the arson and attack on the boy. The same group claimed it was behind two bulldozer and backhoe attacks in Jerusalem earlier this year in which three people were killed and several were wounded.
Other Attacks
Elsewhere in Judea and Samaria, Arab stone throwers hurled rocks at Jewish motorists in the eastern Gush Etzion town of Tekoa, hitting at least one tour bus and lightly injuring two passengers. Soldiers responded by shooting in the air, and said they were not aware of any injuries to the Arab attackers.Later, Arabs claimed that the soldiers in the area shot and killed a 16-year-old youth who was among a group that attacked soldiers with stones. The IDF denied there was any such incident.
On Friday, soldiers shot in the air to disperse rioting Arabs in Hevron. The soldiers had arrested two Palestinian Authority (PA) policemen who broke an agreement not to enter the Jewish areas of Hevron.
In addition, soldiers also clashed with more than 100 Arab who rioted in the Arab village of Naalin, near the separation barrier, which sustained damage.
Arab Knesset Member Ahmed Tibi called the Jews from Yitzhar “two-legged animals,” and MK Zahava Gal’on (Meretz) demanded th
at Defense Minister Ehud Barak take action against the “violent settlers who are rioting and hurting Palestinians.”
The radical left-wing Peace Now group called on Public Security Minister Avi Dichter (Kadima) to take away the right to bear arms from the Yitzhar residents who opened fire.
However, Danny Dayan, leader of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, accused the critics of “dancing on the blood” of the boy, whose attack was not condemned by the pro-Arab Jewish groups. Dayan condemned violence “of any kind.”
Lastly, PM Olmert’s comments on the subject, as delivered at the regular Sunday cabinet meeting:
“I would like to begin by referring to events that occurred over the weekend in northern Samaria. As you know, there was a terrorist attack at Yitzhar in which a terrorist infiltrated the community. A young boy was wounded and there was an attempt to perpetrate a more serious attack. This was a serious and harsh thing and our security forces are dealing with these issues and will reach those who were involved and will do what needs to be done, as they do so admirably throughout the year. However, the residents of Yitzhar and nearby places responded by assaulting Arab residents in a nearby Palestinian village. They used live weapons and wounded Palestinian residents even though there was no basis to assume, and no knowledge to the effect, that these residents were at all connected, whether directly or indirectly, to the terrorist attack in Yitzhar. This phenomenon of taking the law into one’s hands, of violent disturbances, of brutality by Jewish elements living in communities in Judea and Samaria, whether in recognized communities or in illegal outposts, is intolerable and will be dealt with sharply and harshly by the law enforcement authorities of the State of Israel.
There will be no pogroms against non-Jewish residents in the State of Israel. We have law enforcement authorities. We have police. We have security services. First and foremost, we have a military that knows how to deal with incidents in which Jews are attacked and to fight terrorists, and it will not lend a hand to those who take the law into their hands and attack innocents as was done over the weekend in the gravest manner. There have been incidents in which this violence and this brutality have been directed against not only those whom the settlers suspect to be terrorists but also against Israeli soldiers and commanders. An IDF company commander’s hand was broken by settlers. This is intolerable and I instruct the security elements in the territories to act strongly in order to prevent such events from recurring and to bring those responsible to justice, pure and simple.
