While most of the mainstream media focus on the genocidal actions of Israel in Gaza, there is another taking place in the West Bank, euphemistically labelled '"settler violence." To call the actions by Israeli citizens and the IDF anything other genocidal is to do a grave disservice to truth.
The West Bank, under military occupation since 1967, has seen the spread of Israeli settlements over the years, in contravention of international law. Despite that, violence there has increased since the Hamas attack on Israel, yet has only drawn a mild rebuke from the U.S., calling it 'unacceptable.' In other words, carte blanche continues. And it seems this violence is happening with either the encouragement or the passive consent of the IDF.
The latest violence resulted in one death and much property destruction.
Here is a brief video showing some of the horror:
So what is to be done? Is there the chance of a new direction, a new hope for a cessation of the widespread violence against the Palestinians, both in the West Bank and Gaza?? Peter Beinart has some thoughts on the matter, in terms of the tightrope Kamala Harris is currently walking.
When it comes to Israel, Ms. Harris should simply say that she’ll enforce the law.
The law in question has been on the books for more than a decade. It prohibits the United States from assisting any unit of a foreign security force that commits “gross violations” of human rights. Aid can be reinstated if the foreign country adequately punishes the perpetrators. Passed by Congress in 1997, it bears the name of former Senator Patrick Leahy — and it has been applied hundreds of times — including reportedly against U.S. allies like Colombia and Mexico.
However, there is a problem:
....it has never been applied to Israel, the country that over the past eight decades has received more U.S. aid, by far, than any other. That’s not because the Israel Defense Forces don’t commit serious abuses. “There are literally dozens of Israeli security force units that have committed gross violations of human rights” and should thus be ineligible for U.S. aid, a former State Department official, Charles Blaha, told ProPublica in May.
Lastly, there is strategic value for Israel if its violence can be curbed:
Those who believe killing Palestinian civilians makes Israel safer should remember that Hamas often recruits fighters from the families of the bereaved. As Ami Ayalon, a former head of Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, wrote in 2020, “If we continue to dish out humiliation and despair, the popularity of Hamas will grow.”
One thing is certain. The status quo cannot continue. Too many lives are being brutalized and lost, and the only hope lies in a new direction from a new American government that is prepared to sanction and discipline the Jewish state.
