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December 04, 2013
Where's the Coverage? Rising Number of Terrorist Attacks in Jerusalem Motivated by "Hatred of Jews"
As Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Israel to heat up negotiations with the Palestinian Arabs, his visit is being heavily covered by the media, understandably. Some reports describe Kerry bringing a proposed plan to address Israel’s security concerns. But none in the mainstream press have covered the very real and immediate security concerns of Israelis in Jerusalem today.
The Times of Israel reported:
According to figures released by the Shin Bet, November marked a 65% rise in terrorist attacks in Jerusalem compared to the previous month, Channel 10 reported. The security services documented 32 attacks in October, and 53 in November, of which 47 involved Molotov cocktails.
Even when attacks don’t involve explosives, they can cause casualties. Last week, two-year-old Avigail Ben-Tzion suffered a head injury when the car she was riding in was pelted with stones. Her family was returning from a day at the zoo. She has now been released from the hospital. This incident was covered by the Jewish and Israeli press, but the mainstream media have been mum.
Arabs have been attacked also, when they are mistaken for Jews. Ynet News reported a Muslim family was victimized by three Arab youths, as described by the father, Rashuan Salman:
“They tried to pull us out of the car and hit us, it seemed they were intent on lynching us. They tried opening the doors and my wife begged them to leave us alone. She spoke to them in Arabic and only then did they understand that we ourselves are Arabs, and left us alone. I hit the gas and drove away as fast as possible.�?According to him, the youth clearly mistook them for Jews: “Me and my wife look Jewish, even the police officer who arrived said 'at first sight I was sure you were Jews.' He told us that these types of things happen all the time.�?
Jews sympathetic to the Arab cause are not immune from violent attack either. Daniel Seideman, an attorney who founded several pro-Palestinian NGOs was recently victimized. He wrote on his Facebook on Saturday, November 23:
This afternoon, I paid a working visit to a friend in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sur Bahir, barely a kilometer from my home. When we took leave of one another, I headed home in my car. I had the misfortune of ending up in a traffic jam in the center of the village, just as school was getting out. I didn’t see it coming, but should have: I was a sitting duck. The rock was probably thrown at point blank range; it smashed the side window with enough force to leave a deep gash in the back of my head. I was fortunate: I did not lose consciousness, nor my sense of orientation. Thankfully, the traffic jam loosened up a bit. Within a minute or so I was out of danger and on my way to get treatment. This ended with a few stitches and no serious damage (confirmed by a CT).
Seideman blames “the occupation�? for the violence, writing:
The rock that hit me yesterday was not directed at me, personally. Most likely, it was hurled because I am an Israeli – the occupier. It’s also possible that it’s because I am a Jew, irrespective of the occupation. We will never know.
Actually, we do know. Police have arrested five teens in the stoning of Avigail Ben-Tzion and according to police:
“We have five suspects in our hands,�? said Superintendent Yigal Elmaliach, head of investigations in the Special Operations Squad in the Jerusalem District Police’s Central Unit. “Four of them were interrogated and admitted to the act and also implicated the others in the event. Some of them are still being questioned. We are talking about a planned attack. They met beforehand and planned to arrive in the evening in order to throw rocks. In the interrogation they said that the reason was hatred of Jews.�?
CAMERA has long reported on the seriousness of these attacks, another toddler who was seriously injured in the spring, Adele Bitton, and other victims of stoning attacks. But the popular press ignores this issue, or worse. In August, The New York Times ran a front-page, above-the-fold story romanticizing such attacks.
Now these attacks are on the rise and they are demonstrably motivated by ethnic hatred. It’s time for the media to open their eyes... Where’s the coverage?
(Related: Believe it or not, Seideman’s attack was falsely characterized in the Toronto’s The Globe and Mail as perpetrated by “ultra-nationalist members of the settler movement.�? Read CAMERA’s coverage here.)
Posted by SC at December 4, 2013 07:00 PM
Comments
I wonder if the comments by Kerry have influenced and incited the Muslim Arab population to be more aggressive. After all, Kerry suggested that the world will turn its back on Israel and that another uprising will occur (essentially) if the PA doesn't get all it wants.
Realistically, the US gave such incidents tacit approval, and hence the increase in such attacks.
Why no Western reporting or condemnation? Israel and its Jewish majority are disposable.
Posted by: Stephen at December 4, 2013 11:55 PM
Why should we be shocked.
All anyone has to do is go on Palmediawatch to see Abbas hate media.
Where the PA praises Israeli Buses being blown up with old people on board. Israeli Pizza restaurants and Disco's where teenagers hung out, blown up.
Crude racism where an old man in a wheel chair is pushed off a ship alive, because he was a Jew.
Does the name Leon Klinghoffer ring a bell?
Families killed in their house having Passover dinner. Documented firing of rockets into Israel from civilian areas.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/defense-minister-theres-no-partner-for-peace/
Defense minister: There’s ‘no partner’ for peace
Ya’alon says Palestinian incitement, unwillingness to recognize Israel as a Jewish state are proof PA isn’t ready to make a deal
TIMES OF ISRAEL
December 8, 2013
Posted by: Barry Meridian at December 10, 2013 07:18 PM
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