by Jonathan Kuttab
“Security” for Israeli Jews is a golden calf that enjoys superb and overwhelming international sympathy and support. When an Israeli is killed (even a soldier or an armed settler) Israeli security forces move into high gear. The entire area where an attack occurred, whole towns and villages, are placed under siege and curfews are strictly enforced. Palestinian life is brought to a halt. Entry and exit are denied; forces move into homes and wreak havoc. Arrests are made, and the questioning and interrogation of hundreds of Palestinians is afoot. For days and weeks, collective punishment is imposed and generally met with understanding, in the context of the sorrow and empathy for the Israeli who was killed. Individuals and organizations are pressured to issue condemnations of the killing, and steps against Israel for its policies are toned down. Even additional settlement activities are viewed as understandable responses to the killing. “Security” and the lives of Israelis are deemed to be of supreme value and are to be defended at all costs, justifying much hardship imposed on Palestinians in its wake. The process continues until and even after the perpetrator has been captured or killed and his home demolished. Even outrageous behavior is often excused as necessary, to achieve “deterrence” and prevent such a killing from recurring.
By contrast, the Palestinian civilian population lives in constant danger, always under threat of attack on their persons and property, both from the organized Israeli military and its agents and from individuals and groups of Jewish settlers who roam the occupied territories (often armed themselves) with the constant protection of the Israeli army. The army is not even authorized to stop the settlers but is charged with protecting them from any Palestinian response to their provocations or violent attacks. These forces have been emboldened lately by the new Minister of Police, Itamar Ben Gvir, and the new Deputy Minister of Defense, Bezalel Smotrich, who has authority over the West Bank. They have simply continued the known policy of impunity for those who attack and kill Palestinians that was becoming standard under the previous government. The Palestinian victim is unknown, of course, and hardly worth serious attention. The perpetrators are never seriously pursued and, even if known, usually avoid accountability of any sort.
Palestinian police and security forces are explicitly prohibited by Israel from providing their people any protection, and any Palestinian attempt to arm or protect themselves is viewed as “terrorism” and actively prohibited both by the Israeli military (with its network of informants and collaborators) and by the Palestinian Authority itself. This leaves the population totally vulnerable and in desperate need of at least some measure of international protection. Politicians who never tire of saying that Israel has the “right to defend itself” never seem to contemplate any similar right for the far more vulnerable Palestinians. The pogrom in Huwwarah and other villages (which continued even after the awful pictures that were seen around the world went out) only highlights what has become a standard feature of Palestinian life in the occupied territories.
FOSNA deplores bloodshed and killing and mourns those who die, not only among innocent civilians but also among the armed combatants of both sides. Without in any way asserting a false symmetry between violent oppressors and those resisting oppression, we still assert the humanity of all and pray for peace and an end to violence.
Nonetheless, we cannot ignore the blatant racism and discrimination implicit in this double standard. Jewish blood is no more valuable than Arab or Palestinian blood. Both are children of God; their lives matter, and they matter equally in the sight of God. They should matter equally in our eyes as well.