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Sun, October 10, 2004
Local aid worker attacked
Woman escorting Palestinian kids beaten by mob of Israeli teens in Hebron
By BILL LAYE, CALGARY SUN
Threats -- and now a beating -- from militant Israeli settlers has a Calgary aid worker volunteering in Hebron vowing she'll be staying put. Diane Janzen, 28, and an Italian worker, whose name isn't being released, were returning to their quarters at about 3 p.m. local time after walking five Palestinian children home from school in the area when a mob of eight Israeli teenagers from the nearby Ma'on settlement attacked them with sticks.
The Italian man suffered a broken arm and had his camcorder stolen while he tried to film the attack.
Janzen, who works for Christian Peacemaker Teams, escaped shaken, but suffering only bruises.
"We're all people of God and we all believe in the same God, so why would they do it?" Janzen said from Hebron when contacted by the Sun yesterday.
"But this is nothing compared to what the Palestinians are going through every day."
The mob dispersed when an Amnesty International worker, who speaks Hebrew, told them police were being called.
Also hurt in this recent attack was AI worker Donatello Rovera.
Janzen said even though she was "sore and bruised," she would be escorting the children to and from school again today.
Over the past 12 years, the threats have been common, but this physical violence is cause for concern, said Janzen's boss, Doug Pritchard, a Toronto-based co-ordinator with the non-profit Christian Peacemaker Teams.
The interdenominational CPT currently has eight aid workers in the Hebron area and just 10 days earlier two others were beaten.
One remains in hospital with a punctured lung, Pritchard said, adding Janzen was the one who found the two "in a pool of blood" and called for help.
"She's pretty shaken ... it's been a pretty intense 10 days."
Pritchard adds he's disgusted that, so far, the Israeli authorities have made no arrests in either attacks and they appear to have very little concern given the situation.
He noted it took Israeli police more than 30 minutes to arrive when the call about this attack came in.
"It's pretty appalling," Pritchard said, adding he's hoping the publicity surrounding these assaults will force officials to act.
"It (the violence) has never reached this level before." | 