Seared photographs of angelic 18-month-old Ali Saad, burned alive by Jewish radicals, have touched a nerve within Israel just as a photograph of a young Vietnamese girl, fleeing in agony from the effects of napalm, altered America’s perceptions of the Vietnamese war.
When Israeli bombs and bullets have killed hundreds of Palestinian babies and children, whose names rarely hit the headlines, little Ali has become a symbol of Israel’s systematic dehumanization of the Palestinian people, rendering the lives of Palestinians cheap in Israeli eyes.
In this case crazed so-called settlers are allegedly responsible for torching the home of the Dawabsha family in the town of Duma, near Nablus. They left their calling card daubed on its walls—“Long live the Messiah, the King” and “Revenge.” The arsonists didn’t even bother to hide their ideological identity. And why should they when 85 percent of settler attacks are never prosecuted and even when they are, offenders are given light sentences, or in the case of two of those who admitted to abducting, beating, dowsing with petrol and torching young Mohamed Abu Khdeir last year, allowed to go home after filing insanity pleas.
As Ali’s parents and four-year-old brother are fighting for their lives, with up to 70 percent of their bodies covered in burns, condemnations pour in from all over a shocked world. What’s different this time is that not only are Israel’s friends calling this inhumane act what it is, “terrorism,” so is the Israeli leadership; and, most significantly, thousands of Israelis who’ve taken to the squares all over the country to protest this infant’s killing.
On Saturday evening, a rally was held by The Peace Now organization in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square with high profile speakers from the Zionist Union, whose chairman, Isaac Herzog, asked for forgiveness.
“Terrorists are terrorists, period,” he said. “The Jewish people are ashamed of the deeds committed by members of our people and we ask for forgiveness in Israel and in the world . . .” The hard line main driver of the settler movement, Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home party, joined Benjamin Netanyahu in condemning “a horrendous act of terror.” Directors of the US pro-Israel lobbying organization, the Anti-Defamation League rapped the Israeli government on the knuckles with the words, “expressions of outrage are no longer enough.” The US State Department has called for calm “in respect to this vicious terror attack.”
It’s too early to tell whether there is a process of soul-searching underway in Israel. Are those speaking out galvanized by genuine compassion or from embarrassment and concern that Israel’s already tarnished image internationally has been further soiled? Especially at a time when the BDS movement is making inroads on Israel’s economy and when country after country, not to mention the International Criminal Court, has announced its recognition of Palestine as a state. The EU that has usually taken a softly-softly approach on Israel, has called on the Israeli authorities “to take resolute measures to protect the local population,” and to implement a policy of “zero tolerance for settler violence.”
For sure, the crimes against Palestinians committee by rabid settlers who profess to be devout while ignoring Judaism’s tenets against killing and theft, have been placed under the global spotlight; these range from the destruction of orchards, crops, olive groves and farm animals to the torching of homes and business as well as beatings and murders. Those privileged individuals, who enjoy relatively luxurious lifestyles in modern air-conditioned homes surrounded by green lawns, lakes and fountains, are under the protection of Israel security forces 24/7 and receive all kinds of welfare benefits, have no excuse for their heinous treatment of their Palestinian neighbors. Moreover, their claim to the land they call Judea and Samaria is the prime boulder in the way of a two-state solution.
The Israeli government’s policy of constructing Jewish colonies on the West Bank simply to justify the presence of Israeli soldiers has resulted in enmity and violence. While settlers are permitted to go around with automatic weapons with which to terrorist Palestinians, young Palestinian lads who use stones to vent their anger are rounded-up and imprisoned.
Israelis need to take a long, hard look at their culture of hate in which children are brought-up to despise an occupied people, who’ve been abandoned by the world for far too long. Acknowledging the existence of Jewish terrorism is a good start provided those words are translated into action. I won’t hold my breath but there’s a chance, albeit slim, that the horrific way this baby’s life was cut short could mark a turning-point.
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.
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Israel wakes up to its shame or has it?
