Schoolchildren face daily settler attacks

Palestinian schoolgirls (right) in Hebron walk across rough ground to avoid Israeli settlers (left) blocking their route.


Mel Frykberg, The Electronic Intifada, 24 November 2009
"It is really scary walking to school. We never know when the settlers will attack us and beat us," said Rima Ali, 10, from the village of Tuba in the southern West Bank, about two hours drive south of Jerusalem.
Settler attacks -- including arson attacks on agricultural fields, chopping down olive trees, poisoning water wells, killing livestock and assaulting Palestinian villagers living near settlements -- have become a way of life for Palestinians all over the West Bank as the Israeli authorities continue to turn a blind eye.