Israeli settlers attack Palestinian elderly people, women, and children in their sleep
Of all Netanyahu’s crimes, the most serious is the legitimisation of Kahanism, pushing it into the mainstream, and diverting attention from the intensification of Jewish terrorism
By Ravit Hecht • Translated by Sol Salbe
Dozens of rioters enter the village in the middle of the night, attacking and seriously injuring residents in their sleep — including the elderly, children and mothers of babies — in a shocking incident that can only be described as a pogrom. And then, not only do the security forces not arrive on time (according to residents’ testimonies, the rioters who invaded the village of Halat a-Dabaa on the night between Thursday and Friday went on a rampage for 40 minutes), but more than two days after the attack no one has been arrested.This is not an anecdote from a history book about the beastliness and moral collapse of societies, it is what is happening here and now.
Matan Golan’s article [linked below], which described the pogrom in the village in the Masafer Yatta area, quoted the residents’ statements, according to which the cameras installed by the community due to the fear of settler riots were neutralised a few days before the attack. They added that the security forces who arrived at the community after the rioters left did not take testimonies from residents. The IDF Spokesperson said in response that “no suspects were located in the area” and that “an investigation was opened by the Israel Police Gorce, in which testimonies were collected in order to locate the attackers and bring them to justice.”
The accumulation of attacks on Palestinians by settlers in the West Bank raises real suspicions that the security forces and law enforcement agencies, which appear to be making no effort to investigate Jewish terrorism, are deliberately turning a blind eye. But you don’t have to look at the meagre list of detainees (amounting to nil) to understand this, it is enough to listen to the members of the government, and in this case their silence. The prime minister saw fit not to deal with the latest pogrom at all. Not in a symbolic way through any condemnation or statement, nor in issuing practical instruction to make an effort to find the criminals and to shake up the security forces that failed to protect people who woke up to a nightmare.
It is not clear which is more sickening — a society capable of containing such acts, which reflect norms and practices from the most horrific periods in modern history, or the silent licensing from above to carry them out. Or perhaps these are complementary ills that end in one outcome: a state that permits such acts turns itself into a jungle saturated with violence and norms such as blood vengeance, theft and abuse of the weak and innocent. Today it’s the Palestinians, tomorrow it’s the regime’s opponents, and the following day it’s other people. Of all Netanyahu’s crimes, the most serious is the legitimisation of Kahanism, pushing it into the mainstream, and diverting attention from the intensification of Jewish terrorism.
