The recent attacks by Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria on Palestinian villages last week were absolutely disgusting. But comparing Jewish terrorism to Palestinian terrorism is quite a stretch, to say the least. A terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist. But there’s a huge difference between Jewish terrorism and Palestinian terrorism.
For one thing, whenever Jews engage in terrorist acts against Palestinians, they are widely condemned. For example, the IDF Chief of Staff, the head of the Shin Bet, and Israel’s police chief all condemned last week’s attacks on Palestinian villages as acts of terrorism, as did Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and opposition leader Yair Lapid. Shlomo Ne’eman, the head of the Yesha Council, a political body that represents Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria, also spoke out against the attacks, saying, “We should not mimic our barbarous enemy, go wild, and do harm indiscriminately.”
Even Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, two of the most hardline, far-right members of Israel’s government, discouraged attacks on Palestinians and called on Israeli residents in Judea and Samaria not to take the law into their own hands. A similar message was conveyed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In contrast, whenever Palestinians commit acts of terrorism against Israelis, they are praised by Palestinian leaders and the general public. Whenever an innocent Israeli is killed by Palestinian terrorists, Palestinians pass out candy in the streets to celebrate. To the best of my knowledge, no one among Israelis was passing out candy to celebrate the death of Omar Qattin, a Palestinian who was killed during the attack on his village of Turmus Ayya by Israeli rioters. In fact, I know of no instance when the killing of Palestinian civilians was celebrated in the streets by Israelis.
Another major difference between Jewish terrorism and Palestinian terrorism is how often each occurs. Each year, there are an average of 300 attacks on Palestinians’ property and 100 attacks on Palestinian individuals. By comparison, Palestinian terrorists commit an average of 5,000 attacks on Israelis each year. The number of fatalities as a result of Jewish terrorism also pales in comparison to the number of Israelis killed by Palestinian terrorists. The United Nations claims that at least 22 Palestinians were killed by Israeli acts of terrorism in the period between 2010 and 2019. But the number of Israelis killed by Palestinian terrorists during that same period was more than 300. And as regrettable and horrible as the death of Omar Qattin was, 28 Israelis have been killed by Palestinian terrorists so far this year, some of them children.
Moreover, no one pays Israelis to kill Palestinian civilians in cold blood, but Palestinians are paid very generous monthly salaries by the Palestinian Authority (PA), whenever they kill innocent Israelis – a policy known as pay-for-slay, which the PA has refused to end. In fact, the PA spent a total of $270 million on pay-for-slay in 2021 alone.
Palestinian children are also taught from a very young age to hate Jews and Israel. They are even encouraged to commit acts of terrorism against innocent Israelis, and follow the examples of Palestinian terrorists who have already done so. Palestinian schools are frequently named after terrorists. Palestinian textbooks are filled with examples of Jew-hatred and the encouragement and glorification of terrorism and martyrdom.
Although I’m no expert on the Israeli education system and the materials it uses, I’m willing to bet that no Israeli textbook encourages Israelis to kill innocent Palestinians in cold blood, and I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.
Terrorism is terrorism, no matter who is responsible for it. But there’s no comparing Jewish terrorism to that committed by Palestinians, because whereas acts of terrorism committed by Jews against Palestinians are rare, and are not endorsed, encouraged, or subsidized by Israel, acts of terrorism against Jews by Palestinians are all-to-frequent, and are supported, promoted, and even paid for by Palestinian leaders.
{Written by Jason Shvili and reposted from IsraelHayom}
