The Palestinian families which live along Route 60 in the South Hebron Hills in the occupied West Bank have no recourse when settlers attack. The area is under full Israeli civil and military control, leaving the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority relatively helpless in dealing with problems caused by Israeli settlers. Israel practices its most profound acts of subjugation of Palestinian rights against these residents through a bureaucratic maze of laws making access to water, electricity and construction virtually impossible.
Since last week's fatal shooting of four settlers from the settlement of Beit Haggai just outside of Kiryat Arba, Palestinians in the area have been subjected to what the settlers call "price tag" reprisal attacks and repeated Israeli army incursions. Settlers have been burning fields, destroying property, stoning Palestinian houses and erecting new settlement outposts in response to the shooting. As usual, the stated position of the Israeli army that it acts as a force that will quell tension between Palestinians and settlers, has not taken place. In fact, the army is fully aware of settler attacks and yet they have taken over Palestinian houses in order to "calm the situation."
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