Masked settlers beat Palestinian farmers near Nablus

The Zionist government have told all settlers if any Arabs approach them to attack them, with guns if necessary to keep them away. The settlers, armed with guns, the barbaric Israeli military armed with tanks etc, attack unarmed civilians!!! How low will the Israelis sink to drive the Arabs from their land so they can build cursed settlments for the returning Jews.

No Settlers will be punished for this. Israel always looks the other way. Jewish settler violence against Arabs is OK in Israel's eyes...in fact, they encourage it as a way to drive the Palestinians from their lands. Just look at Hebron. Disgusting.

To build the population up into a dislike for the settlers. First let it be established lawfully that such a crime happened, at the moment it is just hearsay and accusation.

I don't know if you are aware that this happened in ISRAEL. You remember Israel, it's the place where ALL Jews are in the right and ALL Arabs are in the wrong. Ask any of the judges! Or are you thinking of "some other" Israel, possibly the one in your wildest dreams. (but only possibly)

We don't know who they are, if they even exist. How can they be arrested and what for? A few bruises could have come from anywhere. All we have is a claim from known liars, the claim with pending investigation that is unlikely to lead anywhere.

No surprise there, so what's the news?

Are they Jewish? Who knows, all we have are conflicting statements from people who can not be trusted, to go by.

Bad enough that the witnesses can not agree on how many assailants there were or how many victims. So what if this turns out to be staged? It is a pretty simple assault if nobody was seriously wounded and the only weapon involved was pepper spray. I know this company that puts actual pepper spray in their hot barbecue sauce.

No one was murdered and no murderers were released by Israel as a "Gesture" to the Palestinians. It is doubtful whether or not this event even occurred, these were the same people who sent that heavily edited video to French TV, sent heavily photoshop edited photos to the BBC and had the same woman crying in front of her fifth "home" in four days. If you act like a Palestinian in Florida, the Police will not bother to take you to prison alive. They will not bother with pepper spray or tasers, they will shoot you in your home and if your family gets in the way they will be called accomplices, they would be arrested and your property would be confiscated. Your house would be auctioned off to the highest bidder and no international organizations would care.

They claim that there were four settlers and six settlers and two Palestinians and four Palestinians and that they believe the attackers were Settlers because they believe, despite being beaten and pepper sprayed, that they spoke Hebrew to each other, through their masks, while beating them. I can not prove that there were any masked settlers, nor can I prove there were any beaten Palestinians and you know, neither can they. The burden of proof is on the Palestinians and they have a history of lying. "Realism"? I think not.

Cowards with masks, beating unarmed people for absolutely no reason other than the fact that they can get away with murder. Sad that American taxpayers are helping fund the terrorist that are disguised as settlers. Welcome to democracy Israeli style???

When you hide Hamas/Fatah/Fedayeen/etc and their bomb factories in your house, then you are a terrorist. When you do not report them when they live next door to you and fire missiles from your children's playground, then you are a terrorist. Jews who have the courage to live in a land that Islamists want Judenrhein are simply living, brace and free, more free than you cowards deserve to be. Submit to Sharia, Bow and Scrape and Beg them Not To Kill You like a Dog. They will rule you and you will be their slave. They will take your daughters as they see fit, they will make your sons eunuchs in their houses. They will destroy your churches and flatten your pubs and burn your libraries to dust and you, will cower before them.

They claim that there were four settlers and six settlers and two Palestinians and four Palestinians and that they believe the attackers were Settlers because they believe, despite being beaten and pepper sprayed, that they spoke Hebrew to each other, through their masks, while beating them. I can not prove that there were any masked settlers, nor can I prove there were any beaten Palestinians and you know, neither can they. The burden of proof is the lying, cheating, backstabbing, head chopping, wife beating, daughter killing Palestinians who don't even remember where they lived in Time Immemorial. At least for us realistic people, but you are welcome to live in lefty land. At least until real life kicks down your doors and drags you off to the happy home.

