Huckabee describes settler attacks in the West Bank as terrorism for the first time
The U.S. ambassador to Israel addresses the case of Louay Abu Rida, a Palestinian-American citizen whose home in the town of Qusra has been surrounded by settlers, calling for an end to the attacks against his family.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that the actions carried out by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian town of Qusra and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank constitute “the dictionary definition of terrorism.” It was the first explicit accusation of terrorism by a U.S. official against Jewish groups supporting settlement activity, commonly known as the “Hilltop Youth,” despite Huckabee’s well-known staunch support for Israel and his advocacy of its right to establish what he calls “Greater Israel.”
For the eleventh consecutive day, Israeli settlers continued on Wednesday to surround three Palestinian homes in the town of Qusra, in the northern occupied West Bank, under the protection of the Israeli military.
In an interview with Israel’s public broadcaster on Tuesday evening, Huckabee said: “When someone engages in activity intended to change the behavior of an individual, an entire community, or a group, and to instill fear in them, that is the definition of terrorism,” adding that it was “the historical, dictionary definition of terrorism.”
Huckabee is known for embracing Christian Zionist ideas. He has claimed that Israel has “the right to control large areas” stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates and encompassing significant parts of the Middle East. He has also previously visited settlements in the West Bank.
Around 750,000 settlers live in 156 settlements and 360 outposts across the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and carry out attacks aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinians.
Huckabee claimed that “these people represent a very small minority of the Israeli people,” apparently seeking to counter allegations that extremism is widespread within Israeli society.
He continued: “They are doing tremendous harm to Israel and the Jewish people by entering Palestinian homes, stealing their livestock, burning their cars, and taking over their homes. It is destructive vandalism that cannot be justified, and I believe it should be condemned worldwide.”
Huckabee also addressed the case of Louay Abu Rida, a Palestinian-American citizen whose home in Qusra is being surrounded by settlers.
“When this happens to an American citizen, as it recently did, our responsibility as the U.S. Embassy is to intervene, to be as firm as possible, and to say: this behavior is unacceptable,” he said.
He added: “The perpetrators are responsible for these criminal acts, and the question now is: what action will be taken to prosecute them and hold them effectively accountable?”
Successive U.S. administrations have provided Israel with political, military, and financial support. Israel occupies Palestinian territory as well as territories in Syria and Lebanon and rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state provided for in United Nations resolutions.
Asked about his level of satisfaction with the positions taken by the Israeli government and military, Huckabee claimed: “There is clear condemnation at every level of what I would call civilized Israeli society. I am not going to blame the Israeli government because it is making arrests and responding to our reports.”
However, the Israeli government has not arrested any of the settlers surrounding the homes in Qusra, south of the Nablus Governorate, nor has it taken any action against them.
Qusra Mayor Abdelazim al-Wadi said that the Israeli military is “a partner of the settlers in these attacks.”
Huckabee continued: “What concerns me most is not what the government is doing, but the fact that these criminals who commit these acts believe they are helping Israel and the Jewish people. They are hurting Israel and damaging its reputation.”
On Wednesday, Abdelazim al-Wadi said that three homes in Qusra remained surrounded by Israeli settlers for the eleventh consecutive day.
He explained that the settlers continued to deploy around the homes while Israeli troops remained in the area and had declared it a “closed military zone,” stressing that “the three families are facing difficult conditions as a result of the ongoing siege and restrictions on their movement.”
He also reported that the Israeli military continued to occupy one of the three homes and use it as a military barracks, while settlers remained positioned around the surrounded houses.
