The parents of a Hebronite Jewish child attacked in the ancient city are demanding that the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) organization pay their family 75,000 NIS ($20,573) in compensation.
Two weeks ago, a TIPH foreign observer struck the child’s face. TIPH is a force of foreign citizens who are intended to be objective observers in the mostly Palestinian city and has existed in its present form since 1997.
According to the organization’s website, its “mission was called for by the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel in order to support them in their efforts to improve the situation in Hebron and to create a sense of security for the Palestinians in Hebron… Observers come from TIPHs five contributing countries: Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.”
Demanding the money from TIPH, the Honeinu legal organization wrote that “This employee was documented as slapping the face of a minor with great force. The organization took responsibility for the incident and sent the employee out of the country.”
“The organization is now asked to take responsibility for this incident…and to pay appropriate compensation to the minor for the attack… Attacking a minor with such great force is an injustice according to all laws and standards.”
“The unusual force of the slap that the observer gave the minor’s face shows the hate, the loathing, and the danger which that observer presents to the Jewish public. TIPH did well when they removed the attacker from Israel, but it must also pay the damages and compensate the minor.”
“Besides for that, we expect the State of Israel to bring the attacker too justice.”
Earlier this week, a TIPH observer was caught on video puncturing the tires of a Jewish car. The security footage left no room for doubt that TIPH personnel vandalized the car of Elad Pass.
Pass had complained that his tires were punctured several times a year ago, but the police investigation revealed nothing. At one point, the police decided to check security cameras at a neighbor’s house and discovered a TIPH observer standing next to the car and bending down while another kept watch.
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) ordered the TIPH commander to be summoned for “clarification” by Israel’s foreign ministry.
