> Footage from a video camera handed out by an Israeli human rights group
> appears to show Jewish settlers beating up Palestinians in the West Bank.
>
> An elderly shepherd, his wife and a nephew said they were attacked by four
> masked men for allowing their animals to graze near the settlement of Susia.
>
> The rights group, B'Tselem, said the cameras were provided to enable
> Palestinians to get proof of attacks.
>
> A spokesman for the Israeli police said that an investigation was under way.
>
> So far, no-one has been arrested.
>
> Baseball bats
>
> For the past year, B'Tselem has handed out video cameras to Palestinians as
> part of its "Shooting Back" project.
>
> Video of alleged attack near Susia (08 June 2008) (Footage courtesy of
> B'Tselem)
> The Palestinians said they were attacked after refusing to move
>
> The BBC has been given exclusive access to the footage of this particular
> attack, which happened earlier this week. The date and time on the camera
> footage shows that it is Sunday afternoon.
>
> Over the brow of the hill walk four masked men holding baseball bats. To the
> right of the screen, in the foreground, stands a 58-year-old Palestinian
> woman.
>
> Thamam al-Nawaja has been herding her goats close to the Jewish settlement
> of Susia, near Hebron in the southern West Bank.
>
> Within a few seconds, she, along with her 70-year-old husband and one of her
> nephews, will be beaten up.
>
> As the first blows land, the woman filming - the daughter-in-law of the
> elderly couple - drops the camera and runs for help.
>
> 'Ten-minute warning'
>
> Mrs Nawaja spent three days in hospital after the attack.
>
> Returning to the small Palestinian encampment close to the red-roofed houses
> of Susia, she stepped slowly and unsteadily out of the minibus.
>
>
> Thamam al-Nawaja returns to her village following the attack
> They don't want us to stay on our land, but we won't leave - we'll die here
> Thamam al-Nawaja
>
> A dark stain showed through the white gauze covering her broken right arm.
> Her veil was lifted gingerly away from her lined face. A bloodshot eye and
> intersection of scars revealed a fractured left cheek.
>
> "The settlers gave us a 10-minute warning to clear off from the land," she
> told me, her voice a tired, cracked whisper.
>
> She and her husband had stood their ground. It is at this point that her
> voice grows louder.
>
> "They don't want us to stay on our land. But we won't leave. We'll die here.
> It's ours," she added.
>
> Indeed, the rest of the world regards Jewish settlements in the West Bank
> such as Susia, as illegal, built on occupied territory.
>
> Those settlements have been a large part of the conflict between
> Palestinians and Israelis for the last 41 years. The daily confrontation is
> not often caught on camera. That, now, is beginning to change.
>
> Video proof
>
> The attack near Susia was filmed with one of 100 video cameras that B'Tselem
> has handed out to Palestinians in the region.
>
>
> When they have the camera, they have proof that something happened - they
> now have something they can work with, to use as a weapon
> Oren Yakobovich
> B'Tselem
>
> The thinking behind the project is that when trouble flares, rather than
> just giving a statement to the Israeli police or army, video carries much
> more weight.
>
> "The difference is amazing," says Oren Yakobovich, who leads the Shooting
> Back project.
>
> "When they have the camera, they have proof that something happened. They
> now have something they can work with, to use as a weapon."
>
> We asked a spokesman from the Susia settlement for a comment on Sunday's
> incident. He declined.
>
> Inside one of the tents belonging to the Palestinians living near Susia, we
> watched the footage of the aftermath of the attack - the victims slumped by
> the roadside, bloodied, waiting for an ambulance.
>
> The bright, wide eyes of the children shone with the light of the small
> television screen.
>
> Violence against Jews as well as Palestinians has long scarred this place.
> Video may now may be giving us a new and raw view.
>
> But for most people here, the only answer - a political deal - remains out
> of sight.
>
> --
> +
>
> Pucker your lips for the Apocalypse!
>
> Johnny Asia, Guitarist from the Future
>
>
http://music.download.com/johnnyasia
>
>
http://johnnyasia.info/
>
>
> ** Posted from
http://www.teranews.com **
