In the last 24 hours, two near-fatal attacks were committed against Palestinians, one a suspected terror attack, the other a suspected attempted lynch – both allegedly committed by Israeli Jews. Haaretz was the only website (both Hebrew and English) to put the suspected lynch as a top story, while all the other major news sites lead with Iran’s incitement against Israel.
The first incident, a firebomb thrown on a Palestinian taxi driving north near the settlement of Bat Ayin towards Gush Etzion on Thursday, has yet to be confirmed as a terror attack. All six passengers in the car, members of the Hassan family from Nahalin, were injured – one seriously - reportedly suffering first-degree burns. According to Haaretz, the police said they found another firebomb in the area and were looking into the victims’ claim it was a “Jewish terror attack,” but had not yet ruled out other possibilities.
In another incident late Thursday night, which has already been called a “lynch” by an eyewitness who was there, three Palestinian youth were attacked and severely beaten up by “dozens” of Jewish youth in Zion Square, in the center of West Jerusalem. The woman who witnessed the whole thing posted her testimony and devastated thoughts on her Facebook page, which was partially translated by Haaretz. Here is the full translation:
Its late at night, and I can’t sleep. My eyes are full of tears for a good few hours now and my stomach is turning inside out with the question of the loss of humanity, the image of God in mankind, a loss that I am not willing to accept. But today I saw a lynch with my own eyes, in Zion Square, the center of the city of Jerusalem. I arrived with the staff of “Elem” [NGO that works with children at risk] to Zion Square as we normally do at this hour to volunteer, and barely half an hour went by when I heard screams of ‘A Jew is a good soul and Arab is a son of a bitch,’ shouted loudly and dozens (!!) of youths ran and gathered and started to really beat to death three Arab youths who were walking quietly in the Ben Yehuda street.
When one of the Palestinian youths fell to the floor, the youths continued to hit him in the head, he lost consciousness, his eyes rolled, his head at an angle started to twitch, and then those who were kicking him fled and the rest gathered in a circle around, with some still shouting with hate in their eyes…
When two of our volunteers went into the circle, they tried to perform CPR the mass of youths standing around started to say resentfully that we are resuscitating an Arab, and when they passed near us and saw that the rest of the volunteers were shocked, they asked why we were so in shock, he is an Arab. When we returned to the area after some time had passed, and the site was marked as a murder scene, and police were there with the cousin of the victim who tried to reenact what happened, two youths stood there who did not understand why we wanted to give a bottle of water to the cousin of the victim who was transferred to hospital in critical condition, he is an Arab, and they need don’t need to walk around in the center of the city, and they deserve it, because this way they will finally be afraid.
Children aged 15-18 are killing a child their own age with their own hands. Their own hands. Children who’s hearts were unmoved when they beat to death a boy their age who lay writhing on the floor. The picture has not been struck from my eyes and I can still hear the voices and the feeling of helplessness and the question, what happened to us and what is happening to our kids? And the most important – If and how can we still change it?
After many comments and rumors that the Palestinians had somehow started it or attacked the Jewish youth first, the witness wrote: “I saw with my own eyes that they didn’t attack anyone, and I heard with own ears the teens running just to ‘find an Arab to beat up.’”
One of the Palestinians is in the intensive care unit at Hadassah Hospital Ein Karem, after being beaten so badly that he lost consciousness and had to be revived by medics after losing a pulse. A picture of a different Palestinian who was injured by Jews several months ago in Jerusalem was uploaded by a right-wing settler site called “the Jewish Voice” and has been circulating as a visual on their Facebook page. An Israeli named Amihay Hillel wrote a comment on the Facebook photo commending the violent act and essentially admitting some kind of passive support, if not active participation, in the attack by stating “How wonderful…I was lucky enough to be present:”
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Prometheus
It is only organic and natural.
Arabs feel free to sleep with Jewish women, while no Arab girl could meet with a Jewish man without being afraid for her life.
In my opinion Arabs must be banned from meeting Jewish women altogether, and if it would include beating few of them to death – that’s fine really – they have no problem killing their own women.
.
No Jew could wander freely around Arab town, so what are you expected?
Just name 1 (one) reason why Arabs must not be subjected to the very same discrimination they subject others?
