‘Severe, unacceptable, ugly’: settler violence against Palestinians

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians at a school in front of students in the West Bank village of Mu'arrajat on Monday.

Residents of the village, north of Jericho, notified left-wing activists of the incident, who then arrived on the scene and were also attacked by the settlers.

One of the activists told Haaretz, "We were called here and when we arrived there were about ten young men, some with face coverings and batons, and they entered the school and attacked people".

The settlers said they were looking for a resident of the village who had beaten their friend. The army said two Palestinians had been arrested on suspicion of attacking settlers. According to the activists, one of the arrested is the principal of the school.

The case is one of an increasing number of violent attacks on Palestinians by West Bank settlers. In a separate incident, three settlers have been charged with violent attacks following the burning of vehicles in the West Bank town of Awarta last month.

In his indictment, the state prosecutor expressed feelings of "disgust and complete revulsion of these severe, unacceptable and ugly acts that the accused are charged with, that point to the danger they pose – to man, to the public and to the state".

The state prosecutor further said that "the danger posed by the accused is increased by the nationalist, ideological background which underlay these acts, and by the fact that they were committed at a time of special security tensions".

According to the indictment, which was filed by attorney Tomer Steinberg of the State Prosecutor's Office Central District headquarters, the accused decided to attack Palestinian vehicles on the night of August 9, motivated by nationalist and ideological considerations.