At noon EST (7pm in Israel/Palestine) Saturday December 9, 2000
I have this report from the Christian Peacemaker Team and from Jeff Halper,
present in the Baqa'a valley east of Hebron:

All day the settlers moved about the Baqa'a with impunity, attacking homes
and terrorizing Palestinians.  One Palestinian boy was shot by a settler
through the abdomen, IDF soldiers have transfered him to a hospital.
Settlers are still occupying the home of Atta and Rodeina Jabber, they have
been damaging the home, and the settlers have now brought a bulldozer to the
site.

The Israeli military and police have allowed all this to happen as they
watched.  The military on the site told witnesses that they were ordered to
allow the settlers to take over Atta's house; at first the police said they
intended to remove the settlers after Shabbat -- now past -- but now they
say they intend to remove the settlers tomorrow.

In response to the court action, the Israeli High Court has asked the
Israeli military to explain why they have not controlled the settlers.

OUR MESSAGE to US, Canadian and Israeli government authorities:

1. The settlers must be controlled and removed from the Jabber home, and the
Jabber family permitted to return to their home.

2. These settlers must be held accountable.
They should be arrested and prosecuted for trespass, breaking and entering,
and property damage.  The settler who shot the boy must be prosecuted for
assault.  (We and the army know the name of the settler leader in this
action.)

3. The Israeli government must hold the military and the police accountable
for permitting this settler rampage, for allowing the settlers full freedom
of movement and allowing them to terrorize Palestinian families with
impunity.  This is the seventh settler demonstration in three weeks, the
authorities have no excuse for being unprepared, unable or unwilling to
control these settler demonstrations.  They knew this was coming; this was
negligence on the part of the police.

4. Compensation must be paid to the families whose property has been
destroyed by these settler demonstrators.

ADDRESSES
(see sample letter below.)

PLEASE CONTACT three Israeli officials again by e-mail or fax:

Ehud Barak sar@mod.gov.il 011-972-2-651-2631
Ephraim Sneh sgansar@mod.gov.il 011-972-2-691-6940
Shlomo Ben Ami sar@mofa.gov.il 011-972-2-530-3367

PLEASE CONTACT the Israeli embassy in your country:

US: washington@israel.org 202-364-5607
CANADA ottawa@israel.org 613-237-8865

PLEASE CONTACT your State Department/Department of Foreign Affairs or your
country's embassy in Israel:

US: secretary@state.gov 011-972-3-510-3828
CANADA: taviv@dfait-maeci.gc.ca   011-972-3-636-3380

A cc TO YOUR SENATORS, REPRESENTATIVES OR MP WOULD BE IN ORDER.

BACKGROUND:  Atta and Rodeina Jabber were the first Palestinian partner
family in the Campaign for Secure Dwellings.  Their home has been demolished
twice.  For several weeks, settlers from Kiryat Arba have been holding
demonstrations on the bypass road in front of Atta's house.  The settlers
have made clear their goal of destroying Atta's house, and in seven previous
demonstrations the military has prevented the settlers from reaching Atta's
house on all but one occasion; on that occasion the settlers were removed
after doing only cosmetic damage.

Sample letter:

The Israeli government has an obligation to restrain the settlers
demonstrating east of Har Sina along Rte. 60, to remove the settlers from
the Jabber home and lands, to allow the Jabbers to return home, to arrest
and prosecute the settlers, and to compensate the Jabbers for the damage
done to their property. It is the duty of the Israeli government to protect
Palestinians from rampaging settlers; the military and police must be held
accountable for this lawlessness. We will be following this matter with
great concern.

Thanks for you prompt help,

Rich Meyer
Campaign for Secure Dwellings
13416 CR 44
Millersburg IN 46543 USA
Phone/Fax 219-642-3920
cptcsd@npcc.net

The Campaign for Secure Dwellings is a family-matching program linking
families and congregations in North America with Palestinian families in the
West Bank.  Christian Peacemaker Teams coordinates the Campaign for Secure
Dwellings in cooperation with the Palestinian Land Defense Committee, Rabbis
for Human Rights, and the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is a ministry of active peacemaking sponsored by
Mennonites, Brethren and Friends Meetings.