Lisa Goldman
Prometheus, if you think it’s ‘organic and natural’ to throw molotov cocktails at families driving in their car, just because they are Palestinians, and if you think it’s ‘organic and natural’ to attack and beat nearly to death teenage boys who happen to be strolling on the street, then you are advocating murder. There is really no need for you to continue commenting on this site. You are not contributing anything intelligent to the discourse. If you continue to make these stupid, racist, provocative comments, you will be banned.
Saar
Wow Prometheus you really should be bound.
Prometheus
Lisa,
Actually I was not referring to the molotov incident. Indeed, it is bad to throw molotov’s into anyone solely on racist basis.
.
Yet I do stand my ground on the second issue.
However before we continue I’d like to hear your opinion on the racist segregation I’ve mentioned.
.
Do Arabs have right to come and sleep with Jewish women if any Arab girl who sleeps with non-Arab(non-muslim for that matter) severely risks her life?
Ben
Lisa,
While I find Prometheus simply disgusting and provoking simply to provoke, who are you to censor anyone? Do you own 972? Do you own a monopoly of truth?
Rm
As an American, it’s very enlightening to see “the other side” like this. Rarely is Jewish terror allowed to slip out into the media.
Lisa Goldman
Prometheus and Ben – We are not going to host an argument about whether or not Prometheus has the right to comment approvingly on murder or violence. That’s it. Prometheus, if you continue you will be banned. Ben, yes I do have that authority.
Ben
So you are a in support of authoritarianism and censorship. Interesting, coming from such a “progressive” like yourself.
Mairav Zonszein
@Ben, @Prometheus, we have a comment policy that I suggest you read with simple and clear instructions: “avoid hateful tones and incitement. Personal insults, attacks, racism and profanity are unacceptable.”
Anyone who does not abide by this can and will be banned and each blogger has the authority to do so.
To read more: http://972mag.com/972-magazines-policy-for-commenting/
XYZ
It is well known that Kikar Zion attracts a lot of riff-raff, both Jewish and Arab. I don’t know if violence like this in either direction is “politically” motivated.
XYZ
I just read a Jerusalem Post report about the incident and they pointed out that a Jew was beaten to death by Jewish (or better, Israeli) punks a couple of years ago. This strengthens the view that this was a criminal and not a politically-motivated act.
Regarding the fire-bombing of the Arab car…it should be noted that all the “price tag” incidents up until now have been in the nature of vandalism, and not attacks in which bodily harm was the aim. Thus, it is not clear to me who would have done this.
Jason M.
Shocking and disgusting. Thank you for sharing this. Because violent bigots exist on “the other side” does not give anyone license to be violent bigots themselves. Any Jew who argues otherwise might want to get acquainted with Torah.
Philos
Why does Israel attract all the vile racist scum of America, Britain, Australia and Canada? Is it because we’re an incorrigibly racist country? The likes of Prometheus and XYZ would not utter their contempt of humanity in their countries of origin for fear of ostracization but thanks to the messianic Zionists and their rabbis this kind of disgusting thinking is tolerated and encouraged in Israel. And all the Canadians, Americans, British and Australians are more than happy to jump on board. Finally, they get to feel better about someone else. Finally, they get to be as bigoted and awful as all the redneck white-trash they had to secretly condemn in their countries.
.
Finally, XYZ, when a bunch of kids are yelling “death to Arabs” and “Jews have a soul but Arabs are son’s of whores” whilst beating to death several Arabs that would constitute a hate crime. Or, in the parlance of our crazy country, a “politically motivated” act.
Jack
Indeed shocking, apparently minorities (blacks, palestinians) isnt safe in Israel.
Cred to Haaretz that as always are honest and generally dont suppress any news.
Jehudah Ben-Israel
A “minor” correction: the attacks were committed against Arabs, not “Palestinians”.
Maxim Reider
What a shame.
Yes, the Jerusalem Post site also writes about the Arab Jewish Brawl.
Lisa Goldman
Jehuda Ben-Israel – Your comment is repulsive.
XYZ
Yes, Philos, we SHOULD learn from the Syrians and Egyptians how to run a tolerant country.
Engelbert Luitsz
Both the topic and the comments show well the twofold mission of the Palestinian struggle: not only must they undo one of the greatest injustices in recent history, but they must also – in the words of Haneen Zoabi – “liberate the Jews in Palestine from the racist project of which they are part”.
