Anatot Invader - Serial Rapist

According to Maariv, Yassin Rifai, the Arab who claims land in Anatot and was the trigger for the violence at the community over Rosh Hashana, is a convicted rapist:

He is married to a Jewess, a former resident of Gaza.  He and his borthers claim land within the boundaries of Anatot.  He has been sentenced in one case of a rape of two tourists to 14 years in jail.

It seems the anger of Anatot residents is colored by several complaints to the police they have made against him for following around children, photographing them and even hurling rocks at them, which he denies.

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Land and Stones at Anatot

Just to point out, Anatot is not populated by "religious/fanatic/messianic settlers".

Report:

According to Israeli activists, on Friday morning (Sept 30) Palestinian and Israeli activists were attacked by settlers near the settlement of Anatot, which is about 20 minutes drive outside of Jerusalem in the West Bank, just north of Maale Adumim. Activists came to accompany the owner of the plot of land to plant trees – when they were met by a large group of settlers, who attacked them and reportedly cracked open the head of the landowner and attacked his wife. The two have been hospitalized.


The only Israeli news outlet I’ve seen report on this is Ynetnews, which is reporting that 3 have been “lightly” injured in clashes between protestors and settlers, who “hurled stones at each other.”

According to the Ta’ayush activist I spoke to who prefers to remain nameless, the landowner, Abu Salah al Rifai and his wife Ayman, hold the ownership papers for their land, on which the settlement of Anatot was built in the 1980’s. Their case is a bit different from most Palestinians in the West Bank since Ayman has Israeli citizenship and therefore is actually allowed to enter the settlement and reach the land. The couple approached Ta’ayush activists several weeks ago and asked for help to prevent their land and property from being damaged by settlers.

And a comment there:

So on Rosh Hashana, a group of Palestinians claiming that a secular yishuv is actually their land, something they can challenge in the Israeli courts and for which there is an entire network of lawyers and NGOs who provide support, alongside a group of pro-Palestinian Israelis went and shoved their beliefs about this land in the faces of families that have been living there for a couple of decades. They did this on a day when everybody was home, with their families, as part of an important Jewish holiday. They blocked the gate without provocation “because they weren’t allowed to pay a visit.”


The violence is uncalled for, but it seems like some people intentionally wanted to provoke the anger of the people who live there and is now making hay out of the fact they succeeded in provoking. Maybe next time there could be a better way that doesn’t include blocking the gate? Maybe next time you can show that your intentions are peaceful and you’re not trying to get people evicted from homes where they’ve established lives and a community legally and with the blessing of the Israeli government? Oh wait, you are trying to get them evicted. Never mind. I’m sure you’re not really upsetting them. They must think it’s a game and like you guys, they can just move back to Tel Aviv when the game is over.

Just that you know.

And Dani Dayan's response, a classic ugly left-wing act of provocation whereby the anarchists attacked:

האירוע בענתות הוא מקרה קלאסי של פרובוקציה שמאלנית מכוערת בלב יישוב יהודי ועוד בעיצומו של החג. באירוע הזה יש פולשים ותוקפים (האנרכיסטים) ומותקפים (תושבי ענתות). הנסיון של חבורת אנשי השמאל הקיצוני להציג עצמם כקרבנות הוא פאתטי ומגוחך.

על כוחות הביטחון לשים קץ לאלתר להתגרויות של האנרכיסטים היהודים המשתמשים לשם כך בפרובוקטורים ערבים בלב היישוב ענתות. הנסיונות של עברייני השמאל להפר את הסדר הציבורי בליבו של היישוב ענתות חייבים להיתקל בתגובה נחרצת וחד משמעית מצד משטרת ישראל

 

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