So is it your position that the toleration of settler violence and theft is acceptable because of past wrongs by separate individual Palestinians?
I think you’re confusing “Cause & Effect”. The “cause” is a population that has been harboring terrorists that have been rocket attacking Israel for years, the “effect” is the less than kind treatment of the guilty parties. That’s probably why the rest of the world isn’t particularly bent out of shape about it, also. Consequences can be a real bitch.
So you believe that Palestinian civilians (including, presumably, children) in the West Bank who have had their property stolen, or been assaulted, by Israeli settlers, are “guilty parties” who have been “harboring terrorists that have been rocket attacking Israel for years”? And thus, their treatment is justifiable “consequences” and rightly tolerated by Israeli authorities (and more broadly, the rest of the world)?
I’m saying that’s how the world works. All you need to do is look at WW2 to realize that you should never EVER start a war unless you are going to win it because the consequences are that the aggressors are going to get their asses handed to them … ALL of them.
So you’re fine with Israeli authorities tolerating brutalization and theft and other rights’ violations of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank because “that’s how the world works”? And you think it’s the fault of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank for “start[ing] a war”?
They have been harboring an aggressive, attacking force. They have allowed them to build a dangerous infrastructure of weapons, communication, etc. Associated crimes that the Palestinians could be arrested for in this country: “Harboring a Fugitive(s)”, “Accessories after the Fact”, “Aiding & Abetting Criminal Acts”, etc. I’m sure there’s more.
So you’re saying all Palestinian civilians in the West Bank are guilty of “harboring an aggressive, attacking force”, “allowing them to build a dangerous infrastructure of weapons, communication,s”, “Harboring a Fugitive(s)”, “Accessories after the Fact”, “Aiding & Abetting Criminal Acts”, etc.? And thus Israeli authorities are justified in allowing theft and brutalization against them by Israeli settlers?
Or are you saying all Palestinian civilians in the West Bank should be arrested for those crimes?
Or both?
Thank you for answering my questions. It seems like an awfully weak defense/justification to me - that all Palestinian civilians are guilty of terrible crimes and thus their rights can freely be violated as “payback” - but I appreciate that you answered them honestly.
From my perspective, and in my factual understanding, most Palestinian civilians are not guilty of any crimes, and in my opinion very much do NOT deserve to be victims of theft and brutal violence, and those who commit such theft and violence against Palestinian civilians are criminals who should be prosecuted (but mostly are not, because this Israeli government generally tolerates such criminal behavior).
As my B’Tselem link describes, though, there are also decades of historical evidence that show Israelis committing act upon act upon act of terrorism (and many other forms of oppression and intimidation) against Palestinians in the occupied territories as well.
You say it’s not chauvinistic bigotry to hold one side accountable while giving the other side a free pass, even when they do the same things; but I’m not seeing it.
Israeli society has also been harboring an aggressive, attacking force that has constantly been encroaching on Palestinian land, property and resources, using theft, intimidation, destruction and personal violence. Why do you think they should be immune from any “payback”?
There are different kinds and degrees of injustice and oppression mixed throughout this conflict from every angle, of course. But if you can’t even see that the injustice is not all solely on one side, and you have to try to handwave away all criticisms of the other side with allegations of antisemitism and lies etc., then you are seeing the situation through a massive lens of bias.
The world works in all sorts of awful ways. Roughly half the women in the US will experience sexual violence at some point in our lives. Do we respond to that with a shrug and say “That’s the way the world works,” or do we try to make the world work better?
Pretty sure if someone had posted that here on Oct 7, they would have been insta-banned.