Settlers are Not Jewish Terrorists

The morally bankrupt UK Prime Minister, Andy Burnham 

If there was ever a word more misused by the media than the word “settlers,” I’d sure like to know what it is.

Whenever there is a violent attack against Palestinians by religious extremists living in mostly makeshift illegal “trailer park” hilltop settlements constructed near Palestinian villages on the West Bank, the media calls them settlers. Being a settler in Israel is now almost akin to being called a terrorist. No distinction is made between these radical religious extremists and the law-abiding citizens of the long-established West Bank cities of Judea and Samaria. People who have been living there for decades, peacefully and in harmony with their Palestinian neighbors.

I don’t know if it is pure ignorance or willful animosity towards Jews living in any West Bank city. But either way, it represents a major assault fueled by the lie implied by the context of how that word is used. Which is that all Jewish residents of any West Bank city are “settlers” - implying they are guilty of terrorism against their Palestinian neighbors. That lie is so far from the truth that it is breathtaking in both its scope and depth.

And yet the United Kingdom, the Western European nation that, in my view, might qualify as the most antisemitic in all of Western Europe. Increasingly including all such residents under the violent settler umbrella. The UK has doubled down on its recognition of a Palestinian state on the West Bank. And that any Jew living anywhere therein is doing so illegally.

And they are not going to take this “gross violation” of Palestinian national rights lightly. That was demonstrated by their recent condemnation of Israel’s decision to build homes between Ma’ale Adumim, a long-established and peaceful West Bank city - and Jerusalem.

To put it the way Melanie Phillips does:

“Astoundingly, the British government is not only demanding that Israel ethnically cleanse its own people from their ancestral homeland but is proposing to punish it for refusing to do so.”

“The new prime minister, Andy Burnham, is poised to announce ‘robust’ sanctions targeting trade with Israeli ‘settlements’ in the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria, as well as the sanctioning of Israelis linked to businesses there.”

“The foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, objected to the Israeli government’s tender for the construction of thousands of new homes in the E1 corridor connecting Jerusalem to the Israeli city of Ma’ale Adumim in Judea, which he described as an ‘unacceptable and destructive act.’”

It’s as if Oslo never happened.

Cities like Ma’ale Adumim were to be conceded to Israel as part of a deal that would have established a Palestinian state in exchange for land swaps. Even PLO terrorist leader, Yassir Arafat, who represented the Palestinians at Oslo conceded to that exchange, along with similar exchanges with cities in the West Bank along the so-called ‘Green Line’ border with Israel proper.

Connecting Ma’ale Adumim to Jerusalem hardly takes away from the possibility of a future Palestinian state. Despite the UK’s claim to the contrary.

And that assumes that a Palestinian state is even feasible now, after October 7^th. I don’t think there is a mainstream politician anywhere in Israel that thinks it possible under current circumstances.

They are, of course, right. Giving up the West Bank to the Palestinians now would make that area look like Gaza on steroids. It would be suicidal for Israel to agree to anything remotely resembling Oslo today. And everyone knows that.

Except, apparently, the antisemites of the world. Like the UK under its current leftist leadership.

Not that anyone should be surprised by how antisemitic the British are. I am almost at the point where, if I hear a British accent coming out of a reporter, I can almost guarantee that he or she will be condemning Israel for one reason or another.

As is the case with the BBC. They make the New York Times look almost like Zionists by comparison. And yet virtually all major news organizations see the BBC as the gold standard of journalistic integrity.

On the other hand, as Phillips correctly notes: Settler violence’ is indeed a festering sore that needs urgently to be dealt with...

To continue reading - and/or to comment on this post - click on this link: substack. You must subscribe to receive new posts. It's easy and it's free.