'Exterminate the beasts': How Israeli settlers took revenge for a murder in the West Bank

[David__77]

…

The same message was being posted in various settler WhatsApp groups that morning. It called on the settlers to take matters into their own hands - "crowning" of nearby Palestinian villages (a term for blocking residents from leaving or entering), "home to home searches", and "collective punishment against the murderous Arab population".

The message also contained a list of meeting points. Hours later, a similar message would circulate in the settler groups but with fire emojis attached to each location, as well as calls from individual settlers to "eliminate the enemy", "exterminate the beasts", and - referring to a nearby Palestinian village - "let all of Duma burn".

What followed was a wave of shooting and arson attacks across 11 Palestinian villages in which a dozen homes and more than 100 cars were torched, thousands of animals were slaughtered, four people were shot dead and scores of others were seriously wounded. In the weeks since, five Israeli settlers have been arrested in connection with the reprisal violence, and one Palestinian is being held in connection with the murder of Benjamin Achimeir.

Achimeir's body was found very close to his outpost. But in their rampage the settlers would attack Palestinian villages up to 7km (4.3 miles) away. Records of some of their WhatsApp group chats that day, as well as testimony from Palestinian officials and families in the villages that came under attack, paint a picture of an organised campaign of revenge that was incited in part using WhatsApp, carried out by co-ordinated groups on the ground, and targeted against ordinary Palestinians with no apparent connection to the murder of Benjamin Achimeir other than the bad luck of living nearby.

…

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-69052857

[ck4829]

1. Sounds suspiciously like terrorism

[brush]

6. And now there are attacks to stop aid trucks into Gaza.

Seems to be terrorism on both sides.

[brush]

2. Don't know what to think of this post. Are you cheering on of critiquing...

the settler violence in the West Bank? And did the operaations you describe happen before or after Oct. 7?

Hamas operatives are called terrorists. What about those settlers who have been stealing Muslim lands and terrorizing Arab villagers for decades?

[David__77]

4. Definitely not cheering, this is terrible.

These attacks occurred after October.

[brush]

5. Good on you.

[Goddessartist]

3. Israeli terrorism

of an entire people. How long will this go on?

[Mosby]

7. Hamas wants this

Otherwise why don't the release the hostages? That would be a great way to pressure Israel to dial back the hostilities.

Hamas and their supporters think they are winning and believe that soon the world powers will dismantle Israel and exile the Jews back to Europe. It's just a matter of time and determination. (See media coverage and politician stmts).

[David__77]

9. This article is about settlers in West Bank conducting organized racist attacks.

[Mosby]

12. Racist attacks?

Huh. So Israelis are just Jewish people from Europe in your opinion?

Well whatever they are they should leave the aid convoys and Palestinians alone.

[PufPuf23]

15. The Settlers mistreating and killing Palestinians on the West Bank far predated Oct 7.

Hamas has nothing to do with the West Bank.

Israel is not going to cease to exist, what you describe has little likelihood.

Much financial support for the Settlers comes from conservative Jews in the USA.

Here is how the Settlers raise their children.

[Lonestarblue]

8. A New York Times article was posted on DU twice. Very few people looked at it or possibly read it.

Perhaps people do not want to know about the majority in Israel, and how the country has shifted from democratic ideals to one bent on ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the theft of their lands until there are no Palestinians left in Palestine. The article describes how Israel has been taken over by the right-wing settlers and the extremist religious groups. Israel is no longer the country it once was. It is now governed by thugs who have said they have a divine right to take Palestinian lands and kill them in doing so. A religious belief is not legal title to land, and these settlers and the Netanyahu government have been breaking international laws—laws Israel agreed to—for decades. I will not excuse everything Israel does, as many do, in the name of fighting Hamas. The deaths of Palestinians and the deliberate destruction of the Gaza orchards and infrastructure have little to do with eliminating Hamas.

[Goddessartist]

10. Thanks for this.

I have been not here as much (youngest grandson is here now) but I realize the pro Israel at any cost crowd doesn't remark much on those kinds of threads except to say 'Hamas'!

It's like 'look over here and see how bad Hamas is', never acknowledging the genocide.

[lapucelle]

13. 21% of Israel's citizens are Palestinian/Arab.