Mickey
@Prometheus – “No Jew could wander freely around (an) Arab town.” You are absolutely right Prometheus.
The Israelis were not content with wandering freely around an Arab town. So they took more than half of Jerusalem and most of the West Bank to do their wandering in, with the IDF as a back-up.
To the other readers: Have pity on poor Prometheus, as he is obviously the product of an upbringing with no education or values.
His comments reflect the darkness and lack of understanding and self-esteem which create the shadow in his heart.
He simply doesn’t know any better and feels some satisfaction at pretending he is superior to those he is making bigoted comments about.
If Prometheus was really comfortable, happy and confident with who he is, he would not need to attack others in such a fashion. It is simply a cover which does not in any respect hide Prometheus’s self-loathing.
Mary Wilson
Thank God for people like the writer of that Facebook page. Though I don’t read Hebrew, I went to her page, and using the translator provided, found that she is a teacher. Other comments urged her to keep trying to educate Israeli youth against racism.
Here is something else the Israeli Jews can do: encourage your friends and relatives in the U.S. to face down the community pressure to keep silent, and speak out against the Occupation and racism. Many American Jews who agree with the Facebook writer keep silence to avoid angry disagreements with family and friends. Put the picture above against “angry disagreement with friends” — and decide what is more important.
Zach Wheat
I too would like nothing more than to also be able to dismiss stories like these as rare and isolated incidents, but the commentary these stories always seems to invoke reminds me that they are not. It would be irresponsible to believe otherwise.
If there is anything “ordinary” here it is a display of an ordinary form of bigotry. As offensive as the comments are, they help explain better than anything why these things happen and why the perpetrators rarely find justice.
I appreciate Mairav Zonszein’s efforts to report this and especially the account of the eyewitness that certainly refutes any argument of this being a common brawl. I’m grateful that someone is interested in actually doing some journalism.
Incidents like these remind me of the ones that happened the decade before I was born in the Jim Crow South. What bothers me the most is the weak rationalizations by those who quietly support this sort of thing, along with the nothing-to-see-here attitude of the press which REALLY reminds me of those dark days.
I need a drink.
sh
“Regarding the fire-bombing of the Arab car…it should be noted that all the “price tag” incidents up until now have been in the nature of vandalism, and not attacks in which bodily harm was the aim.”
.
So what if it isn’t price-taggers? XYZ seems to have conveniently forgotten the very politically motivated Jewish Underground, Jack Teitel, Natanzadeh, Goldstein, etc.
Jacob
Prometheus, violence begets violence and hate begets hate. Why not try a little understanding?
The more you align yourself with one side instead of trying to solve a problem between two sides, the more blindly ignorant and arrogant you will become. Your indignation at the treatment of arab women by arabs is right but your indignation at the treatment of these young men by other young men should be the same…
You sir, have no leg to stand on and your argument is invalid simply because you do not wish to solve a problem, only win an argument… Your animalistic tendencies have far outweighed your humanity.
Dregen Jelencovich
“What bothers me the most is the weak rationalizations by those who quietly support this sort of thing, along with the nothing-to-see-here attitude of the press which REALLY reminds me of those dark days.
I need a drink.”
Someone get this man a six pack of beer. Spot on analysis.
Maxim Reider
Haaretz (in English) drove crazy – they have closed the news article – only paying subscribers are able to read it.
If I were an anti-Semite I would have said that Jews are making money from everything.
Mickey
@Jehudah Ben-Israel – RE: A “minor” correction: the attacks were committed against Arabs, not “Palestinians.”
Jehudah’s correction needs to have the Hasbara removed. The attacks were committed against Arab Moslem’s (whom were most likely Palestinian). The Jews who attacked these individuals were not targeting Arab Jews nor Arab Christians; they targeted Arab Moslems.
Finally, if three people from Israel are attacked, the headlines usually do not state “Three Jews Attacked” or “Three Hebrew-speaking Individuals Attacked,” but “Three Israeli’s Attacked.”
So lets be fair and say that Three Palestinians were attacked by Israeli Teens (or by shameless Hebrew-speaking punks who happen to reside in Israel if you prefer).
Rafael
Comment deleted. User banned.