Israel is a democracy, and sometimes people do shameful acts. But you, you condemn the whole state and people of Israel! You do not condemn the pals who threwv opponents off buildings, or terrorize Christians in gaza, or threw bombs at school buses. You show the ugly face of racism and antisemitism.

need to be given a lesson,so that future THUGS will think twice before acting like savages. Lets us hope that the police will soon prosecute them for such disgusting behaviour. Hoping that the outside world could appreciate that we are NOT all the same in ISRAEL.

These thugs are terrorists...no more US tax money to the racist state of Israel !

Patrick Hammel who are you a Waloon colonist in occupied Flanders, to lecture Israelis and other (Corsicans) on how they have to deal with their ennemies. Simply clean up your own backyard before coming out you antisemite fool

hmm you're rather violent. 'hang them by their feet to their last stinking breath' does sound like an over-reaction to the situation.

Unless and until you offer some evidence that THESE PARTICULAR Arabs were armed, I continue in my belief that the Ever Noble and Completely Righteous Settlers would have been too much cowards to attack and try to punch out armed opponents. This has been part of their ethos, and is supported by the Israeli government position that no offenses by settlers against Palestinians will be punished.

When an Arab is attacked, Jews are to blame. And when a Jew is attacked, Jews are to be blamed, as well, for they deserve it... Could it be that we have anti-semites here? Why, they say that they are just ant-Israel HMMMMM...

Haaretz anti-Zionist censors are at it again. On this post, how do Arab doctors know that the 'settlers' beat the Arabs? Do 'settler' sticks have distinctive marks that were left on the Arabs' thick skulls? Complete nonsense. Sounds like another Amira hass-type lie (remember the 'settler' who supposedly smashed in a car window barehanded?) Haaretz has no lows to which it won't stoop in its anti-Zionist agenda.

One must be very naive to think that Arabs are Unarmed.

These attackers are criminals and should be arrested and put in jail

My goodness, why aren't you in law enforcement?? I'll bet you'd make a fine juror, you can spot guilty people JUST LIKE THAT.

The bigots will have tried and sentenced the attackers, the thinkers will have a healthy bit of doubt and ask questions. "Masked Jewish Settlers". How, if masked, were they identified? "they sprayed me in my eyes and beat me and I couldn't see who it was" But he knew it was a Jewish settler. Sounds fishy to me. "The Palestinians said the attackers spoke Hebrew among themselves." Proves nothing, I've heard Jews speak Arabic and Arabs speak Hebrew. "Settlers from the nearby illegal outpost of Havat Gilad have attacked Palestinian farmers in the past." Alright, there's a history of attacks, but the attackers were unidentified, so they could well have nothing to do with Havat Gilad. "The Israeli army and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment." Suggests an investigation is underway. If they're guilty, they should be prosecuted. But PROVE THEM GUILTY FIRST. The haters and bigots already have.

Were you per chance part of thet charade? Maybe its Leader?

SPARE ME YOUR RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION. BUT THESE ARE YOUR KIND OF ARABS!!!!!

what progress?? did you see that these so called peaceful PALs fired rockets yet against at residents of sdreot?? there will never be peace in the mideast as long as the PALs as a whole group give comfort and support to terrorists. they vote for them, they allow them to attack israel from their land and they allow them to live among them. enough is enough with these people. they need to learn that there is no middle ground with it comes to terror. you are either on the side that fights terror or you are terror. nothing in the middle.

It doesn't sound like such an unlikely scenario to me, when you figure the settlers were probably armed and the Palestinians weren't. One suspects the brave settlers might use different tactics if they were dealing with people as well armed as they.

Kassams fall every day on civilian soft targets such as schools, houses, streets, factories, cars, buses, YOU name it and yes that is the problem because YOU don't name it. You are ignoring it. Is it fatigue? But when a Pal is beaten ( which is regrettable ) then all sh-t hits the fan? Where is the proportion? Going down the drain with the rest of your strange and one sided reporting.

