Jerusalem – In Gaza And Israel, Danger Of Incitement To Violence Lurks

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    A mannequin holding a knife displaying a jacket that reads "stab" (L) is seen outside a clothes shop in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip November 3, 2015. The shop owner said the display was made in support of Palestinians committing stabbing attacks against Israelis. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa Jerusalem – In Gaza, a clothing store called “Hitler 2” has mannequins posed outside holding knives and dressed in T-shirts with “Stab!” written across the chests.

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    In Israel, a news website closely followed by religious Jews hosted a video game in which children were urged to “neutralize” attackers dressed as Arabs.

    After six weeks in which Palestinians have killed 11 Israelis in stabbings, shootings and other violence, and Israeli forces have shot dead 68 Palestinians, including 41 assailants, both sides accuse the other of incitement.

    While there are some signs of the violence dying down, with the frequency of attacks slowing, there is little let-up in the anger and hatred that have long stoked the 70-year conflict.

    In Gaza, the Islamist group Hamas that controls the territory has openly encouraged violence, publishing videos online that urge Palestinians to join a new “knife intifada”, or uprising, against Israeli occupation.

    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been more circumspect, but has praised those killed by Israel as martyrs and been vilified by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not seeming to do enough to halt the violence.

    Outside “Hitler 2”, whose owner declined to be interviewed, young Palestinians this week said they liked the shop and were eager to carry out attacks.

    “The name of the shop is Hitler and I like him because he was the most anti-Jewish person,” said 20-year-old Hijaz Abu Shanab. “It is better for us now to go and die since we are living like the dead. I like the clothes and the name.”
    A Palestinian man display manikin wearing national clothes to show solidarity with the al-Aqsa mosque compound ana palestinians in the West Bank, at his shop, in Gaza city, on Nov. 01, 2015. Photo by Mohammed Asad
    This week, Israel shut down a radio station in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, accusing it of glorifying attacks on Israelis. Palestinians said the station had urged people to join stone-throwing demonstrations but nothing more.

    In a conflict with two diametrically opposed narratives in which words and history have long been used as weapons, Netanyahu has also been accused of fuelling tensions.

    Before a visit to Germany last month, he asserted that the Palestinian mufti of Jerusalem in the 1940s instigated the Holocaust, saying he gave Adolf Hitler the idea. His comment drew strong criticism from Holocaust experts, who accused him of distorting the historical record.

    Palestinians acknowledge that there has been widespread incitement on social media, including Facebook and WhatsApp, encouraging people to attack Israelis.

    Israelis have also highlighted cases in which websites and social media have carried unsavory content.

    Arutz Sheva, a news site popular among Israel’s religious community and its largely rightist Russian immigrant population, on Thursday took down a video game on its children’s pages in which players used sticks and umbrellas to “neutralize” bearded and robed attackers bearing knives and guns.

    “It was a mistake,” an employee told the Jerusalem Post.

    After an eight-month-old Palestinian child died near Bethlehem last week, some people wrote comments in Hebrew on Facebook praising his death, which was initially thought to have been caused by tear gas fired by Israeli forces. The exact cause of death remains unclear, but doctors said the baby had a pre-existing health problem involving water on the brain.

    Israeli mayors have urged citizens who have gun licenses to carry their weapons, a move that human rights groups say has encouraged vigilantism.

    Some Palestinians seen holding knives have been shot on suspicion that they were about to carry out an attack. In at least two instances, this wasn’t the case, Israeli authorities have conceded.


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    12 Comments
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    naftaliw
    naftaliw
    8 years ago

    In this and similar back ground articles on the Israeli- Palestinian confrontation you seem to be challenging Natanyahu and the extreme Likud views. I think you are right in doing that because it is time for us to come up with some practical ideas to negotiate with the Palestinians. It is the greatness of a leader to find some common ground even with your enemies, unless you think that the constant killings and repeated wars are an acceptable option as long as you hold on to all of Eretz Yisrael.

    thegreatone
    thegreatone
    8 years ago

    Yep,that’s why “we” needed a Jewish state so that Jews should be in a safe heaven.
    There isn’t a day that goes by without hearing any violent incident in Israel.
    Taking up in arms by creating a Jewish state before the coming of Moshiach is against Hashgacha Pratis.

    We can sit and argue all day long if what i said is right or wrong. Many will say that we do have a biblical claim to have Israel citing and distorting the first Rashi in Bereishis. But i wont argue

    These days more than before it is a must for every Yid who wants to know the truth to learn the Sefer Voyal Moshe by the Satmar Rav and you will all get crystal clear knowledge Al Pi Torah why it is not allowed to have a Jewish state before Moshiach comes.

    LebidikYankel
    LebidikYankel
    8 years ago

    to #1 – methinks the Palestinians are frustrated because after all these years Israel has not yet disappeared. There really is no substantial suffering in their lives caused by the Israelis – half the doctors and bus drivers in the country are Arab.

    What do you propose doing to soothe this existential angst?

    8 years ago

    Read the last sentence of this article, by Arab-owned Reuters…. No, they weren’t going to use the knives, they were just running in the streets with them, hoping to find a good steak.

    8 years ago

    Why was the store owner not thrown in jail, and his store demolished?! This is pure incitement !

    Mendel32
    Mendel32
    8 years ago

    Enough quoting the Satmar Rebbe and Vayoel Moshe! Let’s hear of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and his love for ALL yidden in EY!