Thursday, January 13, 2011

This Is How It Was Reported

There was a violent incident near Shiloh this morning, at one of our satellite outposts named Esh-Kodesh memorializing a terror victim, Esh-Kodesh Gilmore.  After the destruction of Alei-Ayin yesterday, the Arabs, supported by subversive left-wing radical elements, felt that it was their turn to participate in the 'action' and launched an attack on Esh-Kodesh, which is quite nearby and were repulsed back into the village of Qutsra but the came back.

Here are the various media reports I've collected and I will make some points regarding media reliability.

From the Ma'an report:

Violence after Israel evacuates outpost


Fierce clashes erupted [they were initiated by the Arabs in an aggressive manner] Thursday between villagers from a village located south Nablus and armed settlers entering the residential area of the village.  Witnesses said dozens of settlers entered the area, setting fire to civilian cars, throwing stones and shooting at homes.   The settlers injured three people, locals said, while the Israeli news site Ynet said two 14-year-old children of settlers and a Palestinian were lightly hurt during the clashes.

Qusra is located near an illegal settlement outpost that was evacuated by the Israeli military the day before. Settlers have in the past pushed a "price tag" policy, where anger toward the Israeli military for evacuating settlements is directed toward Palestinians living in nearby towns and villages.

Ynet said villagers clashed with Israeli security forces near a settlement identified as Adi Ad [???].  The report said Palestinians threw stones at settlers near an outpost, causing some injury. The report said settlers retaliated by throwing rocks at Palestinians. Security forces used crowd dispersal methods to stop the clashes, the report concluded.

The day before, two busloads of Israeli soldiers were seen deployed in the village late Tuesday ahead of the demolition which removed a cement structure, agriculture buildings, and tents in the outpost, which locals said was called Yesh Dam [sic: Din].

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlements in the northern West Bank, said the day before that “This outpost was the launch point of many attacks against Palestinian property in Nablus, the latest of which was the uprooting of trees in Qusra," and said he was glad the site had been evacuated...

Arutz 7 report:

Arabs 'Shame' IDF Near Shiloh

Hundreds of violent Arabs mobbed a small IDF force and Jewish residents Thursday morning on a hilltop near Keida, a community east of Shiloh, in biblical Samaria. Local Jews said that the Arab assault on the hilltop began Tuesday, after the IDF evicted a group of Jews who had established an outpost there.  Eitan Meir of Keida told Arutz Sheva that the Arabs wanted to tear down all remnants of the Jewish outpost:


"An initial group of about 50 Arabs from the nearby village arrived at the spot at about 11:00 A.M. and tried to access the hilltop. Our people chased off the first group but after a short while they came back with 400 to 500 of their friends, and started to attack everyone who was present - IDF soldiers, hilltop residents and the rapid response teams that had been alerted."

"The Arabs came armed with clubs and threw rocks and everything they could get their hands on at the soldiers. Two of our men were injured and were evacuated to receive treatment. A soldier was also wounded in the knee but was not evacuated."

Meir said angrily that the soldiers had received orders that made it impossible for them to take effective action against the attackers. "The IDF soldiers stood there with their hands tied, with no ability to respond properly. They fired in the air in a way that did not even tickle the marauders, who kept on attacking the soldiers."

Meir said that after the attackers finally dispersed, soldiers told him that they felt they had been "shamed in their uniforms."


Haaretz's version:

Three settlers hurt in clashes with Palestinians at razed West Bank outpost


Some 300 residents of Arab village arrive at site of demolished outpost; Israelis claim they were ambushed, but leftist activist says settlers to blame.

Three Israelis were lightly wounded on Thursday after they were hit by rocks hurled at them during clashes with Palestinians in the northern West Bank [one of them was the youngest brother of Yonatan Eldar, murdered in the Rosh Hodesh Adar Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva attack two years ago].  The confrontation took place at the site of the recently demolished Eli Ayin outpost, between the settlement of Shiloh and the Palestinian village of Kafr Kusra.

Settler activists who came to the site of the razed outpost were greeted by hundreds of Palestinians, they said. The settlers began calling for help, they said, but were attacked by rocks hurled from every direction.

No Palestinian was injured in the incident.

