A transgender Palestinian woman and two friends were assaulted and robbed Tuesday by a group of men from a West Bank refugee camp.
Sammy, who today lives in Jaffa, was in the West Bank to attend a doctor's appointment in the village of Kafr 'Aqab near Ramallah.
She and her companions were attacked by a group from Kalandia refugee camp, who kicked and punched them, and stole tens of thousands of shekels. They also completely destroyed the vehicle in which the thee were travelling.
Sammy, who is originally from Hebron, was thrown out by her family when they discovered her gender identity. Today she lives in Jaffa and receives regular aid from the LGBQT Center in Tel Aviv.
The center's manager Avihu Mizan said Sammy saw a doctor the day after the assault and confirmed that her overall condition is good.
"Sammy had an operation on her nose a week before the attack, she went for a checkup to make sure everything was fine," Miriam, a friend of Sammy, said of the day of the attack.
"After her meeting with the doctor, she went clothes shopping with a friend, while another friend waited in the car."
The attack near Ramallah
According to Miriam, a group of young men started recording Sammy and her friend in the clothes shop and then went out to the car to attack the male friend waiting outside.
"The girls heard the screams, and when they came out of the store to see what was going on, the group of men assaulted them as well."
Miriam added: "They stole robbed 52,000 shekels [approx. $15,000] from Sammy, took her and her friends' phones, and then told them to run away."
Sammy and her two friends made it back to the Israeli checkpoint at the entrance to the village. They were taken back into Israel where they promptly received medical attention for their injuries.
Last August, the Palestinian authorities threatened to "hunt down" and arrest anybody who dared to attend LGBQT events taking place in the Palestinian Authority.
The threat was made after the LGBQT Palestinian organization alQaws (rainbow in Arabic) held a controversial event in the West Bank city of Nablus meant to advance gay and transgender rights in Palestinian society.
According to the Palestinian police, the alQaws event was nothing less than an "affront to the values and traditions of the Palestinian people."
Following the threats by the Palestinian police, alQaws cancelled an additional event planned for the city of Ramallah.
According to alQaws, the Palestinian police didn't settle for just threatening the LGBQT community, they labeled them as dissidents and called for the general population to report any "unusual" behavior that might be associated with them.
Homosexuality, or any sexual "deviation" may not be illegal in the territories of the Palestinian Authority, but members of the community receive no protection or rights, and many are forced to flee their own families after they reveal their sexual orientation.