Uproar Over Israeli Settler’s Killing
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
Israeli double standard justice needs no elaboration. Major media ignore cold-blooded killings of Palestinians by soldiers and other security forces.
Israeli wars of aggression, causing mass slaughter and destruction, go unpunished, the world community largely silent about atrocities too grave to ignore.
Following the killing of an Israeli settler, collective punishment was imposed on countless numbers uninvolved Palestinians.
On Tuesday, settler Raziel Shevah, a resident of the illegal Havat Gilad outpost on stolen Palestinian land, was lethally shot multiple times by unknown assailant(s) while driving near Nablus.
Military checkpoints cordoned off the area, efforts to find the attacker(s) underway.
When Palestinians are gunned down in cold blood, Netanyahu blames them for criminality committed against them.
In response to Shevah’s killing, he called his assailant “a despicable terrorist,” adding:
“Security forces will do everything possible to reach the contemptible murderer and the State of Israel will bring him to justice.”
Other extremist Israeli officials made similar comments, an entire nation in an uproar over the death of a Jewish citizen.
Zionist zealot US ambassador to Israel David Friedman tweeted a scathing attack on Palestinians and their leadership, uninvolved in what happened, saying:
“An Israeli father of six was killed last night in cold blood by Palestinian terrorists. Hamas praises the killers and PA laws will provide them financial rewards,” adding:
“Look no further to why there is no peace. Praying for the bereaved Shevach family.”
Joint (Arab) List MK Ahmad Tibi blasted Friedman, saying “I didn’t hear him when an Israeli sniper killed double amputee Ibrahim Abu Thurayeh or when the kid Muhammad Tamimi was shot in the head and wounded” – nor when 16-year-old Ahed Tamimi, her mother Nariman, and cousin Nour were arrested for supporting the right of Palestinians to be free from oppressive occupation.
“Because of this hypocrisy and double standard, and because of the Trump administration’s positions, the conflict is going on and blood is being shed. And when these are the representatives of the administration, don’t ask why there is no peace,” Tibi added.
When Israeli forces murder Palestinians in cold blood, when they terrorize them daily, brutalizing them for not being Jewish, Netanyahu, Friedman and likeminded Zionist zealots say nothing – their silence deafening, condoning state terrorism.
Israeli killer soldiers, police and other security forces are free to assault and murder Palestinians with impunity. It’s surprising retaliation doesn’t come more often.
Two weeks ago Friedman outrageously asked the State Department to stop calling the West Bank occupied – requesting the term “West Bank territory” be used instead.
His request so far was denied, the issue to be reviewed again at a later time.
On Wednesday, dozens of extremist Israeli settlers carried out revenge attacks on Palestinian villages in retaliation for Shevah’s killing – security forces in the area doing nothing to stop them.
Soldiers stormed a number of towns and villages near Nablus, terrorizing residents, searching for Shevah’s assailant(s).
A wide area is on lockdown, residents prevented from leaving their homes, house-to-house searches underway, entrances to Nablus blocked, entry and exit from the city denied.
Workers, students and others trying to go home had to remain elsewhere with their city and surrounding areas under siege – illegal collective punishment imposed on countless numbers of Palestinians.
According to Israeli media, a large-scale military operation was ordered to locate and arrest Shevah’s killer(s).
Numerous arrests, detentions and brutal interrogations are likely – commonplace persecution tactics used against long-suffering Palestinians.
Since last October, Israeli security forces killed 32 Palestinians, 16 since Trump’s Jerusalem declaration.
Shevah is the first Israeli casualty, his death treated like a Palestinian declaration of war – the whole nation in an uproar.
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