Such incidents have been staged by leftists many times. It is very likely that this incident is also a hoax. Logically, nobody should rush to judgement. Although Israel's enemies of course, will. It is very mild compared to what Sderot residents endure on a daily basis.

Catch those settlers and hang them by their feet until their last stinking breath,as I would have recommended to do with hooded KKK members,Corsican,Irish,Basks and other hooded terrorists who attack innocent people.Show no mercy!

If they were masked, how do you know they were `settlers?` Why blame `settlers` without any proof? Haaretz isnt a serious newspaper

Arabs are very good at organizing provocations, you have no proof that settlers committed this attack.

This is an ugly little piece of news, especially at a time when the Christian world celebrates an event that took place in the Holy Land. Many of the posts that I have read, however, are personal, one-sided views aimed at promulgating hatred for one or the other of the two sides. How about forgetting who the perpetrators and who the victims were and just condemning the inhumane treatment of man towards fellow man? Blaming all Jewish settlers for the violent behavior of a few thugs or accusing all Palestinians of being liars who stage phoney attacks to gain sympathy will only further impede progress towards a viable modus vivendi for everyone in the region.

Masked "settlers"???? Settlers are not ashamed of what they are conversely to leftists "activists"!!!!

is seen by the whole world, and will be documented in history books for millennia!

to #5 ofcourse they are. who else would be so inhumane, savage and invious

Only abducted palestinian mule lacking.

terrorist i may hit you with a stick and spray you with tear gas, as I wish? "..what these settlers are alleged to have done is not equivalent to terrorist attacks committed by the Palestinians." .. or does this "right" only applies to jewish people?

Jews are incapable of violent crimes! It's against Jewish nature! Everyone knows that!

And the investigation will show that either the Palestinians beat themselves and invented the settlers, or they were set upon by a special ops team from hamas dressed as settlers. Under any circumstances, no settler will be investigated, no charges will be filed and the IDF will give a tacit 'attaboy' to the terrorism.

The alleged attack is believed to have come from Havat Gilad? And Havat Gilad is deemed to be an illegal outpost? Ok, let's evacuate Havat Gilad and its inhabitants. The outpost should have been evacuated long ago under the terms of the Roadmap that Israel agreed to and promised to follow. If the attacks on the local Pals stop, then problem is solved. If they continue, then let's look to evacuating the next nearest illegal outpost. At some point, the rogues among the Jewish settlers will start to get the message - live in local peace with the Pals while Israeli and Pal leaders work out a national peace, or leave in droves.

I think they were hit in the head too much and so was this "Associated Press" person.

Just another negotiating ploy by the Palestinians.

they were masked right? which group of people are known to wear masks all the time?? i'll tell you its arab terrorists. this sounds staged like the many many other staged arab events that can be foudn all over the internet. i'm surprised they didnt happen to have a camera crew filming this spontanous event.

Well well well. Who needs Police and Judges anymore !? "They parked on the road and we thought they were just hiking" = sure !!!... Jews use to hike a lot between palestinian Villages ( especially Settlers). "and I couldn't see who it was," = doesn't really matter Haaretz already know who it was !!! and what about the remains of Jesus i found yesterday ? ... can you prove i didn't !? This Article stinks !

Nice of you to show some concern for the victims, just shows what you are: not a supporter or carer for Palestinians, just a hater of Jews. And why are you here on Christmas Day? Not, surely, because far from being a Christian called Natallie who is enjoying this day with her family but because you are a Muslim called Fatima to whom this day has no meaning? This goes out to all the others who have immediately risen to attack Israel for this without sparing a word, and more than likely a thought for the Palestinians who were injured. Like I said to Nazillie, it is not that you support Palestine, you just hate the Jews.

