Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee labels some of the settlers committing violence as \u2018terrorists\u2019 though analysts say his visit is \u2018symbolic\u2019.<\/p>\n
United States ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has met with several local officials and residents in the occupied West Bank, including Palestinian Americans attacked in violent Israeli settler pogroms.<\/p>\n
The diplomat said on Saturday that the Israeli government has a \u201cresponsibility\u201d to ensure the safety of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank after a sharp rise in pogroms.<\/p>\n
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\u201cOne of the messages that we have been sending and we will continue to send is that people in these communities have a right to live with a level of security and safety, and that the government has a responsibility to make sure that happens,\u201d Huckabee told reporters on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s Nida Ibrahim<\/a>, reporting from Turmus Aya in the occupied West Bank, said that Huckabee not only met local officials, \u201cbut also Palestinian Americans who live in the village of Turmus Aya and have been seeing firsthand the effects of settler pogroms and violence, part of the whole escalation by settlers in the occupied West Bank\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThey want the US ambassador to relay the message that this is systematic violence being practised against Palestinians, that it\u2019s continuing and that they need actual change,\u201d Ibrahim said, noting that settlers in the area \u201cwrote slogans not just against Palestinians, but also against him [Huckabee]\u201d.<\/p>\n One person Huckabee met was US-Palestinian Ruwan Alqam, who relocated to Turmus Aya from the US state of Texas with her family four months ago.<\/p>\n But every time Alqam\u2019s family leaves their occupied West Bank home, \u201cwe\u2019re hit with roadblock after roadblock, settlers after settlers\u201d, she told Al Jazeera, shortly after attending a morning meeting with\u00a0 Huckabee.<\/p>\n On a recent day trip to Nablus, the family was unable to return home as Israeli settlers attacked their car with rocks, Alqam said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re not being held accountable for their actions \u2013 endangering Palestinians is a fun activity for them,\u201d Alqam said of the settlers, describing the violence committed as \u201cnot a minority\u201d among Israelis.<\/p>\n Huckabee was \u201cvery receptive\u201d to the experiences of Turmus Aya residents, Alqam said, adding: \u201cWe are in desperate need of attention here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Severe consequences\u2019<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters afterwards, Huckabee said: \u201cOur clear message is that crime is crime, terror is terror. When people do it, they should have an expectation that they will have severe consequences\u201d.<\/p>\n