‘Protect or arm us’: Elderly Palestinian lashes out at PM Shtayyeh after Israeli settler rampage in Turmusayya

A video showing an elderly Palestinian man making an impassioned plea to the Palestinian Authority (PA) for protection has gone viral following a violent attack by hundreds of Israeli settlers on the town of Turmusayya in the occupied West Bank, which left one resident dead and 13 injured.

The video, which has thousands of views, showed the elderly man berating Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh during the latter's visit to Turmusayya, following the pogrom.

"Either protect us or arm us!" the man said, adding that the PA has "70,000 soldiers who should be tasked with protecting [Palestinian] villages".

The man, whose house was burnt in the settler pogrom, said he had been sleeping on the street, adding that "[the PA] is responsible for this".

Shtayyeh can be seen in the video, seeming to be taken aback by the comments.

"We know that people are angry and irritated, and they have the right to be so and to demand protection," the Palestinian PM responded.

“The one responsible for what happened, is our government. It is not protecting us. You have 70 thousand security forces distribute them in the villages”

A local of Turmassyah criticizing the PM minister shtayyah’s visit to Turmassyah after the pogrom that occurred earlier today pic.twitter.com/R4ZgKUycvm

— Younis | يونس (@ytirawi) June 21, 2023

A large-scale settler attack on Palestinian villages across the West Bank began on Tuesday afternoon and saw a rampage through Turmusayya by hundreds of settlers.

Around 400  settlers, many of them armed, marched through the Palestinian town centre, setting homes, vehicles and trees ablaze, leaving over 60 cars torched and 30 houses burned. 

One Palestinian man, a father of two, was killed in the attack and at least 13 others injured.

Palestinians and human rights groups have long warned about the unwillingness of Israeli authorities to stop settler violence.
Such violence, though usually smaller in scale than Israeli military attacks, has been a daily reality for Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank.