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Source: https://www.jns.org/analysis/inside-the-battle-over-the-settler-violence-narrative
Inside the Battle over the "Settler Violence" Narrative
(JNS) Josh Hasten - According to a range of Israeli officials, experts, military sources and activists, accusations of Israeli "settler violence" against Arabs in Judea and Samaria are part of a long-running, well-funded and coordinated campaign aimed at delegitimizing the State of Israel and its residents in the region. None of the sources denied that Jewish violence exists, but said it is less widespread than portrayed in the media, involves fewer incidents than reported, is broadly condemned, and is carried out by a relatively small number of individuals. IDF reservist Yoni Tokayer told JNS he was on patrol near Jerusalem last fall when a report came in that a group of Arabs was approaching three teenage Jewish shepherds who were out with their flocks. Tokayer rushed to the scene, found that the threat was real, got out of his jeep and fired a warning shot into the air, successfully dispersing the mob. Seconds later, a car with Palestinian Authority license plates arrived and an Arab instructed three children to get out of the car and lie on the ground, pretending they had been injured. An accomplice began filming the "wounded" children, and a short time later, the video was posted to Arab media channels on Telegram with accusations of an attack by settlers, he said. Naomi Linder Kahn, director of Regavim's International Division, told JNS that her NGO had studied 6,000 reports of alleged settler violence published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Regavim found that 98% of OCHA's reported incidents either did not involve violence, did not involve settlers, or did not take place in Judea and Samaria. Events classified as settler violence by OCHA included Jewish visits to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, schoolchildren visiting ancient archaeological sites such as Shiloh and Herodion, and car accidents involving Jews and Arabs. Yisrael Ganz, chairman of the Yesha Council of local authorities in Judea and Samaria, told JNS that police and Israel Security Agency statistics from the past 12 months show 6,000 attacks by Palestinian Arabs targeting Jews, compared to 90 incidents of serious violence by Jews.