As we've seen before these "attacks" are often staged or provoked by these "victims." Palestinians know well how to play the public opinion. Even if this did turn out to be true reporting, which I doubt, what these settlers are alleged to have done is not equivalent to terrorist attacks committed by the Palestinians.

Instead of bleating about "false flag operations" and Arab propaganda, Nik Miller, an Israeli, does the "right thing" - offers condolences and hopes for speedy recovery. Kudos to you, Mr.Miller, and to all other Israelis who think in a similar reasonable and civilized way.

I guess that past experiences make no impressions. I have read about the activities of the Shabak and other forces in Israel who planned and executed what is called false flag operations in polictical circles. A false flag operation is one in which one group carries out the action, in which a second group is blamed. Avishai Raviv? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avishai_Raviv Which group Shabak or Settler is more likely to have four men traveling in the same vehicle who are also equipped with pepper spray. Which group Shabak or Settler is likely to be in possession of pepper spray for subduing a group who just might fight back.

So quick with the apologies and condemnations! Why not wait for the facts? So far all we have is a story, and an unlikely one at that.

The world watches in disgust.

Look, I realize that everyone wants to vilify the settlers, and perhaps with due cause. However, these people were, at the end of the day, masked. People on the extreme left have already been known to try to frame settlers for vandalism. So instead of assuming it was the those naughty settlers, why don't we just say masked thugs (which is who they are either way) who were most likely settlers???

I am all in favor of investigating the incident and punishing people if this is found to be true. But until this is actually proven then it is nothing but hearsay and let us not forget the large number of fake reports coming out of the Palestinians for years now. Why? Because it gets them sympathy and money.

More lies and propaganda from our Arab terrorist neighbors. Ha'aretz again leads the charge of spreading Arab lies and propaganda. And the usual group of morons join the chorus of lies.

land in Ramallah and aim a deadly laser beam that killed many little children, and made many women and men sterile. Many its best not to believe what "palestinian witnesses" claim to see (Jenin Jenin).

While I thank you and commend your courage in speaking out against these thugs, I doubt that the result of any police investigation and or charges against those perpetrators will amount to anything. The important thing for honest Isarelis like you is to speak up against such hooligans and organize a valid opposition to their hijacking of Israel's politics and stop your politicians from bellying up to them.

after all,muslims are the trend setters when it comes to hiding their cowardly faces with masks.

I have no doubt that this is either a fabricated story or masked arabs trying to give the jews a bad name.The news reports love to report on these stories and then put an apology a few days later, somewhere buried in the newspaper,saying how it was all fabricated in the first place.

Are you referring to the Palestinian terrorists that daily attack Israelis????

Do unto others before they do it to you.

hey, they spoke Hebrew among themselves. but Arabs also speak Hebrew

Israel cannot survive without enemies to hold it together, so it must continue imagining them (Iranian nukes) or creating them (harmless Palestinian farmers humiliated and injured). The settlers did make one big mistake: they should have used cluster bombs instead of pepper spray--then they would definitely have been found completely blameless. But never fear--there will probably be the usual thorough investigation producing nothing. The next time some desperate Palestinian strikes back, please remember this story.

This is totally against the teachings of the Torah and is to be condemned.

Well, what can we expect of our settlers ...?! A message of good cheer (for themselves ofcourse)....

If they wish to beat up people, let them beat militants and not farmers planting crops.

Of course, we can expect trolls to start generalizing. Isn't that right Nathalie?

or home with your family? Could it be you have no family, or, at least, none that want to have anything to do with you? After all, there are several Dursons in the Los Angeles area. I checked. Could it be that you are a lonely, frustrated woman who vents her frustration on Israel? If you are, I pity you. Seek solace in your religion.

Eventually even the worst of them will change for the better and perhaps move away.

These settlers, who claim to be religious, do chillul ha-Shem every day (profane the Name of God) in their heinous actions. They prove they are no better than the Palestinians. If they haven't been stopped and put in jail by now, then the IDF and our government are guilty - either of criminal negligence or of complicity.

