Palestinian residents of the Occupied West Bank are violently attacked by settlers on a regular basis. In the past few months alone, Palestinians have been assaulted and threatened with pepper spray, stones and firearms, they have been violently driven off their land, their olive trees have been uprooted, their crops have been stolen and destroyed and their cars have been burned. These are just some of the violent attacks settlers have perpetrated with impunity during the Covid-19 crisis as documented by B’Tselem. Studies conducted by Yesh Din indicate that the probability of the perpetrators of these acts being successfully prosecuted is extremely low. Testimonies collected by Breaking the Silence reveal a reality in which IDF soldiers stand idly by while these attacks take place.

In this webinar, we hear from Said Taleb, Palestinian landowner and mayor of the West Bank town of Turmusayya; Sarit Michaeli of B’Tselem on documentation of settler violence; and Merphie Bubis, who spent her IDF service in the Nablus region of the West Bank in the IDF’s Civil Administration and is now active in Breaking the Silence. The discussion is moderated by Sharona Weiss of Yesh Din.

This session was featured as part of our ‘Zooming in on the occupation’ webinar series.