It’s really becoming old at this point.
Every time there is a flare-up in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it seems the West’s best minds can’t be bothered to do any more than blindly scan the statistics.
Over the past year a handful of Israelis have been killed in violent acts, while at the same time 100 Palestinians have lost their lives.
That’s all they see (or that’s all they want to see): 20 Israelis versus 100 Palestinians.
Clearly, it’s time to publicly express outrage, question Israel’s methods and insist on calm (with a strong hint that the Jewish state is at fault for the present lack thereof).
And that’s what the Biden administration, along with other Western leaderships, did last week.
“We call on all parties to do everything in their power to de-escalate the situation and return to a period of calm. This is in the interest of all Israelis and Palestinians. As we have said for some time, we call on the parties themselves to contain the violence,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.
What sounds like a balanced statement isn’t.
First of all, it puts Israel and the terror-inciting, corruption-ridden Palestinian Authority on equal footing.
Second, it ignores that Israel’s current anti-terror operations are in fact aimed at “returning to a period of calm” and “containing the violence” because the Palestinian Authority failed to do so.
It also misrepresents the situation.
As usual, even a cursory glance at recent news reporting reveals that the White House is merely scratching the surface of what’s really going on.
Yes, 100 Palestinians have died so far this year in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But at least 67% of them were wanted terrorists, many of whom died while engaging Israeli soldiers in gun battles. Is it right to include them among casualties that you (read: Washington) are clearly presenting as victims?
Of course, if you don’t include those dead terrorists, then the Palestinian casualties are far less impressive, so…
The other aspect often sidestepped by American spokespeople is that this year has seen a sharp rise in acts of Palestinian violence against Israelis. For example, this year there have been at least 80 shooting attacks against Jews in Judea and Samaria (compared to around 50 on an average year).
Palestinians are attacking Jews more often. And therefore they are facing increased Israeli anti-terror operations. And therefore more Palestinians are losing their lives.
It’s really not that hard to follow.
The Americans aren’t wrong to lament the loss of life, but as they always do, they’re laying the blame at the wrong doorstep.
Absolutely, spot on. As one popular commentator here in America put it –“The dumbest, most inept people on the face of the planet are governing the United States of America!”