This past week has displayed all of the potentials resultant from hatreds, vengeances, brutalities and genocidal intentions all centered on Israel. The world, especially the Western media, is currently all anguished and expressing their shock and their sharing of the pain of the families of the Palestinians victims of Jewish and Israeli violence. The emphasis is centered on the horrific crime of the abduction of an Arab youth and his subsequent murder by immolation which is being bewailed as the ultimate exhibit of bestial hatred that has ever been committed by mankind in all of history. And making the victimization even worse is the fact that Israeli police were filmed using apparent unprovoked brutal force arresting his cousin during demonstrations where a half-dozen of the rioters were arrested. These two incidents are the central story being recounted every half hour at the top and bottom of the hour by the Western media. These two stories are being presented partially as proof that all the terrorism and violence that the Palestinian may inflict upon the Israelis has now been proven to be deserved. The ugly underbelly of Jewish revenge has been exposed and we now have the proof of the extent and depths of evil that are usually hidden from the world’s view. The Palestinians have finally brought to the world’s attention the validating truths for their victimhood and thus the verification of the righteousness of their cause.
The previous actions over the past three weeks have all faded down the sinkhole of lost memory, being shoved from our view as inconsequential events lost due to their mendacity and normalcy. They have been replaced with the sensational stories of Israeli perpetrated violence which makes news as it is outside the unusual story and so unexpected but also because it validates the desire to excuse the violent and hateful actions of the Palestinians as understandable and worthy of our forgiveness. Forget the approaching two-hundred rockets and mortars fired at Israeli towns and kibbutzim. Forget the newly unemployed workers from the two destroyed factories just outside Sderot where they were struck by Hamas rockets and burned to the ground, a paint and a plastics manufactory. Never mind the house struck in the middle of the night where five children and their parents lived. And definitely forget the originating act of abducting three Israeli Yeshiva students on their way home from classes and their subsequent murder. All of these and the continuous rioting over the last week are excusable as a few Israelis lost their normal restraint and reacted violently to these provocations. Palestinians assaulting, murdering or committing destructive violence is a ‘dog bites man’ story while Israelis reacting with similar violence is a ‘postal worker bites dog’ story and thus worthy of repeated coverage until a more tantalizing story breaks. The three dead Israeli teens have had their ten seconds of coverage and now the one dead Palestinian will be given coverage ad-nauseum.
Such is always the case as can be easily proven. How many remember the murders in Brussels just a number of weeks back which resulted in the arrest of a French national who had committed these senseless murders after returning from fighting with the rebels in Syria. How about the Toulouse, France murders of a Rabbi and three children at a Jewish School. Remember the suicide bomber at the Burgas, Bulgaria airport which exploded next to a tour bus hired by a group of Israeli tourists. Or have you heard any coverage about the man who was assaulted in Malmö, Sweden, on Sunday and almost killed for the sole crime of hanging an Israeli flag in his window? Miss or forget most of these? Not to worry, that simply makes you normal as most news we feel is commonplace we simply file under what else is new and move on until something strikes us that is out of the ordinary, now that’s a story. That is why whenever Israelis reach their breaking point and react violently it makes sensational news, because it is the exception and not the norm. That does not make it right or forgivable and the Israeli government quickly sought those responsible for this heinous crime and they have been arrested and will face trial for their crimes. Meanwhile, the fact that the Hamas perpetrators of the abduction and murder of the three Israeli youths are known but thus far have not been arrested has disappeared from the news cycle, why? They are suspected of having fled either into areas under Palestinian Authority security and governance or made it into Gaza, but either way the Arab security and law enforcement are not going to turn them over or arrest them for any meaningful punishment.
There is no excuse for any of the violence and all those who resort to violence must be held equal before the law. And apart from the news coverage which makes it appear that Israelis who act violently are given a pass and only Palestinian violence is condemned, the truth is quite different. The Israelis who were responsible for the death of a Palestinian youth and others who may or may not have had supportive rolls are currently arrested, being interrogated and will face trials for their complicity in their heinous crime. The Palestinian Hamas members who committed an at least similar heinous crime have yet to be discovered despite their names and pictures being identified and arrest warrants placed by Israeli authorities but yet are being protected by Palestinian officials and society. Whether out of fear of retribution if they should aid in the arrest of the Hamas operatives or because they support those who victimize Jews, the refusal to turn over those who abducted and murdered three innocent boys is inexcusable. There lies the difference. Israeli violence is not excused or forgiven or accepted as acceptable, Israelis who commit violence are arrested, tried and imprisoned and that will be born out as time proceeds with the case of those who murdered an innocent Palestinian youth. The Palestinian lionize and celebrate those who murder Israeli civilians naming streets, parks, summer camps, sports arenas, and schools after them. They teach of these acts of terror as martyrdom actions and teach their children to aspire to perform atrocities that may be their equal. The Palestinians teach, encourage and celebrate violence while Israelis arrest and put on trial and condemn those from amongst them who commit acts of violence or hatreds. That is the difference between the two societies and what makes Israeli acts of violence newsworthy while Palestinian violence is dismissed as simply another act we have come to expect and unfortunately accept. It is sad that a Palestinian life is breaking news and an Israelis life is not worthy of note.