JERUSALEM: Israeli settlers on Saturday attacked a convoy of European diplomats and beat up a visiting French mayor, in a new escalation of violence during the Palestinian olive harvest, witnesses and diplomats said.
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witnesses → attack → harvest
The 78-year-old mayor said masked settlers yelled defamatory comments about France, kicked him and hit him with iron bars as he joined Palestinian olive farmers in the occupied West Bank alongside the top French and Belgian representatives in Jerusalem and Polish diplomats.
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he → say → Jerusalem
“I think that if settlers are behaving like this, there is a tolerance on the part of the Israeli government,” Bernard Baudoux, mayor of the northern French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, said after he was attacked.
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he → think → Aymeries
“The whole world needs to know what’s happening,” he said.
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he → need → ?
“For me, I’ll go back to my country and everything will be fine.
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everything → go → country
Those who continue to suffer the most are those who are here.”
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who → continue → ?
Baudoux, who was wearing a sash with the French tricolour, was seen collapsed on the side of the car after the attack but he did not need hospital care.
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he → wear → care
The attack came just one day after settlers beat an American photographer for The Washington Post, who was in moderate condition with broken vertebrae on Saturday.
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who → come → Saturday
Israel’s foreign ministry condemned the attack on the diplomats and Israeli police promised to open an investigation.
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police → condemn → investigation
But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, days away from an election in which he is seeking to shore up support from the far-right, instead alleged a “smear” campaign against settlers.
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he → seek → settlers
Netanyahu said the diplomats should have coordinated their movements with the Israeli military and pointed out that Baudoux is a communist known for supporting the Palestinian cause.
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Baudoux → say → cause
“We urge caution before drawing conclusions” about the attacks, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
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office → urge → statement
His main rival in the Oct 27 elections, former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, strongly criticised Netanyahu over the violence, saying it was “burning away the little legitimacy the State of Israel still possesses”.
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State → criticise → Israel
The attacks are “Jewish terrorism, under the auspices of the Israeli government”, Eisenkot said.
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Eisenkot → say → government
Belgium called for an end to “impunity for violent settlers” after the latest attack.
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Belgium → call → attack
Attacks on cultural symbol
Baudoux, the mayor, said he had come to the town of Taybeh, a Christian stronghold, along with his local pastor from France to sign a goodwill agreement.
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he → say → agreement
He was attacked just as he joined the harvest as a symbolic gesture with the Palestinians, for whom olives are an important cultural symbol.
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olives → attack → whom
Extremist Israelis have issued calls to stop the Palestinians’ harvest after months of growing attacks in which settlers have stolen land and property.
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settlers → issue → land
There has also been violence against Israelis, with a Palestinian shooting dead a settler last month.
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Palestinian → shoot → settler
Bashar Fawadleh, a priest in Taybeh, said settlers had already attacked the harvest and snatched olives before beating the mayor.
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settlers → say → mayor
“One person was hit in the head and needed stitches.
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person → hit → stitches
They also beat up an older lady in her 70s after insulting her with very bad words,” the pastor said.
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pastor → beat → words
The West Bank violence has shocked much of the world, with Britain leading economic sanctions that in turn caused Netanyahu to voice outrage.
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Netanyahu → shock → outrage
Netanyahu had also sought to throw doubt on the circumstances behind the beating of the photographer, Heidi Levine, alleging that Palestinians and “far-left” activists caused trouble.
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Palestinians → seek → trouble
The Aporia