Posted on August 6, 2015 by Linda S. Heard
Seared photographs of angelic 18-month-old Ali Saad, burned alive by Jewish radicals, have touched a nerve within Israel just as a photograph of a young Vietnamese girl, fleeing in agony from the effects of napalm, altered America’s perceptions of the Vietnamese war.
When Israeli bombs and bullets have killed hundreds of Palestinian babies and children, whose names rarely hit the headlines, little Ali has become a symbol of Israel’s systematic dehumanization of the Palestinian people, rendering the lives of Palestinians cheap in Israeli eyes.
In this case crazed so-called settlers are allegedly responsible for torching the home of the Dawabsha family in the town of Duma, near Nablus. They left their calling card daubed on its walls—“Long live the Messiah, the King” and “Revenge.” The arsonists didn’t even bother to hide their ideological identity. And why should they when 85 percent of settler attacks are never prosecuted and even when they are, offenders are given light sentences, or in the case of two of those who admitted to abducting, beating, dowsing with petrol and torching young Mohamed Abu Khdeir last year, allowed to go home after filing insanity pleas.
As Ali’s parents and four-year-old brother are fighting for their lives, with up to 70 percent of their bodies covered in burns, condemnations pour in from all over a shocked world. What’s different this time is that not only are Israel’s friends calling this inhumane act what it is, “terrorism,” so is the Israeli leadership; and, most significantly, thousands of Israelis who’ve taken to the squares all over the country to protest this infant’s killing.
On Saturday evening, a rally was held by The Peace Now organization in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square with high profile speakers from the Zionist Union, whose chairman, Isaac Herzog, asked for forgiveness.
“Terrorists are terrorists, period,” he said. “The Jewish people are ashamed of the deeds committed by members of our people and we ask for forgiveness in Israel and in the world . . .” The hard line main driver of the settler movement, Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home party, joined Benjamin Netanyahu in condemning “a horrendous act of terror.” Directors of the US pro-Israel lobbying organization, the Anti-Defamation League rapped the Israeli government on the knuckles with the words, “expressions of outrage are no longer enough.” The US State Department has called for calm “in respect to this vicious terror attack.”
It’s too early to tell whether there is a process of soul-searching underway in Israel. Are those speaking out galvanized by genuine compassion or from embarrassment and concern that Israel’s already tarnished image internationally has been further soiled? Especially at a time when the BDS movement is making inroads on Israel’s economy and when country after country, not to mention the International Criminal Court, has announced its recognition of Palestine as a state. The EU that has usually taken a softly-softly approach on Israel, has called on the Israeli authorities “to take resolute measures to protect the local population,” and to implement a policy of “zero tolerance for settler violence.”
For sure, the crimes against Palestinians committee by rabid settlers who profess to be devout while ignoring Judaism’s tenets against killing and theft, have been placed under the global spotlight; these range from the destruction of orchards, crops, olive groves and farm animals to the torching of homes and business as well as beatings and murders. Those privileged individuals, who enjoy relatively luxurious lifestyles in modern air-conditioned homes surrounded by green lawns, lakes and fountains, are under the protection of Israel security forces 24/7 and receive all kinds of welfare benefits, have no excuse for their heinous treatment of their Palestinian neighbors. Moreover, their claim to the land they call Judea and Samaria is the prime boulder in the way of a two-state solution.
The Israeli government’s policy of constructing Jewish colonies on the West Bank simply to justify the presence of Israeli soldiers has resulted in enmity and violence. While settlers are permitted to go around with automatic weapons with which to terrorist Palestinians, young Palestinian lads who use stones to vent their anger are rounded-up and imprisoned.
Israelis need to take a long, hard look at their culture of hate in which children are brought-up to despise an occupied people, who’ve been abandoned by the world for far too long. Acknowledging the existence of Jewish terrorism is a good start provided those words are translated into action. I won’t hold my breath but there’s a chance, albeit slim, that the horrific way this baby’s life was cut short could mark a turning-point.
Linda S. Heard is a British specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She welcomes feedback and can be contacted by email at heardonthegrapevines@yahoo.co.uk.