Masked Israeli settlers attacked a convoy of European diplomats in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, assaulting a visiting French mayor and smashing the window of a Belgian consular vehicle during a diplomatic visit to Palestinian olive harvesters in the Christian village of Taybeh, east of Ramallah.
What happened in Taybeh
The delegation — Belgium's consul general in Jerusalem, Anick Van Calster, French and Polish diplomats, and Catholic representatives — was visiting Palestinians gathering their olive crops when the settlers arrived, witnesses and diplomats told AFP. Israeli Army Radio reported that seven masked settlers on all-terrain vehicles surrounded the diplomatic cars, demanded identification documents, pelted them with stones, and smashed the window of a Belgian consulate car. Some of the attackers carried clubs.
Bernard Baudoux, 78, the mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, was kicked by the settlers, witnesses said. Footage seen by AFP showed Baudoux, wearing a sash in the French tricolor, slumped on the ground against a car. Two people who spoke with him said he was hurt but did not need hospital treatment. Taybeh's mayor told Al Jazeera the settlers blocked the vehicles, assaulted members of the group.
A harvest under siege
The attack came a day after settlers assaulted Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine in the nearby village of Abu Falah. The newspaper said dozens of masked settlers knocked Levine to the ground, repeatedly kicked her, and stole her phone and camera despite her press vest. She was treated for lacerations and a broken rib, and required surgery. An AFP photographer was beaten the previous week.
Saturday also saw three Palestinians wounded in separate settler attacks, and about 20 Palestinian-owned sheep stabbed to death in a farm raid in Kafr Malek. The Palestine Red Crescent said six people, including four women and a child, were hurt in an attack on residents in Ma'in village south of Hebron. Al Jazeera's correspondent in Ramallah reported 300 documented attacks since the start of October.
Diplomatic fallout as an election looms
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot called the attack directly related to Israeli policies in the West Bank. "As the occupying power, Israeli authorities must protect Palestinians, ensure the safety of diplomats and journalists, and bring those responsible to justice," he said. "Impunity for violent settlers must end." He linked the violence to Israel's "illegal settlement policy" and pledged to push for further EU sanctions. Poland's Foreign Ministry said it was "deeply outraged" and expects Israel to provide "urgent and detailed explanations," identify those responsible, and hold them accountable.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the "severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters" but faulted the consulates for not coordinating the trip with the military. The army said no soldiers were present and condemned the "severe act of violence." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called violence against diplomats unacceptable but urged caution against "premature conclusions"; his office described the reports as part of a "coordinated campaign to smear Israel" during the olive harvest. His main election rival, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, called West Bank violence "Jewish terror." Israel votes in a general election later this month.
Takeaway: an assault on accredited diplomats — the very people governments send to witness the harvest — is an escalation even by this season's violent standards. Whether the police investigation yields arrests, and whether Brussels follows through on its sanctions talk, will decide whether Saturday was an anomaly or a signal of what the rest of the harvest holds.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Lightless Dawn (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0