Stop the terrorist wave against Israel's Arabs (Ha'aretz editorial)

[Violet_Crumble]

On both sides of the Green Line, from the West Bank through Tuba-Zangaria to Jaffa, a wave of terror is sweeping the country. It's not yet murderous terror, for so far, no one has been hurt by the abominable acts rapidly piling up under the innocent-sounding "price tag" label. But the purpose and the results are clear, and it seems likely they will end by claiming lives as well.

Terrorist acts inside Israel reflect the infiltration of the violent culture that has developed on the other side of the Green Line during decades of occupation. The timing is easily understood against the background of the racist, anti-democratic legislation enacted by the current Knesset: The message it transmits is that Israel's Arab citizens are illegitimate.

The authorities must not file this series of attacks on Muslim and Christian holy sites and cemeteries under "criminal offenses against property." These are security offenses that are liable to turn communities against each other and ignite a huge religious-nationalist fire.

The security agencies prepared intensively to extinguish such fires last month, against the background of the Palestinian bid for UN recognition of a Palestinian state. But it seems that certain extremist circles in Israel were disappointed that no violent conflict in fact erupted. So they decided to take the initiative themselves, by attacking soldiers and policemen in the territories and inflaming Israeli Arabs in both Arab towns and mixed Jewish-Arab cities in the hope of sparking riots.

The attack on a mosque in Tuba-Zangaria was the first incident of its kind. It's not certain that the desecration of graves in Jaffa is part of the same trend; police are also looking into the possibility that this hooliganism stemmed from other motives, perhaps local ones. Imitating the "price-tag" terrorists requires no special preparations or expertise; all you need is a little paint and a lot of racist chutzpah - a mixture of hatred of Arabs and bigotry against foreigners or immigrants - along with a bit of soccer-field rivalry.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/stop-the-terrorist-wave-against-israel-s-arabs-1.389073

[Scurrilous]

1. UN rights chief urges Israel to 'protect Palestinian civilians' from settler attacks

Spokesman for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says attacks since beginning of September show upsurge of violence in West Bank.

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"The United Nations human rights office urged Israel on Tuesday to stop Israeli extremists from attacking Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva that Israel has a legal obligation "to protect Palestinian civilians and property in the occupied Palestinian territory."

Colville said that the wave of attacks occurring since September must be properly investigated and victims compensated, adding that they were "emblematic of the phenomenon of settler violence throughout the West Bank."

Colevile specifically cited the uprooting of 200 olive trees in the West Bank village of Qusra village on October 6, and the shooting death of a Palestinian civilian by an Israel Defense Forces soldier two weeks prior, as examples of incidents that should be brought for investigation.

Israel Police suspect extremist Jews to be behind a series of attacks against Arabs in Israel proper over the last few weeks, including the torching of a mosque in the North and the desecration of Muslim and Christian graves in a Jaffa cemetery."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-rights-chief-urges-israel-to-protect-palestinian-civilians-from-settler-attacks-1.389329