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Palestinians Make No Distinction between West Bank Jews and Tel Aviv Jews

(Commentary) Jonathan S. Tobin - Jews who commit violence against Arabs are an isolated tiny minority that is ostracized, prosecuted and jailed. Palestinians who commit violence against Jews, as they do virtually every day, do so to the applause of the majority of their people and the approval of their Fatah and Hamas governments. The Palestinians have certainly suffered over the decades even if most of that suffering has been self-inflicted. But what those who sympathize with the Palestinians seem to forget is that events like the murder of Dafna Meir are not exceptional or unusual acts. They are the sort of thing that is seen by Palestinian popular and political cultural as honorable and praiseworthy because Palestinian public opinion sees the presence of Jews anywhere in the country as illegitimate. It is likely that any news accounts of the murder will refer to Mrs. Meir as a settler and many will see her as somehow deserving to be stabbed. But Palestinians don't really make a distinction between West Bank Jews and those living in the Jewish settlement of Tel Aviv, the scene of a New Year's Day shooting at a Tel Aviv cafe. Unless and until Palestinians stop seeing the murder of Jews, whether in Tel Aviv or in the Hebron hills, as laudable, there will be no peace and their lives won't get better.
2016-01-20 00:00:00
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