Without the protective gear, “I probably would have been dead,” Levine said, pointing out that Palestinians do not have such protection, and more than 20 had been killed by settlers this year.
“We call on members of Congress to demand the US government place sanctions on illegal Israeli settlers and the Israeli military,” said the Council on American-Islamic Relations and CAIR-Chicago.
Nachala movement set up a makeshift outpost as part of a push to resettle Gaza; Likud Party official attended the event, while local authorities demanded immediate police action. Police and the military have so far made no effort to remove the activists
Israeli police did not identify the suspects or specify their roles in the attacks, which came during a spike in settler violence during the annual Palestinian olive harvest season.
In Saturday's attack in the village of Taybeh, settlers targeted Belgium's consul general, French and Polish diplomats and Catholic representatives, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said.
The settlers attacked Palestinians harvesting olives and beat Heidi Levine, a veteran photojournalist. Witnesses said Israeli soldiers did nothing to halt the violence.
“No Palestinians in the West Bank are exempt from this threat, including Christian communities and institutions,” said Bishop Dr Imad Haddad of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
Mashhour Shaher Yassin, 51, died Thursday evening after Israeli paramilitary colonizers shot him in the abdomen while attacking his home in Yasuf in the central occupied West Bank