Head of militant settler group Elad drives into Palestinian boys

AMP condemns action; questions White House’s silence in matter

(CHICAGO 10/09/2010) – The American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) strongly condemns an incident in which militant Israeli settlers purposely plowed into a group of Palestinian boys, hitting two of them before driving off.  AMP also is deeply concerned at President Barack Obama’s silence over the mindless act of violence that left two children, ages 10 and 11, injured.

AMP condemns action; questions White House’s silence in matter

(CHICAGO 10/09/2010) – The American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) strongly condemns an incident in which militant Israeli settlers purposely plowed into a group of Palestinian boys, hitting two of them before driving off.  AMP also is deeply concerned at President Barack Obama’s silence over the mindless act of violence that left two children, ages 10 and 11, injured.

Media reports identified the driver as David Be'eri,the director of the right wing, militant settler organization Elad, which runs the Jewish-only City of David Park. That park is being built on what was once a Palestinian neighborhood until Israel began dispossessing the indigenous residents of their homes and forcing them into exile within the past few years.

Video of the attack shows that Be’eri veered from his lane and drove purposely into the two boys who were among a group of children throwing stones. One boy was thrown up and onto the hood of the car and into the windshield before he fell to the ground. The other boy took a direct hit to his rib cage from the car’s front fender.

Elad is a violent, militant group that aims to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem of Palestinians and to put illegal Israeli settlers in their place.  The group is responsible for numerous armed attacks on Muslim mosques – including at the Al Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.

AMP also is deeply concerned at President Barack Obama’s silence on this latest attack, which allows illegal settlers to get away with deeply disturbing and illegal acts. Silence from the White House can only encourage not only Israel’s deadly military apparatus but also the right wing, militant settler movements to continue to act with impunity with no regard for Palestinian life or the rule of international law.

“It is time, once and for all, for the United States to be an honest broker in the Middle East,” said Dr. Hatem Bazian, AMP chairman and professor of Near Eastern and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. “The United States cannot afford to continue to support Israel unconditionally, militarily and diplomatically. It weakens our stance in the Arab and Muslim world and it threatens our national security.”

AMP calls on President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of Congress to start putting America’s interests before Israel’s. It is time to hold Israel – and its illegal settlers – accountable for the countless and continuous violations of international law and international humanitarian law.