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Tuesday, August 29, 2023

BBC News August 2023: Palestinian fears grow amid rising Israeli settler attacks

Farmer Ammar Abu Alia is one of many Palestinians forced to abandon his home

There's been a dramatic rise in violence carried out by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank this year, with more than 100 incidents reported a month according to the UN. It warns that some 400 people have been driven from their land since the start of 2022.

Smashed cars and homes and shops set ablaze. Recent months have seen some of the worst ever scenes of settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

Some have turned deadly.

Posters in remembrance of 19-year-old Qusai Maatan, showing him astride his white Arabian horse, now surround a small roundabout in the village of Burqa, set among olive trees in the rolling hills north-east of Ramallah.

"He had a deeply caring nature. He'd always greet me warmly and check on me in a thoughtful way," says his grandfather, Abdul Moneim Maatan, his voice cracking. "His absence leaves a huge void."

On the evening Qusai was shot dead by an armed settler, his family say he had gone for a picnic with friends at the edge of the village. Locals describe how a confrontation with radical Israelis living nearby escalated quickly. Stones were thrown and at least one settler opened fire. In an unusually strong rebuke, Israel's closest ally, the US, described what happened here as "Jewish terrorism".

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Palestinian fears grow amid rising Israeli settler attacks

BBC News Photo & caption: Nida, a mother of nine, says the world seems unaware of the displacement of Palestinians

 [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]    
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-66620250