More than 30 Israeli artists and intellectuals signed a letter sent Tuesday to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, urging him to order Israel Defense Forces soldiers to defend Palestinian children in the southern Hebron Hills from residents of the Maon settlement.
The children of the Palestinian village of Umm-Tuba walk daily to and from school in the neighboring village of Hirbat al-Tawani, along the border of Maon and the illegal outpost of Havat Maon. They have long been subject to harassment by the settlers, which has resulted in an IDF and police decision to provide them security on their walk.
However, after a short lull, settlers recently resumed attacks against these children and their armed protectors. The severity of the assaults peaked last Saturday, when the settlers threw stones at the convoy, injuring four children and two soldiers. One of the settlers set a dog on the children, and soldiers were forced to shoot in the air in order to disperse the rioters.
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Despite the violence and the resulting injuries, not one settler has been arrested in the attacks on Umm-Tuba's children. Neither the army nor the Israeli activists who also accompany the children to school have succeeded in thwarting the attacks.
"Beyond the disgrace that requires military escort for small children and the powerlessness in the face of the attackers, it seems the escort in its current format is not enough to protect the children... the subjection of elementary school children to attacks of lawbreakers in the absence of proper defense is unbearable," said the letter.
"The right to education is a basic human right and the State of Israel is responsible for its full protection. We demand the IDF be instructed to provide the children of the village with full and proper protection which will guarantee these children travel to and from school in peace. We call on law enforcement authorities to apply justice to the settlers from Maon and the outpost of Havat Maon, and not stand in the way of the activists aiding the children of the villages," continued the settler.
The signatories also sent copies to the defense minister, the public security minister, the education minister, the chief of staff and police commissioner.
The letter was signed by some of Israel's most prominent artists and intellectuals, including writers Haim Guri, David Grossman, Sami Michael, Amos Oz, Saed Kashua and Meir Shalev, along with professors Menachem Brinker, Yermiyahu Yovel and Avishai Margalit. Actresses Gila Almagor and Hanna Meron and musician Ehud Banai also signed the letter
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