Israeli Settlers Attack European Diplomats in the West Bank

Darwin, October 18: Israeli settlers have attacked European diplomats, a French mayor and the Archbishop of Cambrai in the occupied West Bank town of Taybeh, injuring three people and damaging a vehicle. The incident occurred amid ongoing efforts by settlers to prevent Palestinians from harvesting olives on their own land. Source: The Guardian.

Bernard Baudeux, mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, was among those attacked on Saturday (October 17). He was wearing the red, white and blue sash symbolising his mayoral office and was about to get into a vehicle with diplomatic licence plates when an attacker struck him, knocking him to the ground.

According to a witness, the masked assailant shouted “Vive la France” (“Long live France”) during the attack. The group of seven also threatened Baudeux’s wife and Vincent Dollmann, the Archbishop of Cambrai. Some members of the group were carrying sticks.

The delegation had travelled to the Palestinian Christian-majority town of Taybeh to participate in the olive harvest on local land. It included the French consul general in Jerusalem, his wife, several other diplomats, and the consuls of Belgium and Poland.

The settlers first attacked a group harvesting olives on a lower hillside near Taybeh. They stole olives and kicked and verbally abused a Palestinian woman aged over 70. One man was beaten so severely that he required six stitches to close a head wound.

The group then targeted the diplomats and Mayor Baudeux. He had travelled to Taybeh to launch a town-twinning agreement between the Palestinian town and his municipality in northern France. During the attack, the assailants also smashed a window of an armoured vehicle belonging to the Belgian diplomatic mission.

Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot condemned the violence against Palestinians, foreign diplomats and journalists. He also said efforts to impose European Union sanctions on settlers would continue.

“No one should have to risk being attacked while harvesting olives, reporting the news or carrying out diplomatic duties,” Prévot said. “This violence cannot be separated from Israel’s policy of illegal settlement. The occupation of Palestinian territory must end.”

Residents of Taybeh have faced increasing attacks by Israeli settlers for years, but foreign diplomats had never previously been targeted there, according to Father Bashar Fawadleh, a priest at a local church.

“What happened today is not an isolated incident. It represents a deeply worrying escalation in settler violence,” he said.

Father Fawadleh added: “If this kind of violence can take place in front of international witnesses, it is entirely reasonable to ask what protection local families and farmers will have after those witnesses leave. No one should have to risk physical assault simply to harvest olives from their own land.”

On Friday, Heidi Levine, a photographer for The Washington Post, was seriously injured in an attack by Israeli settlers while covering the olive harvest in the town of Abu Falah. She underwent surgery on Saturday morning. A spokesperson for Israel’s Beilinson Hospital, where she is receiving treatment, said her condition was moderate.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the attack and said police had launched an investigation. However, he also remarked that foreign diplomats could risk being attacked by Israeli citizens if they travelled through the occupied West Bank without coordinating with the military.

A Western diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said requiring diplomats to provide advance notification of their movements violated both diplomatic norms and international law.

“Israel is responsible for security in most of the West Bank, including Areas B and C. It therefore has an obligation to ensure everyone’s safety there,” the source said.

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has expressed concern over what he described as a situation of near-total impunity for Israeli violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. He has called for the International Criminal Court to intervene.

Gadi Eisenkot, an opposition politician and former army chief who hopes to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in elections scheduled for later this month, described the attack as “Jewish terrorism sponsored by the Israeli government”.

Eisenkot supports the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. However, he argues that settler violence must be brought under control because the perpetrators are damaging settlement efforts in the West Bank and undermining national security.

Source: The Guardian