The past few days have seen a dangerous escalation of violence in the West Bank. On Friday, armed settlers entered a West Bank village south of Nablus, prompting clashes that left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead. This weekend, settlers also set fire to mosques in two nearby towns, as well as to Palestinian homes and agricultural fields, and have caused additional property damage in multiple areas of the West Bank. The Israeli military launched a new offensive in the northern West Bank and detained over 70 Palestinians.
T’ruah, a rabbinic human rights organization, condemned the escalation as a danger to both Palestinians and Israelis, and warned that Netanyahu and his allies are exploiting and promoting the violence to pursue their goals of settlement and annexation, and to lift their own election prospects.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the CEO of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, said:
“Friday’s deadly violence is the direct result of Israeli government policy. Israel has armed and aided settler militias, refused to hold settlers who violently attack Palestinians accountable, and paid for the building of dozens of settler outposts, encroaching on Palestinian land and inflaming tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. Just in the first half of this year, violence by settlers was up by more than 50% compared to the same period last year. On Friday, we yet again saw the deadly consequences of government policy leading to and causing violence.
“Since then, we have seen an all-too familiar pattern. Settlers retaliated with arson and vandalism, including by setting two mosques on fire in the nearby Palestinian towns of Qusra and Kour and spray-painting ‘revenge Benayahu’ (the name of a settlement security guard killed Friday) and ‘the land of Israel is redeemed in blood.’ Though the Israeli army claims they are investigating, no one has been arrested or charged. Meanwhile, the military has erected new roadblocks and begun a full-scale offensive in Nablus, making life even more impossible for local residents. Aid groups warn that residents are unable to access health care and emergency medical services.
“Israeli human rights groups and former generals and other high level army officials are warning that, far from seeking calm and security, the government is fanning the flames of violence in order to spark an all-out war that might allow Israel to seize more and more land for settlements, push Palestinians out of Area C, and further undermine the Palestinian Authority. With Israeli elections looming, it is disturbing but unsurprising that Netanyahu is trying to draw attention away from his failures and dismal poll numbers.
“This week’s parashah warns the people not to get so drunk on their power that they forget their purpose of serving God on the land: “When you have eaten your fill, and have built fine houses to live in. . . and everything you own has prospered, beware lest your heart grow haughty and you forget the Eternal your God — who freed you from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. . . and you say to yourselves, ‘My own power and the might of my own hand have won this wealth for me’.” (Deuteronomy 8:12-17)
“In the words of Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, ‘The Torah was not given for the sake of the Land of Israel; Rather, the Land of Israel was given for the sake of the Torah.’ There is a moral imperative for Jews, both inside and outside of Israel, to put an end to the violence and the bloodshed that are polluting this holy land, and to ensure that the state reflects the divine vision of a just society.”
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About T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights brings the Torah’s ideals of human dignity, equality, and justice to life by empowering our network of over 2,300 rabbis and cantors to be moral voices and to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.