A Jewish settler today attacked an elderly Palestinian man in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, pepper-spraying him in the face, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Eyewitnesses said that a Jewish settler approached Mohammad Daoud Abbasi and pepper-sprayed him in the face, inducing burning sensation and temporary blindness.
Abbasi, along with his sons, was attempting to protect their land in the Wadi al-Rababeh area in Silwan from being taken over by the settler when the attack took place.
#فيديو اصابات لمسنين وشبان بحالات اختناق بعد رشهم من قبل #المستوطنين الذين يحاولون الاستيلاء على ارض عائلة العباسيVideoElderly and youths suffocated after being sprayed with pepper gas by settlers that attempted to seize a land in Wadi Al-Rababeh in #Silwan
Posted by Wadi Hilweh Information Center – Silwan مركز معلومات وادي حلوه -سلوان on Thursday, June 18, 2020
The Silwan-based Wadi Hilweh Information Center posted a video showing Abbasi sitting in the shade of one of his olive trees following the assault, with Israeli police and paramedics around.
The sound of an excavator which settlers escorted to dig the land can be heard in the background.
The Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem along with settlers are trying to lay their hand on the privately-owned Palestinian land in the Wadi al-Rababeh area, which is planted with olive trees, and turn it into some sort of park.
Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.
Jewish Settlers Rule the Roost in Israel, But at What Price?
by Ramzy Baroud@RamzyBaroud #Israel #settlementshttps://t.co/Z8IFUQc834 pic.twitter.com/DJKTZ9yAjg— Antiwar.com (@Antiwarcom) August 23, 2019
“Jewish settler violence should not be analyzed separately from the violence meted out by the Israeli army, but seen within the larger context of the violent Zionist ideology that governs Israeli society entirely,” wrote Palestinian author and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud.
“Settler violence has long since become part of Palestinians’ daily life under occupation,” according to the Human Rights Group B’tselem. “Israeli security forces enable these actions, which result in Palestinian casualties – injuries and fatalities – as well as damage to land and property. In some cases, they even serve as an armed escort, or even join in the attacks”.
Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law.
(Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)
