Hebron settlers accuse IDF of collective punishment
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 02:04 07/12/2008
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1044131.html

The Hebron Jewish Community Council sent an angry letter Saturday to local
Israel Defense Forces commanders, accusing the IDF and police of
implementing a "price-tag policy" of "collective punishment" on the Jews of
Hebron.

The council claims it is witness to deliberate neglect of Jewish residents
in the Hebron area.

"Time after time Jews suffer life-threatening attacks by Arabs as soldiers
and police stand from afar and don't act to stop the attacks or to enforce
the law against Arab rioters, all while claiming that these are the
instructions they have received," the council wrote.

The letter included several instances in which the council claims Jews were
neglected by law enforcement authorities. In one case last week, it claimed
a 16-year-old had stones hurled at his head by Arabs from point-blank range
and was taken to hospital for stitches.

The council claimed IDF soldiers standing nearby did nothing to stop what
they called the "Arab rioters" who attacked the teenager.

They also wrote that rocks and stones were thrown at a Jewish-owned vehicle,
causing heavy damage to part of the vehicle, with no intervention from
soldiers or police and with no any arrests being made in the case.

"With all appreciation for the anger of the IDF and the police at the
strikes on Arabs by Jews in recent days, we will not agree to a 'price-tag'
policy of 'collective punishment' against the Jewish residents in the area,"
said the council in its letter. "We call on them to regain their composure
and to instruct IDF soldiers and the police to act in a decisive manner
against the Arab rioters, before there are any more victims."