Israeli settlers attack and injure foreign volunteers in occupied West Bank
- Eight mainly American volunteers were working with farmers in an olive grove when settlers came after them, said a group member
Israeli settlers on Sunday attacked a group of foreign volunteers helping Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank, injuring some who needed hospital treatment, the activists and Israeli army said.
Eight mainly American volunteers were working with the farmers in an olive grove near the Palestinian village of Qusra when settlers came after them, said David Hummel, an American-German in the group.
“We were standing there peacefully, not a threat to anyone, when they started coming towards us and pushing us down the path,” Hummel told Agence France-Presse.
“They started attacking and beating us all with sticks and metal pipes and they were throwing rocks as well at us,” he said.
“I was attacked on my legs, on my arms and here on my jaw as well and it was ... very violent,” added the volunteer, showing bruising to his face.
The volunteers are from the International Solidarity Movement, a group that says it deploys people to form a “protective presence” for Palestinians at risk of facing violence in the West Bank.