NEW YORK — In response to a stone-throwing assault on a Palestinian village in the South Hebron Hills earlier this week that left more than a dozen Palestinians severely wounded, including a three-year-old boy, T’ruah, a rabbinic human rights organization representing over 2,300 rabbis and cantors and their communities in North America, expressed outrage and called on the Israeli government to launch a full investigation immediately to bring justice to those attacked.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, released the following statement:
“We are horrified by this disgusting attack on Khirbet al-Mufkara by extremist settlers, who destroyed homes and injured multiple Palestinians, including a toddler who was hospitalized with a head injury. This incident is not an isolated attack. From the beginning of the year through September 20, the United Nations has documented 333 settler attacks on West Bank Palestinians, 93 of which resulted in injuries. As we saw in videos from this week’s attacks, the army regularly stands by and refrains from arresting or stopping Israelis from carrying out such violence, whereas Palestinians and Israeli human rights defenders are often arrested at the behest of settlers.
“I personally have observed settlers from these outposts threatening Israeli human rights activists and their guests. When it comes to Palestinians, these extremists exercise no restraint but feel empowered to carry out violent attacks against adults and children.
“It is especially offensive that this attack took place on Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah (per the Israeli holiday calendar), the annual celebration of the Torah, which our tradition views as a life-giving force, and a symbol of lovingkindness, purity, and grace. Despite their claims to be driven by religious commitments, these settlers desecrated one of the most sacred days of the Jewish year in order to carry out violence against Palestinians. The attackers who carried out a pogrom on this day violated Torah and brought shame to Israel and the Jewish people.
“We welcome Foreign Minister Yair Lapid labeling this incident as a terror attack. But Lapid must also take action, both against these perpetrators and others who carry out violence almost daily against Palestinians and their property. Israel must launch a full investigation immediately to identify and arrest all of the dozens of perpetrators involved and ensure that they are brought to justice, change army policy such that soldiers will no longer stand aside and watch such attacks take place, and dismantle outposts such as Havat Maon, where some of the attackers live, and which are illegal even according to Israeli law. The ongoing lack of repercussions for Israeli extremists involved in violent attacks, along with the refusal to dismantle illegal outposts even while regularly demolishing Palestinian homes built without permits, testifies to the Israeli government’s pro-settlement, anti-peace policy, which rewards violence, while also violating the human rights and threatening the safety and security of Palestinians.
“T’ruah rabbis and cantors will continue to be moral voices committed to defending human rights for both Israelis and Palestinians. We continue to stand with Palestinian communities threatened by settler violence, eviction orders and home demolitions, and also stand with our Israeli partners — the human rights and civil society organizations working to ensure the human rights of both Palestinians and Israelis.”
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights mobilizes a network of more than 2,300 rabbis and cantors from all streams of Judaism that, together with the Jewish community, act on the Jewish imperative to respect and advance the human rights of all people. Grounded in Torah and our Jewish historical experience and guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we call upon Jews to assert Jewish values by raising our voices and taking concrete steps to protect and expand human rights in North America, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.
