Ruhollah Abdolmaleki, researcher in regional studies
The events that happened recently in the occupied territories are unprecedented in the last half century, if not since the occupation of Palestine by the occupying Israeli regime. What surprised everyone and stunned the world was the initiative and show of power by a limited oppressed Muslim population who, despite enduring the sufferings caused by cruelty and crime for three-quarters of a century under the most up-to-date surveillance technologies and strict and all-round security control in the occupied territories, inflicted a fatal and “irreparable” blow on the military and intelligence bodies of the Zionist regime in a surprising and courageous action.
The incident is represented by the media of the Zionist regime and many mainstream media outlets in such a way that the Palestinian fighters, who have been treated in the most brutal way possible, are the “terrorists,” and the Israeli settlers who have always violated the lives, property, and homeland of Palestinian Muslims are the victims. Therefore, by portraying them as the victims, the world public opinion will become ready to accept the intensification of the Zionist regime’s cruelty and crimes against the oppressed people of Palestine.
But, in fact, the scenes of Palestinian fighters’ uprising that emerged in recent days are rooted in the behavior of the fake Israeli entity in the occupied territories as well as decades of savage acts and inhumane behavior of Israeli settlers in coexistence and proximity with Muslims, who are the original inhabitants of Palestine. The current reaction of the Palestinian fighters in response to decades of inhumane and hostile acts by the Zionist regime and the settlers of the occupied territories is reminiscent of a proverb adapted from the words of Jesus Christ: As you sow, so shall you reap (“Reaping”).
It suffices to review the attitude and behavior of the settlers toward the Palestinian Muslims in recent decades to reveal the fact that the uprising of the Palestinian fighters in the recent events is nothing but a reflection of the inhumane and violent actions of the Zionist regime and Israeli settlers. The oppression and violence perpetrated by the settlers which has been plaguing the oppressed people of Palestine for a long time has maintained its increasing trend since the occupation of this land and the adoption of the settlement construction policy.
Settlers and expansion of panic cycle
Before anything, settlement construction has been part of the discriminatory policies of the Zionist regime to attract and settle Jews from all over the world to the occupied lands. According to a report by Amnesty International, the generous aid of the Jewish government in the field of settlement construction in the occupied lands and tax incentives for the construction of settlements for the occupiers, along with other factors such as the seizure of natural resources in Palestine in order to develop settlement infrastructures and the protection of the settlements by the Zionist army (“Israel and the Occupied”), paved the way for settler movement, destruction, and occupation of the lands of the original inhabitants of Palestine. In such circumstances, the occupying settlers gradually cultivated the tradition of persecuting non-Jewish Arabs and Muslims, and violence and intimidation became a tool for the expansion of settlements.
As a result, the settlers acted aggressively with regard to the expansion of Israeli settlements and put pressure on the Palestinians by increasing their restrictions so as to force them to leave their residential areas. Another goal pursued by the settlers through such actions was to expand their control over the lives of Muslims. Such an action is a flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention that prohibits the transfer of civilians to an occupied area (“Convention”).
Repeated cases of settler violence in the settlement construction areas created a cycle of panic in the minds of Palestinian Arabs and Muslims. This cycle of panic that the settlers create through their armed presence, intimidation of Palestinian farmers and residents, campaigns of violence, and attacks on Palestinian homes in nearby villages and towns has decreased the available land for Palestinians and increased the control of the land by the settlers (“Settler”). Does confronting the increasing violence and intimidation of the settlers lead to the adoption of a method other than violence and reciprocal action?
Increasing trend of settler violence against Palestinian Muslims
Usually, settler attacks against Palestinian Arabs and Muslims have been carried out in various forms, from intimidation to physical attack, murder, throwing stones, destroying property, damaging trees or agricultural products, etc. These violent acts of the settlers have been a constant trend in recent years, becoming an exponential trend in many periods. For example, only between 2006 and 2012, settler attacks almost quadrupled (Laub and Daraghmeh). Or, in 2014, the UN reported more than 320 acts of violence by settlers alone (not including military forces’ violence). This meant that on average, there were more than 6 attacks per week against Arabs and Muslims (“Settler”). The intensity of violence against Palestinian Arabs and Muslims is unimaginable in some cases. For example, in 2014, Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian family and, in addition to killing the father and mother, they also killed their infant (“Price”). In another instance, settlers set fire to two cars belonging to Arabs living in Israel (“Price”). Undoubtedly, considering the teachings of Islam in rejecting and fighting oppression, Palestinian Muslims have no choice but to confront the violent and cruel behaviors of the occupying settlers.
Settlers’ revenge under title of “paying the price”
The crimes and brutalities of the settlers in order to reduce the Palestinian population and even the Christians of the West Bank under the title of “price tag” have led to the violation of the rights of many Palestinians in this region. These attacks and acts of vandalism have included many cases, such as violent attacks against ordinary Palestinian people, burning their mosques and farmlands, throwing stones, destroying and uprooting their trees, and invading Palestinian villages and lands (Yaakov). Settlers have committed such savage acts against Palestinian Arabs and Muslims over and over again. For example, in May 2017, Israeli extremist Jews set two cars and a tractor belonging to Palestinians on fire and wrote on the nearby wall that it was a pay-the-price attack (“Price”). The strange thing is that these actions are not merely carried out as an act of revenge against the Palestinians, but they even react with violence and brutality in protest against some of the actions of the Zionist government in limiting the interests of the settlers (Pfeffer and Levinson). Daniel Byman, a university professor and researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described these attacks as terrorism, saying “settler terrorism” against Palestinian Arabs and Muslims is increasing (“Rise of Settler Terrorism”). The violence against Palestinians and violations of their rights in these attacks are so excessive that even the US State Department has called them “terrorist incidents” (Sherwood). Nevertheless, the Palestinians’ complaints about these terrorist acts and turning to the Zionist police to restore their rights in many cases (almost 90%) have led to no indictment or result (“Israel Settler Violence”). In a situation where, on the one hand, the brutal violence of the settlers is described as terrorism even by the United States, which is the closest partner of the Zionist regime, and on the other hand, the Palestinian Muslims’ complaints to the Zionist police remain fruitless, is there any way for any freedom-seeking and fair human being other than reciprocal action and demanding the restoration of the denied rights?
