When settlers strike, Palestinians point and shoot video

Moreover, the younger generation of settlers look at some of the founders of the religious settlers' movement, called Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful) as having "sold out" because of their attempt to work in conjunction with the government.

"It has now reached a point in which the violence is also now directed against even the leaders of Gush Emunim, who are considered by the new young generation to be too moderate," Professor Ezrahi says.

Video camera as a deterrent

"We don't start up with them. They start up with us," says Mohammed, a mother of four. "They want to take our house, our land. But we had this land registered in the time of our grandfathers. If they would stay in their place and we stay in ours, there could be peace."

On many occasions she's rushed to turn on her video camera when settlers come – which she says happens every week – for her house in particular. It's one that is closest to Yitzhar. The problem is that in the process of wanting to stay away from the windows, which the settlers try to break, sometimes she captures only sound and not the video.

"The settlers have even come and tried to reach in through the window to take the camera," she says. "But this is the most we can do, because if we try to call the army to complain, they don't do anything. They're here to protect the settlers, not us."

Btselem says that the "attacks include throwing stones at passing cars, physically attacking farmers, burning crops, and stealing livestock."

Israeli officials seem to be taking notice.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered the establishment of an inter-agency task force to coordinate efforts to rein in settler violence, according to reports in the Israeli media. The task force would include representatives from the agencies that deal with settler violence in the West Bank, including the police, the army, the Ministry of Justice, and the Shin Bet internal security agency, the Jerusalem Post reported.

'We're in a war'

On the other side of the hill from Mohammed's family in Asira il-Qabliya lives Hillel Ben Shlomo and his family. He doesn't see the attacks on the Palestinian village as unprovoked at all. To him, it's deterrence.

A month ago his family was made homeless when a Palestinian from Asira il-Qabliya burned the Yitzhar settlement and set fire to his house, stabbing a 9-year-old several times before being shot dead by another settler. Mr. Ben Shlomo and his family were away for the weekend.

"You can't imagine after such a scene, we should stay silent. You can't expect people not to defend themselves," says Ben Shlomo, sitting in his temporary mobile home. "In a war, we should act as if we're in a war."

His wife, sitting quietly nearby, defends the acts of revenge. "All our people do when they go into villages is make noise and break windows and say, 'If you hurt us, it won't go without comment.' It's only for deterrence," she says.

Amid increasing recognition of the problem of settler violence toward Palestinians, the people of Yitzhar and other nearby settlements see the Israeli establishment – from the politicians to the police – as part of the problem, and are hunkering down for further confrontations. They have recently formed a group called "The Settlers Committee of Samaria. It is advertising with pamphlets and posters that encourage people to sign on to a new "Samaria Pact" dedicated to expanding the settlers' presence there.

One of the spokesmen from Yitzhar, Yigal Amitai, explains what this means to him.

"Yitzhar is not dependent on the state. We think that in order to advance the situation, we need to take charge of our future," Mr. Amitai says. "A small elite stole the state of Israel from the people of Israel."

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