Israeli settlers have long been in the vanguard of attacking Palestinian civilians. I have documented this in the past:
Israeli Settlers and Military Violence is Rising
As Israel steps up its demolition of Palestinian homes and structures, Israeli settlers are massively stepping up their attacks on Palestinians. Again as documented by the UN, the first half of this year has seen settler attacks double with 116 Palestinians injured and 4 killed, compared to 59 injured in same period last year. Among the injured in assaults only this week at three young children aged 5, 10 and 13. Additionally, the 238 documented settler attacks have destroyed vast amount of farmland, olive trees, vehicles, homes, and mosques. At least 1,450 more trees were destroyed this week by settlers and the Israeli military.
This rise in attacks parallels increased attacks on Palestinians by formal Israeli forces. Israeli troops injured 18 Palestinians in the West Bank this year. In all, 64 Palestinians have been killed and over 1,300 injured by Israeli forces and settlers this year, including over 1,000 in the West Bank. Of those injured in the West Bank, roughly 200 are children.
You see these incidents every week, with the most recent being a 12 year old Palestinian boy attacked and beaten by a group of settlers.
The settlers and the Israeli government pretend to be separate, and indeed to be in opposition to each other. The reality, of course, is that the settlers perform the most critical functions of maintaining the Occupation, including both directly occupying the land in Palestine and keeping the Palestinians down through brutal assaults. They operate under the protection of the Israeli military, using resources provided by the Israeli government, and are heavily armed with weapons at least licensed if not directly provided by the Israeli government.
The Israeli government has now moved this cover arming and training directly into the daylight:
IDF arming and training Israeli settlers as 'mass disorder' expected in September
Yesterday the army held training sessions for the chief security officers of settlements at a military installation near Shiloh. In recent weeks the IDF has been training the readiness squads of settlements at the Lachish base, which is used as a command training center ahead of September.
The main message the army is issuing is that the demonstrations will be controlled and that the army has sufficient forces in order to deal with every disturbance. In order to be sure, there is also a decision, in principle, to equip the chief security officers of settlements with the means for dispersing demonstrations. These would include tear gas and stun grenades, although that would create a logistical problem as there’s a shortage of means for firing that type of ammunition.
Moreover, as part of the preparations, staff work was performed in which the commander of the platoon responsible for defending each settlement patrolled the area with the chief security officer of the settlement, in order to identify weak points.
The army is establishing two virtual lines for each of the settlements that are near a Palestinian village. The first line, if crossed by Palestinian demonstrators, will be met with tear gas and other means for dispersing crowds.
The second line is a “red line,” and if this one is crossed, the soldiers will be allowed to open fire at the legs of the demonstrators, as is also standard practice if the northern border is crossed.
Naturally, the Israeli government has an excuse for arming and training these settler paramilitaries:
The document states the disorder will include “marches toward main junctions, Israeli communities, and education centers; efforts at damaging symbols of [Israeli] government.
Also, there may be more extreme cases like shooting from within the demonstrations or even terrorist incidents. In all the scenarios, there is readiness to deal with incidents near the fences and the borders of the State of Israel.”
No evidence is provided for this claim. However, it matches almost verbatim a prediction I made only a few days ago:
Spinning is easy (8+ / 0-)
I had a diary on Israeli spin earlier today. It doesn't even need facts, just assumptions. There is a huge audience, including mainstream media, that will assume any Israeli claim of Palestinian violence is correct. Any Israeli can state "I saw some Palestinians throw rocks" (which may well happen), and that fact will be used to "prove" the entire protest was "violent." Add some anonymous quotes about "intelligence officials say Hamas is organizing attacks on Israeli police under the cover of the protests," and you have pretty much have the standard spin set.
As I said in my earlier diary, all of this spin is both predictable and predicted.
"How did you go bankrupt?" "Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly." - Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises.
by weasel on Tue Aug 23, 2011 at 04:40:29 PM CDT
As I pointed out, Israel is using this spin to prepare violent attacks on Palestinian protesters. And now they are openly arming the violent, racist, right-wing paramilitaries that make up the shock troops of the Occupation.
This kind of behavior provides just one more reason why the US should take a stand in favor of its declared positions and support recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN next month. To do anything else is to support these paramilitaries attacking Palestinian civilians across Palestine.