Israelis Donate Over 1 Million Shekels to Victims of West Bank Rampage

Thousands of Israelis have donated over 1 million shekels, or about $272,750, to help the Palestinians in the northern West Bank town of Huwara to rebuild their homes and businesses following a rampage by dozens of Israelis following the murder of two Israeli brothers on a road running through the town. The online crowd-funding campaign was started on Monday morning by Labor party member Yaya Fink; by Tuesday morning over 7,000 Israelis had contributed. Meanwhile, hundreds of Israelis sent Fink threatening messages for launching the initiative. “It’s only a small deed, but as the Jewish proverb goes, ‘A little bit of light can dispel a lot of darkness,’” Fink told The Times of Israel in a Monday interview. He said he was reaching out to community leaders in Huwara via former Israeli security officials in order to transfer the donations and said he thinks it will take about three weeks to identify the families whose homes and businesses were vandalized.