(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Khaled Abu Toameh - In scenes reminiscent of the First Intifada, Palestinians "executed" two men from the Tulkarm refugee camp in the northern West Bank on November 24, 2023. During the First Intifada (1987-1993), more than 1,000 Palestinians were killed by fellow Palestinians on suspicion of "collaborating" with Israel. After the killings, the bodies of Hamzeh Mubarak and Azzam Jawabreh were dragged through the streets, where a Palestinian mob spat on them and chanted slogans in support of the Palestinian "resistance." The bodies were later hanged from an electricity pole and a wall, limbs were cut off, and their bodies were "disposed of" in garbage bins. The lynching of the two men is a sign of the growing frustration of Palestinian terrorist groups in the West Bank in the aftermath of the Israeli security forces' success in arresting and killing dozens of their members in the past few weeks. It is also an indication of the loss of control by the Palestinian Authority security forces. Since Oct. 7, the Palestinian forces have stopped pursuing Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members in the West Bank. What is particularly disturbing is that the lynching did not attract the attention of international human rights organizations, reflecting the double standards that many in the international community apply to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The writer, an awarding-winning Israeli Arab journalist, lecturer, and documentary filmmaker, is a Fellow of the Jerusalem Center.
2023-11-28 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive