'Palestinians also to blame in Hebron'

     The Jerusalem Magistrates' Court on Sunday remanded in custody a resident of Kiryat Arba suspected of having opened fire at Palestinians last Thursday following the evacuation of the disputed Beit Hasshalom in Hebron. Ze'ev Brauda, who was caught on film firing a pistol at two Palestinians, turned himself in to Hebron Police on Saturday night along with Gabi Bibi, a Kiryat Arba security guard who fired in the air during the incident. Bibi was released by the court despite the police's request that he too be remanded. Judge Malka Aviv, who had watched the B'Tselem footage of the incident, agreed with police that Brauda had engaged in a provocation by approaching a Palestinian and "confronting him face to face." However, she continued, "there are a number question marks regarding the behavior of the people who were allegedly shot by the suspect; when they are seen getting up and proceeding to pelt the suspect with rocks. Further on in the clip one can also see the 'evacuation' of one of the casualties, whose shirt did not show any sign that he had been shot. "It appears the incident did in fact begin with the suspect's actions; however, the rest of the incident and its conclusion, including its grave results, cannot, I think, be attributed to the suspect alone. On the contrary, the deliberate conduct of the Palestinians during the incident contributed greatly to its results." Hebron's Jewish community on Saturday night sent a letter to IDF and Border Police commanders to complain that not enough was being done to protect them from attacks by Palestinians. In particular they complained that there had been a number of serious stoning incidents and attempted physical attacks. They taped testimony regarding two of the attacks and posted the footage on YouTube.

     Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday lashed out at settlers in Hebron who attacked Palestinians and their property in recent days, joining other Israeli figures in branding the attacks a "progrom." Settlers in the West Bank city went on a rampage after Israel Defense Forces evicted dozens of them from a building whose ownership is disputed. The move came after Israel's High Court ordered that the settlers leave the building, dubbed the "House of Contention." "We are the children of a people whose historic ethos is built on the memory of pogroms," Olmert said during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem. "The sight of Jews firing at innocent Palestinians has no other name than pogrom." I am ashamed that Jews could do such a thing," Olmert went on. "I have asked the defense minister and other relevant elements to do all it takes, with all the strength needed and in any place controlled by the State of Israel, in order to stop this phenomenon." Video footage supplied by the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem shows a settler firing shots at Palestinian rock-throwers from close range, hitting two of them. A second settler is also seen opening fire. "I have turned to the appropriate elements in order to assure that law enforcement authorities will take aggressive and sharp action to bring those responsible to justice," Olmert said Sunday. Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann also slammed the attacks as a pogrom, in a television interview over the weekend. Palestinians said that 17 Palestinians were wounded in the clashes, five of them by gunfire. The two settlers caught on film have turned themselves in to police. (19,16)