Ben
Lisa and Mairav: how is Raphael’s comment not racist as he defiles a whole state and people? You two are complete hypocrites. What some teens did is horrific and appalling, but if Palestinians did that to Jews, it would not be on 972 at all. You all make me sick.
Prometheus
Jackob,
“Prometheus, violence begets violence and hate begets hate. Why not try a little understanding?”
.
Arabs have planted seeds of hate more than 150 years ago. They don’t like the fruit? Well, pity you wasn’t there to tell them.
.
Actually I have a lot to stand on, however I won’t get into details because of fear of persecution.
Lisa Goldman
Ben – We do not have staff sitting on comments 24/7. Sometimes we catch them right away and sometimes we don’t. If this site makes you sick, then stop reading it.
Ben
The site is generally intriguing and interesting; the hypocrisy expressed often by you and others at 972 is sickening since crimes and atrocities against Palestinians/others are treated differently than against Jews/Israelis. I think those punks should be thrown in jail for a long time and my sympathies to the victims and their families. And, again, Prometheus’ statements were insidious and provocative. Shabbat Shalom.
Blake
Standing ovation for Lisa Goldman standing up to these thugs.
Jan
There is not a shred of difference in the mentality of these vicious Jewish youth and the Hitler Youth. These vile young people, had they not been Jewish, would have been the first to beat up Jewish youth in Germany.
Too bad they weren’t all caught but they probably would have gotten away with only a slap on the wrist in the racist country of Israel.
Jan
Prometheus -The Nazis did not want Jews to sleep with their Aryan women lest they pollute them. The Jews who were caught met a terrible fate as did the women who loved them.
Prometheus please say here and now that the Nazis were right.
I don’t think so but maybe you do since you seem to echo their line.
Prometheus
Jan,
“Prometheus -The Nazis did not want Jews to sleep with their Aryan women lest they pollute them. The Jews who were caught met a terrible fate as did the women who loved them.”
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I’ve only noticed this pearl now, sorry for late response.
.
Your hypocrisy it truly amazing.
Really, I mean it.
Basically you are advocating that Arabs are behaving like Nazis – note that it is your analogy, not mine.
Rubina Azul
Related to the comments of “censorship”: Yes, sure, the editors here have the right to ban racist, discriminative and inhuman comments like yours, Prometheus. In opposite to the figure of Prometheus that you have choosen as your nickname,your argument does not fit to the fact that Mairavs article describes and which is so authentically expressed in the eyewitness’ story. What we see is that the violence is rising and that it seems to be “clubbable” among the jewish-israeli society to kill Palestinian civilians. No wonder, the consequenses are tiny. Rarely criminal prosecution for the offenders, low-level media reporting (as we see and Mairav mentioned already). The victims, Palestinians, indigenious people on their land, remain with shame and probably a big bill of hospital costs which they have to pay on their own finally. As a german citizen who is very reflective about my dark history, our persecution of Jews, the enormous tragedy we released, practised by the governmental racism and the outgoing feeling that “this is just normal”, I just can say: Stop! NO to all this, wherever it is, whenever it happens. Never again, please. We Germans took our (jewish) neighbors, collegues, friends, husbands the fresh air to breath. At the end we managed to annihilate the european Jews. A pure sad desaster. I would be crazy, if I would be silent now as German in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israelis, stop this inhumanity before it is too late. Don’t repeat what we Germans made for mistakes. End the Occupation, equal rights for all. Stay and become human again.
Y-Man
Ben, if you are going to assert that “crimes and atrocities against Palestinians/others are treated differently than against Jews/Israelis” on 972, please provide one or more examples to back up this allegation.
sh
Apparently the photo on this page is not of the youth who is unconscious in hospital. It is of another young man, from Silwan, who was attacked in Jerusalem’s Hillel Street in 2010.
http://cafe.themarker.com/post/1888184/
Prometheus
Y-man,
Atrocities committed by Arabs seldom make it to the 972.
1 example – the expulsion of Sudanese form Kfar Manda
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwlOwti9bVc
.
Jan,
Our youth really don’t have to take such an ancient example.
http://bokertov.typepad.com/btb/images/2008/12/01/life_mag_cover_pal_kids_w_guns_1970.jpg
Mickey
The best way to gauge the severity of an act is to remove the ethno-linguistic, religious or cultural labels. Once that has been accomplished look at the act for what it is…
A group of teenagers beat and nearly stomped to death three other young people, apparently without provocation.
