Arabs from the UNRWA-run village of Balata closed down a main highway to Shechem on Monday in retaliation for the detention in jail of 17 men arrested by the Palestinian Authority.
Balata is the largest of 19 “refugee camps” in Judea and Samaria. The protesters closed down a road called, of all things, “Jerusalem Street.”
Their problem is that the Palestinian Authority is trying to crack down on criminals, according to the Ma’an News Agency, based in Bethlehem. Even worse, Balata residents suspect that the PA arrests terrorists who are wanted by Israel.
Balata also has been the scene of clashes between IDF troops who often encounter violence when trying to arrest terrorists.
The situation in Balata is a classic case of hopelessness, paranoia and hatred, all of which are aggravated by the eternal status of “refugee” that UNRWA classifies every generation in the villages it operates.
The Palestinian Authority cooperates with Israel to weed out terrorists, especially those who are dangerous to the Abbas regime as well as to Israelis. The PA, despite all its threats of breaking security cooperation with Israel, would be at the mercy of criminals and terrorists if it did so.
The UNRWA village residents are hostages of a long-time Arab world dream of being moved to Israel under a peace agreement that would leave the Palestinian Authority with all of Judea and Samaria and most of Jerusalem, including the Old City,.
The chances for such an accord are zero, although some say it is a bit more than zero and others say less than zero.
The refugees hate Israel. They also hate the Palestinian Authority. They hate everyone and everything.
It is conveniently symbolic that they closed Jerusalem Street. If they could, they would close all of the city of Jerusalem and Ramallah, especially Mahmoud Abbas’ offices.