International condemnation of arson terror attack which claimed life of toddler
Fresh violence breaks out between settlers and Palestinian villagers in the West Bank
Condemnation of the arson attack on a Palestinian home in the West Bank village of Duma, in which 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha was killed and several other family members seriously injured, has been swift to come from the international community.
The U.N. Security Council declared it to be a "vicious terrorist attack," and demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice, encouraging all sides "to work to lower tension, reject violence, avoid all provocations, and seek a path toward peace."
The US State Department also urged both sides to "maintain calm and avoid escalating tensions" in the wake of the "vicious terror attack."
American Jewish groups have expressed their dismay at what they perceive to be a lack of action by Israeli leaders. The Times of Israel reported that Anti-Defamation League (ADL) National Director Jonathan Greenblatt and Carole Nuriel, Director of ADL’s Israel Office jointly declared that “expressions of outrage” by Israeli leaders “are no longer enough.”
The New Israel Fund, a left-wing group, agreed with this sentiment.
“One cannot say, year after year, that Israel exists only for its Jewish citizens, or only for the Jewish citizens who comply with a narrow, right-wing interpretation of Zionism, and then be shocked when extremists feel free to express hatred and do violence and innocent children are murdered,” the group stated, according to the Times of Israel.
The organization said that right-wing leaders “have tolerated or personified incitement and exclusion” and now they “need to be held responsible for their rhetoric and their actions.”
For more on this, please see Analysis: This time, Israelis may have to pay the price tag
Continuation of violence
There was a violent confrontation Saturday morning between settlers and Palestinians from the village of Qusra. It was reported by Ynet that he incident began when Palestinians tried to use heavy machinery to prepare land for agricultural use. Settlers from the Esh Kodesh outpost arrived, and scuffles broke out. Security forces were called and separated the sides.
The incident took place on farmland located 100 yards from the fence surrounding the outpost, but settlers dispute the Palestinian ownership of the land. The settlers claimed that a nearby vineyard which was under Jewish ownership, was subject to an arson attack.
Eye-witness account
A relative of the Dawabsha family told Haaretz that he saw two masked men standing next to the parents of 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha as they lay burning on the ground outside their home.
Ibrahim Mohammed Dawabsha said that when he heard screaming, he ran to try to help his family members.
“I saw Sa'ad and Reham burning on the ground. Next to them were two masked men, one beside each of them. They were dressed in jeans and black long-sleeved shirts,” he told the newspaper. “Their faces were covered with a balaclava, with only the mouth and eyes visible. The street light shone directly on them. I was horrified by what I saw. They saw me and I was frightened and ran back home. I told my brother Bishar to get help and returned to Saad’s house where I no longer saw the two masked men” said Ibrahim, also adding that the men were not armed.
Tragic memories
The arson attack on the Dawabsha family home was the worst attack by Israeli extremists since a Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir was torched to death in Jerusalem a year ago, in an apparent revenge attack after the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers by Palestinian militants in the West Bank.
Abu Khdeir's father spoke to Ynet about the latest attack, explaining “we feel that our son was murdered all over again.
“We went through — and are still going through it. We are burned, they burned our son and they burned us, and until today we are in a difficult state,” said Abu Khdeir.
“The Israeli government doesn’t want peace. Half of the government are settlers, they don’t want peace - they don’t want to do anything. They want both land and peace, and that is impossible. It is either land or peace. They have to get out of the [Palestinian] territories,” he added.