Friday morning news of an arson attack on the home of
Palestinian family, taking the life of an 18 months old child, reached us. The
suspected killers are Israelis from a nearby settlement. This form of violence
even has its own name, “price tag attacks". Another two Palestinians have died
in clashes with the Israeli army and the tension has increased throughout the
West Bank and Jerusalem. This follows a long list of attacks and casualties
from settlers and the Israeli army throughout the West Bank and also recently,
stabbings by an ultra-orthodox Jew at the Jerusalem Gay Pride.
Here in Abu Dis, there were no big violent clashes with the
Israeli military on Friday (at least nothing worse than the usual happenings). The people, however, are angry and frustrated.
Netanyahu’s condemnation is met with a cynical laugh. The people I talked to believe
that nothing will happen to the attackers, that the so-called Jewish extremists
will be declared crazy, maybe even avoid prison. There will be no justice for
this child and his family, no justice for the Palestinians. A volunteer’s
father tells me: “This is our life. Every day. This is occupation.” There is no
hope in his voice, just sadness.
As we walk along the street, a man stops his car and asks
the local volunteers if they have told us about the attack, if we know what
life is like here. That is the message the Palestinians here leave me with.
They just want us to understand the reality of their daily life. They want to
make sure the world knows, and put a halt to what is felt as a very efficient
Israeli propaganda machine in global media. To be honest, I understand their
feelings. Going through my BBC app newsfeed, it seems like Cecil the lion is
getting more attention than the deadly violence in the West Bank.
One of the volunteers here showed us the reactions of different
politicians, Palestinian, Israeli, and around the world, images of the erupting
clashes around the West Bank and explained his frustrations. Abu Dis is in Area
B, so there is no police here, only the Israeli army. Even in Ramallah, in Area
A, under the control of the Palestinian Authority and police, a simple phone
call from Israel and the police desert the streets and leave way to the Israeli
army. The settlements on the other hand, considered illegal under international
law, benefit from state support and have beautiful tree lined streets and
mansions. Settlements have security checkpoints at their entrance. Where is
safe for the Palestinians?
Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank are also not
subjected to the same criminal laws, often resulting in more lenient
convictions for Israelis and access to simple privileges like visitors in
prison, which are extremely difficult/impossible for Palestinians to obtain. There
is a generalized feeling here that reactions would be very different had the
family been Israeli.
If you would like to read more about this, here are a few
links (thanks Sybil for some of these!):
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/how-israel-protects-its-settlers-who-burn-palestinian-children-alive
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