Thursday, August 16, 2012

Exactly Who Is Extreme?

Today, the NYTimes allowed this piece (fuller version here)  to be published at its site:



Daniel Byman and Natan Sachs are the authors.  Heavyweights, a bit.  Byman is professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University and director of research at the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution. Sachs is a fellow at the Saban Center.  He even has a video summary of the article.

To be truthful, much of the analysis could have be said by me, although with different emphases and, of course, with a bit more nuanced language.

But it's a statement like this:

Late this past June, a group of Israeli settlers in the West Bank defaced and burned a mosque in the small West Bank village of Jabaa....The torching of the mosque was part of a wider trend of routine violence committed by radical settlers against innocent Palestinians, Israeli security personnel, and even mainstream settler leaders — all aimed at intimidating perceived enemies of the settlement project. 

that bothers me.

There have been no arrests, no charge sheets, no trials, not judgment, no sentencing.

Sure, I can guess and suppose just like them but at least write "suspected"? 

Or expressing this sort of logic:-

Whenever extremist settlers destroy Palestinian property or deface a mosque, they strengthen Palestinian radicals at the expense of moderates, undermining support for an agreement and delaying a possible accord. 
is also problematic.  After all, there was radical or even extremist or terrorist "Palestinians" active way before the "hilltop youth" phenomenon or the "price tag" policy.  I am not, to be clear, lending any support in any way to the Jewish violence that there is and have condemned it.  As have all Yesha Council leaders.

So how is this true?

Meanwhile, each time the Israeli leadership caves in to the demands of radical settlers it vindicates their tactics and encourages ever more brazen behavior, deepening the government’s paralysis.
The police may be incompetent, perhaps, but their claim is simply not true.  "Caving in"?  Oh, puhleese.

And as if this hasn't or isn't happening:-
Israeli leaders must denounce extremists and shun their representatives, placing particular pressure on religious leaders who incite violent extremism. 
As for this ending:-

Extremist violence tarnishes Israel’s name and imperils its future. Friends of Israel, the Israeli government, and even those who support the settlements in the West Bank should fight back against this dangerous phenomenon.

I agree.  And we are.  But article such as these, which fudge truth and tarnish, are of no help but rather are expressions of ideological opposition and not honest concerned involvement.

________________

UPDATE

PM Netanyahu Condemns the Throwing of a Molotov Cocktail Near Bat Ayin
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening (Thursday, 16 August 2012), sharply condemns the throwing of a Molotov cocktail near Bat Ayin. He has instructed the ISA to act determinedly to apprehend those who perpetrated the attack.  "This is a very serious incident. We will do everything to catch those responsible and bring them to justice," the Prime Minister said.


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