Israel faces global outrage over West Bank violence

Indira Lakshmanan (0:01)

WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

Mairav Zonszein (0:05)

Israel is fighting a war in the West Bank and trying to take over as much land as possible. And Trump hasn't put the brakes on any of it.

Chris Bentley (0:12)

Israeli settler violence against Palestinians is getting worse.

It's Tuesday, September 8th, and this is Here & Now Anytime from NPR and WBUR. I'm Chris Bentley. Today on the show, police hunt for two thieves who broke into the Renoir Museum on the French Riviera and stole paintings worth millions of dollars.

Anthony Amore (0:40)

People are always amazed when they say the theft was only three minutes or five minutes. Well, that's the typical theft. So you have to slow those thieves down.

Chris Bentley (0:47)

Also William Shatner and his daughter Melanie open up about their cancer diagnoses and share how they confronted mortality together.

William Shatner (0:56)

That prognostication of you could die either sends you into a catatonic fit or you learn to appreciate the moments that you're alive.

Chris Bentley (1:05)

Before we get to that though, the UK, France and Canada are blocking imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. That's after the latest wave of deadly violence against Palestinians by Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said settlers are carrying out ethnic cleansing.

Ed Miliband (1:27)

We will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate for settlement expansion. So to those who finance or facilitate illegal settlements, let me say this, you will face the full force of UK sanctions.

Chris Bentley (1:47)

Mairav Zonszein is with the International Crisis Group in Tel Aviv. She told Indira Lakshmanan, Israeli settlers have been attacking Palestinians for years, with the backing of the Israeli government and military.

Mairav Zonszein (1:59)

Palestinians are being attacked, their livelihoods are being restricted, some of them are being killed, some of them are being assaulted in all types of ways across the West Bank, pretty much on a daily basis for the last few years. And in recent days, I think what's gotten more attention is the fact that there's just been even more cases of settler violence, in which case Israelis who live in the settlements are going out and attacking Palestinians. Sometimes it ends in casualties, sometimes in death. For example, two children, teenagers were killed, sometimes by soldiers, sometimes by settlers in the last week in the same village. But again, this is something that's become quite a systematic pattern.

Indira Lakshmanan (2:40)

Well, some listeners may not realize that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law. But as you say, they've dramatically increased in recent years, especially since the October 7th, 2023 Hamas terror attacks. Violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has really surged. The UN reports that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been hurt just this year during settler attacks. So tell us about what US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said this weekend after meeting with Palestinian Americans.

Mairav Zonszein (3:16)

Well, Huckabee was specifically referring to, he went to a village that happens to have a lot of Palestinians with American citizenship called Turmus Aya, which has been the victim of many attacks over the last few years.

He called settlers who attack Palestinians in certain cases terrorists and said that they're a very small number. He was also referring to a case that has gotten a lot of attention in the village of Kusra, which is where a Palestinian also with American citizenship from Ohio owns a house that has been under siege by settlers and now is under siege by soldiers. Basically, a house that settlers wanted to take over. But he again is talking about it being a tiny minority when in fact, this is something that is going on for a long time in many places and has state sanctioned support.

Indira Lakshmanan (4:01)

You write in a New York Times opinion piece that President Trump has not put any breaks on settler expansion. Explain what you mean.

Mairav Zonszein (4:09)

Israel is fighting a war in the West Bank and trying to take over as much land as possible.

And Trump hasn't put the breaks on any of it, not on the settlement expansion, not on the military raids that have displaced Palestinians. And this government specifically that came into power just before October 7th came in with a very clear plan with certain ministers that are settlers themselves of how to streamline, expedite and take over more and more land for Jewish Israelis. And the only thing that Trump has done is to say, we do not support formal annexation, annexation being Israel applying sovereignty and law in occupied territory. But Israel has been doing that de facto for years and with extra vigor in the last few years.