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Israeli settlers hurl insult at Islam in presence of regime forces: B’Tselem

Wednesday, 30 August 2017 6:26 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 30 August 2017 10:39 AM ]

An Israeli settler argues with police in the West Bank settlement of Ofra on February 28, 2017 as the regime forces begin evacuating their structures following a court decision. ( Photo by AP)

An Israeli human rights organization has captured a video showing Israeli settlers verbally abusing Palestinians and swearing at the holy religion of Islam as well as Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the presence of regime forces.

The B’Tselem video, released on Tuesday, shows the Israelis from the settlement of Kiryat Arba using obscene language through a loudspeaker against a Palestinian woman, who is a local volunteer for the group, and is filming the incident from her window.

It took place in the al-Hariqah neighborhood of the southern West Bank city of in al-Khalil (Hebron) on August 24.

A group of Israeli forces were present at the scene when the settlers threatened the Palestinian woman with violence for hours and insulted Islam, the video shows.

The woman said the settlers turned the music up during the evening prayer time and started mocking the prayer and hurling insults at Prophet Muhammad.

Israeli forces stand guard as Palestinians worshippers demonstrate a main entrance to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem al-Quds’ Old City on July 17, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

“The settlers began to use foul language and call out obscenities concerning me, Islam, and especially Prophet Muhammad. The Israeli soldiers and police did nothing to stop them,” she said, adding that it was not the first time that such incident happened as she had documented similar behavior by Israeli settlers about a year ago.

“Life in al-Hariqah has become intolerable. The military repeatedly raids the neighborhood and the settlers assault and harass us. As a Muslim, I was extremely offended by the insults hurled at the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). As a woman, I felt terrible hearing the foul language directed personally at me for filming them,” she pointed out.

Meanwhile, B’Tselem said Israeli settlers assault Palestinian residents in the presence of Israeli forces “on a regular basis, even explicit threats of violence and blatant sexual harassment of a Palestinian woman and abuse of her community go unchecked.”

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