"Three hundred Palestinians armed with cameras, rocks and batons came over and started walking toward the hilltop," said Guy Kreizler, a resident of a nearby settlement.  "Residents of the hilltop started calling for local security and the army. The army started shooting in the area to disperse them, but the Arabs kept coming forward because they knew nobody would should them," he added. "In the end, they were dispersed by gunshots and tear gas."

Judy Lutz left-wing activist who witnessed the event [how did she get there right on time?]contradicted Kreizler's version of the story. Residents of Kafr Kusa had called the leftists to complain that the settlers were constantly infiltrating their village, torching their houses and firing in the area.  The Palestinians asked the leftists to assist them, said Lutz. Contrary to the settlers' defense, Lutz said that soldiers began mowing down [??? was anyone shot?] the Palestinians and shouting obscenities before firing rounds of tear gas.

Ynet's write-up:

3 settlers lightly hurt in clash with Palestinians


Palestinians, settlers hurl stones at each other near Shilo causing light wounds to three Jewish teens, one Palestinian. Settlers claim Arabs instigated attack, while left-wing activist submits security forces assaulted Palestinians for no reason


A clash between Palestinians and settlers broke out Thursday near the Esh Kodesh outpost in the Shilo area. Eye witnesses reported seeing stones being hurled between Khusra village residents and outpost residents.



(Photo: David Zaviel)

They also said they heard gunshots. Three settlers aged 14 were lightly hurt and two of them were taken to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. A Red Crescent team also transferred a Palestinian who sustained light wounds to a Ramallah hospital.

"There were clashes between settlers and Palestinians," a security element told Ynet. The officers used crowd-dispersal means to clear the area. "Our forces arrived at the scene. There are no detainees at present," he said.

Esh Kodesh residents reported that some 100 Palestinians started hurling stones towards them earlier in the day. Some of them responded with the same means and a clash quickly ensued.

Yesh Din activist Judy Lutz arrived at the scene shortly after the clash broke out. "Palestinians told me that the settlers came down from Esh Kodesh and started firing at the villagers causing injury to some of them. We got there and I indeed noticed many Border Guard soldiers firing gas grenades. I also heard gunshots. The cops just attacked random people who were standing there."

The settlers, on the other hand, painted an entirely different picture. "Hundreds of Arabs rioted here and hurled stones. They used violence against the soldiers who arrived at the scene," local resident David Lavi said. "It's not really clear what they want. They just showed up to hold a riot and attack."

Yehuda, who resides in one of the neighboring settlements, said he saw "a large group of Arab protestors who approached Esh Kodesh and burned a car on the way.

"The community's emergency squad was dispatched and the army came but had a hard time gaining control over what was happening. The Arabs reached the entrance of the community and started hurling stones and the Border Guard forces tried to contain them."

And UPI's take:

West Bank clash leads to three injuries

A clash between Palestinians and Jewish settlers in the West Bank Thursday resulted in three settlers being injured, police said.  Witnesses said stones were thrown between Krusha and Esh Kodesh outpost residents, Ynetnews.com reported.  Two of the injured were taken to a hospital in Jerusalem and the third was taken to a hospital in Ramallah, West Bank.

Settlers claimed the attack was started by the Palestinians, who in turn alleged security forces attacked them without cause, Ynetnews.com said.

"There were clashes between settlers and Palestinians," a security official told the news service. "Our forces arrived at the scene. There are no detainees at present."


AFP:

Palestinians hurt in clash with West Bank settlers


NABLUS, Palestinian Territories — Three Palestinians were hurt by rocks on Thursday after being attacked by Jewish settlers while working their land in the northern West Bank, local witnesses said [they were not working land but had exited their village and came to attack Jews].

The clashes broke out on land near Qusra village which lies some 10 kilometres (six miles) southeast of Nablus. 



Witnesses said the settlers set alight to a Palestinian car, prompting an angry exchange of stone throwing between the two sides during which three Palestinians were injured.  Israeli troops, who were at the scene to protect the Palestinian farmers as they worked on the land, opened fire and threw tear gas and stun grenades to break up the clashes.

An army spokesman confirmed the incident, saying "there were mutual riots and they were dispersed by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)."

Is what happened now all clear?

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