The Role of Israeli Settler Violence in the Current Crisis

October 2000

Attacks perpetrated by extremists of the Israeli settler movement are one of the most under-reported aspect of the violence raging in the West Bank and Gaza. The first Palestinian to be killed by settlers since the uprising began September 28, 2000 was 18-month-old Sara Abdel Atheem Abdel Haq, shot and killed on October 1. In the first 11 months of the uprising, 16 Palestinians have died at the hands of Israeli settlers. Settler attacks have included the indiscriminate destruction of Palestinian property, shooting live ammunition at Palestinian homes, burning down Palestinian shops, stopping Palestinian cars and beating drivers, burning agricultural fields and uprooting trees, opening fire against Palestinians at random and preventing ambulances from reaching wounded Palestinians.

These rampages are not anomalous, nor are they spontaneous responses to the current climate of fear and violence. Rather, these attacks are pre-planned, organized and directed by the extremist wing of the Israeli settler movement, which has always played a key role in enforcing Israel�s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

In 1973 Israel�s District Defense Regulations first empowered settlers to perform reserve military duty in the areas in which they live. Since then, regional army patrols, charged with protecting Palestinians from settler attacks, have often been comprised of local settlers. In 1981, Israeli Military Order 898 authorized settlers to demand identification from Palestinians and to arrest Palestinians without warrants. It also incorporated the settlers into the army�s "territorial defense units" under their own command, with weapons, training and equipment provided by the state. These units spawned a series of self-appointed militias, which have enjoyed the vocal support of past and present Israeli Knesset (Parliament) Members including Rehavam Ze�evi (the Moledet Party leader who declared that he would shoot any Palestinian police officer who approached him in the autonomous areas), Hanan Porat (National Religious Party) and Uzi Landau (Likud). In 1992, then-Police Minister Roni Milo authorized these militias to patrol outside the borders of the settlements. Since then, they have expanded their patrols through the streets of Palestinian population centers, arbitrarily body-searching and beating Palestinians, smashing cars and shop windows, blocking roads and disseminating threatening leaflets. After the outbreak of the Intifada, then-Defense Minister Rabin again broadened the settlers� powers by authorizing them to shoot Palestinians who posed unspecified "imminent danger."

In strong-holds of settler militarism like Kiryat Arba in Hebron, Israeli army arsenals managed by resident settlers provide constant access to automatic weapons, ammunition and other types of military hardware. Kiryat Arba is the site of an Israeli army communications center, which supplies the settlers with state-of-the-art surveillance equipment and access to the entire regional communications network of the police and army. This center has been used to coordinate vigilante settler activity since its establishment in 1989. Finally, as any visitor to Hebron or Nablus can attest, every settler age 18 and older is entitled to an army-issued submachine gun. Even younger teenagers can be seen in the streets with semi-automatic weapons.

Because of the settlers� para-military status, their attacks should not be perceived as mob violence undertaken by private citizens. Historically, the relationship between settler militias and the Israel Defense Forces has been one of symbiosis: settlers were integrated into Israeli "defense strategy" in exchange for ensuring the submission of local Palestinian populations. Like other para-military forces, the Israeli settlers are often a more effective arm of repression than the army, because their quasi-official status allows the government to deny accountability for their actions. In fact, settler attacks sometimes occur in full view of Israeli troops, who do not interfere in the violence.

Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel is legally obligated to protect the civilian population living under its military occupation. The state�s complicity in settler violence demonstrates Israel�s failure to comply with the Convention, which it has signed and ratified. Palestinian and Israeli peace activists therefore demand United Nations intervention to protect Palestinians from attack by Israeli settlers.

MADRE supports this demand and has issued several calls for international observers to be sent to the region. MADRE has also called for the United Nations Security Council to press Israel to halt settler attacks, through restrictions on settler paramilitary activities and disarmament.