Why would the police bother with the case? (At least unofficially), beating Palestinians is not a crime to them.

This nothing more then drivel at this point. Police reports? pictures? More Drivel fromt he anti Jewish settler paper. By the way to us Settler is not a bad word. But Palistinian Arab is. Levi.

Are those beaten "poor" palestinians the "poor" thugs who burned the field of jewish farmers in Judea and Samaria a few weeks ago. Where these "poor" palestinians those thieves who stole on a regular basis the cattle from jewish settlements ? Who know ? There are maybe finaly justice on this earth even if one has to take justice by its own hands ! It is sad that this is the only language these "poor" palestinians & al. understands

Once they are caught they will be forced to endure a terrible punishment of house arrest. I'm sure the investigation will be prompt and fair as usual. These settlers have great role models to follow who just happen to run the country. Regards, Rollin

I am appalled by this unprovoked violent attack on innocent people planting in their fields. It goes against our most basic Jewish and human values, and is inexcusable. I used to think that it would go without saying that I would join the rest of the civilized world in reacting this way, but I have now read enough talkbacks to realize that since I live in Judea & Samaria, some would suspect me of supporting such acts of violence. I ask my fellow talkbackers, before posting blanket condemnations of "the settlers," please think twice about whether or not it is proper to stereotype and generalize in this way. When I hear about a violent assault in Gush Dan, I don't assume that most residents of Gush Dan support it.

If they were masked, how do you know they were 'settlers?' Maybe they were ISM or Shalom Achshav, as a provocation? Maybe they were Arab neighbors, who don't get along with them? Why blame 'settlers' without any proof? Just because they said so?

Settlers in Masks? I don't think so. The archives are filled with hundreds of thousands of photographs of Arabs in Masks engaged in all kinds of intimidation and violence on their own populations. Settlers? First lets call them Giboreem, the mighty ones, and then citizens. The term settlers, while an accurate translation from the Hebrew would also apply to any small cities dwellers in any part of Israel. Let's loose the term, as it is missleading, and just simply call them Israelis. Settlers has come to imply that they are somehow illegitimate or thieves. These Mighty ones are certainly not that way. Consider this....Masked Arabs in a false flag opperation to frighten their own population while defaming certain Israelis. Where are the pictures of Israelis in Masks? I have never seen one. TTFN

If someone is trespassing on your land and using it without your permission, and their community has a history of shooting, bombing, maiming, and killing people, then what is wrong with this alleged beating? Ooops - did I write alleged? Sorry...clearly Haaretz has already interviewed the witnesses, tried and convicted people on the basis of - of - well, nothing. Just another lynch mob story to feed the frenzied sharks who lap it up like the animals they prefer to protect over humans.

For what they are worth..my apologies too. Not only the thugs are our problem, but the weak reaction of army and government to settler actions when they occur. Yes, i know that there was also stone throwing at Jewish vehicles this week..SO WHAT..that is no excuse for violence of any sort! Merry Christmas to Christian readers.. and as the Daily jewish prayer states... PEACE ON US...(and good will to all men)

What a lousy piece of amateur journalism. No response from the nearby community who the article is so full of insinuation is responsible? No investigation of whose land the wheat was being sown upon. This is international news? Pepper spray?

The hideous act speaks for itself as being out pf the Jewish teachings.

just once to see Hamas or Islamic Jihad punish one of their own......Or the likes of Durson ever speaking out on terror against Jews.

This is why Israel will not exist as a nation state in 50 years. Yes, it will take a while, but it will be true. The USA and Hagee will not save you. Neocons in the USA are more despised than Jim Jones koolaid.

Lawless, cowardly, and soon to be evacuated.

I apologise for what has happened due to a group of Israeli thugs and wish the victims a full and fast recovery. I hope that the police will act swiftly to bring them to justice.