Now include the culture and the era…
This could be a snippet of news from the Deep South in the US, 50 or 60 years ago. It could be from a Yiddish Language newspaper in 1938 or 1939, or a local paper in South Africa during the era of apartheid. And it could also be a group of Moslems doing it to Jews, or Jews doing it to Moslems.
If anyone has a problem with a single scenario referenced above, then they should also recognize that regardless of the ethnic and religious backgrounds of the perpetrators, they are are worthy of societal disdain, arrest and punishment.
One group of culturally like people (or people who claim to belong to the same group) never has the right to oppress another group, regardless of the absolute self-conviction they possess regarding the santicity of their beliefs, which most often are religious in nature.
Prometheus
Mickey,
Actually there is MUCH more to the issue than it might seem or is allowed to discuss.
Adam
@Jan “There is not a shred of difference in the mentality of these vicious Jewish youth and the Hitler Youth. These vile young people, had they not been Jewish, would have been the first to beat up Jewish youth in Germany.”
The young men who murdered Matthew Shepard were never compared to Nazis, nor the murderers of James Byrd, and not the young Muslim man who murdered Jewish children in France. Indeed, I can’t recall ever seeing the Nazi analogy invoked for any of the numerous hate crimes that occur in the U.S. or Europe. But when some racist Jewish thugs beat up Palestinians they’re compared to Nazis. This analogy says more about you than it says about the thugs. It says that you are as driven by hate as any racist.
Mickey
@Adam – This could be a snippet of news from the Deep South in the US, 50 or 60 years ago. It could be from a Yiddish Language newspaper in 1938 or 1939, or a local paper in South Africa during the era of apartheid. And it could also be a group of Moslems doing it to Jews, or Jews doing it to Moslems.
Regardless of the ethnic background of the people referenced above, they ALL can be compared to Nazis…
Nemo
@Lisa Goldman
Not sure what is repulsive about Jehuda’s comment. From the report, all we know about the nationality of the victims is that they were Arabs. Not all Arabs are Palestinians. So what is repulsive about pointing out the facts?
@Prometheus
Whether you are a Jew or someone pretending to be a Jew to make the Jews look bad, go away.
Adam
@Mickey– Actually, a comparison to racist violence in the American south during Jim Crow would be more accurate, but the racist violence of that period in American history, as dreadful as it was, is not in any way comparable to the systematic genocide of the Jewish population of Europe during the Nazi era. The only reason to invoke the Nazi analogy is to reduce Israel to the lowest moral common denominator. You can do it if you want, but it has no relationship to reality.
Jack
To compare these (jewish) youths to nazis is just another way of saying that they are dangerous extremist psychos, which is what they are. And such rascist criminals seem to be protected from punishment by Israel’s police, judiciary and politicians. And it seems to be getting worse. When will Israelis wake up?!
(Hopefully my helpful and not too biased view from England).
Jack
Adam,
Likewise, you think that such accusations by Israel and supporters against perceived enemies/states/persons/groups are wrong too?
Karl Shaddox
To Ben’s early comment accusing Lisa Goldman of censorship, Lisa has a right to censor anyone based on the reasonableness of their comments. Prometheus’ comments were based not in reason but on hate, which is an emotion. The meeting place for building community between people is reason, not emotion.
jackson carter
stand tall good ppl of palestine. the ppl of jesus. help in fiction is at hand that is where it starts. allahu akbar and so are you!
http://www.lulu.com/shop/edward-marcus/the-planetary-patriot-and-the-day-he-went-to-palestine-special-edition/paperback/product-20323814.html
David
@Jan
That is an absolutely terrible thing to say. I’m not saying that what these kids did is right and in no way do I condone the brutal beating of anyone, but to compare the WHOLE youth of a religious group to those youth who supported a murderous dictator is disgusting. Some Israeli children may be taught to hate Palestinians, the same way that Palestinians may be brought up to learn to hate and kill Israeli’s, but alot of the time it isn’t the whole section of these groups. Just because a select few out of millions decided to be stupid, does not mean that you should generalise against a whole section.