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Kristallnacht in Palestine - by Stephen Lendman
Palestinians are the new Jews of decades back.
Virtually daily, Israeli security forces attack, kill, or injure Palestinian civilians with impunity. They also destroy their property by bombing, shelling, bulldozing and uprooting it.
At the same time, Israeli authorities wink and nod, occasionally decry, yet do nothing to deter extremist settler crimes against Palestinian civilians.
Most often, they're given license to terrorize, vandalize and commit physical violence with impunity. Rarely ever is anyone held accountable. The same holds for its own security forces, no matter how outrageous their crimes.
So imagine Defense Minister Ehud Barak's hypocrisy. In response to days of settler attacks against Palestinian property, he shamelessly called them "Jewish terrorists."
B'Tselem responded, saying "this is an illegitimate way to deal with the phenomenon of violence by Israeli citizens in the Occupied Territories. Instead, this phenomenon must be dealt with through the criminal justice system."Netanyahu disagreed, stopping well short of condemning settler attacks and ordering arrests. Instead, he described them as a "small group that does not represent the public that lives in Judea and Samaria."
For years, radical settlers terrorized Palestinians with impunity. In the past two years alone, six mosques in Palestine and Israel (belonging to peace and other activist groups) were burned or otherwise vandalized.
More recently in early October, settlers torched a Galilee mosque in Toba Zanghriyya village, then wrote "Price Tag" and "Revenge" on its walls. Despite efforts by residents to extinguish the blaze, destruction was extensive, including holy books consumed.
Northern Branch on the Islamic Movement deputy head, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, said "racism is controlling the Jewish sector in Israel." He also held Netanyahu's government responsible for "encourag(ing) hatred toward Muslims."In June, another mosque was targeted, and "(u)nder the Price Tag campaign, Israeli settlers....attacked and torched several others, in addition to setting Palestinian orchards and farmlands" ablaze.
Each time, Israeli police say they'll investigate. Arrests and prosecutions rarely follow. Settlers have virtual impunity to terrorize Palestinian civilians as do Israeli security forces. They take full advantage.
On December 14, settlers overnight torched the historic Jerusalem Okasha mosque. They also defaced walls with Star of David images and graffiti, saying "Muhammad is a pig" and "A good Arab is a dead Arab" in Hebrew.
