I was just checking the news last night and saw that there was an Israeli soldier who shot dead four people on a bus in an Israeli Arab town; and he was then killed by the people of the town. And all of this took place in Shfaram (BBC news clip here). A town I had never heard of; until I caught a bus from Shfaram to Haifa, just 4 days ago.
Kind of puts everything, like world news, on a whole new level. I don’t know what to say about it. The four that were killed were Israeli Arabs, those Palestinians who are living up north and who have Israeli citizenship. The violence in this conflict has primarily occurred in the areas of Gaza and the West Bank, so for an Israeli soldier (granted, one that it sounds like was part of an extremist right-wing group) to board a bus and then open fire and kill Israeli-Arabs…wow. It sounds like he was trying to cause problems and stir up trouble the prevent the disengagement from occurring later this month.
It is also interesting to see the difference in reporting on this incident. You’ll notice pretty major differences if you read something like the New York Times, BBC and the Ha’aretz articles vs the Jerusalem Post article. Just go and at least skim them all. The one thing you’ll notice about the Jerusalem Post article is that while they do cover the story, they definitely make sure to focus on the ANGRY mob that attacked the soldier. They use such phrases as: “assaulted by a mob of furious bystanders and witnesses,” “A furious mob,” “angered crowds” and “an enraged witness.” It’s interesting the way that the focus of the article seemed to focus more on the angry mob than on the 19-yr old radical right-wing soldier/settler who brutally murdered 4 people on a public bus. I find that very interesting.
This is an extremely sad event and I hope that this does not bring about a response from the residents of Shfaram. Amidst all of this, I hope that people who are constantly talking about “terrorism” when it comes to the Palestinians; these sort of actions do not just come from the Palestinians – there are also acts of Jewish terrorism – it is not just the Jews & Israelis who need security.