State-sponsored terrorism has long been the norm in Israel and the occupied territories, but we are now seeing an increase in individual terror networks, emboldened by government officials’ racist and inflammatory words against Palestinians.
These Jewish extremists have seen the crimes of their predecessors ignored by the authorities, going largely unpunished. They have also been inspired by the discriminatory language of Israeli politicians, even the prime minister, who constantly try stress that Palestinians are a dangerous “other” to be feared, excluded and even attacked.
Last week saw, within 24 hours, a mass stabbing at the Jerusalem Gay Pride rally, which has now left one teenage girl dead, and then the burning of a Palestinian baby, Ali Dawabsheh, both horrendous acts carried out by Jewish extremists.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to crack down on such terror networks, but as ever, the Palestinians have failed to take advantage of the situation. While the main culprit is the Israeli government, whose policies of occupation and settlement-building encourage such violent acts of terror, quite aside from the language of individual politicians, the Palestinians have already been pointing fingers at each other.
In the past, the Palestinians have shown, on certain occasions, that if they work together with cohesion and unity then they do have some clout on the international stage. Unless all factions, across Gaza and the West Bank and those in exile work together and put down their personal politics and their weapons, their allegiances to foreign powers entirely unconcerned with the freedom of Palestine, then the future will only get bloodier, and ordinary Palestinians will continue to suffer.
TWEET YOUR COMMENT