Israel's settler extremists celebrate Purim by attacking Palestinian shepherds (photo from ISM/ei).

I've posted a couple times on the situation in Nahaleen recently, including information on Israeli settler attacks from the illegal settlement of Betar Illit. I mentioned that settler attacks have been on the rise recently. I just came across two articles on recent settler rampages. One from Khaled Amayreh in Egypt's Al Ahram Weekly and another by an activist in the International Solidarity Movement which appeared on the Electronic Intifada. An excerpt from the ei article reads:

The trouble created by mad, fundamentalist settlers, who believe in a literal interpretation of religious texts, is a well calculated part of the Israeli government's policy of colonization. The settlers, more or less knowingly, are doing the governments bidding, but also the judicial system seems very lenient when it comes to settlers. A grave example is the story of an eleven-year-old Palestinian boy, Hilmi Shusha, who was "pistol whipped" to death by a settler from Betar, on the way to Bethlehem from Hebron. . . The perpetrator was arrested, tried and acquitted on the grounds that "the child died on his own as a result of emotional pressure".

On appeal, the Israeli Supreme Court characterized the act as a "light killing", and the settler received six months of community service and a fine.

Read the articles here:

• Israel's Settler Rampage. Khaled Amayreh in Al Ahram Weekly
• Falling Through the Looking Glass in Hebron. K.L. on the Electronic Intifada