Yesterday, the Palestine Center released “When Settlers Attack,” a new report on settler violence in the occupied territories. Is is the result of of a two-year project which cataloged over 3,700 instances of settler violence from 2004-2011.
From the report’s Executive Summary:
- Israeli settler violence presents a direct and consistent threat to Palestinian civilians and their property in the occupied West Bank and instances of Israeli settler violence are on the rise.
- From 2010 to 2011 there was a 39 percent increase in incidents of Israel Settler violence. In the five year period from 2007 through 2011 there has been a 315 percent increase. Conversely, over the same 5-year period, there has been a 95 percent decrease in Palestinian violence in the West Bank.
- There is a noticeable shift in the proportion of violence as it occurs geographically in the West Bank. In the past, the southern part of the West Bank saw the largest number of instances but in recent years the northern part of the West Bank is becoming increasingly targeted and has overtaken the southern part of the West Bank in terms of number of attacks.
- The period of the olive harvest annually brings a peak in violent settler activity. The presence of Palestinian civilians in olive groves, where they are easy targets for unrestrained and violent Israeli settlers, is the main reason why this occurs on an annual basis.
- There is a noticeable increase in the frequency and proportion of arson attacks employed by violent settlers. This suggests that violent settlers are increasingly choosing this method of violence and will continue to do so. The percentage of arson among all attack types in 2005 was 6 percent and has risen to 11 percent in 2011.
- While minimal variation in Israeli settler violence over time can be explained as a response to Israeli state actions against settlements, like the dismantlement of outposts, the vast majority of Israeli settler violence is not responsorial but rather structural and symptomatic of occupation.
- Over 90 percent of all Palestinian villages which have experienced multiple instances of Israeli settler violence are in areas which fall under Israeli security jurisdiction
Here is the full report:
Someone should just explain to the settlers that their actions are illegal – im sure they will stop…..
settler violence
http://www.youtube.com/embed/3t_ZjetcSMQ
against Jews
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqdNi3RM3gI
the cancer of the occupation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SmXxiBgpWY
the mentality
We are not isolating ourselves but instructing the world and our immediate neighbors that that sacred right is not a myth. It is not fancifal or fake. It is real. It comes out of the ground we dig, and out of our minds and hearts. It is who we are as Jews. Isolated or not, that is the truth and truth is as sacred as our beliefs.
The Jewish people possess not only a right, but a heritage, a legacy. It is religious, cultural, historical and legal.
“Israeli security” is an oxymoron
Bibi is a moron.
I read more than once that Israel is the place where Jews can be “living the fullest Zionist experience possible.” In the context suggesting that this is “a good thing”.
The idea of having “the fullest experience possible” somehow rings a bell. One matching context is what some red light districts offer. A bit more wholesome context comes from “extreme sports”. In “extreme sports” advances in equipment and technique learned by the practitioners often move the bar of “the fullest, most extreme”. Religions have divers “extreme sport” versions. For example, Hinduist experience can incorporate a mastery of yoga and mental techniques, a version that can be practiced only by a few, or finding the very spot where Lord Rama was born and cleansing it from infidel impurities, something that could be practiced by people from all walks of life, but only once.
Why people engage in extreme versions of sports, ideologies and religions? Perhaps a combination of two factors: the experience itself, and the adulation from the lesser practitioners.
My impression is that “price tag” is a sub-discipline in “extreme Zionism”, or “fullest Zionist experience”. Confusingly, there is also “fullest Haredi experience” with practitioners among anti-Zionist Jews who nevertheless have to go to Israel, as in the Exile the “full experience” may be impossible.
Concerning the settlers, I have read that “they live beautiful life”, exactly “fuller experience”, and if we go in that direction, how to make it yet fuller? I can think of only few ways. First, we can achieve extreme proximity with a selected site of utmost importance to Jewish religion or tradition. Second, simple quality of the dwelling, landscaping, and security arrangements, which kind of makes it like fullest experience in living in a gated community in Arizona, but soooo Zionist. And you can also have a golf course, shopping mall, theater and a university if you got to an extreme. Third, the actual fight with Evil, cleansing the land from the impure etc. One can try that in Arizona too, after a fashion, joining citizen patrols trying to catch Latino infiltrators, but this not Zionist.
One type of fullest Zionist experience do not require to actually live there, although you should have several of your properties in Israel. You can have you own influential Zionist think tank, or a “time share”, or a museum, a university building etc. A step up, you own an influential Israeli party, preferably with a minister. A step up, you own the Prime Minister. A step up, you also own American President. A step up, all other Zionist business tycoons prostrate themselves and chant “O mighty one” whenever you enter the room. A step up … [one step at the time, OK?]
On this note, fresh from http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article14380263.ab (in Swedish, polished Google Translate follows):
Swedish Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Jan Björklund attacked
by aggressive settlers in Hebron
Jan Björklund (Liberal) was attacked today during an official visit to Hebron.
– It was a very aggressive settler who tried to attack Mr Björklund, says Anders Andrén, press officer to the education minister.
Education Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Jan Björklund (Liberal) is currently on official visit to Israel and Palestine. Today, the Swedish delegation was forced to flee during a tour of the settlements in Hebron in the West Bank.
– A very aggressive settler tried to attack Mr Björklund and his bodyguards from the Swedish Security Police had to intervene, there was a scuffle, says Björklund’s press officer Anders Andrén.
No serious injuries
According to him, no “serious damage” occured in the quarrel that led the Israeli military to cancel the visit.
– The settlers were aggressive, so the military decided it was not safe. We left the place quickly after that, says Anders Andrén.
The Security Police will not comment on the incident further and would not say whether the assailant was arrested after the incident.
– It was not dramatic, and all left the area soon afterward, says Sirpa Franzén, Press Officer at the Security Police.
Anders Andrén describes the mood of the settlers as very tense.
– It is always uncomfortable with such a violent situation that you can not control. It was a harrowing experience, he says.
The purpose of creating a dialogue
The Minister of Education was in Hebron with the organization Temporary Presence in Hebron (TIPH) supported by the Folke Bernadotte Academy.
TIPH is in place to report and observe “breaches of the agreement Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed on the situation in Hebron.”
The aim is to create a dialogue between Palestinian and Israeli settlers in the area.
After the attack and the interrupted visit, Jan Björklund’s schedule remains unchanged.
– Tomorrow, he will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Anders Andrén.
During his trip to Israel and Palestine, Bjorklund has already met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and made visits to universities and research institutions.