Qusra Under Siege

If you’d like to know who is sovereign in the State of Israel today, consider the fate of the village of Qusra in the central West Bank, close to Nablus. On August 9 dozens of crazed Israeli settlers began a siege of three Palestinian houses at the edge of the village, homes to the families of Yusuf Hasan, Riziq Hasan, and Qusay Abu Riddy. The settlers blocked all access roads and paths, invaded the courtyards of the houses, stoned doors and windows, cut the electricity lines and the water pipes, and prevented any supplies from entering. Inside the houses, food reserves were dwindling fast and there was very little water. Temperatures in August are over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit in Qusra. The death of the family members by thirst and starvation was definitely a possibility. One of the children was in acute need of medical care, but the settlers delayed the Palestinian ambulance coming to take her to the hospital.All this is routine in the Palestinian West Bank. Equally routine is the response of the Israeli army and police. Soldiers arrived on August 10, fraternized with the settlers, prayed with them, and declared the area a Closed Military Zone. In theory a CMZ is supposed t...