From the Liveblog of
Monday, July 16, 2018
Hebron settler throws can of paint at Breaking the Silence tour guide
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleA group of settlers in Hebron disrupt a Breaking the Silence tour in the flashpoint West Bank city, and hurl a can of paint at the tour guide.
The left-wing NGO says it filed a police complaint after the incident, which followed a wave of other disturbances by Jewish locals, who throw eggs, stones and dirt at Breaking the Silence staffers.
The tour was convened for the group of left-wing activists who staged a walkout from their Birthright trip yesterday in protest of what they said was the organization’s intentional omission of the Palestinian narrative from its trips.
Breaking the Silence publishes testimony of former Israeli soldiers who report on alleged abuses by the IDF in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The organization has raised the ire of many Israeli officials and drawn criticism from those who challenge the authenticity of its mostly anonymous claims, and lament its advocacy work in the international community.
The left-wing NGO offers regular tours of the flashpoint city of Hebron, where several hundred nationalist Israeli settlers live in fortified compounds heavily guarded by the IDF in the midst of 200,000 Palestinian inhabitants whose movements are heavily restricted.
Responding to the incident, Breaking the Silence director Avner Gvaryahu says, “Today the participants saw exactly what Birthright was trying to hide from them — a group of violent nationalists who are taking over the center of a Palestinian city.”
BReaking the silence tour with birthright walkoffs interrupted when Settler childpoured paint on guide, now heading to police to file a complaint @BtSIsrael @IfNotNowOrg pic.twitter.com/mEbRQQjjnW
— Mairav Zonszein מרב זונשיין (@MairavZ) July 16, 2018
The Times of Israel Community.