There are even some rabbis who support the violence (I’ve personally heard a recording of one).
And while some people will say that it’s not supported by the “mainstream”, this is cold comfort and a weak argument because, 1, you’d be surprised (or maybe not) at how many rank and file mainstream Jews either openly or tacitly support the violence or at least don’t think it’s such a terrible thing; 2, what makes something “mainstream” or not anyway, saying it’s not “mainstream” or “not us” is really just a way to make yourself feel less guilty; and 3, not objecting strong and hard against the behavior is itself tacit support, especially when there are so many people in official positions and even senior government officials that many voted for that support it in one way or another (some are even ‘former’ Baruch Goldstein supporters).
Just because it’s worse in the Arab and Muslim world doesn’t make it remotely acceptable in ours. Like I said in an earlier comment, if the shoe were on the other foot and we were the victims we’d view it (rightfully) as rampant anti-semitism for which the government and mainstream society bears partial responsibility.
I found your paragraph that included the sentence "... I regret using the term “settler violence,” because it feeds into the narrative that all or most settlers are involved..." to be very important. The language that we use to describe these people needs to be properly nuanced so that it cannot be misconstrued (as it probably will be anyway). I would suggest using the phrase "extremist Jewish violence" leaving out the word "settler" (even if many settlers do use that term).
"And we must keep in mind that the State has not annexed the land, for good reasons."
Indeed there are very good reasons. And the lack of annexation puts the settlements in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
But my fellow American Jews are outraged when we here of some exclusive suburban enclave, or some WASP law firm, or some prestigious private college, or some bigoted retailer, that doesn't want Jews or treats us badly. Kal V'Chomer we should be even more outraged about people who think that Jews should never live in areas from which we were ethnically cleansed that include the sites of some of the most important events in Jewish history! Too many of my fellow diaspora Jews don't seem to get this.
That said, vigilante violence as described here is one of the things that is causing support for Israel here in the US to collapse all across the political spectrum. Israelis, please get your government to stop this if for no other reason than that!
UPDATE:the IDF announced disciplinary measures against the soldiers and against the whole battalion, which has been withdrawn from the West Bank, and will undergo “further training”. It has also apologised to CNN.
Over the last 48 hrs a report has repeated on CNN showing a new “settlement” (with a huge Israeli flag) on the edge of an Arab village. The CNN crew, including their excellent Jerusalem correspondent, Jeremy Diamond, were manhandled and attacked by IDF personnel, who admitted on camera that they were “helping” their fellow Jews, irrespective of the legality. The IDf issued a lukewarm statement, which can be summarized as “Oops!”. Support for israel, Jewish, let alone non-jewish, is hemorrhaging. If the IDF is lawless - what is left?.
Bezalel Smotrich was one of the people who denounced the West Bank Jewish terrorism in Makor Rishon. My spouse's reaction was that if he is serious he shoud threaten to quit the coalition unless the Jewish terrorism is suppressed.
I prefer not to use the term "settler" without contextualizing, as it is most often used to imply we are settling on someone else's land. So I don't talk about the "settlements" unless I go through the whole history of Jews living in Israel. Instead I describe Jewish cities, towns, villages, communities, neighborhoods, that happen to be on one side of an arbitrary line. If I'm speaking to a Torah audience, then I can refer to settling the land in terms of the Biblical imperative: yishuv ha'aretz
There are even some rabbis who support the violence (I’ve personally heard a recording of one).
And while some people will say that it’s not supported by the “mainstream”, this is cold comfort and a weak argument because, 1, you’d be surprised (or maybe not) at how many rank and file mainstream Jews either openly or tacitly support the violence or at least don’t think it’s such a terrible thing; 2, what makes something “mainstream” or not anyway, saying it’s not “mainstream” or “not us” is really just a way to make yourself feel less guilty; and 3, not objecting strong and hard against the behavior is itself tacit support, especially when there are so many people in official positions and even senior government officials that many voted for that support it in one way or another (some are even ‘former’ Baruch Goldstein supporters).
Just because it’s worse in the Arab and Muslim world doesn’t make it remotely acceptable in ours. Like I said in an earlier comment, if the shoe were on the other foot and we were the victims we’d view it (rightfully) as rampant anti-semitism for which the government and mainstream society bears partial responsibility.
Check out the comments on a tepid Free Press piece about this. It’s really disgusting.
I found your paragraph that included the sentence "... I regret using the term “settler violence,” because it feeds into the narrative that all or most settlers are involved..." to be very important. The language that we use to describe these people needs to be properly nuanced so that it cannot be misconstrued (as it probably will be anyway). I would suggest using the phrase "extremist Jewish violence" leaving out the word "settler" (even if many settlers do use that term).
"And we must keep in mind that the State has not annexed the land, for good reasons."
Indeed there are very good reasons. And the lack of annexation puts the settlements in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
But my fellow American Jews are outraged when we here of some exclusive suburban enclave, or some WASP law firm, or some prestigious private college, or some bigoted retailer, that doesn't want Jews or treats us badly. Kal V'Chomer we should be even more outraged about people who think that Jews should never live in areas from which we were ethnically cleansed that include the sites of some of the most important events in Jewish history! Too many of my fellow diaspora Jews don't seem to get this.
That said, vigilante violence as described here is one of the things that is causing support for Israel here in the US to collapse all across the political spectrum. Israelis, please get your government to stop this if for no other reason than that!
UPDATE:the IDF announced disciplinary measures against the soldiers and against the whole battalion, which has been withdrawn from the West Bank, and will undergo “further training”. It has also apologised to CNN.
Over the last 48 hrs a report has repeated on CNN showing a new “settlement” (with a huge Israeli flag) on the edge of an Arab village. The CNN crew, including their excellent Jerusalem correspondent, Jeremy Diamond, were manhandled and attacked by IDF personnel, who admitted on camera that they were “helping” their fellow Jews, irrespective of the legality. The IDf issued a lukewarm statement, which can be summarized as “Oops!”. Support for israel, Jewish, let alone non-jewish, is hemorrhaging. If the IDF is lawless - what is left?.
Bezalel Smotrich was one of the people who denounced the West Bank Jewish terrorism in Makor Rishon. My spouse's reaction was that if he is serious he shoud threaten to quit the coalition unless the Jewish terrorism is suppressed.
I prefer not to use the term "settler" without contextualizing, as it is most often used to imply we are settling on someone else's land. So I don't talk about the "settlements" unless I go through the whole history of Jews living in Israel. Instead I describe Jewish cities, towns, villages, communities, neighborhoods, that happen to be on one side of an arbitrary line. If I'm speaking to a Torah audience, then I can refer to settling the land in terms of the Biblical imperative: yishuv ha'aretz
I think the correct vowelization of שלטון הרשע should be shilton haresha, not shilton harasha.