http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=196980&contrassID=2&subContrassID=3&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=196980 Ever since the occupation of the territories began, the settlers of Hebron have been noteworthy for their militancy, their racist hatred against Palestinian residents of the city and the violent contempt that they and their children demonstrate toward the rule of law and every person in uniform who acts in its name. But those in uniform, and especially the men in blue, have seemed throughout these years to be at a loss in the face of these settlers' determination to make their neighbors' lives unbearable, while trampling on every law and desecrating every Jewish and human value. The acts of these boors have blackened, and continue to blacken, Israel's name. And these serial rioters' stated reliance on the tradition of the patriarch Abraham, a figure described as having "a kindly eye and a humble spirit," is nothing but a gross distortion. The Civil Administration recently drafted a report that documents some of the acts of the Hebron settlers (Ha'aretz, August 11). This document, which was submitted to the prime minister and the defense minister, notes in detail how this unique Jewish settlement rears "shock troops" of boys and girls, steeped in hatred and arrogance, who torment the Palestinians and oppress them in various ways. The graduates of these operations, the young couples, serve as reserves for breaking into Palestinian houses adjacent to the Jewish neighborhoods in order to evict their occupants and annex these houses to the Jewish settlement. "No one dares to deal with them," one security official confessed to a Ha'aretz reporter. The settlers' brutal vandalism reached its disgraceful peak two weeks ago, during the funeral of soldier Elazar Leibowitz, a Hebron resident who was murdered in a shooting attack on a road outside the city. Dozens of residents of the settlement and their guests from outside rioted, shot at Palestinian houses, killed a Palestinian girl and wounded others, beat up passersby and destroyed property. The rioters also faced off with the police, who failed in their efforts to contain or restrain the violent rampage. Colonel (res.) Moshe Givati, an adviser to the public security minister, termed the settlers' assault a "pogrom" - a loaded word that Jews do not lightly apply to the acts of other Jews. It is hard to understand the behavior of the police - their lack of preparation before the rioting and their helplessness during it. These same police and Border Police troops acted forcefully in Bethlehem last Shabbat against peace activists who had come there to demonstrate, reminding everyone of their ability to do so - when they so choose. The settlers of Hebron, like the residents of every other settlement in the West Bank and Gaza and of many towns and cities within Israel, have suffered painful losses at the hands of Palestinian terrorists. Their daily lives in the environment they have chosen to inhabit are indeed filled with constant pressure and danger. But this in no way justifies, or even mitigates, the severity of their behavior toward the largely peaceful Palestinian population that surrounds them. And there is certainly nothing in this fact to excuse the ongoing failure of the Israel Police and the other security services to enforce the law rigorously. |