Disturbing Trends in Israel
The arrest of a Jewish settler, who has been charged with burning to death three Palestinians, including an 18-month-old infant in the West Bank village of Duma in July 2014, is tremendously disturbing in many ways.
First and foremost of course is the confirmation of the long-held assumption that this heinous crime was committed by an Israeli. Amiram Ben-Uliel, aged 21, has confessed to the attack and apparently re-enacted it for investigators, according to Israeli media.
Another Israeli youth, who has not been named because he is a minor, helped plan the arson attack but did not carry it out and has been charged as an accessory. The attack shows that there is an element within the settler movement that is willing to use violence against Palestinians -- and possibly also against Israelis. It shows that the threats issued daily against Israeli officials from President Rivlin down and against anyone whose beliefs anger the extreme right should be taken very seriously.
This attack shocked the world. A firebomb was tossed through the window of the home of Sa'ad and Raham Dawabsheh. The blaze, which spread quickly through the house, killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh immediately. The parents died several weeks later in the hospital. Another child, four-year-old Ahmed, was the only member of the family to survive, though he too was horribly burned.
We cannot view this attack as an isolated act of violence by deranged individuals unrepresentative of their community. As we saw recently in the shocking video of Orthodox youths at a Jerusalem wedding in early December, who were filmed dancing with guns and knives and stabbing a photo of Ali Dawabsheh, hatred of Palestinians is deeply ingrained in the settler movement and among a disturbingly wide swathe of Israeli society. The continuous stream of "Price Tag" vandalism by settlers is part of the same mindset. There have been literally hundreds of such attacks in recent years including the torching of churches and mosques, the uprooting of olive groves and the daubing of offensive graffiti on Palestinians property.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-elsner/disturbing-trends-in-isra_b_8923318.html