At 7 min 45 sec into this segment we see a widely reported incident where Imran Mansur, 12, and Iyad Gheit, 10, are hit by a car driven by David Be’eri, leader of Silwan’s Jewish settlers. Mansur’s leg was broken and Gheit had to have glass removed from his arm. Be’eri was briefly questioned after the hit and run, but Mansur — the boy who went flying into the air — has now been arrested.
The thread that ties together this 60 Minutes report is the unassailable confidence of the Israelis in their resolute intransigence.
To the extent that they acknowledge that any viewpoint might exist other than their own, they regard such perspectives as a product of ignorance. If you knew everything we know, you’d think the way we do. To some extent this is like the inflexible conviction of evangelicals, but whereas the success of the business of saving souls hinges on having some powers of persuasion, the Zionists taking over Jerusalem simply don’t care if they fail to win over non-Zionist global opinion. We don’t give a damn about the world, is the implicit message. Jerusalem belongs to the Jews.
But how can anyone who holds to this assertion — as most of Israel’s leaders do — claim to have an interest in negotiations with the Palestinians? Such “negotiations” amount to nothing more than a desire to force Palestinians to agree to Israeli terms of surrender. No capital in Jerusalem. No right of return. No sovereignty for a Palestinian state…. Oh, and there should of course be no preconditions for talks.
I have just read Jonathan Cook’s post in Global Research.ca that “settlers” now form a large proportion of combat units including officers in the “IDF” and are being encouraged to join the police. Their hatred and mistreatment of Palestinians is manifest and things can only get worse if they are given more power, including by extremist rabbis.
The plight of the Palestinian people today, mirrors all the other genocides that have taken place in the modern World. The Israeli’s will continue to raise settlements, teach/brainwash their citizens against the Arab/Muslim/Palestinian inhabitants until they either drive the people out, or are driven out themselves. The World will stand by like it has every time in the past, concerning the basic human rights of the oppressed, culminating in either complete control & elimination of the Palestinian presence, or will drop the bomb on everyone.
“the unassailable confidence of the Israelis in their resolute intransigence.”
There is a name for this which everyone should remember. Hubris.
The fact is, Israel has made massive strategic mistakes. Namely following the Bush agenda in the Middle East, which has failed so dramatically. The summer war of ’06, The Gaza War, The Flotilla, The Dubai Assassination. All these have shown the Israel is a barely competent Military, is Internationally Isolated, is facing enemies that are becoming dramatically more skilled.
Yet Israel (being a fundamentally colonialist entity) cannot see these dangers because of the mentality that they are more advanced than there neighbours. That is the problem with occupying a people for decades. The military becomes skilled at dealing with civilians and rock throwers so that when they face an organised Military or Paramilitary group they do not possess the knowledge or training to deal effectively with it.