An unnamed radical West Bank Jewish settler from the settlement of Itamar was arrested early today for allegedly beating and trying to stab a liberal rabbi, Arik Ascherman, who was helping Palestinian farmers safely harvest their olives.
Settler Arrested In Violent Attack On Liberal Rabbi
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
An unnamed radical West Bank Jewish settler from the settlement of Itamar was arrested early today for allegedly beating and trying to stab a liberal rabbi, Arik Ascherman, who was helping Palestinian farmers safely harvest their olives.
The attack on Ascherman, the head of the Rabbis for Human Rights, took place late last month and was caught on video.
Just before the attack, Ascherman tried to video Jewish settlers who were allegedly setting fire to a nearby olive grove when the masked settler rushed him and attacked in an effort to stop Ascherman from videoing the arson, the Times of Israel reported.
The masked settler hit Ascherman with a rock and his fists before slashing at him with a knife. The attack was caught on video and widely disseminated through Israeli news websites and social media. Ascherman, who was bruised and who broke a finger in the attack, was unarmed and was not threatening the settler in any way.
The Palestinian olive harvest has often been a point of friction between settlers and Palestinian farmers. Settlers have burned down or otherwise damaged olive trees that are hundreds of years old and have stood on adjacent hilltops and stoned Palestinian farmers as they try to harvest their olives. The IDF almost never intercedes and when it does, even if settlers are arrested they are rarely, if ever, prosecuted.
But Ascherman applauded the arrest nonetheless.
“The arrest proves that when the desire is there, it is possible to locate suspects in violent crimes motivated by nationalistic ideology – even if the victims are Palestinian ones.…Should the suspect be found responsible, we expect the court to give a sentence that reflects the severity of violent ideological crimes,” Ascherman said in a statement released after the arrest.
The suspect, who reportedly confessed to police, is being represented by extreme-right activist attorney Itamar Ben Gvir, a follower of the late extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane.
“It’s unfortunate that at a time when terror attacks are targeting settlers, the nationalist crimes unit is dealing with an incident involving a left-wing provocateur who is provoking the settlers and inciting Arabs to carry out terror attacks against Jews,” Ben Gvir said of Ascherman.
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