There have been seven major attacks in Israel over the last few weeks. All of them were perpetrated by Palestinian Arab terrorists and included shootings, stabbings, and car rammings.
For example, a Jewish mother was stabbed by a 15-year-old Palestinian girl in Jerusalem. The mother was walking down the street with her five children, including a baby in a stroller, when the Arab girl ambushed her from behind with a 12-inch knife. Praise God, the mother escaped with her life despite being stabbed by the knife-wielding girl.
Hamas’ public response was:
The heroic actions in the West Bank and Jerusalem, the most recent of which was the stabbing of a settler in Sheikh Jarrah, prove the greatness of our people whose resistance cannot be broken.
Hamas Spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanoo, December 2021
What do you think?
Regardless of claims for independent nationhood and grievances they have against Israel’s army and government, should the murder of a mother in front of her young children ever be hailed as heroic? If the governing Palestinian leaders are saying the greatness of the Palestinian people is found in the murder of women and children, what does that say about their ability to govern their own nation, provide for their own citizens, and live in peace with surrounding countries?
Palestinian Terrorism vs. Settler Violence
When the discussion of Palestinian terrorism arises, many people point to the fact that there has also been violent acts committed by Israeli settlers. In fact, pro-Palestinian organizations say they’ve counted 1,400 acts of “settler violence” since 2012.
This number was published by “Yesh Din,” a self-described human rights non-governmental organization. This number certainly sounds alarming and makes it appear that Israel could be at fault for a great deal of the tragedies and deaths that we hear about in Middle East news.
Interestingly enough, when releasing these numbers, Yesh Din never bothered to point out, let alone compare, the astounding volume of Palestinian violence that is committed against Israelis. The exact ratio depends on the week, month, or year, but it’s remained true for decades that for every act of violence committed by a settler, there are many more acts of violence committed by Palestinians against Israeli citizens.
And here’s another catch:
Of those 1,400 acts of violence perpetrated by settlers since 2012, Yesh Din admits that at least 70% of them were classified as “violence against property” and didn’t involve any Palestinians being injured or endangered. Does this mean we are condoning violence against Palestinian property? Not at all. But people need to be aware of the false equality that media agencies and organizations like Yesh Din are trying to concoct.
What about Palestinian violence?
Just since 2016, there have been:
- 3,675 Israeli buses or cars that were firebombed by Palestinians
- 10,620 stonings by Palestinians
- 353 shootings, stabbings and vehicle rammings by Palestinians
There is no 70% property violence here! Nearly 100% of these attacks were aiming to kill Jewish people.
Do Israelis and Jewish people need to be held accountable in court for their actions if they injure or kill a Palestinian? Absolutely. And we wish, as do a majority of Israelis, that those seldom out-lashings by Israelis that involved stones or firebombs being thrown at Palestinian cars had never happened. But it’s important that you know the facts on the ground and the actual statistics of the situation so the next time you hear “settler violence” you know that it’s a tit-for-tat conflict where both sides are inflicting equal harm upon each other.
