Israel acts against terror
Israel acted today against terrorism, but in this case it was Jewish terrorism. As reported on Dec 11 a group of Jews entered a Mosque in Yasuf on the West Bank near Nablus and then proceeded to destroy parts of it, setting fire to books and carpets.
The police were after the culprits and a few days ago arrested 8 people, five of whom were subsequently released and two were then charged with carrying out the crime. One of those charged was Kahane, the grandson of the JDL leader murdered in the US by an al Qaeda extremist. The perpetrators in this case wrote "price tag" on the Mosque, implying that this was part of the price the Arabs would pay for the building freeze that the Netanyahu Government has imposed on the West Bank. Those arrested and questioned about this act were students at a yeshiva on the West Bank and those charged live in the community of Yizhar.
Israel takes a very strong stand against Jewish terrorism, for two reasons, first it breaks basic laws that particularly protect the rights of residents of the West Bank from violence and discrimination. Secondly, the Israeli Government is determiend that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs should not break down into a purely religious clash. Certainly this is how Hamas see it as well as some of the Jewish settlers. But, in essence the conflict has strong national aspects, that are emphasized by the PLO/Fatah organizations and by Israel.
While this legal process is ongoing, there has been some criticism of the Netanyahu Government, that while it is pursuing a policy of no building on the West Bank, except for projects that have been started and have permission, meanwhile Palestinian building projects are not being prevented. This is clearly the aim of the US, EU and UN, to discriminate against Jewish building while encouraging Arab building. Yet, it is definitely contradictory for an Israeli Government to curtail Jewish building while allowing Arab building to proceed. Most of the world has made up its mind that the West Bank should be the nucleus of the putative Palestinian Sate, but not only is there no agreement yet, there are no negotiations. In advance of any agreement shouldn't both sides be treated equally?
The police were after the culprits and a few days ago arrested 8 people, five of whom were subsequently released and two were then charged with carrying out the crime. One of those charged was Kahane, the grandson of the JDL leader murdered in the US by an al Qaeda extremist. The perpetrators in this case wrote "price tag" on the Mosque, implying that this was part of the price the Arabs would pay for the building freeze that the Netanyahu Government has imposed on the West Bank. Those arrested and questioned about this act were students at a yeshiva on the West Bank and those charged live in the community of Yizhar.
Israel takes a very strong stand against Jewish terrorism, for two reasons, first it breaks basic laws that particularly protect the rights of residents of the West Bank from violence and discrimination. Secondly, the Israeli Government is determiend that the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs should not break down into a purely religious clash. Certainly this is how Hamas see it as well as some of the Jewish settlers. But, in essence the conflict has strong national aspects, that are emphasized by the PLO/Fatah organizations and by Israel.
While this legal process is ongoing, there has been some criticism of the Netanyahu Government, that while it is pursuing a policy of no building on the West Bank, except for projects that have been started and have permission, meanwhile Palestinian building projects are not being prevented. This is clearly the aim of the US, EU and UN, to discriminate against Jewish building while encouraging Arab building. Yet, it is definitely contradictory for an Israeli Government to curtail Jewish building while allowing Arab building to proceed. Most of the world has made up its mind that the West Bank should be the nucleus of the putative Palestinian Sate, but not only is there no agreement yet, there are no negotiations. In advance of any agreement shouldn't both sides be treated equally?
posted by Jack Cohen at 8:42 PM
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