Israeli settlers attack Palestinian teacher

Midhat Abu Karsh (photo from Khalid Amayreh in el-Sammou, Hebron)

Hebron – Ma’an – A mob of Israeli settlers attacked 30-year-old Midhat Abu Karsh, a Palestinian teacher from the southern West Bank village of As-Samu’ south of Hebron on Saturday.

Abu Karsh was hit in the head with sharp objects before he was dragged to a nearby settlement outpost where he was tied to an electricity pole.

Eyewitnesses affirmed that four Israeli settlers struck Abu Karsh with clubs until his head began to bleed. He remained tied to the pole until an Israeli patrol came and untied him in order to administer first aid. Shortly after, Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances evacuated the teacher to the ‘Alya Hospital in Hebron.

According to Abdul-Majid Al-Badarin, member of the local committee for defending lands at As-Samu’, Israeli soldiers prevented local residents from accessing the injured teacher, and the ambulance had tried to reach him for two hours before it was allowed through.

The assault against Abu Karsh coincided with a rally in the neighborhood organized by local farmers, foreign and Israeli activists demanding that farmers have access to their agricultural lands.

During that rally, Israeli forces arrested 21-year-old Mahran Abu Karsh (a relative of the beaten man) and another boy aged 13 who was released after protest.

Local residents accused settlers of setting fire to 15 dunums (15,000 square meters) of wheat in southern As Samu’. They mentioned that one Israeli settler is currently building a settlement outpost two kilometers from the Israeli settlement of Sham’a. The settler has been opening fire on Palestinian farmers when they came to tend their fields.