Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fareed Zakaria that all parts of Israeli society vehemently oppose Jewish terror attacks against Arabs and claimed the government pursues Jewish terrorists with every weapon it has – even though the actual facts show that claim is false.
Above: Benjamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN's Fareed Zakaria today that all parts of Israeli society vehemently oppose Jewish terror attacks against Arabs and claimed the government pursues Jewish terrorists with every weapon it has – even though the actual facts show that claim is false.
Just before Netanyahu said that lie, hundreds of right-wing racist thugs, enraged over two terror attacks by Arabs against Jews, roamed the streets of Jerusalem trying to lynch random Arabs.
The Jewish mobs – many of whose members were haredi and Zionist Orthodox – called for death to Arabs and tried to lynch as many as they could. In the end they only managed to attack a handful of Arabs because most Arabs working in West Jerusalem fled before the right-wing rampage started and because police were out in force to try to stop the lynchings.
But Jews mobs rampaged through downtown Jerusalem and surrounding neighborhoods for hours, breaking incitement laws and committing many racist acts. They even attack police.
But after eight or more hours of this violence, police had arrested only 9 rightists. Most – even many of those who attacked Arabs – will likely never be brought to trial, let alone convicted.
And then, just before dawn outside the Old City, as a mob of Jews still tried to break into the Muslim Quarter and "kill Arabs," the third Arab terror attack against Jews took place.
Here's how Ha'aretz's Nir Hasson reported what happened next. The italics and bold text have been added by me for emphasis:
…But these random [Arab] victims [the mob had managed to attack] did not sate their urge and after midnight there was a mass run toward Damascus Gate. They were stopped before the gate by police and pushed back with clubs toward the Musrara neighborhood.
"Let the people of Israel enter the gates and kill Arabs," one of the youths shouted at the police. "Where were you at seven in the evening? Go beat up Arabs," a female demonstrator cried, referring to the terror attack earlier that night. Meanwhile, they ran back and forth, following false rumors of Arab passersby and undercover agents hiding among them with calls of death to Arabs.
At 4 A.M., Fadi Alon, a 19-year-old resident of Isawiyya, arrived at the scene. According to the police, he was armed with a weapon and was planning to make an attack. He managed to stab one youth and injure him moderately before he fled and was shot to death by police, who were being egged on by the demonstrators.
Alon's family asserts that he was caught up in the place by accident, when he went out for a jog and was only seeking to defend himself. His death has set off fears of violence in Isawiyya. There have been over 20 wounded in clashes between police and youths from the village. His father and uncle have been arrested by police.
In other words, whether Fadi Alon went to area to kill Jews or whether he went out for a run thinking the Jewish mobs had already been dispersed by police, he stabbed a Jewish teen boy and then ran away. Apparently embarrassed that they had not caught Alon before he stabbed the Jew and then had failed to react fast enough to stop him from running away, police shot and killed the fleeing man.
In most Western countries, the cops that shot Alon would be indicted and tried for murder.
In Israel, they don't even get reprimanded, because every Arab who commits an act of violence against a Jew is automatically presumed to be a terrorist, and cops can shoot terrorists, even when they are fleeing.
There is no doubt that if Israel were more honest in its dealings with violent Arabs, there would still be violent attacks, many of them intentional terror attacks, committed against Jews by Arabs.
But there is also no doubt that Israel's open and clear disproportional reaction to violent Jews versus violent Arabs contributes to Arab anger and disenfranchisement.
Exactly how many violent haredim who stone police and public buses and savagely beat opponents have actually been arrested, prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned? Almost none, even though these types of attacks are not rare. How many haredim stoning police have ever been shot by police? None, even though those stoning attacks are not rare, either.
But lots of Arabs have been arrested, losts beaten by police and some shot by them – even as they run away, backs turned.
There is absolutely no justification for random violent attacks by Arabs against Jews, no matter how bad police and the government are. And there is absolutely no justification for random violent attacks by Jews against Arabs, either.
Both types of violent attacks are morally repugnant and absolutely wrong, and until Israel treats both types of violent attacks equally, it has no right to claim it is strongly opposed to Jewish terror because the facts – and the punishments it gives – prove it isn't.
Related Post:
Right-Wing Mobs Roam Through Jerusalem Attacking Palestinians, Screaming “Death To Arabs!”