The IDF stopped and searched European diplomats bringing humanitarian aid to homeless Bedouins in the West Bank. (Reuters)
The following is a comparison of two representations of the scuffle between European diplomats delivering humanitarian aid to homeless Bedouins in the West Bank and the IDF soldiers who stopped them. The first is from the BBC, and the second comes from Arutz Sheva, an Israeli national news source. The comparison reveals larger tensions over Israel’s announcement of mass eviction of Bedouins in the Negev, which Human Rights Watch reported was done “without respect for the Bedouins’ dignity or the country’s human rights obligations.” The video was aired on a French news site, and gives the viewer the opportunity to draw their own conclusions.
BBC:
Diplomats from a number of European countries and the UN have reacted angrily after Israeli soldiers intervened to prevent them delivering aid to Bedouins in the West Bank.
One French diplomat said she was forced to the ground from her vehicle.
The aid was being delivered to Khirbet al-Makhul after homes there were demolished under a High Court order.
An Israeli spokesman said it was reviewing whether the diplomats had abused their privileges.
The homes in Khirbet al-Makhul were knocked down on Monday after Israel’s High Court ruled that they had been built without the correct permits.
BBC Middle East correspondent Kevin Connolly, in Jerusalem, says the Bedouin villagers of Khirbet al-Makhul have refused to leave the land where they say they have grazed sheep for generations.
The Israeli soldiers intervened to prevent the aid getting through.
The diplomats said that as soon as they arrived, around a dozen Israeli army jeeps converged on them and ordered them not to unload their truck.
French diplomat Marion Fesneau-Castaing told Reuters news agency: “They dragged me out of the truck and forced me to the ground with no regard for my diplomatic immunity.
“This is how international law is being respected here.”
One European official described the Israeli actions as “shocking and outrageous.”
A spokesman for the British Consulate General in Jerusalem said it was “concerned at reports that the Israeli military authorities have prevented the affected community from receiving humanitarian assistance.”
The spokesman added: “We have repeatedly made clear to the Israeli authorities our concerns over such demolitions, which we view as causing unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians; as harmful to the peace process; and as contrary to international humanitarian law.”
UN Humanitarian Coordinator James Rawley said the Israeli authorities should “live up to their obligations as occupying power to protect those communities under their responsibility.”
Arutz Sheva:
Tensions between Israel and the European Union over the EU boycott of Israelis living in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) may be exacerbated by a new incident in which a French diplomat struck an IDF soldier.
The incident occurred as IDF soldiers stopped a “humanitarian aid” shipment of tents and other supplies that were headed for an illegal Bedouin encampment.
The equipment was to be sent to Bedouin and foreign activists in the Jordan Valley whose illegal encampment was destroyed last week after the High Court of Justice, Israel’s Supreme Court, ruled that the structures were built without proper permits. The Bedouin claim they have lived in the area for generations.
The Israeli government has dismissed such claims as politically-motivated, noting that there are no traces or historical records of any previous Bedouin settlements in the area.
The Bedouin, along with foreign activists, have been trying to maintain a tent community at the site, with the ultimate goal of rebuilding the illegal homes.
Soldiers confiscated the EU tents and other aid, eventually resorting to riot dispersal methods after some activists attacked them with rocks.