Israel settlers, soldiers harass Palestinian family picnicking in West Bank

A picnicking Palestinian family in the West Bank were forced to abandon their day out after being harassed by Israeli settlers, The New Arab reported.

Video footage uploaded to Facebook shows the family, who were enjoying a picnic in Ramallah near Kafr Jibiya, were approached by Israelis from a nearby illegal settlement, and aggressively told to leave on the basis they were “Arabs”.

The video shows one of the settlers saying: “You’re not Israelis, you’re Arabs, we did you a favour when we let you stay”.

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After the family initially refused to leave the area, one of the settlers stole their belongings and threw their drinks onto the campfire, before finally calling Israeli soldiers to remove them.

When the soldiers arrived, they told the family they had to leave and said that they were “not allowed here”.

Although it was pointed out that the area was a public space by the Palestinian mother, the soldiers persisted and moved them on, saying they didn’t want to use “too much force”.

The Israeli army has said they are “looking into” the conduct of the soldiers.

According to international law, Israeli settlements established in occupied territories, including the West Bank are illegal.

Proceedings by the International Criminal Court have been started, looking at the Gaza 2014 war, the treatment of Palestinian prisoners, and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements into the West Bank.

READ: Settlers stop Palestine TV documenting settlement activities in West Bank