3 Palestinians Shot in West Bank Rioting : Arabs, Jews Blame Each Other for Pre-Dawn Violence

Soldiers shot and wounded three Palestinians today in a pre-dawn riot that Arabs said was started by Jewish settlers who shot at Arab homes and vandalized their cars.

Jewish settlers said the clash began after they were awakened by Arab rioters shouting “Slaughter the Jews!” and “God is great!” Fearing that the Arabs were going to attack their homes, some settlers said they rushed into the streets of Hebron and fired warning shots.

The army said the violence by Arabs was aimed only at the military.

Arab residents said they were awakened about midnight by carloads of settlers raiding their neighborhoods.

“All the city was sleeping, nobody was in the streets,” Mustafa Natsche, the former mayor, said. “It was a dreadful night. There was a sort of battle under the windows of my house, shooting, crying, moaning.”

Officer, Rabbi Disagree

He said the Arabs responded to the attack by throwing rocks at the settlers and Israeli troops who arrived.

But Rabbi Moshe Levinger said: “(The Arabs) ran down near the synagogue. They wanted to enter Jewish homes. They carried stones. We responded by throwing stones and firing in the air.”

The area military commander disputed Levinger’s claim.

“It’s important to stress that the riots were directed at the army, and at no stage was there an intention or attempt to attack Jewish homes,” the commander said on Israel radio. He did not give his name, in keeping with military regulations.

A reporter saw dozens of vandalized Arab cars, including a station wagon with all its windows broken. Arab residents showed several revolver cartridges they collected after the clash and said they turned over nearly 100 to the Israeli authorities as evidence.

One of the Founders

Levinger, who has lived in Hebron nine years, is one of the founders of the 40-family Beit Hadassah settlement inside the predominantly Arab city of 50,000. There is a second Jewish enclave in Hebron, the hillside neighborhood of Tel Rumeida.

Levinger claimed that 500 Arabs were involved in the rioting and came within about 100 yards of Jewish homes. He said about 50 settlers defended the homes.

“If we hadn’t stopped them . . . there would have been a slaughter of Jews, men, women and children,” Levinger said.

But Natsche and other Arab witnesses said the clashes occurred without provocation in Arab neighborhoods several miles from Jewish homes.

Natsche pointed to the smashed windows and slit tires of his car parked outside his home, about one mile from the Jewish settlements.