Jewish settlers escalate attacks on unarmed Palestinians

EU report notes huge increase in Jewish settler attacks
By Andrew Rettman

BRUSSELS - EU countries' ambassadors in Ramallah have said Israeli authorities are not doing enough to stop a massive increase in attacks by Jewish extremists against Palestinians. The attacks varied from gunfire to throwing stones and garbage, including at Palestinian schoolchildren, as well as burning homes and mosques, killing livestock and uprooting olive trees. They caused three deaths and 183 injuries last year. Some 10,000 mostly olive trees were destroyed...

The EU diplomats depicted settler attacks as part of a broader Israeli campaign to get rid of native Palestinians, saying they "effectively force a withdrawal of the Palestinian population away from the vicinity of settlements, thereby increasing the scope for settlement expansion."

...The EU report said over 90 percent of complaints filed by Palestinians ended with no indictment. The complaints are not easy to make because in most cases Palestinians have to go to police stations inside Jewish settlements and conduct formalities in Hebrew.

Meanwhile, Jews and Palestinians live under two different legal regimes in the occupied territory - if a Jewish boy throws a stone at a Palestinian it is treated as a misdemeanour under civil law, but if a Palestinian boy throws one, it is treated as an act of terrorism under military law.

Full report at EU Observer 13 March 2012