clear

Creating new perspectives since 2009

Israel settlers threaten Palestinian workers over cooperation with human rights groups

February 5, 2019 at 11:48 am

Israeli settlement units in Jerusalem on 25 October 2017 [AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images]

Israeli settlers in the southern occupied West Bank have “posted flyers warning Palestinian labourers not to cooperate with Israeli human rights activists or organisations if they want to keep their jobs”, reported +972 Magazine.

“Do you wish to keep working in the settlements? Do you want to provide a living for your families from the Jews? Whoever cooperates with any one of these individuals and organizations (Ta’ayush and Rabbis for Human Rights) will never be allowed to enter the settlements for work. Be warned!”

Settlers based in the so-called Gush Etzion bloc “have been posting these intimidating flyers around Palestinian villages nearby”, stated the article. “The flyers threaten to ban Palestinians who cooperate with human rights groups from working in settlements there.”

The flyer includes photos and names of prominent Israeli and Palestinian activists, and singles out Ta’ayush and Rabbis for Human Rights, “two organisations that accompany and protect Palestinians in the occupied West Bank from threats of settler violence”, +972 Magazine reported.

READ: PA calls on UN for protection after Israel expels international observers

The flyer reads: “Do you wish to keep working in the settlements? Do you want to provide a living for your families from the Jews? Whoever cooperates with any one of these individuals and organisations will never be allowed to enter the settlements for work. Be warned!”

The settlers consider the flyers to be “a reaction to Palestinians who have been working at the behest of ‘extreme leftist’ organisations and ‘illegally taking over lands around and within Israeli communities in the eastern part of Gush Etzion’”, according to pro-settler media.

+972 Magazine reported that “while settlers are busy threatening Palestinians over alleged land theft in Gush Etzion, the Israeli government has been busy allocating around 300 acres for the planning of a new neighbourhood that would expand the settlement of Efrat”.

Are Israeli settlers really innocent? – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]