In the morning hours of 18 February 2021, about 10 settlers were recorded on the security cameras of the settlement of Shilo as they smashed the windshields and punctured the tires of about 10 cars. The damaged cars belonged to Palestinians who work in the settlement but are not allowed to enter it by car.
At around 2:00 P.M., the workers were called to the parking lot outside the settlement. after, Shilo’s security coordinator arrived there as well, and claimed he did not know when the cars were vandalized and by whom. This was despite the fact he had access to footage of the incident, which was later published in the media. Police officers who were called to the scene assessed the damage, ordered the workers to remove their cars, and suggested they file a complaint at the Binyamin police station.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Iyad Hadad, one of the workers recounted what happened:
On 18 February 2021, I came to work as usual and parked my car in the lot, as other Palestinian workers and I do every day because we’re not allowed to bring our cars inside. I started working, and everything was normal. At around 2:00 P.M., the Jewish contractor called me and asked me to come to my car in the lot because there was some problem. When I got there, I discovered that my car had been damaged. The windshield and the rear window were destroyed, and all four tires were punctured. The settlement security coordinator was there, as well as several Jewish contractors and Palestinian workers. I asked the coordinator what happened. He said that he didn’t know, and it was probably young guys who came from outside the settlement and damaged the cars. He didn’t say when it happened exactly, although it turned out that there’s footage of the incident on the security cameras. It must have taken them a while to damage all the cars, and the guard didn't stop them!
The Israeli police came, and the officers checked the damage and asked the car owners to take them away. They said whoever wanted to file a complaint should go to the Binyamin police station. I asked the other workers for help, and they drove me to the village to get spare tires to take my car away. I cleaned the glass shards strewn inside the car as much as I could and found four stones, each the size of an orange. It took me two hours before I was able to get out of there with the car and drive back to the village. Repairing the car cost me 4,000 shekels (~1,212 USD).
I didn’t file a complaint with the Israeli police because my car was also damaged at the same spot about two years ago, and then I went to the police and wasted a whole day. In the end, they closed the case for lack of evidence.
On top of the financial losses, I was fired from my job two days ago. I don’t know if it’s related to the incident or not, but now I’m unemployed, too. I’m married and don’t have children yet, but I help my parents. And now I don’t know how I’ll make a living.