Armed settlers on Saturday detained a British activist in the West Bank and handed him over to police after accusing him of assaulting a minor, though other activists accused the settlers of kidnapping the man.
The activist, who was identified as Finn Joughin, was in the southern West Bank village of Umm al-Kheir to try to protect the locals amid repeated attacks from settlers who set up illegal outposts on the neighboring hillsides. The volunteer activity is known as protective presence, and has become increasingly common throughout the West Bank, where settler violence takes place on a near-daily basis with almost complete impunity.
In footage of the incident, Joughin is seen holding on to a fence, next to an Arabic sign that reads “welcome to Khirbet Umm al-Kheir,” and pressing his body against that of a child in an apparent attempt to prevent the child from passing through.
According to Nadav Weiman, from the left-wing Breaking the Silence group, “Children of settlers from the outpost stole a ball from Palestinian children [in Umm al-Khair] and then called armed adults [to the scene], and they kidnapped the activist.”
A subsequent video shows armed settlers physically restraining Joughin and marching him away, reportedly the illegal outpost where the settlers seen in the incident live.
