Palestinian shepherd Hamze Shawaheen was herding sheep with his sons near his West Bank village last month when armed Israeli settlers attacked them. Two men dressed like soldiers pushed one of Shawaheen’s sons to the ground, he said, and beat the boy, as well as attacking the family’s sheep. Before leaving, the settlers let their dog loose on the flock, injuring several more animals. When Shawaheen got his phone out to film the assault, one of the men threatened to shoot him.
Shawaheen had little opportunity to recover from the incident – he had to graze his sheep again that afternoon. This time, he asked solidarity activists to accompany him to a different field. Three settler vehicles quickly pulled on to a nearby hill and waited, but, unlike earlier in the day, they kept their distance. Shawaheen believes this was only because of the activists; if they hadn’t been there, he said, it’s likely the settlers would have attacked him again. ….more
