SodaStream chief accuses boycotters of anti-Semitism and hurting interests of

The visitors, said by Israel s Channel 2 television to be students at a Jewish seminary in Brooklyn, were given refuge by a Palestinian man who sheltered them in his home until Israeli security forces arrived to escort them to safety, the police statement said.

The group, including two Americans from New York, were reportedly visiting the city of Hebron to visit a holy site as part of their religious studies on Thursday when they took a wrong turn. The auto was destroyed by fire in the attack, as were their belongings, which included their passports and tefillin (phylacteries). “The police said that arrests are made only after Shabbat”, Amro said, adding that he doesn’t understand why it is okay “to attack people on Shabbat, but not to arrest them on Shabbat”.

“I’m not a hero”, Abu Hamdia told Ynet. “We have no problems with the Israelis and we don’t want to have any“.

SodaStream’s chief executive called the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement anti-Semitic and maintained that his company gave West Bank Palestinian workers good pay and benefits. The protests were sparked after Israeli settlers took over a spring in the area.

According to a spokesman for the Hebron Jewish community, the Israel Defense Forces used to have a checkpoint at the entryway to the Palestinian section of the city, but recently handed it over to Palestinian security forces.

Stone hurling has become a popular resistance method against Israeli control of Palestinian territories, starting with the first intifadah, or armed uprising, in the late 1980s. The 3 settlers were beating the Palestinian youth, while a soldier was standing close by without interfering.