Another firebombing, another Dawabsheh


March 22, 2016
Sarah Benton


Israeli soldiers outside the the house of Ibrahim Dawabshe, witness to the arson attacks on his relatives, the Dawabshe family. His house was firebombed on March 20, 2016. Photo by Zakaria Sadeh

Arsonists attack house of witness in Duma arson attack (Updated)

By Allison Deger, Mondoweiss
March 21, 2016

Over the weekend arsonists set ablaze the home of a high-profile Palestinian witness scheduled to testify against Israeli settlers charged with firebombing the home of his relatives in the West Bank village of Duma last summer.

Ibrahim Dawabshe, 23, and his wife were taken to a hospital in Nablus for smoke inhalation in the early morning hours Sunday, after the 1:30am attack on their home. Every room in their concrete structure was charred with black smoke, and their bedroom was significantly damaged.

Zakaria Sadeh, an investigator with Rabbis for Human Rights who was at the scene told Mondoweiss the fire started presumably after two molotov cocktails were launched through the slumbering couple’s bedroom window.

“They heard the glass breaking and they woke up, and you know they were married just four months before,” Sadeh said. “They found glass bottles inside the room and two guys ran away after the attack. They didn’t know who those people were, settlers or others.”

“Ibrahim he is ok now, but the wife is still in shock because she is afraid and she is still in a traumatic state until now,” Sadeh relayed of the wounded couple.

While an investigation is underway by Israeli police security service with details under a gag order, the agencies said in a statement last night, “The findings so far at the scene are not consistent with the characteristics of an intentional arson attack by Jews.”

Dawashbe is considered a lead witness in the case against the accused killers of his family and next-door-neighbours in Duma. The firebombing last summer killed 18-month old Ali Dawabshe, and later Ali’s parents Sa’ed Dawabshe and Riham Dawabshe. Ibrahim Dawabshe’s testimony will be key. He told the Guardian last year of the July 31, 2014 deadly attack that he saw “two masked men, one of them was standing by Reham looking at her, and the second was standing next to Saad, checking if they were alive or not.”


Bedroom of Ibrahim Dawabshe following an arson attack on his home overnight in the West Bank village of Duma which is in Area C and under full Israeli state control. Photo Zakaria Sadeh

In January after claims of heel-dragging that amounted to allegations of government officials providing political cover to suspects, Israeli state prosecutors charged Amiram Ben Uliel, 21, Yinon Reuveni, 20, and a 17-year old  suspect with three counts of murder, attempted murder and arson. As is customary in Israel the name of the minor was withheld by police.

The trial against the accused began in February and is regarded by Palestinians as a litmus test for how Israel will deal with the growing trend of radical Israeli settlers. According to Israeli police Ben Uliel and the other defendant are members of a clandestine anti-government group that aspired to destabilize the state by using force against Palestinians, would-be hate crimes that are locally called “price tag attacks.”

The two are currently being monitored under house arrest.

The Palestinian government today decried the second arson attack on the Dawabshe family.

“We hold the Israeli Government fully responsible for the crimes in Duma,”Sa’eb Erekat, head of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and chief negotiator with Israel, said in a statement.

Erekat has been particularly vocal on settler violence in recent years, and again reiterated his appeal for an international protection force to monitor setter abuses. Duma, the hometown of the Dawabshe’s, is located in Area C of the West Bank, and thus beyond the jurisdiction of Palestinian police and their protection service. The Israeli military is solely responsible for ensuring security in this region of the West Bank.

Following the attack, clashes broke out between the Israeli army and villagers from Duma. The confrontations began after Israeli police and a fire expert arrived to open an inquiry.

“I saw [Palestinian] guys throwing rocks at the army, they [the Israeli army] fired back tear gas and live-fire, although not directly at the people,” Sadeh said, adding, “I could smell the tear gas.”


Two Israelis charged over West Bank arson attack

The July attack killed a Palestinian baby and his parents and left another child badly injured.

By Al Jazeera and agencies
January 03, 2016

Israeli prosecutors have filed murder charges against two citizens in connection with a July 31 arson attack in the occupied West Bank that killed three members of a Palestinian family.

Amiram Ben Oleal, 21, was indicted on Sunday for murder on the basis of a hate crime, and the second, a minor, was indicted as an accessory to murder.

Yinon Reuveni, 20, and another minor were charged for other violence against Palestinians.

The arson attack in the village of Duma killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh. His mother, Reham, and father, Saad, later died of their wounds.

Ali’s four-year-old brother Ahmad survived, though he was badly injured and is still undergoing recovery.

The long-awaited indictment follows months of investigations that had failed to produce concrete results.

The case has revived criticism from rights groups which say there is a culture of impunity in Israel that allows attacks on Palestinians.

“This case took place months ago and during that time, unlike what the Israelis do when Palestinians are accused of violence, I didn’t see that they closed down the entire settlement from which these people came, Diana Buttu, a lawyer and former Palestinian negotiator, told Al Jazeera.

“I didn’t see that they went on a house-to-house search, imposed curfews, took DNA samples, that people were held without charge or without trial.”

According to Buttu, 93 percent of criminal cases involving settlers do not go to trial and even fewer result in a conviction.

“Israel is not at all serious about addressing [settlers’] impunity. In fact, it wants to encourage it. These attacks that settlers carry out against Palestinians are merely an extension of the ongoing policy of Israel’s encouragement of lawlessness.”

Ongoing violence

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, speaking from West Jerusalem, said: “The government has been very careful in how it wants this reported. It’s been a highly sensitive case. This announcement comes at a very sensitive time.”

The attacks took place before the outbreak of mass demonstrations across Israel and the occupied territories by Palestinians in protest of Israeli raids into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and continued settlement expansion.

But several other factors have contributed to the protests, including the murder of the Dawabshehs and other Palestinians in similar attacks and the lack of a proper response taken by the Israeli government, according to critics.

The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health stated on Friday that Israeli soldiers or settlers in 2015 shot and killed 179 Palestinians, including unarmed protesters, bystanders and alleged attackers. Of that total, 143 were killed after October 1, when tensions escalated sharply.

Since October 1, lone Palestinian assailants have killed 23 Israelis, including soldiers and civilians.

Israel has also used the developments in the past several months to impose severe restrictions on Palestinians living in occupied East Jerusalem.

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