A violent attack yesterday morning at a synagogue in a suburb of occupied Jerusalem can be viewed as a symptom of the frustration felt by disillusioned Palestinians who, for decades, have endured Israeli subversion, oppression and state-sponsored terrorism.
Yes, the attack on the synagogue is to be condemned — just as attacks on any place of worship are to be condemned. But when Israeli colonists burned a mosque near Ramallah last week, the silence from the international community was deafening.
Before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu uses yesterday’s incident as cause for a bloody crackdown on every Palestinian, let him also condemn the horrific torture and hanging of Yousuf Hassan Al Ramouni, a bus driver who was set upon by five Israeli colonists as he tried to make a living for his family.
The reality is that Netanyahu already has, most recently, the blood of more than 2,100 Palestinians on his hands as a direct result of Israel’s full-blown military assault on the Gaza Strip.
Yet, for all of the bombings of families as they hid in cellars, the murders of women and children who sought shelter in schools turned into United Nations refugee centres, the slaughter of children as they played on the beach, the maiming of tens of thousands and the destruction of communities in that beleaguered enclave, not a single Israeli soldier has faced condemnation or prosecution.
And when there is a call for justice, let that call embrace and include the police officers on the scene when a 21-year-old Palestinian man was shot in the back as he ran from their patrol car two weeks ago. Where is the justice for Palestinians held without charge and without trial in Israeli prisons for daring to say that no more shall Palestinians allow their homes and lands to be turned into apartments and houses for Israeli colonists?
There is no peace now because Netanyahu is not interested in peace. A lame-duck US administration cannot deliver peace either. That is why the most recent moves from the European Union should be at least listened to by all. Hasn’t enough blood been spilled already?
