Monday, April 12, 2010

Israeli settlers assaulted Ecumenical Accompaniers

East Jerusalem tension has hardened in Sheikh Jarrah.

Hardline Israeli settler youths assaulted three female Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) in Jerusalem on Monday, hurling rocks and bottles in an unprovoked attack. For the full report and links, go to http://www.eappi.org/en/news/eappi-news/se/article/4566/settlers-attack-eas-with.html

One accompanier in her sixties was bruised on the arm when one of the young men threw a fist-sized rock at her. The group of around eight young men approached the women, shouting obscenities and making rude gestures.

The EAs filmed the incident and it can be viewed on Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPm1AQqF77M

On Tuesday last week, four of the settlers that appear in the video clip were banned for a month from Sheikh Jarrah. the Israeli courts gave two more families in Sheikh Jarrah a month's notice to leave their houses. This would bring the number of evicted families to five, including dozens of individuals, many of them children.

For much more about the tension and injustice in Sheikh Jarrah, see the United Nations OCHA website, "Special Focus : The Planning Crisis in East Jerusalem, April 2009" - http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_planning_crisis_east_jerusalem_april_2009_english.pdf

And from MIFTA, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, "In East Jerusalem, a Defining Battle Over Palestinian Ownership in Sheikh Jarrah" - http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=21710&CategoryId=5

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