Several videos of a protest by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Howara near Nablus have left social media commentators in shock as dozens of Jewish settlers marched under the protection of Israeli soldiers started shouting "Allahu Akbar" while waving Israeli flags.
Amazing. Israeli settlers chant Allah Akbar in Huwara near Nablus after one settler was killed when his car overturned in a chase by the Israeli police.Chased for throwing rocks at Palestinians nearby. Then settlers protests spread to Sheikh Jarrah & now are reportedly throwing pic.twitter.com/2X8bj8IHt8
— Ibrahim Husseini إبراهيم الحُسيني (@husseiniibrahim) December 21, 2020
The demonstration, mostly women and only few men passed by one of Howara's main streets has reportedly meant to "protest" the death of a settler whose car overturned during a chase by the Israeli police, after having been attacking Palestinian residents with rocks.
Videos featured the settlers shouting the well-known Islamic call for justice "Allahu Akbar" meaning "God is the greatest", before saying in Hebrew: "Our Howara".
תיעוד ממקורות פלסטיניים: עשרות מתנחלים שנושאים דגלי ישראל קיימו תהלוכה על כביש 60, שעובר בתוך הכפר חווארה באזור שכם. בסרטון נשמעות קריאות "אללה אכבר", ככל הנראה מהפלסטינים תושבי המקום, ולאחר מכן כמה מתנחלים שאומרים "חווארה שלנו"@nurityohanan pic.twitter.com/yQq1F2bbOj
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 21, 2020
Translation: "Documentation from Palestinian sources: Dozens of settlers carrying Israeli flags held a protest on Road 60, which passes inside the village of Howara in the Nablus area. The video features "Allah Akbar", apparently against the Palestinians who live in the area, and then some settlers say "Our Howara"."
Social media users widely shared the video saying that settlers are "stealing Palestinian phrases to protest injustice just like they stole Palestinian lands in the West Bank". The protest took place near Nablus, which is recognized as Palestinian territory according to international law.
Some commentators also checked information over the history of Howara in an attempt to examine the settlers' claim of Howara being theirs, noting it has been inhabited by Palestinian Arabs since the 12th century".
The village has been inhabited since 12th century and was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517 with all of Palestine, and in 1596 it appeared in the tax registers as being in the Nahiya of Jabal Qubal, part of Nablus Sanjak. It had a population of 87 households.
— Yada Yada (@AlexTrebekistan) December 22, 2020
Over the last several decades, UN resolutions and many international organizations have condemned the Israeli government's decisions to carry on plans of building settlements within the West Bank, saying the area is meant to be included in the future Palestinian state as per the two-state solution supported by the UN, European governments, the Arab League, and the democratic administrations in the US.
فكرة انهم حاولوا يسرق كل شي ، حتى أبسط الأمور وهي أسلوب المظاهرات والتكبير !
— Raneen mashni || ? (@RaneenMashni) December 22, 2020
هدول ناس لا حافظين ولا فاهمين https://t.co/yjuhRi1h0S
Translation: "They try to steal everything, even the simplest phrases and ways or protesting. They just copy everything regardless of the context".
Over the past four years, the strong alliance between the US President Donald Trump and the Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been described as "damaging" for the two-state solution, especially after Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in addition to his silence over the ongoing Israeli settlement activity within the West Bank.
