Middle East

Israeli settlers beat Washington Post photographer during olive harvest attacks

Masked groups strike eight West Bank villages and wound more than 20 as harvest begins, army fires teargas at farmers who defend themselves

Images

Firefighters dousing a burnt car with water after Israeli settlers attacked a group of Palestinians harvesting olives near Turmus Ayya. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters Firefighters dousing a burnt car with water after Israeli settlers attacked a group of Palestinians harvesting olives near Turmus Ayya. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters theguardian.com
American photojournalist recounts Israeli settler attack in the occupied West Bank – video American photojournalist recounts Israeli settler attack in the occupied West Bank – video theguardian.com
Teargas fired by Israeli forces. Photograph: Léo Corrêa/AP Teargas fired by Israeli forces. Photograph: Léo Corrêa/AP theguardian.com
Levine speaking to journalists in hospital after the attack. Photograph: Ali Sawafta/Reuters Levine speaking to journalists in hospital after the attack. Photograph: Ali Sawafta/Reuters theguardian.com
Palestinians and activists collecting olives after the attack on Friday. Photograph: Léo Corrêa/AP Palestinians and activists collecting olives after the attack on Friday. Photograph: Léo Corrêa/AP theguardian.com

Masked Israeli settlers wielding clubs attacked Palestinian olive farmers across at least eight villages in the occupied West Bank on Friday, burning cars and trees and injuring more than 20 people, according to Palestinian authorities. Among the wounded was Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine, beaten for over ten minutes in an attack witnessed by others, who stole her passport, phone, wallet and equipment. Levine, wearing markings that identified her as a journalist, was pushed to the ground and kicked while her flak jacket and helmet absorbed the blows, she said from a hospital bed in Ramallah. Palestinian colleagues intervened to end the attack. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office responded that the facts were "unclear" and suggested the confrontation was provoked by "200 Arabs and far-left activists" confronting Israeli youths, while condemning "violence against anyone." The attacks coincide with the annual olive harvest, which settlers disrupt every year — but the scale has grown. The Israeli rights group Yesh Din has recorded at least 170 settler attacks since 27 September, around the harvest's start. Palestinian authorities count four Palestinians killed and more than 100 injured over the past month, with thousands of trees damaged. The violence has risen as Israeli elections approach at the end of October, and Britain has joined accusations of "ethnic cleansing." In Abu Falah, near Ramallah, at least 80 settlers, some carrying firearms, gathered to stop harvesters, hurling rocks from slingshots in view of Israeli military vehicles. When Palestinians picked up rocks to defend themselves, the army fired teargas at them. The Foreign Press Association said its repeated calls for action against settler lawlessness have been ignored by Israeli authorities. New rules this year bar Palestinians from harvesting trees in Area C, the 60 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli military control that comprises most of its agricultural land — effectively conceding the harvest to whoever shows up with clubs. The state's own subsidy apparatus funds many of the settlements from which the attackers come, and the military presence that witnessed the Abu Falah assault intervened only against the farmers. Levine's attack made international headlines because she works for an American newspaper. The Palestinians beaten the same morning appear in the same reports as background — one more line in a monthly tally.