Calls for 'popular resistance' behind upsurge in West Bank violence
As long as the IDF does not rein in the settlers, attacks such as this one will continue, Palestinians contend.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHThe inside of the car that was attacked by stone throwing by Palestinians in the West Bank, January 3, 2021. (photo credit: BINYAMIN SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Sunday’s rock-throwing incident in the West Bank in which 40-year-old Rivka Teitel was seriously injured as she drove on Route 465 with her two children is seen by Palestinians as a response to “provocations” and “assaults” by settlers.As long as the IDF does not rein in the settlers, attacks such as this one will continue, Palestinians contend.Such attacks, however, are not necessarily linked to a specific action by settlers. Sporadic incidents of rock-throwing and other violent attacks have long become part of the norm in the West Bank.The Palestinian media, almost on a daily basis, reports about the “crimes” of settlers against Palestinian civilians, including farmers and villagers. The settlers are accused of attacking houses and vehicles, slashing olive trees, beating villagers and farmers, and destroying crops.Moreover, visits by Jews to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem are being portrayed by the Palestinian media and officials as “invasions by extremist Jewish settlers of al-Aqsa Mosque.”Such reports, depicting settlers as violent “colonialists,” “aggressors” and “armed gangsters,” are one of the reasons why many of them are being targeted almost daily with rocks and firebombs throughout the West Bank. The message: Settlers are legitimate targets because they are part of the “occupation.”Statements published by several Palestinian groups, including Fatah and Hamas, also regularly denounce the “crimes” of the settlers and urge Palestinians to launch a “popular resistance” against settlers and soldiers. In the eyes of young Palestinians, the “popular resistance” is a euphemism for violent attacks involving rocks and Molotov cocktails, as well as confrontations with settlers and soldiers.On Monday, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, during the weekly meeting of the Palestinian cabinet in Ramallah, condemned the “colonialists’ organized terrorism against our people.” The settler “attacks” against Palestinians were taking place “under the eye” of the IDF, he charged.Palestinians who go out to attack settlers and soldiers on the roads of the West Bank are often influenced by the reporting in their own media and the rhetoric of Palestinian officials and spokesmen.The rise in rock-throwing incidents in the past few days may also be linked to the ruling Fatah faction’s celebration of the 56th anniversary of its first attempted terrorist attack against Israel, as well as the 33rd anniversary of the First Intifada in December 1987.
Statements and posters marking the two anniversaries emphasized the need for Palestinians to step up the “popular resistance” against Israel, specifically settlers and soldiers.Posters circulating on social-media platforms feature masked Palestinians hurling rocks at soldiers, while pledging to “continue the struggle until the end of the occupation.”Although the PA recently resumed security coordination with Israel, it does not take any action against Palestinians who engage in “popular resistance” attacks against settlers and soldiers.The attacks often take place in areas under Israeli security control, where the Palestinian security forces are not permitted to operate, Palestinian officials say.Besides, the PA, which is already facing criticism for conducting security coordination with Israel, cannot afford to be seen arresting young Palestinians for throwing rocks or firebombs at settlers and soldiers while Palestinian groups are urging people to engage in the “popular resistance.”
