9 April 1997

A Jewish settler in the middle of Hebron yesterday opened fire with an Uzi submachine gun at close range and killed Asem Arafeh, 24 years old. According to Palestinian witnesses, Arafeh “exchanged words” with the settlers, whereupon he was shot. In the ensuing demonstrations which followed his death, Israeli soldiers shot and killed two others; 15 year old Yacoub al Joulani who died from a rubber bullet which penetrated his head, and 24 year old Nader a Said, also hit in the head with a rubber bullet. According to reliable sources inside the Israeli military, Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition at the protesters. One hundred and three people were injured.

Clashes continued today during and after the funeral of Asem Arafeh, and some 30 have been injured until now.

In a similar incident, on 7 April, in a vigilante-style response to stone-throwing, a Jewish settler from Dolev settlement, north of Ramallah, opened fire with an M16 assault rifle on Palestinians from the village of Harbata. Apparently he shot out the right window of his car, and finally got out of his car to shoot more carefully at passing pedestrians. One 18 year old Palestinian was seriously wounded in the chest, another 26 year old in his right leg. Witnesses state that neither had participated in stone-throwing. This settler consistently drove on the road through the village, instead of driving on the settler’s road built to avoid incidents of this type.

The atmosphere in the West Bank has steadily deteriorated since the Israeli government began construction on Abu Ghneim hill on 18 March. Seven Palestinians have been killed thus far from Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers, including a child who was run over and killed by an Israeli tank. Hundreds more have been wounded in clashes throughout the West Bank.

The context in which this violence has taken place is quite clear. Increasing settlement expansion and the construction of new settlements, most notably “Har Homa” on Abu Ghneim mountain near Bethlehem, reflect a general policy on the part of the Israeli government to ignore their responsibilities under the Oslo agreements. Vigilante style shootings on the part of the settlers is just one indication of increasing state-legitimized violence against the Palestinian population of the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s consistent reference to “terrorism” and the now-infamous but unsubstantiated “green light” clouds the real fact that continuing violence, dispossession and settlement building by the Israeli government has created an intensely volatile and violent situation.

LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment is a non-governmental organization, dedicated to preserving human rights through legal advocacy. LAW is also an affiliate member of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights.