Kiryat Arba Residents Claim Setting Arab Bus on Fire

Jewish settlers claimed credit today for setting fire to an Arab bus early this morning in the Al Aroub refugee camp near the Hebron-Jerusalem highway on the West Bank, Voice of Israel Radio reported.

The settlers, from Kiryat Arba, a Gush Emunim stronghold adjacent to Hebron and from Gush Etzion, said they acted in reprisal against alleged stonethrowing from the refugee camp at an Israeli bus enroute to Kiryat Arba yesterday evening. Two passengers, a mother and daughter, received minor scratches.

The bus fire, which local police initially attributed to criminal elements, coincided with the publication by Haaretz today of leaked portions of a report on Jewish vigilantism against West Bank Arabs by Deputy Attorney General Yehudit Karp. Karp headed a year-long investigation of such incidents and the status of law enforcement in the territory. She resigned from the committee which conducted the investigation on grounds that the Justice Ministry has failed to act so far on its recommendations.

According to excerpts from the Karp report, which has never been released to the public, police investigations into Jewish vigilantism on the West Bank were stymied by the refusal of Jewish settlers to cooperate when they were summoned for questioning. In some cases, Jewish settlers threatened Arabs that they would be forced to sell their land and the Arabs thereupon dropped their complaints.

The report listed dozens of examples of complaints lodged by local Arabs against Jewish settlers which were never properly followed through by the police. One case cited concerned the fatal shooting of an Arab girl at the AI Aroub refugee camp a year ago. Jewish settlers, suspected of having opened fire with their weapons after stones were thrown at them by Arab demonstrators, were officially placed under investigation. But it dragged on for months and no one was charged or brought to trial, according to the report published in Haaretz.

The report stressed the severe shortage of police manpower in the territories which hampered their ability to conduct investigations or perform normal police duties. The report charged a lack of coordination between the Israel army, the police and the internal security service (Shin Bet) in dealing with Arab complaints.

The report called for a substantial increase in the budget for law enforcement and investigations on the West Bank, improvement in cooperation between the various law enforcement agencies and of the investigative procedures. Defense Minister Moshe Arens is expected to convene a special ministerial team next week to map out proper government policy for law enforcement on the West Bank.