The following is from Yahoo.
Settlers clash with Israeli troops, Palestinians
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081202/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians
By NASSER SHIYOUKHI,
Associated Press Writer
HEBRON, West Bank – Dozens of Jewish settlers rioted Tuesday in the West Bank town of Hebron, clashing with the Israeli troops who guard them but who may also soon evict them from a disputed building they've occupied.
In two villages elsewhere in the West Bank, Palestinians said groups of settlers burned animal feed and slashed tires in what appeared to be part of a broader tactic meant to deter Israeli authorities from dismantling unauthorized settlements or attempting to rein settlers in.
Israeli soldiers used stun grenades against the Hebron settlers, most of them teenagers, in clashes near a building which settlers took over early last year.
The building's ownership is under dispute in a Jerusalem court. But the settlers moved in without government authorization and the Supreme Court has ordered them to leave immediately.
On Monday evening, rumors were circulating that the Israeli military would evict the settlers by force and hundreds of extremists flocked to the site to help resist eviction. No attempt was made to evacuate the building.
The military says rioters broke windows of cars and homes and defaced a Muslim cemetery in the area near the house. Settlers in several other locations in the West Bank also blocked roads and threw stones at Palestinian cars.
In recent months some West Bank settlers have pioneered a policy they term the "price tag," in which they attack Palestinians and security forces in response to any attempt to evacuate unauthorized settlements.
Apparently in keeping with that tactic, several dozen settlers burned animal feed in the West Bank village of Kablan at around 3 a.m. Tuesday and slashed the tires of dozens of cars, according to resident Abdallah Snobar. In a neighboring village, Assawiyah, settlers who arrived at around the same time slashed tires and spray painted the "Death to the Arabs" and an anti-Islamic slur on the local mosque, according to village official Mohammed Mahamdeh.
Several things came to mind as I read the article.
One: How fast will "The World" condemn Israel as a whole for the actions of a few? Will it treat this as casually as it does Moslem murderers who slaughter Israelis at home and abroad? Slashed tires and burned feed hardly equates to murder of non-combatants, but time will tell how "The World" will react.
For my part, I can understand the "settlers" frustration both with the government and with their neighbors. The article fails to provide any excuse for the attacks on the neighboring villages, but given the author and the level of journalism today, the reason may have been omitted or deleted somewhere between the action and the published report.
Two: The "Death to the Arabs" and the "anti-Islamic slur" painted on a mosque are out of line for Jews. Never mind that Islamic rhetoric regularly calls for death of all Jews, or at least Zionists, and never mind that the synagogues of Yamit which the Arabs promised to respect were desecrated. Jews don't DO that. Raze the building to the ground, perhaps, but to paint it like a street hoodlum is indeed desecration and it's not what we do.
Again, how will The World react to what amounts to a minimal reaction to continued Moslem provocation?
There was a time in the United States when the expression "The only good Indian is a dead Indian" was common. That was stupid. Replacing "Moslem" for "Indian" is equally stupid. There are Moslems in Israel who are in Israel because they want to be there; they are better off than they would be in the neighboring Moslem countries. They may not be Israel's most loyal citizens, but they are not pressing for the country's destruction, either.
A brief note about "second class citizenship." It's the norm for most peoples.
Non-Moslems in Moslem controlled countries are, at best, second class citizens.
Not too long ago in the U.S., non-Anglos had to surrender the sidewalk to Anglos.
That doesn't, of course, make it "right" or "OK," but it does show us it is a fact of life. In Israel, a Moslem is a second class citizen, primarily because fellow Moslems deem it a worthy goal to kill Jews . . . and if they murder some non-Moslems as well (as in 9-11).
Not all Moslems are murders or potential murders. I know that. Most Jews know that, albeit those who lived in even "tolerant" Moslem-controlled countries tend to distrust them.
I understand the frustration of the Jews living in Arab-occupied Israel at both the Israeli Army and their neighbors, but there are limits to which we should not descend.
Yohanon
Yohanon.Glenn @ gmail.com
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