Legal and military support for Israeli settler violence
Not only the occupying regime and its soldiers have always violated the rights of Palestinian Arabs and Muslims, especially women and children, but they have also been a serious supporter of the violence and cruelty of the Israeli settlers. Regarding the first issue, the murdering of Palestinian women at checkpoints, the beating of women protesting the occupation, the illegal kidnapping and jailing of young women and girls, the denying of women’s access to health care services, harassment, crimes, spreading hatred, and committing sexual violence against Palestinian women, especially in the illegal settlements of the West Bank, are important violations of human rights in which the Zionist military forces are seriously involved. In 2017, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls announced in a report that 70,000 Palestinians living in Area C of the West Bank are exposed to all kinds of violence, including harassment, physical violence, and destruction of property (“Report”). Regarding the issue of legal and military protection for the settlers, while Palestinian women and girls living in the West Bank have been victims of attacks, threats and humiliation from the nearby settlers for many years, only a small percentage of their complaints lead to indictments against the settlers (“Report”), and the settlers have a sort of impunity over their barbaric actions. This discrimination toward the complaints filed by Palestinian Muslims against the settlers may seem strange. But, a stranger issue can be seen in the 2021 report of the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy. According to this report, the violations committed by the settlers against Palestinian women and girls took place in the presence of the Israeli occupation forces. However, not a single intervention by these forces has been recorded to prevent attacks by settlers or to protect Palestinians who have faced attacks by settlers (“Report”). As a result, the presence of Israeli occupation forces is deemed to be intended to protect the settlers and prevent Palestinians from confronting them. In many cases, it has been observed that the Israeli occupation forces intervened and acted only when their goal was to prevent Palestinians from confronting settlers’ attacks on their homes and properties as well as to prevent Palestinians’ efforts to stop the burning and destroying of their properties by the settlers (“Report on Settler Violence”). For instance, one testimony recorded by the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counselling in 2020 states:
When I saw the settlers burning all my property and my source of living, I started screaming, and went to the land, where the occupation soldiers were standing, and they put a barrier at a distance of 200 meters from our land, and prevented us from access so that we could not put out the fire, until all the equipment and wood were burned. Then they broke the cameras and withdrew from the place. (“Report on Settler Violence” 15)
Such circumstances make it pretty clear that the wrath of the oppressed Palestinian people and their uprising in recent days is something that the Zionist regime and the settlers should have always been dreading. The cruelty, brutality, and chronic and progressive violence of the settlers, in a situation where the original inhabitants of the occupied land are losing everything, will not result in anything but the eruption of the popular volcano of the residents of Gaza and the occupied areas.
(The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Khamenei.ir.)
References:
Byman, Daniel, and Natan Sachs. “The Rise of Settler Terrorism: The West Bank's Other Violent Extremists.” Foreign Affairs, vol. 91, no. 5, Oct. 2012, pp. 73-86.
“Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 Aug. 1949.” IHL Treaties, https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.
“Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.” Amnesty International, Sep. 2008, https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/ngos/AI_Israel42.pdf.
“Israel Settler Violence in the West Bank.” UN, Nov. 2011, https://www.ochaopt.org/sites/default/files/ocha_opt_settler_violence_FactSheet_October_2011_english.pdf.
Laub, Karin, and Mohammed Daraghmeh. “Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians quadruple, says UN.” Independent, 15 Jan. 2014, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israeli-settler-attacks-on-palestinians-quadruple-says-un-9062456.html.
Pfeffer, Anshel, and Chaim Levinson. “Israeli Settlers’ Council Condemns ‘Marginal Group’ Behind Vandalism at IDF Base.” Haaretz, 7 Sep. 2011, http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israeli-settlers-council-condemns-marginal-group-behind-vandalism-at-idf-base-1.383089.
“Price Tag and Extremist Attacks in Israel.” ADL, 20 June 2017, https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/price-tag-and-extremist-attacks-israel.
“Reaping What You Sow.” Knowing Jesus, https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Reaping-What-You-Sow. Accessed 17 Oct. 2023.
“Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, on her mission to Israel.” Human Rights Council, 8 June 2017, https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/A.HRC_.35.30.Add_.1.pdf.
“Report on Settler Violence against Palestinian Women in the Northern Governorates of the Occupied West Bank during the First Half of 2021.” Miftah, July 2021, http://www.miftah.org/Publications/Books/Settler_violence_against_Palestinian_Women_032022_En.pdf.
“Settler Violence: An Armed Wing of Settlement Expansion in the Occupied Palestine Territory.” Premiere Urgence, May 2016, https://mdm-me.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/RAPPORT-PALESTINE-ENGLISH-V3.pdf.
Sherwood, Harriet. “Jewish settler attacks on Palestinians listed as ‘terrorist incidents’ by US.” The Guardian, 19 Aug. 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/19/jewish-settler-attack-terrorist-us-palestinian.
Yaakov, Yifa. “Arab Israeli complains of Galilee price tag attack.” Times of Israel, 21 Apr. 2014, https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-arab-complains-of-galilee-price-tag-attack.
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