Opinions of Peter Belmont
Speaking Truth to Power
| Violence by (illegal) Israeli settlers constitutes Pogroms (Ehud Olmert) |
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by Peter A. Belmont / 2010-11-20
May the word ‘pogrom’ [1] fairly be used to describe recent Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank? Certainly. Israeli (former) prime minister Ehud Olmert has used it! In recent years, anti-Arab attacks by Jewish mobs in Israel have been described as pogroms by peace activists, Israeli press, and Israeli officials[2]:Pogrom - After_World_War_II(footnotes edited and renumbered). Wikipedia: ”Although the vast majority of West Bank settlers are law abiding, there is a rise in violent acts by extremist settlers against IDF troops and neighboring Palestinians. As of 2008, the number of Jewish settlers involved in violent acts is estimated to be a few hundreds, out of a total population of about 500,000. A UN report recorded 222 acts of settler violence against Palestinians and IDF troops in the first half of 2008 compared with 291 in 2007. Prominent Jewish religious figures living in the occupied territories, as well as Israeli government officials, have condemned and expressed outrage over incidents of such behaviour. In the years 2008-2009, the defense establishment began taking a harder line against unruly settlers. Some extremist settlers are using a tactic called Price Tagging, ‘punishing’ Palestinian population whenever the Government sends police or soldiers to dismantle an illegal outpost. * * * B’Tselem claimed that the violence was used to “harass and intimidate Palestinians.” When buildings were evacuated by the Israeli government, settlers lashed out at Palestinians because they were “easy victims.” The organization claims that Israel is lenient and compromising toward settlers who commit violent crime against Palestinians. The United Nations accused Israeli security forces of failing to intervene in settler attacks and arrest settlers suspected of violence.” wikipedia: Israeli_settlement(footnotes removed) This violence has continued, but Israeli officials (while permitting and abetting it—by failing to remove all settlers from all occupied territories, as international law requires) have not been using the word ‘pogrom’: At Settlers_torch_vehicles_in_Qusra_14_Oct_2010 we read: 3 Nov. 2010, Serious suspicion that settlers torched two vehicles in the village of Qusra, in the northern West Bank The Samaria violence began in the morning, when civil administration inspectors demolished two structures built illegally in the outpost of Givat Ronen, near the Har Bracha settlement. While the demolitions passed without incident, violence then broke out between settlers and Palestinians, who threw stones at each other. Four settlers and two Palestinians were hurt in the clashes. And the Yeshiva World News reports (21 July 2009): * * * the next expulsion is in the works, this time, the removal of an estimated 1,200 residents of so-called “unauthorized outposts” throughout Yehuda and Shomron towards appeasing the White House * * * The major operation calls for the expulsion of the residents of 23 communities simultaneously, with a large force operating in different areas, demanding preparation similar to that Disengagement Plan expulsion. Towards that end, border police, IDF soldiers and elite units have been taking part in training during the past week in the Mitkan Adam base, a base usually reserved to permit soldiers to train for actual combat missions. This time, the mission is the eradication of 23 communities, reportedly with the knowledge and approval of right-wing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. (The cell phone calls inform violence-prone settlers that it is time to attack Palestinians as a “price tag” retaliation for the removal of the illegal outpost by Israeli police or armed forces.) ----------- [1] A pogrom (Russian: погром) is a form of violent riot, a mob attack, either approved or condoned by government or military authorities, directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious, or other, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres. The term was originally used to denote extensive violence against Jews in the Russian Empire and a series of anti-German pogroms in Russia in 1915. Pogroms often affect members of middlemen minorities. This can, in extreme cases, result in genocide, such as that of Armenians, Jews, and Ukrainians. Wikipedia:Pogrom(footnotes removed) ----------- [2] ”: Israeli police are investigating a rampage by settlers in a Palestinian village in the West Bank on Saturday which PM Ehud Olmert called a “pogrom”.”Israeli police probing ‘pogrom’ (15 Sept 2008) ----------- [3] ”SCORES of Jewish settlers rampaged through the West Bank on the weekend after a nine-year-old Jewish boy was stabbed by a Palestinian intruder. A Palestinian youth was killed and eight Palestinians were injured in the attacks. The violence erupted after a Palestinian man infiltrated the Jewish settlement of Shalhevet Yam, which is within the West Bank near the city of Nablus and is classified as an illegal outpost under Israeli law.”Settlers attack Palestinian village (15 Sept 2008) ----------- [4] ”Outgoing Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has compared the violence used by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in Hebron to bygone anti-Semitism in Europe. He told Cabinet he was ashamed by recent scenes in the West Bank city, which he said amounted to a pogrom. The settlers shot and wounded three Palestinians and set fire to property after Israeli security forces evicted a Jewish group from a disputed building.”Olmert condemns settler ‘pogrom’ (7 Dec 2008) |
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