Why its time to wake up to the occupation

Summary :The murder of the Dawabsha family was not the actual trigger of the current wave of violence, but another link in the long chain of incitement and hatred generated by the Israeli occupation.

Author Akiva Eldar
Posted December 17, 2015

Reports of arrests in the cruel arson attack on the Dawabsha family home in the West Bank village of Douma upgraded the assault to a major cause of the outbreak of the current wave of terror. In Al-Monitor on Dec. 9, Ben Caspit quoted a senior Israeli military official stating categorically that “there's no doubt” the seeds were sown when members of the Dawabsha family were burned to death in late July. According to the officer, that the murder has yet to be resolved, while the murderers of settlers Naama and Eitam Henkin were caught within four days of the gun attack on their car in early October, stirred up the unrest in the territories. It is hard to agree with the contention that the Jewish anarchists often called “hilltop youth” were the ones who triggered the latest round of terrorism. Rather, that fire was set by irresponsible politicians, who are now fanning the flames and throwing lit matches into the powder keg.

“What do you want from me?” retorted Shahar Ayalon, former Israel Police commander of the West Bank, when I asked him some 10 years ago why the police were unable to lay their hands on Jewish criminals from one of the outposts in the Hebron hills who were harassing their Palestinian neighbors on a daily basis. “Ask those who looked the other way when these guys invaded this hill. Ask those who paved the road to the outpost. Ask those who put up the poles to provide them with lighting, hooked them up to the electric grid and pay their utility bills. Ask who pays for their security.” The “those” to which he refers was clear: successive Israeli governments. Provisions for these settlers show up as official line items in the budget and in the resolutions of the Knesset's Finance Committee.

The Palestinians are well aware of the distorted reality in which the Israeli government is sloppy, at best, about enforcing the law against Jewish criminals, and at worst, encourages them. This was the case even before the Douma attack. It is no different today, and there are no signs of a change for the better in the foreseeable future. In fact, the signs point to the contrary. Despite some assessments that the Douma attack and what appears to have been a careless investigation were the causes of the current wave of terrorism, instead of lowering the flames, the political leadership fanned them. Ministers, Knesset members, senior police officials and other public figures publicly called for hurting or shooting those committing or suspected of committing knifings. The mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, encouraged his city's residents to take up arms.

Their agitation laid the groundwork for the Oct. 19​ “lynching” at the Beersheba central bus station of an Eritrean asylum seeker suspected of being a terrorist. In a few cases, in gross violation of the rules of engagement, security forces have shot and killed Palestinians who attacked Israelis or were suspected of doing so. Along with Palestinian violence against Jews, there has been an increasing number of attacks by Jews against Arabs and against Jews of a dark complexion thought to be Arabs. Some cities banned Arab workers from entering schools, and in several instances Arab passengers have been ordered off buses because they were suspected of being terrorists. Speaking on Army Radio, Police Central District Cmdr. Moti Cohen mentioned the attempted lynching of a suspect in the city of Rishon LeZion, saying, “The police coped with it and distanced the citizens from the scene. This was actually no less difficult … than ending the incident itself.”

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/12/douma-village-dawabsha-family-murder-violence-wave-netanyahu.html#ixzz3uePiEULF