Israeli settler blockades part of escalating violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank
"I can't go outside": Israeli settler attacks higher than any year on record, driving settlement expansion
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attacks → escalate → expansion
But the U.S. citizenship of one of the Palestinian homeowners has drawn more media attention than the near-daily acts of aggression by hardline Jewish settlers aimed at pushing Palestinians from their land typically receive.
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acts → draw → land
Ohio-based businessman Loui Ridi returned to Qusra on Monday, August 17, to protect his home – and his brother and nephew, who live there — as settlers encircled it and two nearby homes.
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settlers → base → it
"I called my brother and he said, 'I have no food.
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I → call → food
I don't want to leave the house, but I need food,'" Ridi told CBC news in a video call from Qusra after his arrival.
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Ridi → want → arrival
For them to leave, he said, would be to invite the settlers to take his home.
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he → leave → home
"Just two months ago [settlers] were at my neighbour's village in Jalud," he said.
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he → say → Jalud
"They put a siege on the family for a couple of weeks.
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They → put → weeks
And unfortunately, they managed to kick them out of their own house."
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they → manage → house
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law.
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settlements → consider → law
They have expanded significantly under the current government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultranationalist coalition partners, who critics accuse of giving tacit approval to settler violence.
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critics → expand → violence
One of Ridi's first acts after returning to Qusra was to fly an American flag from the roof of his building.
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One → return → building
He's asked the U.S. Embassy for help.
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He → ask → help
Qusra is about 16 kilometres south of Nablus as the crow flies and is surrounded by settlement blocs, including Migdalim and Shilo, as well as a growing number of outposts occupied by radical settlers.
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crow → fly → settlers
Settler attacks causing casualties or property damage are averaging about six incidents a day this year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs — "higher than in any year on record."
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attacks → cause → record
The violence in Qusra prompted a rebuke from the U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who denounced those responsible as "Israeli terrorists" on social media.
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who → prompt → media
"We're appalled at some of the things that have happened to families who are the victims of just criminal activity that is inexcusable and repugnant," he told Reuters in a later televised interview.
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he → appal → interview
"I don't call them settlers," he said.
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he → call → them
Huckabee is a strong supporter of Israel's settlement policy and of Jewish claims to a biblical right to the land, referring to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria.
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Huckabee → refer → Judea
More than 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.
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settlers → live → Jerusalem
Many live in large, long-established blocs, while others live in unauthorized outposts considered illegal even under Israeli law, at least on paper.
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others → live → paper
Huckabee has dismissed violent settlers as a small minority.
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Huckabee → dismiss → minority
Critics say that ignores what they describe as a de-facto institutional annexation of the West Bank that increasingly relies on violence.
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that → say → violence
"I think Mr Huckabee is missing the main point," said Dror Etkes, founder of Kerem Navot, an Israeli NGO that monitors Israeli settlements.
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that → think → settlements
The problem is the system which produces this type of violence," he said.
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he → produce → violence
"The idea that Israel can rule three million Palestinians in the West Bank through its military while more and more land is being grabbed and given to Israeli settlers.
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land → rule → settlers
At Qusra, Israeli border police and units from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) were deployed.
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police → deploy → Forces
The IDF said the forces were deployed to restore order and remove settlers blockading the Palestinian homes.
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forces → say → homes
"IDF and Border Police forces acted to restore order and remove the Israeli Civilians from the area," an IDF statement said.
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statement → act → area
It also said illegal structures erected in the area had been removed and that troops would remain.
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troops → say → area
Ridi said IDF soldiers declared the area around his home a closed military zone and urged him to stay inside, while allowing one settler to approach his property and intimidate him.
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settler → say → him
"I told the IDF guy, or the soldier, even though it's a military zone.
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it → tell → guy
Your job, you were sent here to move that settler and arrest him.
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you → send → him
On Friday, Reuters published a video apparently filmed by Ridi showing an Israeli soldier throwing items from the balcony of one of the besieged houses in Qusra and another dumping things into a well on the property.
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soldier → publish → property
For Palestinians, scenes like those contribute to an increasingly blurred line between soldiers and settlers.
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scenes → contribute → soldiers
IDF units operating in the West Bank can include ideological settlers, and the military also trains settler security units.
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military → operate → units
The IDF referred a query from CBC News about whether any Israelis had been arrested in connection with the Qusra blockade to Israeli police, who have not responded.
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who → refer → police
The fact that the settlers have not been permanently removed has fuelled a belief among Palestinians that the IDF is there to enable Israel's settlement enterprise.
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IDF → remove → enterprise
"Because if the Israeli army wants to move the settlers they can move [them] in just one hour," said Rabia Odeh, 22, another Qusra resident who lives on the other side of the village from Ridi.
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who → want → Ridi
"But the settlers and the Israeli army are playing together, just in front of our eyes."
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settlers → play → eyes
…and 17 more, not listed.
