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Islamic State Inspires Knife Attacks in Israel

(The Australian) Jonathan Spyer - Cooperation between Israeli security forces and those of the Palestinian Authority has not broken down as a result of the violence in Israel and the West Bank. The PA leadership does not control the young people carrying out the stabbings. In spite of Abbas' rhetorical condemnations of Israel, he evidently prefers not to throw away the relative stability of the last years. The Tanzim and other Fatah armed groups have been instructed not to engage in violence. Moreover, the general chaos in the surrounding area - in Syria, Sinai, Iraq - has not escaped the attention of Palestinians and serves as a disincentive to participation in violence among wide sections of society. The Second Intifada was not that long ago. The suffering it entailed is still remembered by all those over the age of 30. The attacks are emerging from Palestinians too young to remember the last Intifada. But other than expressing anger, a leaderless, directionless trend of this type ultimately is capable of only a limited impact. The stabbings will not produce any gains for the Palestinians. The inspiration for the wave of knife attacks is fairly obvious. It is the Islamic State which has "pioneered" murder with cold steel in the Middle East. The writer is director of the Rubin Center for Research in International Affairs and a fellow at the Middle East Forum.
2015-11-02 00:00:00
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