"Forget about the 2,000,000+ Arab citizens of of Israel. Quick, look over here at the stuff that the anti-Israel crowd claims to be 'genocide' and / or 'ethnic cleansing' (depending on the narrative of the day)."

[Mosby]

11. Some Israelis have become radicalized by Palestinian terrorism

Every suicide bomber created grief, anger and a desire for revenge in people who were susceptible to radicalization. Those young people who heard about or saw their friends and families being murdered are in their late 20s 30s now.

Not sure why people don't talk about this, the so called cycle of violence works both ways. So it would be beneficial to the prospects of peace if the Palestinians abandon terrorism, and people who claim to want 2 states stop making excuses for their violence and hatred.

I don't read or subscribe to the nyt, but RWers are not the majority in Israel, Israelis aren't shifting away from democratic ideals and Israel's justification is not based on the Bible. The FACT is that the Palestinians could have had their country decades ago, but the hard core fascists who run that shit show in Ramallah want Israel to disappear by any means necessary, and they have a whole bunch of euro leftists who like to run interference for them and give them moral and ethical cover. They even excuse Hamas, "all resistance is legitimate". Fucking joke. If they don't come to their senses soon, there will never be a Palestinian state, it may already be too late, not sure how you deprogram millions of people.

[Eko]

14. The cycle of violence does work both ways.

68% of Jewish Israelis oppose the idea that Israel should allow the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza residents at this time, with food and medicines being transferred by international bodies that are not linked to Hamas or to UNRWA.

63% of Jewish Israelis oppose Israel agreeing to the establishment of an independent and demilitarized Palestinian state.

55% oppose a political agreement to end the war.
https://en.idi.org.il/articles/52976

I can understand why they feel this way as I can understand why the Palestinians feel the way they do. Unfortunately I think that the governments on both side used that anger to secure power and continue to do so and have failed their respective people on trying to find a peace for a long time now.

[Mosby]

16. That poll is from early February

And the Israelis have a much better understanding than Americans about what the needs were and where the aid was actually going (Hamas).

The question about a political agreement to end the war included the creation of a Palestinian country¹. That's a lot more than just ending the war by releasing hostages, isn't it? The last thing the ME needs right now is another highly radicalized, failed state heading towards a full blown civil war. The question pretty much demonstrated that the authors of this poll have an agenda.

It's also worth noting that this was an internet/phone poll of about 500 Jewish Israelis.

1. "Would you support or oppose an agreement to end the war which includes the release of all the hostages, long-term military quiet with guarantees from the United States, and a peace agreement with Saudi Arabia, in return for the release by Israel of large numbers of Palestinian prisoners, an extended ceasefire, and agreement to the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the long term"?

[Eko]

17. The poll is 3 months old so?

There are plenty more.
In a January 2023 poll, 93 percent of Israeli Jews said that all of the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River belongs to them. The justification for this belief is not discussed in the poll.

Interestingly, a 2016 poll reveals that only 30 percent of Israeli Jews say religion plays a very important role in their lives. Nevertheless, 61 percent believe that God gave the land of Israel to the Jews. As the Israeli historian Ilan Pappé famously wrote, “We do not believe in God, but he nevertheless promised us Palestine.”
https://truthout.org/articles/polls-show-broad-support-in-israel-for-gazas-destruction-and-starvation/

To what extent should Israel take into consideration the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza when planning the continuation of the fighting there? (Jewish sample and Arab sample; %) 81% responded to a small extent or a very small extent.
https://en.idi.org.il/articles/51872

Alarmingly, 72 per cent of the 503 respondents said “the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip must be stopped until the Israeli prisoners are released,” with only 21 per cent saying aid should continue to enter Gaza.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240131-72-of-israelis-say-aid-deliveries-to-gaza-must-be-stopped-survey-finds/

Another poll worth looking at. https://www.pcpsr.org/sites/default/files/Summary%20Report_%20English_Joint%20Poll%2024%20Jan%202023.pdf

I would also say that the poll question you are taking issue with is actually "agreement to the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the long term"? That is a bit different than a Palestinian country that is a highly radicalized, failed state heading towards a full blown civil war. If you want to question the motives of the people doing the poll then feel free to do so but one of the board members is President Reuven Rivlin who is Honorary Chair and former President of the State of Israel. Another is the Home Depot guy but anti-Israel he is not.